Life Planner (Oxymoron, Right?)

I genuinely love being organized. I like knowing the answers to certain questions, crossing off my to dos, and having goals. Life seems a little smoother and more manageable. Yes, I am a little Type A, but that is another story.

I really haven't used  planner for my "my life" since graduating high school. Fun fact: I still have my high school planners! My work life has revolved around my desk calendar. At the start of every school year, I sit down and put in my required meetings, class pacing etc.

My home planning is a little more sparse or scattered (those are good terms to use I think). I sometimes meal plan which will guide my grocery shopping. The hubs and I keep a dry erase board on the fridge to upcoming obligations and events like conferences, doctor appointments etc. I really love that idea.

Last weekend, I got the "wind up my skirt" to amp it up when it came to my planner. You see, I bought a planner at Wal-Mart for keeping up with blogging and photography. However, neither of these things have "taken off" in a way that is like business. I didn't want a planner with a bunch of blank pages so I started putting more and more in it and it snow balled from there.

My "snowballing" eventually lead me to Pinterest in search of ideas. I read about the Rolls Royce of planners, The Erin Condren Life Planner. Don't get me wrong these planner are cute and have lots of features, but I don't know if $50 is a good price for a planner when I have he tendency to start things and then stop {hobby whore, remember}.  However, Pinterest and the posted links did give me some good ideas on things I could do to and in my planner.

Here is what I have so have:
Binder pouch
Washi tape
Post its
Extra tabs
Colored pens
Assorted stickers (from my scrap booking days, Walmart and Etsy)

So far, I really like that the planner is helping me with the 365 photography project. I wrote down all the #thebethadillychallenge prompts so I know what my picture to suppose to focus on. I've also tried to note my weekend chore rotation. I know I clean up to clean up, but it's nice to know if you know what I mean?!

This upcoming week I am going to try meal planning our dinners in my planner. I know it can be done, but I've got to take the time to do it!

Be purposeful is the theme I am noticing here. For example, I am trying to purposeful plan out some of my 30 before 30 goals and family activities. I have left myself notes throughout the plan to set this up or go and do this.

It's like the reminder note it yelling at me or silently judging me if I don't  do it,

In the extra notes sections, I added tabs and created new areas which I think are helpful to me. This includes my house to dos/projects, birthday party planning, and blogging ideas.

Ultimately, the quest continues.....we'll see where it take me.

Signs That I Am Getting Older

I felt like writing today. It hit me out of the blue. The only problem is that I had no clue as to what to write about. So, I went to my Pinterest "Blogs and Bloggers" board for some Pinspiration.

Here is the topic I decided on: Getting Older (hence the title, right?!)

1. I have a birthday in a couple of weeks. Yup. The last birthday of my 20s. Am I stressing out about almost being 30? Nah. Not now anyway. I do not want to be a teenager again or relieve my early twenties. It's very much been there done that. I look forward to what life has in store for me as an adult, a mom, a wife, etc. Embrace it. No regrets. 
2. My daughter is going to be three in a few weeks! Holy crap....that was fast. This particular topic is a whole blog post in itself. I still have a lot of plans to do for her Sheriff Callie Birthday Party.
3. In the last week or so, I've been going to bed at or before 9 pm. I've been sick so I can blame that right? My body was fighting this virus thus I was extra sleepy. There is some truth to that.
4. I feel asleep watching a TV show. Yea. It happened. This is a family trait. I have aunts who can never make it through a movie or some shows. (you know who you are)
   
5. I recently went to my high school reunion. I loved it. You can read about it here. 
6. I give sage old advice to my students. I kind of love this if I am being honest. 
7. I've complained about certain types of music
8. I am a creature of habit and like routine. 
9. The Hubs and I sometimes argue about going out.
10. There are somethings on TV that I can't handle watching. It makes me uncomfortable. 

Okay, friends I told you mine now it's your turn to tell me yours. Leave a comment here or on the Facebook page!

Let's Get Photographing 30 Day Challenge

I am getting the urge to attempt another 30 day Challenge! Que "Eye of the Tiger" background music. Two years ago, I completed a 30 writing challenge which was great because it got me writing again.

This time I think I will do a little less writing and a little more picture taking with my fancy schmancy new camera or even my camera phone if my DSLR is not handy. I came across the this challenge on Pinterest.

I am excited to start this next blog journey and I can't wait to share it with you! Follow me on Instagram for the day to day and challenge photos!

My first photo of the challenge is my first drink of the day: COFFEE!

I love my pumpkin spice coffee creamer. It makes it feel more like fall even though fall in Florida is more like summer.

Will you join me on this challenge? Post your pictures from the week to my Facebook page!

Back to School 2014

Thursday and Friday of this week students returned to school. As for us teachers, we've been cleaning, planning, meeting, a little stressing since the 1st of the month.

I always look forward to the start of a new year with mixed emotions. I am excited to get back to the old grindstone, but part of me will miss being home with Little Miss and taking naps. Yea, I liked naps this summer (and junk food, but I don't feel the need to elaborate on that point).

So what's new in my school neck of the woods?

I was named the new Department Chair! It was very quick and kind of last minute because of some unexpected school changes. I am excited. The Hubs sent me some gorgeous flowers for my first official week! There's a story behind those flowers.

This is something I've been wanting to do for a while. I am glad for the opportunity even if it means extra work. I spent most of my preplanning helping out our new teacher or sitting in meetings.

I got a flat tire on the first day of school and was a little late getting to work. Not how I was hoping to start my day, but it all worked out in the end.

I put together my first teacher appreciation gift for my department. I got this idea and printable from Pinterest! I did my best to sneak into my colleagues' classrooms and leave them as a surprise!

I am teaching five preps this year. This seems to be my average. Honestly, I would love to lighten my load in regards to this a little bit. I have the highest prep number in the department. Maybe next year I can work on this when I help with the department master schedule?

I co-lead my first professional development with my co worker Hannah! We helped other teachers get  familiar with an online website our district provides for us to use to create class websites. I think it went well. We received pretty good feedback.

Well, that about sums up my first week back besides the fact that I have been quite tired by the end of the day. 9 o' clock has been my bedtime for the past few nights. I am hoping I can manage to stay up long enough tonight to watch Divergent.

Little Big Steps

I have a big crush on my photography hobby right now! I am kind of OBSESSED with it presently in addition to stepping up and improving myself in the blogosphere. This is what happens when I am on summer vacation from work. I have to MUST focus my mind on something or I will go stir crazy.

Do you know what I mean? I am not the only one who tries to occupy themselves, right?

I know I have my mommy duties...those are an ever present given. Trust me. I know they don't go away. o at the present my mantra is "Summertime is Practice Time!" I have worked on my very basic (that's a nice way to put it) editing skills and I've broken the camera out of carry case jail and taken some pictures around the house. (Click here for my latest Simple Moment series photo)

Here is a recent editing attempt where I tried to do a "vintage look." What do you think? Can you tell the difference?

I can take pictures of my kid all the time....trust me I do. I bomb my personal Instagram and FB page with Little Miss regularly, but I am looking for new victims models subjects and new sessions or scenes.

Yesterday, I loaded up my kiddo and we went to Michael's and Hobby Lobby because I was looking to props for my FIRST PHOTOSHOOT! EEEP! Exciting right? One of my BFs has a daugther who has a big birthday coming up (15) and I asked if I could take some pictures of her for practice. I love my friends who don't me using their kids as guinea pigs LOL!  So it's going to be a mini birthday and best friend session. I've even gone as far as to create a Pinterest board for ideas and inspiration. I've been doing that a lot lately? You probably noticed if you follow me....hint, hint.

Here is what I bought at the craft stores:

I am going to use the stencil to create a burlap birthday banner. I have letters and numbers and a mini scalloped chalkboard sign....so many possibilities. Additionally, I am going to try and make a garland on the cheap using plastic table covers. This is going to be awesome!

Another first and time consuming "project" I did  yesterday was I made these digital advertisements/pricing guides.

Don't you love the glitter and sparkle?

I don't know if I am going to use the green pricing guide because I really just wanted to see if I could make one, but it is nice to have one on hand for quick reference.

It's scary and exciting to move forward with my little big steps, but I am eager to see where this will take me.

Is there anything in your life that you want to get better at or want to move forward? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below. We can take these little big steps together!

Bookshelf Makeover

Have you ever got the "wind in your sails" to do something out of the blue? If so, you can totally relate to this post because I decided that it was time to put my bookshelf back together with some style.

Before Little Miss was around, my bookshelf did have some organization, but once she became mobile and more curious I had to rethink my bookshelf for a while. Here is what it looked like more recently.

Pretty huh? Yea, pretty ugly. So what is a girl to do? I have two words for you: Pinterest Inspiration (cue inspirational background music with trumpets and applause).

In my recent Pinterest explorations, I came across some tips and tricks for decorating a book shelf. I even created a board to keep all these little goodies. I think this one here was my favorite! I absolutely love and adore the layered eclectic look so that was my goal.

I found these cute little white ceramic animals on clearance at Target. A couple of the DIY bloggers that I follow on Instagram turned me on to this style look. The white adds some sophistication to the overall decor.

Next, I went into my china cabinet, spare room and any other place I could scavenge to add to the bookshelf.

Yes, I am aware that the picture frames are empty and there may be tags on them still, but in my defense I was too excited to take them off today. Plus, I am waiting on my recent picture order from Snapfish so the frames will not be empty for long.

Overall, I am happy with how it turned out and  bonus is that it didn't take long at all! I am still considering the possibility of painting the inside or something (not sure what) to give it a little extra something. I mean it's not the most expensive bookshelf in the world. I think the Hubs and I picked it up at Big Lots when we first moved into our home.

What's something that you've been want to do around your home?

Oscar 2014 Giggle

Do you have an odd sense of humor? Sometimes, I think know I do. Here is a meme I found on Pinterest this morning and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. 

I hope this made you smile this morning. There's nothing like finding a little humor in life to make the day go by a little faster. Well, I need to go get ready for work. I'm chaperoning a field trip this morning. Have a great day. As always, keep it simple, but significant.

Back to he Old Grindstone

After a beautiful winter break, this teacher has to go back to the business of changing the world through social studies classes today. I get the feeling that I will feel like this later when it's all said and done......

London Broil Recipe

I wouldn't say I was the best cook in the world. You won't be seeing me on Master Chef or running my own restaurant. I will say that I can read and thus I can follow a recipe so it works out. I like attempting new stuff because the same old gets old real quick.

Pinterest is a great resource for search for recipe links and organizing said links on your boards. I wanted to share with you one of my Pinterest finds and my personal modifications of the recipe.

My local Winn-Dixie had a sale on London Broil for Buy One Get One. I had never cooked one before, but I was willing to try. I found this recipe on Pinterest. There was no home site link, but someone left the directions in the comments. I didn't want to use the marinade and rub posted so I used the ingredients I normally use for a pot roast (another Pinterest find).

I preheated the oven to 500 degrees. I covered the London Broil in a mixture of the "gravy". To make the "gravy" I used one brown gravy packet, one dry ranch packet and one dry Italian dressing packet and mixed together in 3/4 cup of warm water. I placed the London Broil on top of a bed of onions and poured the gravy on top.  As soon as I was done with the super easy prep, I put it into the preheated oven. I immediately dropped the heat down to 225 and let the broil cook for 45 minutes. Do not open the oven....you'll let the heat out!

After 45 minutes, I increased the heat to 350 for 25 minutes. I prefer my meat on the medium well side hence this step. If you like more of the medium rare your roast will be done by now.

Here is what is it looked like after it was done and resting. Yummy right?

After the meat rested, the hubs sliced away and our dinner we did enjoy!

I hope you found this little recipe rundown helpful and give it a try. I am positive that you will like it.

Thanksgiving Humor

You Know You're A Teacher When #3

 Sometimes it's the students, sometimes it's me or a combination of both but either way it's all true!

You know you're a teacher when you give directions and someone says, "What are we doing?"

You know you're a teacher when you've had talk over someone (probably soon followed by the first picture).

You know you're a teacher when you can name the exact amount of days until the next school break.

Do me a favor and share this post with a fellow teacher. They probably could use a giggle!

Weekly Wonderings and Musings

When this momma gets some time to herself to unwind sometime between 8:00 pm to 8:30 pm, I like  to read the latest blog posts from the bloggers I follow, waste time on Pinterest, read a little news or a book, and La-dee-da on Facebook.

I thought it would be fun to share with you some of stuff I thought was interesting, neat, funny or weird!

I read this article about an 8 month pregnant woman who does crossfit weightlifting! OMG! That is totally scary and "Bad-A" at the same time!

A Utah football coach suspends the entire football team because of cyberbullying, skipping classes, and failing classes. I say well done! Kudos! Bravo! In order to be reinstated on the football team students need to attend study hall, no failing grades and complete a service project. He is also requiring students memorize the following quote, "Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast is not given to us. We have to build it, piece by piece — by thought, by choice, courage, and determination."

If you haven't taken the time to watch Jimmy Fallon and Justing Timberlake make flu of the #hashtag you totally should! It was hilarious #LOL #giggles #silly

I thought this picture was also ROFL worthy. I came across it on Pinterest. It makes me think of Penny from Big Bag Theory explaining this theory!!

History Nerd Alert....I watched the movie, "Iron Jawed Angels" for the first time this week in my US Government class. This was a great movie! HBO actually did a good job on this one. After completing the movie about women's suffrage with my student, I went on the Internet and wanted to read more about Alice Paul. She was an amazing woman. She and the suffragists who stood along side her made a definitive mark in our history. They endured being ignored, spit at, hit, arrested, mistreated by people in power and they even did  hunger strike!

Lastly, a friend on Facebook alerted me to a recent change in thrilled of psychology--extending adolescence to the age of 25! Holy cow. Why the change? So, now I'm only a couple years out of adolescence? No way. So with my curiosity peaked a searching the Internet new feed I did go. Come to find out, this is a change being made in Great Britian. Rick Moran, author of the article states, "The ostensible justification for this is cognitive studies showing that the brain is still developing past age 18 and into the 20's. There is also a question of hormonal development continuing as well." He goes on to say that "this could create a population of infantile young people." That statement seems a little like faulty thinking (slippery slope) to me.

Well dear reader, that about does it for this week's glance into my simple and sometimes significant wonderings and musings! Until next time.....

Day 28: Crafty Coffee Bar (Part 3)

When I first purchased the dresser for the coffee bar project, I thought I would simply but new handles for the piece, but my friend Melissa who helped me with the beginning of this project said, "Don't waste your money, just repaint them." That is exactly what my hubby did (for me)!

Before he painted them, he scuffed them up with sand paper. For this phase of "project coffee bar," we bought Hammered Silver spray paint. The idea was that this paint would closely match the nickel like hardware on the kitchen cabinets that were already in place.

He did about 2-3 coats of spray paint and then he set them aside to dry. Easy peasy. The last and final step of this part was to put the handles back on and ta-da!

Here is the most recent picture of the project. My last post on the coffee bar will be when I get the shelves and rack up for the cups and décor!

I can't wait for that day! Can you?

Day 27: Pantry Repurp

So now that coffee bar project s nearly complete, I wanted to continue on this "repurposing" journey by using the remaining paint from the coffee bar redo my pantry door to create "pop color" effect. Here is what it looked like before in it's used manufactured state:

You can definitely see the wear and tear around the handle, but overall it's fine. I mean it's a pantry door, not the wardrobe to Narnia! LOL.

Well, the hubs took it down and sanded it. Then, this little lady got busy painting it. However, we had to get the door back up before Little Miss got back from her visit with Nanny and Papa because this momma was not going to deal with a toddler getting into the pantry every 5 seconds because there is no door.

Once, the door was up (mind you it isn't finished) I could see right away that is was more blue than the coffee bar. Ugh. Now what do I do? I was really kind of hoping that they would match.

After my mini freak out reading online, I realized I probably should have done a base coat of brown, but I also read that all is not lost. I don't have to throw in the towel or go out and buy paint stripper yet.

I am going to sand the edges and try a brown glaze to get the desired distressed effect. I've pinned and read some "how tos" on Pinterest and feel confident I think this might do the trick as long as I don't rush. Here's hoping....



Day 26: Crafty Coffee Bar (Part 2)

Welcome back to my journey into home improvement and repurposing! I am lovin' it! My first big project for my home décor "up do" is a coffee bar.  Part one went very well. I am extremely happy with how it is looking.

The second phase for me was to let the paint dry and cure. Next, we followed the drying process with a couple coats of polyurethane. I sent my hubby to the hardware store to pick it up. I feel awkward in a hardware store...maybe it's my lack of testosterone.

The hubs came back with a spray paint poly with satin finish. After the first coat, I didn't think it was coated well . The first coat took the whole can. I requested another coating so back to the hardware store. I am happy with the two coats and the coffee bar is ready to move inside into its nook!

Now, we are not done yet. I still have to repurp the handles of the dresser so be on the look out for part (3) of the Crafty Coffee Bar Series!

Here is what the coffee bar looks like in the house without wall décor:

I am super excited at how awesome this looks! By my calculations, we have about $75 wrapped up in this project so far (not counting the paint for the hardware)! Not so bad considering what we would have been charged to purchase a ready made piece!

Until next time, keep calm and enjoy a cup of coffee!

Day 23: Crafty Coffee Bar (Part 1)

I have never attempted any sort of repurposing job. I love the décor look of it though and it can sometimes to more pricey to buy a piece already done rather than do it yourself.

Thanks to Pinterest, I got the wind under my sales to attempt to recreate a coffee bar like one seen here.

I've mentioned previously that I am trying to make my home feel more homey through decorating. This project for that reason, plus I love coffee and tea! Luckily for me, I have a great friend, Melissa, who is a pro so with her instruction and help I will attempt this project.

Here is the dresser I purchased at a local Habitat for Humanity. I paid $40 for it. Other supplies I needed: (1) Quart of paint (satin interior), Palm Sander with sand paper, and brushes.

Our first step was to take off the hardware on the dresser and sand it down because of the laminate coating. After we sanded down the dresser, we dry dusted and damped dusted off the particles.

Next, the fun part--the painting. You can use a paint brush or a roller. We decided to use the paint brush because the paint lines would help add to the distressed look I wanted.

After the paint dried, we used the palm sander to begin the process of adding age and distress through the paint. We also went over with sand paper ourselves and did handmade touches.

Lastly, we left the dresser and drawers to dry. We are not done yet! Stay tuned for the final touches!