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It’s That Time of Year Again!
I’m really about a week late on this one, but even now, colleges and K-12 schools alike are beginning to trickle back into session. As an educator it’s without a doubt my favorite time of year. So much excitement! So much potential! So many OFFICE SUPPLIES!!! I love it. Back to school season is second only to Christmas in my books. And to celebrate not only this, but also my triumphant return to blogging on a relatively regular schedule, we’ll be kicking off the school year with some school themed posts. Most of them will be aimed towards higher education, since that is after all the level I’ve been teaching for…
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Meet Hilde
Blog? Meet Brunhilde. She’s my parent’s new puppy. And she’s awesome. She’s a little bit bold, a little bit clumsy, and all daredevil. Hilde had a rather rough introduction into our lives. Within three hours of bringing her home, she was already adapting well – running around with that excited bliss that only puppies really have. But then she tried to superman dive towards a toy, landed wrong, and immediately started screeeeaaammmmmiiinnnggggg. Turns out clumsy-girly-dog had landed on her elbow and broke the little nub on it. So Brunhilde, in the span of three hours, had her first car ride, met her new family and sister dog, explored her new…
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(Sort of) Triumphant Return
So with my last post, I made the reason for my absence clear – the fact that for a few months there I really felt like my life was out of control, in ways both small and large. A lot of stuff was going on all at once, and in the midst of it all, my anxiety issues simply got the better of me. But now, I feel like I’m getting things better handled, and I’m ready for my return to the blogosphere. Some of those big happenings you’ll hear about in the next couple weeks, some not so much, but for now let’s get the ball rolling with a…
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Take Back What’s Yours!
I’m taking back my CONTROL. An appropriate post for my return to the blogosphere after an almost three month absence, to be sure. Because really, that’s what this absence has been all about. My loss of control. Or at least the feeling that I’ve lost control taking control of me. I just really lost my grip on things the last few months, and honestly, I’m not entirely sure why. Trying to look at it objectively, I don’t think the end of this semester has been any more stressful than usual… There were a few hiccups in the road due to health problems within my family, but quite honestly after the…
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Happy St. Paddy’s Day!
Just popping in to wish you all a Happy St. Paddy’s Day with an offering of some of my favorite Irish folk songs as an apology for having been so absent lately. Things have been crazy, and I’ve been dealing with some personal and family stuff, and blah blah blah, excuses, excuses. So here! Irish Music! First and Foremost, we have The Holy Ground by the Dubliners’ (my favorite Irish folk band, like EVER). And next, another Dubliners’ song – The Rising of the Moon, which is a song that recounts a battle during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.* And I’ll leave you with one with a…
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Three(ish) Ingredient Crock Pot Chicken
We’re switching it up this Monday with a recipe instead of a mani – my nails are in TERRIBLE condition, and I just wasn’t feeling any of the already photographed polishes I’ve got. So instead, today we have another of those lazy day recipes that I’m so fond of. It’s super fast to prep, super flexible depending on what kind of mood you’re in that day, and it seriously couldn’t be easier. Three(ish) Ingredient Crock Pot Chicken Ingredients: 1 jar tomato-based pasta sauce of your choice (I used Vodka Sauce this time) Chicken (Breasts or Tenders both work great, just make sure whatever you get is boneless) Mushrooms Salt, Pepper,…
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What’s Up, Thursday?
Because we’ve had a bunch of pre-scheduled posts in a row, I wanted to do a quick “currently” post yesterday (The title “What’s Up, Wednesday?” just sounds SO MUCH BETTER), but I kiiiinnnndddd of let yesterday get away from me. It all started when I started trying to find the text of the eyewitness testimony by John S. Smith about the Sand Creek Massacre to share with my students. Then before I realized it was happening, I found myself in the middle of a four hour primary document bender. Historian problems. Psh. But anyway, better late than never, I guess. Currently I’m… …working on: some book reviews for on here.…
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Mani Monday: Butter London Aston
Just a super quick Mani Monday here today with Butter London’s Aston. This polish is one of my tried and true favorites, and one of my favorite “professional but still fun” colors ever. I’m lucky that in teaching college I don’t really have to conform to any office standards regarding wild nail color, but occasionally I’ll have a meeting or a gig where, well, blue with multicolored glitter just isn’t appropriate. And when that’s the case (and I actually have my nails done instead of bare), Butter London Aston is usually what I grab first. I will admit the color works a little better on me when it’s not the…
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Magpie’s Adventures in Bullet Journaling
Bullet Journaling has really fascinated me ever since Jenn from With Luck Blog brought it to my attention way back when I posted about planners. The concept seemed to work really well with the system I was currently using for my to-do lists, but there was one big issue with it – the inability to plan ahead by more than a month or so. As a freelance musician, I sometimes book weddings and masses months and even years in advance (funerals, not so much), so the lack of a static monthly calendar in the system was a major flaw for me. But everything else seemed so great… so I decided…
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Mani Monday: Color Club You’re So Vain
Today I have for you a Color Club polish I picked up out of a bin at The Christmas Shoppes called You’re So Vain. I was initially suuuuppppeeerrrr disappointed in this polish, mainly because I did not know at the time I used it that it was part of the Seven Deadly Sins collection, which is all textured polishes. So I judged it all assuming that it was a normal, smooth finish polish. I bought it because I was super excited about the lovely holo sparkle it had in the bottle – I’ve heard very good things about Color Club’s holo polishes, but have never actually seen one in real…