Summer is here! Free Summer Productivity Printable

Ahhhhh :) We're 4 days in and it's starting to feel like summer! Sure the weather has been

all. over. the. place.

It cannot decide what it wants to do out there. But I'm getting my mantel decorations and mindset finally into summer mode! And then...my mom has to go and text me this morning saying "6 months til Christmas!" Gee thanks, mom. She's a kill-joy fall/winter lover. (Love you!) :)

Well I never got around to posting June goals. Here's a quick update on how I did with May goals:

Goals for May:
1. Go to the gym or run 5 times
2. Make 1 new recipe
3. Hang living and dining room curtains
4. Blog 1 time other than this post
5. Choose a paint color for master bedroom
6. Paint master bedroom
 7. Project Life date with my mom
8. Finish "Love Does"

Ya, I'm not doing so great. But hey, half is better than none!

I had a great finish to the school year--can't believe I've successfully taught for 2 years!

At the end of the year, we were reading "Because of Winn-Dixie." So to wrap-up the book and welcome summer, we had our very own party copying the party they have in the book! We had egg salad sandwiches cut into triangles with frilly toothpicks, a jar of pickles, Littmus Lozenges, and Dump Punch!

We also copied the decorations from the book. We made our own luminaries and used battery tea lights.

 Some students brought dog pictures for us to stick around the room.

We hung yellow and pink streamers. After we finished decorating and filled our plates with goodies, we watched the movie! The kids had a great time and it was fun to make the book come to life.

The next week, I attended 5 curriculum meetings, finished report cards, cleaned out my classroom and officially locked the door on the school year! Oh, but I will be spending plenty of time working on curriculum this summer. I got approved to teach Language Arts in a different way, which I'm really excited about but it does mean some extra work for me in the next couple months.

Even though I have many things I want to accomplish this summer, I decided not to do monthly goals for the summer. Instead, I've created a weekly breakdown of tasks by category to help me stay focused and productive yet also enjoy some relaxing and fun. I find that I tend to look at a long to-do list and either pick just the "fun" things or end up doing none because "hey, it's summer and laying outside reading a book all day sounds perfect!". So I scheduled time for the fun things but also made certain days focused on tasks such as cleaning, organizing, and curriculum. I spent some time searching on Pinterest for a printable but wasn't finding something that fit me really well. No problem. I'm pretty good with Word and so 5 minutes later I had my own printable, which I'm sharing with you today!

While I'm not a graphic designer and didn't make it all cute with different fonts, colors, and images, I did try to be creative with the names for each day! There are many littler tasks in each category that will get accomplished (or not haha) each week but I wanted a place to write down the bigger goals for the summer. We'll see how it goes!

Here is the PDF FREE PRINTABLE of my Summer Daily Plan
And if you aren't a teacher, or want the days in a different order or want to rename them and just my blank template, here's the Editable Summer Daily Plan

For my weekly page that I fill in with specific tasks for each day, I use this fun and cute free fillable PDF from Erin Rippey at InkTreePress.com Be sure to check her website out--she has some super cute stuff!

One of my summer goals (as you may have seen under Wednesday's column) is to do some good ol' blogging! So be sure to come back periodically for some fun tutorials and DIY projects I've been doing around my home.

How do you stay productive during the summer?

May Goals

Warm weather! Flip flops! Ahhh! I hope this weather sticks around and no more surprise snow flurries!

Here were my goals for April:
1. Go to the gym 5 times
2. Make 1 new recipe
3.Choose what we are going to do for curtain rods
4. Blog 1 time other than this post
5. Choose a paint color for master bedroom

I did run in my neighborhood 3 times but work and an annoying cold kept me from my last two times.

I made SEVERAL new recipes this month! For Easter brunch I made Blueberry Pecan Crumble Coffee Cake from Country Cleaver, which was SO delicious and I definitely will make it again. Along side this I made Perfect Roasted Sweet Potatoes from A Kitchen Cafe although I didn't use any oil. Finally, I made Crustless Sausage Broccoli Quiche from LAQ Fitness which was also delicious but took an hour longer to bake than she said so needless to say our brunch was more like Linner (or is it Dunch?) and we were hungry! Part of the difference in baking time could have been that I only used whole eggs instead of any egg whites. While the egg white conversion is 1 whole egg for 2 whites, 10 whole eggs (the 5 she calls for and 5 from the conversion) was not enough to cover my broccoli and sausage so I added 6 more eggs I believe. I would make this again but definitely allow for more cooking time.

Other than the Easter, I also made Perfect Homemade Biscuits from Mom On Timeout which were truly perfect! Very easy to make and went along perfectly with Potato Soup which was a first-time recipe try from my cookbook "Betty Crocker's Cooking Basics". I also made The Marlboro Man Sandwich from The Pioneer Woman. Very happy tummy but I'll use less butter next time. Shhhhh, don't tell Ree! :) And last, but certainly not least, I made a Bacon-Spinach-Chicken-Pesto pizza. SAY WHAT? Yes, it was DELISH! I didn't follow any recipe although this is the pin that inspired me. I used Pillsbury dough and Costco pesto. Lots of fun and tasty cooking this month!

Not only did we choose what we are going to do for curtain rods, but we purchased all the materials and got started! My beloved birdie curtains from Pier1 are up in the office and we're just waiting on the shipment from Target to arrive so we can hang the living room and dining room. The two panels we had for the dining room were different by 2 inches so we had to order a couple more to see which two will match each other. Craziness! Once those are up, I will post about how we did it with step-by-step pictures and prices.

I have yet to narrow down let alone pick paint colors. But I need to get on that ball because my bestie is coming the last weekend of this month to visit and help me paint!

This is gonna stay short and sweet because I'm working hard on grading and lesson plans tonight but also need to pack for a weekend celebrating my "little" brother's college graduation! He's receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Photography. The night before graduation we get to attend a mini Oscars (complete with red carpet, I'm told) for his school called the Tracy Awards. He is nominated for Best Cinematographer and his film is nominated for Best Film along with 8 other nominations! So exciting and so proud of him! I can't wait to see where his career takes him and what kinds of cool projects he gets to work on. He is very talented and loves what he does which is so awesome to see in young people these days!

So here are my goals for May:
1. Go to the gym or run 5 times
2. Make 1 new recipe
3. Hang living and dining room curtains
4. Blog 1 time other than this post
5. Choose a paint color for master bedroom
6. Paint master bedroom
 7. Project Life date with my mom
8. Finish "Love Does"

Happy May Day!

April Goals

If you are reading this, is it now April! I am currently in Ireland (and that is NOT an April Fool's joke). I wrote this post before I left and scheduled it to publish today. I hope those of you on spring break are enjoying it!

Here were my March Goals:
1. Go to the gym 6 times
2. Finish "Allegiant" and "Love Does" (half-way through it though!)
3. Brush up on my photography skills and how to use my camera beyond Auto so that I can fully capture Ireland with awesome pictures
4. Get my Project Life out and start working on it again--did not meet this YET again, oy vey
5. Make a March Madness Bracket
6. Blog 2 times other than this post
7. Make 1 new recipe
8. Really narrow down curtain options and buy some--or the fabric to make some.
9. Do 1 crafty thing! March is National Craft Month and I feel like I should partake even if it's in a small way.
10. Decorate my house for spring!


Here are my goals for April:
1. Go to the gym 5 times--I'm bumping this down because I am gone for a week on spring break and have Parent Teacher conferences as well.
2. Make 1 new recipe
3.Choose what we are going to do for curtain rods
4. Blog 1 time other than this post
5. Choose a paint color for master bedroom

What are your goals for this month?

Happy spring!

March Goals

Happy March!

I am so excited for this month! First, because it is the month in which winter is NO more. I like all the seasons but winter just sticks around for waaaaay too long in these parts. And most likely even when it is officially spring, I am sure it will still look and feel like winter. But somehow, "the first day of spring" helps me mentally start getting over the freezing cold and never ending snow.

Second--this month ends with the start of spring break! Unfortunately that also means another set of report cards to get done. But this month, I will have loads of motivation! Two days after the quarter ends, we are headed to

 IRELAND!!!

Isn't that beautiful?!?!

Those are the Cliffs of Moher and I will be there!!! I am preparing myself to be wet and cold but taking tons of pictures and soaking up all the amazing landscapes. This will also be my first time to Europe so I'm pretty excited to add another continent (and country) to my (very short) list.

Here were my February goals:

1. Go to the gym 5 times
2. Read 2 books kinda
3. Blog 2 times
4. Cook 1 new recipe
5. Get my Project Life out of the closet and start working on it again
6. Narrow down an idea for the curtains for my living room

While basketball and report cards were not an issue this month, I had so many sick/absent students that it created lots of extra work for me to keep them on top of their work and then I got sick too and lost all energy and motivation to do anything. I did make it to the gym 5 times but my workouts were pretty mild as it would wipe me of all my energy. I finished 1 book and am currently reading 2 different books "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth and "Love Does" by Bob Goff so that kinds counts as read 2 books since I didn't say "finish". :) I blogged once and have another post 90% done but it just didn't get finished before March. I did cook something new and it was very yummy. I made Balsamic Glazed Lamb Chops. Thanks to Kayley at "The Kitchen McCabe" for the recipe. Sadly, I never did get my Project Life out. I planned to do it last night after Wyldlife but we decided to hang out with some friends and I'm glad we did. Depending on your definition of narrow, I have narrowed down my ideas for curtains. It's actually the blog post in progress so you will hear and see more about it soon! So not amazing but not terrible! And hey, in my defense....February shorted me by 2 days!

Here are my March Goals:
1. Go to the gym 6 times
2. Finish "Allegiant" and "Love Does"
3. Brush up on my photography skills and how to use my camera beyond Auto so that I can fully capture Ireland with awesome picutres
4. Get my Project Life out and start working on it again
5. Make a March Madness Bracket
6. Blog 2 times other than this post
7. Make 1 new recipe
8. Really narrow down curtain options and buy some--or the fabric to make some.
9. Do 1 crafty thing! March is National Craft Month and I feel like I should partake even if it's in a small way.
10. Decorate my house for spring!

Wow, way more goals than previously. But I'm feeling motivated and 80% of my lesson planning is already done for the next 6 weeks since I'll be out of the country for all of break and don't want to come home and write lesson plans. We'll see how I do!

Any tips for international travel? 

What to pack? (I HATE packing and tend to over-pack every trip) 

How to survive the looooong overnight flight? (I will NOT be watching the new movie "Nonstop" despite how much my husband wants to see it!)
Do you have any goals for this month?
Do you decorate your house for spring?
Do you watch March Madness at all?
Will you be crafting at all for National Craft Month?

February Goals

We are one twelfth of the way through 2014, woot!

How was your January? Mine went by so fast, but was great. Disneyland was a blast! We were so exhausted each day and didn't ever stay til closing, but we did make it on every ride! I plan to post pictures and more about our fun adventures this month so stay tuned. :)

Once we got home and school started again it was go, go go. We finished the second quarter so the last two weeks I have been crazy busy with catching up on grades, report cards, half of my conferences, and trying to plan lessons at least a month out. My students finished their semester strong with awesome reports about an animal of their choice accompanied by a model of it's food web and a presentation. I love seeing what they are capable of doing!

When I haven't been stuck in teacher mode, I have been the videographer, biggest fan (read loudest screamer), and sugar supplier for my husband's basketball team. Last year, I started this thing where I would bake a dessert for the team whenever they won a game. This was a) my way to get involved and b) an excuse to bake and eat only 1 of whatever it was since my husband doesn't care for sweets and I could but shouldn't eat a whole batch of anything alone. Well, last year it was all fine and dandy. I baked every other week or so. This year...not so easy. They have been winning maniacs! They just finished the regular season yesterday and have a 11-3 win-loss record! They are second place going into the tournament next weekend. It has been SO much fun to watch and cheer for the team and they have played some amazing ball. However...all this winning has caused a bit of dilemma because I can't keep up with the baking! Guys, I'm 4 wins behind and the season is almost over. It has been a lot of fun to be involved more with the team this year. I've gone along on all the van rides, attended both out-of-town trips, and became a team favorite as made apparent by walking into practice with a plate full of warm cookies and not a single player can focus on what Coach is saying anymore. :)

Last night was senior night. It's so bittersweet (especially more so for my husband than me) to recognize the guys who won't be back next year. Two of them have been in the program since my husband started coaching so this year is even more significant as he says goodbye to his first batch of 4-year players. This year has just been so much fun and it will be hard to not have those four guys around. After a particularly rowdy game the other day where I had to sit in the other team's fan section for the best filming angle, I told my husband about how annoyed I was with some of their comments and cheers. I realized that it bothered me so much because I've almost adopted those 11 guys and feel protective and proud of them. When, I first met my husband, coaching and basketball was HIS thing. I had no desire or intention for it becoming MY thing. But it just goes to show that when your spouse is so passionate, invested, and good at something, you can't help but come along side them and support, cheer, and invest in it yourself. We are having the whole team over for dinner and a movie ("Glory Road") on Wednesday night and while I am a little bit daunted by the idea of cooking for 11 teenage boys (that's a lot of spaghetti!), I am excited to host them and know that the moments they spend with my husband and the other coach will remain as some of their favorite memories from basketball and even high school. We have high hopes for the tournament next weekend and a good end to this incredible season.

Well.....I certainly didn't intend to get all sentimental when I sat down to blog tonight. I was just going to tell you how I met and failed my January Goals and move on to this month. Ahh but that's the fun of writing...you never know where one thought will lead you.

So without further ado thought, let's recap on my January Goals:

1. Go to the gym 4 times
2. Read 1 book
3. Blog 2 times (other than this post)
4. Cook 1 new recipe

I barely accomplished the first goal, but made it for the fourth time yesterday morning. I read "Divergent" by Veronica Roth in 5 days (SOOO GOOD! I cannot wait for the movie). I (barely) got even 1 blog post in for the whole month (11pm last night). The new recipe was a cookie for the basketball team, which they loved so much they asked for it a second time. Thank you to Taylor at Trendy Schmendy for these easy and delicious cookies.

Here are my goals for February:
1. Go to the gym 5 times--with no report cards to worry about and the basketball season ending in one week, I think I can increase my presence in the gym.

2. Read 2 books--I'm already half way through "Insurgent" and have a few other books in mind to read.

3. Blog 2 times (other than this post)--since I didn't meet this one, we'll try again.

4. Cook 1 new recipe--I like cooking so I like challenging myself to try something new every so often

5. Get my Project Life out of the closet and start working on it again--I'm not setting a goal for how much gets done as long as SOMETHING gets done, I will be happy :)

6. Narrow down an idea for the curtains for my living room--I have NO idea what I even want

Did you have any goals for January? How did you do? What are your goals for February?

January Goals

A new year brings resolutions, promises to oneself, and goals for improvement. Some last longer than others. Some never even happen. But whether or not goals were met, I think it is always important to take time to reflect. To stop and think, "what went well?", "what didn't go so well?", "why did it go that way?", "what can I do differently next time?" Reflection is a big part of education not only for the teacher but also for students and I believe that in life we are always learning. Even when we graduate and don't have to turn in homework, we are still preparing, studying, learning, and hoping to pass some "test" (interview, new recipe, marriage, important thing at work, etc.). Life is about learning and I don't think you can move forward very well unless you know how to first look back. Think of it this way, "Life is a Highway" and reflection is your rear-view mirror--you gotta have it and use it before you can ever change lanes.

So let's reflect, shall we? :)
Last year I made some goals, which you can look back at here. Looking at them again, I would say I was fairly successful at accomplishing them. The word "more" is a bit vague and I didn't measure in any way to know if I truly performed more in 2013 than in 2012, but hey, life's still a work in progress right? :)

For 2013 I hoped to...
~exercise more: I did become a member at our gym, took some classes, and biked to work for a month.

~to read more: sadly "more" in this case didn't take much. From what I can remember, I read 2 books for pleasure ("The Great Gatsby" and "The Astronaut Wives Club") and while 2 books for a whole year is not much to speak of, it is more than when I was still in college and planning a wedding.

~to craft more: I did use my Silhouette quite a bit, I sewed some pillows, I started work on my first Project Life album, and hubby and I made a few little wood projects. I also made several handmade gifts for birthdays and Christmas this year.

~to make a recipe binder: this did not even the slightest begin to happen. Oh well, I still found recipes and we still ate.

~to grow my blog: this DID happen! Compared to lots of blogs out there, this was on a small scale but it was very exciting for me. With the help of linky parties and Pinterest, my DIY Chevron Mug post has had over 2000 views, I hosted a giveaway which had almost 500 views and I now have 63 followers on Bloglovin.

Besides my goals, here were some things I was hoping would happen this past year:
~be re-hired at the school I currently teach at, but I would prefer 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd: if you read my post "Back to (a new) School" then you know I did not get re-hired at the same school but am now teaching a 3rd/4th combo class at a private Christian school, which is going very well.

~start a couple's Bible study with a few couples we know: we tried! We attempted to have a monthly game night over the summer with 3 other couples to get to know each other better and then hopefully it would transform into a Bible study during the school year. However, summer just offers too many fun things to do and we weren't able to all get together except for the first month.

~take a fun trip somewhere: we took a road trip last spring break which you can read all about here

Not too shabby huh?

For this year, I have decided to make monthly goals. The thought of making goals for the entire year this time was a bit daunting to me. I wanted to work on a smaller, more attainable scale and be able to alter my goals based on the busyness, trends, and desires of life throughout the year.

So here are my goals for January:
1. Go to the gym 4 times
2. Read 1 book
3. Blog 2 times (other than this post)
4. Cook 1 new recipe

That sounds manageable right? Oh, I have lots of other ideas in my head for things I would like to do. But these are the only ones I am writing down and calling my "goals". That way, if I accomplish more I feel like Super Woman and if not well then hey, I still met my goals!

Be sure to check back at the beginning of February to see how I did and find out my goals for the next month.

Have you reflected on last year? How did you do with your 2013 goals? What goals do you have for 2014 or January?

What will 2013 bring?

Well I can already tell you it's brought 2 firsts for me...and it's only day 3?!?!

Today I purchased alcohol for the very first time. I have had drinks before, but it's also been at friend's house, or an all-inclusive setting so I've never actually paid for it or been asked for my I.D. So why, you may ask, did this "first" happen today? Today is my husband's birthday! I am making a nice dinner for him and thought I would get some white wine to go with it. I had NO clue what to get. If I hadn't texted a couple friends for suggestions, I would have just picked the bottle with the coolest looking label. I ended up getting Chateau Ste Michelle Sweet Reisling. Sounds fancy huh? If we like it, I'm going to write it down so we actually can remember next time! (I also plan to keep the bottle for some fun craft!)

The second "first" (does that even make sense?) was also related to this birthday dinner in that I purchased and will be cooking steak. I grew up in a no-red-meat home and so I asked my husband what kind of cut and then just picked the best looking one. We'll see how it goes!

As far as what else 2013 might have in store for me...
I'm not super into resolutions, because they never last through January for me. I can't make daily expectations, it just doesn't happen. So instead, I have been thinking about some goals I have for the whole year. Now some (or all) of them might seem pretty easy to reach, but I tend to take on too much and then get overwhelmed and not accomplish anything so I'm going to set reasonable, attainable goals so that I can look back next year and feel like I did a good job.

Here are my goals for this year:
~to exercise more--yes this is vague, but again I can't say "once a week" or whatever because some weeks are just crazier than others. I will know if I exercised more than last year seeing as last year my exercising consisted of daily workouts from April to May in preparation for my wedding. So if I can keep a somewhat regular schedule going to our gym I will be happy. I have gone 3 times this week already :) that will quickly change once school starts again on Monday.

~to read more--I haven't read for pleasure since I graduated from High School! Oh wait...I DID read the 3 Hunger Games books but 3 books in 4 years...that is so sad. Growing up, I had a book in my hand all the time, I devoured books. I want to get back into reading. To enjoy it, to want to pick up my book, to not be able to put it down. Please help me by suggesting good reads! I would be happy if I read at least 5 books for pleasure this year.

~to craft more--now that I have a Silhouette AND a Project Life, I have great excuses to get my craft on! I would also love to work on some DIY furniture projects and various Pinterest ideas whether for myself or gifts. Let the craftiness come!

~to make a recipe binder--I have SO many recipes dog-earred in Rachel Ray magazines and on Pinterest. I would like to actually combine everything into one binder so I can find things.

~to grow my blog--I would love to increase my followers, comments, etc. I'm not expecting or wanting to become a big-time blog this year, I would just like to grow a little bit.

Besides my goals, here are some things I am hoping will happen this year:
~be re-hired at the school I currently teach at, but I would prefer 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd grade.
~start a couple's Bible study with a few couples we know
~take a fun trip somewhere

What are some of your goals? What are you hoping will happen?