Oh Tuesday, We Meet Again!

Tuesday seems to be my default day for posting my weekly spread!  It will hopefully only be a few more weeks and I'll be able to get these done on Sundays (fingers crossed)...For now, here is next week!

There are a lot of checklists and not as many fun stickers as I want,  but I have an insane amount of work to get done around the house and I need the space.  I can't wait to start using my Erin Condren Life Planner - there's just SO MUCH MORE SPACE!!  I may go back and add some more stickers when the week is done, but I'm trying to finish out this year without buying too many more stickers (are there too many stickers??) - but it is $2 Tuesday somewhere 🤔...

Here is last weeks spread completed!  I will admit that I needed to backfill the weekend, but I don't feel too guilty about it.  I have decided that even though I like working in pencil it's just too hard to read!  The entire red ombre checklist is completed but it looks empty 😒.  So starting next week I'll be trying out pens!

Happy Planning!
Beth

5 Things I've Learned About My Planner Style

In typical me fashion, it has taken me several weeks to catch up to my plans.  I wanted to post each week with before and afters...which I forgot to take for most of my spreads.  Oh well.  Here are the past few weeks #afterthepen (well pencil in my case).

Nothing too fancy, but I like them so far.   #practiceplanner

I thought I'd share some of the things I've learned in the few weeks since I started, because just throwing the planner pictures up just isn't my style 😉

 5 things I have learned so far:

1)  I like using pencil.  I like how my handwriting is better than with pen, and how not permanent it is (because things always change, especially that To Do checklist). 👍

2)  I like using the monthly view and the weekly view.  At first I didn't plan to use the monthly page, but it has really come in handy.  I use it to plan Micah's new food schedule, write down appointments and plans, and keep track of birthdays.  Then I move everything to the weekly view when I'm planning the next week.  Super useful!!🙌

3)  I like a more "white space" planning style.  I like it more than covering the whole page in stickers.  Personally, if I was going to cover it all in stickers I would buy a plain sketchbook to use,  not spend $50+ on a planner.  That's just my thought - you do you and do what makes you happy ☺

4)  I like having a checklist, but not the same one every day.  I like to change them up from the little bar type to the ombre type, oh and the individual dots...yeah I like them all 💕

5)  I like a coordinated month, instead of just a week.  Lots of people like to use a different kit for each week.  I can totally see the draw for that - there are SO MANY adorable kits available!!  I like using the same colors for a month at a time, but using different accent stickers.  I think it helps tie it all together, and since I also like white space it helps keep the cost down.  If I let myself I could easily spend hundreds of dollars on sticker kits - like today, no problem.  #iwantallthestickers

There you go - 5 things I've learned so far on my planner journey.  There's more I'm sure, but I'll save them for another time.  Now I need to go start this week's spread, my goal is to get it up on Instagram today so I'm back on schedule...fingers crossed!

Happy Planning!
Beth

The Start of My Planner Obsession

My life has changed a lot in the last year and it can all be summed up by this: I had a baby!  It has been a crazy, wonderful and chaotic 6+ months, and I wouldn't trade a minute of it.  I am now a Stay at Home Mom, instead of just a (slightly lazy) Housewife.  When I first stopped working I had a lot of plans about how I was going to craft and sew, scrapbook and bake...basically all of the things I love to do.  I also had this idea that it would automatically be easier to be organized and to keep my house clean - I mean there are so many more hours in the day when you don't have to drag yourself to work!  While I will admit I didn't get nearly as organized as I wanted to, or have the house as clean as I thought it should be, I did get close for a short time.  Once I was pregnant everything went out the window - I was tired (SO VERY TIRED) during my entire pregnancy, and I was also mildly sick for most of it.  If I managed dinner, it was a good day.  All of my organizing plans were abandoned - I did what I could and that had to be enough (I was growing a person for heavensakes!).

I thought I knew how chaotic having a baby would be - I made freezer meals and did as much cleaning as possible so I could focus on our little bundle of joy for the first few weeks...thinking that by the time my husband went back to work I should be able to get at least a simple routine down (Don't laugh so loud, it's rude...alright it would be if I wasn't laughing too!).  The funny thing is I did have the start of a routine down - for like a day!  Something that is hard to grasp until you are there in the thick of it is how fast babies change!  Everytime you think they are settled into a routine or a schedule or a personality - they will change!  Growth spurts, colds and teething OhMy!  So after trying to get a routine down, and being frustrated with having to change it constantly- I gave in.  I did not give up, but I gave in to the needs of my son and changed my expectations and my plans.  I have a happy baby who has so much energy that even at 3 weeks he constantly wanted to move - which meant I constantly had to move (there was a solid week where I hated my balance ball).  That need for movement has never changed, but luckily he can mostly move himself now!!  And finally, at 6 months, I feel like we can have a routine that involves more than eating, sleeping or playing.  We have settled into a time schedule that gives me enough time to get small chores done during the day (instead of cramming them all into the evening) and I can make meals that take longer than 15 minutes to prepare (you know, if I wanted to)!

So, what does this long ramble mean, and where does a planner obsession come in?  Well, long story even longer, I need to get re-organized and I am ready to get started.  Do you ever have a moment where it all just makes sense?  I was thinking about how I wanted to get organized and the same day I saw a video that two of my favorite YouTube Vloggers did together about their new Erin Condren Life Planners and decorating them with stickers!!  It was love at first sight!!  I couldn't believe that this was a 'thing' - and apparently it's a lot more popular than I would have ever thought!  I love the idea that I can be crafty and at the same time I'm being productive.  I have an entire crafty room,  but I just can't see myself having enough time to do anything in there for awhile.   Someday,  but not now.  For now, I can find time to sit down, decorate and plan out a week at a time (probably, fingers crossed).

Being the impatient person I can be - I immediately called (ok I texted) my two besties - who were also excited to play with stickers.  They already use planners,  but I think my last planner was dated for the 90's, so I went out and bought a planner and some stickers.  Since it's late in the year and sometimes I'm not great at following through,  I bought it at the dollar store.   There is nothing wrong with it,  I actually really like it,  but it doesn't fill my heart with joy and a need to organize and USE it the way all the fancy planners on YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest do.

My first weekly spread.

After using it and being disappointed for a week,  and obsessively watching videos,  I bought myself an Erin Condren Life Planner for my birthday!  It was expensive, and it took my husband telling me to just buy it already, but I am so excited to get it and use it!!  Since we are so close to the end of the year I got one that just has 2017 in it,  and I decided to use my current one as practice to see what format and types of stickers I'll actually like using.  I bought a Fall themed set of planner stickers for the next few months,  and I'll get a Christmas set in a few weeks.  Oh the stickers!!!  That will be the hardest part - not buying all the stickers!!  I already asked for a new color printer for Christmas so I can print out stickers...

So, now we come to the point of this blog: It's somewhere a newbie like me can play with stickers, share that with other interested people and hopefully be more organized along the way!!  There will also be lots of Mommy posts and other random things along the way...

Happy Planning!
Beth