The Ultimate Bucket List: 33 Fun Things To Do This Summer

We’re more than halfway through the year and it’s the summer solstice!  Even though it gets unfathomably hot outside, summer is my second favorite season.  I love the feeling of the windows down and the wind blowing my hair around, the smell of summer rains and the idea of spending as much time outside soaking up the summer sun.  As an adult, I still have a bucket list of things I want to do over the next few months.  Here are 33 fun things you can do this summer!

• Read a few books
• Go to a drive-in movie
• Watch a new movie in theaters
• Go to the beach
• Go on a bike ride
• Go hiking
• Visit a water park
• Visit an amusement park 
• Go on a road trip
• Go somewhere new
• Finish a series on Netflix
• Eat S’mores
• Watch the sunset
• Have a water balloon fight
• Go swimming
• Go on a picnic
• Attend a concert
• Go bowling
• Go mini-golfing
• Go to a park
• Visit an aquarium
• Take a day trip somewhere fun
• Go camping
• Host a barbecue
• Go fishing
• Create a blanket fort
• Have a movie marathon/lazy day
• Go white water rafting
• Run a 5K
• Try out new recipes
• Write more often
• Visit a zoo
• Try out a new local restaurant

Are you doing anything fun this summer that I didn’t include on this list, or is there something you’re looking forward to doing this summer that you want to share?  Leave it in the comments below and I’ll respond as soon as I can!  Also follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to keep up with my summer plans!

P.S.  I GOT MARRIED!!!!  Look for my post in the upcoming week that discusses wedding crafting, unexpected things that went wrong (and how you don’t even notice them and/or care), and a description of how the big day went.

Be Kind, Always

Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.

I recently read a blog post written by a former classmate and “Facebook friend” that was incredibly raw and personal about something that happened to her seven years ago.  I won’t go into details regarding the event or even share her name, but what I will share is that it helped me realize that I need to change how I perceive people.

I’ve always heard (and have been told) that you should be kind to someone because you never know what type of battle they’re fighting.  I don’t think that has ever really hit home for me until now.  When I read the blog, I realized this former classmate of mine, who was (and still is) one of the most popular girls I know, went through a troubling experience and continued to go on day by day like nothing happened.  I had no idea that anything like that happened to her until she posted the blog.  We were never friends, and I’m not sure she even knew I existed while we went to high school together, so it’s not like she would’ve told me about it anyway, but I was shocked nonetheless that it did happen.  And then I felt guilty.

Guilty because I was being so judgmental about someone I knew nothing about.  Guilty because I used to mock her “perfect” life, when obviously it was anything but that.  Guilty because I was so unnecessarily jealous of her because of her popularity, her looks, and her life.

Taking a step back has helped me realize that everything you see is not necessarily a reality.  Anything we post on social media is purposely uploaded to create a specific persona of our lives and not necessarily how our lives really are.  We rarely post the bad things (with the exception of unfortunate events, such as death, that we want to make friends/family aware of), and instead focus on the good, the positive, the happy.  Referring back to my “Facebook friend” as an example, she posted pictures with friends from college at football games wearing infectious smiles, competitions that she participated in (and some where she won), and pictures displaying her life as a photographer.  She never once spoke out about this event in her life until several years later, and never even gave a hint that it had happened to her.  This just goes to show that even the people who look the happiest are sometimes the ones who are struggling the most inside.

Remember what you have, what you’re going through, and what your concerns and worries are in your life and remember that others are going through the same, some worse than others.  I encourage you (and myself) to no longer be judgmental, to no longer criticize, to no longer mock, and to no longer be jealous of others but instead to be kind, always.

Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.  -Mark Twain

Sunday News: This week’s recap

This week I didn’t get to watch so much of the news just because of how busy I was getting settled with my new job and trying to figure out how to manage my time.  But there is one thing that I saw that really stuck out to me that I have a strong feeling about.

Ashley Judd’s Act Against Twitter Trolls

I’m going to be honest.  I didn’t even know who Ashley Judd was before this news came out the other day, but that doesn’t mean it should’ve happened to her, let alone anyone else.  A few days ago, Ashley Judd was at a college basketball game watching her favorite team play.  She’s a fan who likes to live-tweet the games (I’m guilty as well, if you just check my twitter feed to the left) and probably does so because it’s in the heat of the moment and she’s either really excited or really angry and has to let it out.

With that being said, she tweeted about how the other team was playing dirty.  What happened next is incredible to me.  Immediately, people began tweeting awful things to her, basically harassing her and then threatening rape and sexual violence.

All. Because. Of. A. Basketball. Tweet.

This blows my mind.  Why should she have to put up with this?  She was a survivor of rape and incest.  I can’t even imagine how she felt after these insulting tweets came flying in her mentions.  No one should have to relive a traumatic experience in their life, yet she was forced to because of the ignorant and vile people who tweeted those things to her.

What I want to know is why those people think it’s okay to threaten someone with violence.  Even if it is over social media, that doesn’t make it okay.  Who knows, those people who threatened with sexual violence could be one of those people who were never caught raping or physically hurting other women.

I really hope she gets justice and that everyone who threatened her is at least fined.  If law enforcement lets this slide, it’s just one more thing that people know that they can get away with.  Sure, it may be over the Internet, but it’s no different if someone made a raunchy or threatening comment in public, especially if it was about rape.

Basically, women (and men) should be able to Tweet, post, or say anything they want and not receive such backlash because of it, especially in the form of violence.  Violence never was and never will be okay, so why should it be supported over the Internet?

Share your thoughts on this!  Have you ever been threatened online?  What do you think law enforcement should do in this case?  Should those people who threatened Ashley Judd be fined?  How far is too far in terms of what you can post online?

Monday Lit Circle: Heaven Has No Regrets

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a great Monday, despite it being a Monday.  Anyway, today is lit circle day!  So now I’m going to talk about a book I actually just finished reading late last week which is the inspiration to my reconnection with writing/blogging.  The book is called Heaven Has No Regrets and it’s written by the amazing Tessa Shaffer!

It isn’t a well known novel…yet. Once she gets more publicity, I have no doubt in my mind that people across the country will be reading it.  It tells the coinciding stories of two best friends and cousins who are both battling diseases.  It’s a story about love, living life to its fullest and having no regrets.  It definitely has some religious aspects to it due to Tessa’s religious background.  The book is based on a heartbreaking but magnificent true story, one that I feel many people can relate to in some way.  If this sounds like something you would like to read (you definitely should!!), check out the website for the book, the amazon link where you can buy it and the book’s facebook, twitter, and instagram so you can stay up to date with Tessa and her book!

In case you can’t tell from what I said above, I actually know Tessa personally.  Even still, I stay true to my word about always being honest on what I actually think about a book.  Heaven Has No Regrets was incredibly hard to read because of some of the content (if you read it you’ll know what I mean).  But that doesn’t make it a terrible book; that just makes it much more honest.  Life isn’t easy, and it certainly wasn’t for the characters Makenzie and Faith.  Not only could I relate to the characters in one way or another but I could basically feel their pain pouring through the open pages.  It discussed real issues that many people are affected by all around the world.

It was one of those books that you don’t know what to do with yourself once you’ve finished reading it.  I figured out what I should do after reading the acknowledgements, and that was to start writing.

In the acknowledgements at the ending, Tessa lists many people she knows personally who helped her not only write her book but also those who helped her get through one of the roughest parts of her life.  But in those acknowledgements she also says to “just write” no matter what it’s about or who it’s for or however long it is.  And that is exactly why I’m sitting in front of my computer right now at 10:22 PM on a Monday evening writing this.  I already told her personally, but thank you again, Tessa, (I know you’ll eventually read this…once I give you the link to my blog :P) for inspiring me to start writing again, since it’s the thing I love doing the most in this world.  And thank you again for sharing your story.  Your courage inspires me, and I hope to one day be as courageous as you.

Anyway, any of the few people out there who happen to somehow come across this and take the time to read it and are also bookworms, please go check out all of Tessa’s social media and please consider buying her book!

Until tomorrow!