Black Friday Has always been one of my absolute favorite unofficial holidays. I love the transition from Thanksgiving to the Christmas season. My traditions have changed over the years – they used to involve some very early morning shopping in the freezing cold, then Black Friday became my official decorating day, now it requires being as lazy as possible. My current tradition just may be my favorite, for now at least. We sleep in and stay in our Christmas pajamas all day. That’s it – just enjoying the beginning of Christmas time by watching all the movies and laying around doing Christmas crafts while drinking hot chocolate. I’m sure that…

I’ve always loved to give homemade gifts. Over the years I’ve definitely identified which are hits and which are misses. Here are a few that I’m looking forward to giving this year. Cross Stitch Ornaments – I’ve really gotten into cross stitch over the last few years. It’s easily portable and I can work on small projects that are finished fairly quickly, which keeps my attention span. Simmer Pots – I like to think of these packets as an alternative to candles. They make the entire house smell amazing, and they feel really traditional which works well with current trends. Sick Day Tea – Have you heard of medicine ball…

I have been leaning heavily into my own hobbies this summer, and I’m sure that’ll continue throughout fall and winter. I’ve found that I’m actually able to work on hobbies that take up less space and supplies – I can pick these up and put them down easier and faster so I actually get to enjoy them more often. Here are my current favorites, and the supplies that support them (all links are affiliates). Embroidery floss set – I picked this up to make friendship bracelets with and have also been doing a lot of actual embroidery. Book Journal – I’ve been really getting back into reading, thank goodness! Last…

Don’t worry, we aren’t talking weight training today – I just needed some very obvious symbolism for strengths! I’ve always been passionate about helping others recognize their own strengths and embrace these so that they can use them in their work. As teachers we all bring something different to the classroom and that’s a great thing. We work with children who are all very different, so they need different things from us. While this does mean that you may not personally connect with every single student that you work with, it also means that there is a great chance some children will be deeply impacted by who you are as…

Who am I? I’ve been asking myself that A LOT lately. In other phases of life I’ve had a ready answer to that question. Usually it had a lot to do with my job at the time – I was a preschool teacher, a coach, someone who offered support to other educators, a curriculum developer, an entrepreneur. With each job change I’ve felt the pull to make sure my position or the organization that I work for doesn’t define who I am as a person. The question then becomes, “If I’m not defined by the job, what am I defined by?” Who am I? Honestly, I don’t quite know how…

Motivation is not a constant thing – it comes and goes, and usually not when we want it to! I often find myself lacking the motivation to really dive into a project. When this happens, the most helpful thing is to ask myself why. Why am I resisting whatever needs to be done? At the beginning of the school year my answer is almost always that I’m burnt out from the summer! Summer is the time where I give myself to my family fully, so I often need a little “me time” once everyone is back into a more normal school mode. I’ve learned not to fight this, I give…