Once June has passed it seems like the summer just flies by! Would you believe it if I told you there is only one full week left of July? Remembering last summer, I felt like we didn’t get nearly everything that we wanted to do, done. This summer has been incredible, we’ve done something every weekend and we still have so much more to do in the remaining time that we have. This summer though will be the last that we have to ourselves because next year right after Conor completes step 1 he’ll be heading straight out to clinical rotations. There will be no possibility of him taking any time off once rotations begin; no holidays, birthdays, vacations, just rotations. So it’s really important for us to make as many memories as we can this summer.
August Goals
- Head to Boston for our national park trip: I have only been to Boston once so we decided that after we had to cancel our trip to Thailand we would take a weekend adventure to someplace along the East Coast. Boston was the one place that we haven’t been to and has the most bang for our buck. There’s a ton to do and it’s all new for us. We also both enjoy history so we’ll have a great time. If you’re from Boston and have any recommendations let me know!
- See one more movie in theaters: this is an easy date night for us and it’s nice to have something to do midweek.
- Get 10 more cancellations and stamps in our national park passport book: Our passport book was one of our best investments. It’s something that we’re able to keep and do for years to come, even with our kids. The passport book is just that, a passport book you get stamped as you visit different places. In this case; national parks. The National Park Service is an organization we both feel are underfunded so we try to give back as much as possible. Oh here’s a special tip, if you have children you can get ranger badges for them at the visitor centers and the park rangers have special facts to tell you that isn’t featured on signs.
- Go to the aquarium: we’ve lived here for a few years now and we haven’t gone to the aquarium, why we haven’t? I haven’t got a clue! It is in Camden so technically it’s not in Philly but it is only 15 minutes away.
- Go to the zoo to see the new baby gorillas: we have done this many times already but I just love seeing the babies together. They’re too cute!
- Do the 20-mile bike trail around Valley Forge Park: We just purchased two very expensive road bikes so it has been my goal to not only get some real use out of them but to also find an exercise that I really enjoy
- Make curtains for my living room (the window is 15ft wide!): In an effort to be more green but to also make my apartment not only cute but functional, I need to get curtains. Right now we have a sliding glass door/window that is 15ft wide! It’s beautiful and we get in so much light but the sun heats up our apartment in the summer and we lose heat in the winter. We also get a pretty bad glare on the TV screen in the morning. (Not like we watch tv during the week but weekend mornings it would be nice to watch tv and actually see what you’re watching. Anyway, curtains are expensive and not only do I need to have enough panels, the panels also need to be pretty tall since we have high ceilings. Getting the curtains done in the bedroom cost quite a bit for four panels, however, these curtains are noise and light canceling. So to save some money and not add demand to having sweatshops, I’m going to make my own curtains. I’ll let you know how they turn out!
- Reorganize all my bookcases: When we moved one of our bookshelves broke during the process so only recently we replaced it. After getting it replaced we kind of just threw the books on the shelf with no real organization to them. I cannot find a thing plus they look so disorderly, so I need to give them some love.
- Create an exercise routine that I’ll stick to: This goes back to the bicycles that we purchased. I am starting to really enjoy cycling, it’s not a chore which the gym started to feel like! I won’t be canceling my gym membership anytime soon since I will not be cycling in winter but I think I found something that is not only challenging but enjoyable.
- Commit to batch cooking and meal planning: I will do this on and off. To save money we cook one lunch and one dinner to eat all week. Yeah, it sounds boring but it saves us money in the long run! I want to commit to do my batch cooking and meal planning for every week during this coming month.
- Create a new budget and stick to it!: I went a little spending crazy, enough said. 🙂
- Ride to the Devil’s hole one more time: This is a little mountain that you can bike up and at the top, there’s a river and a part of it which is called the Devil’s Hole. It’s basically just a really deep part of the river that you can jump into but the ride was so fun I would love to do it again!
- One more trip to the beach (ideally Smith’s Point): I am a beach and ocean person. I cannot live without the beach and ocean, it’s just a part of me. I always see quotes like “The Mountains are Calling Me” well the ocean calls me and I do not get enough of it!
- Visit my parents down south for an extended weekend: My parents purchased a house over a year ago and I still have yet been able to step foot into the house. I have barely even seen photos of this house! My grandma and great grandma moved in as well so I would love to see them all together.
- Read a book: The last time I read a book purely for pleasure was I don’t even know when. Now that my master’s program is over, I would love love love to read something for myself rather than for school. If you have any recommendations let me know!
What goals do you have for the upcoming month?
