Friday Favorites- 1-13-17

Happy Friday friends!

I hope you had a WONDERFUL week.

I know for me, this week has been super long and unpredictable and I am so glad it is Friday!

Today I am linking up with Andrea, Narci and Erika to share my Friday Favorites!

It snowed last Friday and we were "snowed in" a few days.  We accumulated about 7 inches and it was so nice!  We were able to enjoy the snow and get caught up on some household chores.

So pretty.

This is such a peaceful picture. :)

On Sunday I went to my parents and went sledding with my niece.

She is so fun and played in the snow for HOURS!

 Tube Squeezer!

 I bought this the other day at the dollar tree.  I always have a hard time squeezing out the last bit of toothpaste and this puppy works like a charm!  I love how it rolls the entire tube up!  Hopefully it will last a while!

 Totally worth a dollar!

Tryin' something new

Lately, I've read about using Coconut Oil on your face as a moisturizer.   I bought this at Trader Joe's and thought I could try it for dry skin and for a moisturizer and if I didn't like it I would use it is in the kitchen.  As of right now I am continuing to use it as a night moisturizer.  The only thing I don't like about it is the smell.  As Josh says, it smells like corn flakes, which is kind of weird to put on your face.  As long as my face doesn't break out, I plan on using it for a while :). Do you use coconut oil for you face?  Do you like it and do you use it for anything else?  I would love to hear your input!

This is us eating cereal after dinner.

There is something exciting about eating cereal for dessert and watching netflix on a Wednesday night.  We're easy to please around here. :)

Polka dots and navy make me so happy :)

I have been in the market for a new phone case for a while, but never found the right one.  After searching on amazon and walmart.com I finally found this Otterbox defender case.  This has been my go to case for years, and I am so excited to get one that has polka dots.  I added my monogram with a decal from etsy.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Do something fun :)

-xoxo

Workin' it Wednesday! -1-11-17

Happy Wednesday Friends!

Today I am linking up with Erika and Shay for:

Every 2nd Wednesday of each month I will be sharing how I am work life on a daily basis!  I think it will be fun to back on this post for years to come!

Today I am excited to share my New Years Goals! 

I am not a big New Years Goal setter (if that is even a word :)), but this year I tried to be very intentional with my New Years Goals.  I wanted to set goals that have meaning and something I can work on that doesn't necessarily have an end goal.

Here are my New Years Goals:

1.) Be more intentional with relationships

2.) Be more conscience with my time

3.) Keep up with my daily house chores

4.) Go to bed LATER

5.) Be more active

So here it goes friends!

  

#1: My first goal is to try to be more intentional with relationships with other people  

These days, it is so easy just to live my life day by day and not value relationships with people.  I partially blame social media because it is so easy to just keep up with people through pictures and posts.  So this year I have been trying to make it a point to have read conversations, text friends, send cards, or offer to make meals for people to build relationships. This is just something I plan on working on throughout the year!

#2: Be more conscience with my time 

So I have always been a planner and try to plan out my time, but I really enjoy just taking my time and not be in any rush.  This can be bad when I have X amount of time and I have several things I have to do in that amount time.  I never know how long things will take me... they just get finished when they get finished.  My goal is to be more mindful of how long things take me to do.  This morning I timed myself and was able to do a quick workout, take a shower, get ready, take out the trash and be out the door in an hour.  This wasn't my favorite, because I felt rushed, but I was super proud of myself for getting everything accomplished.

#3: Keep up with my daily house chores

 Every month I make a chore list calendar that looks like this:

People think I am crazy for making a list of things to clean, but I was finding myself doing everything on my days off and I didn't have time for anything else.  Everyday I have a chore I do to keep up with everything.  Some things such as swift, dust/windex I will do in the mornings before work if I have time.  Most other things I do in the afternoon after work either before I cook dinner or after.  Some days I double up if I have a lot going on and I don't beat myself up if I can't get to things on time.  My goal is to stick to this list and try to accomplish them quickly!

#4: Go to bed later

I took this picture yesterday at 7:35 and I was ready for bed!  I had to make myself stay up!

Yes, your read that right... LATER.  After being off of work for two weeks, and being to sleep whenever I wanted, I have been getting into this CRAZY routine of going to bed super early.  Like 7:30 early.  I am usually a get 9:30 bed goer, but lately I haven't been able to make it past 8 before I get my pajamas on and hop in bed.  The problem with this is I wake up multiple times during the night and then wake up for good around 5/5:30.  My husband is fine with me waking up super early, because he does too, but I bother him when I toss and turn through the night.  My goal is to get ready for bed at 9 and be in bed by 9:15/9:30.  Hopefully this will help get me to sleep throughout the night!

#5: Be more active

So this is totally cliché, but my fifth and final goal is to be more active this year.  The most popular New Year's resolution is to lose weight.  I don't want to lose weight, but I do want to get in better shape.  I feel like in years past overall I have been more active, but last year it was harder to take the time to do so.  This year I have made a point to wake up early and work out or head to the gym after work!  So far I have done this at least three times a week!  I hope to keep it up :)

^ This is my motivation to be more active.  This guy works out EVERY SINGLE DAY around 5am/  The only time he doesn't is on Christmas, Easter and if he is sick (like in bed and can't move sick) I have no excuses to not work out, because he does it everyday!

Well that's all for now friends.  I am so glad I could share my resolutions with you!  

Feel free to share your resolutions with me!  I would love to hear them.

Until next time,

Friday Favorites 12-9-16

It feels like it's been forever friends!  I stopped blogging because life got busy, but decided to come back for a little while share a few things with you!  A lot has happened since my last post!  I bought a house, got married and I am now adjusting to married life.  It is truly the best!

 This week I have linking up with Erika and sharing some of my holiday favorites!

Our Christmas Tree

This is the first year of living together at Christmas!  Our house was finished in January 2015, so we didn't spend Christmas in it.  My parents have always bought a real tree for as long as I could remember, but we knew that it would be better to buy an artificial tree so we didn't throw away $50+ a year on a real one.  We plan on buying a real one when we have kids, but for now we love our fake one :) And besides, Bath and Body Works makes wonderful candles that smell just like a real Christmas tree ;)
We bought this tree last year after Christmas for $85 with colored lights.  I thought was a great deal, since now they are $150 for the same tree!

This year has been so much fun shopping for new Christmas decorations.  I have collected many decorations throughout the years, but it was nice to pick our exactly what we wanted.  This tree skirt was from Target,  (monogrammed locally) as well as this tree topper.  We had a hard time finding a tree topper that wasn't too heavy.  

My favorite little corner in my house is right here.

I loved decorating it for the holidays. 

This guy has saved us this year.  

I bought it on a whim and it has been so great! You can set it to go on a off at a certain time everyday and you never have to mess with it again!  

Well, that is all sweet readers.  I hope you and your family have a blessed holiday!

xoxo,

Friday Favorites 9-11-15

Hi friends! Happy Friday!  

Today I am so excited to link up with Erika and share my classroom favorites this school year!  

Construction paper letter cut outs

One of the colleagues had the idea of cutting out letters to hang on the door frame as we learn them.  We learn a letter a day and then have a review day every week or two. My kiddos LOVED this idea and really did a great job not touching the letters when we went in and out of the door.  The letters are cut out from the XL die cut machine.  I then laminated them with my classroom laminator.  

I store them in a basket and hope to use them every year.  

This is such an easy and inexpensive way to reinforce learning the letters.

Swingline Thermal Laminator

This little guy has been a great help this school year.  For those of you in education, you know the importance of laminating things so you can use them a long time.  I have been using my dad's laminator the past year and I wanted to get one for my classroom, but realized they pricey and those that were affordable had horrible reviews.  Fortunately my assistant came across one on Amazon as the "Deal of the Day".  It has five stars and the best part is that it was only $14.99. So far it has succeeded my expectations!  I have laminated several things and everything has turned out in great condition.  I love not having to put my materials in the white paper sleeves.  I just put them in the laminating sleeve and it is finished in a minute or two!  Love this purchase!

Right now AMAZON has them in really cute colors (red, blue, pink) for only $29.99! 

 That is an awesome price!

I uses these laminating pouches and they work great!  I recommend the 5 mil, for projects that need a more sturdy finish, but I have used 3 mil because it is more inexpensive and it works great!

Brother PT-70 Personal Handheld Labeler

This was a great purchase to use in the classroom and at home.  When I became a teacher, I realized the importance of labeling draws and cabinets, so I knew where things were.  I used my assistant's labeler for several years and finally found one I liked HERE.  I was a little disappointed in the battery life, but I paid less than $9 so it was worth it.  They are now over $40, but I do recommend the Brother brand.  I think they have great products.  I bought the tape for it HERE.

I love that you can change the font and order tape in different colors.  I labeled my hair accessories, iPhone/iPad chargers and pen drawers.  Overall, GREAT product :)

Well friends,

that's all for the week!  Have a great weekend :)

xoxo,

-C-

Friday Favorites 8/14/15

Hi friends!  I took a little break from blogging this summer!  Now I am back in the groove of things and wanted to share my summer FRIDAY FAVORITES!

Enjoy!

For the fourth of July, I made this CUTE fruit tray! It was a colorful hit!

In July we vacationed in Charleston, SC.  It is one of my favorite places!  We biked the Arthur Ravenel bridge twice in our week stay.

Josh and his family always build really cool sand castles.  This year they were able to build on to theirs the day before.  The only sad thing was when we went back on Wednesday, little feet had trampled the ENTIRE thing.  We were hoping to add even more, but it's sad that parents don't keep a close eye on their kids!

The picture doesn't do it justice!!!

The first week in August I took my nieces to Splash Country.  It was super fun, despite the long lines and my bare feet ached for DAYS!

I have been getting ready for school the past few weeks and I have been happy to score these finds!

These were an impulse purchase, but WELL worth it.  I have horrible feet for my age (you can read  more about that HERE) I bought these beauties off of amazon in July for $35.  Since then, the price went up to $50, which is still a great deal.  They come in other cute colors too.  I would suggest ordering a size down from your normal size.  I using wear a 8/8.5 in shoes and these are a 7.

 So I scored this beauty at Goodwill for $3.  Our Goodwill stores sell target merchandise below the Target price.  I bought it to put on my gift table for our wedding and then plan on using it in my classroom when I change my name.  Funny thing is I saw it in Target for $9+ a few days ago.  I would have never bought it for that much, so I am happy to score this deal!

I have been on the lookout for scissors during back to school sales this year and they have been so expensive!  I mean technically, $1 a scissor is not expensive, but it is when you need 20+!  I grabbed this guy off of amazon for $22.84.  That's less than $1 a scissor and you get this cute carrying case.  My plan is it have students grab a cup for their table when we need scissors.  In the past I have always had scissors laying out for students and they are too easily accessible to cutting hair, clothes, body parts, etc.  This is an easy way for me to manage scissor use.

Finally I grabbed these guys from staples for $5.  They are fab.  Not only are they in BRIGHT colors, they are also GREAT quality.  The lead is very thick, but writes like a normal pencil.  I am a fun color pen writer, but I cannot wait to use these to pencil things in!

Well that is all for now!

Have a great weekend!