Outfit #31

Homecoming week starts today.  The elementary staff decided that we would let our kiddos dress up one day with the high schoolers.  We chose today: Pajama Day!  The volleyball coaches went shopping and found these ridiculous super hero boxers with capes!  We looked around longer and found matching shirts. Since boxers are not really school appropriate, I had to wear black leggings under mine.  Then I found these perfectly colored Superman socks to go with!

My kids will be so excited to see a cape on the back of my PJs (that I of course really sleep in).  

Outfit #30

It is Black Out Friday at school today for spirit day. I have a black long sleeve shirt on (Old Navy) with dark blue skinny jeans (Kohl's).  I am wearing the same boots from yesterday (since they are black).  I had to add one interest piece to this outfit so I paired my top with this fun, animal print scarf from Target.

Outfit #29

If you can't tell by the black and small bit of orange in this outfit, it is game day!  This dress is from Old Navy.  I like it because it fits loose but still has shape at the waist.  I wore black boots (Kmart) and a little jewelry to dress it up.

Outfit #28

I love this simple cotton maxi skirt.  It is dark blue (hard to tell in the picture). I paired it with a mint green, lace top (also hard to tell in the picture).  This outfit is simple and comfortable to wear all day. 

Outfit #27

Tuesday Game Day!

The girls decided they were wearing our team shirts with dress pants.  Turns out, all 3 coaches dressed just alike.  I will have to get a picture at the game.  Khaki pants are such a struggle for me because of my long legs.  If anyone has good suggestions on where to get good khaki pants, I would love to hear it! These ones are BKE and I love them in the morning but they get so stretched out by afternoon that it makes my outfit look sloppy.

Go EAGLES!

Outfit #26

Mondays never really work out for me with posting my outfit.  It seems to take all I have to survive the day, so here is my outfit from yesterday.  This bi-level skirt is fun to show off your shoes.  My shoes are from K-Mart (every now and again they have an awesome pair of shoes).  I put this lace sweater under the jean jacket for a little more character.

Outfit #25

Spirit Friday!

It doesn't even look like I have any spirit gear on but I do actually have my Falcons shirt on.  It is chilly this morning though so I had to wear an extra layer!  Love jeans day Friday too!!

Outfit #24

You guessed it, game day!!!  This dress, again, is from the Maurices sale section.  The pattern on it is a little wild so I like to pair it with this simple lavender cardigan.  I love how flowy this outfit is. =)

Chicka, Chicka, Word Wall

As a second year teacher, I feel like I have much better ideas than I had the first year.  My first year, I made a word wall that was pieces of paper stapled to the wall.  It was all great until I realized that I wouldn't be able to fit all of my words so I had to rearrange the WHOLE thing.  Talk about a nightmare!  Imagine pulling 200 staples out of the wall just to have to redo them.

This year, I decided I wanted to make my word wall out of cork board.  I found these square cork boards at Hobby Lobby.  Bonus deal: I caught it on a day that cork boards were on sale, 30% off!  They were still kind of pricy so I plan to leave the wall up until I absolutely HAVE to take it down. 

I hung all of the cork boards and alphabet but then decided it looked a little plain still.  That's when I decided to make it a Chicka Chicka Word Wall based on the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom stories.  I made my coconut tree in the corner out of paper and slapped some cut-out letters all over the place like they were climbing up and falling down the tree. 

I absolutely love how the wall turned out.  Another bonus, it makes the whole classroom a little warmer as the cork board is a nice brown color.

Note:  When I first hung the cork boards, I used the command strips that were included.  The unfortunate thing with that was the first week of school was so hot and humid that the entire wall fell down.  I learned that I had to staple gun them to the wall.  

Outfit #23

I'm super bummed that I forgot today was a bonus jean's day for a fundraising, so I wasted this dress outfit when I didn't have to.  Oh well!  This is just brown pants with a simple tee and scarf.  I love this scarf.  It has multiple colors which makes it easy to pair with numerous outfits!

Outfit #22

Tuesday means GAME DAY! I always love game days (takes me back to my glory days) ;)

This outfit was a struggle for me this morning but it turns out, I really do like it!  The dress is from Maurices (sale section, I know it is kind of sick how much I have off of sale racks, but I just love a good deal). It flares quite a bit at the hips which is a struggle for me because it makes me look wider than I am so I paired it with this cute blazer (you guessed it...sale section at Maurices) to give the dress a better figure.  I wore nude flats since the dress and blazer already have so much going on!

PS- I will get better at having Trav takes pictures again so you can see a better image of the outfits.

Outfit #21

I am a little late on getting this outfit posted.  Yesterday was definitely a case of the Mondays.  I felt like my head was under water all day and it was everything I could do to catch a breath, so I am taking a minute now to catch up from yesterday.  
These pants are from Maurices (sale section!) and I believe the shirt is actually from there also.   The pants are for sure too short, but that is no problem when you want to wear a pair of capris so I just roll the bottom.  If you haven't noticed yet, pants are my biggest nemesis.  It is a simple outfit but I love wearing colored pants.  I need to get a few more pairs!

Outfit #20

It seems like I have been doing this for much longer than 20 days but here is my 20th outfit! 

It is Spirit Day at school today and since I just wore my Eagles volleyball shirt yesterday I figured I would go for a more dressed up look today.  I have on skinny jeans from Kohl's (Levi brand).  My boots are a gift from my wonderful future mother-in-law!  My orange sweater (sale section at Gap Kids- $7!!!) is my spirit piece.  Since I do not love the color orange on me, I put this brown and cream scarf over it to take a little of the orange away.  I love to wear boots in jeans with a sweater and scarf- makes me think of Fall and I LOVE Fall!!!!
The only reason I cut my head out of this one was because I forgot my makeup at school last night so I did not have my makeup done yet. =)

Enjoy your weekend!

Outfit #19

3 for 4 this week on tucking my shirt in... I guess I do that a lot.  It is funny the things you realize about yourself when you take a picture each day.

It is game day!  The team all ordered these volleyball shirts so we are wearing those today.  I am wearing grey pants from Maurices with them.

Outfit #18

Yesterday I said how I don't like to tuck my shirts in and guess what I did today...

These pants are so comfortable but still look dressed up. They are,of course, from Target! I wish I could find more in longer sizes to wear with different shoes. This basic tee, also Target, is simple but can be dressed up or worn casual. Here I kept it casual but it is so easy to toss a necklace or a cardigan on for a more dressed up look. I have it in four colors, I think. :)

Outfit #17

This outfit is so simple but has a lot of character pieces. These capris are from my mom's consignment store again (I know, I have a lot of second hand pieces!) I always forget I have them but every time I remember I am so excited because I love the pockets!  This top is very simple but has the flowers on the front that add some interest. I tucked the shirt in (not always my fave thing to do) so that I could add a fun pop of color with the belt!  We play our rival town tonight in volleyball so I had to wear some black and orange. My earrings also have orange to add a little more color to the outfit. The heels I have on are Mudd from Kohls and totally comfortable. I can teach in them all day, coach volleyball at night, and still be comfortable by the time I get home. I love how comfy this outfit is without looking like I am dressed down. :) 

Outfit #16

Yesterday we had a bridal shower that went far later into the evening than I had anticipated. In exchange, I was very tired this morning and had to slop together an outfit. This is just simple black capris (that have already been worn multiple times) and a basic long sleeve tee. This shirt is from Old Navy and I believe was even off the sale section!

Outfit #15

Jeans day Friday! I always love these jeans. I wish I would have been able to find them in long though. I can only wear them with flat, flat shoes. 

I also HAD to wear my Eagles volleyball shirt today for spirit day since all 3 volleyball squads won yesterday! 

It is weird to have "coach" on the back of my shirt. Such a surreal feeling. I never thought I would be coaching both high school volleyball and basketball, but feel exceptionally blessed for these new opportunities I have been granted since moving here. 

Outfit #14

Happy Thursday!!!  This is my favorite day at school.  I get an extra prep in the afternoon and it is almost the weekend!  

It is also game day.  Our first home volleyball game is tonight so I had to dress with a little team spirit.  Our school colors are REALLY hard for me to enjoy (black & orange...boo, Powell Panthers!), but I give it my best since I am an Enderlin Eagle now.  Note that I mostly just wear black with a little pop of orange.  My bracelet and earrings are my only orange today.  This dress is so much fun to wear!  The sleeves are open all the way from the shoulder to the wrist so it is very light and cool.

I had to take a second picture today because Travis laughed at me for turning my head to the side when he takes my pictures.  I also like that this one shows the sleeves a little better.

Outfit #13

I am a little behind on my outfit posts.  Yesterday just seemed SO busy to me.  I don't think I sat down one time.

Here is my outfit.  My capri/shorts are again from my mom's consignment store.  Love that place!  The shirt is a mint color, which I just love!  It is actually much cuter than it looks in the picture.  It has finally cooled off here so I actually had to wear a cardigan to get to work.

Here is a side/back view of the cardigan.  The lace back adds so much character to the simple black cardigan.

New, Old Chairs

Labor Day Weekend Project

With the long holiday weekend approaching, last week my brain was busy thinking of all the projects I could do over the weekend.  I am not the kind of person that sits still well.  I always feel like I should be doing something.  One thing on my list was to recover the dining room chairs.  We have a very nice dining room set that was left in the house we are renting.  The only problem (in my eyes) was the fabric on the chairs.  It was a floral print that looked straight out of the 80s.  I couldn't handle it.

I love when I get a GREAT project idea.  (Travis on the other hand, not as much.)

First thing I had to do was measure the seat of the chairs to see how much fabric I would need.  I measured one chair and then had my engineer (Trav) do all of the calculating to decide how big my piece of fabric would need to be.  With my measurements in hand, I headed to Fargo.

I quickly had to purchase a staple gun and was off to the fabric store.  In my mind, I had pictured a nice, fresh grey and white chevron fabric for my chairs.  As I wandered the aisles of JoAnn's Fabric, my hopes began to diminish.  I saw a super cute lime green chevron fabric but could not figure out how to make that work in the dining room.  I walked one more aisle and there it was!  The exact grey and ivory chevron I had been picturing.  And even better...it was 50% off!!!!  I think it was my lucky day!

I bought the fabric and headed home.  My first step was to iron the fabric so that there would be no wrinkles once I had it on my seats.

Next, I needed to take all of the seats off the chairs.  This was so simple.  I just flipped them over then unscrewed the seat from the frame.  Note the original look of the chairs.

Then I need to cut the fabric. I tried to line my measurement up on the point of the chevon so I could keep my line straight. I cut the fabric into three long pieces then cut those in half to get my six pieces. 

Now it came time to staple. I centered the chair seat on my piece of fabric. Notice that I left the old fabric on. I was nervous that if I took it off, the padding would also come off. Starting on one strait side, I stapled the fabric. I did all of the straight sides, making sure to pull it tight, then went back and did the corners. 

For the corners, I pulled the sides together then folded the corner point straight towards the middle of the board. 

I stapled any extra sides/areas that might've been sticking out. 

Here is a before and after of the seats. I am loving them so far! (I was absolutely giddy at this point.  Travis could barely stand me. I kept asking him to screw the chairs back together for me because I was so excited to have them done.)

Here is the finished product. I simply screwed the seat back onto the frame. 

I LOVE my new, old chairs!!! They were so easy and make my dining room look so fresh and bright!

Outfit #12

Game Day!!

Woohoo!!!!

It is the first volleyball game tonight.  The coaches decided we would wear khaki and black Eagles shirts.  I tried khaki pants but I always have the hardest time finding a good pair.  They are never long enough for these legs.  If anyone knows where to get good khakis, I am always looking for suggestions.  Any who, instead of pants, I went with a  khaki skirt.  Part of the reason is because this shirt flares at the bottom and makes me look wider than I am so I like to have it tucked in.  I love game day outfits!!!!!

Sorry for the mirror picture.  Trav was actually up early and off to work before I could get my outfit under control today.  It took me many failed tries with khaki pants before I settled on the skirt.  

This pencil skirt is from Target! (Did I mention I love that place?!?) It was very reasonably priced and came in multiple colors/patterns.  I think I better go get a few more.  I always love the look and fit of pencil skirts.  

Dove Hunt

Tonight was my first time bird hunting.  It was the season opener for dove and I had never been before.  Travis is always hunting with his buddy Zach and they offered for me to come.  I figured, why not.  When we arrived at the field, we saw doves flying everywhere.  We set up and in came birds from the left and right.  The guys were nice enough to give me the first few shots, but after multiple misses they stepped in.  Our hunting dog, Kirby, was also on her first official bird hunt.  She did an awesome job and was retrieving every bird the boys shot.  I finally hit a bird, picked it up and it was still alive!  I freaked out, threw the bird, and had to wait for my bird dog to get it for me.  We had a successful night (well mostly the boys and my one kill)!

Travis, myself, and Kirby dog

Breakfast of Champs

My first recipe is a borrowed one.  I cannot take credit for thinking of this idea (thank you Pinterest!), but I think it is absolutely wonderful so I wanted to share!
I am the kind of person that HAS to have breakfast.  That is one meal that I cannot miss (or I will be very grumpy).  If you know me, then you know that I also HAVE to eat often.  I always eat my first breakfast right when I wake up (about 5:30).  My second breakfast is usually necessary around 7-8am.  That's where this recipe comes in!

Make-Ahead, Healthy Egg McMuffin Copycats

These are so easy and convenient to have in the fridge.  I make all of my eggs (usually a whole muffin pan full) on the weekend.  Then I store them in an air tight container in the fridge.  Notice they do not look that wonderful in the container, but you can see how much pepper I use on my eggs.

The next trick I learned was to cut the egg in half horizontally when you heat them because they are much easier to get flat on your english muffin.  When you make the eggs in a muffin pan, they are a little smaller than an english muffin and therefore try to slide around when you eat them.

The last trick I have is to assemble the sandwich in the morning when you are ready to eat.  I tried making them ahead and then microwaving them but then you get a soggy, soft english muffin.  I like to toast my english muffin, microwave my egg and canadian bacon (or meat of your choice), then assemble.  

You could add cheese, but I don't like the extra calories (since this is my second breakfast). Another good idea, might be a splash of tobassco for added flavor.  

These definitely are not as greasy (and therefore tasty) as McDonald's version but they are a healthier option and great for on the go.  I make my sandwich and head out the door.  It is perfect to eat on the way to work.

Enjoy!