Summer Accomplishments

Every summer I set goals for myself, an informal "bucket list" so to speak. It usually consists of a few books I want to read, a TV show I want to watch through all seasons, and of course movies... ones I missed over the year and the summer blockbusters.

Here is a brief recap of my summer...

BOOKS:

I had not planned to read these books at all, but I got hooked! I picked Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief to read along with a little boy I was tutoring in reading. I finished book one and read through the rest in less than a month. They are so good and I would say a great follow up to Harry Potter! I am officially in love with Percy Jackson.

TV SHOWS:

This tradition started a few summers ago when my friend Crystal and I rented How I Met Your Mother and watched seasons 1-3 until we were hooked on the show. This summer I couldn't decide on a show to go back and watch, partly because there wasn't anything I was really interested in that I hadn't seen from the beginning and partly because the shows I were interested in kept me entertained Tuesday through Thursday nights. I have always enjoyed the USA Network with their shows like Monk and Psych, but now they keep me laughing with White Collar, Royal Pains, and Covert Affairs also. I highly recommend all of these shows!

MOVIES:
There were a lot of summer blockbusters this year, movies that I just had see in the theaters. I also talked my mom into Netflix while I was at home so I was able to rent a few other movies that I have been wanting to see for a while. Some of the titles include: The Sorcerer's Apprentice, When in Rome, Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief, and many many more.

Here were my favorites:

Ramona and Beezus was by far my favorite of them all. I laughed, I cried, I giggled, I smiled. It was perfect casting and such a sweet, heart-warming story. You can't help but love Ramona!

Now, I did A LOT more over my summer (which I will have to post more pictures soon) but I wanted to share with you what I have accomplished on my list over the last 2 months. And, by the way, I am NOT ready to go back to school on Friday!

10 Years...WOW!

Paloma Valley High School, Class of 2000. 10 Year Reunion

We celebrated our reunion at the Pala Casino in Pala, California.

(Just north of San Diego)

We had a catered dinner where about 40 of us were reunited. This was the table I chose to sit at.

They gave out awards for those who "changed the least", "most kids", "longest married", etc.

I won the award for the person who "traveled the furthest".

I saw friends that I have known since middle school...

Friends that were high school sweethearts and are now married...

Twin brothers that never seem to grow up...

And, just all around great guys that somehow you lost touch with over the years!

One benefit of having our reunion at the Pala Casino is we were privy to a free concert.

Bret Michaels (Every rose has its thorns) and Rick Springfield (Jessie's girl) were performing.

After the dinner was served, they started letting people who didn't buy tickets in. The 40 that were there, increased by 10 or 20. Around 11:00 or so everyone left the reunion and went down the hall to Club Pala where at least 10 to 20 more joined in!

It would have been nice to see more people there and the food and prices could have been more reasonable, but overall it was a good night.

Blessings around every corner...

It will be interesting to see our 20 year reunion. I am not gonna lie, kinda looking forward to it! :)