4th of july

heading into the holiday weekend is bittersweet these days...as a july baby and pool rat, i always loved this summer holiday. but as we near the 5-year anniversary of jamie/andy's death, i'm getting that uneasy feeling that seems to creep in around this time. galveston is finally back to normal after hurricane ike, so i'm looking forward to spending a relaxing weekend with the fam! somehow the sound of the ocean always seems to calm us during the difficult times. i'm planning to do a "memorial" section of this blog and add a letter i submitted for a book a year or so ago...hopefully i can get it up on the 5th.

i can't believe they've been gone 5 years...it's amazing how much things can change. a quick overview of the changes i've undergone since 7.5.04:

2004: single, smoker, dead-end job, apartment in chicago, quarter-life crisis...need i go on?
2009: married, smoke-free 10 months, master's degree and awesome job, house in houston, full-circle-self-discovery-lovin-my-30's...i could go on and on...