August Highlights and Goals

August was such a fun month! It definitely felt like it was the height of summer fun, with lots of outdoor activities with friends, outdoor festivals and concerts, birthday celebrations, and races. It was a good time! There were a lot of highlights for me, but the top one was probably something I've been looking forward to for months (and honestly years)- seeing the musical Wicked! I love musicals and any kind of live performance, so I was really excited when a friend was willing to go with me and we had an amazing time. The show definitely lived up to my expectations and I absolutely loved it!

Here's a look at how my annual goals are going- we're getting down to the end of the year which is crazy to think about!

Annual Goals

Korean Vegan Cookbook

I tried out the noodle chapter in the book, which I was pretty intimidated by! I've never made noodles before, so I decided on the knife cut noodle soup recipe which the author says is the easiest to make. I liked how the soup tasted but the noodles were so thick- they almost tasted like dumplings. Dan really liked it though!

Temperature blanket

I'm done with month 8 of the temperature blanket. I kept getting behind this month- I was working on other projects and kept putting this off! It's such an easy design that it's good for a brainless activity which is nice, but I'm starting to see why people say they dread making these.

Here are some stats for August-

- I used a total of 3 colors

- The highest daily temperature was 97 and the lowest was 78 (just a reminder, I'm only doing the "high" of the day so I didn't record the daily low or average)

- My most used color was yellow (used 16 times) which is used for the range 80 to 89 degrees.

Here's what the blanket looks like now-

Hike 100 Miles + Check Out 10 New Parks

I did a few hikes and trail runs this month to add 6.8 more miles onto my total, making it 93 total miles this year. I'm so close to my goal of 100 already! I also visited one new park- Lake Raleigh.

Read the Goodreads Best Books

I'm currently reading the Non--fiction winner (Atlas of the Heart) but haven't finished any winners this month.

Work from a Coffee Shop Once a Month

I visited The Optimist in Raleigh this month, and it was such a great little coffee shop. It was really busy so I can tell it's a popular spot, and I understand why! The coffee and food was great, and there are lots of spots to work from (including a huge patio outside). Definitely will go back.

I finished off my summer bucket list this month, just in time for summer to unofficially end! It was so fun to have a list of things to try out and I'll definitely be doing this in winter as well.

Summer Bucket List

• Bike to a brewery or bottle shop - done in June
• Kayak or SUP in a new lake - I went to Lake Raleigh this month. It's a really nice lake right on NC State's campus and I really liked it! Would definitely go back.
• Paint and picnic - went to Jordan Lake to do this earlier this month.
• Crochet in a park - done in June
• Hike somewhere new - done in June
• Go to an outdoor movie - Saw the Mario Brothers movie at Apex Nature Park. My city does a free movie or concert in the park every weekend in the summer and I finally got to join (for the final one!)
• Go to an outdoor concert - done in July
• Visit a winery - done in July
• Bike the entire Tobacco Trail - Did this with Dan and my friend Karena! It was a really nice ride and not too difficult- my next goal is doing the entire Neuse River trail which is about 5 miles longer than the Tobacco.
• Go to a baseball game - done in July
• Play frisbee golf - Went twice this month!
• Go camping - done in June
• Dine al fresco at a restaurant (bonus points if it's rooftop!) - done in July