Why hello, November!

Is it really November already?? This year is slipping away so quickly. I hope things slow down a little bit though because November and December with their cool weather, holidays, and the abundance of delicious food that goes with said holidays make me really happy. I don't want it to slip through my fingers before I have a chance to thoroughly enjoy it. 

Today I wanted to put up some more fall/Thanksgiving decorations and I made these printables to frame. They aren't particularly festive so I can leave them up all year. Also, I couldn't decide which quote I preferred so I just made them all. :) Which one is your favorite?

(Click image to enlarge and then right click to save and print)

What are you doing to get in the Thanksgiving spirit? I have been nesting something fierce lately, so I plan on decorating my house, drinking lots of apple cider, and baking goodies in the next few days... All while wearing my favorite comfy, warm clothes since it has been pretty chilly here and I am hoping to avoid turning on the heat for as long as possible. In other words, I will be living in sweatpants, fuzzy socks, and my oh-so-cozy Hello sweater for the next 6 months.

I think I'm okay with that.

"You will always look lovely"

Have you ever known someone that just always seems to look happy? Or seen someone at the store that has a glowing expression on their face? 

When I think of happy-looking people, I think of those I know that consistently have good, happy thoughts. They are the kind of people that have trained themselves to banish negative, judgmental, or otherwise bad thoughts from their minds. And it shows. You can tell they are happy inside. That's the kind of person I want to be

I think Roald Dahl summed it up pretty well in this quote, which has been my favorite for a long time.

"If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of

your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."

-Roald Dahl

I wanted this to be in my house as a reminder, so I made a little printable to frame. I'm not a pro, but it is fun to play around especially when I actually make something that I like enough to display! 

If you want to use it, feel free to download by left-clicking the image to enlarge and right-clicking to save. 

I also made these versions, and even though I don't like them as much I thought I'd include them too in case someone else does. :) Which of the three is your favorite?

Printable Scripture Mastery Cards/Bookmarks

Seminary is getting closer and closer! I've been busy preparing lessons, getting materials together, and (to be honest) kind of dreading getting up early. I think I've been a little spoiled this summer!

Grumpy Cat always understands me.

This year, along with the new curriculum, eight of the twenty-five Book of Mormon Scripture Mastery scriptures are different. Unfortunately this means that a lot of the materials are still in the process of being updated, and a lot of the free printables and things I've been using from other seminary teachers are no longer current. Bummer! So... I made a couple of my own. I figured I would post them here just in case there are any other seminary teachers looking for something like this. Feel free to print or edit them any way you like! 

I made this one to be the same size as the new Scripture Mastery cards. Last year some of my students (and myself, to tell the truth...) had a hard time keeping track of their cards, so this year I put them on rings and added this list to the ring. I figure it is a good way for them to have everything in one place so it's easy to pull out and hopefully won't get misplaced as easily. 

(Left click to enlarge, right click to save and print)

To get the card the right size, I printed them as wallet sized pictures (on white cardstock). The tricky part is cutting them the right length because the new cards are kind of long. I messed up a couple of sheets, so... good luck! :)

Also, because of the way the new SM cards were printed, the only way to punch holes in the cards without losing text is to do it in one of the bottom corners. Keep that in mind if you plan on putting them on rings!

The finished product!

I also made a 4x6 version for my students to use as bookmarks, especially since we don't have the new ones put out by the church yet. (Plus these are cuter... which is very important, am I right? :P)

(Left click to enlarge, right click to save and print)

I plan on printing this on the back so they have a place to keep track of the scriptures they passed off besides the poster at the front of the class. This is partially because we had a couple problems with people putting stickers in the wrong places... sometimes accidentally, sometimes not. ;) 

Last one... I have had this quote hanging on the wall in front of the classroom and decided to make one that was a little more eye-catching (but still simple). 

The colors are a little dark in the download because my printer tends to print things lighter than they should be, so feel free to tweak the colors if it doesn't print quite the way you want. 

Here's how it looks in real life. See what I mean?

Well, there you have it! Let me know if you have any questions! Also, I plan on making (and posting) more seminary printables so if you have suggestions or ideas feel free to shoot me a comment or email. 

Warm weather, good books, and daffodils

I've been having some serious beach withdrawal lately. 

I used to go camp on the coast near San Diego every year (at least) with my family and I haven't been back for a few years. I miss it. It also doesn't help that it seems like everyone I know and their dog is at the beach right now for Spring Break and they like to rub it in with pictures of golden sunsets, foamy waves, and sandy toes. Ya'll are killing me.

Thankfully, the weather here has pretty much been perfection all week and that helps a lot. It actually feels like Spring! When we got 6 inches of snow last weekend I seriously wondered if it would ever get warm again, and the very next day it was 25 degrees warmer, the sun was shining, and my warmth-loving heart was happy. Very happy indeed.

Besides thoroughly enjoying the fact that I get to sleep in and will only be wearing Sunday clothes on Sundays  for the next couple weeks (seminary teacher problems...), here's what I've been doing to celebrate Spring Break:

1. Reading, particularly outside in this glorious weather. I even found some green grass! 

2. Tree gazing (also known as embracing my inner hippie). You can't see them in this picture, but this tree is sprinkled with new little green leaves. Makes me happy. :)

3. Bike riding on the cute beach cruiser Dallin gave me for my birthday last year. I would prefer to be riding in on the boardwalk, but you know... a quick trip to pick up some "essentials" is a close second. :)

Nothing says Spring quite like some cheery daffodils. Don't you agree? :) Spring flowers are my favorite. 

4. Playing with my new camera and trying out different ways to edit my pictures

This doesn't exactly show off my mad camera skillz (that was sarcasm) but we're cute and I had to include it. ;)

5. Gettin' my crafty on (or at least attempting to do so)

Making an insert for my purse so I can use it as a camera bag... so far so good! I've also been experimenting with different ways to make bows/headbands but I don't have a picture of that. 

I have a secret dream of becoming a graphic designer... I need lots of practice. ;) Oh, and some rather expensive software that I will probably never have... :P I'm not a huge fan of how these two turned out, but it is still fun to play around and I did print off the first one to frame.

6. A whole lot of wearing sweats and doing nothing. 

And boy, does it feel good.