I am forever grateful for the kind, inspiring mentors I had while a graduate student at Fairfield University. I’m specifically thankful for my semester mentors:

• Lary Bloom
• Joan Connor
• Porochista Khakpour
• Kim Dana Kupperman (Also, you can read an interview I did with Kim on Mason’s Road if you’re interested)

And to Baron Wormser who was my second reader of my thesis.

But not just those five… I’m also grateful for the mentors who taught my workshops: Marita Golden, Leila Philip, and Da Chen.

I learned so much under the auspices of these incredibly talented individuals, and for that I am eternally grateful.

I was so excited when I woke up this morning to find that Spry Literary Journal was featured on Every Writer’s Resource!

It was also featured on Racquel Henry‘s Opportunities in the Great Big Literary World weekly post today.

First off, I’d like to wish my friend Jessica and her new husband Christian a happy wedding day today. I just returned from their beautiful wedding ceremony and I wish them the best.

Okay, so yet again I failed my goal for the month of August. My plan was to write daily. My goal was to try to do a lot of journal writing, and not worry so much about essays, etc. Barely anything got written this month, folks. I did write in my journal a bit more regularly, but it was nothing to be proud of.

My goal for September is to focus on Spry Literary Journal. Since we are a new literary journal, we need to work on marketing, as well as putting out a call for submissions for our first issue (due December 2012). So far, I have been quite pleased with the submissions we’ve received. I think this first issue will be a great showcase of our future as a literary journal. Spry can only continue to grow at this point, so I’m sure you will be hearing A LOT more about it on the blog in the near future.

August Highlights:

• Mr. O, Wolverine and I went to DC and VA on a road trip for our summer vacation. This was a fantastic trip, because not only did we get to do fun things with Wolverine (the National Zoo, Smithsonian’s Museums of Natural History and American History), but we also spent a few quality days with one of my closest friends who lives in VA. She just had a beautiful baby girl last month, so it was so nice to be with mommy, daddy and baby (and puppies!).
• Wolverine started playing football this month. He is such a little stud. He’s the youngest guy on the team, and he has a lot to learn, but he’s trying hard. It is so damn cute to see him at the water breaks, because he takes his helmet off and his face is all red and his hair is sweaty. He’s going to break so many hearts when he gets older.
• Spry Literary Journal began accepting submissions! I can’t even describe how I felt when we got our first submission (and it was a GREAT submission too). It was incredible to read someone’s work after all the effort we put in to this journal. If you are a writer, please consider submitting your work to my literary journal.
• We went to Mr. O’s work “picnic” in the middle of the month. When I say picnic, I really mean carnival. It is always so much fun. I held an alligator while I was there!
• I’m doing a great job keeping up with my 365 photo project. As of today, I am on day 210. TWO HUNDRED AND TEN!?!

Stinky August Moments:

• I’m no longer a graduate student. Weird, I know, because all I did was complain about school while I was in it. I just miss it.
• I’ve felt pretty busy and disorganized this month. I expected things to slow down a bit after graduation, but that didn’t happen one bit. In fact, I feel as if I was working even harder to catch up, and stay on track (or close to the tracks at least).
• I only spent a few days with my friends from VA! I know I mentioned this as a highlight, and it truly was. It is just hard to leave such incredible friends. Especially when they have a new addition to their life. I love babies. So now, I’m saying goodbye to three people (and two dogs), not just two people. Sigh. It’s hard to live far away from your friends.
• Dr’s appointments. Between my primary care, my dermatologist and my dentist, I feel like all I’ve done is go to appointments this month..

Other Mentionable Moments:

• My parents and my brother and sister-in-law celebrated anniversaries this month.
• I cancelled my graduation party because of a horrible weather forecast, and then the day ended up being pretty nice. Oh well, I rescheduled it for September and combined it with my and Mr. O’s birthdays… So it will now be Erin and Mr. O’s Birthday and Graduation Extravaganza!

I’m looking forward to____ in September:
September is a fun month for Mr. O and I, because we both have birthdays in September. We’re going to a comedy show at Foxwoods, which will be fun because we both like to eat and gamble. We have our party which I just mentioned. I’m hoping to get a lot of submissions this month for Spry too!

Overall Thoughts:
August was a nice month. I was busy, which made the month go by quickly, but overall, it was a good time. I felt crappy for about two weeks of the month which is never fun. All in all, I’m kind of glad to start a new month. I’m done with August. The only thing that stinks about being done with August is that the nights are getting darker earlier (which bums me out) and the weather is getting chillier. I love summer. I like fall too, but I hate winter and I can never enjoy fall because I’m always bummed about the upcoming winter. Oh well. Here’s to September!

_________________________________________________________________________
Want to know more about my experiences in 2012? Check out the previous months: January and February and March and April and May and June and July

June Highlights:

• We put in our air conditioners! That deserves its own bullet point.
• Tball. I just love it. I was bummed because there were a few rainouts and Wolverine was sick for one of the games, but I have a blast watching all the little kids play. Wolverine is much more into it this year versus last year, and its fun to see him excited and into something.
• Father’s Day. I’ll celebrate Mr. O for any reason, but I especially like to celebrate him as a father, because he is an incredible dad.
• Wolverine got a reading award at school…
• and even better than that…. he graduated kindergarten! He is so grown up now!
• I’m actually keeping up with my 365 photo project. As of today, I am on day 148.

Stinky June Moments:

• The few bad weather days in between the awesome warm and sunny days.
• Everything happening at once. Every project I am involved in between work, school and my personal stuff is all HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. I have no clue how I am going to accomplish everything.
• Getting excited about a possibility only to find out it is no longer possible. Sigh.

Other Mentionable Moments:

• My friends Thien, Amy S,  Audrey, Daisy, Chris, Trueblood and Trish all celebrated birthdays. My brother and his wife celebrated a wedding anniversary, and so did my good friend’s E & C.
• J and J are getting married tonight! And I am very excited about getting dressed up and spending time with my friends.
• My friend Linsey and I are working hard on our business venture. It is a LOT of work, but I’m enjoying the process.

I’m looking forward to____ in July:
I’m graduating! This coming residency will be magical, I’m sure. I get to spend ten days on an island with incredible like-minded creatures. I can’t wait to be with my friends again and absorb everything possible from my last residency of graduate school. I am so excited about being a TA, giving a seminar on my third semester project- The Story Behind the Status, doing a public reading, workshopping my newest story and giving a graduation speech. I’m excited to celebrate the birthdays of so many people I love. I can’t wait for Wolverine’s party. I’ll be happy to come home from residency and jump back into my “normal” life with Mr. O and Wolverine. I’m also pretty pumped to make the grand announcement about my new business venture.

Overall Thoughts:
I liked June a lot. There was a lot of nice weather, a lot of time spent outside. It was a busy month filled with errands and birthday parties and school/work/business/life stuff, but I can’t complain about being busy. It was overwhelming, but filled with mostly good happy things. I consider myself very lucky.

_________________________________________________________________________
Want to know more about my experiences in 2012? Check out the previous months: January and February and March and April and May

Well it’s been a while, but I am back with a few links to share with you.

One new blog I found (through Pinterest) is Shanty to Chic. I love her tutorials, because everything is so easy and doesn’t seem the least bit overwhelming. Here is a tutorial for easy no-sew window treatments.

This is a great read for all writers.  Lauren DeStefano urges you to tell your story.

Are you a brilliant woman? More than likely that is a yes, because I’ve only got a handful of male blog readers. If you are a brilliant woman, Tara Mohr has ten rules for you.

I’ve seen this on Pinterest FOREVER but eventually I’d really like to do something like this for Mr. O. Maybe for our anniversary next year, we can create one of these together.

6-year-old Sam has cancer. Be a superhero and let him know you’re pulling for him. It’s easy. Kate will tell you how to do it, and if you can’t for whatever reason mail something to Sam, Kate will do it for you. Kate, you’re a hero.

This week is “officially” Write a Letter to Your Future Spouse Week. Have you done it yet? I did it! Peter came up with the idea (well, he’s been writing to his future wife for a while, and so many awesome other bloggers have joined in. You should too.