Summer 2009

St. Thomas

Labor Day has come and gone ... which means summer is officially over. This summer recap post is long past due. I have gotten sucked into the beginning of another school year and it seems to be flying by.

Summer sleepover with Aunt Sari

(that shelf is now complete with pictures IN frames)

It seems like I was just writing my end of school year/beginning of summer post. Once again I can't believe how fast my summer went by! The first day of my summer break I sat out on my patio and made my "What I Want To Accomplish" list (of course I made a list .. right). I did a pretty good job this year in checking off most of the the items on my list.One of my projects -- hand towels with ribbon on them

It was an interesting summer. Summer pre-heart procedure and summer post-heart procedure. People ask me all the time what I do with myself when I am not working. I manage to keep myself very busy and I love it! I am SO good at not working! My pre-heart procedure days went something like this ... Get up around 6:30 or 7:00 and depending on the day swim, bike or run. I got into a great schedule of working out. It is the best way start the day. Tuesdays and Fridays were our bike rides and my dad, Hun, mom, and Laura often joined me. We had such fun! After working out I had a little routine. I would do a little work on my patio (watering and dead heading) and then read my scriptures. My patio is one of my favorite things about my house. It was exceptionally nice this year. I then would pick an item off my "summer list". Pick up around the house and get ready for the day. I often had lunch plans with a friend. I love getting to go to lunch, something I never get to do during the school year. My afternoons were spent at the pool, running errands (I play a lot of catch up during the summer) doing projects, reading, playing with my sisters (Emily comes to town for about month in June -4th of July), riding my bike, Pilates, and well some school stuff. I seriously felt so busy.

In there we had the 4th of July which was bigger and better than EVER! Fire Girls 550 South

4th of July

Oh it was so much fun. One of the best parts of my summer. The 4th of July truly is my favorite day of the entire year (yep even more than my birthday!) Just after the 4th I took off and went on a 9 day Caribbean cruise with 3 great friends. It was my one and only trip of the summer. Can you believe I only went on ONE trip this summer. At least I did use my passport! It was 9 days of bliss and relaxation. Just three days after returning ... I went in for my heart procedure.

Summer post-heart procedure. This part of my summer was not quite as ... well ... dreamy. I was pretty much down and out for about two weeks. Gone were the days of getting up and working out, riding my bike and pilates. After about a week I was able to lounge at the pool, so I did do that almost every day. I was pretty wiped out so I slept a lot. I finished up a few projects, did a big deep cleaning of my house before heading back to school, read, and leaned how to "chill". I had spent the first part of my summer going and doing, so the contrast was hard for me. My dad did get a litho done for me to paint and that was nice to have something to work on. The last weekend before going back to school was spent at the cabin. A great way to end my summer. Before I knew it .... I was back at school!

It was not my most exciting summer as far adventure goes. But it will be a summer that I will remember as life changing. I had a lot of time to think and ponder and count my blessings. I discovered some new interest and in just a short time feel like I did a lot of growing as a person. So all and all it was a very successful summer!

Summer 2009 List
Deep Cleaning my house! All summer long I work on deep cleaning my house. I pick a different choir off the list each day to work on.

*Vacuum -- hose work, anywhere the hose can go -- I go!
*couches, mattress, floor boards, behind the fridge, washer and dryer, under and over anything and everything.
*Curtains (take them all down and wash them)
*Blinds and windows
*All cupboards -- every cupboard in the house gets emptied and cleaned
*Dust and polish all wood
*Fridge and pantry clean out
*Garage clean out
*Clean out closets

*Projects
/ *Organize (re-do) file drawers
/ *Baby blankets/burp cloths
/ *Bind a book
*Finish Quilt
/ *Back up computers
/ *Recycle cans
/ *Recycle phone books
/ * DI run
*Paint front door
/ *Picture shelf

*Goals
/ (except when I was on my cruise or the week of my surgery) *Temple once a week
*Read Book of Mormom (I almost did it ... I will finish in the next week)
/ *Lots of Reading
* Remember Me, The Alchemist, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Austinland, Undomestic Goddess, 1776,
*Alcatraz (nope .. had to drop out because it was after my procedure)
*Triathlon (same as above .. next year!)