things I did this summer.

1. I saw this by the library in town.

Hehehe. I thought people only did this in movies.


2. I started a novel.

Yeah, that's right. I started a novel. It's going great, thanks for asking.

I like writing. Most of the time, I just write to write, which results in multiple abandoned Microsoft Word documents full of exerpts of wannabe-novels that are going nowhere because they have no plot behind them. But THIS TIME I have a plot.

Go me!

However. None of this.

"Ooh, you're writing a novel? What's it about??"

You'll get this.

One does not simply tell people what they write about, or walk into Mordor. Silly goose.

I'll give you the first word, though, just because I'm in a good mood.

The


3. I started the Harry Potter series. Again. For the third time.

I really wanted to read a lot of books this summer. I did, I promise. Unfortunately, that didn't really happen. I thought about reading a lot. But that's all I really did. I thought about it. Every time I picked up a book, I would get bored, and do something else for a while with my time. Finally I just had to face the dreaded truth that I was in a reading slump.

I hate reading slumps.

So then, I did the only thing I thought would help me get out of this lowly state.

I picked up the good ol' Harry Potter books again. This will be my third round.  Because this series is just too awesome to be read just once. Or twice. Hopefully, this will bring me back into the reading world.

 

Snape approves of my decision.

4. I hiked around in intense heat wearing pioneer clothes for a week.

Definitely one of the highlights of my summer.

In our church, every four years we do something called a Pioneer Trek where we dress like pioneers and pack belongings in a 5 gallon bucket and pull handcarts in the local desert for a couple days to reinact a little of what the pioneers crossing the plains had to go through. And that is most definitely a run-on sentence, but I'm leaving it like it is. This year we called our adventure "The Rescue" because prior to the trek we were asked to research a deceased ancestor that we would later perform temple work for.

It was a really special, spiritual experience, something I'll never forget.

Here's a picture of our handcart company. You can feel the heat just looking at it, can't you? Yeah, me too. Don't worry, the watermelon, trees, and sprinklers at the end in Zion were definitely worth it.


5. I brushed up on my Disney Classics.

Why aren't all movies like Disney Classics and The Avengers? I don't know either.

This summer, I watched Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and Aladdin for the first time in a really long time. I plan to watch Tarzan again with my friend who has been deprived her entire childhood and has not seen it.

I love Disney movies. So much.


6. I took lots and lots and lots of pictures.

Here are a few of my favorites. (All photos (C) Nicole Pederson 2012.) Man, something about just being able to copyright something...just makes you feel all powerful and stuff.

7. I saw the coolest shooting star I will probably ever see in my life.

Out in our backyard in the middle of the night, we went out to watch the most epic meteor shower I've ever seen. They streaked the sky, tons of them.

The biggest one was my favorite. It stretched across the entire sky, and you could see the particles at the tip turn orange from breaking up in the atmosphere. It was so long, Mom said, "Kurt, look at that!" and when he looked up, IT WAS STILL GOIN'. It was gorgeous.

I made some pretty good wishes that night.



My summer has been amazing. But, to quote Isaiah Mustafa,

"Like all great things, this too must end. There's giant oaks that need chain-sawing into yacht boats. Bermuda Triangle mysteries that need solving with huge magnifying glasses. And everyone knows I could use one or twelve medals for winning exotic car throwing competitions. I must ride my jet-ski line into the sunset."

The sunset being a metaphor for high school.