Summer Bucket List 2015

Summer is right around the bend, and I’ve got plans. The last couple summers I created a “bucket list” and I have LOVED doing it. It’s basically a list of things I hope to accomplish. Some fun, some grown up and important, but all stuff I want to make time for. It was super fun for me to sit down and think about the things I wanted to do in the next few months. I hope when summer is over I can look over this list with a sense of accomplishment that I was able to strike most things off the list! 

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1) Better time management. Yes, I have two little kids underfoot. Yes, I’m busy. But even Beyonce has only 24 hours in a day. I have to find a way to get more done in a day. I would love to make the best of both worlds, and not try to straddle work and play at the same time anymore. 

2) Getting rid of things I don’t need is a priority. A few weekends ago, I went through every item of clothing in my entire home from the closets to the storage, from every season. Every stray sock was thrown away, piles of clothing were sorted into Goodwill, closets were stripped of anything that was ill fitting or out of style. I need to keep that mojo going and do the rest of the house.

3) Streamlining my beauty routine is always a work in progress. Every few weeks I’ve been going through my bathroom and trying to use up products that are nearly empty, donate things that haven’t gotten much love, and trying to whittle down my collection. When I have 30 blushes to choose from in the morning, it just gives me a headache and takes me that much longer to get ready. You know what else takes forever? Shaving every day! I’m planning to start using the Tria Beauty Hair Removal Laser 4X this summer. Although it’s a time commitment at first (once every other week for three months), you can achieve permanent results. It’s FDA-cleared and safe to do at home. Considering I spend about 3 minutes a day, 7 days a week shaving, removing my body hair will save me 21 minutes a week, and almost an hour and a half a month from my morning routine. I will be documenting my experience with the laser, so stay tuned!

4) My phone desperately needs an upgrade so I can document more of the every day moments. I currently have the 8GB iPhone5, and I’ve been out of storage space almost the entire time I’ve owned it. I love the iPhone, but come ON! I know I can erase my pictures and save them on my computer, but who wants to do that?! In a few weeks I plan on upgrading to the 128GB iPhone 6. In the meantime, I can’t even take a picture or video if I want to, because I’m completely tapped out on storage. I have a goal to document more of my every day moments with the kids so this is seriously cramping my style. I know I’m not the only person with this problem, get it together, Apple! (Ok- am I the only one? Does anyone else have this problem with the 5? 8GB is NOT enough!)

5) Commit to tracking my meals with MyFitnessPal. I’m so terrible at calorie counting, but when I do it, I’m usually out of calories by 3 pm. It’s torturous! I feel SO much better when I’m eating healthy though, so it’s totally worth it. This grilled chicken salad is rocking my world and it’s the perfect lunch salad for me. High protein and high yum factor.

6) I just got a personal trainer and another goal of mine this summer- this is huge and lofty- is to finally commit to an exercise routine that I can stick with for life. None of this low impact, 2 hours of walking business. I don’t have time for that! I want to put in maximum effort a couple days a week for some high impact workouts and get out of the gym. In the past, it’s always been hard to see results because I typically take forever to work out and go soooo slllooooowwww on the machines. I’ve been taking some classes that build muscle strength so I can burn fat faster. I’m super excited to see my progress this summer and I know I will stick with it because it feels awesome being healthy. And because I signed up for a 5k to challenge myself! Should I post on my fitness journey? It could be fun!

7) Take more time for myself and as a couple. We went on a date night this past weekend for the first time in a super long time. Anyone who is in a relationship and busy knows it’s easy to put yourself and your significant other on the back burner when things get insane. But connecting in life is what it’s all about. I also wrote a post about how getting dressed and wearing makeup makes me feel way better about myself when I’m  having a crummy day. I’m going to be doing a lot more of that this summer, mark my words! 8) Wear SPF every single day. I did a lot of tanning in tanning beds in high school and college and although I’ve sworn them off now, the fear of what I may have done to my health and my skin freaks me out. I worry about melanoma, skin cancer, and all those scary things all the time now. Despite my worries, sometimes I convince myself that as long as I’m not tanning in a tanning bed, I’m fine. But I could be way more diligent about wearing sunscreen! I’ve been inconsistent about it, but this is the summer where that all changes.

9) Speaking of which, this summer I’m going to get a full on mole check at the dermatologist’s office, to remove and biopsy any suspicious spots. It freaks me out to think about, but I want to be proactive about my health. 

10) Read 1,000 books. Well, not me but my two year old. I have some reading charts from the public library and they want every child to read 1,000 books before kindergarten. I think we can do it by September!  

11) I would like to read a book for enjoyment myself too. It’s been a hot second since I’ve picked up anything longer than a magazine and I would love to relax and unwind with some literature. If you have a suggestion for me, leave it below! 

12) Start a photography website. I have a goal to start a photography business and you better believe I’ve been practicing! I am going to take more pics of my friends’ children and other things and hopefully have something to show the world by the end of summer. I have a lot of photography related goals right now but I’ll just keep it at that for now!

13) Go camping with my kids. Last time we tried this, Jocelyn was one and this plan failed miserably. We are going to go camping in my hometown in a couple weeks and we’ll be close to home if things don’t go well. 

I have so many aspirations this summer, it’s so exciting! In the past I’ve written down a list of 50 things I wanted to do, but I think focusing on a few broad things will be more successful. I like to fly by the seat of my pants in the summer, and this should help me focus on just a few things I really want to do and I can fill in the gaps with fun things along the way.

Have you ever made a bucket list? I can’t wait to cross some things off tomorrow already!