So…. it's been awhile!

     For those 3 readers in the world I am sure you have been wondering what is going on lately. Well since the last time I have written many things have happened. I have sipped my fair share of coffee, glittered more things in my classroom, tore my ACL, gained and lost students, moved houses, and got a puppy. Needless to say, I have stayed pretty busy. It's funny to think about how different my life was a year ago. All that was on my mind was graduation and getting a job. Well both of those things have happened along with a few extra things.
     Having this little puppy has taught me a lot about myself. In so many ways we are like a little wandering puppy. We want to see the world and try new things, but not everything is safe for us. We have to be told what we can and cannot do. Often times there are more things that we have to stay away from than what we can go to, but eventually we learn. Isn't that how it is with our relationship with God often times? We want to go everywhere and see everything and He is there to show us just what we can go to and what we should stay away from.
     Brinkley (that's the name of my pup) loves to eat goose poop whenever we go to the park. No matter how many times I tell him no and physically move him from it, he still wants to go back over there and keep munching! He even tries to pick up a piece and "run away" from me. He's on a leash, but somehow he thinks I can't see him or catch him.
     I started thinking about the times that in my silly brain I think God can't see me as I pick up some of my own "goose poop" and try to run away and act like it's ok when I know He has told me no. Reality check: God can see everything and He knows what is good for us and what isn't. He moves us away from the "goose poop" but we still want to go back to it and yet He continues to have the patience to deal with us every day. I love how in those little moments we can see that God is present in all things, especially the glittery, magical things.


Until next time (I promise it won't be so long)!
-Emily and Brinkley

And it continues!

     More things for the classroom! I made the objective boards when I was in Springfield but then waited to glue the magnets on when I got to Topeka. After trying two different kinds of magnets and a hot glue gun that didn't get hot enough, I went to Hobby Lobby yet again (I feel like I live there these days) and got some better magnets and a great hot glue gun that is made to glue detailed things.
     So, I say all that to say that here they are! I am not sure if I will be putting some white paper in the middle of these since they are so patterned and "busy" or how I will be labeling them exactly but those details can come later. What is important is that I have them put together!
     The frames were from the Dollar Tree, the paper is from Hobby Lobby, and then the magnets on the back are from Hobby Lobby as well! This was super easy and they are great because I can move them around if I need to!
     Inspiration for these came from: http://pinterest.com/pin/16395986116778200/ and http://myowntwistonthings.blogspot.com/2012/08/daily-objective-dry-erase-boardsnot.html?showComment=1345816131002

   
     As much as I want my students to remember their first day it's my first day too!! :) I found this frame idea on Pinterest (naturally!) and decided to make my own!
     Inspiration: http://firstgradeschoolbox.blogspot.com/2012/08/happy-first-day-of-school.html

     All of the wood pieces came from Hobby Lobby! I went at the perfect time because they were on sale!



     I also got the frame on sale because Hobby Lobby have lovely little coupons  you can download onto your phone and get one item for 40% off. I used acrylic paints and went with dark brown for the letters and a light yellow for the stars, then turquoise for the frame and light blue for the tops of the "School" letters.



     I didn't like how my "School" letters turned out. They just seemed so boring and let's face it, I needed some glitter on this thing some how! I used spray glitter (from Walmart, it's in with the spray paints) and then a protectant coat over it, some more glitter spray then Mod Podge. Once everything was dry I moved things around to get the best placement of the letters on the frame and then hot glued them on once they were where they needed to be. I also used velcro for the "1st" star so that I can change it out for other days! I thought that was a great idea that was posted on the original of this project.

     Here I am with the frame!! I am looking forward to seeing third grade faces smiling in the frame in a couple weeks!!

     This was a little something that I made a week or two ago. I saw one in my cooperating teacher's classroom last year and I have been wanting to make one for a long time. Plus, it reminds me of my favorite movie, "You've Got Mail" and my favorite flowers are daisies so it was a must to make! Simple vase, flowers, ribbon from Hobby Lobby, and pencils from the Dollar Tree. Then just glue the pencils onto the vase and tie a ribbon around them and put the flowers in and you're done!

     I will end this post with a personal favorite quote from "You've Got Mail" - "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." Seems fitting for life lately... well all but the New York part, Kansas is pretty far away from New York!

    Goodnight all! :)

On a Tuesday night :)

     This week I'll been at training seminars all day, everyday! Yesterday, late in the afternoon, I got the key to my classroom. It was not only exciting but scary to think that in a couple weeks that room will be full of students and me teaching them! :)

     The teacher that was in the room before me left many things for me to use! I'm very thankful but there are some things that she still needs and things that I already have and don't need to keep. Last night I spent a few hours taking things off the walls and getting the bulletin boards cleared for what I'd like to put on them. It was an exhausting night!

     Tonight I decided to just come home and finish up some projects I've been working on! I found on Pinterest that there are some cheap multi-drawer containers that are great for organization and also you can put some cute paper in the front and then be able to label what's inside!

     After looking at one too many stores and not being able to find a link to the ones I discovered on Pinterest, my dad actually found out that Home Depot sold what I was looking for but I had to order it online. They have site to store shipping for free! Woo hoo! I picked it up last night and then tonight added some cute fronts! Gotta love chevron cardstock! ;) If you want the link to it on Home Depot, let me know! The paper came from Hobby Lobby!!

Before:

After:

After: up close

Have a lovely evening!

-Emily :)

A place to put a pencil.

     Lately I have been all over Pinterest (not an unusual thing, I love that place!) and finding teacher ideas and crafts to make for my classroom! I'm a first year teacher with a love for cute organization. I've seen a lot of ideas on how to store sharpened and unsharpened pencils. I came up with this after several trips to Hobby Lobby and Michaels craft Store! 

      I used mason jars, cute tags and string from Michaels, stamps from Hobby Lobby, and lovely mod podge to put over the tags after stamping them!

     I might have to upgrade to larger containers to keep the pencils in later in the year but for now these little cuties will work great!!

March Madness!

     Is it just me or is this year flying by? It doesn't seem like we are almost to spring break and will soon be springing forward. Life is packed full of exciting and crazy moments that I think sometimes we forget to stop and think about the great and wonderful things that God has done and blessed us with. I came to this realization yesterday and am sad to say that I have been a "glass is half empty" girl all too much lately. But you see there is a difference between realizing something and putting it to action.. I guess you could say that I realized it about a month ago but put it into practice yesterday. We need to look to the good things and the happy things that God is doing in our lives and not let circumstances define our attitude. It's so easy to be a grumpy person and allow people to get under our skin but just because something is easy doesn't make it okay. Let's take the difficult road and kill the world around us with kindness, so much that they want to know why we are so stinking happy! Let the madness begin and look for all the wonderful things that God does in our lives!!

-Emily :)

I guess you could say it's been awhile.

     It may be 2013 but I have written 2012 on one too many things lately. It's crazy how fast time flies. One day you are sitting in your kitchen working on a Cinderella movie poster puzzle with your family and then the next you are in your final semester of college. Although several years have past and many memories were created between those events, one thing remains true: time flies. In fact it flies so fast we tend to forget what we are doing and things become routine. Routines are extremely important during the school year and necessary if we want to be able to get anything done during the day. But we can't forget that anything can happen at any moment. Life happens, circumstances come up, but we aren't defined by our circumstances, we are defined by who we are in Christ. Tough times will come, disappointments arise but that doesn't change God's love for us. He is always the same. He never changes. No matter what chaos is going on in our lives, God will always love us. It doesn't matter how much coffee we consume or how many times we get frustrated or upset, He will always love and cherish us because we are His. We belong to Him. 

     I have a confession.. I love Valentine's day. It may seem really typical for a girl to say that but it's a holiday where we get to celebrate love. And I love LOVE! The best part about love is that it's undeserving. We don't deserve to be loved. We are nothing, but in God's eyes we are precious. I hope that I will always view His love like that and never take it for granted. :)

Ciao!

-Emily

Back to the Beginning

     Soon I will be starting my last year of college as an undergraduate student. The big question now is, "So what are you going to do after you graduate in May?" I always like to respond with, "That's a very good question. I don't know what exactly where or what I'll be doing, but I do know that God has it all planned out." It's crazy to think that this time next year I could potentially be teaching in my very own classroom! Exciting but definitely crazy. Life just seems to buzz on by somedays without us realizing just how fast it's going. People grow up, they move to new places, and they go on their own life journeys to places far and wide. Although some may not venture too far from home, sometimes they are the ones living the most for Christ.

     Living for Christ is an interesting thing. First of all, it's different for everything because He has a different plan for each of us but there is a similarity that we all share.. in order to follow Christ, we must be obedient to follow Him and go through the doors that He opens. He has called us all to share His love and free gift of salvation but that will look different for all of us. Some may grow up to be preachers, while others will have to be living testimonies of His love and care for others because due to laws, they are not able to speak out about Him. But just because we can't say certain things doesn't mean that we can't spread the love of Jesus to all of those that may come across our path.

     This semester I get the opportunity to student teach! It's going to be an intense semester but I know that God has a plan and His plan is perfect. Although some circumstances may not be what we want or what we think are best for different situations, in the end He knows what He is doing and trusting Him is the only thing to do. I am very nervous about the lessons and how things are going to go but I have to keep on reminding myself that God knows what He is doing and this isn't the first time He has done something amazing and it sure won't be the last.

     I will do my best to share funny stories about my student teaching experiences and the fun things that happen throughout this semester. :) Keep your eyes on Him and no matter what may be going on.. always choose joy!

                                            - Emily :)