Now That Summer Semester is D.O.N.E. - Done

Summer semester ended Wednesday for me. Owen finishes up today. I am very excited about this because it means I finally get a summer break!! Yay for "vacations" (we're not going actually going anywhere though)! Ha..how many people do you know that get excited over staying home?! Well, I'm a home-body and prefer my own bed and my own routine, so going to the grocery store is all the traveling this mama needs most days.

Fall semester doesn't start until September 8th, so I get a full seven weeks to sit around sipping lemonade while Owen fans me with palm leaves. Haha, just kidding! I actually have quite a bit that I hope to accomplish. I'm not really the sit-about type of person anyway; I'm a project person. For the last couple weeks I've been compiling yet another list in order to make the most of my time and so I can remember all the fun things I have planned to get done (fun for me, at least).

1. Get caught up on blogging (I'm quite behind, but I've been keeping a list -- yes, I realize I have a gazillion lists -- of posts to write. They will all be written...eventually, and I will slowly catch up. I'm just going to start with the current life events, moving forward, and will fill in the blanks of past news a little at a time. Then hopefully, I'll never get behind on blogging again! Ha...who am I kidding?! I know I'll be behind again, if Fall semester doesn't help that happen, I'm sure student teaching this Winter will ensure it! I'm still not sure how I'm going to handle three months of full-time chaos (I'm a home-body, remember?) but I'm sure I'll manage somehow. Anyway, moving on).
2. Make Owen's Christmas quilt (the one I've been planning since February, and that Owen found out about sometime in March -- I've put it off until school was out because I knew if I started it during the semester I'd neglect all homework and housework responsibilities. Not that all I have is a home to keep clean, I should be able to tackle this little project with no problems).
3. Read at least seven books (approximately one per week, some will take less time and some more. Among the books I hope to read are Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, Fablehaven - Book One by Brandon Mull and Twilight by Stephenie Meyer -- yes, Alicia, I'm finally starting this series...but only for you. Who knows, maybe I'll like it.)
4. Make family Christmas presents (I'm hoping to do a semi-homemade Christmas this year -- it will help save money for more important things and will be fun for me to do anyhow).
5. Lose weight (and don't go looking to find it again! I have to start over on my challenge because I wimped out like to eat when I'm stressed -- and the end of a semester usually stresses me quite a bit. So, I've still got the same ten pounds to lose that I had a month ago. Better late than never!)
6. Type/import recipes into The Living Cookbook (This is an awesome recipe program that my parents gave me for Christmas. I can add my own recipes, meal plan, make grocery lists and ingredient inventories, publish recipes into a cookbook and share recipes with friends and family with the export tool. I started adding recipes into the program when I got it, but stopped when school started. Now I've got to get busy so I can start compiling a cookbook of my favorite recipes).
7. Clean out/organize indoor and deep freezer
8. Clean out/organize pantry
9. Clean out/organize kitchen cabinets and drawers (These three all connect together, but are big enough projects that I feel they each deserve their own number to cross off -- and all are actually quite clean and organized already because my mom is by no means messy at all. She's a very clean, orderly lady...my dad too. I'm just OCD, so I go through and clean things that aren't dirty -- by most people's standards -- just for fun).
10. Organize baby clothes (Miriam's clothes are actually already organized into sizes, but I need to figure out what she needs -- dresses, bottoms, pajamas, etc. -- so I know what to look for at yard sales and so I can tell Alicia what to look for at the outlet mall near her).
11. Make lots and lots of bows so I can open my bowtique on Etsy (This idea has been churning for months now and I although I wasn't actually planning on starting this up until after my graduation, I decided now was just as good a time as ever. So, with the help of my two favorite sisters -- they know who they are -- I'm jumping into this new adventure. I'll post more on this later).

There ya have it. That's my list. I'm really excited about all the things I have planned, so I'd better get busy doing all my fun projects!!