18 for 2018 Update

I am once again vacation but thought I would give a quick update on my 18 for 2018. I have been using my Cricut! I LOVE it! So far, I have made a shirt, a couple of onesies, and am working on a few other projects. I am excited about this and will show what I have been working on very soon!

How is your 18 for 2018 going?

Travel Hacks - Shower Caps

I am currently on a well deserved vacation! I thought I would drop in to share a quick Travel Hack using Shower Caps.

For my trip, I have been to a few different hotels. This has meant packing up everything, even wet items from the shower. This is where the shower caps are helpful. 

Put all the wet items into the shower cap and place this in the top of your luggage. When you get to your next location, pull out the wet items and lay them out in the shower/on the counter. Then let the shower cap dry out. I found this to be so much easier to manage than a plastic bag. 

What is your favorite Travel Hack?

Organization Hacks - Vacation/Business Trips Checklist

This month I am extremely busy! I have lots of travel in the weeks ahead. Over two separate weeks I will be on "business trips." That's odd for me to say since I am a teacher. For the most part, teachers do not go on business trips. Nonetheless, that is what I will be doing. I will also go on some actual vacations during this month. I need to have some fun! 

With being gone for so much of the month, I knew that I needed to get organized. I didn't want to forget anything. Therefore, I made a list of everything I could think of for my trips. This became a master checklist for myself.  I put everything into different categories to make packing an easier job! To get your own Vacation/Business Trip Packing Checklist, click HERE. This will have you make a copy for your own Google Drive. By doing this, you will be able to edit it however you would like. I hope this helps you too!

What else do you need in order to get organized?

Podcast Tips and Recommendations

I have mentioned my love of podcasts in the past. This summer, I am listening to even more than usual. I am able to do this for a couple of reasons. First of all, I have more free time. I like to have something going on the background. A podcast works well for this purpose. The second reason is my first podcast tip.

Podcast Tip 1

While I enjoy listening to many podcasts, I sometimes get frustrated by how slowly some people speak. I tend to move quickly and need my podcasts to reflect this. When listening to a podcast, you can adjust the speed. I thought that doing this may make the people sound like Alvin (from the Chipmunks), but that is so not the case! Now, some podcasts are listened to at regular speed 1.0. Some, though, I have had to increase all the way up to a speed of 1.6. I adjust each group of podcasts to their own sound speed. I love this because I have some podcasts that are an hour long. While I like them, they move too slowly. Now I can listen to that hour long podcast in 40 minutes.

Podcast Tip 2

Subscribe to your favorite podcast. This way everytime a new episode is released, it will download for you. I love seeing the new ones that download each day!

Recommendations

I recommended different podcasts in the past. Click HERE to see that post. Here are a few more:

Organize 365 - This one is all about getting organized! Each episode focuses on a different area in the house as well as giving productivity and time management tips. I always love to find better ways of organizing myself!

Affirmations Pod - This podast has some affirmations that can be used in mediation, said by themselves, as well as tips for mental well-being. 

What podcasts would you recommend?

Adulting Wins and a Fail

It's been a little while since I wrote about my Wins or Fails. I decided to combine the two today since I definitely have both!

1. I went to Navy Pier and saw Macbeth. It was incredible! I definitely realized Penn's influence (from Penn and Teller fame) when some of the actors did disappearing tricks! 

2. I also made a return trip to the zoo, my second this summer. This one was a field trip for my summer school class. It was nice but a super quick trip.

3. I finally used my Cricut! This was for a gift for my Grandma on her 95th birthday. I made flowers that were put in a flower pot and decorated with gift cards of her favorite places. It turned out really well. Too bad I forgot to take a pic.

I must admit to some a fail as well. (While there are more, I will only focus on one.) This one goes back to my 18 for 2018. My goal was to plan out my week each Sunday. I was doing really well with this for months! Then I got overwhelmed with work and stopped. Now that I am back to a much easier schedule, I haven't gotten back in the swing of things. I need to do this! At least tomorrow is Sunday...

What are your Wins and Fails?

Designing Your Summer

I have heard a lot about the importance of Designing Your Summer. This is the idea of planning your summer before it actually begins (or at least planning at the beginning of summer). The reasoning behind this is that summer flies by! It's easy to have great intentions of everything you want to get done, but you blink and summer has ended.

Here's How I Am Designing My Summer:

1. First, I am thinking about my overall categories for summer - work, travel, errands, day trip activities, and projects. These categories contain the main areas which I would like to focus my attention on this summer.

2. Next, in each category I listed a variety of items I wanted to accomplish (without going to crazy - I can't do EVERYTHING this summer). For example, day trip activities (for me) include a visit to Navy Pier to see Macbeth, at least 2 zoo visits, going to the Little Red Schoolhouse, go to at least 2 different farmer's markets, and going to see one or more movies.

3. Finally, I filled my planner with actual dates for each of these events. Actually scheduling them forces me not to put off an event too long. If by some chance something does come up, I can always make changes as needed.

Action Steps For You:

1. Think about the large areas you would like to focus on this summer.

2. Under each category think of specific items that you would like to accomplish.

3. Place these items onto your calendar. Making an actual plan on them makes you more likely to accomplish them.

How are you designing your summer?

Cleaning Tip - Oven Grates

Let me start off by saying that I HATE cleaning! I do almost anything to avoid it. When I do clean, I always look for shortcuts. I want it done fast, so I can move on to anything else. 

One of my all time favorite tips has to do with cleaning the grates on the oven. Since I enjoy cooking, they tend to fill with gunk and other residue. No matter how much I tried to clean it off, it never felt truly clean. Then I came I across the ammonia trick. 

How to Clean Oven Grates:

1. Place the grates into a Ziploc bag (find the size that will fit your grates). 

2. Add in 1-2 tablespoons of ammonia to the bag and seal. 

3. Let the bag sit overnight.

4. Rinse the grates.

That's it! The first time I did this, I called my mom and let her know how will this worked! It was like the built on gunk dissolved away! I wanted her to try it right away with her oven! This has become my go to trick when I went to clean with zero effort.

What is your favorite cleaning tip?