Left column, top to bottom: an Iris in our garden, rhododendron in front of our front porch, cowboy hat and typewriter, relaxing on the front porch, tomatoes and peppers in the garden
2nd column from the left: my grandpa and his army jeep in our town’s Memorial Day parade (he’s driving), pair of bulls from Peru, another Iris in our garden, fresh lemonade, day lillies by the deck
2 column from the right: day lillies by the deck, cabbage plant in garden, yogurt parfait, our garden
Right column: fresh lemonade, rhododendron, my grandpa in the Memorial Day parade, blueberry plant in our garden
I know it’s not technically summer yet, but it sure feels like it, especially since I have been done with school for over a month now. I am trying really hard to make this summer one to remember. I’m trying to spend less time online, more time outside, and more time actually doing things. Although I’ve certainly wasted some days, I think so far I’ve stuck to this pretty well. Summertime is meant for relaxation and enjoying the little things and I’m trying hard to remember that each day. Who knows what next summer might bring- there’s always a chance that this could be my last summer home. So I’m trying my best to relish it, explore, and attempt to recreate the summers of my youth. Even though it’s only the beginning of June, we’ve had some really nice, sunny, warm days already. I helped my grandpa plant Christmas trees and have made a really big effort to go visit my grandparents every couple days or so. There are so many things I want to do this summer (more on that later). I’ve already done some of those things. I’ve been kayaking and hiking a couple of times and have been working in the garden pretty regularly. I’m learning to enjoy the little things, such as a row of bright yellow lillies in the backyard, a home-cooked meal, a glass of lemonade on a hot day, a mug of hot tea on a chilly night, and just sitting out on the porch. Yes, I still get sucked into the online world far too much and am a bit lazy, but I’m happy. I’m also starting to look forward for next school year. One of the things I’m most excited about is the room I’ll be living in next year. I’m going to be living in the oldest dorm on campus, which is mostly original to when it was built (I believe prior to 1900), which means it has wood floors, older furniture, and looks of unique little quirks. I haven’t really seen my room, but it has a huge window seat (I think the window is 5 panels), which is so, so exciting!
But back to summer. I want to share some of the things I’m hoping to do this summer and some of the goals I have for the summer.
Some things I want to do this summer: kayak, hike, bike, swim in the river, eat s’mores, have a campfire, stargaze, visit grandparents, visit my friend who’s not coming home this summer, make lemonade (from scratch), grill, bake, swim at my grandparents’, scrapbook, camp, garden, decorate, clean, go blueberry picking, go strawberry picking, have a picnic, cook, read, write more, get outside, drive on the back roads, have a movie night, have a water balloon fight, make homemade ice cream, knit, pick flowers, catch fireflies, visit a farmer’s market, visit friends, paint, take lots of pictures, go to the drive-in movies, build something, have a karaoke night
10 Goals for this Summer
- Exercise EVERY day
- Finish my bedroom
- Weed garden at least weekly
- Bike S. River Rd.
- Re-read entire Harry Potter series
- Finish restoring a dresser
- Sew at least 1 thing
- Paint the garage
- Be adventurous (do at least 1 thing outside my comfort zone)
- Take pictures daily!
One of my goals is to take more pictures. The past couple of weeks I have been taking pictures more regularly. I don’t have an iPod, iPhone, or anything like that, so I can’t have an Instagram, but I do have a Samsung Bloggie (a small video/picture camera), so I have been trying to take Instagram-like photos with that (they aren’t square, but you can’t have everything, right?). Those pictures are up above.
Do you have any plans/goals/dreams for this summer? What do you usually do in the summer that you don’t do the rest of the year?
The Oke Den 