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Max Out Happy

The FriYAY Series

August 6, 2021

Happy FriYAY! It has been a few weeks! In today’s edition of the FriYAY series, I’m just recapping the week and sharing some things I’m loving. As always, nothing too heavy as we head off to the weekend!

This Week’s Recap

This was a busy week! On Sunday, we relaxed at home and I rearranged/organized the playroom. I’m getting it ready for our cloffice project that I wrote about in my summer bucket list post. I’m really excited about that project! The picture on the bottom left is after Andrew took the doors off of the closet, so you can see the space we’ll be using. Of course, I’ll take pictures and do a before and after reveal once it’s all finished!

On Monday, I went to help Whitney get ready for a photo shoot she was doing with another photographer. I did her hair and makeup, and we just got to chat and hang out for a bit, which is always nice during this busy season of life!

Tuesday and Wednesday, Davis had playdates with friends in the mornings. I also got my hair done Tuesday and it had been a MINUTE. My usual stylist is out on maternity leave, and I had to cancel my last appointment with her at the last minute, so it needed to happen. I went to someone new, recommended by some friends. It was a great experience! It always feels good to get your hair done and feel a bit pampered.

Between those things, I did a lot of work for Max Out Happy, cleaned the house, did my daily routine stuff at home, and ran errands. It felt like it flew by! And now it’s my favorite day – FriYAY! No huge plans on the horizon today.

My brother is here for a couple of days visiting us and my sister. I’m the youngest of three, and so is Andrew. It’s weird and cool that Davis is spending time with his cousin Jackson (my sister’s baby) just like we did when we were growing up!

What I’m Loving

  1. I am absolutely enthralled by RV/camper renovation right now. I’ve started going down a rabbit hole on Instagram and Pinterest and even started a board for tiny living. If I was single, or if Andrew and I had only 1 dog and no children, this would be my dream. We hope to get a small camper someday, so for now, I’ll just daydream through these beautiful tiny spaces!
  2. I read The People we Meet on Vacation at the beach and it was SO GOOD. I couldn’t put it down. It was just so well-written. Sadly, that’s the only book I have read this summer and it has flown by. I have another couple of books I’d like to get through before school starts, but we’ll see what happens. What’s everyone else reading? Here’s my summer reading list in case you missed it!
  3. I got an email today that my new Billie razor refills are being shipped to me. You already know how I feel about this program. I don’t know why they haven’t sought me out to pay me yet for all the free advertising I’m doing for them, haha! Here’s their starter kit! Best shave I have ever had.
  4. Revel Nail’s new Bohemian Bouquet collection is live and the colors are so perfect for fall!
  5. I’m anxious and hesitant about the school year starting, but of course I’m excited to stock up on some cute school supplies. We have a brand new school building, and I’m excited to set up my classroom! I’m working on a post about some of my favorite items, but in the meantime, if you haven’t used the Paper Mate InkJoy pens, you’re missing out. These Zebra Pen Midliner highlighters are also a must. Y’all know I love good writing utensils and paper products.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys your FriYAY! We are expecting some rain where I am, but I’m thrilled to see the temperatures in the 80s instead of the 90s! It’s really the little things that make a difference.

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Filed in: Education, Home, Lifestyle, Motherhood • by maxouthappy •

Back to School Feelings

August 5, 2021

In just a couple of weeks, we’ll be heading back to school. I’m having a LOT of mixed feelings about it. Everyone keeps asking if we’re excited and ready, and my answer is, “it’s complicated.” 2020 was supposed to be the best year of my life: Welcoming our first baby into the world, taking some time off from work, and then finishing out the school year before summer break – but right after Davis was born, Covid-19 made it into the U.S. and schools started closing across the entire world. Everything has been messed up and different for so long that the idea of going back to school is really unsettling for me. No one knows what it’s going to look like or what to expect, and I’m someone who likes to know what’s coming. I think we all are, to a certain extent.

In the past year and a half, so much of our guidance has changed. Teachers are stretched thinner than ever, and more and more keeps piling on us. We have been unable to do our jobs well and keep children as safe as we need to. Meanwhile, we worry about our own children and families at home while we work in a large population every day. We are trying to teach children at home and in person at the same time. It’s impossible. Relationship building with students has become more difficult than ever. Our in-person students are even more addicted to their phones, so teaching feels like a joke at times. I don’t know if this is true for younger grades, but I teach high school, and it has been unreal.

My anxiety went through the roof last school year, along with everyone else’s. I couldn’t access any of my favorite things about my career. I love the pace of the classroom: Walking around and checking on my students, sitting next to them while they work, speaking to each of them as they walk in. Conversations with colleagues in the hall or the workroom keep us sane during the day. With virtual teaching, there was of course none of that – but even when students returned to the building, it was so strange and difficult. The end of the school year couldn’t come fast enough.

Of course I realize that parents are also stressed and stretched thin. We all are! But teachers are parents, too. And we are helping other children in addition to our own. I don’t say that to say teachers have it harder than anyone else, but to shed light that we are dealing with the same things everyone else is.

There is no perfect answer, but it got really disheartening constantly hearing people badmouth teachers throughout the last school year. We were doing our jobs. We were working just as hard as we ever did before. Many of us spent hours transferring lessons and documents to an online format. We worked hard to make things smoother for our students, recording videos, and checking in through messaging apps. I made myself extra available and sent newsletters home every couple of weeks. To hear that parents thought we were doing nothing and collecting a paycheck was such a slap in the face. And there was A LOT of that going around. Of course there are bad teachers – there have always been bad teachers. But there are also bad doctors, project managers, business owners, and everything elses out there in the world.

I have written about mental health and taking care of ourselves a ton on the blog, most specifically in this post. Students are experiencing anxiety and depression at higher rates than ever before; so are all of the adults that take care of them. As soon as we felt a sliver of normalcy with vaccines and the slowing of the virus spread, the new Delta variant came. Now everything seems like it is backtracking again. I have always loved my job, and I do still have hope. Y’all know I believe in hope and positivity, but the last year and a half has made it difficult to be optimistic. I wish there was a little more time between the last school year and this one, but here we are.

One good thing amidst all of this craziness is that we are moving back into our real school, which has been totally rebuilt. It’s definitely exciting to be moving into a beautiful, brand new school building. However, even that has its stressors! Settling in, making a new home in your classroom, learning the building, helping students find everything. But I’m really excited to do all of those things, even though it brings a little bit of stress to the table.

As we head back to school, I am wishing all my teacher friends out there the strength and hope they need to make it through those first couple of weeks. I’m also wishing all the parents that same strength and hope – we all need it. We have done this before, and we’ll navigate as we go. I still believe in us, I still believe in our kids, and I do believe that things will improve.

I won’t throw all the annoying buzzwords from the last year and a half at you, like “grace,” “new normal,” “unprecedented,” etc. BUT I do think that since we have to do it, we will. It’s our only choice. And I think it’s okay for that to be the reality right now. So get out there, grab yourself a nice planner to keep everything organized, find an outfit (and mask) you feel good in, and just do the dang thing.

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Filed in: Education, Wellness • by maxouthappy •

Best Subscriptions I’ve Tried: Top Ten

August 2, 2021

I honestly love a good subscription box. Something to look forward to, something you can count on, new goodies…it just MAKES SENSE. They also make really great gifts! But, like with anything, subscriptions are not all created equal. Some are better than others, and some just aren’t worth the money. I’m here to break it down for you. Here are the top 10 best subscriptions I’ve tried!

Beauty

  1. Ipsy: Super affordable. $12 for 5 beauty products! I love that you get a pretty little bag with each box, because I use them for all kinds of storage needs in my purse, diaper bag, beach bag, and in my bathroom! I think this is one of the best subscriptions for trying new products.
  2. Birchbox: I got this as a gift several years ago and then signed up to keep receiving it for a long time. It’s another great way to try new products! This one is almost exactly like Ipsy, for $15 a month.
  3. Billie Razor: Y’all already know. I LOVE this thing and I will never look back. Best shave I’ve ever had, a handle that is amazing, refills sent to you, etc. I mentioned this one in my worth the hype post last week!
  4. FabFitFun: Another one that I think is worth the hype! This is such a fun box to receive, and I love that it always has full-sized products. You pay $50, and most boxes have over $200 worth of goodies inside. Beauty, hair, home, jewelry, accessories…there are all kinds of things in this box, but I usually customize it to get more beauty products. I reviewed previous FabFitFun boxes in this post (fall) and this post (spring)!

Fashion

  1. Stitch Fix: I got a couple pairs of pants for teaching from my Stitch Fix box years ago and I loved them so much. You can always customize your preferences, sizes, and styles easily. Clothes, shoes, bags and accessories, and jewelry options are available, and you get a surprise box of items you can purchase each month. I stopped getting the box because everything was too expensive for me to purchase, and I just couldn’t justify it anymore. Still, I really enjoyed my subscription while I had it!
  2. Fabletics: LOVE this subscription. All kinds of great finds, cute matching fitness outfits, sports bras, loungewear, you name it. The only downfall to this was that I felt like everything went out of stock so quickly as soon as all the new releases came out. I got so many great clothes from this subscription! I would love to do it again if our budget allowed it.

Other

  1. Cloth & Paper: For all my fellow nerds and office supply lovers out there. I got this for my birthday a couple years ago, and I absolutely loved it. Whenever it was time for it to arrive, I got so excited with anticipation! Everything was high quality and beautiful. Choose from a stationery box, a pen box, or both! Here is a previous review I did of my Cloth & Paper subscription.
  2. TheraBox: I got this self care box as a gift for my friend Savannah’s birthday last year while the pandemic was in full force and we were all stuck at home, sheltering in place. Such a great idea for a subscription or a gift! We all need to practice better self care, if you ask me.
  3. GlobeIn: My siblings and I got this one for our mom a while back, and she loved it! This box is filled with unique, handmade and ethically made artisan goods from around the world. I love the idea! Lots of good items for the home in this box.
  4. Chewy: We get our dog food delivered monthly, and we have also done heartworm or flea/tick meds in the past, as well as Bruno’s insulin and syringes. I love that we can order a huge box of food, and I don’t have to lug it into a cart or out to my car and into the house. Chewy has a great reminders setup, and you can postpone or change your orders really easily and without fuss.

What are the best subscriptions you’ve tried? Which ones do you swear by? I know lots of people who receive HelloFresh boxes, wine of the month club or Winc for wine, and I’ve seen a lot of influencers do the KiwiCo boxes for their kids. Of course there’s BarkBox for dogs, but I didn’t realize there’s also a CatLadyBox! Love to see it.

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Filed in: Beauty, Fashion, Home, Lifestyle • by maxouthappy •

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Welcome to Max Out Happy! I am a high school teacher, wife, and mom trying to spread a little happy around wherever I can. I'm glad you're here!
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