I decided that it had been all to long since I regaled you with my end of the week feelings. I’m sorry/you’re welcome. But it is Friday, Friday at the end of the first week of school, the last Friday in August Recess, and the Friday of a long weekend. And these are my feelings.

This whole week back has me feeling nostalgic for the impossibly amazing group of students I had in France. Teachers, can I get an amen for how hard it is to love a new group of students right after you have a really good group? And in this case, it is totally unfair, as the students who zone out three times a week in my second semester French class do not get to ride horses beside me on a beach in southern France or demonstrate their useful knowledge in weekly bar trivia night. They might actually have wonderful souls, but I will never really get to know them beyond thrilling essays about their imaginary future travels.

I watched this video more times than I care to admit, and every time it had me feeling all sorts of emotions. THAT DRESS. AND THE WILDLIFE. AND THE VINTAGE PLANE. I loved it so much that I even resisted doing a grad school postcolonial analysis and ruining it.

Today we are heading to Charlottesville to celebrate my big brother’s engagement to a woman who is not only phenomenal in every way — but she is also the genesis of Friday Feelings. I could not feel more excited about them getting married and you can bet that you will have to hear about it for the next many moons.

I am still feeling a little unready for summer to end. Maybe it’s because I just made my first crispy peach cobbler yesterday and I want about a million more, or maybe it’s because salted caramel beverages aren’t back at Starbucks yet, or maybe it’s because, you know, it was over 90 degrees three days in a row this week — but Summer, you’ve been so good. Don’t go just yet.

I held off watching the investigative footage from the Center for Medical Progress for a long time. I’m already staunchly pro-life and didn’t feel like I needed to see it. But if we shut our eyes to truth, we will forget it. One day I finally sat down and watched all of them, crying at the desk because what are we doing. How are we the generation that cries out for ethics for how our food should be treated, but not our unborn children?  I loved this article by Mary Beth, because she is right- we should be pro-life and feminist for the same reasons. And I feel like this article is especially jarring about the “humor” of abortion (spolier: it’s not funny).

And on a far, far, less serious note, I finally used up every last bit of my free space with WordPress and had to buy an upgrade, which comes with its own domain. Someone already has Theartinlife.com, but I do like the freedom that comes with using my own domain, especially as I have long wanted to do a little sprucing up around here. How would you all feel about a new name for this little corner of random ramblings? And by all means, do feel free to suggest any names you can think of, because mine are all THE WORST.

Happy Friday, to you and all your feelings.

Image via here, and it’s pretty much how I feel that late summer should look. Go home fall- not your turn yet.