14th Bloggy Birthday!

Happy 14th Birthday to Polka-Dotty Place!  14!!!! I can hardly believe it.  

I have been writing for this space nearly every day for 14 years.  It has been one of my favorite hobbies, favorite outlets, favorite way to document our lives and I'm so thankful you show up to read what I write.  Some of you have been with me since we lived in Utah.  Wow!  I always said that I would stop blogging when it was no longer fun.  I'm thrilled to say that I still love blogging and can't wait for another year in this space.

Back in 2011, Kevin and I were living in Utah and nearly everything about our life was different.

We lived and loved life in a tiny apartment.  We had two cats - Oliver & Topher - who have both since passed.  We traveled nearly every weekend to explore all the wild west had to offer.  Jobs that took us to Utah for what we thought would be a five year process, ended up being a nine year adventure.  We both started and finished graduate school together at The University of Utah.  I was teaching 3rd grade in public schools.  Kevin was teaching/working/learning all over Salt Lake City.  Our circles of friends were different and we were much more well rested.  We loved our time in Utah!

Throwback to Summer of 2011:

The Badlands.

Mt. Rushmore.

The view from Kevin's office where we did a lot of studying.

Fast forward to 2025 and it feels like almost everything about our life is different.  We have 3 different cats.  We have 3 kids.  We have lived in 4 different houses and 4 different cities.  We're back in the Midwest which I wasn't sure would ever happen.  Kevin's is working his dream jobs and I love teaching kindergarten at a private school.  It'll be my first time ever to teach with one of my own kids in my grade.  We're about to enter junior high territory and the kids are making new friends and trying new things to find their own hobbies.  We're making our house a home and even though everything has changed so much in 14 years, we still love the life we are building together.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Thanks for caring about my family.

Thanks for sticking around for all the adventures these last 14 years.

Cheers to a new year ahead filled with new adventures!

Love you lots!

9th Bloggy Birthday // Giveaway!!!

9 years.

That's how long I've been showing up to write blog posts each week.

All of our highs and lows from the last 9 years are here.  Polka-Dotty Place been the best digital scrapbook, milestone marker and creative outlet for me.  I've loved every year of blogging.  After all these years, I still look forward to showing up here to share my stories.  I always promised myself that I'd quit blogging if it wasn't fun.  Good news!  I still love it and have some fun things in store for you!

The very best part of blogging for me is all of the friends I've made.

Some readers have become the sweetest friends.  We exchange texts, Christmas cards, read each other's blogs and stay connected.  Some of you started reading when I was a teacher living in Utah with only cats for kids.  Some of you joined along as our family started growing.  Maybe we were living in Arkansas or Mississippi when you started reading?

Regardless of when you started, THANK YOU for showing up here to read my blog.  I am so appreciative of the friends and family who read my blog each week.  It makes my day when someone says...

I loved this recipe you shared and made it for my family this week.

Your tips really helped me.

Thank you for that fun idea to do with my kids.

I could really relate to your post today.

You guys are the best!!

As a thank you for reading my blog, I'm partnering up with my favorite earring lady Amber from ADV Designs this week!  She's offering all of you a discount code WHITNEY20 for 20% off your order.  She added some of her new designs to my latest order for me to help promote them. 

She has some really fabulous new earring styles in her shop right now.  You know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE her leather earrings.  They're the lightest, cutest statement earring out there.  They are so affordable. Stock up now and get some for teacher gifts when school starts.  She's got a pattern and style for every woman.  Trust me.

Look at some of her fabulous earrings and bracelets.  There's everything from animal print, to dainty bead earrings to bold color bracelets.  I love it all!

In addition to the discount code, I'm doing a bloggy birthday GIVEAWAY!

I'm giving away at $20 gift card to ADV Design's etsy shop!!  The winner will be emailed the gift card.

Comment below telling me
1. the blog posts you enjoy reading most and
2. earn a bonus entry for telling me some posts you'd like to see in the future.

A winner will be chosen Sunday, August 2nd and notified by email.  Make sure to leave your email in your comment so I can notify you :)

Good luck!!

*************Giveaway Closed!  Congrats, Jamie!

Top 9 of 2019

Happy New Year!  I always look forward to seeing my Top 9 year end posts from Instagram.  They usually capture the highs and lows of the year pretty accurately.  This year is no different.

1 - Charcuterie board
2 - Surprise Baby #3 on the way!
3 - Charcuterie board #2
4 - Olive & Fletcher found out we're having a baby
5 - It's a BOY!
6 - Fletcher needed 4 staples in his head after a fall
7 - Fletcher turned 3
8 - Picking out pumpkins - next year we'll be grabbing 3
9 - Charcuterie board #3

Obviously, our surprise baby news tops the exciting news for 2019!  I couldn't agree more.

We love throwing parties, good food and celebrating with our family.  All of those things will continue in 2020.  You can expect more charcuterie boards, too.  We just love them!  They are so fun for me to put together and my family really enjoys e ating them.  Win-win.

Here are 12 blog post highlights from 2019:

I followed through with my Empty Box Challenge for the whole year.  Decluttering never felt so good.  Excited to keep doing this one in 2020.

We are still really enjoying packing lunches in Yumboxes.

I wrote Don't Be Intimidated to Make Meals for Others in the hopes of inspiring you to deliver more meals to friends, family and those you interact with.

My love for all the Krusteaz mixes is still going strong.  Krusteaz Can Turn Anyone into a Baker

Fletcher turned 3 and we celebrated with a Construction Themed Birthday Party

I tried to do a charcuterie board post once a month to share ideas and they were all pretty popular.  This time of year I really like to add something warm to our charcuterie boards.  Warm Charcuterie Board ideas

We hosted a really sweet Backyard Fairy Garden Birthday Party when Olive turned 6.

We tried some new things Lake Life.

Fletcher needed 4 staples and a trip to the ER

Sent Olive off to First Grade

We announced we were expecting Baby #3

I continued to share my best recipes with you like my Life Changing Lasagna recipe.


Here's to hoping 2020 is a wonderful year for all of us!

Cheers to 8 Years!! Favorites Giveaway

Polka-Dotty Place is 8!!!!

Happy Bloggy Birthday :)

What an exciting milestone for me!

I had no idea back in 2011 how long I'd be blogging for or if anyone would even be interested in reading what I had to say.  I just started writing when we lived in Utah to share all of our adventures with family and friends.  I had no clue that so many of you would become dear friends over the years.  It's so fun to know and love so many of you that are scattered across the country.

THANK YOU for reading, commenting, encouraging, sharing and liking my content over the years.  It makes my day every time I get a nice comment or a friendly hello from any of you on social media.

When I look back at the archives, it's easy to see that things have changed here a little every year.  I've shared so much with you - teaching, our growing family, moves, organizing, recipes, outfits, trips, becoming a mom, DIY projects, books and more.  The blog really has changed with me and that's why I think I have loved it so much.  It's still so much fun for me to write and share things with you.

I still love this space so much!  Keep an eye out for some fun changes and updates this year.

I have a fun giveaway to thank you for supporting Polka-Dotty Place over the years!

Open to anyone in the US.  Just comment telling me how long you've been reading and your favorite posts to see on Polka-Dotty Place!!  Make sure I have your email address so that I can contact you when a winner is chosen on Friday.

A giveaway with a few of my favorite things just for you!

Rainbow zipper pouch
Straw bow visor
Scrunchie
50pk Blank notes cards
3 pairs of ADV Designs leather earrings

Remember to comment below to win!!!

I'll draw a winner on Friday night and let the winner know by email.

********Giveaway CLOSED.  Congratulations Jen F. ********

2018 Highlights

2018 was far from perfect.  There were plenty of hard moments, tears shed, work stresses and unknowns, but overall, I am really thankful for another year.  I'm going to continue my blog schedule of taking most Thursdays off this year.  I just wanted to hurry and get this post in before January got away from me.

Have you done the top nine generator for your instagram moments of 2018?

I was really curious to see what my most popular pictures of the year would be.  Some people disagreed with their highlights and others completely agreed.  I fell in the latter group.  I LOVED my highlights and felt like they were really accurate for my family this year.

1 - Thankful to get to spend my days at home with the kids.  I really never thought I'd be a stay at home mom.  Then, my kids came along and I couldn't imagine doing anything other than staying home with these during these little years.  Fletcher and I have enjoyed having more alone time than ever now that Olive is in school full time.  We're hitting our stride together.

2 - Cooper.  He was definitely an exciting moment in our year.

3 - Goodbye 50lbs.  I am still really proud of this healthy milestone.  I've got my sights set on new healthy goals for 2019.

4 - Walmart puffer jacket!  I love that pink coat and all the other fun deals I've found this year at Aldi, Target, TJ Maxx, Walmart, Dollar Tree and Amazon.

5 - Kevin and I worked hard on our marriage this year so it makes me happy to see us at the center of my collage.  We had more date nights than ever, worked through some tough things and are better for it.  We're quickly approaching our 15th wedding anniversary this Summer.

6 - Holiday food.  I love making festive food!

7 - We got a Mini Van!!  I never knew how much I could love a Honda Odyssey.  It's perfection.  And now I'm pretty sure that I've hit full blown mom status.  I don't care who knows - I love it!

8 - Olive started kindergarten and we couldn't be more proud.  She's independent, confident, curious, smart and she loves school so much.  It's amazing to see all of the new things she's learning.

9 - Cute outfits - I've really gotten excited about putting together cute outfits for myself again.  I loved getting dressed up for work when I was teaching, but then I kind of lost that when I started staying home full time.  Now I'm back and it feels great.

A few other blog, real life and family memorable moments from 2018...

Fletcher landed himself in the ER with a pretzel up his nose.

We enjoyed a Disney brunch with all of our favorite characters

The whole family got to head up to Notre Dame for St Patrick's Day

Fireman Fletcher turned TWO

I broke and dislocated my pinky toe.  Still cringe about that one.  Praying we all stay out of the ER this year.

Olive had a Magical Unicorn Party to celebrate her 5th birthday

We spent countless hours and resources working in our yard this year.  I'm happy to report that things are looking pretty lovely around Polka-Dotty Gardens.

The Sunflower Maze never disappoints.

The Blue Angels came to town.

We headed to the ocean a couple of times - Ft Walton Beach & Naples

We loved apple picking so much that we went three different times.

Halloween was super this year with these cute Super Heroes

Our backyard was the prettiest it's ever been this Fall

I discovered leather earrings and LOVE them so much

After three years of prayers, we FINALLY FOUND A CHURCH HOME and it's been a blessing to our whole family.  We are plugged into small groups, the kids love their classes and we've been going to church every Sunday since July.  This is definitely a big highlight of our year.

We had a lot of fun decorating the house for Christmas

What was the best thing that happened to you in 2018??

Take a Survey & Win Starbucks

Hey, friends!!  It's been a great week at our house.  We are all thrilled to have a three day weekend together.  Olive has been asking for longer weekends since school started so her wish is coming true this week.

I have been busy working on my Fall blog calendar and wanted to check in with you.  I am going to be blogging four days a week and I'm curious...

What do you want to read on Polka-Dotty Place in the coming months??


**** I'll randomly pick one winner from the comments for a $5 Starbucks gift card.  Be sure to add your email address to your comment so I can contact you****

1. Tell me something about YOU - stage of life, where do you live, your job, number of kids, pets??

2. What are your favorite posts to read here?

3. Do you have any blog post suggestions?  Or questions you want me to answer?

4. What type of shopping posts do you get excited about?  Aldi, Amazon, Target, Dollar Tree, etc.?


THANK YOU for taking the time to do this for me!!

Leave a comment or email me directly at polkadottyplace@hotmail.com.


I love writing content for this space and excited to hear from you all.

Hope you have a great weekend :)  We're SUPER pumped to kick off the college football season.  We're hoping for a big win to start the Notre Dame season.  See you back here on Tuesday!

Seven Years

Happy Birthday to Polka-Dotty Place!!  My blog turns SEVEN today!

I started blogging back in 2011 as a way for my family to keep up with our lives in Utah.  I was a 3rd grade teacher documenting my days in the classroom, sharing recipes, outfits and fun travel spots.  So many things have changed for my family in these past 7 years.  We've added degrees, kids, changed jobs, lived in many different states and homes.

This blog has been a constant in my life through all that change.  I'm so thankful for it.

The other day someone asked me if my blog was successful when they found out I was a blogger.

My immediate reaction was YES!!

I quickly clarified that my blog is successful according to MY measuring stick.

After 7 years of writing, editing and photographing I still love it.

I still look forward to sharing all of my favorite things with you.  I have a long list of posts I'm hoping to write at any time.  I have more content that time to share and I've improved over time.  My pictures are much better than they were.  I have made many friends through my blog and I very much love this space.  I have collaborated with fun companies, make a little money for my family and meet new people all the time.

I have LOVED writing this blog.  I still say it's my favorite hobby and something I look forward to doing every week.  I am so thankful to have documented all of the good times and the hard times in this space.  I'm not much of a scrapbooker anymore and I don't have detailed baby books for each of the kids.  I do have a blog filled with tons of precious memories.  I refer back to the archives regularly for recipes, vacation details, holiday ideas, birth stories and more.

Thank YOU for reading, commenting, emailing and being interested in what I write.

I really appreciate it.  I'm so thankful for your friendship!!

I'm excited for the coming year.  I'd love to know what YOU enjoy reading here.  Tell me how long you've been reading my blog and what types of things are your favorite posts to read from me.

Here's to another great year in blogland!!

Big Birthday Giveaway!!

It's the start of a good week at my house... my birthday week!!

I have some fun things to share with you this week

and I'm kicking off the festivities with a

BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY!!

I picked up 8 of my favorite things to giveaway to one lucky reader.

It was so fun to shop for you and share some things I love with you.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me your favorite content on my blog along with your email address.  What do you enjoy reading the most??

Bonus Entry #1: Leave me a separate comment and tell me where you are from.

Bonus Entry #2: Head over to instagram (@polkadottyplace) and comment.

This giveaway is open to anyone in the USA and the winner will be announced on my Friday morning post this week.  I'll contact the winner via email so be sure you leave your email with your comment.

Let me introduce you to 8 of my favorite items:

A zipper pouch
My current favorite scarf
Earrings I'm loving from my PolkaDottyPlace etsy shop
My very favorite sprinkles
Floral Thank You Notes
Give Thanks kitchen towel
Hello Autumn pot holder
Cute note pad and pen

And since we're on the topic of favorites, I've got to share this book with you!

I am SO excited to tell you about this new book Perennials by Julie Cantrell.  This book is probably my favorite book I've read all year.  It was very good!  The characters are so relatable and very easy to love or hate.  You feel so invested in their lives, their stories and their families.  I loved the connections to Mississippi, Ole Miss and all of the quaint details of Southern living.  It really is a charming tale with every emotion in it.  You'll find yourself smiling, laughing and crying as you get to know the characters better.  There are surprises along the way that will make you smile and others that will take your breath away.  There are both male and female characters from all walks of life to relate to - gardeners, athletes, business women, yoga teachers, socialites, farmers, beauty queens, baby sisters and dogs.  The cover art is beautiful and I guarantee that you'll be inspired to work on your gardening skills as you fall in love with the gardens in this story.  There are valuable life lessons and important ideas throughout the book.  It's inspiring, compelling and just a feel good book.  I couldn't recommend it more.  It's 350 pages and I wasn't ready for it to end when it did.  I've never read a Julie Cantrell book before, but I was impressed.  I couldn't put it down and am anxious to read more of her writing.
*I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review of it. 

Good luck with the giveaway!!

Simply the Best 6 Years

Happy Bloggy Birthday to me.

Polka-Dotty Place turned SIX on July 1st!

I can't believe it's been six years since I started blogging.  I knew I'd love it, but I just didn't realize how much.  I have made the best blogging friends and been lucky enough to meet some in real life.  I've had the best opportunities come my way from blogging and I have had the best time sharing projects, recipes and my family with you.

Thank YOU for reading along and being interested in what I do.

I have 2 questions for you:

1. Where do you live?

2. What kinds of posts would you like to see from me in the coming year??

I have LOVED LOVED LOVED writing for my blog for the past 6 years.  It has easily become my favorite hobby, the best way I document my family and my go to spot to record special moments in our life.  I am so thankful to have one spot to keep track of all the things that make me smile.

I thought I'd share a few of my best posts with you:

// 1 //
My Best RECIPE:
Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread is the most pinned recipe on my blog!

I love sharing recipes with you guys.  I think the Cheeseburger Quesadilla would definitely win for a delicious new recipe.  It was easy and my family loved it.

I've also got football on the brain and am ready for college football to start.  I am thinking of all the yummy game day food I can make for my family and my Homemade Chili is at the top of that list.

// 2 //
My Best PARENTING Post:
Enjoying Road Trips with a One Year Old is my most pinned parenting post.

I loved finally writing out our infertility story this year.
Infertility: I Never Thought It Would Happen to Me... Twice

// 3 //
A few other favorite blog posts:

My T-Shirt Book Report post always gets a lot of attention from my teaching days.

I love throwing a good birthday party and you can find them all under the birthday tab on my sidebar:
Every person needs a great Perfect Buttercream Recipe and this is mine.  It works for cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, graham crackers and icing and more.  It's so easy and so good.

Some Bunny Is Turning TWO

Here are my best tips for making family photo shoots go smoothly:
I'm a Fan of Family Pictures

I've got some fun things in the works for another year of blogging!  Stay tuned :)

It's time to link up with my favorite Tuesday Talk ladies.

Beth at Our Pretty Little Girls | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Crystal at Hall Around Texas | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram  

Jessica at Sweet Little Ones | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Stefanie at Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam, & Dylan Too | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Becky at BYBMG | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Lindsay at Lindsay's Sweet World | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Sarah at Sarah E. Frazer | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Justine at Full Hands, Full Heart

Tina at Go Big or Go Home | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Whitney at Polka-Dotty Place | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

An InLinkz Link-up

One Little Word for 2016

I've chosen a word of the year for the last three years and always look forward to selecting my word/theme of the year.  It's a fun tradition that I am happy to keep up with.  I usually keep a running list of potential words on my phone in the month of December.  Then I think it over, pray about it and select a word that will give my coming year some direction.

My past words of the year have been:

2013: CHANGE

I became a mom, put my teaching career on hold to be a stay at home mom 

and we moved from UT to AR for my husband's job

2014: THRIVE

We moved from AR to MS, I was still learning the ropes of being a mom 

and wanted to be successful in a new state

2015: ENJOY

We were settling into life in Mississippi and my plan was to fully embrace our new city and enjoy everything it had to offer.  I joined Bible studies, church groups, made friend and LOVED living in Jackson.  I laugh when I go back and read this ENJOY post because I had no idea what the Lord had in store for my family.  MY plan was to enjoy our new city, our new life and have a really comfortable, easy year.  I did just that for several months and we had a wonderful run in Mississippi.  God turned things upside down for us in the best way and Kevin was offered his dream job back in our home state of Indiana.  We sold our house in 19 days, moved from MS to IN and started a new life in a new city mid year.  His plan was far better than my own and it's amazing to look back and see how God perfectly aligned things to happen for us.  We ended up pregnant after struggling to conceive and found ourselves really enjoying our life in a completely different way than we'd planned.

2016:

My word of the year for 2016 is INVITE.

It's exhausting to live in our fourth new city in four years and I want to work hard this year to INVITE new opportunities into our life.  My goal is not to fill our days with stuff, rather it's to get comfortable in our city and make things feel like home for us.  I'd like to make the most of our days filling them with meaningful things and opportunities where we can all grow.

INVITE ourselves to churches until we find a church home.

INVITE new friends to our house and to meet up instead of waiting for an invitation.  Initiate these play dates instead of waiting for someone to ask us.

Say yes to fun INVITATIONS that come our way.

Take others up on INVITATIONS they've extended to get to know us better

even if that means we're the new people in the group or go to an event where we barely know anyone.  Work hard to make new friends and find people to connect with in our area.

INVITE good routines into our daily life - Bible reading, exercise, reading for fun, healthy eating and getting out and about to explore our new city.  Encourage each other to make these positive things a priority.

INVITE family and friends to come and visit us.

INVITE others to help us as we transition to a family of 4 in the Spring.

I'm a pretty independent person so asking for help is not something I am good at.

ASK for help when life gets challenging.

INVITE Kevin on dates even if that means I plan something for after Olive goes to bed.  Surprise him with a babysitter occasionally or INVITE him to a lunch date to break up a busy week.

Look for opportunities in the community to INVITE ourselves to - free programs for kids, festivals, moms groups and learning opportunities.

INVITE ourselves to a Bible Study or Sunday School class when we do find a church.

Look for toddler friendly activities and INVITE ourselves to them - story time, music classes, park play dates and more.  I'm just figuring out where to find event options so I'd like to be proactive and get us involved.

INVITE ourselves to fun events at the country club to make friends.

Extend special INVITATIONS to Olive to help with her transition as a big sister.  I'm hoping that making one on one time a priority with her will help with the transition to adding another child to the family.  She's excited to be a big sister, loves talking about her baby brother on the way and I want to make sure she still feels loved, adored and special with all the changes that'll come her way.

INVITE family to help us with house hunting.

INVITE ourselves to rest when we need it instead of feeling pressure to go all the time.  Make our family a priority and balance new things with comfortable things so we don't run ourselves ragged.  That'll mean days at home, days of regular routines mixed in with the fun INVITATIONS.  My hope is that we can come up with a good balance in the new year.

I'm looking forward to INVITING new things into our life this year with the hopes of making new friends, settling into our new city and making things feel like home.

Have you chosen one little word for 2016?

I'd love to hear what word or phrase you've chosen to be the theme of your year.

I'm guest blogging over at Abiding In Grace today for Sarah's One Little Word Series.  She's featuring different bloggers all month long so head over to her blog to read what others are choosing for their one little word for 2016.  She wrote all about her one little word RUN yesterday.

2015 Blog in Review

I've started thinking about the highlights of my blogging year as 2015 is coming to a close.  Blogging is one of my very favorite hobbies.  I genuinely look forward to writing every week.  I love taking pictures and I love sharing my life with you.  Thank you for reading along with me.  These are the 5 major blogging highlights I've had this year.

// 1 //

IMPROVED PICTURES

I made a conscious effort to pull out my DSLR more often this year.  I can tell a difference in my pictures and am happy to see my skills improving.  I feel like my posts include better images than in years past and more pinnable, delicious, high quality looking things.  I still have plenty of iphone pictures, but I'm pleased that I have taken the time to document life with my real camera.

// 2 //

FUN COLLABORATIONS

I got to participate in fun giveaways with Freshly Picked moccasins, Marley Lilly, book reviews and co-host a weekly Tuesday Talk link up.  I love that blogging has brought new opportunities into my life and challenged me to try new things.  I've enjoyed making connections with new companies and businesses.

// 3 //

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

I made the decision to cut back on the number of posts I write this year and I am so happy that I did.  I have really enjoyed posting less and making sure my posts have great content.  My focus on quality over quantity has helped me to weed out posts and only blog about the things I'm most interested in.  It's also freed up some time for me to spend with my family and I'm thankful for that.

 // 4 // 

DOCUMENTING LIFE

A big reason that I blog is to document our life.  I LOVE looking back over the last 5 years and seeing how much my family has done, changed and grown.  I am not much of a traditional scrapbooker, but blogging has given me a wonderful platform to document and share my family with you.  Thank you for caring, interacting with me and being interested in what we're up to.

 

// 5 //

MAKING NEW FRIENDS

I am so very thankful for all of my bloggy friends.  Some of you I've known for years and others just came onto my radar this year.  Thank you for inspiring me!  You bloggy ladies are amazing and I'm so thankful to share this blog life with you.  I've met some of you based on the states we've lived in at the time, others through link ups and some I can't even remember how we connected.  Like I mentioned before, blogging is one of my favorite hobbies and I love interacting with you!!  I'll have to put together a list of fun bloggers for you to check out in the new year.

I can't wait for the 2016 blogging year ahead.

I'm working on some fun new goals that I'll share with you in January.

Linking up for Blogger Year in Review

Happy Bloggy Birthday!!

My blog turns FOUR today!

Happy Bloggy Birthday Polka-Dotty Place!!

I can hardly believe it.

I've loved blogging since 2011 and it's become one of my favorite hobbies.  

I started my blog when I was living in Utah and wanted my family in Indiana to know what I was up to.  I was writing about teaching, baking, my outfits and traveling.  Those things are still important to me, but they look a little different today four years later.  I'm a full time mom now and I think my blog reflects the change in my title.  I'm still a teacher, but my focus is on preschool learning activities for Olive.  I still bake and love sharing my favorite recipes with you.  I still wear outfits everyday, but I don't document them like I used to when I was teaching.  We still travel and I enjoy sharing our family adventures with you.

I've blogged in Utah, Arkansas, Mississippi and soon I'll be blogging from Indiana.  I love documenting my family, our days, our travels, yummy recipes, craft projects, DIY projects, party planning and everything in between.  I have worked to improve aspects of my blog over the years and enjoy taking photos and writing posts each week.  I am thankful to have a record of my life for the last few years and I'm excited to continue writing about our new life settling into our home in Indiana.  You can bet it'll be full of adventure, fun and finding the joy in the ordinary moments.

Thank you for reading my writing.

Thank you for your friendship.

And thank you for making me smile.

I'm lucky to have friends like you :)

Have a treat to celebrate with us today!!

Polka-Dotty Place Etsy Shop Giveaway!!

I'm excited to talk to you about my etsy shop today!!

It just turned THREE years old so I thought a celebration was in order.

I started the shop three years ago and filled it with a variety of accessories.  I've made earrings, flower pins and used a variety of new and vintage material.  I only put things in my shop that I would and do actually wear.  I enjoyed doing some art shows when I was in Utah and always get excited when I go to fill an etsy order.  I love making money for my family and being creative at the same time. 

I've shipped all over the US.  I love when ladies contact me to send birthday gifts to their friends and I've even sent 5 matching pairs of earrings to a bride to give to her bridesmaids.  My accessories always come wrapped and ready to gift.

Take a look around Polka-Dotty Place Etsy Shop

I hope you find some things you cannot live without!!

I'm offering one FREE pair of earrings with any etsy order from my shop

starting right now until midnight on Saturday the 9th.

No code necessary.  I'll just add a surprise pair to your order :)

I'm also giving away this set of FOUR pairs of earrings

that are perfectly on trend right now and perfect for summer.

I love the blush roses,

think the stars would be perfectly patriotic this summer,

and adore the mint and gold pairs.

The stars and gold are both vintage and the flowers are new.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!!

The contest has now ended.  Congratulations to Jennifer D!!