adding buttons to your blog

I'm a bit behind on this, but I've just added social media buttons to my blog! I had some individual buttons but nothing like the cute things I see on other blogs :) In case you're not sure how to go about this (like I was), I found some awesome directions to help! Kaitlyn, with her blog Wifessionals, does a great job of breaking this down for me - and having the buttons ready to go! And for help with including a link for RSS feed, you can look at this blog for directions.

freebie: printable letters and numbers

I found this awesome freebie through Pinterest and love how great it is! I'm going to use them in my classroom next year (I think I'm going with a chalkboard theme) but there are so many DIY projects you could do as well! The whole last name thing or initials or maybe in a child's room...tons of ideas! Whitney and Ashley also have numbers and a banner alphabet! I'm super pumped at the massive amount of freebies they've made. 

recipe: oreo cheesecake pops

Now that it's summer, I'm excited to have some free time to bake! I have a recipe list a mile long and these cake pops are at the top of my list. Amy has even made a 4th of July printable to make it cute as well as yummy! You can look at her blog for the full recipe.

Ingredients

1. 1 Package of Oreo Cookies
2. 1 8oz. Package of Cream Cheese
3. 1-2 Cups White Chocolate Chips or White Chocolate Bar such as Ghirardelli
4. Candy Sprinkles
5. Wax Paper

Directions

• Crush Oreos and then mix with cream cheese
• Roll cookie mixture into 1" balls. Place on a pan covered in wax paper and freeze for 10-20 minutes.
• While Oreo balls are hardening, melt white chocolate chips in a glass dish.
• Remove cookie balls from freezer, dip into melted chocolate and place on wax paper.
• Add sprinkles

book review: "your heart's desire" by sheri rose shepherd

What caught my eye with this book was the cover. A good cover will definitely get my attention. Your Heart's Desire is written to several different groups of women. "For the married woman who desires more for her marriage. For the single woman who desires a godly man to love her. For the divorced woman who desires and deserves a second chance to find love again." Sheri spends fourteen chapters talking about some of the desires women have concerning love:

1. Desiring a "happily ever after"
2. Desiring a godly man to marry
3. Desiring to leave a legacy for my loved ones
4. Desiring God's design that me and my man become one
5. Desiring God to give me the power to remain pure
6. Desiring to give and receive love
7. Desiring to embrace my new life in Christ
8. Desiring to become a woman my man can lead
9. Desiring my son to grow to become a man of faith
10. Desiring a miracle to build a new foundation of love
11. Desiring expressions of love and romance in my marriage
12. Desiring to believe God can change a man and save a marriage
13. Desiring to glorify God by showing honor and respect
14. Desiring to surrender my whole heart to my Lord

Sheri also shares from her own marriage - the good and the bad. She does this in the hopes of letting God speak through her and help others. I read Sheri's book, His Princess: Love Letters From Your King a few years ago and was excited to find similar "love letters" at the end of each chapter in Your Heart's Desire. The only thing I would have liked was a little more attention given to single women, since that's the group I'm currently in. Overall, a book any woman can find something to apply in her life. 

I received a copy of this book from the Tyndale Blog Network for my honest review.

recipe: super simple peanut butter cookies

These cookies are both simple and yummy! And even better, you probably have everything already on hand - I was very excited to have this be the case yesterday :) PLUS, if you're looking for a Father's Day gift, these peanut buttery delights would be perfect - they're my dad's favorite. This recipe is compliments of Jif. 

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/2 stick Crisco® Baking Sticks All-Vegetable Shortening
  Or 1/2 cup Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening
• 1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 3/4 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• Directions
• - HEAT oven to 375°F. Combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended.
• - COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2-inches apart onto greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in a crisscross pattern with tines of fork.
• - BAKE one baking sheet at a time 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to cooling racks to cool completely.

 

goodbye google reader :(

In case you haven't heard, Google Reader will be unavailable after July 1. You can read about it on Reader's blog. I was a bit bummed when I first found out because I have a rather lengthy list of blogs I follow. However, it's rare that I look at Reader so maybe this is a chance to re-evaluate my list. Last night I logged in to Feedly and was able to have most (if not all) of my blog list transfer. I like that it's connected to Google so there's no hassle of creating a new account. This blog lists a few alternatives as well as directions for backing up your feed list. Is there a reader you're using I should try?

finally finished filing!

I've spent parts of the last two weeks working on getting all of my paperwork in order from my first year of teaching. I finished today! During the school year I kept everything in containers that held hanging folders and I would just stick everything in those. So I've purged all the extra copies of worksheets I had or the copies of things we didn't get to and put everything in notebooks, thanks to a great post I came across a while back. I used these super cute binder covers from Teachers Pay Teachers. I had to make a few covers on my own using these great chevron backgrounds. Here are all of my notebooks, organized and ready to go!

I put a colored piece of paper on the sides, writing the names so I can easily find what I need once they're on my bookshelf. You can click the picture below to grab your own set of binder covers!