That's tech tip 1 - right there. That text. It comes from Text Giraffe - ​an easy to use website that is compatible with all Google products. Simply copy the text you want to use, and paste it into slides, docs, forms, etc. Or, save it as an .jpeg or .png and put it in a blog post. There are TONS of different styles to choose from, too.

I have been on the Struggle. BUS. when it comes to digital grading. Then, I found MOTE. Mote is a Chrome extension that allows you to use voice comments on all Google products. The voice comment also will be transcribed. It's been a game changer. It turns tedious typing into quick, quick work. 

Did you know you can view data on your Google Slides? Say you need students to read through a presentation before they come to class the next day. Did you know you can check to see who did? Check out my two images below -

See that trending upwards arrow? Click that sucker. And then? A world of information pops up in front of you. You can check out who viewed, commented, or shared. It's amazing - especially if you're all virtual this year.

I feel like I'm legitimately the LAST to know this tip, but you can do picture-in-picture for all of your YouTube videos. The other day, we were taking notes over a video, and I had to continuously switch back and forth. Pause the video, flip to my Google doc, type the notes in, and then flip back. Girl, no more of that. 

Here's what you do: right click within the video somewhere. Sometimes you have to do it twice. Up will pop a menu, and one of the options is picture-in-picture. Click it, and enjoy that video in the corner of your screen. You can also resize it, too. 

This isn't really a "tip", per se. It's more of a "this is the crap I've been using this year and maybe you might like it, too" ... ya know? :) 

Okay. Here's the list: 

- Actively Learn
- Kami
- Pear Deck
- Control + Shift + Enter = Adds a new question in Google Forms
- I also created a "morning tabs" folder on my bookmark bar. I simply right click the folder, and click "open all tabs", and boom. Gradebook, email, drive, and my daily plans are all opened at once.

If you have any amazing tips - drop them in the comments! I love learning new things! :) 

Love you, mean it. 

​B. 

Last week, Craig and I had a "thing". Rarely do we disagree, and this wasn't so much a disagreement, or a fight - this was him saying something that hurt my feelings. 

And bless this man; he is marrying one of the most sensitive women of all time ever, ever, ever. 

Anyway.

He hurt my feelings. 

And I cried because that's what I like to do. 

And then, he apologized. Clearly. Candidly. Without any kind of "but" afterwards. Just a heartfelt apology, and he was forgiven. 

I tell you that not to out Craig for a misstep - Lord knows I make them, too. I tell you that because I want you to know that we are not perfect. 

I highlight a lot of our good here and on Facebook. I tell you guys a lot of what we're doing right. I talk about how much I love him. I talk about how well he loves me. I talk about how we're not sure how to walk through this life, but we've promised to work at it every day ... together. 

...

Years ago, we were both on the couch. We both had lived through particularly difficult weeks, and he had just gotten to my house. We sat together, my head on his shoulder. It was dark - I hadn't bothered to turn lights on after the sun went down. And it was blessedly quiet. 

Awhile ago, I read something -- 

"Talk about your past so that your future knows how to love you better."

That's what we did that night. Our voices low, caressing over the broken pieces of our hearts.

There are two things that I believe - down deep in my chest - that have made Craig and I successful at this Love Even After The Fire business. 

1) Talking in the dark.
2) Patience for the words.

When you shut the lights off, and when you wait for the other person to work through their thoughts - some kind of magical bridge builds. 

I told him that night that I needed someone capable. Someone that could make a decision. Someone that could lead a family. Someone that could call me out on my bullshit, but still cheer louder than anyone else for me. And ... I need someone to not yell when we fight (a definite non-negotiable). 

Quietly, I whispered to him what I needed in order for us to stick together. The words felt clunky and hard and rusty. Never in my life had I whispered something so urgent and important to someone else. 

Lowly, his lips next to my ear, he whispered what he needed. The words felt clunky and hard and rusty. Never in his life had he whispered something so urgent and important to someone else. 

This is not rocket science. 

This is an autopsy. This is an exhumation. This is looking desperately at what went wrong in The Before in order to live more freely and fully in The After. 

It takes a fair amount of courage because you're admitting defeat and fault and failure to someone else. You're giving someone else some kind of intimate gift. 

...

Months ago, someone I don't know very well took aim at me and Craig. 

[Aside: What a weird thing to get bent out of shape about, right? How weird is it to get worked up over someone else's relationship?]

Anyway. Someone picked up their pointy finger and shoved it right at us. 

YOU AREN'T PERFECT, they shouted. YOU'RE LEADING PEOPLE ON, they continued. YOU'RE NOT BEING HONEST, they accused. 

And I was stunned.

Maybe they're right.

I'm not perfect. And it is SO MUCH EASIER to talk about how Craig smiles when he makes breakfast for us, or how he picks up my bobby pins and puts them away, or how he looks at me when we dance in the kitchen (also, just that he dances in the kitchen to begin with). It's SO MUCH EASIER to talk about how it feels to know someone is standing behind you pushing, and pushing, and pushing you to step into the person you've always been. It's SO MUCH EASIER to talk about his patience or his faith in us. 

You know what isn't easy?

What isn't easy is talking about how Craig calls on his way home after going out with his friends. "Babe," he says, "Are you still awake?" No. I'm normally not. "Okay, I'm just letting you know I'm on my way home. I love you." It's a habit that started in the beginning. It's a habit that started in the beginning when we sat down in the dark one night, and he had patience with me as I tried to talk about the heavy.

It's not easy to talk about how he calls because he knows that I'm inherently uneasy. He knows how quickly it will sneak up on me, how quickly my uncertainty comes back. It's not easy to talk about his friends that are women, and it's not easy to talk about how The Before rushes back in a second. 

I suppose that - deep down - I'd rather talk about the light. I'd rather talk about how we have walked through the damn fire. I'd rather talk about how good the other side feels. I'd rather talk about how warm his hands are. I'd rather talk about the bucket list in my heart that is labeled Five Years, Ten Years, Twenty Years From Now. I'd rather talk about how good the sunshine feels on my face when he takes me for an afternoon drive. 

No - I don't like spending time talking about the hard.

I lived it. 
I was there.
I saw it.

I survived the long days and the unending nights. 

I mean ... I guess I could tell you about the time I ordered Craig to pick up the towels off of the bathroom floor, and I could talk about how well that went over (it didn't). 

But I'd rather talk about how I've complained about planter fasciitis for months now, so Craig bought me new shoes for my birthday. 

I'd rather talk about how he gave me my favorite sharpies with his last name taped on each one with a sticker. 

I'd rather talk about how I found out my cousin died on a Sunday, and I'd rather talk about how his palm was warm in my hand ... about how his reassurance was unwavering. I'd rather talk about how he was a pillar. 

I'd rather talk about the other side. 

I'd rather talk about the hope. 

I've learned a lot in the last five years. One of the biggest things? I'm not about to apologize for the person I've become. 

Not for the tears I cry when my feelings are hurt.
Not for the rose-colored glasses permanently on my face.
Not for the way I love Craig, or for the way he loves me. 
Not for the way I write about the light.

Not for one single damn thing. 

​xoxo, B. 

1. Cropped Camo Pants - They're under $20 and they are so. dang. cute. I ordered them in muted camo black. The sizes go up to 3X.

2. Black Leopard Print Monogram Crew Sweatshirt - Anything ... and I do mean anything with my monogram on it, I'm just a sucker for. Mine ships on March 13. I'm so excited to wear it! Bonus: It's under $20, too!

3. I live in Sam Edelman sandals in the summer. These are inexpensive, and they come in a TON of colors. They're also super good quality + trendy. 

4. Ever thought about buying a Spider Man snuggie for your kids? I picked this one up for Tucker for Valentine's Day, and it was a huge hit. He's six, and it's still a little big, but I like that he can grow into it.

5. This was an awesome Valentine's Day hit, as well. These sticker pictures are easy for my six-year-old to handle while I cook dinner + they're super cool/mosaic looking when they're finished. Bonus: It can be easily used instead of a tablet during a lengthy road trip. I also love that it's not a huge mess. Double Bonus: It's less than $6.

6. This selfie ring light has to be one of the most requested links from people. I use this sucker all the time for the most. random. things. It doesn't plug into a regular outlet, though, so be mindful of that. It has to plug into a USB port. It comes with a remote though, so you can go full on Glamor Shots in your house. [I recommend shutting the blinds first.]

7. We LOVE this quick pizza game. You can only play with two players, so grab two sets if you've got a family with more than that. The object of the game is to fill your pizza cards first with dice rolling. It's also a quick game we play while I'm making dinner.

8. We love this new kind of beanbag game! It's set up in our house right now, and it's super fun. It's challenging for both me and Tuck, and it'll be great this summer in the backyard. It shrinks down to fit in that carry bag. If you're a family that camps in the summer - this would be so fun to have!

9. I bought this leopard print belt before Christmas. It is so. freaking. cute. If loving leopard is wrong, I'll never be right. It comes in a ton of different sizes, and I love that little knock-off look of the Gucci belts. This is probs as close to Gucci as I'll ever get. :)

10. I saved the best for last. This science wizard kit is ahhhhmazing. Tucker loves it, and I get a kick out of it, too. It comes with all the things you need for some pretty great experiments. There are many you can do, and several you can do more than once. I feel like the cost to experiment ratio is pretty great, too.

"You're just not good at it." He shrugged his shoulders in a way that made me think the whole world probably agreed with him.

Ages ago, it fell out of his mouth. He laughed. "You never have been."

And I agreed because I suppose he's right. I was young and it was summer and isn't it awful to have people you love acknowledge your weaknesses? Expose them? Expound upon them? Elaborate and enumerate and every other word that means show them off.

Over and over while holding my hand, his voice full of condescension, he would laugh it off. "It's okay, Becky. Not everyone can be good at it." He'd hug me, rub a little love on a gaping, wanting wound, and that didn't make it better. 

Those moments were a symptom of a much larger problem, and sometimes, I would find my 20-year-old self so angry that my teeth felt like they would break because my jaw was so clenched.

Clenched.

And quiet.

It's a tally mark, you see? Over and over, he carved into me his opinion. And over and over again, I handed him the stake. Willingly, I listened. Agreed. Took notes on how to play a part better.

So many times, I wanted to call out to him, "I might not be the best ... but I'm not terrible." 

I'm not terrible.
I'm not.

Loves, today I just want to remind you of something very, very important: 

If you have to argue for your love?
If you have to make closing statements?
If you have to try to convince someone to stay?

That you're worthy?
That you're important?
That you're enough? 
That you're smart?
That you're funny?
That you're pretty?
That you're brighter than the damn sun?

Then you need to move on. Take your big, beautiful light, and shine it down on someone that deserves it. Take your gift and your heart and your passion and your joy and your love, and you give it to someone that has earned it. 

Don't you dare walk down a sidewalk with someone that thinks that you are ever -

EVER - 

less.

​I'll remind you until the very end. 

​xoxo, B. 

I pray on the way to school every day. There are these crazy people that actually get up earlier in their day to study scripture and think about Jesus and pray. I don't have that kind of discipline, so I listen to a bible study in my car and then I pray afterwards. 

Talking to Jesus Time: 6:45 a.m. every morning.

I was thinking this morning about who to pray for, what to pray for ... how to pray for it. [Talking out loud about your innnnnnnnnner, biggggggggest, deeeeeeeeeepest dreams is tough. Don't you judge me.] I decided that praying is just ... hard. 

It is not hard to think of the people in my life and to pray for their specific needs. People that are sick. People that are so very clearly struggling. People that have lost their way. People that have confused the good with the not-so-good. Those? Those I can rattle off. 

It's the part where I ask for "self-help" that I struggle. So I force myself to say out loud the things that I want for my own life. Sometimes it's one thing. Sometimes it's five. But I'm a list maker - I think about the things before I speak them out loud. Ruminate over them. 

And today, that struck me as kinda funny. 

Talking to Jesus about my dreams. 

Because His dreams for me are much wilder than I can ever even fathom. So. This is what they mean when they say so succinctly - "Let go, and let God." Today, I kinda shrugged my shoulders, looked around my car like I was going to actually see the Holy Ghost, and sorta just ... asked Him to take over. 

Which leads my to my point.

What have you dreamed about today? 

This weekend, The Boyfriend and I sat on two barstools and he talked of a Big, Giant Dream. One of those dreams that sort of made my armpits sweat a little and I had all kinds of questions. He pulled out his phone and did some math that was kind of hazy because the numbers were all so big and crazy. 

And again, I just sort of smiled and shrugged my shoulders. If anyone can do it ... my money is on me with him in my corner.

My dad is almost sixty. One week this year, he was in a helicopter simulator that spins and then dunks him in water. He has to get out in seven seconds. He travels to big, giant boats by helicopter, so he needs to figure out how to get out when they crash. In seven seconds. And when he was telling me about it, he was giggling and excited and happy and I thought, Yes, yes, yes. This.

​My momma went back to school at 40. My brother designs lasers, or something so top secret and I'm still not even quite sure he's not some secret James Bond man. 

Dreams don't have to be quiet, friends. They can be lived out loud, and you can ask for help. I started a business this year with some of my closest friends (and it's actually doing so well!), and I quit my job to pursue something entirely different. I'm going to be 37 in a few weeks. 

This is the ONLY life we get. 

And forever, every single day, until the end of time amen - I'll be asking myself if I'm running on FIRE towards what I want, or if I'm lolly-gagging around waiting for something to come to me. 

Here's to that today: Here's to learning to ask for help. Here's to dreaming big, holy, terrifying dreams that rattle your teeth and push you forward.

xoxo, B.