Happy Friday to You!

I'm excited for the weekend - isn't everyone?!?!

No big plans but I always enjoyed the slowed down pace that the weekend brings.

The best parts of my week were...

1. I made some peanut butter puffs this week... 

tune back in this weekend for the recipe.

2. I got this sugar scrub as a gift and have enjoyed using it.

I typically would not buy something like this for myself so I appreciated the treat.

3.It's a tradition in my class to publish our own book through Studentreastures publishing company.  We just got our books back so we had a big publishing party.  The parents came, students read their poems and it was a big success.  Here's my cute class showing off their books...

4. I've always wanted to get a pair of TOMS for myself and I'm dying over these sweet TOMS!  I got them for a baby shower gift from a good friend.  I may just have to get a pair for myself so that Olive and I can match.  Mommy/Daughter matching shoes seems like a necessity - right?

5. I got this picture and a text from my sister this week:
My friend Sarah sent me this...
She said she thought of you and was praying for you and Olive!

I'm thankful to realize that people are praying for us :)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks for stopping by.

Linking up with Lauren and InstaFriday.

Corraling Your Travel Size Toiletries

I had quite the collection of of travel size shampoos, lotions, toothpaste and more.

I use them when we go on trips and offer them to guests when they stay with us but never had a great storage solution for the pesky little containers.  I've seen several ideas recently putting these containers in a jar to display in your bathroom for guests to use so I thought I'd give it a try.

I had an inexpensive glass jar with a lid from Wal-Mart that worked perfectly.

Topher wanted to help in this little project...

 I had to go over the project details and tell Topher that he wasn't going IN the jar

but that the toiletries were :)

 We sorted and filled the jar using only the unopened containers.

My goal was to have a jar full of items to offer to guests.

I kept any partially used or opened containers in the cabinet for us to use when we travel.

 The finished product:

It's sitting on our counter right now but could easily go on a shelf in a linen closet.

What Whitney Wore

I tried hard to add some color into my wardrobe despite the sporatic Spring weather.

Here are the looks I put together for my 33rd week of pregnancy:

1. Minty

cardigan - J Crew

top & skinnies - Motherhood

belt & gold tipped shoes - TJ Maxx

statement necklace - The Tiny Twig

gold earrings - Polka-Dotty place etsy shop

 2. Pregnant Pattern Mixing

cardigan & belt - Limited

dress - Kohls

leggings - TJ Maxx

flower pin - Nordstrom Rack

earrings - Polka-Dotty Place etsy shop

heels - Clarks

*I wore heels all day and switched to flats in the evening :)

3. Comfy in Color
scarf - GAP
belt & flats - TJ Maxx
top & skinnies - Motherhood
earrings - Charlotte Russe

  4. Going Shopping
top - thrifted
belt - Micheal Kors
skinnies - Motherhood
scarf & flats - TJ maxx
earrings - Polka-Dotty Place etsy shop

 5. Teaching
scarf - TJ Maxx
dress - Old navy
belt - Charlotte Russe
earrings - Francesca's
bracelet - gift
flats - Payless (new)

I'm linking up with

The Pleated Poppy, Style Elixir, Wardrobe Wednesday,
Work Clothes, I Suppose 

What I'm Wearing, Casual Fridays and Best of Style

Blogging Schedule

I often get questions about how I find time to blog, what my routine looks like and where do I get my ideas for blog posts.  I thought I'd tell you today!

1.  I write posts every few days unless I get busy and have to do it daily.  I schedule them to post twice a day if I do them in advance.  I started blogging once a day back in 2011 and then realized I had more to blog about so twice a day seems to work well for me right now.  If I'm going on vacation or heading out of town, I blog in advance.  I am an avid reader of blogs and nothing is worse than finding a blog you love and coming to realize that they post infrequently and don't update often.  I want to read new material every day so I figure many other people do too!

2. I take pictures all the time, am always looking on Pinterest or other blogs and usually come up with more things than I can possibly blog about.  I also take suggestions or use comments/questions for blog topics.  Plus I use recipes, cooking projects and DIYs for blog material.  I have had a few guest bloggers but usually I do my own posts.  My husband also helps a lot by taking my outfit pictures or putting up with my incessant picture taking.

3. I am constantly writing a list of potential blog topics or posts.  I have about 4 going right now and a few posts in the draft stages.  Sometimes it takes several sittings to get a post just right.

4. I'm always tweaking things and trying to improve my blog.  I set goals for myself and my blog and then work hard to make them happen.  There's always more I could be doing, writing about or doing to interact so I try really hard to be realistic.  I don't want to stress about blogging or to blog about boring things; blogging is a fun hobby and I try hard to keep it fun :)

  

5. I always blog from home and this is my view during most of my work sessions.

I'd imagine the captions would go something like this...

 Mom, are you looking at me!!

I'm feeling needy.

Keep up the good work, Mom.

 That title needs a little work, huh...

 Was that out loud?!?!

 Blogging is hard work.

 Lots of up keep and things to maintain.

 I think I need a nap after all that writing.

 Thanks for reading!!

PS
Here are all the things that often get neglected because I'm blogging:
dishes, making my bed, laundry, grading papers every night,
exercising, consistent dinner time, getting 8+ hours of sleep
and plenty of other things on my to do list.
My blogging/life motto:

Mountainy Monday

Happy Monday to you!

disclaimer: these are not postcards, just the view from my backyard :)

Cash Candles

One of my little friends was recently turning 5 

so I wanted to make her something to mail it to her.

I used a $5 bill, five $1 bills, washi tape and a blank note card.

Fold the $5 bill like an accordion so that the five is visible.

Repeat the same process with the $1 bills.

Cut small strips of washi tape to secure bills to card

(press down hard on both sides so that it lays flat)

and then cut out flames for each of the candles.

I'm excited to do this again for upcoming birthdays.

It took 15 minutes or so to do this entire project.

Linking up with
Made By You Mondays, Craft-o-Maniac, TaDa Tuesday,
Share It, The Scoop, Too Cute Tuesday, Show Me What Ya Got,
Weekend Wrap up, and Sundae Scoop.

Baby Shower Games

I've played a lot of shower games 

but never played the two that were at my most recent baby shower.
My friend, Meg, was in charge of the games and she found some good ones.

Let me introduce you to these two GREAT games!!

1. Candy Bar Baby Game
Match the list of candy bars to the baby related item on the side.

 2. Play Dough Babies
Each guest got a ziploc bag with a slice of Play Dough in a cupcake liner and a toothpick.
They were asked to build their best baby in 10-15 minutes.
There were all colors and everyone was excited for the challenge.
I was the judge and would be choosing the top three "best" babies.
Everyone was laughing and having a great time showing off their babies.

 Here's a collection of some of the babies.
It was hard to choose but I picked
1. The most realistic
2. The baby who had a cat friend with her
3. The one with the best hair/accessories

I would have liked to choose a few more:
-one person made an olive
-most creative
-best collaborative effort

All of the games were set out on the table ahead of time.
We ate lunch and then worked on our games afterward.