Simplify Life. (By: Lindsey)

Summer is here and I'm in love with my husband and summer, equally. At least, I wrote him first.  I love the fact that I don't even know what day it is sometimes.  I love that each morning starts whenever my precious girl wakes up.  I love that our days consist of walks, parks, pools, shows, "playing", coloring, reading books, and errands.   I love that my husband is here most days.  I love that if something doesn't get done, it will the next day.  All in all, I'm in love with the time and sense of peace summer provides.   

Pure Bliss.

But what I really want to share is how this time has allowed me to find ways to simplify my life.  I call it that, others will call it nesting:)  Either way, my life is more efficient and simplified.  I figure things are about to get hectic any day now when little Coy decides to enter this world, so time to get it together.  

Click here for the link.

First, let me tell you about DROPBOX.  It's logo is simplify your life.   And it does just that. Think of it as a big box in which you can put anything in, organize, and share in a timely fashion.  Videos, pdfs, documents, links, photos, you name it, drop in the box (of course in the folder of your choice) and you have access anywhere, anytime.  So when my opportunity to job share was finalized, I immediately downloaded this onto my computer so that my co-teacher and I have a shared place for our work.  I have control over which folders in my "box" to share with her.  For example, we have a folder for next year titled 6th grade IELA in which we can both access, share, and work on together.  It automatically updates after someone opens.  My pictures from school are all in a folder titled Photos.  I have access to this on any computer because it's web based.  It's truly genius and allows for effortless collaboration and access from anywhere, even my mobile device.  UHH- MAZING.

  Delicious  has the slogan, discover yourself.   It is used to collect, track, organize, and bookmark the sites navigated on the Internet.  Let's face it, we all navigate and then fall in love with websites, blogs, and information that we want to get back too. Naturally, most of us bookmark them.  Well, that's what I do and I was beginning to have a million tabs in my bookmark browser of my personal computer, that I did not have access to on other computers.  Then I came across DELICIOUS.  I'll never understand the name, but I decided to look past that fact and utilize it for its quality features.  More so, my husband is getting a new computer and ipad for the new job which means I inherit leftovers.  Completely okay with this, except, how in the world was I going to transfer my favorites from my bookmark bar.  Delicious, like dropbox, is web based, can be accessed anywhere there's an Internet connection.  Join, create stacks with your favorite links.  For example, I have a stack called Shopping/Fashion, all my links in my bookmarks bar that I quickly access are in one location.  So when it's time to shop, I go to delicious find my shopping stack and have access to all my favorite links.  Another example, all my friends and families blogs I follow are in one central location under a stack I titled Followed Blogs.  So when I want to read or catch up, I just go to my stack.  This is the basics, it's format is similar to Pinterest, I still have tons more to learn, but rest assured all my bookmarks tabs are organized and linked up so I will have access from my inherited devices.  I'm no longer dependent on my personal computers.  It's all in the cloud, so to speak. 

Click here for link  As an IELA teacher, I felt that I need to get up to date with latest and best books, authors, and reviews.  This is place where I can plan what books  I want to read.  Like all the others, it's free to join and accessible anywhere, anytime.  Recommendations, reviews, and best sellers are easily noted in your account, it's like having your own bookshelf full of books just waiting for you to grab and read, only it's digital.  That's pretty great.  Now, I just need my Kindle to go with my Amazon Prime account.  I'm pretty sure this is a gift I might be receiving in the near future:)  Wonder if my husband is reading this? HA!


As a domestic wife and fantastic cook, (NOT- Who am I kidding?)   This website is fantastic in providing me with the appropriate tools and resources so that I might be well on my way to becoming "better" in the kitchen, but most importantly it allows me to organize my meals, plan ahead, and incorporate variety into our healthy eating habits.  Like everything else it's web based which means access anytime, anywhere.  I'm seeing a trend! Anyone else?  I love that I'm never confined to my computer.  Join for free, drag and drop recipes into your recipe box, use the menu feature to create weekly menus which then lead to grocery shopping lists.  The very best part is after doing all this on the computer, the APP immediately uploads the weekly grocery list, organizing items my aisle of grocery store.  UNBELIEVABLY COOL and life changing.  Now if only I could get my coupons aligned with my meals or vice versa.  That's a future goal.

Lastly, there is PINTEREST.  I'm pretty sure many of you have heard of this.  It's used by 87% woman and is multiple bulletin boards pinned with favorite items in a digital manner.   Inspiring, insightful, creative and user -friendly describe this web-based resource.  In my next blog, I can't wait to share with you all the items I've experimented or tried because of PINTEREST.  More to come, for sure.  Until then, check out these resources and learn of quick ways to really simplify your life.  You can go ahead and thank me now:)