Let Your Light Shine
Who do your good works glorify – God or man? “Let your light shine” is a familiar quote that got me thinking. I am always asking my students to give evidence of their answers. In reading, I want them to go back to the text and give me evidence for their thinking. When they are answering a critical thinking question, I want evidence to see from where their thinking stems. I want to be able to follow their line of thinking, whether or not I agree with their answers. This got me thinking more about my own life. Does my life give evidence of my faith in God alone? Can people follow my path of thinking when they look at how I come up with solutions to life’s problems? Do they know that I live for an audience of One and pray to God for wisdom in the big and small things of my life? I’ve had people ask me questions about how I can be so peaceful in the midst of a life storm or detours. Honestly, it’s not about me. I rest in the knowledge that God alone holds the universe together. I can have peace and joy…
Thrifty Mama
Would you rather buy one brand name clothing item or several “gently used” clothes at a thrift shop? I’m a thrifty mama! I don’t see myself as a fashion influencer nor do I feel very influenced by having to keep up with all the trends. Instead, I like to save money to spend on travel or to give away to help others. Money was pretty tight growing up so we were not accustomed to splurges on the latest trends. Our needs were met and some of our wants, too. I started thrift shopping when I was outfitting my first place as a newlywed. I STILL have my $2 ironing board, which I spray-painted silver. I discovered thrift shopping at the Kids Exchange Sale twice a year for kids clothes and toys when my girls were little. I saved SO much money by consigning items and buying “gently used” items in their current sizes. (Ok, I’ll admit. I did buy kids winter jackets a size or two larger to get extra wear out of it!) I also discovered local consignment shops and the Goodwill. I am not surprised when I get compliments on articles of clothing, including the $18 Banana Republic…
Weekly Meal Planning
Is weekly meal planning too complicated or the lazy way out? Recently, a friend told me that she was too lazy to do weekly meal planning. I told her that I did weekly meal planning WHEN I was too busy or too lazy to think up new foods. For me, it’s a quick way to get 5-6 meals planned out with recipes and a grocery list. I have a few favorite go-to sites that I use and even one that’s vegetarian. On the weekend, I print out a weekly meal plan that includes recipe links and a grocery list (such as this one here). I open my calendar and match up meals to our schedule for the week, crossing out or replacing any that don’t fit our week or our taste buds. I then modify the grocery list to eliminate any items for recipes I’m not using. Lastly, I cross-check the grocery list with my fridge and pantry marking off any items I already have on hand. All that should take less than 15 minutes depending on how many rabbit trails I took when skimming the recipe links or reorganizing my pantry. My kitchen wall holds a menu board that…
Current Favorites
A few of my current favorites… Charcuterie Raleigh Cheesy visit the shop in Raleigh, NC Platters and Boards read the book Build your own Charcuterie Board My free tutorial will help you design your own delicious charcuterie boards! Design Tool Canva the free plan is great for beginners Wedding Planning The Knot good for planning and keeping track of budget all in one spot (especially when your child asks you to plan her wedding in 5 months) Farm to Table Restaurant Mrizi i Zanave the best meal in the world and a beautiful vacation spot Weekly Menu Planning Beachbody Blog easy meal prep for a week for one person Pinch of Yum January plant powered weekly meal plan/recipes/grocery lists Mashup Mom Aldi meal plans – 6 dinners for 4 for $60 Home Repairs Big Monkey Renovations local to Wake County, NC Entrepreneurial Education Louise Henry especially her YouTube videos LLC University super helpful steps to starting an LLC Sam Vander Wielen legal templates and training friends – got brave and asked a few friends for coffee dates to pick their brains about starting a business Organizational Tool Asana get rid of all your sticky notes (I’m an Asana Ambassador. I LOVE ASANA!…
Education Resources
Education Resources Students, Parents, Tutors, and Teachers: This page is full of helpful links and is a work in progress. Let me know if you find any “broken links” or have some favorite tutoring resources you can share with me. Tutors: https://www.tailorjoy.com/collecting-useful-tutoring-resources/ Math math by grade level/subject lists of math vocab to know Math drills worksheets algebra balance pan – numbers algebra balance scales – shapes Division games Math minute (online or printable) Math word problem worksheets virtual library of manipulatives multiplication.com Strategies to Master Multiplication math resources and videos WCPSS – elementary, middle and high school tips for memorizing multiplication facts Reading/Listening language arts by grade level/subject language arts help from skillwise benefits of sustained silent reading audio stories – storynory audio stories – babbooks audio stories – light up your brain author Shel Silverstein author Mem Fox vocabulary 411 for adults Reading 411 for adults starfall poetry 4 kids 10 Reading Questions to ask a child New York Times articles and questions One page nonfiction articles One page fiction articles Question Stems for higher level comprehension – printable, works with most fiction stories, great for asking good questions but not having read the book! Analogies 10 Analogy…