Lots of catching up to do...

Wow, the summer has flown by unlike anything that I could have ever imagined. This has been in many ways by far one of the best summers of my life, and in some sense one of my loneliest. Just the way things work out I guess, but I just have had a lot more thoughts about the meaning of life now that I've graduated and had some time out on my own in the ever-so-friendly real world.

Well, I've spent most of the summer out fishing and kayaking - not necessarily in that order but that's been the majority of my free time. Ryan and I have done excellent in our improved fishing capabilities, and have not been skunked anytime in recent history. The weekend before last (the last time I went fishing) we caught several black-tip sharks from a spot we paddled out to and were wading during the time we caught the sharks. Potentially maybe not the best idea, but it was a heck of a lot of fun. More recently, Ryan, Jen, Drew, and I took the kayaks up to the Santa Fe river up around the panhandle for a 14-mile paddle, which was an absolute blast. It was hot as a mug, but we had a great time regardless. The scenery is so beautiful up there, just the way that nature has grown around the river is fascinating. There's also natural springs along the way where you can get out and swim, which we did to cool off as often as we could. At the bottom of the river, there's a giant rope swing that we did several times and enjoyed the hell out of. Also, Drew and I talked each other into going and jumping off the bridge that crossed the river just for the heck of it. Made us feel like we were young again...jeez, even at 22 I'm starting to feel old.

Things at work are going somewhat well, I'm doing a lot more intensive training these days, but have a lot more work as well which keeps the days busy for the most part. I'm looking at a job over on the coast, which would be fantastic but I won't elaborate until I know more.

Life's had many ups and downs lately, about a break-even to be truthful. Better days are coming, it's just a matter of when. I've felt that way for a while now, and could use a good pick-me-up anytime now. It's been a rough year emotionally with everything that's happened, and I'm really trying to sort it all out to make sense of what direction my life is heading. At this point, I don't know. I just hope that the good times are coming, and not gone already.

With that, I need some sleep, will write sooner next time.