Things I Want to Remember About This Summer

I don't think this was necessarily an easy summer. But it was a full one.

There were some really good days, some really hard ones. There are things I know I'll remember without trying, and then there are the smaller things I'm afraid I'll forget.

So, for the record:

I became an aunt.

My nephew was born at the end of March, which means this was my first summer as an aunt.

I spent a lot of it getting to love on him and his parents, and I don't think I realized how much I would love being an aunt until I became one. I was probably a little too obsessed with him. I also had very little interest in going anywhere without him, which is probably why my family had to remind me that babies do, in fact, survive when you leave the house.

I want to remember how little he was this summer. The tiny clothes. The sleepy cuddles. Getting to watch my sister become a mom.

I want to remember this version of all of us.

I said goodbye to Thomas.

Around the same time my nephew was born, Thomas got very sick.

For about two months, my days revolved around taking care of her and trying to make her as comfortable as I could. Eventually, she was too sick, and I knew the right thing to do was to say goodbye.

It was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

There was grief, obviously. But there was also relief. Relief that she wasn't hurting anymore. Relief from the tremendous stress of caring for her every day. And then guilt for feeling relieved when I had just said goodbye to my best friend.

I've thought about that a lot. I don't want to forget how painful it was, or how complicated it felt. I think those feelings reminded me that this is the cost of living a life where we are capable of love.

I would do it all again.

My baby sister graduated high school.

And then she went off to Baylor, which feels both completely right and completely insane.

I have always said that one of the biggest blessings in life is getting to watch my baby sister live her life. Now I get to watch her become her own kind of woman.

I am so proud of her.

Also, I feel so old.

I went to two World Cup games.

I got to see Japan vs. Sweden and Argentina vs. Jordan.

Which is already pretty incredible, but honestly, I think the thing I'll remember most is getting me and my friends out of the AT&T Stadium parking lot and onto the highway in under five minutes.

I would like that formally recognized as an AT&T Stadium record.

I went to Hawaii.

This was very necessary.

I spent a week on Kauai doing my best to slow down. I swam, laid around, ate good food, took pictures and generally tried to remember the feeling of total relaxation. Although, admittedly, I was still too obsessed with my nephew to want to go anywhere without him.

The highlight, however, was snorkeling.

I saw a $20 bill underwater. Then I saw another one. Then my dad popped up and announced that he had found $160.

Best snorkeling outing ever.

Then I adopted Carter.

Carter showed up after Hawaii and immediately made herself at home. She is tiny, sweet, completely insane, and apparently believes that human arms are an acceptable scratching post.

She also somehow gave me my spark back.

I had the greatest 3 hour road trip of my life.

One weekend I went down to Austin with some of my favorite people in the world to celebrate Erin's birthday on the lake, it was glorious. However, the drive down might actually be one of my favorite parts.

Somehow, Alyssa, Anna and I managed to go the entire drive with an absolutely perfect Spotify queue. Zero skips. Zero arguments. Just banger after banger after banger.

I need to be put in a car with those girls for every road trip from now on.

I saw Noah Kahan in concert.

I wasn't even planning on going. Two days before the concert, I somehow got lucky and found incredible tickets for my sister and me.

We went and we cried. And now I have another extra special memory with Evie.

I have no words except to say that it is so close to being in my top ten favorite moments. 

I want to remember all of it.

The good stuff & the really hard stuff.

I don't think every summer needs to be easy to be a good one.

Sometimes a full life is a messy one. And this one was very, very full.