We have had quite the summer so far! During the school year I sometimes wonder what I've gotten myself into with this demanding profession, but now that summer's here, it's all becoming clear! It's so amazing to have this time off and to finally get to see all of the people I love so much! After finishing up an eventful school year, Matt and I flew back to the east side for my sister Lesley's wedding. It was so much fun and a beautiful day despite the rain. Here's a pic of Lesley and Steve at the rehearsal dinner as well as one of me and Les:


After the busy wedding weekend, Matt and I headed down "the shore" with my folks to our adorable house near the beach in Strathmere, NJ. It was there the next day that the most incredible event occurred! We went fishing with my dad, a lifetime fisherman, which I agreed to do only after observing Matt's enthusiasm for the idea. After a few hours and only 2 "keepers", I was starting to yawn and getting a bit bored. All of the sudden, out of nowhere, a great tug on my line sent me almost plunging overboard! Dad was yelling things like, "don't give him any slack!" and "don't fall out!" as I struggled to reel this monster in. Since I didn't know what I was doing, I just kept following my dad's orders until this massive fish appeared at the surface. With one swipe of the net, we had it in our boat.....a tremendous 10 1/2 pound, 30 inch flounder! Just to give you an idea, a good catch would be about 3 pounds and about 18 inches long. Needless to say, this was the biggest fish that both my dad and my pop-pop (his dad) had ever seen in their entire fishing careers! Well, it was quite the event. My dad took Matt and I around the island showing off this phenomenal fish as Matt and I chuckled in the background as we observed my dad's delight. What a memorable day!


We then headed up to Cape Cod, MA to visit the Harrington family for the fourth of July week. They recently bought a trailer in Dennis that sits right on the beach. I was continuously in awe of how many people could pile into such a small place, but it certainly made for lots of adventures and laughs. Thanks to his grandparents, we may even have a winner in America's Funniest Home Videos! In their innocence, they made a funny blooper while Matt was videotaping them on our camcorder. Keep an eye out for us! We both agreed that the Cape is truly a magical place. I love all of the houses with the cedar shingles and white picket fences. We could definitely see ourselves living there someday! We found this great bike path that was paved over an old railroad. We couldn't pass up the opportunity, so we rented bikes one day and rode all the way to Orleans, which is further out on the Cape. Our destination was my Aunt Mary and Uncle Lee's house, which we finally made after a few wrong turns and a couple miles added onto our trip (almost 20 miles in all!). We finally found their beautiful house and had lunch with them and my cousin Katie. Fun times!

After saying our goodbyes to the Harringtons, we were back on the road again....this time to see Lesley and Steve (the newlyweds!) in Portland, Maine. They have just moved there and it was so much fun to see their cute apartment that is in walking distance of downtown Portland. It's a great little city! After our quick visit, we headed south again and Matt and I said goodbye for 2 weeks. He was flying back to Santa Barbara...back to work :( I continued southward without my hubby to have a fabulous girls weekend with my amazing college friends...Kelsey, Wadler, Angela, and Elisha. We had such a fun weekend and it was just like old times....we just jumped right back into our fun times together like we had never been apart.

I am now enjoying another week or so with my family at the shore and will head back to Santa Barbara next week.
Matt just booked an adorable bed-and-breakfast for our first anniversary on August 6th! It's called J. Patrick House and it's in the quaint, beachside town of Cambria, Ca which is just south of Big Sur. You can check it out at jpatrickhouse.com. We are so excited to celebrate!
The rest of the summer will be filled with gardening, going to the beach, catching up on the pile of books that I've been meaning to read, meeting up with Matt for lunch, and attending two education conferences. Sorry this update was rather lengthy, but since it is the first, there is a lot to tell! More to come!