Well Hello There.....

{living}

I am super excited about making plans lately.  There are so many things right now that I want to do, or cook, or make; things I want to find to start (or continue) collections. And I really do have LOTS of plans brewing. Not many of them would be considered "big" plans in and of themselves, but then again I don't think things have to be big and complicated to be meaningful or memorable. I prefer to live perhaps a little way off the beaten path, in a little (figurative) cottage along side the "road less travelled" so to speak.  Now don't get me wrong I don't want to be so dedicated to the "different" or "unique" that I (or my family) miss out on anything just because it's what everyone else is doing, (there's often a reason everyone is doing it) but I also want to make sure that our experiences are not limited checking off certain boxes, but are well rounded and fun.  (Also I'm not a fan of huge crowds of people so I'd just as well go places/do things that are less likely to be mobbed.. haha ).  Now I must admit that while I'd like to portray myself as a free spirit, open to new experiences, I also crave routine and at least a certain amount of planning.  I like to know what's going to happen (a result perhaps of there being very little planning or organizing of activities when I was growing up), but I have learned that the best things in life often come unexpectedly, and that we just have to relax and go with the flow sometimes to really enjoy them.  I always temper my need to plan with an openness to spontaneity.  Sometimes it's better to just drive the backroads and see where they take you (knowledge that may come in handy later).

So..........

Summer and I have always had a love/hate relationship.  The hate part because I do not like heat and humidity. It makes me miserable, drains my energy.  Especially as a kid I dreaded the summer heat. (although as an adult I'm finding that I seem to tolerate it perhaps a little better - either that or I'm just more stubborn now and don't want to let it stop me from doing what I want to do.....).  On the flip side of that, I LOVE swimming and being in water.  I love the sun (at least until I started to feel like I'm frying and my pale skin starts to burn).  I love the beach.  I love the long evenings that melt slowly into night.  I love wildflowers blooming on the side of the road.  I love the more relaxed slower pace of everything.  You get the idea...... (OH! one more thing to add to the "hate" side of summer... mosquitoes.... apparently I'm quite tasty because I get eaten alive every summer).  Unfortunately I love being outside and a lot of really great summer activities involve the outdoors, so often I just have to deal with the heat and bugs. Oh and another thing to add to that "love" list too..... summer reading.  As a kid there was nothing better on a hot summer day then going into the blissfully cool library to pick out a book or two.  To me library just says summer. Soo.... all of that said, here is a sneak peak of some of the plans that I have brewing for this summer (and perhaps beyond)....

[My Summer Bucket List]
{1}The plans that I'm probably the most excited about this summer are the plans I'm making for a bunch of day trips/road trips for us to take. One of our traditions is going to Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park which is only 1.5-2 hours from our house.  Last year we found out (seemingly much by fate, the way it happened) that for $30 you can get an annual pass to the park (seriously the best $30 we've ever spent since it's a place we love to go).  The regular admission (which is good for 7 days) is $15 so basically you're paying to go twice but get to go as many times as you want for an entire year! Since getting the pass we've definitely made more forays into the mountains (I love the mountains), and I've been trying to plan hikes and excursions in the park and along the drive to help us experience/explore new parts of the park that we never have before, or learn more about the fascinating history and biology of the park and mountains.  Another set of road/day trips I'm really excited about that I'm working on planning I've dubbed "around the world in...... Virginia". I have discovered that Virginia has many cities/towns/areas that are named after cities/countries from around the world (of course a lot of places from the British Isles, but other places too.... Paris, Amsterdam, Troy, Vienna, Syria, Jamaica, Warsaw, Berlin, just to name some of the ones I can think of off the top of my head) so I bought a good old fashioned map of Virginia and am planning out trips to explore these (sometimes off the beaten path) parts of Virginia, as well as stopping at some other historic sites or tourist attractions in the process. (Foamhenge is pretty near the top of the list of those attractions - so cool!)

{2} Summer entertaining. I love parties. I really really love planning parties and get togethers and of course hanging out with our friends (we've got such a great group of them).  Currently got several parties/get-togethers in the works 9which is awesome this year because normally summer is kinda the party dry spell for us, mostly just casual spur of the moment type "socials")

{3} Re-reading some of my favorite books (a lot of them Children's books hehe).  I started by re-reading The Princess and The Goblins, next up is Tuck Everlasting, I'm sure The Farthest Away Mountain (one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE books), and The Wind in The Willows will also make it onto the list, along with Nancy Drew books and A Mid-Summer Night's Dream, and many other book old and new (suggestions?)

{4}Eating and cooking with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables (another thing I love about summer).  And hopefully buying at least some of those fresh fruits and vegetable from local farmers (in fact I'm supposed to be making a trip to an area farm today with one of my friends - Miller Farms Market, and there is a farmers market just block from my house in downtown Fredericksburg, VA).

{5}getting my scrapbook caught up

{6}I've gotten really into micro-mini dollhouses lately and I'm hoping to do some cool stuff in that area this summer. and of course lots of other craft and sewing ideas to get done.

{7}I want to go innertubing (is that a word? maybe it's called rafting.....) down the river.  Fredericksburg is built on the fall line of the Rappahannock River and we've been meaning to do this for a couple years now and haven't actually done it yet... hopefully this will be the year!

{8} And of course most importantly just plain enjoy the "lazy" days of summer.....

I'll keep you posted.......