Summer Bucket List

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Summer is over.  It was sad to watch it go.  Technically, summer as in 'no school' was gone quite a while ago.  But summer as in the 'weather' has just recently left.  Which means one great thing... Autumn has arrived!

Over the summer I made myself a bucket list.  It was my last summer as a high schooler and I wanted to do stuff.  I am happy to say that most of the items on my list I completed.  Some things I'm still working on (like reading all of Jane Austen's novels) and some things I didn't do quite so well (like take lots of pictures...hence the lack of photos in this post).  But I wanted to share the things I completed.

1. Read at least ten books.
I passed this with flying colors.  From the beginning of June through the month of August I read twelve books.

• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Eragon by Christopher Paolini
• Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• The Maze Runner by James Dashner
• The Lost Choice by Andy Andrews
• Crash by Jerry Spinelli
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare
• Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones
• Lies Young Women Believe by Nancy Leigh Demoss and Danna Gresh
• Christy Miller Collection Vol. 1 by Robin Jones Gunn
• Today I Will by Jerry and Eileen Spinelli

A good variety of fiction, non-fiction, teen, and adult, I think.  You can look at my ratings for each of these on my Goodreads account if you fancy.  You'll find the link on my sidebar.

2. Watch the sunrise.

I did this one morning.  I wish I had done it more often than that, though.  It was a really neat experience.  You can read about it here.

3. Be crafty.

I realize this item bay be a bit vague.  But I didn't want to give up on my crafts over the summer.  I knew I would have all this time on my hands being out of school and I didn't want to waste it all on facebook and pinterest.  So I did several different craft projects over the summer.  One major one being my bed.  You can see that here.  With the help of my dad and brother, I made my own headboard out of barn wood.  It turned out fantastic!

I also worked on my scrappy-journal quite a bit.  It doesn't take a lot of time and it's fun.  More about that here.

I decorated a mug with a Jane Austen quote.  That was really neat!  And it's so easy.  I think I'm definitely going to use it as a Christmas gift idea.  Check it out here.

4. Ride a roller coaster.

This was a biggy for me.  I really wanted to cross this off my list.  I knew I'd have the opportunity in August...we went to an amusement park for a Christian concert.  It was a blast!  And, YES, I did ride my very first roller coaster...and my second.  My good friend Bethany went with me.  I told her that because I went swimming with her in her very first lake, she'd have to take me on my first roller coaster.  We are now even.  I've gotta confess...I was pretty much terrified the entire time on the ride, and I probably won't be going on too many roller coasters in the future, but I can definitely say that I've done it!

5. Color my hair.

This was another first for me.  Over the summer I got highlights put in my hair for the first time.  They've mostly faded now...  But in these photos you can see them really well.  I love how it turned out!  And I might just do it again sometime.

6. Go to a drive-in theater.

So, my daddy said that I went to a drive-in when I was really little.  But last week I went to my very first memorable one.  I also did this Bethany.  We watched ParaNorman and Ice Age 4.  Wasn't a super big fan of ParaNorman...Ice Age was cute.  But we had a blast!  I think that we probably could have watched any movie and still had fun.

7. Buy a pair of skinny jeans.

Two pairs actually.  One pair being a peachy, coral color.  I love them!  I also had at the end of this bucket list item 'and be able to pull off the style'.  Eh, I think I do.  Haha!  I hope so anyway...'cause I really love wearing them.  I hope to post photos soon, so you'll have to tell me what you think.

That's all for me.  What did you do over the summer?  Was it fabulous?

summer is

summer is... letting the 105 degree weather dry my wet hair.
summer is... being barefoot.

summer is... reading for hours, just because you can.

summer is... wearing sunglasses.
summer is... eating frozen yogurt with friends.
summer is... laying in the grass.

summer is... writing to your heart's content.
summer is... getting letters on daisy stationary.

summer is... beautiful.

What is summer for you?

one summer

{mini golf}

{not my photo}

Last night I got to hang out with my church small group.  We met up at a place called GolfLand and went go-karting and miniature golfing.  It was a blast!

I was talking to my mom and brother, Zach, before I left for mini golf and I said, "Maybe this will be it!  Maybe golf will be my sport."  If you know me well...and even if you don't...you probably know that I'm not good at sports.  I will freely admit that I stink at them all.  Ever single one.  Seriously.  It's pretty sad.  There's a running joke in my family that the only "sport" I'm good at is walking.  Yeah... You got the picture.  Me and sports are just not compatible.  And after 45 minutes of mini golf I can safely say I can add it to my list of "Sports Katie Stinks At".  It's official.  But I had lots of fun. That counts for something right?  Guess I'd better stick with my books though, eh?

{orange leaf}

{not my photo}

Frozen yogurt has got to be my new favorite snack.  I went to Orange Leaf for the first time yesterday, and oh my goodness gracious, it was amazing.  Definitely going back.  And soon.

{brave}

{not my photo}

I really, really, really want to see this movie!  I'm counting down the days 'til June 22nd when it releases.  I believe my sister and I are going to make a day of it and go see it together.

{the jane austen book club}

The Jane Austen Book Club (with no relation to the book or movie) is something that Zach actually came up with.  (Love him!)  We were driving home from a gathering a few nights ago and he up and says "We should read all of Jane Austen's book this summer.  We can make a book club."  I was like, "Genius!  Let's do it!"

We're starting with "Persuasion", a small one, since we got a bit of a late start in June.  But, goodness, I am so excited!  Be expecting some book reviews and such on here soon.

Two siblings.  Six books.  One summer.

when you feel magic

The other night I up and decided, "You know.  I think I need some ice cream."  Zach and I hop in Waldo and take a DQ run.  Dairy Queen is all of two minutes from our front door.  This can be amazing...at times.  Until you realize that your pay check can very easily dwindle to nothing because you gave it all to Dairy Queen in exchange for blizzards.  But this particular night, I didn't care.  I just wanted some ice cream.  Some rich chocolatey goodness.

We swing through the drive through and I order my blizzard.  Medium Chocolate Xtreme.  The usual.  As we head back towards our house, I look over at Zach.  "I'm not ready to go home yet.  Wanna go someplace else?"  {Sidenote:  When I started driving, I made a discovery.  There are not very many places to hang out in my town.  I mean, you can only go to Books-A-Million so many times, folks.}  I decided I'd pull over in a small back road and just sit.  So I parked on the roadside and turned off Waldo except for the radio playing faintly in the background.  Zach opened the sunroof and I rolled down my window.  I ate my blizzard and just sat.

It was almost magical.  Scratch that...it was magical.  At least for me it was.  I felt like I was in a story book.  Peering through the sunroof at the clouds and the birds.  Feeling the slight breeze as I stuck my head out the window.  Beautiful.

i love summer.

it's summer here...


Which means the sun is out and shining.


It's 90 degrees.


The flowers are blooming.

My flip flops are some of my best friends.


And one of my favorite places to be is out on the porch with a good book.

I'm entering this^ photo in Allie and Mikayla's photo challenge....

...and Kate's photo challenge.




How is your summer so far?  I'd love to here about it. :)

Washed

Katie's Crossing's Camp 2011 Adventure {in photos}


I'm back from camp!  Whoopy!  I had a fabulous time!  But there's no place like home, right?  It's good to be back. :)

zip-lining

This is my brother and sister.  I went zip-lining too.  We just didn't get a photo of me. ;)

fun in the lake

This is me, my sister Annie, and my friend Bethany.

the slurge

I didn't actually participate in this, but it was so funny to watch!  The man in the middle getting his leg pulled out from under him is my youth pastor.  Haha!

Muddy statues. ;)

amazing friends

This week I learned about what it means to be washed.  I know I'm stained by sin and that my stain deserves death.  But through Jesus, I can shine.  And that's amazing!


1 Corinthians 6:11,
"And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."


P.S. All pictures are credited to my daddy.  I love you Dad!  Happy Father's Day!

How Great is our God

Yesterday we went canoeing. It was my first time...and I had a lot of fun! I also got some pictures. It was just the right time of day. The sun was low in the sky and it shone through the leaves on the trees. The lake was beautiful! It was so still it looked like glass. It makes me think of how awesome an Artist our God is.

On the way home I looked out the car window and the thousands of stars were amazing. They looked like specks of glitter on a pitch black canvas. I loved it! Here are some of the pictures I took and edited of the day...

"God saw all He had made, and it was very good..." Genesis 1:31

Mosquito Bites

Ok...I have a weird story...

Just a couple days ago, I killed a mosquito that landed on my wrist. I got it before it bit me, thank goodness. Then I said, "You know, I haven't had many mosquito bites at all this summer." And guess what happens? Four or five mosquito bites appear on me! And I don't know where they came from! I guess I should have done the "knock on wood" thing when I said that... lol

Anybody else out there have an experience like mine? ;)

How does this hat look on me?

I got a chef hat today! :-)

At work today I was in the kitchen. I get to work there a lot, which I like. It's one of my favorite places to go. I work with the chef sometimes...and did today. Chef Adam. He gave me my new hat. Which I think is pretty cool! He also asked if I would put it on my blog. lol So, I thought I would.

Today, also, Momma came and ate lunch with me. It was a lot of fun! She got to meet Chef Adam and I showed her around some. Pretty neat. :)

I've gotta get now...singing out. Will post soon.

Me, the VolunTeen!

Last week I started volunteering at the hospital. I'll do it every week all through the summer. I'm called a VolunTeen (volunteer + teenager...lol). So far I really love it! I'm wanting to get into the medical field as a career possibility...but I'm still not sure what exactly I want to do. So, I'm hoping this will kind of narrow it down for me.

Here's some pictures of me in my spify new outfit! :)

Summer Break

We are now on summer break!! Since I am home schooled we usually school through the summer and just take breaks when we need to. This is our break time...we are off for about 2 and a half weeks. We are going camping on Thursady and I am really hoping that it doesn't rain! HaHa!

My best friend Kaela is in Florida on vacation right now. She is going to be gone for another week and a half and I miss her! But texting is saving us from missing each other too much. =)

I thought I would write a little more about myself....so here are some of my favorite hobbies!
*sign language
*fiddle
*reading
*hanging out with my family and friends
*texting
*facebook
*writing

I have a doggy named Nickel! And he is a yorkie. He is just like a little baby to me and I spoil him a lot! HeeHee! =)

I will try to post some pictures on here soon. That's another one of my hobbies! I love to take pictures! So I will try that soon!