As the Spring weather hits, and temperature warm outside, I start thinking ahead about summer. It seems every year that I create a list of things I want to accomplish during those elusive summer months. My summer bucket list. These are goals that I want to achieve, be they health goals or family goals, relationship goals or spiritual goals. Making the best use of the window in time known as summer vacation is a rather lofty goal. Summer is for relaxing, so I don’t want to over-extend myself. But I thought I could come up with a few items for a short summer bucket list.
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Summer Bucket List:
Finish landscaping the front yard. I want to widen the flowerbed in front of the house, and make a new flowerbed along the driveway. Seems like I make big plans every year to do a lot of landscaping, but this year I am going to scale back my intentions – and stick to only two flowerbeds this year.
Maintain my vegetable garden in such a way that I am able to share some of the produce with family and co-workers. I am hoping that my container garden will keep my little family well supplied with wholesome goodness this season. Then, any extra can be shared at work, etc. My mouth is really watering for those gorgeous tomatoes that will be showing up soon, and I can’t wait to add those crisp cucumbers to a fresh salad.
Read 5 books this summer. OK, so enough of the landscaping and gardening. Along with nourishing the outside of my little world, I want to nourish my spirit as well by getting back in the habit of reading for fun more often. So, more trips to the library this summer. I haven’t decided which books to read yet. Maybe I need to consult my daughter; she has a degree in English Literature.
Hike all the trails at Silver Falls State Park. I have hiked several of them over the years, and have a few favorites that I hike often. But I haven’t hiked ALL the trails there. So that is my goal for the summer – my daughter and I will hike the entire list of trails at our local state park. This goal hits a couple of areas that I want to improve: all that walking and fresh air will improve my health, and the time spent with my daughter will improve out relationship as well!
Make homemade ice cream! This is a favorite memory of mine from childhood summers; each year we have a family reunion in July, and every year when I was a kid we made homemade ice cream in a hand-cranked ice cream maker. The kids would start out cranking (before the ice cream set too hard), and when we ran out of steam the dads would take over. I want to make this summer treat this year with my daughter – and possibly invite my nieces and nephews over to partake, as well.
So there it is – my summer bucket list for this year. The official start of summer is just around the corner; however, it has seemed like summer here for the past two weeks. Regardless, I have three months to accomplish the above-mentioned items. There is a limited number of days each summer to enjoy the warmer weather and fun, so I want to make the most of that time!
I am really looking forward to this summer!
What’s on your bucket list this summer?
What are you looking forward to the most about your summertime?
Thinking about adding a picnic to YOUR summer bucket list? Here are some great ideas to do that: How To Plan The Perfect Summer Picnic
Joan Merrell is a solo mom to two daughters, a widow, and a security technician at Oregon State Hospital. Oregon native, farm girl and 4H leader, maker of homemade bread and chocolate chip cookies, she balances (more or less) full-time work with caring for a home filled with a teenage daughter, 2 entitled cats, and a hyper German Shepherd. She enjoys gardening and hiking, reading Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti novels, and searches for a few spare minutes to communicate with her grown daughter and son-in-law on her Marco Polo app. Find out more about Joan here.