Summer!

It's summer guys! Okay, not technically, but honestly, it's summer. Can't you just feel it in your soul? I know I can. It's beautiful weather, fresh fruit everywhere, and it's foggy in the morning. All sure signs that summer has come to our lovely corner of the world. Now usually, I'm a fall person, but for some reason, this year summer is just so appealing! I think it has something to do with 'The Journey '08'. It just seemed to start off the summer. And driving through the rolling hills of Missouri alongside the Mississippi while drinking sweet tea? Well, you don't get much more summer than that. Okay, so here are my goals for summer.

-Learn to make the perfect pie. My body is a tool for science, and I will gladly gorge myself in this attempt.

-Learn to make the perfect batch of sweet tea. Not achingly sweet, but just perfect.

-Eat dinner outside at least 3 times a week, with one of these preferably being a picnic. What says summer more than a picnic? Nothing. (Also need to search for the perfect picnic basket. Let me know if you find something amazing and wonderful.)

-Make the perfect summer quilt/blanket (most likely to be used for the afore-mentioned picnics). I've been scheming this up in my head often, and have some fun ideas. Am very excited to dive into this one. Am also excited because this involves scouring the thrift stores for the perfect, vintage fabrics with which to make said quilt.

-Read summery books. I looked through my goodreads, and have found 8 books that are perfect summer reading, and they're all books I haven't read, and most of them are books I own. Most. Included in this is my goal to read all the 'Anne of Green Gables' series. I own the first one, and know I read it as a child, but cannot remember if I read the others. I do remember watching the movies, but that hardley counts. (If anyone is interested in a summer-y book club, let me know. Books are always more fun when you can discuss them with others.)

- Go to the beach. Okay, since I've moved here, I've been to the beach, like, twice to go swimming. Sure, I go there every once in awhile to hang out, but I want to actually enjoy the beach this summer and experience it.

-Home projects, but those are boring to discuss. But, keep an eye out at our place for exciting new changes. (In other related news, we need a hip name for our pad. Please submit your ideas to myself or Jon. Thank you.)

-Knit. I have some unfinished projects that are begging for completion.

-Finish the Old Testament.

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I'm remembering at the moment. So, what are your goals for summer?

PS. Sorry for no Journey postings yet. I haven't gone through my photos yet, and it was a crazy week.

PPS. Britt's in Japan. So excited for her, and a little jealous. She's pretty much the reason I had a crazy week because I hung out with her everyday in preperation for our 3 week seperation. Therefore, all anger can be directed at her, which should be no problem because she's out of the country.

PPPS. 'In the Heights' won best Musical at the Tony's last night. Super excited.

The Journey '08 - Introduction

"The Survivor Tree. This is my favorite tree in the world.

And I like trees." -Claire from "Elizabethtown"

Hello everyone! Well, I'm back from my 6,000 plus mile journey to and back from Minnesota. To start off, let me just say one thing. AMERICA IS BEAUTIFUL. Seriously guys, you have no idea what a cool country we live in until you actually get out there and experience it. Smell it, taste it, feel it, swim it. Man oh man. This truly was the trip of a lifetime. We encountered every type of weather you can imagine from sub-freezing snow at the Grand Canyon, to tornado warnings in St. Paul, to 105 heat in the desert. We ate some of the best food I've ever tasted (including the best peach cobbler in Adrian, TX), met the nicest, funniest, sassiest people, and saw more beautiful sights than can be imagined. Moral of the story? Get out of the house and on the two-lane highways and biways that stitch up this crazy quilt of a country. So, over the next few weeks, I'll be showering this blog with photos of the journey. So stayed tuned, we got good stuff coming up.