We-Teach-Music

Many of you might remember that last year my friend and I created a new website called We-Teach-Music.  WELL... we recently did a complete overhaul, redesign, and relaunch! We'd love it if you'd go and check it out.  And please share it with anyone you think would like it!  While we are specifically performing arts teachers, we think anyone involved in education will find the blog relatable and/or useful.  

If you like to use Bloglovin, We-Teach-Music is found here.

You can also follow We-Teach-Music on Twitter.

And we're on Facebook!

Instagram and Pinterest coming soon!

What can you expect from We-Teach-Music?  

- Articles answering your fundamental music-related questions, such as, "Can I sing when I'm sick?" and "What does a conductor actually DO?"
- Helpful ideas for parents.  Ex: What kind of Christmas gifts do teachers really want?
- Fundraising ideas for teachers.
- Free things!  We've designed some posters and printables, and we have more coming soon.
- Shop Our Faves - we've conveniently linked all of our favorite classroom, office, and closet items.
- Resources: We've compiled an ever-growing list of the most useful resources and sites for teachers.  We continue to add to the list as we come across other great resources.
- Lesson plans that we love!
- Music repertoire ideas
- Video examples
- Our favorite things, funny anecdotes, lessons we've learned or are learning along the way, and much more!

We are sooo excited about this new venture.  I hope you will check it out!

www.we-teach-music.org

Exciting New Venture || We Teach Music

I'm excited to share with you a new venture that I'm starting with my real-life bff, Kelly, from Perfect Harmonies.  Kelly and I met in grad school and bonded over our shared love of the local French cafe, classical music, Christian faith, and general getting-along-with-each-other-ness.  :)  She and her husband even came to visit us in Rio!  Anyway, long story short, Kelly and I are both music teachers, so we asked ourselves, "Why not start a blog about teaching music?!"  So we did!

Our blog is called "We Teach Music" and can be found at www.we-teach-music.org.  Kelly will be sharing her experiences with High School choir and band in a public school, and I will be sharing my experiences with middle school-high school choir and musical theater at a private school.  We will be sharing tips and tricks, teaching resources, lesson plans, lessons learned, and much more.  The blog is not completely "ready" yet, but we've started scheduling content, so it's on its way!

Please tell all your teacher friends to check us out!

Blog content for Alone with my tea will not change.  Once school resumes I will have less time to blog, but I will still update with travel stories, life updates, and crafty projects.

Guest Post on The Thrifty Gypsy's Travels

Hey Everyone, today I'm guest posting over at The Thrifty Gypsy Travels.  Make sure you head over there to read about my personal struggles and joys of living overseas.  And while you're over there, check out the rest of Katrina's blog.  She has managed to live frugally in order to travel to some amazing places.  She's had some one-of-a-kind experiences, such as being in Germany when they won the world cup, local exploration of her home state of Virginia, swimming in a secret grotto, and camping with giant warthogs in Africa!  She has a great perspective on why you should visit Greece now, even in the midst of their economic crisis, and she wrote an insightful article that I love about how traveling provokes.

See you over at The Thrifty Gypsy's Travels!

Guest Post || Katrina from The Thrifty Gypsy's Travels

Today I have a special treat for you!  My friend, Katrina, from The Thrifty Gypsy's Travels is guest-posting on my blog.  I'm not sure exactly how Katrina and I found each other in the blog-o-sphere, but I'm so glad we did.  Her blog is filled with travel tips, stories, and adventures, ranging from Europe to Africa, to her own backyard of beautiful Virginia.   I loved her posts about braving your fear of heights, tiptoeing around Mt. Vesuvius, and her greatest adventure of all.  I hope you enjoy this post.  Take it away, Katrina!

Our #EurSoGypsy 2015 adventure

What happens when Alone With My Tea meets with traveling tips and haphazard, pizza-throwing vacation stories?  A guest post exchange, that's what! Hi, I'm Katrina, and I blog about international and backyard traveling on a budget at The Thrifty Gypsy's Travels (TGT). I'm one-third of a traveling ninja team that includes my Bavarian Southern Gentleman husband, Danny, and our as yet passport-less Baby Gypsy, due to arrive at the end of the year. I've been following Julie's lifestyle and travel stories for over a year now and am excited to swap blogs for the day to introduce myself!

These days, the internet is absolutely saturated with travel blogs for every niche and cranny. So you're probably wondering what in the world makes TGT worth checking out. Well, for one, you'll find that I'm absolutely hilarious, the most modest chap you'll ever meet, and beyond fluent in sarcasm in at least three languages, including Pig Latin. If that's not reason enough, perhaps you may want to read about travel mishaps such as when I elbowed a waiter in the groin  or had a genuine Italian bird "baptize" me while in Rome. But if those noteworthy reasons still fail to sway you, perhaps you want to know how my husband and I managed two different trips to Europe while working low-wage jobs and even when unemployed?

Honeymoon in Germany, 2010

If TGT were to have a mantra, it would be "live within your means, so you can travel beyond your dreams" -- right behind "drink all the wines," that is (just not when pregnant). I'm a firm believer that anyone can travel so long as they make it a priority, and that is the recurring theme of TGT. You don't need to be rich in order to travel, but you do need to be disciplined and plan according to your budget limits. As I hinted above, my husband and I managed to visit Germany for a three-week honeymoon in 2010 when I was earning low wages at an Italian ice shop and my husband was working at a grocery store while also going back to school. To say that money was tight would be an understatement! Or there was the time that my husband became unemployed within two weeks of our trip to Europe, but thanks to having carefully budgeted and paid for the trip before departure, we were still able to make some great memories howling at a blue moon in Prague without dreading the credit card bills on our return. While our financial standing has (thankfully) improved since then, we still live carefully within our means and budget our time and money to support our travel addiction without endangering the future of our daily lives.

So basically, TGT stands out from other travel blogs because we're just an average Joe and Jane with a dog, a kid on the way, and a passion for traveling well within a reasonable budget. We work our 9 to 5 jobs like everyone else while spending our weekends and coveted PTO exploring our backyard and the world beyond it. If those aren't good enough reasons to check us out, well then, maybe you'd like to know where you can swim in your very own mermaid cove that also once used to be a Roman villa?

The Bagni della Regina Giovanna is one of Italy's hidden jewels.

Like Bilbo Baggins said so well, you never know what will happen when you step outside your front door.  You, too, may be changed in ways you could never imagine!

**************************************************************************************

I hope you're inspired by Katrina's blog!  Make sure you follow along with her adventures:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thriftygypsytravels 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/thriftygypsy87

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thriftygypsy87

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/thriftygypsy87

Bloglovin': https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/thrifty-gypsys-travels-13780283

Did you like this guest-post?  You could be next!  Send me an email if you're interested in a guest-post exchange!  alonewithmytea (at) gmail (dot) com.

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Linking up with A Compass Rose for Travel Tuesday

Blogging Break

I had so many great intentions for keeping my blog going this year.  I have so many posts in my drafts folder.  But I just can't seem to finish them.  I have begun to realize that when I start to think about finishing those posts, I get anxious and frustrated and I postpone them.

I just don't think I can blog right now.

I LOVE reading blogs, and having my blog in Rio kept me sane, seriously.  But I want it to be something I do for fun, not because I feel obligated.

I feel a little bit guilty for wanting take an official break.  But at the same time, if I just don't post for awhile without mentioning anything, then I feel like a flake.  So I just wanted to take the time to mention on here that I'll be purposefully taking a break from blogging.  If I start to feel inspired again, and if I get around to finishing those other posts, then I'll get back on here and start it up again.  But for now, I just need to concentrate on my real job.  I'm taking my choir to "honor choir" this weekend, next weekend I have a 3 day conference, and in February we have our Beauty and the Beast production.  So I have quite a bit on my plate right now.

I know that when I have spring and summer breaks I'll do some traveling, and so I hope to post some more then.

I'll also continue to read all the blogs that I'm currently following.  In case you want to discover any new blogs to follow, here is a list of all the blogs I regularly read.  It might seem like a lot, but they don't all post every day and some are even on "breaks" of their own.  I hope you check some out!

Art
Alisa Burke
Colossal
Emma Block
Emma Kisstina
Geninne
Hart
Jennifer Frith
MakeWells

Beauty/Fashion
A Model Recommends
Essie Button
Garance Dore
Amelia Liana
Lily Pebbles
Lisa Eldridge
Pen. Paper. Polish.
The Beauty Look Book
The Beauty Department
Vivianna Does Makeup

Food
Manger
Keto Adapted
Real Food RN
Roost
Tea Cup Tea
The Skinny Confidential

Lifestyle
A Beautiful Mess
A Cup of Jo
Chasing My Extraordinary
Craftberry Bush
Daydreams of Summertime
iHeart Organizing
Liberty or Death
Megan Nielsen
My Ideal Home
Oh the Lovely Things
Perfect Harmonies
The Small Things Blog
This Darling Day
Wit and Whistle
Witness the Miracle

Travel
Adventitious Violet
A Girl and Her Travels
Girl Meets Globe
In Search Of
Ink and Adventure
Living in Another Language
Mr. and Mrs. Globetrot
Paris in Four Months
Postcards from Rachel
Rhyme and Ribbons
Snow in Tromso
The Misadventures of Morgan
The Thrifty Gypsy Travels
To the Sea
Valerie's Adventures
World of Wanderlust


Whew! Those should keep you busy for awhile!  Let me know which ones you check out.

In the meantime, wish me luck.  I have a very busy semester ahead!

XOXO,
Julie

Blogtober Day 4 - My favorite Instagram

Day 1, 2, 3

Day 4: My favorite Instagram

It was pretty difficult to narrow it down, but I'm sticking with this one.  This is when two of our favorite people (this lovely lady) came to visit us in Rio de Janeiro.  We had such a fun time with them and I think this picture turned out awesome!

P.S. you can follow my instagram here.

Blogtober Day 3 - One thing you can't live without

#Blogtober14

Day 1 here, Day 2 here.

Day 3: One thing you can't live without.

Ok my answer is going to sound really strange for this one.  You're all expecting me to say something like, "Peter," or, "music," or "Mexican food," and those are all great things.  But my answer is this: I really, truly can't live without... my toothbrush!  And dental floss, too, for that matter.  I hate, hate, hate, hate the feeling of dirty teeth.  And I love flossing my teeth.  Sometimes I crave (and I don't use that word lightly) flossing.  Seriously, I'm weird.

Sooo what is the one thing you can't live without???

By the way, when I was doing online dating (where I met Peter), our profiles included "top 5 things you can't live without" and, yes, one of my top 5 things was my toothbrush.  And, yes, Peter mentioned it and thought it was weird.  But he married me anyway...

Thanks for reading!

XOXO,

Julie

Blogtober 2014 Day 1

I decided to follow the #blogtober14 prompts for this month.  I thought they were interesting prompts and it takes the pressure off a little bit of thinking of interesting things to post about.  I don't like to post just for the sake of posting, so my blog tends to be neglected when I don't have any good ideas.

Even though I still have more Rio pictures to share, some heart-felt essays already typed up, and some other post ideas sitting in my drafts, I can't bring myself to drum up the emotional stamina needed to go back in and post them.  I'm in a weird place, emotionally, right now and especially when I think about the year in Rio, so I don't really want to post those particular posts quite yet.  Hopefully someday I'll be ready.  I hope that makes sense.  Anyway, on to the prompts!

October 1st: If you won the lottery you'd...

First of all I'd pay off all of my students loans and pay off the rest of my parents' debt.  If there was any leftover I'd take a trip to Europe with Peter.  Then if there was still any leftover I'd like to help my siblings and close friends out with any financial issues they might be having.  We also have a bunch of friends who are missionaries who could really use our support, and I'd really like to sponsor another child through Compassion again (had to cancel last year, after 8 years, because we couldn't afford it.  So sad.)

So, what would YOU do if you won the lottery?

Are you following along with #blogtober14?  If so, please leave me links to your posts!

XO,

Julie

Updates and Changes

Hello!  It's been awhile since I've posted.  Even longer since I've posted regularly.  When I was in Rio, I blogged just about every day.  It helped fill the lonely days and gave me something to look forward to.  I was only working part time and didn't have many friends, so blogging gave me a community to connect with.  It definitely saved my sanity.

Now that I'm teaching full time, I still WANT to blog, but just haven't had the energy yet.  As many of you know, we moved from Rio to California and then from California to Alabama... and then I started teaching right away.  The transition has been exhausting and, almost a month later, I'm still not feeling 100%.  I come home from school feeling like a zombie.  I go to bed before 9pm every night.  I feel so pathetic... and old.

I also feel pressure.  Pressure to blog, pressure to finish our road trip vlog, pressure to say something so that I won't lose any followers.  It's all self-inflicted, I know, but I can't help it.  I don't want to give up my blog yet.  We have so many adventures planned, lots of places we want to explore, that I just don't think it's right to stop blogging.  However, the posts might be few and far between, and that makes me feel guilty.

Can I accept that I might lose followers (or not gain followers)?  Can I accept that the content might not be as interesting as Christ the Redeemer, the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, or cute little monkeys?

Whether I like it or not, that's how it's going to be for awhile.  Maybe things will settle down, I'll get into more of a routine, feel more rested, have more energy, and I'll start preparing more blog posts to share.  In the meantime, I'll just have to get to it when I get to it.  I do hope that all my lovely readers will continue to check back from time to time (or better yet, subscribe!), so that when I DO share something interesting, you'll be the first to know!

In the meantime, here are some Instagrams of our road trip:

CRACKER BARREL!

Roadtrip entertainment

The most interesting gas station in America?

Mario?  Are you there?

You know you're in the South when...

XOXO,

Julie

P.S.
I'm still reading all the blogs I follow but I'm not commenting as much anymore...  :(

Some updates

Hi Folks,

Well I've changed my blog header for the millionth time, but I think it's going to stay in some sort of version of this one for awhile.  I like it!

Also, I've added Disqus for comments.  One thing I noticed about Blogger comments is that it doesn't notify me if someone replied to my comment, or if someone replied to my comments, etc. etc..  So if you comment on my blog (using Blogger) and I reply, you will have no idea unless you hunt down your comment again.  Very frustrating.  So I decided to switch to Disqus, because I find it sooo much easier for keeping track of comments.

I have been using Disqus to interact on other peoples' blogs, and I LOVE it.  It's so easy to keep track of where you've commented, who has replied to whom, etc.  I highly suggest you create a Disqus account and use it for blog commenting (including commenting on Alone with my tea).  You will get an email if I reply to your comment, and everyone will be happy knowing that everyone's voices, opinions, and comments have been heard!

Thanks for reading, and I promise there are some more interesting posts coming up soon!

XO,

Julie

In case you missed it:
How cute is this old man?
How do you stay organized?

Streamlining

Over the past year or so, I've tossed around thoughts of moving my blog away from Blogger, transitioning to a different type of blog, making a different type of website, etc.  I started creating a new website on a different host, then decided I didn't want to do that.  (It's still sitting there, waiting to be published)  I "updated" my blog look through Blogger several times.  But in the end, I'm just not sure what I want to do.

This blog is really just for fun, a hobby, and I don't think it will ever get a lot of readers.  But then again, maybe it would get more readers if it looked more professional.  Back and forth in my mind all the time.  What to do?  What to do?

Well, in the meantime, here's what I've decided:

I'm going to stick with Blogger (it's free, after all... and I read many blogs that are extremely popular that use Blogger).  I'm going to try to make it look as professional as possible with what Blogger allows.  I'm going to buy a domain name, though, but the hosting will stay the same.

I'm going to have a real logo created, and I'm going to continue to post whatever I like and don't worry about how "popular" it is.  :)  But who knows, I might change my mind next week.  I tend to do that.

Here is a design of a logo that I want, and now Peter just has to make it look better.  I just threw it together using the Paper app on my ipad.

What do you think?  Should I invest more time and money to develop my blog and grow my readership?  Should I try to transition it from just a hobby to a part-time job?

A blog tour

Today I thought it would be fun to share some past blog posts that I love rereading.  I love to be inspired by past bursts of creativity, I love to relive the memories, and I love to see how far I've come.  I hope you enjoy looking around!

***From the Atelier tab***

DIY Heart Garland

The Americas Art Journal

Flowers and Music Collage

***From the Wanderlust tab***

My first attempt at macro photography

My first visit to Brazil

Beautiful San Diego

I love the jungle

A South Korean Palace

Check out the Inspiration tab for other blogs that I love.

Also, check out the Behind the Scenes tab for who I am and why I do what I do.

Thanks for reading!

Saturday Share-day

I follow a variety of blogs, for varying reasons.  I thought it would be nice to share several blogs that I recommend you check out.  You won't be disappointed!

For DIY and Lifestyle:

#1.  http://www.abeautifulmess.com/ - A Beautiful Mess is a very successful website (blog).  They get over 5 million hits in one month.  They have over 40,000 subscribers, so they must be doing something right!  This site is run by two sisters.  They share diy projects, recipes, home decor, and lots of random stuff.  It's pretty awesome, check it out!

 

#2.  http://www.ellinee.com/blog/ - I just found Ellinee today and I'm obsessed.  Party ideas, decoration ideas, tutorials, tons of free printables!  Free printables!!!!! You need to subscribe to this blog!

#3.  http://www.newdressaday.com/ - New Dress a Day is a blog I've been following for probably 2 years.  She takes cheap, thrift store dresses and turns them into wearable, wonderful new outfits.  It's really quite amazing.  

#4.  http://thespottedfox.com/ - The Spotten Fox is a blog I've just started getting into.  I like browsing her posts for inspiration.  I also really like how her website is designed.  

#5.  http://witandwhistle.com/blog/ - I like this blog specifically for her hand lettering posts.  I would really love to practice hand lettering, but alas, that must be saved for after grad school!  So instead I read blogs and gather inspiration for when I have more free time!

I hope you are inspired!  As always...

xo,

Julie

facebook.com/alonewithmytea

instagram: @juliesmithmusic

I am in no way receiving compensation or recognition from the artists or anyone else affiliated with him/her or his/her website. 

Calling all artists or wanna-be artists!

Hi friends!


I want to showcase YOU!  Do you (or your kids, nieces or nephews, grandchildren, etc.) have any interesting paintings, drawings, doodles, sketches,collages, photographs, sculptures, etc???*  I would love to see YOUR (and their) artwork!  I want this blog to be a place where everyone can be included - experts and amateurs, old and young, experienced and inexperienced, traditional and non-traditional, you get the idea...


Please send me a picture (or two or three) of your artwork and a paragraph (or two or three) about it.  The story behind the piece is the best part!  Why did you create it?  What was your inspiration?  Where did you make it?  What did you use to make it? Do you have a website?  How can people see more of your work?  Etc...


I am working on creating a submissions template, but for the time being, please send me an email!** 
alonewithmytea@gmail.com


Send me your art!  Tell your friends!  Let's get this blog overflowing with your creativity!  This is going to be exciting!  


As always, thanks for reading!


Julie


P.S.
COMING UP - 
Snail mail ideas
Art journal challenge
Contest and prizes!
Be sure to check back!


*Depending on the success of this venture, I may consider other types of art - including music, dance, etc.  Send me a video and I may decide to include it! 
**By sending me an email  you are giving me permission to publish the contents on my blog and in any other blog-promotional venues (pinterest, twitter, etc).  I promise not to sell it or distribute it in any other manner without your written permission.

Facebook page for alonewithmytea

A lot of people know that I hate facebook.  I really really hate it.  Really.  Lots of reasons why.  Maybe someday I'll write a post detailing all the reasons I hate facebook.  There is one advantage to facebook, however.  And that is getting information out to a large number of people at once.

I'd really like my blog to get more hits, create a following, get more people interested, more people reading.  So I created a facebook page for my blog.  Yes, I did.  How am I justifying this?  Well, for one, pages don't have "friends."  They have "likes."  That makes a big difference.  If you have a page you are basically removed from the body of facebook.  You are able to stay a little bit more removed from the whole "facebook experience" while at the same time putting your information out there for all the masses to see.

All that being said, please head over to facebook.com/alonewithmytea and "like" my page!  I'd really really appreciate it.

It might make it easier for you to get updates from my blog.  Maybe it will make my blog more visible to others who wouldn't otherwise have seen it.  Whatever the case may be, I'm hoping it will draw more traffic to my humble blog!  If it turns out to be an epic fail, well, at least I tried!

:)

www.facebook.com/alonewithmytea

Blog styles

I'm playing around with blog styles/templates/layouts.  What do you like best?  Please leave a comment!