Summer List.

You may know this about me... but I like lists. Not in an OCD kind of way. In a "that's too good to forget so I better write it down before it's lost forever" kind of way. My brain isn't what it used to be (says the 25 year old...) so I have to write things down. I have started a list of things that I would like to do this summer. Tomorrow is Memorial Day and it seems like that is the unofficial start of summer so I thought it was time to share the list with you. (I also got a bad sunburn today which is another sign that summer is here.) This is just the beginning... I reserve the right to add (but not take away) anything from this list that I want to. (Hope you enjoy the cheesy visuals...))

1. Play lots of sand volleyball. I love sand volleyball. I played with some friends last week and it was basically a night of perfection. (Perfection as in a grand ol' time with my friends, not as in perfect volleyball playing. It was the opposite of that actually.)

2. Grow my own fresh herbs. It is just about as expensive to buy a basil plant as it is to buy a batch of fresh basil, so I've decided I want to try to grow my own herbs. I'm thinking cilantro, basil, parsley, and maybe some others...

3. Buy a mandolin and make healthy chips. Nope, I'm not talking about the folky instrument (although that'd be cool, too.) I'm talking about one of those things that slices things really thinly. Think of the possibilities... apple chips, sweet potato chips, uh... other kinds of chips! It'll be great!

4. Decorate our kitchen. Back in November I started working on our kitchen. I filled all of the holes in the wall with the intention of painting over them and then hanging up new things where I wanted them. Turned out that we didn't have matching paint so we have had white spackling splotches on our wall since then. It's time to paint the whole kitchen, and decorate.

5. Bake with rhubarb. Rhubarb intrigues me... I remember my grandma used to cook with it and I think I liked it. It's been years since I've had anything with rhubarb in it so I think I would like to take a stab at it this summer. Strawberry rhubarb pie, maybe? (This one from Joy the Baker looks like it could be a winner.)

6. Invite people over for dinner more regularly. I love hosting but I rarely do it. So I'm gonna.

7. Ride bikes. My friend April and I said all last summer that we should ride bikes together sometime. I think it's time we stop talking and start biking. It better happen this year.

8. Learn how to use my camera with my aunt Cindy. You've heard me say it about 859 times on this blog that I would like to learn how to use my nice camera. I've decided that I need someone to hold me accountable so I have asked my aunt Cindy, who knows a thing or two about photography, to meet with me regularly to teach me how to use it. Dinner and Photography we're going to call it. (At least I'm going to call it that.)

I'm open to suggestions of glorious things to add to my list... And I encourage you to make a list of your own and enjoy your summer!