Every summer the kids and I travel to Ohio to Lake Erie and spend several weeks with family. I grew up on the shores of Lake Erie, every summer of my life. As the 6th generation in Linwood Park, I love that my children find it their sanctuary too. Last year my mom started letting the girls bring friends up for a week. Growing up, I always loved sharing Linwood with my friends and even though it’s about an 8-hour drive, I’m glad my girls can share the experience with their friends as well.
Summer Planning
With the countdown to the last day of school in the single digits, I’m planning out the next few weeks. Being away from home for six weeks or more requires a lot of planning. Despite my best efforts to pack light, it’s inevitable that I will fill the car with way more things than necessary!
Last year, I only spent about 2 weeks at the lake since IronFish and I took advantage of kid-free time to work on the kitchen. This summer, there will be no construction but there is a wedding!
Yep, my best friend is getting married this summer! I’m so excited for her, as well as the gifts I’m planning for them. But, you will have to wait to find out about those, I don’t want to spoil the surprise.
That, plus a triathlon for IronFish will take us away from the lake for a little over a week in the middle of our stay. I can handle it for the extra week I get to spend with my bestie (yes, I’m as giddy as a teenage girl going to prom, lol).
Why am I telling you all this? Because every year I cart out tons of projects I want to work on in my “free time.” Things to do with my sisters or mom.
And, every year I bring most of the stuff back untouched!
This year I’m making a different list of things I want to try to accomplish while on vacation. Hopefully, I really will pack much lighter this year.
July Plans
Despite my wanting the kids to spend less time on electronics, all my electronics will be traveling with me. It’s really hard to have a blog without a computer. I do most of my Rodan+Fields business via my phone or tablet, so yes, I need all my electronics!
I especially need them since most of my summer goals involve my computer and my camera.
First, I want to improve my photography. Last summer I finally decided it was time to invest in a “real camera.” I selected a Canon EOS and after a few pictures, I knew I had made the right choice! But, I also knew I had a lot to learn.
So, as I’m out enjoying the lake and spending time with family and friends, I’ll also be working on my photography skills. I’m excited to start working through the Ultimate Photography Bundle. There are so many great resources. Don’t worry, there is going to be a flash sale on this awesome resource, I’ll be sharing more info on it very soon for anyone who wants to join me in improving photography skills.
Speaking of photography, I also need to get my pictures in order. Thankfully, I don’t have a huge box of pictures, but I have them in a variety of different locations. The portable hard drive I recently started using should help me to get them all in one place. Plus I need to back everything up. The stretch goal would be to catch up on scrapbooks, but I’m not counting on that happening this summer!
While I’m sorting all those pictures, I will also be figuring out which ones to use in posts. I’m pretty sure I have at least a month’s worth of posts that have been photographed but now written about. Time to share those! Plus, there are quite a few things I want to do behind the scenes on
the blog. Updating old posts, organizing the categories and maybe even updating some of the pictures.
My final goal for July is to begin working on some of the new crochet patterns I haven’t shared yet. For the most part, I’ve created the pattern but I need to turn it from my notes to an actual pattern. Plus, get finished pieces photographed. This goal will probably spill into August, but as long as I work on it this summer, I’ll be happy.
August Goals
While many people will be sending their kids back to school in August, my kids don’t start up again until after Labor Day. I can’t believe this fall I will have 2 girls in high school! This past school year was really rough for JuneBug. One thing we have decided would be helpful to her next year is a better planner. Our school district provides a planner for every kid but my daughters aren’t thrilled with the high school’s version.
After seeing how I use my planner to stay on top of my job, my skincare business, all 3 kid’s schedules, and my blog, both girls think a better planner would benefit them. While I love the planner I currently have this year, there are a few things I wish it had and a few things I have found I don’t use. One solution would be to design our own planners, but I know from trying that in the past, it takes me almost a whole year to get something remotely close to what I want!
This is why I’m so excited we found Purple Trail planners. Not only do they have different options for daily, weekly, or monthly planners, but for moms, brides, teachers, students and more! You can personalize your planner and add on different sections you feel will work best for you. There are a variety of sizes and types of binding available as well as all kinds of options for the cover, including designing your own.
The girls and I will be designing and ordering their planners well before school starts so they can get a real feel for them and get long-term plans entered well in advance of school.
Once that is done, I’ll be back to working on my photography. In August, my goal is to photograph everything I need for the patterns so I can share them and list PDF versions in Etsy.
And…. actually get my Etsy shop going again!
The break I took there has been way too long. My craft room is overflowing with items I planned to list, but haven’t gotten too. I need to make room for all the other ideas I have floating around in my head.
Finally, for August, I have a build list. This list started with an Ikea hack idea for my nightstand and turning my antique radio cabinet into a bar cart. It’s grown from there! I’ve recently acquired an old sewing cabinet and an end table, both of which I have ideas for. A few are things I’ve been thinking about since we moved almost 3 years ago!
Putting It Out There
If you’re wondering why I’m telling you all this and not just waiting until the projects are done and ready to share… well… part of why I started blogging was to accomplish all the projects that mill around in my head. Several years ago these were all the things I wanted to do before going back to work. Now that I work part-time, they are all the projects that get in the way of things I should be doing… like cleaning the house!
So it’s about accountability. I feel if I put it out on the blog, I’m now being held accountable by everyone out there. Like you might all be waiting with baited breath to see if I finish everything on my list!
I dream of summer all year long. Ever since my kids have started school I’ve seen summer as a time to accomplish different things. Things I feel like I can’t accomplish because of weather, the kid’s school schedules, or whatever else I arbitrarily make an obstacle.
Hopefully this year my list is actually obtainable. But, I guess we’ll have to wait until school starts again to find out!
What are your summer plans? What are you looking forward to as the weather heats up?
