Stock Your Cellars! - MUST READ!

I came across this post on Kelle Hampton's Instagram feed yesterday (Enjoying the Small Things blog) and it touched me. I had to share it here because I know that you'll love her caption, too. It reminded me of why I take so many pictures and feel the need to document my life a lot. I love her comparison of Instagram to "cellars" of the good, happy, peaceful moments that we stash away. 

I love Kelle Hampton. Make sure you check out her blog - it's marked as one of our favorites!

Enjoying the Small Things Instagram caption:

One for the parenting canned good cellar--jars of good, happy, peaceful moments that we stash away to pull out during the droughts and harsh winters of life. Our IG feeds are full of them--summer sleepovers, family hugs, cartwheel silhouettes against beach sunsets, babies sleeping on chests, bedtime stories and smiles for days. Every moment of every day hardly looks like this. But maybe we accept that these little feeds are our cellars, and it feels good to stockpile the best stuff when it comes. To hold us over during the messy and hard and confusing. For all the jars I've robbed during the hard times (I took one today!)...I restocked one tonight. Stock your cellars.

ALL TEACHERS MUST READ! {For a good laugh!}

Calling ALL teachers!!! One of our favorite blogs, Love, Teach, published a brand new post and YOU HAVE TO READ IT! 

I've blogged about Love, Teach before... click here to get some background information! 

Love, Teach has blogged about 10 Teaching Inventions I Wish Existed. I was absolutely hysterical reading it. PLEASE click over and read the entire post. I promise that you'll have a good laugh! 

Here are a few of my favorite inventions that she mentioned:

2) Silent Spray: "I’ve seen cute versions of this on Pinterest for pre-school age kiddos, but mine would be very serious. Sort of like Febreze except instead of working with smells it will work with sounds. A quick spray across the room and a hush just falls over everyone. Ahhhh."

4) A life-sized hamster wheel. "For that one angel we all have."

7) Food-multiplying wand. "If I’m starving during class and take out a granola bar during class, everyone wants one. It would be nice to turn one into 35 with a simple wave of my wand. Also, I could easily promise my classes cookies or mini quiches or whatever I felt like because I would only have to make one instead of a hundred and twenty.  

The wand would also come in handy when your coworker brings amazing leftovers from last night’s dinner at that new steakhouse in town and you accidentally packed yourself a bell pepper because you thought it was an apple in your early morning lunch-packing stupor."

8) A zipline that goes from my room to my parking space. "Because why not?"

7 Months of Blogging!

Yesterday I took some time to read through our old blog posts. It happened spontaneously. I was re-reading a recent blog post and clicked on the "You Might Also Like" feature beneath the post. Suddenly, I was on this crazy adventure through our blog... reading random posts published over the past seven months. Seven months!! Next week will mark seven months of blogging every day. 

Each post was so much fun to read! My favorites were our "High Five for Friday" posts because they captured raw emotions, feelings, and thoughts on where we were in that month. I read one post that mentioned 2 or 3 snow days that week. Oh my gosh... how quickly we forget those little details of our lives. This blogging journey has been amazing. It's been quite the challenge, though! At first, I made blogging a part of my nightly routine. I blogged every single night. Towards the end of the school year, and still with a hectic summer schedule, it's been much harder to stick to that schedule. Nonetheless, it's fascinating to me that we've kept up with blogging every single day. I can't wait to do this reflection again in a few months!

iPads in the Classroom!

I follow Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits blog on Bloglovin', and although I'm not a primary grade teacher, I'm intrigued by many of her posts and find that I can modify them for the upper grades. She's a rock star teacher and I wish that she taught in my district so that I could peek into her classroom and learn from her! Yesterday, she blogged about using iPad's effectively in the classroom. These tips would be great for ANY classroom that has access to iPads and that's why I'm sharing her tips here! 

1. Begin with iPad basics: Set clear expectations (6 rules to follow) and earn your iPad Citizenship! How adorable is the license below?! :-) Again, I can see these lessons being important in any classroom, for any age. Yes, some kids know how to operate an iPhone or iPad at the age of 2, but there are definitely routines that you want your students to follow to ensure success. 

2. Using Movie Maker to take ownership and highlight student learning. I love how quick and easy these videos are on the iPad! No fiddling with cameras and plugging wires back into the computer. Use the iPad! I love the director's sheet for planning and the project requirements checklist! 

Click on over to Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits blog and check out her full post on Effectively Teaching withiPads.  She shares a great video detailing the use of iPads in the classroom and she also has a link to her Teachers Pay Teachers page so that you can buy her bundle of lessons. 

I don't have iPads in my classroom for every student (one day, hopefully!), but I did apply for a grant a few years ago with my humanities colleagues to pilot one for teacher data. We use the Confer App to track data in reading and writing conferences. The app allows you to input student reading levels and group students based on levels or other teaching points. I really love Confer and I'll blog more about it this week. If you haven't checked it out yet, click here to learn more. 

Tonight we're linking up with the Show Licious Craft & Recipe party! Click on over for more awesome stuff!

Favorite Blog: "Love, Teach"

Every so often, I check the "Love, Teach" blog and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh... and then laugh some more. The other night, my husband turned to me on the couch and said, "What's so funny? What are you laughing at?" and I could barely get the words out of my mouth because I just kept laughing! "Love, Teach" is a blog that I was introduced to last year. The blog is written anonymously by a middle school teacher who teaches in a low-income/big city area. For the most part, she blogs a lot about her teaching experiences and describes these experiences in detail. She says the things all teachers seem to think and really want to say, but can't... and that's really why I love it! 

I blogged about "Love, Teach" around Valentine's Day because she described Valentine's Day in Middle School unbelievably well.  I remember saying then that I wanted to add her to our "Blogs We Love" list... but never did! Well, tonight I'm declaring that "Love, Teach" has finally made it to that list! Even if you're not a teacher, you should check her blog out. If you are a teacher... what are you waiting for? 

Her latest post is about thoughts and reflections on the end of the year. It's really funny and I totally agree with her #7 - must read books! 

If you're a teacher, be sure to check out "7 Signs it's the End of the Year" - amazing! 

Organized Freak: Using a Blog Planner! [Free Printables]

One of the traits that I love about myself is that I'm organized. Yup, I'm tooting my own horn and fully admitting that I'm an organized freak... and it's a pretty fabulous trait to have. I sometimes become freaked out when I notice how disorganized people are. I give them credit for knowing where everything is and for always having their hands on whatever they need, despite everything being allllllll over the place. It boggles my mind with how they have that control. I try to teach my students organization skills and for the most part, they all grasp it. It's probably because of the routines and procedures that I constantly use - these routines demand organization. Yes, their lockers are an absolute mess, but their books and materials are, for the most part, always in order. I think it's a necessary life skill for all students to learn and have before heading to high school.

When I started this blogging journey in January, I kept a running list of blog topics and other organizational stuff on my iPhone. This was because I predominately blogged on my phone using the Blogger App. That worked for a little while, until I felt like I was limited with making things fun, organized, and fancy. 

Since switching over to the computer, I've found that I really needed a Blog Planner to keep track of my days and weeks of blogging. We participate in many link parties and it became really hard to decide when I would write about particular stuff. I also felt that it would help with writer's block - as we blog every night, and sometimes it's hard to find a great topic to blog about. I was craving more organization - a place to keep ideas, map out days and weeks, look at a calendar to anticipate holidays, etc. I also wanted a place to store information about the blog: monthly statistics, monthly blog goals, advertising, reviews, giveaways, etc. (Some of these things are lined up for the summer!)

I researched many blog planners through my favorite blogs and landed on a few that really fit me. There are so many amazing planners out there that fabulous bloggers have made. Planners are a "hard fit" for me though. It has to be just right. Sometimes I don't like a lot of clutter on one page- I like having space to jot ideas down. I also like calendars that are big enough for me to write stuff inside, instead of cramming it into a small space. As I searched, I found many pieces of planners that I really liked. And so, that's what I ended up doing! I decided to take pieces of planners and make my own... one that really fit me. 

I decided to use planner pages from the blog AndCute. Find the printable here! I really liked the fun layout and design of this weekly sheet. It allows me to take notes and also plan out my week.

I really liked the Monthly Statistics page from 733 Blog. You can find the free printable here! 

Most of my pages came from the Everyday Enchanting blog. I really fell in love with the fun confetti dots, spacing, and design of the overall planner. Click here for this amazing free printable!

I've been a follower of Emily Ley's for months now and I'm super obsessed with her Simplified Planner. Her planner has sold out many times this year and she just released a September 2014 date for her 2015 planner. I can't wait to get my hands on it! I'll blog more about this later!

Do you use a blog planner? Fill me in on what works best for you! 

We are linking up with ShowLicious Craft & Recipe Party and Sunday Soiree Link Party. Click on over for more awesome stuff! 

Blog Crush: Glisten Fit!

I had so many ideas as I sat down to write my blog post tonight.  I had one of those days today and I really felt like sharing some of the experiences with you...some funny stuff, some crazy stuff, and an email tonight that involved the sentence: "he'll bring an extra plastic bag in case he throws up on the bus tomorrow." Wait, what?! Really?! Ewww! So... I decided against writing about my crazy day at school and decided to write about my motivation to exercise instead!

I've been crushin' on Glisten Fit for quite a while now. Jessica is a true inspiration and she's really motivated me to get back to a great fitness routine. Jessica's blog posts are amazing for so many reasons. They're focused on fitness, but in a very fun and real way. I feel like she's a good friend filling me in on the best strategies or recipes to try. She also writes about aspects of her life (her wedding!) and life in general. 

Every month Jessica posts a calendar of health and fitness recommendations for each day. She emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balanced and well-rounded lifestyle... and working at this every day. It's about our attitude, how we look and feel, how we treat others, what we do in our spare time... all of this impacts our fitness journey! I really love the challenges on this calendar and will be using it! Will you?

She often posts awesome workouts! I LOVE THIS ONE! 

What am I crushin' on the most? Her 3 B's... Be Fierce. Be Fabulous. Be Fit. 

Be Fierce: It's being passionate. Being alive. Giving your all. Being present in every moment. Making your presence known.  

Be Fabulous: Fabulous is defined as extraordinary. I see this "be" as more of an outward appearance. I know that it's what's on the inside that matters most, but I think it's important to take the time to love you outward appearance as well. 

Be Fit: To appreciate being fit and to reach your goals of being fit, you need to be fierce and fabulous, too! Being fit is a constant battle...it's a journey, not a destination. 

If you haven't clicked over to Glisten Fit yet... click over NOW! You'll fall in love with Jessica right away. You'll crush on her wedding photos at first and then you'll be inspired by the many fierce, fabulous and fitness posts she has! I'll be blogging about some of her routines over the next few weeks! 

Tonight we are linking up with Creative-Geekery for the Pin-It Party and Fry Sauce and Grits for the Be.You.Tiful Party! 

I Love Blogging: New Changes on the Blog!

I've spent a lot of time over these past few weeks making changes to our blog.
Here are three quick reflections about my life as a blogger:

1. Amanda and I continue to make changes to our blog. I love how our blog is evolving. Again, the changes we're making are subtle and you may not even notice them, but they're a big deal to us! The one change we made this weekend was cleaning up our labels/categories. This used to be a VERY long list on the right side and then it turned into a "cloud", also known as a blob of words, that were really hard to read and click on. I've been on a mission to delete labels that are "one timers" and narrow down our labels to specifics that define us and the 730 Moments mission! Can you find the new change?

2. We're eager to learn more about the blogging world and are exploring ways to take our blog to the next level. In our eyes, our blog has really evolved into something amazing, especially since the birth of the "let's start a blog" idea came out of a freezing, cold night at Starbucks. We're both really eager, dedicated, and motivated to continue making this blog amazing. We're inspired by Emma and Elsie, over at A Beautiful Mess Blog, and hope to take one of their courses soon.

3. Each week day I find a new blog crush! I absolutely love being a part of the blogging community and I find more and more blogs that I fall in love with each day. I try to use Bloglovin' to keep up with storing all of my favorite blogs so that I can visit them as much as possible. I always have a new blog crush!

Amanda and I love blogging and we love sharing with you! 

New Changes on the Blog! [Part One]

I love being a part of the blogging community. I find more and more blogs to follow each day. I'm inspired by so many bloggers and I'm truly motivated to continue on this crazy journey that all started so quickly on a cold, frigid night at Starbucks a few months ago. I'm dedicated to helping our blog blossom over these next few months... we've already seen such a big leap since January! Each month our blog grows more and more and it's really, really exciting!

When Amanda and I met last week, we discussed many changes that we're eager to make on 730 Moments to Share within the next few months. We're heading back to school tomorrow after an amazing spring break, and we'll be whisked back into crazy state testing mode, which eats up a lot of our energy. However, the month of May will carry us to the light at the end of the tunnel, with much more energy to invest in new changes here.

One of the changes that we both discussed making was joining more link parties! As you know, we take part in a few link parties each week and we want to join more! Joining these parties each week helps us connect with and meet new bloggers. The ideas, recipes, crafts, and thoughts shared by other bloggers are fabulous and a lot of fun to read! I've found many new link parties to join and I added a page to our blog to showcase them! Check it out here! We'll continue to add more blogs to this list - check back often!

I'm really excited for these next few months! Be on the lookout for many more changes happening here soon! 

All Things Green: Celebrate St. Patrick's Day Tomorrow!

My post tonight is completely inspired by The Glitter Guide, a fabulous fashion, beauty, and lifestyle blog. They have so many great posts and I love reading their blog. I'm most fascinated by their "Five Things to Try This Weekend" series. 

The "five things to try" for this weekend was centered around St. Patrick's Day. 

Being that St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow, why not try some of these...

If you happen to try any of them, let Glitter Guide know! Share using the hashtag #GG5things and tag @glitterguide on Twitter and Instagram. And don't forget to share with us, too! 

[ONE]

This weekend is all about celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. That means dressing in head-to-toe green! Get as creative as your heart desires.

[TWO]

Update your couch with bright, bold pillows for spring!

[THREE]

Add a little green food coloring to all of your baking and cooking endeavors this weekend.

[FOUR]

Brighten a friend’s day by picking up a beautiful bouquet of flowers for her!

[FIVE]

Invite friends over to celebrate your Irish heritage (or celebrate pretending to be Irish!) with some cute koozies and cold ones.

Amanda and I are taking part in the "Be.YOU.tiful Lifestyle Link Party" this week. Click over to Fry Sauce and Grits to read more!

Find us on Bloglovin'!

Follow our blog with Bloglovin

Bloglovin' is a "blog following website" and it's awesome for these reasons:

1. It allows us to follow all of our favorite blogs in one place!

2. It rounds up all of our favorite blogs and logs their fresh posts in sequential order like a Facebook feed. It's much easier to keep up with all these favorites by visiting one website instead of bookmarking each one.

3. You can heart the posts you like. :-)

4. If you really like a blog, it gives you suggestions for following similar ones.

5. The design of the website is clean and simple.

6. They have an iPhone app, too! 

5 Words, 5 Thoughts, 5 Posts, 5 Things

Amanda and I participate in three link parties each week. Through this experience, I've really enjoyed exploring other blogs that participate alongside us. The idea that the blogging world is HUGE becomes more and more apparent as I find and read more blogs; there are so many amazing people out there with unbelievable talents and stories to share.

I stumbled upon This Life That I Love blog through Lauren Elizabeth's High Five for Friday link party and I admired the way that she wrote about her week. I look forward to reflecting on the personal highlights of my week each Friday, but I'm inspired to try out the structure that she uses for her Friday post tonight.

5 Words: Feeling accomplished with my students. My students are presenting their Future City projects in front of a judging panel this week (administrators and upper grade teachers). They've worked on these projects for the past few months and the sense of pride and accomplishment is contagious in my classroom. We have an exciting yet stressful week ahead!


5 Thoughts: 
#Spring forward problems = waking up this morning was really hard!
#I hope the big storm coming this week isn't snow.
#How is it March already? Countdown is on for June! Bring it on!!
#Feeling overwhelmed with the NYS test coming in 2 1/2 weeks.
#The Bachelor was gross tonight.


5 {Flashback} Posts I wrote:
*Almost 1 week of blogging! I still completely agree with all nine things I said in week one.
*Lucky seven the whole way home. It's insane how cold this winter has been. The little spurts of "warm" days have been great. I'm so looking forward to spring and summer weather.
*High Five for Friday: The Science of Happiness. Favorite video and favorite experience with my students so far this year.
*Photo DIY Craft: Wooden Polaroid Gift Set. I love these! I found a new craft to try out with them. More details to come soon.
*Check out the Cartwheel App for Target. I didn't make my routine weekend visit, but I did find some great deals on the app. Check it out, if you haven't already!


5 Posts I Read:
-One Little Word from the blog: Dream Big Little One. I fell in love with this blog. The owner of the blog, Leslie, has a one year old daughter, Lilah, who was born with dwarfism. She's SO beautiful. Check her out!
-Stop a Cold in its Tracks from the blog: I Think We Could Be Friends. Who knew!? So interesting!
-News! from the blog Tattered to Taylored. I love her DIY stuff, her recipes, and her new loft!
-The Little Things from the blog For The Love of Decorating. I really fell in love with these carpets, the chevron blanket, and adorable bin.
-30 by 30 from the blog We Took the Road Less Traveled. I love her bucket list for 30 by 30. Amazing blog too!


5 Things to Check Out:
*skillshare
*new books from Barnes & Noble
*socrative app
*new Spring outfits at Loft
*blogher

MUST SEE Hair Tutorial Videos!

One of my most favorite blogs is The Small Things Blog. You'll find that we listed it as one of the "blogs we love" on our sidebar to the right. I found this blog about six months ago and have been following ever since. Kate, owner of the The Small Things Blog, writes about hair, fashion, beauty products, crafts, food, and most recently, baby stuff, because she just had a baby! Kate became most well-known for her "how-to" videos on YouTube about various hair styles. She was a hair stylist before entering the blog world full-time. Kate has over 167,000 followers on YouTube and many more followers on her blog. She's amazing!

I love Kate's hair tutorial videos because they're super easy to follow! I've tried a few styles and will be trying more in the near future. Be sure to check out her blog and her YouTube channel for more. They're all so awesome! Here are three of my favorites:

Amanda and I are taking part in the "Be.YOU.tiful Lifestyle Link Party" this week. Click over to Fry Sauce and Grits to read more!

High Five for Friday: My brother-in-law, Kevin, ROCKS!

Amanda and I particpate in the link party, High Five for Friday, from Lauren Elizabeth's blog. Head on over to Lauren Elizabeth for more "High Five for Friday." We're taking part in this fun reflection each week and hopefully you will too!

I am SO happy Friday is finally here. Friday, I really do love you. My favorite parts of this week:

1. Weekend love with family. I started last Saturday off visiting my brother and talking with him about new business opportunities. He has launched two successful businesses in the last two years and he inspires me in more ways than you can imagine. He really rocks. Enough said. We also celebrated my sister's birthday last Saturday night at her house in New Jersey. I live for these days/nights and look forward to them all week. In my eyes, there's nothing like spending time with family and being surrounded by them. I soaked up every second of our family time together. 

2. My one-of-a-kind brother-in-law. He's earning his way to a full-post solely about him. In the meantime, this guy deserves a spot on the "High Five for Friday" list. Inspired by his New Years Eve dance-off, we created a group version of the Harlem Shake on Saturday night in their basement. He's the mastermind behind the whole thing and an expert at editing the film. Here's a snapshot of the clip, which my sister has begged me not to post. We had fun dressing up. Check out my brother-in-law, Kevin, as he dances with a mask and a panda-shaped pillow. He also created a time lapse of our family night. More about that later. HE ROCKS! I'm sure you have 1,000 questions about this picture...

3. Face Time with Rosie on her birthday. Rosie's birthday was Wednesday and although I dedicated a blog post to her, I couldn't wrap up my week without mentioning our fun Face Time chat Wednesday night. It really stinks not having them live closer to us, for so many reasons, but Face Time is the best invention ever to help fix that situation. 

4. A week of "light dinners." I've blogged about balancing the stress of cooking and cleaning every night. I'm not fulfilling my housewife duties very well. Womp-womp. This week we decided to go light on dinners each night and it felt so good. Not a lot of prepping, cooking, or cleaning up. 

5. Being featured on Creative-Geekery and Fry Sauce and Grits. The best part of my week! As you know, Amanda and I take part in link parties each week and we were FEATURED ON BOTH yesterday! My post about #100daysofhappy was featured on Creative-Geekery and Amanda's post about Being Kind was featured on Fry Sauce and Grits. We were both shocked and soooo happy! What an honor! Thank you, Creative-Geekery and Fry Sauce and Grits! 

Design Night!

At the start of the night, we had a laundry list of items to attack for our new business. We decided that these few hours would be best spent on design factors. A night devoted to redesigning our blog! 

For almost 3 hours, we sat side-by-side in  Amanda's kitchen, hands on keyboards, laughing and mumbling under our breath. 

I was in heaven! We were on a mission! One thing led very quickly to the next and we accomplished signing up for our own domain, choosing a new template design, and we even began creating accounts for social media. Oh, the beauty of the internet! I am SO excited to share this with you all very soon!!

Tonight I was reminded of how lucky I am to have such an amazing best friend and now I can call her my business partner, too! It will be hard for me to sleep tonight because my mind is running with ideas!

Checklists galore!

Amanda and I had a business meeting tonight about our future endeavors. We will be blogging about them soon and can't wait to share this with you. More than anything, we're excited to hear feedback from you about everything!

I took 8 pages of notes about possible ideas that we will be implementing. We had such great conversation and the ideas flowed seamlessly from one to the next.  It was comforting to know over and over again that we were on the same page. Although this won't happen all the time, I believe it's important to feel this positive energy in the beginning stages of potential business opportunities.

We ended our night with a checklist for our next meeting. We will each come back to the drawing board with proposals for each other. I love that I'm wearing a new hat and trying something different for 2014 and I'm SO lucky to have my best friend by my side.