August Bucket List

National Watermelon Day (8/3)

A little bit of fresh watermelon with a watermelon face mask is a nice end to the day.

National Book Lover’s Day (8/9)

As Rory Gilmore said, “I live in two worlds, one is a world of books.” If you’ve been around here for any amount of time, you know I love to read. I even work as a librarian at my church. However, I fell in love with reading a little late, not truly learning to enjoy a good book until college. Now, I have more books than I’ll be able to read in several lifetimes and I’m still the world’s worst at rereading books I love. I am currently rereading the Anne of Green Gables series for the billionth time as part of my 2020 goals.

National Waffle Day (8/24)

First of all, every time I hear the word “waffle” I think of Donkey from Shrek and it makes me giggle. I don’t particularly care for waffles, not because I truly dislike them, but rather because I’m not a sweet breakfast type of person. I’d rather have waffles as dessert, however, for about two years in junior high, I ate Eggo waffles EVERY freaking morning because Hanson was on the box and you could order a shirt with enough UPCs. I still have one of these boxes packed away with my Hanson memorabilia which I really need to find because I use this in my class as an example of why celebrity endorsements work. After 730 days worth of Eggos…should have gotten a stock option!

Fall Shopping Day

Man, when I made this bucket list a year ago, I envisioned a lovely day of shopping for fun fall décor, some cozy scarves and maybe a delicious pumpkin candle. I figured I could grab a scrumptious fall flavored coffee, even if it would still be 100 degrees outside and pretend it was fall in a Hallmark movie not fall in South Mississippi. Fall is my favorite time of year because it begins the countdown to the holidays. It’s like on October 1st my heart bubbles up and I float along in twinkling expectation until about January 2nd.

However, this year fall has been overshadowed and overwhelmed by starting school in a pandemic and just trying to navigate this new world we are facing but in the hopes of bringing a little festive fall flavor to my life, I think I’ll make a cup of tea and order some seasonal candles online!

Letter to My Future Husband

I was a Brio gal as a teenager. Brio was essentially the Christian version of Seventeen Magazine and I always enjoyed reading the articles written by my peers about life, love and the challenges faced by a teen girl in the modern world. I specifically remember an article titled something like “Saving My Confetti” in which the author described how she wrote letters to her future husband and kept them in a box that she prayed over and hoped to one day give to her spouse (and yes the box included confetti). It was such a sweet and endearing exercise that really stuck out to me.

Then, I read a book a while back where the author compiled all the letters she wrote her husband from junior high until they were married. It was so cool to see how she developed as a young woman, how God had His hand on her life and how the Lord wove their stories together. I love seeing love stories through hindsight. What makes no sense looking forward is crystal clear in the reverse! Taking inspiration from these moments I did exact that. Dear Future Husband…

Pinterest Day/ Cook a New Recipe

As a child, I was a bit odd…shocker, I know! While other kids watched cartoons and Disney, I was obsessed with HGTV and the Food Network. When my parents went to work during the summer I would become engrossed in whatever creative project was airing at the time and would often attempt said projects with the resources I had at my finger tips that wouldn’t get me in trouble or burn the house down. Boy did I make some crazy messes that my mother never found out about! Like that time the Sharpie bled through my project on to the kitchen table. Luckily, I was HGTV savvy and knew hairspray would remove it without much of a trace. As far as I know my parents never found out…until now.

Pinterest takes my childhood love of creativity and exploded but with the ability to keep everything organized. Plus, it adds in humor, fashion and videos of cute raccoons. As far as, my new recipe goes, I’ve been trying to not keep sweets in the house because if you don’t have them you can’t eat them but every now and then you get hit with a desperate need for a cupcake and Pinterest always comes to the rescue with mug cake recipes. These are nothing new and I’ve discussed them before but they are a great way to hit that craving without waking up the next morning to find a three layer cake on your counter sans one slice. Each time I get a craving I try a new flavor combo or recipe to shake things up!

Watch a Football Game

This is another one of those challenges that seemed simplistic a year ago. As a teacher, I try to attend as many of my students “events” as possible. Not only is it a blast to sit in the bleachers on a Friday night cheering the Warriors on but it allows me to support my football players, cheerleaders, dancers, band members, choir and more. Friday nights were some of my favorite moments in high school but this season is unlike any I’ve known. As of this post, we are still unsure of what football will look like for the season so I don’t know when I’ll actually be able to watch a game which makes me sad but I’m holding out hope that I’ll be able to cheer the Warriors on in some fashion.

Social Media Free Day

As a teacher, the last month and a half of social media content has been pure torture. We’ve been criticized for decisions we didn’t make and attacked for feeling apprehensive about the unknown. I’ve been told to conduct business as usual for the kids but to also wear PPE and update my will/death plan. It only takes a few scrolls before my chest tightens and my mind reels. Even, the groups created for the benefit of educators have become a pit of doom and gloom. I’ve had to realize that information for the sake of information in not actually informative. I’ve had to make an intentional effort to not get stuck in the quick sand of media posts which can start a spiral. Choosing to be media free for a day is like choosing to go for a walk or eat a salad. It’s good for your health!

Do a Hair Mask/ Glam Manicure/ Enjoy a Bubble Bath/ Try Yoga

I always try to do a nice “pamper” night right before schools starts as a last minute little refresher before the hustle and bustle of the fall. This year, it seems even more necessary than normal. Sometimes, just a simple bubble bath or face mask can put a little pep in your step.

If you’ve seen my Summer Challenge post, then you know how I feel about yoga but I decided to give a SHORT, stretching focused yoga video a try. I’m not sure I’ll ever be a yoga convert but it was nice to quiet my mind for a bit. A calm before the storm.

Solve a Rubik’s Cube

Solving a Rubik’s Cube has been on my bucket list since I was a child. My grandmother had one in the toy box at her house and I always found it fascinating because I couldn’t figure it out. I understood the concept but couldn’t figure out the pattern. Obviously, I couldn’t Google the answer and no one else seemed to have a clue either so it’s always been a mystery to me. In the last few decades, I’ve bought several cubes and followed MANY tutorials and I’ve never been able to figure it out! How do people do these things blindfolded? I think I’m going to have to find one of my kiddos who can walk me through step by step. Man do I sound old!