I can’t believe I’m sitting here on the couch with my HUSBAND next to me. Where did the summer go? This seemed like a good time to look back at the Summer Bucket List I wrote way back in May. It turns out I love a seasonal bucket list (shocking, I know). This worked so much better for me than setting New Year goals that I forget about by Valentine’s Day. I think I’ll keep borrowing Holly’s idea, but I have a few tweaks to make for a Fall list. First I am going to pack and head to Mexico for a week. 🙂
Social
Host a wedding wine tasting party – Success! We had a lot of fun with friends (12 people showed up!) and actually found that a few of the pricier bottles were really not good, while the house cab took second place overall. 
Have friends over for a BBQ – It’s kind of cheating because our good friends Talia and James moved into our building at the beginning of the summer, but we all got together for a few BBQs, so it was a success. This particular BBQ was the weekend after we picked Alfred up from Spokane and if I remember correctly they hadn’t quite moved in yet, so it totally counts as having them over. I don’t even remember Alfred being that small.
Beauty and Style
Wear a dress/skirt to work everyday for a week – I have worn a ton of dresses and skirts, but haven’t managed to do it for a full week. And it probably won’t happen since I won’t be back to work until October.
Buy and wear white denim – Done and done, and I love it! I got a dressier pair of white pants and love them so much I tried to find a more casual pair too, but never found any that fit well. Next summer for sure.
Start wearing glasses more than contacts – I pretty much wear my glasses Monday – Friday and sometimes even on the weekends. My eyes feel so much better, totally worth it. At some point I’d like to get a second pair of glasses, but probably not until insurance will pay, so like in two years.
Travel
Go to my BACHELORETTE party! – It was awesome and you can read about it here.
Go on my HONEYMOON! – Countdown: one day!
Visit LA for my bridal shower and Becky’s baby shower. – Done and done. I would say I will post about it, but probably not going to happen!
Day trip to somewhere new in Washington State – We visited lots of new parks with the puppy, but we never left Seattle for a new-t0-us location.
Weekend trip to Lake Chelan – We spent the weekend in the Chelan condo for Labor Day, after thinking we wouldn’t make it out this summer. It was super relaxing and we did pretty much nothing but read, watch TV (his dad has cable!), and play with the puppy. We aslo did do a weekend trip to Wenatchee earlier in the summer as well.
Home
Plan and throw a WEDDING! – I’m Mrs. Martin! I even have the tote bag to prove it!
Get a PUPPY! – We did, and boy has it been an adventure. Here’s the adorable Alfred monthly from May – August.
Food
Pick berries at a U-Pick berry farm – Nope, not even once have I contemplated going.
Make something preserved with the berries – Hard to make anything with berries you didn’t end up picking.
Make a new cocktail with each of the herbs growing on the balcony. – Over the course of the summer I made strawberry infused vodka sodas with mint and spiked basil lemonade.
Enjoy outdoor brunch at a new restaurant – We tried a new brunch spot (Local 360) that was tasty, but sadly the morning we went it wasn’t quite warm enough yet to eat outdoors. They have a great patio, so it wasn’t for lack of trying!
Fitness
Run a half marathon – So we paid and trained for this, but it didn’t happen. Talia got injured in a soccer game two days before the race, and when I woke up on race morning to pouring rain, well… there was just no way I was going to go do 13.1 miles alone in the cold rain. My heart isn’t in running like it used to, so for now I’m retired. I had a good run with two full marathon and four halfs. I enjoy walking and hiking with the puppy and doing CrossFit at home these days. Maybe I’ll get back into at some point, but for now I’ve promised Greg I will not spend any more money signing up for races.
Beat my 2011 Warrior Dash time – I really thought the two fitness goals would be the sure things. Funny how that works. By the time Warrior Dash weekend came around we were just too tired to drive the hour each way and participate. It had been a long week for everyone, including Alfred who got stuck in his crate for a good portion of it. Last thing we wanted to do was leave him home alone for a good chunk of Sunday, too. We went on a family hike and finished up with push-ups at home. Again with the promise to not sign up for races. 🙂
I also finally finished the title page after scrapping my original digital album. The fillers all came with the Seafoam kit. I added the photos (same as from the digital version – the last 2011 pictures I had of each of us) and used some foam letters left over from Lauren’s shower decor to include 2013 and our one little word. I also bought new albums that are less ‘scrapbooky’ looking than the Project Life ones. I have this sitting on the coffee table and I like it a lot more now that it looks like a normal album.
In other Project Life news, I decided to stop working on my 2012 album. I’m not sure there’s anything worse than going back in time and documenting with terrible pictures. Also, I really did not like the Olive kit which was not helping my motivation. Rather than continuing to spend the money and time finishing it, I’m going to admit defeat and move on. I can use my limited creative juices on making our house feel more like our home.
Greg’s worst nightmare: eating with his hands with no wet napkins.
I’m about to head out to hot yoga then set up for our New Years Eve Eve party, but first I’m giving myself a few extra layers. I managed to get gum in my hair while washing dishes this morning. Sometimes I am amazed at my own abilities – Greg asked how it happened and I really don’t know. One minute I was chewing gum and the next it was in my hair. I hope your Sunday does not involve and self haircuts.
West Coast Martins 