There are plenty of moments and hours and days when I ache to be other places, be it Prague or the mountains or on some new adventure on an Asian coast somewhere, but I must say, I do just adore my life in Richmond. My job officially starts tomorrow, so for the past few weeks I've just been enjoying this Richmond life in the summer with my dear friends.
We spend hours down by the river, jumping from rock to rock, or afternoons at the Tappahanock; runs around the neighborhood with my dad (word on the street is I have my daddy's stride); Gelati Celesti ice cream (its heavenly); El Caporal burritos; cookouts where I manage to eat not one, not two, but three burgers; hours of intense frisbee be it day or night; watching episode after epsiode of Man Vs. Wild, and the beginning of the belief that I really do need to know how to escape quicksand; and my favorite: unplanned run-ins with great friends at all the classic hang outs around Richmond.
Yes, life on the homefront is good. The best adventure so far was an epic bike trip that me and two of my sisters and aunt made over memorial day weekend. We traveled to Abingdon, Virginia to embark on a 17 mile bike trail through the mountains and woods, and along streams and over old bridges. We made a weekend of it, and it was just awesome. There were surprisingly no major falls or injuries.
It truly was shocking however to see how competitive we are with each other. When it comes to activities and sports, it is never taken lightly with the Parker girls. So just imagine, a family friendly bike trail and...the parker girls. Let's just say that our experience was a bit more subjectively intense than many others who were enjoying their leisurely day biking. There was rumors that we would finish in record time. I am joking, of course...or am I?
Annie and I before the domination of the trail:
Looking forward a bit: I've got a retreat this week to kick off my job as an intern at Hope this week, a potential fishing expedition later this week, a truck and tractor pull this weekend, and next week: the Perry wedding and numerous other festivities, where my very first childhood friend is getting hitched. Surreal? Oh yeah. Then down the road a bit more, summer holds two camps with the youth, hopefully some camping trips, kayaking adventures, then the Bahamas with the family in august, then AUSTIN CITY LIMITS in September (no thats not in summer, but I don't care)
And while I see pictures of the new interns in Prague and my heart aches to be back there, I am truly happy to be here right at this moment. I miss yall with all my heart and my prayers will be with the team as it grows and grows.
