Summer Bucket List (TIU)

So, the blog I mostly follow for fitness (and am now trying to follow strictly!) just posted this great idea for a summer bucket list. I love it (not to mention I have a tendency towards lists all the time). So here is my mini-list for my goals for the summer. They're not terribly exciting but I do have a lot I need and want to get done before I head back to school mid-August.

1. Read at least five books by the end of summer. Finishing started ones count! I just finished Mindy Kaling's book, and now I'm on to finishing the second book in the Game of Thrones series. Seriously, if you need something to keep you going between seasons, pick up the books. They go into the detail the show simply cannot do. My other two books are going to include Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson because I've started it, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, and a more "literary"-esque book, but I'm not sure what yet.

2. Have more energy. I want to be able to not need a nap by the end of summer. I can tell my health and fitness levels by how long I can sleep for. When I'm really bad--m&m's for all meals, gym shoes gathering dust--I need to nap to get through the day. And I hit the snooze button on those naps until I just turn it off altogether. When I'm healthy and fit, even when I'm crazy busy, I don't need naps. I want to be active by the end of the summer--work out routines are regular, etc.

3. Have most of my thesis research organized and read. I do not want to be stressed next year! My plan is to at least have my thesis research well organized (highlighter, notes, the works) and ready for me to reference as I'm writing next year.

4. Travel within the East Coast. My big travel plans were scratched, but I'd like to explore new places and cities by the end of the summer. I'd love to return to NYC and explore there more as well as DC and even Philly.

5. Become a runner! I want to pick-up running so bad. I know you should just start, but that's not worked for me in the past. I'm building up my workout abilities slowly but surely, starting with the elliptical and power walking, and working my strength up to start running little by little. My school has a 5K in the early fall, and I want to run in it!

6. Write more. I swear I have the best novel ideas that will give you a book hangover like now other, but it's my actual process of writing that's holding me back. Better writers, write and read more. I want to put pen to paper (NOT just fingers to keyboard) a lot more. Maybe have some stories or whole poems written?

What's on your bucket list?