Well hello new blog!

I am super excited to share my new blog design!! Eek! I'm in love! I had been procrastinating about getting a design and with the upcoming SDE conference I felt motivated.

Major shout out to

 For designing my beautiful blog

(And business cards and tpt banner!)

And putting up with my never ending questions :)

Now for those of you who are debating a blog design I thought I'd offer up my two cents! Plus the TPT seller challenge from this week encouraged us to blog about non product topics so here's a little list to consider.

1. Shop around!

There are tons of talented blog designers out there and a pretty wide price range. You should look at the features different creators offer and see which fits your needs. For example I knew I wanted business cards and the designer I chose offered those as an add on. Score!

2. Get an idea of what you like

Look at some of your favorite blogs and decide what you like about them. Some designers will even ask you to provide links to blogs that inspire you. Also think about what colors or pictures you'd like to be incorporated.

3. Be in touch

Blog designing will take a lot of correspondence between you and the designer. Make sure to check your email often to keep things moving along.

4. Remember they're people too!

Yes you're excited and the designer probably is too. But your blog is probably not the sole thing going on in their life. They may be working, trying to enjoy the summer, etc. Be courteous and considerate. 

5. Brag!

Not in a rude way or anything but if you're happy with the work they've provided why not give a shout out? Couldn't hurt right? My designer did not even mention asking me to blog about it but I wanted to let others know! Sharing is caring right? :)

Any tips you would add? Feel free to share!

Well its about time for my next aerial yoga class so I better go change. Later taters!

TPT Seller Challenge: Dare to Dream

So some awesome teachers are heading up a TPT Seller Challenge. If you haven't heard about it head to one of these four blogs:

 PeppyZestyTeacherista 

Third in Hollywood

Teach Create Motivate

Sparkling in Second

We began by posting our stats

And last week the challenge was to make-over or add spruce up a product in our store. I added cover pages to a few of mine. Head to my store below if you wanna check them out.

1st Grade Love

This week the challenge was to dream big about your TPT store. What goals would you like to accomplish with it? So here's mine..

I am already looking forward to meeting teachers at the Iteach1st conference but I just may go to the TPT conference one day too. I'd love to meet all the teachers that make the amazing products I see everyday. I'd also love to get tips and ideas from them. 

I'm addicted to Target. Really, I could go there every day (if my bank account would let me!). I don't know if I have the time to devote to make millions on TPT like some sellers do, but I'd be okay with just being able to take care of my extra shopping expenses :)

I really don't know what I'll do if/when I leave the classroom. Right now I am very happy where I am and I appreciate the experience I am gaining. However one of my daydreams about my future includes me and my hunny traveling during the summers while I present at amazing conferences. I'd love to share what I know (especially once I learn some more! ha).

So what about you? Do you have a TPT store? If so what are your dreams? Link up and share!

Sweet summertime!

I have found another fun linky to join in on! Hooray :)

Thank you Primarily Speaking!

She's asking us to share the reasons we love summer. I could think of a list a mile long but I'll narrow it down.

Blogging

I always want to blog more and have tons of ideas to share during the school year but sometimes I just feel swamped. It can be hard balancing work, grad school, and blogging so usually the latter gets dropped. In the summer I've got all the time in the world! I plan to get a little better at finding that balance this year.

Reading

I really enjoy reading when I have the time. During the year I may squeeze in a book or two. This summer I've already finished 2. Just bought number 3 today :)

Have you read it? The preview for the movie made me want to read it!

Yoga

I have been doing yoga for about a year now and I'm really loving it. Today I even tried aerial yoga which included a lot of hanging upside down. It was a fun new experience. Im already thinking about going back!

Stretching in the park

I could go on all day but I think a top 3 is pretty good. What about you? Why do you love summer? Link up and share.

Throwback Thursday

So earlier this week I linked up for the Tell All Tuesday Linky

and the topic was 2 truths and a lie. Here's a recap of mine...

1. Although both of my parents were military I have never left the country.

2. I'm color blind.

3. I used to be a Hooters girl.

...............and the lie is............

#2!

I'm not color blind but my boyfriend is. I think its so interesting and I'm always asking him questions about it ha I'm sure he's over that. So it's true I've never been out of the country although maybe my future honeymoon can change that :)

And yes surprisingly I was a Hooters girl. I worked there in college for a few years but Dad politely suggested I quit after graduation. And I lucked up on my current job 3 weeks later! It was actually a pretty fun place to be and I made some great friends. *side note: One of my professors suggested I quit when I started student teaching. Everyone has their opinions but overall I don't regret keeping the job. It paid bills! Lol*

So now you know a little more about me! And one of you won a freebie! I'll message ya!

Just a heads up I have two new products in my TPT store. And I have recently renamed it "1st Grade Love" in an effort to make all my social networking more uniform. Head on over to check them out.

Thanks for reading!

Tell all Tuesday!

Well thanks to buddy My First Grade Happy Place I found out about a fun new linky! It's hosted by Teach Talk Inspire and My Day in K and it's a little more personal. Let's you learn a little bit about some awesome bloggers. This week is 2 truths and a lie...

So here goes. Comment which one you think is the lie!

1. 

I have never been out of the country even though both of my parents were in the army! My parents were occasionally deployed (sometimes simultaneously!) but luckily my grandmother was able to come and live with my brother and I when needed.

2. 

I'm color blind but absolutely loveeeee clothes (& shopping!) so I tend to go for easy outfits = cute shirt + jeans! 

3.

I used to be a Hooters girl! My father wasn't the biggest fan of the job but he gave his approval so i went for it. For some reason I always wanted to work there!

All right...so which is the lie? First to comment correctly can have a freebie from my store if you'd like :)

Monday Made it

Well I still haven't been up to much and I'm loving it! Summertime really has been good to me. It seems like such a difference from last year since I worked a reading camp for the entire month of June. Besides going to class and the occasional appointment I've been wearing a nice dent into my  couch and watching re-runs. Here's a few updates though!

 

My new desk is assembled and she is a beaut!

 

 

Next month I'm going to Las Vegas for the Iteach1st! conference!!

 

 

 

And I actually made something on my computer which I guess means I haven't lost my touch!

 

 

It's just a cute little calendar I made for our fridge. It's laminated so we can just re use it. I'm thinking of making a set of them for TPT...

 

But that's all folks! Hope you're having an amazing week!

June's Currently!

I was so excited to see Farley post the new Currently! I look forward to them and I didn't get time to link up last month so here goes...

 

Listening & Loving

Since I'm currently on break I am enjoying my lazy time around the house. I've had the occasional appointment or studying for summer classes but overall I have been wearing a dent into the couch lol. So I make sure to do at least one productive thing around the house, like dishes, so I can head back to being a bum!

 

Thinking

I've been thinking about how to surprise my lovely mother for her 50th birthday! My Dad and I are trying to be sneaky and plan something but my mom keeps changing her mind about what she wants to do!

 

Wanting

I ordered a fancy new desk from Wayfair but I could tell just from the weight of the box that I will probably need some assistance and Mr. Handsome doesn't have summers off like me. I'm debating getting started on my own, I'm usually pretty good with those types of things but I can imagine him coming home to me surrounded by 27 random desk pieces lol

 

Needing

I'm taking 3 classes this summer and one of them meets tomorrow (for 4 hours!!! gahh). I need to read about 3 more chapters before tomorrow. I have plenty of time but NO motivation right now.

 

Summer Loving

I loveeee being able to sleep in! I can' wait to update my TPT store with new products and such. And some interesting travel opportunities are coming my way! I'll be sharing more about that later...

 

Thanks for catching up with me! Hopefully you join in on the fun! And check out the original post to donate to a good cause!