Midweek Randoms {August 14, 2013}

Wow. Am I ever glad it's Wednesday!! I'm completely back in the mode of thinking, "Only ___ days until Friday" the very second that I open my eyes in the morning. I'm thankful for my job, I love getting to work with kids, but it's exhausting... especially at the beginning of the year! I hate wishing my life away, though, so I'm going to try to make a more conscious effort to not do that this year.

I'm hoping to have a few recipes to post soon, but...well, I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking lately! {I always go through this phase when I start a new school year!} Hopefully, I'll get back into my routine soon. :) Anyway, I'm linking up with Megan again for Midweek Randoms.

• I mentioned several weeks ago that we renovated our home office and that I would post a before and after. I totally intend to do that, but I keep waiting because I feel like I'm not completely done. Knowing me, though, I'll probably never feel like it's done, so I need to just go ahead and post it! I'm just going to go ahead and make that one of my weekend goals! :) Here's the sneak peek I posted last time I talked about it.

• We had Meet the Teacher at our school last night and I got to meet most of my new students. It seems like I'll have a sweet class, but that first day of school will really tell me what I need to know. ;) It's always hard to start a school year with a new group of kids. I get so attached to my class from the year before that it feels like no other class will ever compare! {Dramatic, I know...} Don't worry, though, I'll give these new guys a chance. :)

• Speaking of school, teachers {me included} are serious snackers...and I love it! There are snacks and treats *everywhere* this week! Donuts, juice, Cheez-its, granola bars, fruit, trail mix, candy...the selection is quite impressive. I love how the stress eating is encouraged and embraced. No teacher will ever judge another teacher on the pile of mini candy bar wrappers beside their professional development handouts. Oh, and if there are ever treats in the work room, you better get there early! :)

• Okay, so I'm going to get a little mushy on you, but last weekend made me love my husband even more. He got home from work on Friday night and asked me what I wanted to do. You'll never guess what I said. Seriously. I told him that I wanted to go to school for a couple of hours to work. What?! On my last Friday of summer? I'm ridiculous, I know, but he didn't even hesitate. He just said, "Let's go." I love that man. I was feeling stressed because I'd gotten *several* e-mails telling me that stuff had been delivered to my room, so I knew I'd feel better if I got it all organized before Monday morning. Daniel helped me unpack and organize school supply boxes, label desks, and organize textbooks. Oh, and when I came home late from work last night, he was color coding 100 markers and 120 colored pencils with colored duct tape. Really, he deserves an award. {And I know I've posted a couple of these e-cards, but I seriously love them. They are hilarious!}

Probably from cutting all that laminated stuff...

• We are pretty much hooked on Netflix. We love finding a series and having Netflix marathons on the weekends. I'd been hearing about the show "The Killing" on several other blogs so we decided to give it a try. We loved it! It had us guessing the entire time. It was a little grim because it was about a murder {obviously} and the fact that it was set in Seattle {seriously, always raining} made it extra gloomy, but we still really liked it. Anybody have any other Netflix suggestions?

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• We went on our "back to school" date last Saturday night at The Cheesecake Factory and I ordered their strawberry lemonade. Oh my goodness, this lemonade. I almost always get water at restaurants, but every time we go to The Cheesecake Factory, it's a *must* for me to order this lemonade. I love it so much that if they give me a refill when we're almost done with dinner, I ask for a to go cup! I just can't leave a whole glass of it on the table!! {I always feel stupid when I do this, but when we were waiting for our table I saw *several* people walking out with to go cups of strawberry lemonade. Apparently, I'm not the only superfan.} Anyway, I googled a copycat recipe and found this one that says it tastes similar. I'm *definitely* going to try it!!

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• Only 17 more days until football season starts! I'm *so* excited!! I do have a couple of "football food" recipes ready to share. I love making snacky {is that a word?}, appetizerish {definitely not a word} foods on Saturdays for us to eat while we watch the game. There's something so cozy about getting everything done around the house on Saturday morning and then getting all comfy on the couch with a yummy snack to watch the game. I can't wait!

Well, I hope y'all have a great rest of the week! Only 2 more days until Friday! ;)

  

Midweek Randoms {August 7, 2013}

Hi there! I hope y'all are having a great week so far. It's my last week of summer break so I'm trying to soak it all in before I go back to teacher mode on Monday. I'm linking up with Megan again this week for Midweek Randoms!

• One of the apps I talked about in my Money Making Apps post has been updated and I like it so much better! The app is Receipt Hog and you earn coins just by taking pictures of your grocery and drug store receipts. Once you reach 1,000 coins, you can redeem them for $5 in cash {via a PayPal deposit} or an Amazon gift card. My favorite thing about the update is that you now earn a spin at the "Hog Slots" {I know!} for every qualifying receipt. I've earned about 100 extra coins so far at the slots. :)  {My referral link is above. I'd love it if you'd click on it so I can take another trip to the Hog Slots! Ha!}

• If you have an Earth Fare in your area, you're going to want to check this out. Right now, they have a coupon that will get you 2.5 pounds of grass fed ground beef for $10.00. That's only $4.00 a pound! You just have to sign up with your e-mail address to get the coupon. I had Daniel pick some up yesterday on his way home from work and we had hamburgers for dinner last night. They were SO good! The beef was really lean, too. The coupon expires on August 11, 2013.

• Two words: Shark Week. I know I am probably going to be in the minority here, but I've never been into it. I've tuned in a couple of times this week, though, because another one of my favorite money making apps, Viggle, is doing 600 point bonuses for some of the shows. Just the few minutes that I've watched have confirmed that I am still NOT a fan. I think this is because I cannot handle gory footage {I can't even watch someone get a shot on TV}. Oh my goodness, the actual aftermath of shark bites that I saw was way too much for me. Just one more reason that I will never ride a jet ski in the ocean again.

• My mom is hilarious. My parents were recently in Ohio for business and while they were there, they bought a bunch of produce from a farm in my hometown. She made this yummy corn {cut off the cob} for our family cookout a couple of weeks ago and I just raved and raved about it. They went back to Ohio to take care of some business stuff last week and on their way home, she texted me saying she was coming home with lots more corn. We went over to their house the night they got back and my dad told me to check out the fridge. Um, wow, Mom! You weren't kidding! :) I love it!

• I cooked some rice in my beloved rice cooker yesterday because I'm making my 15 minute fried rice for dinner tonight. This is a meal I always look forward to because it's so quick, easy, and delicious! I usually serve it with these egg rolls, too. SO good!!

I hope y'all have a great rest of the week!! :)

  

Midweek Randoms {July 31, 2013}

Hi everyone! Happy Wednesday! I'm linking up this week with Megan from In This Wonderful Life for midweek randoms!

• How can it possibly be the last day of July?! HOW? My parents always told me that time goes by more quickly as you get older and they weren't kidding! I just wish my summer didn't fly by so darn fast! :(

• Speaking of summer ending, I went to school yesterday and Monday and got a LOT of work done! This will be my seventh year teaching and I'm telling you, I've never been more calm and productive. I always get crazy stressed out and can barely think straight because of everything I'm trying to remember. Daniel and I have been praying these last couple of weeks that I will have a calm and peaceful mind and be able to get a lot accomplished. The Lord has completely answered that prayer and I'm so grateful. I am way ahead of where I normally am at this time of year and I started in a new classroom that was packed up in boxes. Praise the Lord! I can enjoy this last week and a half of summer without that burden! You can go here to see how my classroom looked after we worked last week. Here are some pictures of how it looked when I left yesterday. I still need to put some things on the walls, but a lot of that will come as I teach different concepts.

 

This is my favorite spot in the room right now. Colorful and cozy... :)

• I found a super fun trick yesterday while I was working at school. I needed to write items for my "wish list" on Post-it notes and I thought it would look so much nicer if I could just print straight on the Post-it notes. {I know, totally unnecessary, but I'm an elementary school teacher! Things like that make me happy!} I knew that I'd seen somewhere {probably Pinterest} that there is a template for printing on Post-it notes so I consulted Google and found one! Here's the template and directions if you want to try this. The template is for 3x3 Post-it notes, but of course, I wanted to print on apple shaped ones. :) I just centered the apple Post-its as best as I could in each box and it worked perfectly! I was so excited!! It really is the little things...

The font I used here is CK Handprint.

Here's my finished wish list. If parents want to donate an item to our classroom, they'll just take that apple off the tree and send the item to school with their child. I've done this at our "Meet the Teacher" event every year and it's really helpful!

• We had our family cookout last Saturday and my brother and his wife brought the BEST smoked pork. They own a restaurant called Holy Smoke BBQ in Gadsden and it is so yummy! Their fried okra and french fries are amazing! And of course, the pork is incredible, too. You should totally check it out if you're in the area! We were sad when all of our leftovers were gone!

• And last, but certainly not least, I finally got my cheesecake fix. We went to The Cheesecake Factory to get our half price cheesecake and it definitely did not disappoint. Even after two weeks of careful thought and deliberation, I still struggled to make up my mind when confronted with the huge case of cheesecakes and that crazy long menu! I powered through, though, and went with the Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake. I had never had this kind before, and oh my. It was the perfect balance of cake and cheesecake. There were also layers of peanut buttery caramel! Divine! Daniel ended up going with the Fresh Strawberry Cheesecake. A boring choice, in my opinion, but he's more of a "straight up" cheesecake person so I guess it makes sense for him. ;)

Well, I think that's all my randomness for today! I hope you have a fabulous rest of the week!! :)

  

Midweek Randoms {July 3, 2013}

Happy Wednesday! I'm linking up with In This Wonderful Life for midweek randoms this week.

• When I got a pedicure before our vacation, I picked the OPI color "Mod About You" and it could very well be my favorite nail polish color ever. It's so perfect for the beach and summer time in general. It's the perfect cotton candy pink.
  
  

  

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• I bought a new lipstick a couple of weeks ago and just tried it last week. I'm picky about lipsticks because I don't want to have to keep reapplying all day. I also hate the long lasting ones that don't feel smooth and end up getting dry on my lips. Well, this L'Oreal Infallible Lipstick is perfect. It lasts all day, feels smooth, and doesn't get dry. Love it.

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• Daniel and I have recently become addicted to Candy Crush. We started playing it the night before we left for vacation and stayed up really late playing because we were too excited to sleep. {Are we eight years old?!} Every time I see these special sprinkle candies, I wish I had one to eat. Is that crazy?! They look yummy to me!

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• I discovered a few days ago that you can print Instagram photos using the Walgreens app! It's really quick and easy - just upload your photos straight to the app and they're ready in an hour. They only cost $.39 per print, too! I haven't printed any yet, but I definitely plan to so I can make some of those cute Pinterest crafts I've seen. 

I would love to do something like this!
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• Daniel and I are planning a family cookout in a few weeks! This is on our summer to do list! I started stocking up this week on things we'll need. We're so excited! :)

• These mini Kit Kats are extremely dangerous. A friend of mine told me about them a couple of weeks ago and we just tried them. Wow. Who would have thought little baby Kit Kats could be even better than the big ones? You must try them if you haven't already, but consider yourself warned.

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• I've been hearing this song a lot lately and I love it so, so much. It's so good that if it comes on in the car when I get to wherever I was driving, I will sit in the car and wait until it's over before I get out. I just can't help but sing my heart out in the car and have my own worship service right there. The words are such a beautiful prayer. I love all the lyrics, but I especially love the part that says, "Lord, I come, I confess. Bowing here I find my rest. Without You I fall apart. You're the One that guides my heart."

I hope y'all have a great 4th of July!!! :)