Google Forms

Today is Teacher Talk

If you're a teacher or someone who likes to survey a bunch of people, this post is for you!

Google Forms is the quickest and easiest way to take a poll of a mass group of people. 

Go to www.google.com

Click the Google Apps icon, which is 9 square boxes. 

Simply look for this icon.

You might have to select "Even More From Google"

Then, find the icon above and you can create and customize any survey that you wish. 

I recently made one to give to all of my classes to determine literature circle groups. 

This survey took me 10 minutes. 

After clicking on the Google Forms icon, you will want to look for this little toolbar to the right. 

The 1st icon stands for adding a question. 

You can make short answer, multiple choice, drop down, checkbox and many more options. 

The 2nd icon allows you to add a title. 

The 3rd icon allows you to add a picture. 

The 4th icon allows you to add a video. 

The last icon allows you to add a section. 

Creating a survey will look like the screen below. 

 You can change the theme or color of the survey by clicking on the little color palette at the top right. 

When you are all finished, you need to copy the URL and have it available to your mass group of people or you can email the survey to people. 

I like to put my surveys on my class website or on Google Classroom (more on that on another day). 

After everyone has taken your survey, you can click on Responses. 

From there you have the option to create a spreadsheet. 

The spreadsheet will look like the screen below.  

You then can add other tabs. 

So, for on this survey I used it for all four of my classes, but I wanted to separate the results out by class. 

I simply duplicated the page onto other tabs by clicking on the down arrow on that tab and selecting "Duplicate".

I now have four different tabs with each of my classes information. 

I use Google Forms all of the time. 

I give an end of the year survey, I use it for students to determine which literature circle book they want to read, I use it for class rewards, I use it for quizzes and big projects and the this could go on and on!

My students probably hate Google Forms by the time they leave my class, but it's just so easy and user friendly that I love it. 

Fresh Blueberry Bundt Cake

Today I have the best spring dessert for you. 

I love quick and easy desserts. 

I used to be all about making everything from scratch, but I'm okay with making semi-homemade things if they taste delicious!

This fresh blueberry bundt cake screams all kinds of spring to me!

Thanks to Mix and Match Mama for sharing her awesome recipes that I can whip up in no time.

Cake: What You'll Need:

1 Box White Cake Mix

2 Small Boxes Instant Vanilla Pudding

1/2 C. Vegetable Oil

1 1/4 C. Water

4 Eggs

1 C. Fresh Blueberries tossed in 2 Tbsp. Flour

1 Lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Grease Bundt Cake pan. Mix together all of the cake mix, pudding, oil, water and eggs. Add 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice and zest from lemon. Stir in blueberries tossed in flour, so they don't sink to the bottom. 

Pour into pan. Bake 40-45 minutes. 

Let sit 10 minutes. Invert cake. Cool.

Icing: What You'll Need:

1 C. Powdered Sugar

1 Tbsp. Milk

2 Tbsp. Lemon juice

Mix together sugar, milk, juice and any remaining lemon juice.

When cake is cool drizzle icing on top.

Friday Favorites:Favorite Verses

Happy Friday, Ladies!

Today I'm sleeping in past my 4 a.m. alarm and plan to enjoy a beautiful Friday with my husband. 

As always, I'm linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea. 

We're sharing our favorites from the week.

Grab their graphic and linkup with your favorites from the week, too.

Today, I've decided to share some of my favorite bible verses. 

I was thinking back on my week and realized I didn't capture many pictures of my favorites and that really I've been loving some quotes and verses recently. 

So without further adieu...

2 Corinthians 12:7-9

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7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Mathew 7:7

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7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Mathew 22:37

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37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a]

Jeremiah 29:11

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11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Romans 12:12

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12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

I cannot begin to explain the hope that I've found in trusting in God.
His Grace is truly sufficient if I trust in His plans in His time.
I love the last verse so much.
It has been such a motto for me this past year as I've tried to be joyful, patient and faithful.
I cannot explain how Great our God is when we trust in Him.
I hope you all have a blessed Easter weekend, and I hope you will find joy in God's plans for you, even if they aren't what you initially expected.
Sometimes his plan is much greater than what we can see.
Enjoy!

Workin' It: Spring Cleaning

Workin' It Wednesday

Today, I'm linking up with Mix and Match Mama and A Little Bit of Everything to share

SPRING CLEANING!

This is seriously one of my favorite topics to discuss.
For some reason I've always enjoyed cleaning.
I hate things out of their place and dust, so everything just seems better in my world when it's clean and tidy!

After we put away our Christmas decorations I tend to get the itch to start spring cleaning.
Even though it's far from spring at that point in time, I start my spring cleaning, so that when spring arrives and the weather is finally nice, I can be outside and enjoy it.

Snow days seem to be a good day to knock some things off of my spring cleaning list.

Here's what I love to spring clean:

Cabinets

Cabinets seem to get unorganized and dusty quickly.
This past February I took every. single. thing. out of our kitchen cabinets and wiped them out.
I restacked pans and organized a bit so that items fit together better.
This is such a chore, but I love it when it's done.

After cleaning out the kitchen cabinets I moved to the bathroom cabinets.
Again, I removed everything, wiped it out and put things back in nice and neat.

Both of those tasks I was able to complete on two separate snow days.
It wasn't fun, but it's done.

Closets

I like to clean out my closets between seasons.
I get spring/summer clothes out and then fall/winter ones.
Recently I tucked away some heavy sweaters and set aside a pile that I no longer wear and want to get rid of.
Then, when it's finally warm enough for shorts, I will get those out and dust my drawers and closet.
Even though they don't get super dirty, I like to dust them and reorganize everything.

For our coat closet, I will wait until the cold weather is over, and then I will wash all of our coats, so that they're nice and clean for next season.
Anything that needs dry cleaned will be taken to the dry cleaners, and we will have it ready for winter when that time comes.

Floors

We have mostly hardwoods around our house.
When we refinished our house, we pulled up all of the carpet and redid the floors ourselves.
I'm very surprised at how much dust I notice.
I can sweep the floor one day and two days later I see dust.
I really hate that and still can't figure out a fix, so if you know one, let me know!
I tend to sweep the floors every week, but I don't wipe them every week.

Every so often I will get a damp rag and wipe the floors.
I'm the old fashioned kind, where I get down on my hands and knees and slide around until it's done.
I know some people hate that, but it just doesn't get as clean without being on your hands and knees.

Blinds

I like to dust my blinds with a little Swiffer duster.
We have white faux wood blinds, so you can see whenever I can see the dust particles I get my little duster out and go over each and every single blind.
It seems like it takes forever, but it's really not that bad.

Walls

As much as I'd love to say that I wash down every wall, I don't!
I have intentions to wipe down a couple walls that look streaked.
Hopefully I will get to it in the next week, but we shall see.

So, what great tips and tricks do you have?
I love to clean, but at the same time it can get overwhelming.
I start making myself feel guilty and tend to always think there's something else to clean.
How do you keep sane with the never ending task of cleaning?
Can't wait to read what everyone has today.

Show and Tell: Prom

It's Show and Tell Tuesday

Today I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals to share a little about Prom!

Now unfortunately I couldn't find pictures from my junior year of prom.
That year we traveled about 2 hours to the Gateway Clipper to experience our prom on a boat ride.
We ate and danced on the river, and then traveled two hours back home on charter buses.

This was my senior year.

Our mutual friends set us up to go to prom together, and we had a blast. 

Before this I really didn't even know Alex. 

We had one mutual class together, so I was a bit nervous to go to prom with him. 

He dropped me back off at my house, and then came back to get me to go to a friend's. 

I was all smiles after a fun night of dancing!

Soon after prom of my senior year we started dating. 

At first we didn't tell anyone because I was heading to college soon, and he still had a year of high school left. 

We continued dating, so I had yet another prom to attend.

---

This was Alex's senior year. 

I borrowed a dress from a friend, and it fell down the whole time. 

We tried tape and everything else, but it just didn't want to stay up.

We headed back on charter buses and enjoyed another prom on a boat ride down the river.

We look like such babies here...

And then 7 years later we got married!

Friday Favorites: Passport, Jackets and PB Pie

Hooray for Friday!

I was really needing a Friday, so I'm so glad that it's here. 

All week I was one day off, but alas it's our Friday Favorites!

Today I'm linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea. 

We're sharing our favorites from the week.

Grab their graphic and linkup with your favorites from the week.

Passport

My updated passport came this week.
I wish I would have known that I could have updated my passport with my new last name within one year of getting my original passport for FREE!!
Unfortunately, I didn't know that, so I applied for a new one, and it just arrived.
I like my picture in this one much better because they actually let me smile a little. 

Spring Jackets

Last week I mentioned a sale going on at Old Navy. 

I went ahead and got the jacket pictured below and love it. 

It fits just right. 

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I was a bit leery, but I got the one below too. 

I really was afraid this jacket wouldn't work out, and it didn't!

The jacket is too big, but the sleeves are too short. 

It will be going back.

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Run Far Girl

RUNNING ISN’T EASY. IT’S AN INVITATION INTO AN UNCOMFORTABLE PLACE FILLED WITH DOUBT, DIFFICULTY AND STRUGGLE. WHEN WE ACCEPT THAT INVITATION, WE FIND WITHIN OURSELVES TRUTH, STRENGTH AND RESILIENCE.

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The quote above spoke to me a lot recently. 

I was very inspired and intrigued by a post that Sarah from Run Far Girl posted that I went to check out her blog. 

I can't believe I hadn't been looking at it all along. 

Running has always spoke to my heart. 

It's my outlet when times are tough and motivator to make myself better. 

The run definitely isn't always easy, but it's so worth it. 

I've gained so much by becoming a runner. 

Simple and Easy Peanut Butter Pie

On Monday I shared my mom's Simple and Easy Peanut Butter Pie. 

It's delicious, yet only takes a few simple steps. 

If you're looking for a quick dessert, click here. 

Plant Update

My geraniums are now looking like this!!

I've transplanted them, and they seem to be pretty healthy.

Now, if only my impatiens would grow a bit. 

I think there was too much moisture in my little greenhouse that it was deterring some plants from growing. 

I'm cutting back on watering and allow more circulation to the plants to try to get them to grow more. 

It's supposed to snow today. 

Not a lot, but an inch or so. 

Then, on Sunday it's supposed to be 70!!

Only three more days with students and then a little professional development and a much needed break. 

Enjoy your weekend!