holiday planner freebie!

 I love planners! I love to feel organized, and there is nothing like having all your thoughts, ideas, and to-do's listed on paper for you make sure you are keeping on top of things.  Being organized is especially important around a busy time of year like the holidays! I thought about using a notebook, but wanted to make it more fun and personalized. I decided to come up with a planner that could be re-used year after year.  

I have created each item as its own file, and this way you can print as many as you need of each section.  You can also keep printing them out and re-using them each year.  The nine sections include: 

• a budget planner to make sure you don't over do it on gifts and decorations
• a holiday supply checklist to keep track of decorations and wrapping supplies you need to stock up on for the season.
• a gift-giving list to keep track of all your gift ideas
• a shopping planner to keep track of stores you want to hit up on Black Friday as well as the sites you want to visit on Cyber Monday
• a Christmas card list with names and addresses
• a holiday events planner for keeping track of parties, activities for the kids, etc.
• a holiday menu planner to organize your holiday meal menu and their preparation times so you know when to start preparing each item.
• a grocery list to write down all the items you need to purchase for your holiday meal or any edible gifts you want to make
• a holiday to-do list that counts down all the things that need to be done leading up to Christmas such as decorating, ordering Christmas cards, wrapping gifts, etc.  The to-do list is my favorite part of the planner and it has three pages of tasks that start counting 8 weeks before Christmas.  I know some don't like to think about Christmas before Halloween or even Thanksgiving, but personally I think it is comforting to know that you are staying on top of all the things that need to be done during the busy holiday season.  This way you are not scrambling about the last couple weeks before Christmas - battling crowds at the mall or staying up late wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve.  I think that this time of year should be about family and spending time together, and by being organized you can do a little bit here and there and still have plenty of time to enjoy the season with your loved ones.

I've also included a blank monthly calendar that you can use along with the to-do list to make sure you get everything done when you want to!

There is a coordinated cover page that tops it all off! It has room to write the year above the words "holiday planner".

There are many different ways to organize your planner once you have printed all the pages.  I was going to buy a three-ring binder that has a clear pocket on the front to put the cover in.  I was going to, until I saw this cute binder and I had to have it: 

I just put the cover page as the first page inside the binder:

You can organize the sections however you want, and some might want to include divider tabs for each section in their binder.  You can keep it as simple or make it as creative as you want!  And the best part is, you are well on your way to being organized this holiday season!

tonight finds me looking back...

at my first blog and reading old posts that a girl just like me wrote on a night just like tonight.  It was a post I wrote as the summer was ending and the fall was beginning, and the days were getting shorter and I felt that I wasn't using my time wisely enough.  And the thing is, as I read that post I realized I am still that same girl.  I still feel like I am a slave to my tasks and I am not focusing on what is important.  I don't particularly enjoy laundry, vacuuming, or dishes, but they have to get done and my perfectionism forces me to get them crossed off my to-do list instead of just letting it go every once and a while.  I had written a prayer to Him at the end of that post and said it was my new purpose statement.  Well truth is, it has been three years and I still feel like I am back where I started.  So I am going to end this post once again with my prayer.  And I really want to make sure that three years from now I am not sitting here feeling like I am still in the same place I once was.  I want to change my life for the better, starting one day at a time.  And I know some will be good days, and some will be bad days, but I want them to be His days...

Jesus, this is still my purpose statement, one that I tell You from the very depths of my heart.  I want to be a wife first and a mother second, and a housekeeper very dead last or perhaps not even at all.  I want to treasure my children not a sparkling kitchen, I want to bake apple pies with them and go see the animals at the zoo.  I want to sit on the floor and read book after book and make a tower with blocks so high and knock it all down just to build it again.  I want to lay in my husbands arms at night and feel his heart beating and the rise and fall of his chest, and be content with who I am.  I don't want to feel lost anymore, I want to feel like I am truly myself for the first time.  Please help me to give it all to You each day.  To find rest in You alone.  To go from strength to strength, and every one of them Yours.  Please help me to feel content with the busyness of work and commuting and the chores that have to be done and keep me from focusing on them as if they are all that my life consists of.  Please help me not to be consumed with the day to day but to be consumed by You and the blessings that you have given me each day. Take my life and let it be consecrated it all to Thee... 

using my erin condren planner...

So I have had a few days to play around with my planner and I think I have figured out a system that will work well for me.  Like I said in my last post, everyone uses theirs a little differently, and I drew on a few different ideas and put it all together to make it something that I like.

The first thing I did was gather all my supplies together.  I got markers, stickers, washi tape, post-its, paper clips, pens, and sharpie markers all together in a cute little heart box I found at Target a while back.  Then I got out my planner and got ready to get to work.

 The first page is a place to put your contact info, but with the cover being plastic, it is not easy to write anything here.  I had read somewhere that someone used a sharpie, but I wasn't wild about that idea.  I decided on using one of the labels that came free with my planner.  I cut it out to fit in this section and wrote in my contact information.

Then I started working on the month view pages.  I wrote in important work and school schedules so that I could see it all at once, such as the Saturdays that I have to work (ugh) as well as the days that the girls are off from school.  Anything that happens on more than one day, I used washi tape so that I didnt have to write something over and over four or five times.  Below I used gray washi tape to show a week when school is closed, and I used pink washi tape to show that every Wednesday the girls go to church for Boulevards.  Then I used the stickers that come with the planner to highlight special things I have planned that month.

The weekly view is really my favorite.  I wrote in events, schedules, tasks and to-dos in their respective time-frames. I have decided to color-code each person by placing a dot next to the item.  For example, my husbands color is blue and I put a blue dot next to his "to-do".  I used square post-it notes in the night section to show my ideas for dinner.  Now if you are anything like me, you end up changing your mind on what you make which night about fourteen times before the week is out.  I liked the post-it note idea so that I don't have to cross out and write in, I can just switch the post-it notes around.  I am not sure if I saw this idea in someone else's blog or if I came up with it myself. I think I came up with it myself - a genius really.

Another thing I LOVE is using colored rectangle post-its to put my weekly household chores in.  This is for two reasons:  Just like with the meals, I can rearrange which day I do these, and I can also re-use them and put them back in my planner for another day next week after I complete that particular task.  (You know we end up doing these EVERY week - why waste paper?)  And I like that my planner doesn't look as cluttered when I move them to another day.  Do I really need to be reminded of the 736769056 times I have done laundry this year as I look back?

Also, I didn't end up taking a picture of this but I used the far left column to keep track of the chapters I need to read each week for my Bible study that I am a part of, as well as a way to tally how many times a week I work out.  Each time I complete one of these things I just check a box.  The bottom of each day has a place for notes as well, and I use this section to write in things like: "work on scrapbook", or "watch CSI", things that I plan on doing if I have any free time, not exactly a to-do.

So I hope that helps some of you if you are trying how to get the best use out of your planner.  I really love it and am enjoying that all our crazy schedules are all in one place - it makes me feel more in control, just being organized :)

introducing my erin condren life planner...

So a few weeks ago I was looking at other people's blogs and I came across one that mostly talks about organization (right up my alley) and one of the posts was about this planner.  It was an Erin Condren Life Planner (check her out here ) and I cannot believe I had not heard about her or these planners before.  Planners are like my life line.  It is such a relief to be able to walk around with my tasks/schedules/thoughts down on paper, not just always kept in my head.  These planners are so cute and seem to have everything I could want in a planner.  There was only one problem - they are $50!!!!  I think that is a LOT of money and I couldn't justify spending it on a planner even if it would be adorable, and personalized, and a life-saver, and sooo me.  Who am I kidding, I totally bought it after drooling thinking about it all afternoon.  So that was September 18.  And after that day I started checking my account every day until I saw this:

I was super excited because it was shipped a week earlier than the deadline they gave me.  So then I started stalking checking the FedEx website with the tracking # they gave me.  It took sooooooooo long (it felt like that, but really was only a week) before I checked and saw this:

 

That totally made my day!  It was a long day at work waiting to get home and open it!  When I got home I made dinner, gave the girls baths, picked out their clothes for tomorrow, tucked them into bed, and FINALLY it was time to open my long-awaited package.

 

 

The package was so beautifully wrapped and I was so excited to finally see my planner in person with all of my favorite things listed on the cover!

 

 

Here are a few pictures of the inside of the planner so you can see it for yourself:

 Each month on two pages:

 Every week is broken down into two pages as well, with a morning, day, and night section as well as a note-taking section on the bottom of each day - PLENTY of space!

There is a page of stickers in the back to help certain events stand out:

 

Two pages of blank stickers that you can customize yourself:

 

Two folders in the back for you to place things in:

 

A ziplock pouch in the back for you to keep pens, markers, or anything else in (shown is my $10 giftcard that came with my planner to go towards a new one next year!)

 

I know I didn't go into a lot of detail about the planner itself other than the pictures, but there are SO many posts online about the Erin Condren planners so I didn't feel the need to do yet another in-depth review.  I will just say I think it is awesome and I am so excited it is finally here.  I will write another post in a day or two about how I am going to use my planner - you will also find a lot of posts online about how people use their planners, and everyone does it a little differently.  Its fun to make it work for you!  Want one of your own? Sign up for her website here !

 

 

while trying to make a life...

Lately I have been really struggling with my work/life balance.  Or what I feel is a lack thereof.  I am balancing a full-time job, my cake business, my two girls and their school schedules, laundry and cleaning house, packing lunches, while trying to find time for my husband, working out,  and perhaps some "me" time leftover.  I know that I have the same amount of time in a day as every one else,  I am just trying to prioritize it all and that is where I am having difficulty.  I have a LOT of friends/acquaintances that are able to be stay-at-home moms and I am having a very hard time struggling with jealousy over this.  I know that the money I bring in right now is necessary for our budget, but sometimes I wonder if there are other ways we could "make it work".  I think that my biggest issue is that I am at work for so much of the day that I have very little time to fit all the rest of it in.  I feel like my kids are growing up before my eyes and did I make enough cookies with them?  Did I read them enough stories?  I know they are still young and I (Lord willing) have many more years with them, but I can't help but feel like my days are rushing by and I am not making the most of it.  I have been doing some brainstorming for the past few weeks and I realize that right now I am where God has asked me to be.  I pray that one day I can stay home and work on my cake business full-time (my dream!) but I think that I need to honor Him and be content in His timing.  It is very hard to come home when it is dark outside (this will be happening soon!!) and try to fit in all of the above mentioned tasks. I pray that if it is His will, that He will open doors sooner rather than later for me to stay home and bake, and be there when my kids get off the bus!  I hope this becomes a reality some day - maybe once Charlotte is in school - but for now, I need to ask Him to give me a peace about my schedule and trust that He has a plan. 

autumn bucket list 2013

Autumn Bucket List 2013

1. Go apple picking, and then make an apple pie!

2. Go on a drive to look at fall foliage - just me and the hubs.

3.  Make some fall cookies!

4. Visit a pumpkin patch and then paint our pumpkins.

5. Make applesauce.

6. Make a thankfulness tree.

7.  Go through a corn maze.

8.  Make pumpkin pie playdough

9.  Make some fall pies.

10.  Go on a leaf nature hike as a family.

11.  Have a family fall photo shoot.

12.  Go to a fall festival!

13. Go on a hay ride.

14. Rake some leaves and JUMP!

15. Kids go trick or treating! Mom makes a black cat martini!

thirty one.

So I made a new list of things I want to do before my next birthday - (you can check out my old list here)  I added some of the ones that I did not finish onto my new list- Thirty one things to do before I turn thirty two.  Although it would be great to get them all crossed off by next year, this is just intended as a fun list to give me some ideas.

1. Spend a day at the beach by myself.

2.  Become certified to be an at-home baker!

3.  Make a will.

4.  Write a business plan.

5.  Achieve my goal weight!

6.  Run a half marathon.

7. Go to a concert.

8. Make a bucket list for each season for our family. (2/4)

9.   Save $1000 for my business.

10.  Find a picnic table for my back deck

11.  Grow an herb garden

12. Find something I'm afraid to do, and do it anyway.

13. Write a letter to my girls for them to read when they are older.

14.  plan a suprise party for my husband's .. GASP!.. 40th birthday! (who hopefully will not read this!)  Going to Florida instead!! Surprise!!

15.  Take a drive with my husband to see the fall foliage- no kids allowed!

16.  Make a baked good to give to charity/silent auction, etc.

17.  upgrade my phone!

18.  Paint my kitchen.

19. Decorate my kitchen backsplash, possibly with paint swatches.

20. Take my girls to Funtown.

21. Make a cake covered in sprinkles.

22. Make my own marshmallows.

23. Teach Rory how to read.

24.  Make my own vanilla extract.

25. Blog at least once a month (8/12)

26. Win a contest.

27. Take the girls on the train.

28.  Pay off my credit card.

29. Take a week-long vacation and do NOTHING.

30. Bring the girls to Boston for the day and go to the museum or the aquarium.

31. Achieve a better work/life balance.

hello 2013

Happy 2013! Last year I did Project Life by Becky Higgins and while I had the best of intentions, and even started out really well, it sort of fell by the wayside.  I ended up finishing it (although on time) with barely any pictures and grouped whole months together on a page.  I think part of this was because I didn't LOVE the project and did it solely out of obligation.  I am happy to have it done, but really want to do a better job this year.

This year I decided to skip the Project Life products and do a sort of smash journal idea with a 3 ring binder, lots of scrapbook paper, tags, journaling cards, and just my creativity to put it all together.  I may go back to Project Life next year (she has a lot of really cool designs coming out soon) but this year I really wanted to do something different.  I have found a lot of freebies while on pinterest for journaling cards and since I already have a lot of them already, I may do this again in years to come.  Another reason I felt that I did not make enough of an effort with my scrapbooking was that I kept everything down in the basement.  It is really cold down there and I felt that it was an inconvienence to go down there all the time to work.  Now I keep everything in my nightstand and I can sit on my cozy bed to work.  I have already found this to be a huge help, and have worked on my scrapbook almost every night.

Another problem I had with my scrapbook last year was that I didn't take enough pictures.  I tried doing Project365 in 2011- in which you take a picture every day for a year - but that didn't work out so well.  I end up really beating myself up over these "failures" and I don't want to set my self up for disappointment again.  That doesn't mean I won't ever do Project365 again in the future, but this year I really want to do it for the love of the project, and to chronicle this time in my life.  My kids are growing up, and life won't always be this way.  Sometimes it feels like this has been my life for ever and that it will never change- I have to remember that this is only a moment and when it is gone I won't remember the hard times, but miss the good ones.  I want to remember the good and the bad, because this is my life.

I have found a lot of really cute paper, and at this point, I think I am going to have different themes for each month.  I have been going back and forth on that - thinking that I should stick to one theme throughout the year, and perhaps use different seasonal pages for each holiday, but then I couldn't decide on one "theme" so I decided to use them all.  :)  I am going to try really hard to be diligent all year at recording, documenting, and taking pictures so that at the end of the year I feel like I have really captured "a year in our life"

Here are pictures of some of the really cute paper I found!