What's On My Mind

1. I finished my first book of the summer, John Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven. Not what I expected when I first picked it up, but a nuanced and thought-provoking read about the intersections of faith and violence. Book review pending.

2. Brendan and I leave for our Alaskan cruise in ten days. I'm excited to get out of town and have an adventure in a state I've never been to, and poor Brendan's just happy to have 1.5 weeks off work and a break from iPhone 4 madness.

3. All this summer free time has forced me to get creative in order to stave off boredom, so I've gotten into [read: obsessed with] the series Dexter. We have instant streaming with Netflix, making it way too easy to watch several episodes without realizing how long you've been staring at the TV. Although, I think I may have been watching a little too much lately: I think the main character was in my dream the other night.

4. We went to Schlitterbahn last Monday, which was super fun, but got dreadfully sunburned. As in, so sunburned that it hurts to sleep on your back or your side. Owch. Brendan got it worse than I did since I was more diligent with the sunscreen (but obviously not much more). I'm feeling much better now, but I have learned my lesson: re-apply!

5. This past weekend, we went to the Metroplex for wedding double-duty: my college friend (and fellow Fat Tuesday-er) Carolyn got married, and cousin Brittany had her bridal shower. It was a whirlwind weekend -- we left Saturday morning and returned Sunday night -- but I had such a wonderful time. It felt so good to be around some of my closest friends; some people just get you deep down. Those kinds of relationships are what make life worth living.