Summer TO DO!

Good afternoon blogosphere! I have officially finished my sophomore year of college at CU Boulder and with all this extra time on my hands I hope to channel my focus and energy into my blog! So, here it goes!

As most of my close family and friends know, I am an avid list maker. I LOVE lists. I also love being able to cross each item off with a sense of great accomplishment. I like to think of each list as a series of goals that can help and/or better me in any which way. I mean, without goals how are you supposed to have the necessary determination and drive to accomplish anything in life? Take that deep life lesson and run with it...

Okay seriously though, my post today is a list of "to dos" for this summer. I'd like to make this summer the best it can be; milk it for all it's worth. To do that, I tried to think of a few things that would not only make this a summer to remember, but also take a majority of my time off to complete rather than a few simple tasks that can be finished within a day or two. Here's a list of the top 5 things I hope to achieve for the summer of 2012!

1. Learn to cook - Maybe I'll buy my very first cookbook after wandering the foreign aisles of Williams Sonoma or Peppercorn. Or, say I'm feeling quite adventerous... I could take a cooking class?! The possibilities are endless. And since I'm starting from scratch there's so much to learn. It will most likely take me all summer to gather my patience and learn the very basics, but you've got to start somewhere!
2. Get in touch with my crafty side - This summer I plan to put Pinterest to the ultimate test. I continuely find adorable and creative ideas to pin to my "Things to do" board (that's another list entirely in itself). I hope to take the time to attempt a craft or two...or 20! Stay tuned! I'll definitely post my adventures throughout the summer!
3. Explore Colorado - I realize that this is a fairly vague concept. It could mean anything... and it does! There is so much to see and experience in Colorado! Festivals, art shows, concerts, farmers markets, sight seeing, national parks, museums, famed local restaurants, and the list goes on. I want to see it all, try it all, do it all! It's an entirely impossible idea, but it's worth a shot to at least discover what I'm missing, right?
4. Go on solo hikes - One of the best features of Colorado are the mountains. They are one of the most beautiful sights a person may ever experience, and being IN the mountains is a whole other story. The peace, serenity, and high of making it to the top are incredible feelings that just might allow me to accomplish this goal. It may be the toughest thing to get myself to do, but in the end it will be worth it!
5. Immerse myself in music - The music scene out here in Colorado is unlike anywhere else. The variety of genres, musicians, and venues is truly boundless. I've been told that one of the most unbelievable places to see a concert is at the Red Rocks Amphitheater. It's this amazing venue built into the giant red rocks of Morrison, CO. To make things even better and all the more enticing, the line up for this summer is pretty impressive!

This seems like a very short list to last me the entire summer, but when you think about it, each one of these aspirations encompass' a great deal of activity. I can hardly wait to get started and I hope you will keep checking back for updates as the summer continues! In the mean time, what are your plans for the summer?