So Many Pics, So Little Time

Oh my goodness!  

What has happened to the time?!?  

I had good intentions of updating my blog last Sunday but life happens, and blogging did not so AGAIN I am doing 2 weeks of outfits/blogging in one post.

Monday:  Here is my outfit all planned out and ready to go for the day.  I am prepared and going to start the week off right!  I have planned black pants (Maurices) with this mint/teal shirt (PickYourPlum), pink, chevron scarf (PickYourPlum), white watch (New York & Co), and pearl bracelets.

HA! 

Joke is on me.  

Spring storms mean no school on Monday.  This great Monday outfit turned into a Tuesday outfit because I never go to wear it because of an awful Spring snow storm that brought about 4 inches of snow.  

The good news was that, I got to see this beautiful sunset a couple of days later!  

Wednesday:  Spring in North Dakota means that you are ready for nicer weather but may have just had a snow day so you have to dress accordingly. I wore this bright Spring outfit but had to include tights because it is a little bit chilly.  Shirt is from my mom's consignment store, skirt unsure where it is from, tights from WalMart, and shoes from Kmart.  Sometimes, you just find a great outfit piece at those stores!

Wednesday night:  Trying to pack for a conference but instead end up organizing my chaotic scarf collection.  I think I might have an obsession….

Anywho, here is the finished product with colored coded rings on a coat rack to organize my scarves.

=)

And it turns out, I did finish my packing which was quite difficult because usually I take multiple outfits per day.  My goal was to take one outfit per day and fit EVERYTHING into one small suitcase.  Here are my outfits for Thursday throughout Sunday.  

Success!

Thursday:  I am leaving right away at the end of the day to drive to the North Dakota Reading Association's Spring conference.  I wanted to be comfortable so I wore these crop, denim-ish pants from Gap with this cute stripped shirt.  I wore this nude colored necklace because I wanted it to have multiple purposes all weekend.

Here are my conference notes.  Great things learned and I cannot wait to get back to start some Writer's Workshops at school.

After the conference, I went way up north (almost to Canada) to attend my partner teacher's mother's funeral.  We got back late on Satruday and had a lazy day on Sunday so I did not update the blog.

Monday:  Week number 2 for this posts starts with brown pants (Maurices), flower tank (mom's consignment store/Target), and a cream cardigan.  I loved how the colors in this outfit matched so perfectly!

Tuesday: On Tuesday, I wore an orange and grey skirt with black shirt and heels.  In the first picture I got photo bombed by my puppy because she LOVES to lick lotion off my legs.  I took a 2nd picture to show just the outfit!  This wonderful skirt is from my sister!

Wednesday:  I worked out Wednesday morning before school and had a heck of a time getting ready so the pictures are not too great.  I had to shower in the coaches' room at school because I live 15 minutes out of town and did not want to drive back and forth after working out.  While blow drying my hair, my blow drying quit so I had to air dry my hair in my classroom (about 7am) and then curl my hair at my desk using my black computer screen as a mirror.  It was a cluster!  

Here is my outfit: black capris (Maurices), grey shirt (PickYourPlum), pink scarf (PickYourPlum), chevron, teal watch (PickYourPlum).

Thursday: Ha! Jean's day because I had a doctor's appointment in the morning and conference in the afternoon.  Skinny jeans with this cute white and purple striped shirt from my dear friend, Rachel.

Friday: Real jean's day!  Our Falcon's softball and baseball teams won last night so I am supporting them today with my skinny jeans (mom's consignment store) and Falcons shirt.  I love the look of skinny jeans with sandals that have a strap on the back.

Saturday:  I just wanted to post my Saturday picture because it is what I am thankful for this week.  I was able to go turkey hunting this morning (top picture) with my husband and our friend Zach.  Although, we did not kill a turkey there were so many wonderful things that happened this morning: called the turkeys and they responded, saw a large group of turkeys, and saw this beautiful sunrise!  This afternoon/evening I was able to sit on my front porch and watch the sunset with my puppy and a glass of wine.  I am so grateful for this life!

Routine

Monday 

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Routine sometimes get mundane and boring but I am a person that thrives off of routines and schedules.  Grateful to have a routine because it means I have a job, a husband (and pup) to come home to, and a place to call home.  Feeling blessed!

Also note that I kind of had a pink/reddish theme going on with my outfits this week until Friday.  I planned 2 outfits already for next week and noticed I have a blue/teal theme going so  far so we will see how that plays out. =)

Files

This is my second try on this post so I hope it actually saves this time.  

Okay, here is my latest DIM project.  

I had to create some kind of filing systems because as you can see below, I had quite the mess on my desk.  My previous system: black file cabinet to the left with receipts in large manilla envelopes from the previous 4 years, lots of stacks on top of desk, file/storage boxes under desk.  

It was NOT working! I could not find a document if I wanted one and I had so many pages crammed in the file that it was literally falling apart.

I forgot to take the step by step pictures but I will explain the process.  

I started with the bottom drawer and thought it would be easiest to just ModPodge an entire piece of scrap paper on the drawer then do a second piece over top to cover the last opening.  This turned out to be quite challenging and was hard to get the entire piece to lay flat.  

On the 2nd drawer, I decided to tear strips of the paper and try that.  It worked so much easier and it a little more interesting looking.   

I am not sure I love the final look yet but I just wanted to get to filing my papers so I left it for now.  I might try it again this summer when I have more time to experiment with it.  

I saw on another blog (can't remember the name now) a very effective filing system that was all color coded and in a super cute filing cabinet with nice little baskets on top.  While I did not want to spend that kind of money, I figured I could make something similar that would do the job.  It may not look like much, but it is wonderful to have labeled files for all of our important documents.  They are so much easier to file and find now!

Here is the final product.  You can see that I kept the black file cabinet as it is still storing some crafting items and the perfect spot for my lovely plant.  Notice how I can actually have a chair at my desk now because I do not have all those silly filing boxes underneath.  I tried to match the scrapbooking paper to my chairs (grey chevron) with the hopes that a chair might be near the file drawers. 

Yes! 

Success!!!

Peace and Joy

I keep thinking, "Oh, life will slow down."  

I kept telling myself that after basketball season, my life would slow down and I would have so much time to blog, make fun new themes at school, complete some DIM (Did It Myself) projects at home.  

Well…. here I am finally updating my blog 2 weeks later with only one DIM project completed, no fun themes, and a messy house.  Life is always hectic but I guess that is the fun of it.  

Here is an update on outfits.  

Wednesday: Unfortunately, I had horrible luck in my travel home from my uncle's funeral so my 12:45 pm arrival home turned into a 9pm arrival.  Needless to say, I was tired from a long day of travel and had to be prepared for first grade right away in the morning. I wore my black pants with a pink shirt, white cardigan, and fun scarf.  I needed comfort because I knew my kiddos would be full of IT upon my return.

Thursday: I love this multi-level, floral skirt (can't remember where it is from but my guess is Target).  Today, I matched it with a simple T from Target.   Note: I have this shirt in about 6 colors because it is so comfortable and easy to layer.  I also threw on my jean jacket on the way out the door.  I am still not sure it is short sleeve weather...

Friday: Yay! Friday already.  I guess that weeks go quick when you miss half of it.  I was actually exhausted by Friday (emotional drain is worse than any kind of physical exhaustion).  I wore my go-to Silver jeans with a simple grey long sleeve (Target) and my cream Toms.  Nothing exciting… I just wanted to make it through the day!

And week number 2:

Monday: I wore my go-to dark blue dress pants from Target with a plain 3/4 length shirt from New York & Co.  Shoes are from DSW.  I love the look of dark blue, white, and brown!

Tuesday: Oh, parent-teacher conferences.  It is such a love/hate relationship.  The amount of work and mental stress I put on myself at this time of the year is overwhelming.  Checking in with parents and having the opportunity to show each child's growth since the Fall is overwhelmingly satisfactory.  

My outfit today is a teal/green dress (Target- I swear I do shop other places also) paired with a cream cardigan and belted with my wide brown belt (Target).  I also have on my Jacquelyn Smith shoes from K-Mart.  I love these pumps and cannot believe how comfortable they are!

Wednesday (Friday): Happy Hump Day and last day of the week!!!!  Spring break starts tomorrow (well actually our comp days from doing parent/teacher conferences) so we are calling it Friday today!!!  

I wore these skinny jeans (my consignment store: 2nd Hand Rose) with a dark purple t-shirt (earlier mentioned for having like 6 colors- I noticed that I wore 3 of this same shirt in the last 2 weeks…) and a boyfriend cardigan (Target).  I also wore my multicolor, multilayer pastel necklace.  I love this necklace but have a difficult time wearing it because it always bangs against my microphone at school.  Oh well, I love how it looks with this outfit!  I also wore nude flats with the outfit and absolutely love how this outfit came together!!!  I would wear it again, but nope!  That would break the rules of a different outfit everyday of the school year…

Only about 45 more outfits that I have to come up with!

As you know, I had started to write something I am grateful for, something inspiring, or some positive note on each blog post.  A couple of weeks ago, with so much sadness in my heart, I could not come up with what makes me grateful, inspired, or positive.  

I was sad and angry.  

I could not figure out why my family was having to bury another loved family member.  It felt unfair, sad, and heartbreaking.  

Why us?  

While I cannot come up with why us, I cannot answer the timing of life, I cannot totally kick this sad feeling from heart; I can find comfort in these words.  As I was looking through all of our wedding cards this weekend, I found this simple, heartfelt message: 

"Wishing you peace and joy for years and years."

It may not seem like much to you, but to me it is just the message I needed (and hopefully my family can find comfort in).  

My Uncle Rick who too quickly was taken from us on March 2, 2014 had written this message to me and Travis just 3 short months earlier for our wedding.  Although this was his wish for our marriage, I need to find peace in my everyday life so that I can have joy in my marriage.  I need to have peace with God's timing in calling his son Rick home to him so that I can have joy in my heart for all of God's blessings everyday.  It is not easy in a time of grief to find peace and joy, but today, I need to take my uncle's advice to have peace and joy with God's timing so that I can again enjoy my life, the way my uncle would have wanted.  

Rest in Peace, Uncle Rick.  

We cherish the time we had with you, the memories you gave us through your photography, and the heartfelt message in every card you sent.  You gave so much joy to this world and will be so dearly missed.

4 Days

Monday

Today was the last day of district tournament so I kept my outfit neutral. Black and khaki- playing it safe! 

This shirt is so easy but with the ruffles on the front it dresses an outfit up. 

Tuesday

This is a bi-length skirt. It is from Target (I believe). I wore it with brown tights, nude flats, a light brown shirt and my favorite brown scarf (Jessica Simpson from DSW).

I felt like a little ballet dancer all day with my hair pulled back and my flowy skirt and flats. 

Wednesday 

Looking back I am not sure this outfit is great but it was comfy. I have on my pink skinny jeans from JCPenny with a long blue shirt. This shirt gives horrible shape so I always have to belt it. It also has short sleeves so I had to wear something over it. 

I cut my hair tonight...

7 inches later

Thursday

Today I wore my dark blue crop pants from Gap. They go perfect in boots and since I am flying home after school, I need something comfortable for the plane. I wore a simple white 3/4 shirt from New York & Company under this purple cardigan (gift from a friend).

Here is the NEW hair! Super short but so much easier to dry!!!!

Friday 

No outfit photo for today because I was not in school. I had to fly home for my uncle's funeral service. 

Not long ago I posted about being more positive, appreciative, and grateful about the things in my life. At this time of grief again for my family, I cannot find what it is I want to post about. It will come, I'm sure, but as of now I have a heavy heart and cannot find what makes a person grateful in a time of grief. 

Pants, pants, pants

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday