Lately....

okay so apparently its time for my every-3-month blog entry :) this summer has been awesome but also hectic! let's see....

Weddings,

This summer I had the pleasure of seeing two friends get married - first my college friend Sarah Brumbaugh (Snell!) in Houston, along with some other NCSU/Textiles alums, and then my Hampton Beach summer project friend Pam Tuttle (ver Kuilen!) in Madison. Pam's wedding was quite the adventure - I got to spend a bit of time in Chicago and see Kristen, Michelle and Meg from HBSP also! It was great to catch up :) I'd post pics, but Kristen still has them all! I'm starting to feel a bit behind with so many people getting engaged and married recently - seems like facebook is overflowing with new last names and diamond rings these days.....

Beach Time,

I was able to take off the week of July 4th to go to the beach with the fam, which was awesome. I haven't been able to go on family vacation for quite a few summers now (and probably won't be able to get a week of for it for the next few either...) and it was particularly great to get to see everyone after so many months of being trapped here in BMT!

Then, the weekend after I got back, a bunch of us from bmt took a weekend trip to Surfside Beach here in TX - my first experience at a texas beach! I must say, I was not nearly as disappointed as I expected to be - it was definitely not as nice as NC, but I did still have a great time (can't go wrong at the beach!) - and we definitely had more real estate that you would on an NC beach. Which, clearly, meant we had a few good games of extreme croquet (I was missing Kasey!) and ladder ball.

Workkkkk,

Work has definitely calmed down a LOT, which is a relief, but also is making it hard to stay motivated! I was able to attend some great training classes in June/July - both technical classes and other topics, such as career development and presentation skills. I really enjoyed getting out of the office and spending some quality time developing my skills!

I also recently became a mentor for a new hire who started about 4 weeks ago. That has been fun and challenging, and I know it will definitely pay off because she is taking away half of my job (isn't that everyones dream come true!). I am really glad that the organization is recognizing how overloaded I am in my job position and staffing up! I'll also be mentoring a co-op from NC State this fall - she starts in 2 weeks! It's definitely a drain on my time, but hopefully will also give me some good experience that will be useful later on in my career :)

and Life :)

Let's see... other than that, after all the beaching and training was over, I've just been trying to get settled here in Beaumont. I have been here for a year already (!) but in so many ways, I still feel unsettled. I blame a lot of it on Ike Recovery, I suppose, but I've just recently starting looking for a church, trying to meet more people outside of work, establishing hobbies, etc.! The past few weeks I've been to church with my friend Bill and his wife Julie, and I really like their church - the people are soooo welcoming and they seems to be very committed to the truth of God & the Bible, which is the most important thing! I'm also trying to make quite a few lifestyle changes - exercising more and eating better... working less and trying to have more balance! I'm planning to ride in the MS150 in April - biking from Houston to Austin (crazy, but I need a goal!) - so hopefully that will keep me motivated :)

This fall I have a TON of vacation/comp days that I need to use before the end of the year (not such a bad problem to have!) - so I'm looking forward to quite a few trips home, as well as visiting Lindsey in PA, going to Portugal with here in October, hopefully visiting Kasey in Boston, and maybe a few more trips elsewhere! I'll keep you posted as I break the bank with plane tickets!!!