Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award Goes to...

Being the newbie blogger that I am, I don't exactly know if I'm following proper protocol with my next act. But I'm guessing with my rookie status, I can claim ignorance and fall back on the old "better to ask forgiveness than permission". A very dear and wonderful friend, who is a fairly new blogger herself, encouraged me to pursue this blogging adventure which I've enjoyed more than I would have ever guessed. In her short time blogging (about 3 months), she has already met and socialized with a large group of Memphis bloggers and done a guest post for one of them. She also suggested me to her new acquaintances as a possible participant in a big group giveaway they were all just about to kick-off. They included me in their giveaway which has resulted in a huge boost in my followers...especially considering my blog hasn't even been up a month yet. This fabulous friend of mine is Jaime at Mommy On A Mission. She is an absolute doll whose blog has such a positive, uplifting, yet feisty vibe, so be sure to click here and pay her a visit. Maybe even show a little love by leaving her a comment.

For these reasons, I'm presenting Jaime at Mommy On A Mission with the 

Sisterhood of the World 

Bloggers Award.



This award is passed from sister blogger to sister blogger. As in so many other things in life, there are a few conditions (4 simple ones) Jaime must follow in accepting the award. Sisterhood award recipients must: 

• Post a thanks and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
• Provide 7 little known and/or interesting facts about yourself.
• Pass the award on to 7 other bloggers of your choice who you feel promote the "sisterhood" of bloggers and let them know they have been nominated.
• Include the award logo in your post or on your blog.

Thanks Jaime for introducing me to this fun world that is blogging and all the support you have given!

*Happy Easter Everyone!

 



Pink Eyelet Dress, A Little Timberlake...and Five Guys!

Ha..it's not at all what some of you were thinking. Hey...minds over here! I had a maaarvelous spring break day yesterday! Our weather here in Memphis finally turned around, and we had an absolutely gorgeous day. My good friend Ashley and I met up at Marshall's after she finished work and headed to Jerry's Sno Cones (not a typo - that's how good ol' Jerry decided to spell it). If you live in the Memphis area and have never been to Jerry's, it's a MUST go. They have absolutely epic snowcones and other frozen delights. Here's their strawberry cheesecake deluxe.

From there, we hit Target where I got the 20/20 Experience...Timberlake's new CD.

 

Then, Ashley and I scooted on over to Old Navy where I purchased a darlin' eyelet dress that will be so darn cute with either a denim shirt or jacket! I also picked up a great khaki cargo jacket that's gathered at the waist and a St. Louis Cardinals t-shirt.

 

Oh...that reminds me! Don't forget to enter the $200 Piperlime Giftcard Giveaway here.

The card can also be used at Old Navy, Gap, and Banana Republic.  Time for the giveaway is quickly winding down. So, go enter!!!

After we wrapped up our shopping, we hit Five Guys...the burger joint. Why do I always forget to order the "smallest" sized fries? I got the regular size which is enough to feed a family of four! I ate my burger and only the fries that fell into the bottom of the bag, and I was stuffed!

Only 3 more days left of spring break! Happy Good Friday and Easter to you all!

*Thanks for dropping by!

50 Followers...Woot Woot!

This morning, I officially reached 50 followers. I'm only 3 weeks in, so to me this is very significant and exciting! Mad props to all the wonderful ladies who allowed me to join their Piperlime Giveaway. I so truly appreciate the opportunity! I have really enjoyed reading all  your blogs. I must also thank everyone who entered the giveaway and followed me on bloglovin' and Pinterest. You all are very much appreciated as well! And speaking of the Giveaway, don't forget to enter in case you haven't already. You've got about 2 1/2 more days left to enter. Here's the Rafflecopter again.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Last night, I added several new tabs to my blog. I chose things I'm interested in and also thought all of you readers might enjoy. So, give 'em a whirl, and let me know what you think. Just remember they're new. There will be lots more goodies to come.

By the way, what's up with this whack weather???

I'm on Spring Break this week, and it's been so windy, cold, and rainy for the majority of it. Sounds like the next couple of days might actually be prettier though. Let's hope so.

*Thanks for dropping by!

It's Here!...My First Giveaway: $200 Piperlime Giftcard

I'm so excited to be joining a group of 13 other bloggers and fashionistas in my very first giveaway! The prize is a $200 Piperlime giftcard.

Colleen @ Parties and Cardis | Bekah @ Matters of Merrymaking | Laura @ Walking In Memphis In High Heels

Natalie @ My Crazy Busy Life | Amanda @ The Sequined Spaniel | Jaime @ Mommy On A Mission

Tasha @ A Sunshiny Day | Jen Marie @ Southern Belle | Lia @ Sunkissed & Southern

Sarah @ Moske Monkey Business | Bree @ aBree Fashion | Terri @ Peace, Love, & Applesauce

Misty @ Handbags & Handguns | Wendy @ The Sweet Life of Second Grade
Whether your style runs toward...


Day-to-Night,

Jet-Set Bohemian,

Fun and Flirty,

Playful Prep,

Downtown Cool,

or just some Sweet Little Accessories...

this darlin' is for you!


What's even better is the card can be used in-store or online where there's always free shipping & returns. It can also be used at Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, and Athleta.


We are using Rafflecopter to help you enter the giveaway. You can get up to 84 entries in the drawing. To enter, just use the Rafflecopter tool below. Giveaway will run until 11:59 p.m. CST on Sunday, March 31, 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be announced here and notified by email.

Good luck!!!

It's My Blog...And I'm Sticking to It

Well, I'm finally finished with all the tweaking, changing, and tweaking again! I've been using bits and pieces from different places to construct the "face" of my blog. Since different components were coming from different sources, they didn't all ge-haw a lot of the time which caused all the tweaking and re-tweaking. Finally this is it, and it's gonna stay this way...at least for a good little bit.

I want to give a HUGE shout out to Casey at Hot Bliggity Blog for all her tremendous help and patience. Look for Hot Bliggity's button in my sidebar. She has fabulous free backgrounds and also does custom work for very reasonable fees. 

As I was walking out of work a couple of days ago, I had this overwhelming feeling of satisfaction and contentment. I wasn't sure exactly why. I think it was because I'd had some great interaction and exchanges with my students. I'd also received a little "happy" from some classroom grandparents, Meme and Hoddy, who volunteered in my class last year. Even though I no longer have their grandson in my class, they're still always leaving me little treats to brighten my day...and fatten me up. They're both retired Memphis City school teachers and understand what it's like to be "in the trenches". They are also the sweetest couple ever! Here's the little treat I found on my desk that day.   

 

Our school also has the cutest Spring bulletin board up in our front entryway. It helps me make a cheerful entrance and exit each day. Isn't it darling?



Time to wrap this up. Have to get my behind in gear. I've got a Memphis Tiger's WIN to watch this afternoon!

 

** Be sure to stop by tomorrow. I will be unveiling the details about my first big giveaway

(a Piperlime $200 giftcard)!

 

*Thanks for dropping by!

Claiming My Blog on bloglovin'

I'm attempting to "claim" my blog on bloglovin', so please just overlook the funny script.
Thanks!

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4949113/?claim=943jhgsqpkf">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

 

Torn Tights, Blue Screen of Death, and Toots...Oh My!!!

What a week...what a week, AND it's only Wednesday! The song, I'm Living for the Weekend, by the English indie band, HARD-FI, has definitely come to mind a few times today... Oh, I've been working a week. I'm tired. Yeah, I've been working a week and I'm just living for the weekend! 

For starters, something wreaked havoc on my personal computer at the beginning of the week. I really don't know if it was a virus or me messing up some .exe files in the process of updating to IE10...shhh. Whatever the culprit, I ended up with dreaded BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). Mad props to me though! I didn't freak and just followed the directions that came up to do a system restore and, at least, got her back up and running as she was prior to the blue screen. I've got some more work to do on her tonight. So, wish me luck.

As if that hadn't been enough, I tore a hole in my brand new tights this morning while I was stepping into my skirt. The heel of my boot barely nicked the inside of my left thigh and snagged the tights which, within seconds, grew to the size of a nickel. I didn't have time to change, so I just grabbed the bottle of clear polish sitting on my vanity and dabbed away hoping it wouldn't be visible when I sat or bent. Luckily, the polish held the hole at bay for the rest of the day...thank goodness!

I do after-school tutoring on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Before tutoring begins, the students eat a light meal through our afternoon feeding program. Today, it was a hot dog, baked beans, an apple, and mini Rice Krispie bar with milk. One of my students is like a human trash compactor and can literally inhale some food. He always consumes the other students' extras and is then generally pretty gassy. This afternoon, he ate 3 hot dogs loaded with ketchup and mustard, his beans, Rice Krispie bar, and three apples. When he asked if he could have the third hot dog, I told him, "Yes, but I'm having no tootin' in tutoring!" Well...needless to say, he played a few notes before all was said and done. Hence, the "Oh My!"
 
I'd really like to hear how you unwind and relax after a very trying and what seems like never-ending week.

 *Thanks for dropping by!

Go Ahead. Grab My Button!

While writing my previous post, I was in the midst of blog button trials and tribulations. I was determined to create myself a cute little button and code for this blog. After several "How To" articles and a number of attempts over a few days at getting it just right, I did it...WooHoo! However, I don't know if I would have been successful if I hadn't stumbled across a couple of very beneficial resources to which I want to give credit. The first was Shabby Blogs where I found the image. They have lots of fabulous freebies for dressing up your blog. Look for their button over there in the sidebar - - - > under my "Button Besties". The other awesome resource I found was a really cool little web app, Grab My Button Code Generator. Here is the link:  http://64b.co/09P. All you have to do is fill-in fields for Blog Title & URL, Image URL, and a few Colors/Code Box Options. It was very easy to use, and it created the code for my button. Then, all I had to do was copy and paste it into the Button Gadget I'd added to my template. 

Now, my next endeavor is to acquire and insert the social media icons for my Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Teachers Pay Teachers accounts. These were supposed to be included with the blog template I purchased. However, I have yet to receive them. I emailed the company today and am waiting to hear back from them. I'll let you know how this goes once I see what kind of response I get from them.

So far, I've really focused on creating the face of my blog. Next, my goals are to concentrate on content, acquiring some followers/comments, and networking. If you have any suggestions, especially in the areas of acquiring followers and networking, I would sincerely appreciate your sharing them.

*Thanks for dropping by!

                  

The Button of My Eye

As a new blogger, something I've had my eye on is my very own button. As a matter of fact, I have spent the better part of the evening trying to figure out how to make it happen. I found a couple of tutorials...neither of which make it seem like a simple thing to do. However if you remember...in my previous post, I explained that I'm a "jump in with both feet" kinda gal which is actually the primary reason for this particular post. The tutorials both explained a couple of options for capturing the desired image's direct Internet link that will be needed to place the button onto my blog. The first was to use an online photo album to store the image which would involve setting up an account, and I really didn't want to spend the extra time doing that tonight. The second option was to publish the chosen image in a blog post and then view the blog. Clicking on the image within my published blog post (in a perfect world) should carry me to a new web address that only displays the image which is where the image's web address can then be copied from the address bar for use in coding my button for others to use. Well....here goes. 

 

 

This is actually only the first step in creating and setting up the button for actual use on my blog. So, I have to publish this post now in order to move on through the rest of the process.

I'll have to let y'all know how it all turns out a little later on. Or, you can stop by tomorrow to see if my cute little button is all set up and ready for use.

*Thanks for dropping by!

 

Newbie Blogger with OCD...Uh Oh!

When I do something, I generally go "all in" which is exactly what I've ended up doing with my new blog. I contribute this to my being slightly OCD...or, at least, having a Type A personality. Ummm...have you ever wondered why so many teachers say they have ADHD or OCD? Well, that might just be a topic for future posts. Now back to the OCD, newbie blogger thing. While researching and reading up on what it takes to have a successful blog, I've realized there are a lot of ins & outs and tools of the trade to know and, at moments, have felt a little overwhelmed. I think I could read a gazillion articles and guides, but nothing will help me more than just diving in and learning as I go. So...I'm asking that you bear with me on this journey; and as we move ahead, I'll try to provide those of you out there who are considering starting up a new blog of your own or are also newbie bloggers like me with some helpful hints and useful pieces of information along the way. I hope you are as excited as I am! 

Here is my first deposit into the accounts of all aspiring bloggers. It is an interesting, useful article about 12 things that can sabotage, or kill, a blog, and we certainly don't want any of our blogs to end up in the bloggers' morgue! Here is the link to the article: 12 Things That Will Kill Your Blog Post Every Time.

 Hope you find it helpful.

Are you a newbie or aspiring blogger? If so, let me know and please share any ins & outs or tools of the trade you've discovered along the way.

*Thanks for dropping!

My Maiden Post: Sweets for the Sweet

Here goes nothing...well, let's hope it's something! So far, I've had fun designing and setting the blog up. I just hope I'm creative enough to keep it going and interesting. I'll have to rely somewhat on a good friend and colleague who just recently started a successful blog, Mommy On A Mission. At the moment, mine is still definitely a work in progress. I had a fleeting thought of breaking a bottle of champagne on the side of my monitor. In keeping with the theme of the blog, this post is going to be short and "sweet". However since this is an educational blog, I want to share a li'l sweet with everyone before I go. I saw this idea on Pinterest today and thought it was great, especially since many of my second graders are still having some difficulty distinguishing between fiction and non-fiction.

 

 

Give your students some left over Scholastic book order forms

and have them construct a graphic organizer by folding a sheet

of construction paper in half creating two columns labeled

 Fiction/Non-Fiction.

 

 *Thanks for dropping!