Summer 2017 Bucket List

Last year I wrote out several “bucket lists” related to specific seasons & I really enjoyed it. I loved having to sit down and actually visualize the months to come & write out goals for those months. I also loved the accountability that those lists brought – if I wrote it down, I wanted to check it off the list!

I literally cannot believe that today is the last day of spring. I mean, summer has definitely arrived over the last few weeks, but there’s something about the calendar stating that summer has “officially” arrived. It’s wonderful but also tough because it just means that the timer is now ticking and fall will be here before we know it. Don’t get me wrong: I love fall! But I love the atmosphere that summer brings!

Here is our Spring Bucket List & it’s “results”!

Spring 2017 Bucket List

1. Read 5 new books* – COMPLETED (blogged about it here)
2. Finish scrapbooking Braelynn’s 1st year photos* – I think I’m coming to terms with the fact that this is simply NEVER going to happen. What I really need to do (and should have done in the first place) is take all of my photos & compile them into a book that I have printed. That way, I don’t have the insane task of going thru photos & figuring out how to place them on the page, cutting them, and taping them down – I am simply never going to finish this monumental task)
3. Write Derrick & I’s love story* – COMPLETED/WORK-IN-PROGRESS! (read Part 1 & 2 here! Part 3 coming Thursday!)
4. Take a day to learn to bake macarons* – COMPLETED (we used this recipe & they turned out AMAZING)
5. Trim the bushes in front of the house* – COMPLETED (I found a pair of clippers at an Estate Sale & everything got a good trim!)
6. Have the most wonderful vacation & week in Texas! – COMPLETED (blogged about it here)
7. Completely potty train Braelynn – COMPLETED (I mean, we have our good days & our bad days, but for the most part, she does really good!)
8. Convert Braelynn to a toddler bed – COMPLETED (this has been quite the challenge! Read my notes on it in these Abby’s Saturday posts: 1, 2, 3, 4)
9. Take Braelynn to the library – COMPLETED (and now she points out the library every time we drive past!)
10. Find somewhere we can go & see baby animals
11. Have the last 2 new windows installed so our entire 2nd floor is done – HALF-COMPLETED (our new windows are sitting in our dining room just waiting to be installed! the plan is for them to be installed next week!)
12. Fix the roof/insulate the 3rd floor/turn it into livable space – 1/3 COMPLETED (the roof has been fixed! we even cleaned up the space as it was kind of our “catch-all”, so now we just need to move forward in insulating & sprucing up the space!)
13. Explore the possibility of opening an Etsy shop for designs or writing a Mom blog
14. Host Easter dinner – COMPLETED
15. Participate in the Just Between Friends sale (and have all my items tagged at least a week in advance) – COMPLETED
16. Plan a fun way to celebrate Derrick’s birthday – COMPLETED (we went to Waldameer Park in Erie, PA the day before his birthday & had so much fun!)
17. Clean out my personal inbox (230 emails full right now) – COMPLETED (why was I keeping receipts from 5 years ago in my inbox?!)
18. Plant flowers around the house (and grass where the tree used to stand) – COMPLETED (and for the most part, everything is growing!)
19. Invite at least 3 different couples over for dinner
20. Have new business cards/note cards made – COMPLETED

So, 14 2/5 out of 20 tasks completed is pretty good (and, let’s be honest, I really should have broken some of those items into separate numbers so I don’t have a weird statistic: 14 2/5?!)

Here is our list for this summer! It starts today & will end on September 21 – the last day of summer! So, here we go!

Summer 2017 Bucket List

1. Invite at least 3 different couples over for dinner*
2. Have the last 2 new windows installed so our entire 2nd floor is done*
3. Insulate the 3rd floor/Turn it into livable space*
4. Lay patio stone & create a fun patio space
5. Have a Yard Sale (and advertise it)
6. Get back on a meal/grocery plan (instead of flying by the seat of my pants)
7. Work with Derrick to write out business plan for “secret project”
8. Go swimming in the lake
9. Go to Idlewild Park for the annual Norwin Community Picnic
10. Go to the Pittsburgh Zoo
11. Travel to New York to celebrate Derrick’s Grandpa’s 90th birthday
12. Go to King’s Island with Derrick
13. Go get ice cream at Kerber’s Dairy
14. Take Braelynn to go see 4th of July fireworks
15. Take Braelynn to go see her first movie in the movie theater
16. Read 5 new books
17. Take Braelynn’s 2 1/2 year portraits (since she has a winter/cold birthday)
18. Update website with current images
19. Finish the business course I purchased & started but haven’t finished
20. Celebrate Abby’s birthday

Did I miss something? Is there an activity we should do, somewhere we should go, or an experience we simply should not miss that will happen this spring? Leave me a comment & let me know!