Category / Summer Bucket List

by Bethe

My Summer Bucket List – 2013

This year I had a big internal debate over whether or not to tackle a Summer Bucket List. I started doing it in 2011, and then last year Mr. Right and I brainstormed for weeks to come up with our 2012 list. (for a full list of our blog adventures on this topic, go here) It has been our way to make sure we continue to have fun as a couple and not get stuck in a rut of doing the same old thing every night.

The List has become our thing, and I hated to give it up for 2013, but this year our summer is split in half by one giant event – HAVING A BABY. Which has made it hard to plan much of anything else – I didn’t want to over-plan/over-commit while we were waiting, instead I just wanted to enjoy being spontaneous and keep our schedules open and relaxed. Not to mention that the first half of the summer I’ve been 8-9 months pregnant and not feeling especially mobile.

And, well, the second half of the summer is a complete unknown to me – I expect those first few weeks after Wrenn arrives to be a bit of a blur. Since I’m a rule follower, I just knew that if I made a list and then didn’t accomplish most of the items on it, I’d feel like a failure. And I don’t need that pressure right now – so there is only one thing on my List this year:

summer bucket list

If I were to make a list, it would mostly include things like swimming, eating sno cones (and frozen yogurt, and gelato, and ice cream, and Sonic drinks… you get the picture), and later this summer, I hope to take Wrenn to the new Bush Presidential Library and the Perot Museum in Dallas.

But what about you? Have any of my blog friends created a fun list of ideas? It’s not too late – you’ve got plenty of time to brainstorm some fun activities for July and August. I’d love to hear what you come up with – let me live vicariously through you!

And just in case you need some ideas, I created a Pinterest board of summer activities in Dallas/Fort Worth for my work blog – the board includes a free printable I designed. Feel free to use it for your own family!

by Bethe

Summer – what an adventure

Available in my Texas Lovely shop
What an amazing summer. I think every summer is wonderful but this one was particularly great – Mr. Right and I got to enjoy a carefree couple of months that didn’t involve much travel or any major projects (except for the patio) and it allowed us to just LIVE.
We did pretty well on our summer bucket list, but we also lived some unexpected adventures. We built a patio and the world’s largest urban vegetable garden (or so it seems). I started a new business. Mr. Right changed careers. We got not one but TWO handsome little nephews. 
It was definitely an adventure.
So without further delay, here is my FINAL tally of our Second Annual Summer Bucket List Success:
Eat dinner on a patio
Have a picnic on Trinity Trail
Learn to bake a pie 
Take a moonlit walk with Mr. Right on the beach
Wear shorts and heels
Ride my bike
Plan a secret date for Mr. Right

Hold my new nephew
Go to a Rangers Game
Kiss Mr. Right while watching fireworks
Learn to sew something new
Finish my husband’s quilt
Host a dinner party
Dip my toes in the ocean
Marry off my dear friend Katie
Do something spontaneous
Get a mentor
Cook with vegetables from our garden
Get a pedicure
Eat a sno-cone
Take a road trip (We just barely squeezed this in – a last-minute trip to Midland to meet our nephew)
Make one of the recipes from my Pinterest board
Eat a candlelit dinner at home
Finish writing Chapter 1 of my book

Visit a state park

Take a photography class
Go to a museum
Pre-plan all my meals for one week
Go to a festival
Dance with Mr. Right in the kitchen
Finish making the Christmas wreaths for my mantle

Get a new dog
Have a fish fry
And that, my friends, is the Summer of 2012 in a nutshell. I am actually quite proud that I didn’t accomplish ALL of my goals, because one thing my mentor told me was that I tend to put too much pressure on myself – I’m a perfectionist, and frankly it’s exhausting. So it’s sort of a relief that I left a few adventures to be had this fall, which officially starts tomorrow, or maybe whenever that Texas heat dips below 100 again, and I get to debut my beloved fall boots. 
Then again, we Texas girls tend to dress for fall long before the weather requires it.
To purchase this piece of art or any others, visit Texas Lovely on Etsy.
by Bethe

My Summer Bucket List Update

It’s time for a little Summer Bucket List update (if you’re new, here’s 2011). We have been busy bees over in the Right house, crossing things off our list and dreaming up new and unexpected adventures. We’ve done pretty well, considering summer brought some unexpected new items to the bucket list (like starting a new business, building a patio, and a few other things that deserve their own blog posts). I’m choosing to think of this list as pure fun, and if I don’t hit all the items, then I’m not going to stress one iota. In fact, it’s my goal to add a little slacker-ness to my summer, which is a bit out of my nature. More than anything, this list helps us come up with ideas for fun date nights so we avoid the “What do you want to do?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” rut of marriage. Mr. Right and I want to be FUN.



Here’s a list of what we’ve done, with just a few weeks to go before the end of summer.

Eat dinner on a patio

Dinner at the ultimate patio… Joe T. Garcia’s


The at-home version – a leisurely dinner on our back
patio one night while Mr. Right was working late –
just me, my ice tea, and The Bachelorette on my laptop. Bliss.



Have a picnic on Trinity Trail

Trinity Trail is like a little oasis in the middle of the city. If you want 
to get some fresh air, have a CHEAP date night, and enjoy a 
little romance, I highly recommend it.

We even brought Harley the Wonder Schnoodle along.

Learn to bake a pie


I learned to make peach cobbler (from fresh peaches no less!). My
definition of “pie” is something that you’d bring to Easter, Thanksgiving
or Christmas dinner. So cobbler definitely falls into the pie category.
I loved my peach cobbler so much I made it over. And over. And over.



Take a moonlit walk with Mr. Right on the beach

Marco Island, Florida


Wear shorts and heels

I actually did this quite often. Each time I felt kind of silly
but also kind of awesome. 


Ride my bike


I may be one of the few people who has a bike with cup holders.
Don’t be jealous.
Mr. Right and Harley came along for the bike ride
(they go every single morning).

Plan a secret date for Mr. Right

I surprised him with tickets to Concert in the Gardens in Fort Worth. It was
one of the last cool weekends in June before the Heat Wave of 2012 hit.


Hold my new nephew

Luke James, born June 11, 2012


Man, he’s a cute kid.

Go to a Rangers Game


We had a big debate before this game – is it trashy to wear workout clothes 
(running shorts and a t-shirt) to a Rangers game? Do you get a free pass 
if it’s 104 degrees? We chose to go with the all-wick-away fabrics. 
And we chose right.


Rangers lost. But I got a lemon chill. So it was a good night.



Kiss Mr. Right while watching fireworks

Bucket list fail. I have no pics because I was too busy a-smoochin’. And excited because we hosted 35 friends for a fireworks watching party. But trust me – we crossed this one off the list, and have a few witnesses who will vouch for us.


Learn to sew something new

Want one of your own? 



Finish my husband’s quilt


This was a quilt top we bought at an antique mall for $10 – the steal of the century.
The whole thing was hand-pieced, which took hundreds of hours. Mr. Right
picked out the quilt backing (his old sheet from college) and we bound it with
the shirt he bought for his first job at a Young Life camp in Colorado.
The whole thing has a ton of sentimental value.


This is Mr. Right modeling the finished product.

Host a dinner party

We hosted about 27 dinner parties, including one for our visiting preacher 
(that was pretty cool), dinner for about 35 people on July 4th, dinner 
for 15 girls at a bachelorette party, and a bunch with 6-8 guests. 
Each one was a blast – one of the highlights of our summer.


Dip my toes in the ocean



Marry off my dear friend Katie

Photo Source for both photos: www.mcgowanimages.com
Confession: I’m showing this one because it shows off my calf muscles, which I’ve never had before. Finally, those 800 million bazillion box jumps from crossfit have finally paid off. Oh, and it was a LOVELY wedding.


Do something spontaneous

We did a lot of spontaneous movie/sushi dates. Especially after we 
found out our local movie theater offers $5 Tuesdays. Score.


Get a mentor

Done – but this doesn’t really lend itself to picture-taking.

Cook with vegetables from our garden

Man, those are some GIANT tomatoes, eh?


Get a pedicure




Eat a sno-cone




Make one of the recipes from my Pinterest board

This is not exactly “cooking” but I “arranged” based off my Pinterest board. 
Judge says – good enough.


Eat a candlelit dinner at home
If you don’t take a picture, does it still count? We’ve had a few candlelight dinners including one where Mr. Right surprised me with one (along with a love note). That one was my favorite, and I was way too googly-eyed to remember to take a picture.

Finish writing Chapter 1 of my book

Done – but again, not really photo-worthy

Visit a state park

And here’s what’s left:

Take a photography class
Pre-plan all my meals for one week (confession: I have zero desire to do this, so it’s probably not going to happen)

Go to a museum
Go to a festival
Dance with Mr. Right in the kitchen
Take a road trip

Get a new dog (This will one is probably on hold for a little while)

Have a fish fry (with chicken strips for me, since I don’t eat fish)


Two weeks to go – we’ll see how many more I can cross off between now and then.

by Bethe

It was a good day… really.

So today I got to clean up a child’s vomit, and a man asked me if I was pregnant.

Seriously, people? I haven’t had a carb in 30 days! I’m feeling kind of awesome at the moment. I AM NOT PREGNANT AND PLEASE STOP ASKING ME BECAUSE YOU’RE GIVING ME A COMPLEX.
My husband says I should just throw away this shirt. But I love this shirt, so instead I’ve resigned myself to grabbing the offending person’s hand, holding it up to my baby-less belly, and reminding them that I HAVE NOT HAD A CARB IN 30 DAYS AND I’M DOING CROSS FIT LIKE A CRAZY WOMAN. And that I’m not pregnant.

Whew. Must. Take. A. Deep. Breath.

But anyway, other than those two things, I actually had a quite wonderful day.
Did I mention I cleaned up puke? If you know me, you’ll know why this is particularly laughable.
My evening is going to be even better, because I’m coming home to a box of freshly picked peaches from my in-law’s neighbor’s peach tree, and I am going to attempt to make my very first peach cobbler.
My chef husband will probably supervise. And stand there looking all cute and stuff.  
I can’t wait. 
by Bethe

Summer Bucket List – Month One Completed

Before we get into my summer bucket list, I need to share with you what’s going on in my world right now. Today, May 29, I begin my 30-Day Paleo Challenge. I’m doing it with Mr. Right and my sweet mother-in-law. 
30 Days of no sugar. No chocolate. No bread. No potatoes. No cheese. No cereal. NO SUGAR!
Have I mentioned that I’ve never in my life gone more than a day without bread or sugar? That is, if you don’t count the days I’ve spent lying on my bathroom floor with the stomach flu. Otherwise, I’m a sugar-loving, bread-eating girl.
So say a little prayer for me. And maybe keep your distance as my body adjusts. It might not be pretty with two people in the same house going through sugar withdrawals together. For better or for worse, right?
Ahh, life as a grown-up. But I haven’t felt awesome lately – maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’ve been on antibiotics non-stop for the past 17 months (my new normal after last year’s health issues). Or maybe it’s because I’ve been eating more indulgently since marrying my chef husband. But folks have promised that once you ween yourself off of the bread and sugar (and cheese… oh how I adore cheese), you start to feel really good. 
We’ll see. 
Besides, the real reason is because I popped the button off of my biggest pair of work pants. If I don’t do something I’m going to have to go shopping again. And that’s just silly.
But back to the bucket list – here’s an update on where I stand after my first month. Remember – I chose to begin summer on May 1 because soon it will be too hot to do most of my favorite outdoor activities. I’m pretty proud of the progress – and I have had a blast crossing things off. This is so much better than New Year’s Resolutions – maybe I need to start a new movement toward lists of fun things instead of lists like “Make my bed every day.” That’s so overrated. (Just kidding mom.)
First… my completed items:
Take a moonlit walk with Mr. Right on the beach
Wear shorts and heels 
I’ve done this several times but haven’t snagged a picture of it yet – I promise I’ll take one soon, for documentation purposes. Just be proud of me – every time I do this I feel kind of silly. And loud. But I’m starting to get used to the silliness and have been assured that the look is still age appropriate for this 30-ahem-something girl.
Learn to sew something new
I finally got around to making the ruffle pillow (there’s a great tutorial here) I’ve been swooning over for about a year. It took less than an hour and is now proudly displayed on our bed. I am obsessed with ruffles right now – at the rate I’m going, poor Mr. Right may end up living in a house that looks like a giant ruffle threw up. It’s a good thing he’s a patient man. And at least they’re not pink.
Host a dinner party

I was too busy enjoying my guests to get pictures of the folks who came to our dinner party – but here’s a picture of our table before they arrived. You can see my ruffle obsession has also attacked my table runner. We served Mr. Right’s famous Argentine soup (he spent a summer there in 2009), a big salad, and his famous pear and almond cream tarts.
I can’t think about those tarts right now… they’re not paleo-compatible. But oh man, are they good.

Dip my toes in the ocean

Do something spontaneous

We found a sign for an estate sale on the side of the road and decided to take a detour. We found all sorts of wonderful treasures – you can read about it here.
But we weren’t just spontaneous once. No, Mr. Right and I have been delightfully spontaneous for weeks now. Just Sunday night we decided at the very last minute to go see a late movie. I felt like I was 16 again. And just like when I was 16, I still made it home before curfew.

I love this picture because I kind of feel like a secret agent. And I was having a really good hair day. Can’t you tell in the super-dark photo we took right before the 3D movie began? Yeah, I thought so.
Imagine how good my hair will look after 30 days of no sugar. 

Get a mentor

Cook with vegetables from our garden
I should point out that only the tomatoes were grown in our garden – the rest were grown at the garden down the street called Target. That garden seems to flourish a lot more than my own. And since this pictures was taken, one of my tomato plants has been completely eaten by a caterpillar and another has been eaten by some bug that I’ve yet to catch in the act. I’m heartbroken over the untimely demise of my beloved vegetable garden. When I went to work this morning I still had several tomato plants left – along with some peppers, squash, and herbs that have yet to yield anything worth talking about – but who knows what I will find when I get home. 
Stupid, stupid, very hungry caterpillar indeed.
Get a pedicure 
I don’t have a picture of this, but know that it was absolute bliss. I went after a particularly crummy day and it was just what I needed. At least, it was the low-calorie version of what I REALLY needed – ice cream. But the pedicure was better for my waistline.
Oh my word – 12 hours without sugar and it’s all I can think about. Can you tell?

Eat a sno-cone
Gasp. More talk about sugar. We went last night with my in-laws as part of our “last supper” before Paleo. Confession – the sno cone run was AFTER we carb-loaded at dinner. Think twice-baked potatoes and giant rolls. We decided to go out big.


Finish writing Chapter 1 of my book 
I talked about that here. And I’ve been diligently adding it to it. Such a fun adventure.

Visit a state park

 Still left on my list:

Eat dinner on a patio
Have a picnic on Trinity Trail
Learn to bake a pie (this obviously won’t be happening in the next 30 days… maybe July)
Take a photography class
Ride my bike
Plan a secret date for Mr. Right (happening this Saturday)
Go to a museum
Hold my new nephew (he’s due in one week)
Go to a Rangers Game
Kiss Mr. Right while watching fireworks
Finish my husband’s quilt (almost done – I worked on it this weekend)
Pre-plan all my meals for one week
Marry off my dear friend Katie
Go to a festival
Dance with Mr. Right in the kitchen
Take a road trip
Make one of the recipes from my Pinterest board
Eat a candlelit dinner at home
Get a new dog
Have a fish fry (with chicken strips for me, since I don’t eat fish)
And there you have it – my summer continues.
by Bethe

Postcard from Marco Island

I just got back from a glorious four-day trip to the beach where I felt like a newlywed all over again. 
Mr. Right had a conference in Marco Island, Florida, and I happily hitched a ride with him and turned it into a mini vacation. Emphasis on the vacation – I did almost nothing but lie on the beach, lie by the pool, sip diet coke and soak up some new books. 
And write. Every morning I took my laptop down to the pool and hashed out pages of my new novel. Did I mention that I finally got the nerve to start the novel I’ve been day dreaming about for years? It’s absolutely terrifying and I’m not yet ready to divulge much about it, but it’s also exhilarating and a bit dangerous – in a good way – to finally sit down and pour out my thoughts onto paper and see where it all ends up. Who knows where that will be.
In the afternoons Mr. Right would join me (laptop-free this time) on the beach or by the pool for more sitting and doing absolutely nothing. I never just sit and do nothing at my house, so this made me over the moon happy. Besides, Mr. Right looks even dreamier while hanging out at the beach.

Two of our evenings were filled with conference obligations (which we enjoyed, the people there were a lot of fun), but one night we had all to ourselves, and Mr. Right cooked up a little plan to wow me right there in Florida. We got takeout Chinese food for dinner (he called it the “best bad chinese food” on the island), and we had a picnic on the dock of a yacht club, watching the sun set into the ocean as we dangled our feet in the water.
It was quite romantic.
And then we topped everything off with ice cream. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Our trip also allowed me to cross TWO items off my summer bucket list. 
1. Dip my toes in the ocean. This photo shows my toes in the sand, right next to the ocean. The picture of my toes in the ocean makes my toes look funny. And I’m a girl and I don’t want you to see my toes looking funny (I think it’s something about water reflecting light and making things look distorted? I should have listened in junior high science class.). So here are my toes in the sand. But trust me when I tell you that I not only dipped these toes in the Gulf, but I swam all the way to my shoulders. You see, I don’t like to get my hair wet. Even for special occasions like bucket lists.
2. Take a moonlit walk on the beach. We put this off to the last night there (because the other two nights we were in food comas from so much dessert), and on that night it rained. But I couldn’t let a little rain (and mild lightening… mama, I promise it was very mild) stop me, and so we took a moonlit walk on the beach, in the rain. It was like something straight out of the Notebook. It was also my favorite part of the whole trip – standing in the dark, barefoot on the beach, listening to the waves and kissing in the rain.
I wish I had gotten a photo of it, but it would have looked like this:
So instead I’ll leave you with this – an almost equally bad picture of us enjoying dessert, just the two of us, right before our rainy moonlit walk. The quality of the photo may be poor, but it’s a good reminder of a special date filled with big conversations and lot’s of chocolate cake.
by Bethe

Summer Bucket List – Visit a state park

We crossed off another item from the bucket list on Saturday… actually two. 
  1. Visit a state park
  2. Be spontaneous
Mr. Right planned another surprise date for me on Saturday – he said it would help me cross off one of the items on my bucket list, and refused to let me in on his secret until the night before (because a girl has to have time to plan her outfit). We spent the day hiking at Mineral Wells State Park.
He was so cute – he even got up extra early to pack a picnic lunch for us. After I woke up and made french toast, we hit the road for our mini adventure. I must say that I love simply being in the car with my man – he’s just so fun to be around. 
As we drove through Cool, Texas (ahh… the cool puns… there’s so many tempting ones) we saw a sign for an estate sale and decided to be spontaneous and check it out. Oh boy am I glad we did – it was like visiting a warehouse for Restoration Hardware or Anthropologie. There was a barn full of so many goodies I could barely stand it! 
We came home with a car full of loot, including yet another vintage cruiser bike (Mr. Right was lusting over those tall handlebars and they’ve already made it onto another one of his bikes), some old rusted buckets, various gears (which we’ll use for decoration purposes) and the most adorable little child’s outdoor chair I’ve ever seen. We plan to refinish that like we did my bathroom stool (which was originally my father-in-law’s high chair) and hopefully at some point we’ll have some kiddos to sit in it. Luckily we have plenty of time to get to that project…

After paying for our loot, we hit up Mineral Wells State Park for some hiking, rock climbing, kissing, picnic-ing, cliff jumping and basking in the sun. 
For the record, I think we were the only two hikers on Saturday who ate pork tender sandwiches and carried an entire bottle of chipotle sauce in our backpack. You know Mr. Right doesn’t do peanut butter picnics.

I’m quite proud of my cliff jumping action shots. I worked on my (farmers) tan while Mr. Right did the swimming. I don’t do cold water lake swimming, but I do have a fancy v-neck tanline that I’ll be taking with me on our beach vacation soon.

It was one of my favorite Saturdays ever with my husband – we just had a blast. And I’m thankful we didn’t see the very large water moccasin snake slither into the water right by where we were swimming until we were finished. That might have put a damper on the day.

We almost crossed off eat a sno cone from the list on our way home, but my sweet mother-in-law had freshly made cookies and sweet tea waiting for us at her house, which was on our way home, so we happily postponed that bucket list item to another day.

We finished the night by watching a movie and going to bed early – it was absolutely delightful.

by Bethe

Summer bucket list – finish a chapter in my book

I can cross the first item off my summer bucket list: I have finished a chapter of my book. Actually, several.
Here’s the story:
When we were first dating, Mr. Right asked me what my biggest dream was, and I told him one of my life’s goals is to write a book. Which I do want to do, but it has always seemed like something I should do later, when I have more life experiences. 
But in true Mr. Right fashion (which is one of the many reasons why I adore him so) he told me he would do whatever he could to support me and encourage me to write that book. And boy has he taken that seriously. The next year, after were married, he told me that for Christmas he wanted me to write him a chapter for my book.
Ugh. Now I was really going to have to do it.
I came up with excuse after excuse of why this wasn’t a good time, how I was too busy to write a book, I wasn’t ready to write a book, that I needed more practice before writing a book. But he insisted.
Poor thing got a Patagonia vest for Christmas instead. 
I really did sit down and try to write something, but the well was dry. No book. I hammered out a few pages on two different occasions, with two different stories going, and yet nothing seemed to go anywhere. So I put it away and bought the vest and Mr. Right kindly loved me right through my stubbornness.
So now I’m getting back on the bike and giving it another try. Mr. Right got a belated Christmas present this week in the form of the first few pages of my story. I’m not ready to tell you what it’s about just yet, but if it were a movie, it would be a chick flick (would you expect anything else from me?), and I’m determined to make sure the main character sets her hair on fire at some point. And there will be a marathon.
I must admit that sending my husband my writing was a bit like standing naked before a firing squad waiting to be shot. It’s scary. Of course it shouldn’t be, since he loves me dearly and was so encouraging after reading it, but it was still scary.
And yet I’m determined to keep writing. Who knows, maybe I’ll get brave and post a few paragraphs on here. Maybe.
by Bethe

My summer bucket list

I can barely remember what I had for lunch most days, so my beloved little blog is a particularly helpful way for me to remember God’s grace, his answered prayers, and the many adventures I’ve been blessed to live out over the past seven years (my goodness, how my life has changed since I was 24).

Last summer I introduced my first ever Summer Bucket List, and we had a blast crossing most of the items off the list. Most of the items not crossed off were due to the record heat we enjoyed during the WORLD’S HOTTEST SUMMER IN THE HISTORY OF FOREVER. When living on the surface of the sun, it’s difficult to do things like “Have a leisurely dinner on a restaurant patio,” but we took care of that as soon as fall hit and the temperatures went back to normal.

This year I’m getting a head start on the list so I can cross off some of my outdoor activities before the back of my legs start to melt into the leather seats in my car and my free time starts to revolve around nothing but swimming pools and ice cream.

Eat dinner on a patio
Have a picnic on Trinity Trail
Learn to bake a pie
Take a photography class
Take a moonlit walk with Mr. Right on the beach
Wear shorts and heels
Ride my bike

Plan a secret date for Mr. Right

Go to a museum
Hold my new nephew
Go to a Rangers Game
Kiss Mr. Right while watching fireworks
Learn to sew something new
Finish my husband’s quilt
Pre-plan all my meals for one week
Host a dinner party
Dip my toes in the ocean
Marry off my dear friend Katie
Do something spontaneous
Get a mentor
Go to a festival
Cook with vegetables from our garden
Get a pedicure
Dance with Mr. Right in the kitchen
Eat a sno-cone
Take a road trip
Make one of the recipes from my Pinterest board
Finish making the Christmas wreaths for my mantle
Eat a candlelit dinner at home
Finish writing Chapter 1 of my book

I sent my list to Mr. Right and asked if he wanted to add anything. His additions:
Get a new dog
Visit a state park
Have a fish fry (with chicken strips for me, since I don’t eat fish)

There are a few things on this list that make me a little nervous (like getting a new dog and finishing the half-written first chapter of the book I’ve wanted to write for the last few years). Others excite me, like trying new recipes, dipping my toes in the ocean or holding my nephew. A few are already in the works – I’ve signed up for a photography class, and we’re scheduled to host a dinner party very soon. And some, like planning a secret date for Mr. Right (oh how the tables have turned!) have got my creative juices flowing.

It’s going to be a very good summer, I can just feel it.