Our vision is to inspire, empower, educate one another through ongoing community exchange. One of the ways we’re doing this is through our Friday Community column, in a monthly series called In Your Words. We reach out to our contributors and guest writers to ask them a question once a month.
Read what our contributors have to say and share your answer in the comments below.
What are you looking forward to most this summer?
Denise Trio
Our annual family vacation to Wildwood, NJ! We've gone every July for about 20 years. The beach. The boardwalk. The food. We love making new memories and recreating old ones!
Kristin Hill Taylor
I’m a summer girl at heart. I love swimming, snowcones, being out at the lake, taking road trips... but, really, what I'm most excited about this year is a break in our routine. I'm ready to embrace the lack of lunch packing, carpooling, and homework!
We've committed to fewer things, so I'm anticipating summer days where we can meet friends at the park for lunch, stay in our pajamas, go swimming, play in the backyard, and enjoy other activities in our small town. We do have a beach vacation planned that will certainly be a highlight too.
Alecia Simersky
from There's Something Different
My entire family takes a beach trip in July every year, and it's the one thing I think we most look forward to all year.
Toni Campbell
from Lakeside Lessons
Time. Time to slow down. Time for walking, taking pictures, enjoying the outdoors, and hopefully the beach! Time to catch up on all the writing I put on hold during the sale of my house/move.
Susan Panzica
from Eternity Cafe
My vacation is early this year - at the end of May. I prefer a late summer vacation, but with our family's schedules, this is how it had to be. Not that I'm complaining. So I'm looking forward to getaway days at the shore, BBQs in the backyard, and a writers' conference in August.
Kimberly Amici
I am looking forward to the warm weather, reading by the pool, and eating outdoors. I am also looking forward to not having to pack a lunch every day and maybe a few mornings to sleep in. I go into every summer thinking I'll have a ton of time on my hands to write and catch up on long forgotten projects, but I never do. So this year I have realistic expectations of what's possible. I've picked one project, putting home movies onto DVDs, to tackle with my family.
Elise Daly Parker
I am so excited to have my college daughter home for the summer…our house has been a little quiet without her. Plus there will be other opportunities for family gatherings that include my kids, and my sisters’ kids, my husband’s family, and my stepfamily, which I appreciate now more than ever since so many of us are spread far and wide.
July 4th weekend is an annual tradition that kind of kicks off the whole summer (plus it’s my birthday), always a big crowd with lots of noise and love. I also hope for: my hubby and I to catch an outdoor concert in a nearby park, my granddaughter to come for another swim in her new baby pool, and some time on my hammock.
We’ll wind up with our traditional Labor Day family reunion (I guess I can never get enough of my family) on Cape Cod!!!