Things I'm Doing To Prepare For Summer

    Well, it has certainly been a while. About three months actually. I'm back at it again though after some pretty terrible burnout. If you want to read about all of that, you can head over to She Be Fierce 2 for that. The link to that page is at the end of this post just as it always is.

    If you've been with me for a while, you know that I say "summer is my busiest time of year" over and over again. There is really no way I could communicate that enough. It may still be in Spring, but my "summer agenda" kicks off in the marvelous month of May this year. That is quite a bit earlier than it normally is, so that means preparation starts now. From buying things I need like a swimsuit and shoes, all the way to adjusting to a "summer eating schedule" (yes, I am aware that sounds insane, but hear me out). Let's go over what I will be doing to get ready and I perhaps tease a potential blog post. 

My Summer Eating

    Most of the year, I do not eat breakfast. Not a single bit of food is eaten until well after ten in the morning. Why? First, I am rarely ever hungry in the morning. I'll make a cup of tea or coffee as soon as I get up, but that's it. Second, I generally can't eat in the morning. My body does not like having food first thing in the morning. It just makes me feel pretty blah. 

    Of course, during the summer, I need a lot more energy during the first half of the day. Running around a college campus to work a conference, sprinting around a camp to get things done, attending all day festivals, and the like all require me to eat in the morning. If I don't, I am absolutely out of energy by the time lunch rolls around.

    Every April for the last few years, I start having the occasional breakfast (still not as soon as I wake up, but around nine a.m.) during the week. Now in May, my stomach is a bit more used to eating before ten but I'm still not hungry for food yet. I'll usually be all good with eating by my first working event and I have plenty of energy throughout the day. 

Getting Family Retreat Costumes Ready

    If you've read my blog posts that come out after the month of June, you know that there are weeks of content all about Joni & Friends Family Retreat. I have been buying supplies to make my welcome costume and will be working on that as June approaches. As soon as I found out the theme for camp (for example, for the travel theme I dressed up as Carmen San Diego), I had an idea almost right away. So now that I have bought the supplies, I can get started on getting my costume together! 

    This year, I'm doing at least two different costumes with the second one making it's appearance in August as part of a trio of characters. One in the group may or may not be a part of the blogging/podcasting world too...

Outfit Planning

    One of the only things I dislike about going out of town is packing up a bunch of clothes. Outfit planning is absolutely not one of my strong suits. The first thing I have to pack for is a more professional event that I work for, so I have to be presentable and all that. So despite my love for t shirts and shorts, I pack up dresses, blouses, slacks, and heels into my suitcase and throw it in the trunk of the car. 

    However, I have to actually plan outfits before I can just toss things into my bags. Over the past three weeks, I have been putting outfits together for "try on days" and have been asked by my mother, "you're wearing that for conference, right?"

    Right now, I've got maybe two out of five outfits confirmed. I have to get a couple of others done and I may just be able to get all my outfits done from my closet and dresser without having to shop at the store for any additional pieces. Ok, fine I'll admit it, I bought a new pair of shoes. I'm really excited about them and I've already worn them for a full day so I'm not breaking them in over an event. I also feel significantly taller when I have them on. The picture below really doesn't do the height justice.

Conference Preparations

    With working a conference, there is a lot to get ready for. Not just getting my attire in order, but preparing the things we need to bring along. Giant Boggle boxes (yes and I'm the one who made 'em), the prizes for giveaways, and all of the "scholarship coordinator" preparations. Now that I'm really thinking about it, I really need to figure out how I'm getting the aforementioned items, luggage, and four people including myself) into my little Malibu and to the event location... Yeah, the plan has some details we need to work out. 

    All of these things will get done over the next two weeks and before too much longer, my summer schedule really kicks off. So many pieces are falling into place and I am so excited to be on site to help the event run as smoothly as I can. 

Stockpiling Blog Posts

    During the month of June, I will be in Michigan serving with Joni & Friends for three entire weeks. Every single day, I'll be so busy I will likely be unable to write. That means that I need to start writing posts in advance if I want to publish posts at a consistent rate. I'll be consistently writing blog posts until I write all of the month of May's posts and then six mote posts to get just into the month of July. 

    I'll be searching my brain for topics, trying to put those topics into words, and then adding graphics and photos as needed. Here's to hoping that I'll find enough material for about twelve posts. 

    By having these stockpiled and scheduled, I'll be freed up to recover from having "extrovert mode" online for a month and relax for a bit before writing my annual camp recaps. 

-fin

    I tried really hard to not bore you with too many details. There are a lot of things that people would deem "boring" that are actually super necessary (like compiling all the scholarship info into a binder and checking it over and over to make sure every detail is right) but would just be terrible to read about. 

    Thank you SO much for reading. It means so much to me that you do! Keep an eye out for a post on this site eight days from now (a super easy way to be notified is to follow or subscribe 😉), or for a post four days from now on She Be Fierce 2! You can also follow SBF on Pinterest for some inspo, see what I'm interested in, and repin blog posts! If you want to see what I'm up to, you can follow me on  Instagram. I am trying to post more consistently on my Instagram, and am actually ok with posting to my stories. So go check it out!

Until Next Time,

KS

-do you have any pre-summer rituals?