Since the beginning of the summer, I’ve been toying with the idea of doing this – starting a blog – so that I have an account of my trip to and time out in California. It’s both for me and my friends & family back here in Massachusetts. Additionally, I’m hoping to dust off my writing skills and vocabulary a little bit. They’re the first things that suffered in college after engineering coursework took over.

It’s been a crazy month already. Since mid-July, I’ve moved out of my apartment, been in the Adirondacks for a long weekend, been in Northampton for a weekend-long wedding fest, thrown a (small) going away party, and finished up at my job. This past weekend was the first one I’ve had for myself in a while, and I used it to go (attempt) kiteboarding!

... they got married.

The Adirondacks were really beautiful. The banner picture for this blog was taken from the top of a small peak about a mile from our cabin, situated on the corner of Silver Lake. I spent four days there with my sister, my mother, Dave, and their three pets – two dogs and a kitten. It was a nice vacation minus some canoeing difficulties. What happens when you rent a canoe that is really narrow and has no weight on the bottom? It flips unless you sit on the floor. That was fun.

The following weekend, two of my closest friends from college got married! They’re pretty much the definition of what marriage should be. It was a beautiful wedding, and I’m really happy for them. And jealous that they got to spend the following week and a half in Maui. As part of the wedding party, I witnessed first-hand the stress of throwing a wedding. Never mind the romanticism of a honeymoon, I think its true purpose is just a much needed vacation after a really stressful time. But they did a hell of a job with it. The night I got home was the Coldplay concert, which was incredible!

Since then, things have calmed down a bit. I threw a small going-away barbecue last weekend which was a lot of fun. My sister and I have now taught my father, uncle, and grandfather to play beirut. Nothing like family drinking games – except when my sister and I lose. It’s pretty humiliating. Props to the fam for being natural ping-pong ballers.

This past week was my last week of work. I’m now starting my (entire!) month off, which is divided between packing, vacation, and a two week road trip to California. Other than that, I’m hoping to make a lot of progress with kiteboarding. I’m right on the edge of having all the skills I need to get up and get moving! I knew that it would be hard to learn, but it’s definitely been a bit more difficult than I expected. It’s taken most of the summer but has been totally worth it.

The road trip is mostly planned at this point, with notable stops in New York, Virginia/DC, Arkansas, New Mexico, Arizona, and a variety of pit stops in California. My friend Pat is coming along for the ride, which should make for a ridiculous trip. Ridiculous. I’m really excited.

With that, I’m off to enjoy this week off.