A Summer of Progress and Fun

It's summer!

And thanks to the ladies, Joy and Tracy, at the Joy the Baker podcast, I was reminded that I gotta get going on my list of things I want to do this summer or it's going to be gone before I know it!

So here's my List for a Summer of Progress and Fun! (Yes, both Lee and I want to do loads of fun things AND get some stuff done on our to-do list while we have lots of daylight!)

1) Garden:  Specifically, not kill my garden and actually work on it so that it's pretty and does well throughout the summer and fall. Yes, I have killed my garden every July the last few years.

Early summer garden--I've got a lot of hope!

2) Watch a cool show: Road trip to Las Vegas to watch a Cirque du Soleil show with Lee. They really know how to do it there! We're leaning toward The Beatles Love show. Plus, it will be a nice, quick getaway.

3) Finish up a project: Lee wants to reupholster these two chairs we picked up along the way that have been an eyesore in our living room. They've been waiting for our attention.

Not cute now, but will be after this summer!

4) Visit family: Go visit my sister and her family before they move to Iowa. Iowa is so far away from Utah. Boo!

5) Style our home: Finally decorate our entertainment room and bedroom. We've lived in our place for over 3 years now and we may or may not have all our photos and pictures still propped up against our wall, not on it.

Why yes, that is an eye, a heart, and a ewe on that letterpress card.

6) Rough it: Go camping with Lee. It's been a while since we've been able to get away and be at one with nature.

7) Learn a new cooking skill: Learn how to to make homemade gyoza skins. Yeah, this Asian is finally going to learn how to roll it out!

Hoping to get more Asian points this summer

8) Make a useful space: Re-do our office/workroom. It's a catchall room and is totally not functional.  We want to make it into a place where we can hang out and relax, but also get some projects done.

9) Party!: Host our 9th Annual Cheese and Italian Soda Party (read about our past parties here and here). It's our 9th year! I think our theme this year will be "Dressed to the Nines" and we'll require that everyone be dressed up fancy pants!

Part of the spread of cheese at the 8th Annual Cheese Party

10) Get organized: Purge and organize our storage shed. I think this will make me happy.  Lee is cringing a little about this one, but it will be good.

11) Get out and bike: Specifically, ride our bikes around Bear Lake. It's a 50 mile ride, and Lee did it as a boy scout for a merit badge when he was a kid. I think it will be fun to do on good bikes.

I like to ride bicycle, I like to ride my bike!

12)  Get a goal: Sign up for the Dirty Dash and train for it. It's not till September, but I want to fit some running in this summer!

13) Play a tune: Get my clarinet tuned up and practice it once a week. I love playing and it's been a while.

I love my clarinet!

14) Be with family: Have a couple of summer dinner parties with my siblings and Lee's side of the family. We all get busy, so we're trying to make a point to spend time with them all at some point in time.

15) Read books: Read these books specifically. Some I've read before and want to re-read. Others, I've had on my list for a while. 

My summer reading list

15)  Learn something new: Take a couple of fun classes like cooking or gardening classes. I already crossed off one gardening class--Growing Gourmet Mushrooms. I'll be writing a little bit more about this later. Here's my inoculated shitake mushroom log! How exciting!

Our pet shitake log

16) Relax: Lastly, relax and enjoy this summer. I always feel obligated to go to everything that we're invited to and I end up feeling like I don't have a minute to myself. This year, I hope I won't feel so stressed and we can enjoy ourselves.

Here's to this summer!