Sitting outside with my mom on Saturday, we were talking about how it was my first Labor Day weekend home in 4 years. It’s actually been nice to sit and think this summer, about who I’ve become and who I’d like to be. Hence my newest post, what I learned this summer!

10. It’s okay to want to call your friends that you miss every day. - Sometimes I think that I’m bothering my friends who have moved to other cities, or perhaps are back in D.C. doing their thing. I’ve learned that it’s actually quite the contrary. I call one of my best friends, Christina (who is out in Indianapolis interning for the NCAA) EVERY DAY without fail. Sometimes when we do miss each other, we fall asleep with a little bit of trouble! It’s kind of funny how close you can be to a person. My other best friend Dezeree was in Russia for a whole month this summer and I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t call her, but I e-mailed her as much as I possibly could. The other third of my best friendship, Seth…well, he and I talk multiple times a day, and it’s nice to hear how daily happenings are for him.

9. How much I love and appreciate a good book (or series). - My ability to read and write are two of the greatest gifts I thank God for every day. This summer, since I haven’t really done much of anything except job search, I chose to read the Harry Potter series. They were absolutely incredible and took me to this amazing fantasy world of Hogwarts that I couldn’t imagine a single person could think of. I admire J.K. Rowling for her work, and I also think that the movies are an excellent supplement to the books. I am now looking forward to someday sharing the joy and adventure of the series with my own children someday.

8. How much I miss D.C. - Even though I have been checking out other cities for potential job opportunities, there’s nothing like the ping of the Metro doors as they open, the monuments glittering at night, or Silver Diner out on Rockville Pike in Maryland.

7. The importance and value of home. - The importance of the home and family that I grew up in are tremendous. As much as I am excited to move to a bigger city to start my first full-time job, I love my four siblings and parents very much. At the beginning of the summer, all they seemed to do was hound me about jobs, but now I think they understand that it just takes time. Since we live (quite literally) on top of a mountain (okay, a big hill), my family were my playmates. The summers we spent writing and directing our own movies, playing dress-up, and swimming in our pool are priceless glimpses into what I think was an amazing childhood.

6. As much as I want a career and love journalism, my #1 goal in life is to have a family. - Call me crazy and romantic and all that (God only knows everyone else does!) but my dream is to find a nice, smart, funny, loyal husband and raise lots of little babies with him. The best thing in the world to me is seeing a child grow up before your eyes.

5. It’s hard to find best friends in this cold, crazy world, but I found three of them. - I have a lot of “best friends” and I love them all soooo much, but there are three people in this world that I can trust wholeheartedly with all of my hopes, dreams and fears. These are the people that I can start up again talking to while missing a month together, or perhaps have a five-hour phone conversation that brought us even closer together, or sometimes we talk daily about nothing at all. They know who they are. Nowadays, it’s hard to trust people but I know in my heart that I can trust these people.

4. It’s a lot harder than you think to go back to being best friends after you date someone. - I realized with this one that it’s plain and simple: I watch too many movies! After dating this spring for a few months, when we broke up I thought “Oh this’ll be sooo easy to be friends again!” Boy was I wrong. I very naively forgot to take into account feelings I still had for awhile and awkward situations I naturally get myself into, among other things. I now know stuff like this takes time for both people to fully heal. I know for myself that sometimes I can be too romantic for my own good. This goes back to the whole “live and learn” thing though. I’m happy to say we’re well on our way to becoming close friends again!

3. Pittsburgh will forever be “home” to me. - I know that no matter where I end up, Pittsburgh will always be the city I grew up in and the city I will forever be tied to. If I told people otherwise, I would feel like a big part of me would be missing. I mean, I wouldn’t be a Steeler fan, emphasize my O’s, or have an intense love for Heinz ketchup.

2. With time and patience, God does answer your prayers. - All summer, I prayed and prayed each week at Mass for the perfect job to come along. Well, I got my wish last week and I headed down to The Washington Post for an interview. I prayed in Mass with all my heart for that interview and it happened. Now I am just hoping that it is in fact the right job, and I end up there in a few weeks!

1. To be confident in who I am. - Watching movies this summer like Hairspray and Phat Girlz, I decided to be confident in who I am. Although these are just movies, and don’t necessarily express “real life,” I realized that I really do like who I am, and who I’m becoming. So what if I’m 5′10″ and not willing to say how many pounds? I know that I am funny, smart, kind and yeah, even self-deprecating at times. I hope that girls out there realize that they are sexy no matter how they look, just as long as they are healthy in mind and body. My sister jokes that these movies gave me “fat girl power,” and oddly enough, I laughed but agreed with her. The more confident you are, the more people will want to be around you. It’s the truth!

So now summer is over and things are starting to pick up again. Although I didn’t do really much of anything this summer, I am very happy to say that I learned a lot about myself. Now I know what people mean when they say a little time off after college is good for you.