March SlantBox Reveal!

I love participating in the SlantBox exchange that the fabulous Jameson over at Lessons with Coffee has put together! 

It's a great way to get to know other educators or people in a teaching-related field. You get matched with a partner for the month, email back and forth to get to know each other, and then at the end of the month, send each other a box of goodies based on a theme. 

This past March was the fourth time that I participated in the SlantBox exchange. It was so much fun! I was paired up with Maja from Kooky Kinders. You have to go check out her blog! It is adorable! She is the coolest kindergarten teacher ever! She dresses up for her students, makes cool food crafts, and her students always look like they are having a blast! On her blog she writes about the fun happenings in her class. You need to check it out!

I loved getting to know Maja! We have so much in common! I feel like I've known her forever! She seems like an old friend, who I just haven't talk to in awhile. We both love our students and teaching, thrifting and antiquing, and our puppy boys!! I would love to go antiquing with her! I think we'd have a blast!! :) I love that I've met a new friend that I will have forever! I am so happy I met you Maja! 

Here is a peek at the amazing box she sent me!

There were these Big Softie letters in Cincinnati Bearcats colors! I can't wait to use them in my art journaling and a new little display I'm making at school ;)

Aren't these stickers the cutest? I love them! I mean, those squirrels, right?!

I love this little journal! The pattern on the cover and the inside paper is adorable! I can't wait to write blog ideas inside! I've been wanting a place to write down random ideas that I have for new blog posts. I've already got it in my purse ready to go! If an idea ever pops up when I'm out and about, I have a perfect place to jot down ideas! It's the perfect travel size!

Last year Bjorn and I landscaped our front yard, and I love the way everything is growing in this spring! I can't wait to go out and put flowers on my porch and start making it look even more beautiful now that the weather is getting nicer! I know just the perfect place to hang this outside! And I am so glad Maja sent this :) I'll have something in my garden to always remind me of her!

This pencil sharper is perfect! I already took it to school, and my students are obsessed with it! They have a waiting line to use it, so we have to take turns while they're working to use it! There are holes across the entire head of the pencil sharpener that allows for 7 pencils to be held and you can sharpen them too!

I love this little guy! He is symbol of luck, and I am always going to keep him with me as such. I can't wait to find a little chain for him and wear him! He's too stinkin' cute!!

And the last two things that I got in my box were chocolate!! I did eat the chocolate, however, before I managed to take pictures of it! Oops! It was so good! Maja sent me these two to enjoy:

Maja, thank you so much for my box! It is awesome! I love it! 


I am so glad I got to meet Maja and make such a sweet friend!

Happy SlantBox!

Love and happiness <3 Holly

Five Minute Friday: Paint

It's time for another Five Minute Friday! I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker to write for 5 Minutes straight. No planning, no worrying, no hyper-editing--just writing! It's so much fun, and there are so many other wonderful people who link up to share their writing on Lisa-Jo's blog. You should check it out! It's so much fun! Or maybe you could even try writing about the topic!!

Here's what I came up with for this week! I wrote about an amazing friend who I love dearly like my sisters :)


This week's topic is...

Paint.

Go:

Her art hangs on my walls. It adorns my home. She is reflected in her paintings. In every room, I am reminded of her beauty. Warming my life every day with happiness. It's her strength, her happiness, her sadness, her passion--her insides poured out for all to see. Her bravery. Her honesty.

Every night I eat dinner, I am comforted by her presence. And when I relax on my couch and get dressed in the morning. Each paintbrush stroke, so perfectly placed. Her eyes looking back at me. She listens to the details of my rough day, nodding with understanding. "Another headache again? Don't worry, you'll be okay. Just take a deep breath. You'll get through it. You always do," she says. 

She is my friend, my sister from another mother. My strength when I don't have any. My heartbeat, my joy, my laughter. My person when I need someone. She has been through my ups and downs. My rock bottom. She helped me through like no one knows. I think about her often and how her strength pulled us through difficult times. Making us spaghetti for dinner when we didn't think we could go on any longer. Knowing just how her presence was the only thing we needed to pull us together when we had nothing left. It meant everything. It still does. I don't know what I'd do without her love and support. 

Her paintings say it all: this is me. A piece of her heart is left on the canvas. I couldn't imagine it any other way. And I wouldn't want to. Her paintings are my comfort and my joy. Today, her son's painting decorates my wall right alongside his mamma's work. It lightens my heart and my soul. Innocence, sweet hugs, and laughter jump from the white paper and into my heart. Closing my eyes, I hear his tiny voice, his big laugh, and see his sweet smile. 

Him: "Howwy, I scare you again, pweese?" 

Me: "Sure, honey. You can scare me again."

Him: "Okay. Aaaaggghhhhh! I scare you?"

My heart warms and becomes lighter. His art makes me smile. His mamma's art makes me smile. Their art is my happy. They are my happy. May my walls always be embellished with passion, love, and laughter. I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Stop.

Some of her art in my life

Love and happiness <3 Holly