bucket list

Five End of Summer Bucket List Items

July 7, 2020 by Rachel 33 Comments

After the Fourth of July, it always feels like summer comes barreling to an end and before we know it, we are back in the grind. That is why I made a vow to make sure my family takes full advantage of the rest of the season by coming up with an end of the summer bucket list!

Visit a Farmer’s Market and Make Dinner as a Family

Farmer’s markets are so fun to visit! I love browsing the different stands, seeing all the unique goods, and teaching my kids about new food. I also love knowing that I am feeding my family fresh, locally grown food that helps support Ohio’s economy. To make a fun experience even better, we plan to take the food selected by the kids and cook dinner together as a family. My apple galette recipe will be a perfect dish to serve at this dinner!

Go to a Drive-In Movie

I can remember my parents taking me to drive-in movies each summer when I was younger. I thought it was just the coolest thing to watch a movie in our car. This summer is the perfect time to introduce my kids to the drive-in movie experience. We haven’t been to a movie in months, so this will be extra special!

Get Some Ice Cream and Pay-It-Forward

One of my favorite things to do, summer or not, is getting ice-cream. For some reason, ice-cream just tastes better when someone else scoops it for you. Am I right?! But, do you know what is even better than ice-cream? Making someone else’s day! Next time we get ice cream, we will pay-it-forward and treat the next person in line with a sweet treat. I can guarantee my kids will enjoy the giving, more than the ice cream.

Ambush Your Kids with a Surprise Water Fight

My kids love when we play with them! They’ll love it even more if we surprise them with something totally unexpected like a water fight. We’ll fill balloons and buckets of water beforehand and ambush them when they least expect it. It will be a blast!

Actually Rest and Relax

Summer is supposed to be the time of year when things slow down so we can relax and enjoy each other’s company. With so many responsibilities, it is sometimes hard to remember to enjoy this slower season and live in the moment. We are going to make a pointed effort to rest and relax intentionally during these long summer days.

I hope the end of your summer is blast!

Tell me – what is on your end of summer bucket list?!

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Fall Family Bucket List + Printable Checklist!

September 27, 2019 by Rachel 26 Comments

I’ve never been to keen on Summer. But Fall? Fall is my dream come true. It’s something that I’ve also passed on to my children. They love all things pumpkin, all things sweater, and all things

Instead of trying to meet impossible standards (thanks, Pinterest), try and focus on the simplicity of the season.

I’ve rounded up a small list of my favorite Fall Family Bucketlist Items for you to check out. Make sure to pin and save the printable below!

Visit a Pumpkin Patch

What could be more basic than a pumpkin patch?! Nothing! But that’s the beauty of the season. My husband and I bought our pumpkins from the store once. And, at the time, that was fine. But there’s just something about picking out your own pumpkin — flaws and all — that makes the carving and painting process that much more special.

Go on a Hayride

One of my favorite memories as a child is my families annual hayride. The hayride was actually a “haunted hayride” at our towns Century Village. Truth be told, it was always a bit spooky, but it was also incredibly fun.

Over the last several years, the little family of my own has done a more traditional hayride. And every year the kids love it more and more.

Does it matter that we’re only going through the pumpkin patch? Heck no! It’s amazing to them nonetheless.

Jump in a Leaf Pile

If I could name my top three most-despised adult chores they would rank the following: 1. Laundry. 2. Dishes. 3. Raking leaves.

Funny enough, until recently we’ve never had a large yard. But year after year we would spend countless hours raking (and blowing) the leaves in our yard. It felt like an impossible task, as there were always, always, more leaves to rake.

Now, with kids, I see things much differently. The idea of raking leaves actually brings me joy… because I know how much my kids love jumping into leaf piles.

Pumpkin Painting or Carving

I’m going to admit something to you right now — I am not great at carving pumpkins. And also? The whole process can be a bit exhausting.

The tracing, the gutting, the cutting… I’m not the best or most patient with this process. So there have been years where we opt for pumpkin painting instead. And guess what? The kids still adore it. That’s what I call a win-win, folks!

Trick-or-Treating

Okay, so maybe this one seems like a given. But when my kids were teeny I considered not taking them. And that would have been a huge mistake. There’s nothing cuter than a teeny tiny first-time trick-or-treater. It’s, like, a fact. Everyone will ooh and ahh over how cute your little pumpkin looks.

So suit them up, take them out for approximately 20-minutes, get a few pictures and a handful of candy, and call it a night.

Bake Cookies

I know that the holidays are generally the time for baking all of the things. But, for me, Christmas is just too busy of a season to truly enjoy baking. It feels more like a chore than a fun event.

Instead, my kids and I bake cookies and other treats in the Fall. We decorate cutout cookies to look like mummies and ghosts; throw together a Fall-themed trail mix; and snack on goodies like Chocolate-mummy-pretzel rods!

Apple Picking

I’m sure we’ve all recently seen the meme about buying apples from the store for $5 versus taking your family on a grand excursion to pick their own apples for $25, but there’s something to be said about seeing where our food comes from.

We are lucky to have several apple orchards within a few minutes of our house, so we’ll pick a nice day in early Fall (during honeycrisp season) and go to an orchard.

Drink Apple Cider

Is there anything better than warm, mulled, apple cider? The answer is no. Definitely not.

Grab a couple of mulled cider recipes from here and here and enjoy with the family on a cool, Fall evening.

Be sure to print this handy checklist to keep track of all of your Fall Family Fun!

Tell me — what’s your favorite Fall family activity?

holiday wreath making workshop //

December 8, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending The Agrarian Collectives’ wreath making workshop at the Sunnybrook Preserve in Chesterland. Sure, Chesterland is a bit far from where we live (now), but Chad + I both grew up just minutes from this town, so we know the area very well.

I had signed up a few weeks ago, not knowing how I would be feeling, but knowing that I would desperately need to get out of the house. Turns out, I was right. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten outta the house solo, so I knew Chad & Ari could do without me for just a few hours. Ha!

I arrived early to give myself time to settle in, and I’m so glad I did! I was able to meet with Kelli from the Agrarian Collective (again) and snap some photos of the spread. — And let me tell you, it was an awesome spread!

Kelly and her crew did an amazing job at setting up this workshop. Everything looked Pinteresty-perfect! Which, admittedly, helped me tap into my creative side pretty quickly.

She gave us a quick run-down of what do to. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing, but I felt empowered!

The result? Magical! It’s amazing what a little empowerment and creativity will spark! I got to business and finished my wreath very quickly!

Seriously. I went from nervous about HOW to create something to just getting it done in a snap! Great leadership from the AC crew! My new, beautiful, simplistic, wreath is now hanging on our door, helping to usher in the holidays!

Bonus — I, unknowingly, scratched #7 off of my 31 for 31 list by taking a “makers” workshop!

Please checkout the other events that they have going on, including the longest night, a winter solstice gathering, on Tuesday December 22nd! Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased online here! From what I understand this event is nearly sold out!

31 FOR 31 //

December 4, 2015 by Rachel 1 Comment

It’s been a while since I set any sort of goals for myself. In fact, it’s been over a year! Holy smokes. So it’s time to change that — to give myself a sense of purpose in my thirty-first year of life. Even if this list is making its way two whole months after my 31st birthday. 🙂

I’ve posted similar goals sporadically in the past, but I’ve always gone a bit ‘overboard’ with my lists. Which completely overwhelms me and then I do absolutely none of it. So this year I’m keeping it simple-ish.

[1] Run another half marathon. Having a baby in the middle of the winter will certainly help because we won’t have many options to leave the house. So enter the treadmill!

[2] Find a new job/career that will offer more of a work/life balance.

[3] Have a successful no-spend 30 days.

[4] …. in which I also cook/eat at home for 30 days straight.

[5] Pay it forward to someone by paying for their coffee.

[6] Take a cooking class.

[7] Take a “makers” workshop of some sort.

[8] Purge + donate old items from my closet.

[9] Get rid of old electronics.

[10] Completely reorganize our bedroom.

[11] Completely reorganize our laundry room.

[12] Donate blood.

[13] Get a haircut. I know this seems like NBD. But honestly? I haven’t had a haircut in like 18 months.

[14] Get back to my pre-baby weight.

[15] Attend a county or state fair.

[16] Participate in another Wine + Canvas event.

[17] Meditate everyday for 30 days.

[18] Do a 7-day juice fast.

[19] Workout for 30-days straight.

[20] Go 30-days without alcohol Postpartum obvy cause being pregnant and doing that would be cheating, right?

[21] Complete a cross-stitch project that I’ve had the tools for.

[22] Go to a comedy show.

[23] Take a road trip to NY State.

[24] Attend a pro sporting event.

[25] See a movie at The Nightlight theater in Akron.

[26] Take a Balance + Brews yoga class.

[27] Complete a 60-day streak of 10k steps per day.

[28] Set up my home-office in my bedroom.

[29] Take a SUP yoga class.

[30] Visit a local winery and do a wine tasting.

[31] Attend a yoga event.

I feel like this list is totally attainable — unlike other lists I’ve made in the past. So I’m totally looking forward to scratching one off at a time! No worries — I’ll update it as I go!

Sidenote: I totally almost named this “31 before 31″… and it literally took me like 3 hours to realize that I AM ALREADY 31! Ha. Myyyyy bad.

Just Keep Running // Training Update

July 29, 2014 by Rachel 1 Comment

A while back I set what seemed like a lofty goal. Scratch that — while I was running the Akron Marathon Relay last year I made a promise to myself that I would run the Akron Half Marathon this year. That’s right. I decided in the middle of my first major race that I would run the same race the following year — but in doing so I would complete my first ever half marathon.

I knew then and there that the energy and excitement I felt during the relay race would be enough to push me through a half marathon. Plus, seeing the hundreds of other men and women pumped up for 13.1 miles was inspiring. If ALL of these people could commit to finishing 13.1 miles, what could possibly be holding me back from doing the same thing!?

Well now I’m on week SIX of my training plan — I’m halfway there!! And over halfway there in distance!

Here’s how I’ve been working in my training runs:

3 mornings a week I get up early and head to the towpath trail to fit in 3 or 4 miles (usually 4 miles, 3 miles and then 4 miles another day). The other days I do my best to fit in some sort of strength training (which for me has been HIIT workouts via Turbo Fire — they are quick and intense!). Additionally – LOTS of stretching; even on days that I’m not running. And on Sundays I gear up for my ‘long run,’ which I’ve been trying to do with a group or partner (it makes the time pass by much more quickly and the miles not seem as long).

This past weekend I planned on using my long run day (Sunday) to run 7-miles. I started with a group of women from Cleveland MRTT. They were planning on running 9 miles at a 10-minute mile pace. But instead of turning around at 3.5 miles, I kept on.

… but I ended up running 8-miles instead. I just felt so awesome that I didn’t even need to stop!

The best part? I finished with a 9 minute, 13 second per mile pace!! It was incredibly consistent for my longest run to date! And I set a couple of PR’s! Woo hoo!

And yes, I’ve been taking post-run selfies every time I run. No, not because I’m super vain, but because I want to document my progress and how I’m feeling via pictures while I go through this process.

Sidenote: I am growing my hair back out and I am HATING the length. So right now I do what I can with it. Which isn’t much. Ugh. Oh well.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be fitting in a couple more long training runs, including the Perfect 10 Miler! I hadn’t planned on running a 10-mile race before the half marathon; but after talking to some of the MRTT ladies, my plan is to run it as a training run versus a race. That way I get some race-day jitters out of the way, plus knock out 10 miles I’ll need to do anyways!

Hopefully over the course of the next couple of months, the half marathon race course will start to look a bit less intimidating…

And I’ve yet to set a timed goal for the race. Right now my only goal is to finish. Any suggestions for goal times??

30 Before Thirty // 4 Months Out

June 24, 2014 by Rachel 5 Comments

Technically it’s less than four months out until my 30th birthday (but who’s counting??). Honestly I’m not dreading this birthday whatsoever (the perks of being the youngest of my friends + younger than my husband — love you all! 😉 ). But I am excited to be knocking some items off my list!

01 // Become a mom. Hey! I did this!

02 // Run a half marathon. Registered for the Akron half — ONE week before my 30th birthday!

03 // Go on a family vacation to the beach. We did this over the summer!

04 // Participate in a yoga workshop.

05 // Go to a professional sporting event. Three Indians games during Summer 2013.

06 // Learn something new by taking a class. Another unexpected surprise was surprising myself with going to Wine & Canvas painting events. It feels good to make it a regular practice to be crafty.

07 // Spend an entire day paying it forward.

08 // Visit Niagara Falls. Loved that we did this as a family in April.

09 // Visit Denver.

10 // Pay for the person behind me at Starbucks. I’ve done this — THREE times! And it feels fantastic each and every time.

11 // Go on a wine tour. Check! Girls wine tour, 2013, in the books! It should have been called “Moms Hot-Mess-Express 2013.” Oy.

12 // Try a new [to me] exercise class. I tried a new cycling class. But I feel like this only half counts. I’ve also been doing

13 // Visit an apple orchard as a family. My sweet family of three visited an apple orchard just a few weeks ago!

14 // Participate in the Warrior Dash. I haven’t done this exact race, but I did participate in Pretty Muddy — which was an obstacle course women’s mud run. Sooo basically the same thing. And to be honest, I probably will not do a Warrior Dash. The Pretty Muddy 5k was super rough on my body and I don’t think I’ll do the WD.

I’m also doing Foam Fest in a couple weeks! HOW FUN!! Use code FF5352 when you register!

15 // …and the Color Run! Does Color Me Rad count?? I think so!

16 // Go kayaking — and finally put our kayaks to use!

17 // Have professional family pictures taken. Thank you, Justine Johnson, for taking our first family photos!

18 // Ride a roller coaster.

19 // Make bread from scratch.

20 // Live a more sustainable life. Work in progress!

21 // Eat at Mighty Taco in Buffalo, NY again. My Buffa-LOVE trip completed this in April!

22 // Get a massage. I’ve had FOUR!! Look at this mama go! HA!

23 // Visit the Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland.

24 // Attend a social media gathering. Check! #VitamixCLE AND the Mitchell’s #SweetUp!

25 // Feel comfortable in a bathing suit.

26 // Visit the zoo. We visited the Akron Zoo on what seemed to be their busiest day of the summer! But it was fun.

27 // …and a museum. Our Fathers Day weekend 2013 was spent at the Akron Art Museum! And Ari & I have gone again and again ever since!

28 // Take an aerial yoga class.

29 // Have a successful no-spend month. Done! But I’d like to do this again. Here’s looking at you, July 2014!

30 // Play in the snow. Ari and I haven’t really made it out in the snow. This past winter wasn’t… ideal. In fact, it was well-below freezing for much of the season. Bummer. This may be the only one that I don’t get to. Oh well!