Dog days of summer.

Well folks, summer 2013 (for me) is officially coming to a close. I can't believe it's gone by as fast as it has, but of course when you're dreading a senior thesis-filled fall semester as I am, it's no wonder the months beforehand went by at warp speed. I think most of all this summer was a time of personal growth for me. Such as, I know who my real friends are, what makes me happy, and what I want to do with my life for the most part.

I've learned a lot of life lessons too; I've learned that...

You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are.

Sometimes, you can't please everyone.

Sometimes, you have to do what makes you happy. (See first lesson).

Sometimes, you have to stop thinking so much and just do.

Also, and this one is very personal to me, I have grown so much in my faith this summer. At this point in my life, I feel closer to God than I ever have before, and that's not an easy thing for me to admit, in part because there are a lot of people in my life who - although I love and adore them - are not close with God, and who in the past I've been afraid to be open about my faith around. Yeah yeah I know, you're not supposed to be ashamed about that kind of thing, but the thing is, I was. I was afraid that if I admitted to being a devout Christian I would immediately be judged as someone I'm not, because unfortunately there's a stereotype behind being a Christian; people automatically think you're this insane close-minded homophobic asshole, and let me tell you, 99% of the time that's not the case. Now, I am proud to stand up and say...

I AM A CHRISTIAN

I want to devote months - maybe even years - to missionary work, I want to be involved in my church, and I want to spend time every evening with nothing but the sunset, my green tea, journal, and bible. So there. Now you know, and I'm not ashamed. Whew.

But, just for good measure, let me tell you that I'm a liberal. Not a Democrat, a liberal. I was the first to cheer (and loudly) when part of DOMA went down last June. And I still Stand with Wendy, regardless of the current outcome. Don't believe me? Just check out my Instagram profile here: http://instagram.com/p/bB9FBfAm56/, here: http://instagram.com/p/bAt2dTAm1G/, and here: http://instagram.com/p/bAu4BPgm2U/.

So yeah. All in all, I'd say this summer's been a good one; in terms of actually doing things, I feel like a lot happened, at the same time not a lot happened, if that makes sense. I did a lot, but didn't do a lot.

On the one hand, once my job with Occidental's library started, I stayed in Los Angeles the entire time, save for like three days.

On the other hand, I:

-Basically road tripped up and down the entire west coast before my job started. Visited family and friends, frolicked, and had a really really good time.

The beautiful Willamette River in Eugene.

My only slightly immature dog, Addie.

Operation "Take Addie to the River."

Ye olde high school in Eugene.

The living room chair Addie always thinks is her bed.

U of O.

The lovely Oregon coast...

Seattle University. My old stomping grounds.

Seattle. 

Building blocks with the nephew (and favorite boy) Parker in Olympia. His two (and only) words: "Whoaaa!" / "Wowww!"

Aunt Sherise's cat, Harmony. He followed me into the bathroom.........

Oregon's Capital Building in Salem.

Deshutes River in Bend.

Mt. Bachelor. Yes, there was still snow on the road.

San Francisco!

Alcatraz.

I drove on this. Terrifying. Oh, and you don't pay the toll there...they take a snapshot of your license plate and mail the toll fee to the address listed on your car registration. Even more terrifying. #BigBrother

-Had two best friends visit me in LA.

Bre and me taking a selfie while drinking milkshakes (from Millions of Milkshakes in West Hollywood). Had to Instagram it or else it didn't happen...mostly because Miley Cyrus drinks Millions of Milkshakes too and we had to be cool like her. Yeah.

At Santa Monica beach. The one good hair day of my entire life.

Andre and me at Disneyland.

-Had a (three hour long) coffee date with a new best friend.

I don't have a picture of this because I suck. Sorry Isabella!

-Booked a plane ticket home to Eugene for the best friend Isabel's wedding in October. Huzzah! ...or whatever you say to people about to be married.

-Spotted Luke Wilson at Occidental's Alumni Weekend last June. Yes, he is an alum of my university. Win.

-Joined a new church and fell even more in love with God.

http://www.hollywoodcoc.com/

-Met some of the greatest people in the world at said church.

Hollywood Church of Christ 75th reunion picnic in Griffith Park. The egg toss tournament got serious.

-Went to a Dodger game (THEY PITCHED A NO-HITTER), and watched the movie 42 on the big screen.

-Went to Disneyland with Andre. His FIRST visit, ladies and gentlemen.

California Screamin'. Proof it happened.

"It's a small world after all..." Stuck in my head forever.

-Visited Chicago for three hours via. the airport at five in the morning thanks to a red eye flight (don't judge...I take what I can get).

If you look really closely, squint, close one eye, then the other eye, you can kiiiind of see downtown in this picture.

#TeamNoSleep

-Visited someone very special to me (and her sister and her dog and her best friend) in Siesta Key, Florida. It's really true what they say about Southern hospitality, y'all. Love it. Oh, and I tried my first legal margarita.

The Gulf.

Sunset. Don't be fooled...it was 167% humidity outside.

This water was borderline hot, I kid you not. Ha I rhymed...

Diesel, aka. Mr. D. A 15 pound Terrier who thinks he's a Great Dane.

"If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever."

...meanwhile Diesel barks at the water.

And of course I must finish with documentation of my first legal margarita...

-Survived the humidity in Florida. And the severe thunderstorms.

Literally three inches of water fell in about ten minutes. And I mean literally as in, really literally, not the bullshit definition that literally killed the English language. See what I did there?

-Hiked around LA. A lot.

Inspiration Point in Runyon Canyon.

Hollywood Sign in Griffith Park.

Mt. Fiji at the back of Occidental's campus.

Runyon Canyon.

Yes, this is a view of Madonna's old house from the path in Runyon.

The view from Inspiration Point in Runyon.

Griffith Observatory on a particularly cloudy Sunday.

Mt. Hollywood.

-Read 17 books.

 The Help.

Aside from The Help, every book I read this summer was - no joke - one of Luanne's. Brilliant author. But my personal fave was this one...I finished it on the plane ride home from Florida and sobbed.

-Had the parents visit me in LA. 

UCLA.

UCLA School of Law - Dad's alma mater.

Traditional mother/daughter selfie on the Santa Monica Pier.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time." - Ecclesiastes 3:11

~Erin

P.S. Orientation Staff training for this fall officially starts tomorrow morning. Basically, it means 7+ days of 13+ hour training sessions and no sleep. And then actual orientation starts. But it'll be fun! I'm looking forward to it...who needs sleep anyway?