An Ode to Pinterest

Today, I would like to unabashedly declare my love for Pinterest, a social networking site that allows you to create virtual pinboards and follow other pinners.  I am relatively new to the Pinterest scene, but I adore it for two key reasons:

1) There are limitless frugal ideas for meals, DIY projects, home decorating, lesson plans and classroom organization, etc.  Whenever I feel like I'm in a rut--using the same blah lessons, rotating the same five meal ideas, staring at my stark white, blank walls--I hop onto Pinterest for inspiration.  Just recently, I tried an artichoke pasta recipe that my friend had pinned.  The dish was created with 6-7 ingredients.  It was light and healthy, savory and cheap!

2) I can use Pinterest as a tool for motivation.  I have to admit, spring seems to be my season for impulse purchases.  The sunny, crisp Texas weather cries for flowy cotton dresses and wedges.  Spring Break makes me want to hop a plane to a beach somewhere in the Caribbean.  But seeing the things I have pinned on my own boards makes me think long and hard about my long-term goals vs. my immediate wants.  For example, I have one board filled with my 2012 financial goals, and one board filled with places I long to see one day.  Looking at these boards cause me to reconsider the cute shoes I just HAVE to have--or at least to wait until they are on clearance.

Despite the controversy about copyright infringement and the copious amounts of time I spend on there, I still love Pinterest and cannot wait to copy some of the apartment and culinary projects when I have more free time this summer.

You Turn:
   Are there any websites-social networking or otherwise--that keep you inspired and motivated to stick with your financial goals? 

It's that Time of Year Again....

As a teacher, this is one of the hardest points in the school year for me.  Winter vacation is now comfortably in the past (and with it, my peace and rejuvenation).  Spring break looms one and a half months away.  There is a sense of urgency in administering a new round of assessments, entering in grades and helping my most struggling students catch up.  The kids are cutely (annoyingly?) rambunctious and re-testing my boundaries.  The end of the school year seems excruciatingly long and impossibly short all at the same time.

I want to be energized and positive, but I'm drained.  I'm planning on spending the rest of this evening snuggled on the couch listening to the all-too-rare rain falling, grading some papers and watching Downton Abbey.  Have a good night.