By the time summer rolls around each year, I get restless. I find myself itching for an adventure or at the very least, a break from the routine. More often then not I wind up white knuckling it until vacation and that’s no way to live.

This year, in an effort to be proactive I decided to give myself a list of tasks to accomplish to keep things interesting. It is basically ME forcing ME to try to unwind and live a little.

So here is what I came up with…

My 2019 Summer Bucket List

Perfect a signature cocktail

So I’m going to admit something that is pretty outrageous – I’ve never actually made a mixed drink. Like, at all. Not for myself or for another human.

Now, before your head explodes please know that I’m, quite literally, married to a bartender. My husband spent years behind the bar in the Green Hills Grille in Nashville so I’m quite the pampered soul when it comes to the cocktails. He mixes and I sip. It just works.

That being said, I would really like to claim my own signature drink. (Or two. Or four.) I want to get good at a few cocktails and serve him for a change.

Do something that makes me uncomfortable

This is an annoyingly vague goal, isn’t it?

I’m not 100% sure what I mean here but I’ll know it when it crosses my path. The purpose is to push my own personal boundaries. I’m a tornado of anxiety when it comes to lots of things so I’m sure I’ll have ample opportunity to do something that makes me nervous. (Especially if there is deep water or heights involved.) The last time I attempted to “do something uncomfortable” I wound up jumping off the “Cliffs of Courage” in Mexico. I’d rather not be that dramatic this summer but you never know!

Write! Write! Write!

I’ve spent a good amount of the last few years dodging the keyboard. I regularly read other people’s books or blogs and long to create something of my own. (ANYTHING!) But every time I’ve tried to sit down and write, the words either escaped me or I let my own self-doubt stop me. So I’m setting a writing goal this summer and giving myself permission to create without judgment. (It might suck. It might not. Doesn’t matter.) I’m aiming to publish at least a blog a week until mid-September.

Take a photography course

You guys. Is there anything better than drool-worthy photography?! I’m such a photo nerd! Not that I can create a beautiful picture but boy oh boy am I a fangirl. My brother is an OUTSTANDING photographer and I have wanted to learn for so long.

What better time than Summer to dig into a new hobby?

Majorly shake up my fitness routine

This whole mid-life thing is stupid. I just can not seem to move the needle on the scale anymore. Also, I’m uninspired.

I get up regularly and hit the gym at 4:00am. Yes, you read that right. FOUR IN THE MORNING. I need a new approach and preferably one that is FUN. Wish me luck!

So there you go. If you see me around town, on the Interwebs or even perched atop a Mexican cliff, feel free to ask me about my progress!