Hey everyone!

Once again, I'm sorry for dropping off the face of the earth. It's been a busy summer! I spent 2 months volunteering as Summer Staff at Young Life's Mountain Lodge, where I met a bunch of cool people, washed a few thousand dishes, hiked, biked, and boarded some pretty cool mountains, kayaked and swam in some lakes, and got a tan!

Some of my favorite campers and I on the Rubicon Trail at Lake Tahoe

The awesome Mountain Lodge staff on top of Castle Peak, a brutal but awesome climb!

Then I came home and hung my first art show in Sonoma at the Barking Dog Coffee shop. It was fun to see my drawings up on the walls! (If you want to see what those drawing are, check out my art website on the links to the right). Then I ran off to King's Canyon National Park for an awesome family camping trip. We went white-water tubing and hung out with a mother black bear and her two cubs. They seemed to think our campsite was the new Denny's or something. It was a blast!

Then, last weekend, I had an "artist demonstration" at the Red Wolf Gallery on the plaza here in Sonoma. I spent two afternoons with my artwork and a table set up out in front of the gallery, explaining my process to curious passers-by and showing them all the steps that go into the drawings that I do. It was fun! I met tons of interesting people, and sold a ridiculous amount of work! I was completely blown away by God's grace in that area. I chose not to have a job this summer, and for the past few months my account balance has been somewhere around $20. I didn't know where money for next semester was going to come from, but I figured, hey, there's always student loans.

Then this weekend came. I wasn't expecting too much; if I sold a few cards to some pitying customers, I figured it would be worth it. But no! I sold dozens of cards, prints, and 6 of my originals, coming to a grand total of over $700!!!!!!! I still don't know what to do with myself, I'm so flabbergasted!

Here's one of my newest drawings. That was another bonus of the demo: while people were asking me questions, I got to get some good work done!

So! Now you're caught up. Like I said, it's been quite a summer. I have a reception for my art show this Friday, then I have to take everything down, pack everything up, and head back to school on Sunday for my senior year! Crazy!