hello, world.

i know i've been gone for a long time. i don't have a good excuse...just that life gets in the way of my dream of being a blogger all the time. i guess that's the trouble of having a goal like that.

i'll play catch up for those who have missed me.

i went home for the summer. i know, i shouldn't have. honestly, i understand that now that i'm playing catch up again with school. but i can't stand being away from my family for too long.

this summer was spent with lots of little ones. harper jade is one of the funniest, cutest, happiest babies i've ever been around. when she's unhappy, it doesn't last long. over the summer, i got to see her learn her voice, expressions, how to laugh, how to sit up, how to scoot across the floor, and how to almost stand up. when i got back to school, i got a lovely text with a picture of her standing next to the table playing with the remote. i can't believe it. she turned six months last wednesday and she's already going on sixteen.

my other little ones were ben and natalie. i loved, loved, loved having them this summer. natty and i had a big bond as the summer came to an end and i hated to leave those two. plus, christy and travis are two of the nicest people in the entire world. i'm so blessed they let me into their lives and got to take care of their kiddos. the day before i left, christy took me out to lunch and gave me pictures of the kids. they're hanging above my desk.

then, of course, i had my work babies and megan's kiddos. i enjoyed spending time with samantha, clayton, mason, and camdon the most. i've seen sam grow up since she was nine months old and helped welcome clayton, mason, and camdon into the world. i have a picture with those kids hanging above my desk too. it's unreal that they're growing up so fast. sam started fifth grade this year. ten years seems like it's flown by in a blink of an eye. sigh.

on top of work, which is what i did mostly, i played at the beach, visited with family, celebrated my grandparent's fiftieth wedding anniversary, and hung out with alex a lot.

now that i'm back at school, i'm back into the routine of balancing classes, study time, meetings, office hours, friend time, and me time. i'm still color coding my day planner. i'm still obsessed with office supplies. i still drink too much coffee. i guess after being away for a summer, it's nice to come back to something i know so well.