My Tieks Purchase

UPDATED 1/29/2018
So, I took the leap once again and purchased a camel color pair of Tieks size 8. I have searched high and low for how long? Since 2014! The Tieks were the only flat that felt good and didn't make blisters. They hurt my toenails at first, but after wearing them a couple of times, I was finally able to get the stretch they needed to mold to my foot! I just want to let you ladies out there know that they are pretty awesome! I get lot's of compliments on them as well and people have asked about the blue on the bottom of my shoes. I know they are pricey, but I find that they are worth it. No blisters and comfort, I'm good to go! I hope this helps all you ladies out there!

UPDATED POST:
So, I had to send my Tieks back because they just weren't the shoes of my dreams!! I'm sad to say this because I really loved that these shoes came in a thousand colors. My main reason for sending them back was the fact that my toenail poked through and I knew this would make my toes very sore. They were very high quality, but I think a half side would have worked so much better! I hope this helps anyone out there. By the way, I have found a shoe finally, it's Toms Jutti Flats! I have the canvas shoes, but had never tried the Jutti flats and they are absolutely perfect for my toes that are apparently pointing upward.

Wow, it's been a while! I've been super busy with work and everything! It's just so hard to keep up!
So, obviously I'm a teacher and I have been on the hunt for so long for a wonderfully comfortable pair of flats. I think I have tried fifty pairs of flats from all sorts of brands and styles. As a teacher, you all know what it's like to try and find a comfortable pair of dressy flats.

The brands I've tried so far over the past year are Clarks, Frye, Anne Klein, Walking Cradles, Softwalk, Bass, LifeStride, Born, and Ugg. I think I listed them all. Out of all of these brands, each style was returned due to their inability to keep my feet comfortable for more than an hour. The only pair I loved was the Softwalk leather brand because of the sole and they just about tore my foot apart with blisters.

I have continued relentlessly researching shoes and I found Tieks. No one has really complained about these flats and I just had to try them. I studied on deciding whether or not to make the purchase for about two weeks since they are somewhat expensive. I decided to since it's free return shipping. Today when I opened the box, which was super adorable, I was soo excited to see what they were like. I love the style of the shoe, they look super sturdy and they are the best looking flats I have ever owned. The soles are sturdy and comfortable. I slipped one on immediately and found that my toe prints poked out towards the tips of the shoes which I am not a fan of. They were also slightly stiff on the foot bed, which is part of the wearing them in part I hope. I can tell they will last and be sturdy, but I'm not sure they will hold up to the comfort test or if they will just make my toes feel sore. I really wanted to love these shoes. I've uploaded a picture. Pardon my red, swollen feet, it's a teacher life and I'm only 27! Please note that my red feet are not from the Tieks.

So, I contacted Tieks and...

this place has great customer service. They immediately placed an order for a larger size so that I can try both pairs on side by side to see which one I prefer! The return shipping is also free!

If you do decide to purchase a pair, let me know what you think! Have a great day!

So very thankful...

I was out working in our new addition earlier, ya know, just wiring up a few outlets and I realized that I haven't been very thankful lately. I have been very blessed with my little family as well as with everything in my life including my job, my friends, my family, and our ability to live freely. I work myself to death trying to make my products the best they can be to help other teachers make wonderful citizens, but I almost seem to forget about the little things in life like listening to my baby boy count to fifteen or listening to his adorable voice singing through the ABCs.
I have been so concerned this past year that we are only going to be able to have this one child and I want more, maybe a girl with bows and dresses everywhere, but I thought to myself, "God gave us one little souvenir and he has blessed us a thousand times over with this one".
I just want to say that we should all take a break and sit back and enjoy life. I enjoy teaching, but what I truly enjoy is my life and my family. I will admit right now, I'm not meant to teach for the next twenty years so who knows where I'll be in five or ten years. God bless!

Confession: I love summer time!

As I sit here designing my first set of unique chalkboard frames I realize it's time for a blog post. I'm thinking about how much I really enjoy summer time! I'm able to do absolutely any thing I want including spending wonderful playtime hours with my toddler and design a variety of items for my TpT store! This summer we have also been working on our addition to our house which is finally almost finished. We are laying tile and painting and hanging our lights that I purchased over a year ago! This has been a slow process, but we are handy people and we just can't stand to pay someone else to do it for us! Okay, I'll admit we hired a company to hang our sheet rock, but that's it! Mainly, because skinny me wasn't able to help the hubby at all. Well, here it is! My chalkboard frames that I learned how to create! I'm so excited when I'm able to get crafty and make it look good! In fact, I'm so excited this time that they are FREE for a limited time when you become a new follower on either my blog or Like my Facebook page! The links are also listed below. Once you become one of my followers or like my Facebook page, just email me at barnettcasey1@gmail.com with your Name/Blog/Facebook name and I will email you the Chalkboard frames CU file for FREE! Feel free to leave comments on this post!!

My blog
My FB page

It's confesstion time: I'm a blog designer!!!

So, it's official. I have completely taught myself how to design blogs and I'm super excited about this! It all started when I was determined to make my blog look great all by myself. It's been a bumpy past couple of weeks learning on the ropes to blog design (which is not easy, until now), but I have finally mastered it. I've completely redesigned my blog. Total time to do this was about six hours, not at once of course. The only things I have left to do are add my post divider and move around my ad spaces.

I'm super excited to show off my blog!! I hope you enjoy! Please be on the look out for my designs blog "Denim and Blogs! It's in the making and I will be taking design orders very soon!

THIS BLOG IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Please excuse my small mess. I'm in the process of redesigning my blog!!

My Confessions of my Summer Break Rituals

When summertime comes, most of us are dreaming of a vacation far away. My summer starts with the same ritual each year. I usually want to go to some exotic location, but I never end up going anywhere because I make up excuses each year. For example, two years ago it was because of a family situation. Last year, it was because I had a one year old and this year it's due to me not wanting to fork over the money. I'm thinking if I don't go somewhere the next summer, I'm going to regret it. The motto, "live a little" would do me justice.

During my summer break, I usually get crafty when I have a chance if I'm not trying to plan an invisible dream vacation. I also spend my days playing with cars and trucks in the dirt  with my wonderful baby boy.

So far this summer, I have managed to get my horrible looking deck stained, almost. I got bored with it just a little and didn't finish, especially after I was given the wrong color stain on my third gallon from our local hardware. I have also started some new products for my TpT store and I've even got the help of my wonderful husband once again. He's such a darling. I've also managed to update my blog and it just amazes me how much more organized it is.

This summer is my time to build my store, work on my blogging, relax during nap time, spend wonderful mommy time with my sweet baby boy, and read a good book.

Summer Bucket List

I'm linking up with Mrs. Deanna Jump from TpT to create a summer bucket list. This list contains ten things that I want to do this summer!

#1: I want to spend as much time as possible with my hubby and my little man. I was definitely ready and super excited to spend every waking minute with my boys!

#2: I would really love to go to Hawaii, but since the flight is too long for my baby boy, Mexico will do just fine, it's beautiful and it's only a 2 hour flight.

#3: Goodness grief, I want to get pregnant with a baby girl. We've been ready for some time now since our baby is now 2 1/2, the good Lord just hasn't given us the go ahead yet. I want to decorate her room, too!!

#4: I want to finish our new addition to our house and decorate it and prep for a baby, but all of that is on hold for the time being.

#5: I want to lay by the pool, play with baby and relax. This would just be wonderful.

#6: I want to shop a whole lot for just about anything including clothes and house decor!

#7: I want to get crafty and create a lot of new products for my store. I also would like to find time to recreate some of my cover pages for my current products.


#8: I would also like to spend time with both of my sisters. This is especially hard during the school year.


#9: I would like to find time to make new friends and spend time with my current friends and family. I think I spend so much time with my family that I forget to meet new people.


#10: I want to make my back deck an extended dining room and make it an inviting oasis for my little family and guests.

I wasn't able to finish uploading the rest of my pictures, but these are my ten to do's for my summer bucket list!

Confession: Excitement about the Upcoming School Year

So, my next confession is that I am getting very excited about the upcoming school year because of all the organizing I've been able to get accomplished. My classroom looks great. At first, I wasn't so excited about next year due to the fact that I'm going to have a class of thirty students instead of nineteen, but I've accepted it and I know that I can handle that.
So first, I started organizing my supply center and my turn-in paper center. I've posted two pictures of the finished product below! I used labels that I found on TeachersPayTeachers from the Mofatt Girls. This location prior to organization was such a mess and I feel like with a large group this will really improve my classroom.

My next task was to organize my drawers for paper submissions as well as use the extra drawers for my copies for each week. I labeled each tray for my copies by the first letter of the day of each week. These will be made each Friday and ready for the following week. Check out my picture below. I also found this file drawer station at Joann's Fabric for really cheap last year because it was on sale and I had a coupon. Be on the look out for great sales!

 

 

My next organization task was for myself and my aid. I created this three drawer system to help us keep track of papers that need to be graded, copied or filed away to go home on Friday's. I found the labels online for free at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwE4I-WZOyeaYXUySnFBanFCMlU/edit?usp=sharing&pli=1

 

 

The last organization and management system that has been in my classroom for an entire year is my Reward Coupons! These items have been wonderful to use with my ClassDojo. My students love them! I found these on TpT as well! They are a great addition to my classroom. They take some time to get ready, but once ready, it's a very useful and easy tool.

 

I hope you enjoy this post! I think this confession has been my absolute favorite!!! I have plans to decorate my hidious filing cabinets as well! Take care and enjoy your summer break!!