Five for Friday :: Spring Break Get-Away

Whether you're finishing up spring break or just beginning, here are some of my favorite things to make spring break a little more fun.

1 :: We love the Hotel Tonight app for last minute bookings. Hotel Tonight is just what it sounds like, bookings for tonight (some allow for booking multiple nights, but the first night has to be tonight), and with pretty good discounts. We love the ability to skip town on a whim with the perk of being able to choose what hotel you'll get. No mysteries, just last minute deals. Bonus: use code DHARTWELL and save $25 off your first night booking. Deal + discount = win!

2 :: Pharrell Williams' song Happy. Seems perfect for a spring break soundtrack. Or making the 5:00 hour seem not so bad. Either way.

3 :: Our Best Bites' Terriyaki Chicken Salad Sandwiches. A friend made these for a baby shower we recently co-hosted and they were so good! The fruit makes it feel fresh and springy.

4 :: These He is Risen printables from Jones Design Company. There is a ton included in the download and they are beautiful. A great addition to spring and Easter decorations, beyond the bunnies and chicks.

5 :: Cheerful wallpapers for your phone. These colorful ones from eat, drink, chic are particularly happy. It's tricky to choose your favorite two (I went with stripes and squares, but on second look, those polka dots are pretty tempting!)

Relief Society Birthday Waffle Bar Brunch

Recently, I put together a waffle bar brunch for our Relief Society's birthday party. Waffles are my very favorite food, and it seems I'm not alone in my love for them. The brunch was a ton of fun, really well received, and delicious.

I went with the theme We Will Not Waffle, taken from a quote from from Elder Ballard, "We've got to be so solidly anchored in our testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ that, regardless of what may come next, we will not waffle; we will stand firm in our belief..."

With a little inspiration from Burlap and Denim and Young Living Love I pulled together my ideas. 

I had a good time brainstorming ideas for waffle toppings and giving them fun church-related names. We take waffle toppings seriously at our house, so it was great to introduce some women to some new ideas. As I was refilling various bowls, I loved hearing the women ooohing and ahhhing over the offerings. I promised "all the trimmings," and I think it delivered! (Well, other than the couple I forgot at home. Darn.)

The women couldn't get enough of the waffles. The speakers, top picture, were awesome and it was an all around great morning.

I'm excited to share the printables with you! Click here to download all the signs.

Free Christmas Music

If there is anything I like more than Christmas music, it's new, free Christmas music.

Crate & Barrel offers free Christmas music right now as part of their Get the Download. Hurry on over and get some new tunes (and some fun apps).

It's just what this Monday needs.

Visiting Teaching Handout: September 2013

This month's Visiting Teaching message is on being self-reliant, a subject we feel passionately about. This is one of our favorite sayings on the subject and we added the 5 principles talked about in the message to the bottom.




This download is formatted with 2 handouts on a sheet. Download here to share with your sisters.

Five Friday Finds :: Awesome Money Saving Apps

1. Gas Buddy— It's helpful to look up where the cheapest gas is close to you (especially nice when traveling), but we've found the price hike alerts even more helpful in saving money. We can fill up before the prices spike.

2. Cartwheel by Target— This app allows you to select mobile coupons, stack them with paper coupons and save on what you buy at Target (it even shows you coupons specifically to use with things that are already on sale!).

3. Craft Store Apps— Jo-Ann, Michael's and Hobby Lobby apps allow you to access you coupons while you're standing in line. No more getting to the store and realizing you forgot your flier or coupons. 40% off, at your fingertips. And you can use coupons at competitor stores. (Note that the Michael's app requires you to register first.)

4. Shopkick— Shopkick rewards you with points for walking into different stores, and the points can be redeemed for gift cards. Additional points can be earned for scanning barcodes of specific items in store. That part is like a scavenger hunt for adults!

5. Redlaser— This app will tell you the best price on an item (either online or in a brick and mortar store) when you scan a product bar code, and can give you heads up on available coupons.

Halloween iPhone Wallpapers

How about a little Halloween decorating for your phone?

 Boo!

 Witch

Simply download the one you want, save the image you want to your camera roll, and select it as your phone wallpaper through your settings.

Happy Halloween!

Spring Flags

These spring flags are hanging in my kitchen window above the sink and they've been adding a little sunshine on rainy days! The paper is Crystal Wilkerson's Spring/Summer 2011 Collection.

You can make your own by downloading them. To assemble, print, cut and fold the top edge down and hot glue onto a piece of twine. So simple and such happy colors.


Download spring flags.

Notes from the Babysitter

There's baby on the brain around here. Today is Deidra's due date, but she's pretty sure she's not having a baby today. Maybe tomorrow.

I made these little cards up last fall, when a friend and I shared babysitting responsibilities of a little girl whose parents were both trying to finish up school and graduate. By marking the card throughout the day, it made it easier to pass along info and not forget to tell the mom something important. They would be great whenever you leave your baby with a sitter. Download the blue or pink version and print off as you need, or order up a whole notepad if you'd like.

Week at a Glance

One of my New Year's resolution is to plan better. To take control. To be proactive and not reactive.

In order to be proactive at home I know that I'll need to have a plan. I usually do pretty well at flying by the seat of my pants, but have recently realized that there might be a better way for me. So I'm going to give planning a chance. I made up this simple chart to help me. There is so much packed into this bad boy that I'm actually giddy over it! I've taken some ideas I know will work and some I think may work for me and combined them on one sheet of paper to hang on my fridge. The idea is that Sunday mornings I'll print a new one and start plotting out my week.

Week at a Glance

There's a box for every day of the week, duh. And a box for notes. Right now it is being used as my shopping list. Then there's a spot for me to plan a menu in advance. I've never been a meal planner and I know even trying to plan a week at a time is setting myself up for failure, so as long as I have the next day filled out before I go to bed it will be doing its job. By having a dinner plan before 3 pm will put me in control of that situation.

The next line is for housework. This is my take on the FlyLady system. Everyday I'll pick an area to spend 10 minutes working on and eventually my house will be immaculate (ha!). Even if it isn't immaculate it will be better than it was before. Its all about the baby steps!

The dots at the bottom are to keep me accountable to myself. The top 2 are for exercise. Each dot represents a half hour, The next line of 5 is for my servings of fruits and vegetables and the bottom 8 are for glasses of water. I'll put a check mark in the bubble to keep track. Hopefully there are no empty bubbles at the end of the day.

So there it is, my effort to plan ahead while still allowing the flexibility I know I need. Feel free to download your own weekly planner and join me in being proactive in 2011!