Can you believe that summer is over? For most of the public schools here, students went back to school full time on July 31st. Even though that’s the day I had to report for pre-planning, our students don’t return until tomorrow. Which means tonight is the absolute last night of summer vacation! 😦

So, I thought I’d recap some of the summer highlights here on the blog and give you a peek at what’s to come in the next few months.

One thing I am still really excited about that came out of this summer is this set of lists I created for young readers. If you’re heading in to the school year wondering how in the world your son or daughter will finish all that assigned independent reading, this is the place for you!

I was able to read a grand total of 16 books this summer, many of which I’ve already written about. The good news about reading this many is that I’ve saved some of the reviews to share with you as the year gets crazier and I don’t have as much time to write. Some of my personal favorites from the summer have been this post about John Steinbeck’s novel To a God Unknown, this post about Mary Oliver’s collection of excellent essays, and this one about why I’ve been listening to more and more audiobooks this year.

Sprinkled in those posts I’ve shared some of the fun things we did this summer, like our family trip out West, but it was also a summer of lots and lots of writing. I made some serious progress on my capstone project, which means this Fall will be all about revising and editing and (hopefully) finishing my master’s degree in a relatively pain-free fashion.

There have been some other fun moments over the course of the summer–like Braves’ games, “porch rides” in my new jeep, and a great time of fellowshipping with friends at the beach. All in all, it’s been a great summer!

Traded in the Avalon for a new ride!

Beach trip with the girls.

The Cook family in Jackson, Wyoming.

It’s always sad to see the freedom of the summer months go, but I am really excited about all of the things coming up this year–whether it’s meeting a new group of students, FINALLY finishing my master’s degree, or attending Hutchmoot for the first time ever, or maybe even returning to some much beloved places, I can’t wait to see what this school year holds!

Keep Reading,

Sarah