Sweet Momma Time

So, in case the WONDERFUL surprise of my sister, Joe, and cutie baby nephew Brannon wasn't enough, my beautiful MOM surprised me in Alaska :) :)

JOY, JOY, JOY. My heart is so happy when with family.

Over labor day weekend, I was camping with Tony's family at Eklutna Lake, and my mom just strutted out walking by! Took me a second glance until I realized it was my sweet mom!!

Tony was in California over the weekend for a softball tournament, so my Mom and I got to spend some time camping with the Luikens, then spending the rest of the weekend together. We went biking, made salmon, snuggled up and watched movies, and mostly just had good mother daughter time together. 

I also got to show her the house that Tony and I made an offer on and we went furniture shopping which was fun! I miss my Mom. It is hard being away from her. But the sweet joy when I see her is indescribable. Love this incredible woman of God who has such a servant hearted personality and loves to give and give. 

First pic together

Luiken Camping Time.

We hiked independence mine, even in the rain!

Beautiful Alaska Fall.

Enjoying the colors of autumn.

Mom hugs.

Got to show my mom my classroom!! What a wonderful experience. She also helped me grade some papers :)

Love Alaskan Fall colors.

Of course, my mom had to try out my new bike!

We took a trip to the Alaska State Fair! Got to see some giant pumpkins.

We made some cookies and cream ice cream together with my ice cream maker attachment! 

Love my Mom.

We enjoyed our last day by the ocean! :) Love you momma.

Proverbs 31:26-31 "She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many woman do noble things, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceptive , and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

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Fitness Friday: Weeks 34-38

So, in the sake of honesty. I will let you know that working out has NOT been a priority for me. Teaching has been super consuming of my time! Also, Tony and I are working on some budgety things and realizing that our gym, the Alaska Club, may be too expensive. Right now, I would like to work on focusing on working out at the Alaska Club until the end of September and then looking into new gyms.

Hopefully, this will be a boost in my motivation! Will keep you updated on my fitness journey. Pin It

Decoration Station

When I went to visit my sister in Texas this last May, my mom, my sister, and I went to the Home Goods/ TJ Max store. It was pretty fun- I got some great ideas for decorating one day! Decided to take a few pictures and describe some of my ideas.

Loved this mirror! Personally Red is one of my favorite colors. But I like the gold paired with the red here. Anyways, I like the idea of using this mirror to add some color to a bathroom if it were a little bit bigger. But it could also go well in a small room to open up space. I always feel like adding a mirror to a small room makes it seem bigger. 

One thing I also like to do is go into home good stores, get ideas, and remember that you could get some of the same furniture pieces at a garage sale/ flea market and turn it into a beautiful piece with a little paint!

Chevron is one of my favorite patterns right now. I have been using chevron in my classroom because I feel like it is a bright and cheery pattern. Not sure I love the gray and blue combo- but I feel like it could work with a brighter color in the room too - maybe a dark orange or even mustard yellow accent pillow or rug.

Love both of these lamps. If you could get the bottom piece of the lamp at a flea market, you could buy the shades to dress it up. I like that idea for future! :)

Took this picture because I like the shape of this table and the color. I'd like to make this one look a little vintage/ antique though if you found it at a garage sale you could really make it work.

The idea I got from this picture is for a room for a child that we one day adopt. I like the idea of having a picture of a tree, or even a tree painted on the wall. Then, you could put in a family tree with all family member's names and a verse about how we are God's children. I feel like this would be a really intentional way to remind a child they are a part of our family and God's as well.

Also, I would love to paint a canvas similar to this with a different saying.

Okay, I LOVE the idea of finding old maps of places that are important to us- for us it would be Texas and Alaska, framing them with a cute or antique frame, and putting them up in our living room. 

My sister told me that one of her friends did this as well and sewed a heart onto the place that she and her husband met, a diamond where he proposed, and cross where they got married (or something similar). Love that idea!

This was a really huge Texas Flag made out of pieces of wood that I thought would be really neat as a wall hanging or made into a really unique table.

This is a picture from a shop here in Anchorage- but I love ALL the accent pillows. I think I'm a sucker for awesome accent pillows. I love that it's just an old leather brown couch but made unique with all the different color and patterns of the pillows. Also I like the color palette- orange, mustard yellow, brown, light green.

Saving some of my ideas here for future use! (And maybe soon when we get a house) Hope they help you with some new and fresh ideas for your home :)

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Teaching Galore

 I can't wait to start teaching middle school science! My sister helped me work on my classroom which was AMAZING because I got so much done. My colors are purple and lime green. Got some before and after shots of the classroom. It has been a blast to work on my bulletin boards and complete everything before the year gets started.

Take a look! I will be posting more about my year with teaching ideas and strategies as well as what works and what doesn't work as I go along. Here we go!

Before Shot of my Classroom. There was lots of cleaning supplies in the room so it's hard to see what it looks like.

This isn't my classroom, but I liked this picture for ideas.

Also I thought this Chevron set was super cute. Didn't order it for myself, but I liked it a lot.

These were some of the borders I had to work with.

Also not my classroom but loved this picture for an idea! I liked the idea of hanging flags but it didn't really work in my classroom. 

Also loved this flag set idea but didn't end up using it. Just posting so you can get ideas!

Thought this would be AMAZING but no room in my classroom for this. Super cool idea.

Loved these colors.

Loved this idea- you could probably find if you google "Chevron teaching labels". I found this on Pinterest.

Also found this on Pinterest. Looks like a personal bulletin board not for classroom but I liked the fabric and colors.

Also not my classroom but loved the set up.

Very cute idea.

THESE are my fabrics :)

My classroom! Final product bulletin boards.

Before and after shot. Just used laminated wrapping paper in the colors I wanted and mailing tape to tape them on the cupboards that had the icky color.

LOVE that I work at a Christian school and can encourage my students through scripture. Made this one to encourage a student that may be feeling lonely, overwhelmed, etc.

One of my favorite bulletin boards! Science is fun.

Space for school updates and upcoming events.

The doorway to my room!

All the drawers and cupboards got redone :)

Went to town with the label maker and organized all the cupboards in my room and made sure everything was labeled. Just the organizer in me. Gotta know what I have to know what I need! :)

Bought these lights at Target and 3M hooks to put up lights in my classroom.

Hard to see, but I bought a hanging paper star light and some lights to go in the front of my classroom.

Can't wait to start the school year! Hope these ideas were helpful for some teachers out there and will continue to update with ideas and tips.

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