I have a new obsession!!!

I know its been so so long since I've posted anything.....issues issues issues....most of which have been resolved and now i can get back to doing things that I love....like blogging!!! Now to my new obsession....Filofax!!!! I know its been around forever....in fact I first learned about Filofax back in 1991....the price ran me straight to Day Runner! :)

Last year my obsession for planning and organizing led me Erin Condren life planners. It was first time in all my years of using planners that I used one faithfully and nearly everyday. She was so much fun! She made me smile everytime I looked at her. It was the first time I had a totally customized planner just for me and I couldn't help but smile everytime I needed to jot something down. I swore that I was a life time life planner user. I am, but this year I want something a little different. Oh I'll probably get another Erin Condren next year....maybe.....but I didn't have as much money to spend this year on a planner as I did last year. So I decided to look around and see what my options were with my limited budget. I even though about creating my own planner, but the cost of making one the way I wanted was more than just buying one already made. I looked at all the big brands....read countless blogs....and watched a ton of YouTube videos and discovered an entire Filofax community! I loved how the people were all excited about their Filo's and I loved how they were able to find cool ways to customize them. I loved how they were able to rearrange the internals to suit their needs and how much the binders are able to hold. I've also been looking at other ways of staying organized and together so I decided I wanted a planner that I could use as a wallet too. Filofax looked to fit that need too. I started back to school recently and I wanted to have a way to stay on top of my assignments and keep up with everything else in my life. About 6 years ago I bought a little Franklin Covey dayone 360 planner. It was nice but within a month of buying it I stopped using it. It just didn't fit me and I wasn't thinking that I could change it. So I recently found that old binder and some of the inserts, made some changes, added and subtracted a few things and now I'm using it....until....my Filofax comes!!! I went to the Filofax website and they are having a 60% off sale!!! I told my husband and he said "Get one! You don't wanna miss out on that sale!" So guess what.....I ordered a personal sized Dakota with an extra set of todo sheets and a set of financial sheets....with shipping....for guess how much....come on....guess....:).....OK....UNDER $40!!!! Only $38.50 to be exact! Their warehouse is closed for inventory now and orders won't ship until the 7th so I'm trying to wait patiently while I use my wanna be filo!! :) Once it comes I may do an unboxing video or at least post photos here. I loved my Erin Condren planner, for sure, and I got tons of compliments on it....even from Erin herself! But I wanted to feel a little more professional this year with splashes of color and fun mixed in....and the Filofax community has shown me the way!

Saw ya! <3 :)

3.29.12

It’s always darkest before the dawn

That’s what I’ve heard on TV or read in a book when a main character is facing some life altering situation. It’s always darkest before the dawn and then something miraculous happens and everything is all gravy. Well, I’ve certainly had enough of the dark times. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any darker, it did. It’s been almost a year since my mom died. April 9^th will be 365 days that heaven admitted my mom as God’s newest Angel and I’ve always thought since her death, that she’s been my Angel. 

Yesterday I was in such a dark place in my heart and in my head. I was missing my mom something awful and it was just becoming unbearable and yesterday morning I hit a “wall”. I felt like she had just died all over again and everything still felt so raw. There’s so much more I could talk about regarding everything that’s happened since Momma died, but to dredge it all up now is to relive it and right now, I’m just too happy to put myself thru that. One day I’ll share it, and believe me, you will see why it’s been such a painful journey. So, my wonderful husband, heartbroken because there’s nothing he can do to fix my pain, suggested that I call my Godmother. She and my mother were friends for 44 years before she passed and I really needed a mother figure to talk to. So I called her and we talked for about 2 hours. She told me funny stories about when she and my mom were in high school together. She reminded me of many things that my mom would say to cheer me up and she told me some hard things that I needed hear to begin the closure process of my grieving. I’ve come to accept what I need to do, I’m just not ready to do it. But the very acceptance of that fact lifted sooooo much weight off my shoulders and that heavy cloud that was suffocating my heart was beginning to lift. I started breathing easier and I actually felt like getting out of bed, washing my hair, and getting pretty! I did something I hadn’t done in almost 2 years…I gave myself a French pedicure! It turned out so pretty! Today, I even did my hair all pretty and I did my makeup! My husband was like “where’s my wife?” Even my 12 year-old son was like “Wow mom you look awesome!” I don’t know what tomorrow is gonna be like, but the way these last couple of days have gone, all I can do is look forward to it!

Sunrise sure is pretty isn’t it?

3.19.12

Sharing the love….

I’ve been loving my Erin Condren life planner so much that I went on the hunt for another giveaway and……

I found one!

Go to http://www.inthiswonderfullife.com/2012/03/erin-condren-giveaway.html to have a chance to win a $25 gift card. Even though I just got my 2012 planner, if I win I’m putting it towards a 2013 planner. I'm hooked!

Good luck!

Moving Day

The Author of this post is Freddy Savage

 When my husband told me we were moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, I was excited. We knew that his new position with his company would send us to one of several cities and we visited them all. Both Carolinas are absolutely beautiful states! Charlotte is the largest city and capitol of North Carolina, and has much to offer its residents. Moving from one large city to another is pretty easy because all of our needs – social, educational, spiritual – are more easily met. We are meeting with a realtor there next week and have already selected three or four areas in which we would like to look at homes. Our children are small and very resilient to change. We approach them with the move as an adventure. They have great attitudes about the change. In an effort to help them feel connected with looked at directtv options in the area to be sure they would be able to continue watching their favorite weekly programs. When they saw them listed, all was good with the move and the world!!

Obsessions can be life changing…..

It’s been about a week and half since my new bestie arrived. Of course, I mean my Erin Condren life planner. I’ve used her every day and it’s been such a pleasure! I even feel much more productive now and efficient with my time and I get so much more done now! I went grocery shopping for the 1^st time with a menu plan and I can’t express how nice it felt to shop with a purpose and not wonder down the aisles hoping for inspiration. My husband and I used to have the same "fight" everyday….”what’s for dinner? I don’t know….what do ya feel like?” every day. Not this week! And every Saturday morning we'll sit as a family and come up with a dinner menu for the week. It’s another nice way for us to get together and clown around. Also since she’s arrived, I use her to jot down blog ideas and I’ve even gained my 1^st follower! Thanx Jonnique!

I use my planner to keep track of everything, from our dinners to when it’s trash day. My hubby even teases me “do you need to check with your girl?” Still silly, gotta love him! I’ve even added a few things to her if you could believe it. Directly on the back of the on*the*go page (it’s a nice and thick page) I put 4 different color sticky tabs to mark my notes and my current week, some lined sticky paper for my quick lists, and a symbol key for my tasks so I remember what I’m “talking” about when I annotate my many lists. I got the personalized notepads, but I’m not wasting those for a Walmart list…..nope! J On the folder I put 2 big paper clips to hold the papers in the folder. I use the circle clips Erin included to hold my labels and cards together. I don’t like the way they bend my planner pages. I also used a pretty green binder clip to hold my notepad in place. I opened up my planner one time and the notepad went flying across the room….no more of that! I also put a couple of bright sticky pads in the plastic pouch for quick notes to leave for my kids or my hubby. They love the new me!

TAB FIX!

I also borrowed a tab fix from another blogger and used Avery 1.5” self-adhesive tabs. Tear them all the way open and they fit perfectly over the month tabs. Just peel off the adhesive strips and stick it to the page. They fit like a charm and you can hardly tell they are there. The adhesive part does cover about half a calendar day, but that’s an easy sacrifice when I’m saving my tabs. That was one of the reasons why I got the planner in the first place! I thought about using packing tape, but I wanted a more permanent solution and the Avery tabs do the trick. A little birdy told me that the 2013 life planners will come with laminated tabs…..yay! I can’t wait to see what other features will be included and I’ll be one of the first in line when she releases them in June.

Here's what it looks like......

my green, blue, yellow, and red tabs, lined sticky pad & symbol key

 I color code all my entries…..

 See how nice the tab fix is? Can hardly tell its there!

One of my paperclips holding in my weekly grocery list in the folder…

Pretty green binder clip holding in my pretty notepad…..

I use the circle pins for the cards and labels and those are the sticky notes I leave for my kids or my hubby….

So that’s how I’ve used my Erin Condren Life Planner. It’s been an investment that is becoming a staple in my life, for my life. Has your new planner helped you make positive changes in your life too? I’d love to hear about it!

Newest Obsession Realized!

Newest obsession is now a reality!

She’s here! My Erin Condren Life Planner finally arrived this afternoon! I didn’t even hear the fedex guy either. My and the kids where walking out the door for me to drop them off at the movies and there she was sitting on the porch waiting for me to claim her! I grabbed the box and ran my errands after I dropped the kids off. I couldn’t wait to get home! At every stop light and stop sign on the way I would look over at the box and think “I bet it’s as pretty as I hope it’ll be”. When I got home I was singing “look what came for me today!” I opened up the box and there was this gorgeous orange wrapping paper….well, here’s some pics so you can see for yourself.

I decided on the pool & mocha candy lace with my favorite pic of my hubby and babies. He took them to Sea World (in 2005) when we lived in San Diego and they took this and another pic I love. It was a half day for the kids and I had to work so Daddy worked it out!

I’m only showing 1 notepad here but I got 2 of them. I went to my local Walmart to get the Avery tabs for the tab-fix but they only had the color ones. Boo! I guess I’ll order them from amazon because I refuse to pay $20 bucks for tabs. Nope! Not gonna do it! Maybe the color ones won’t be so bad. The pack does include 5 clear ones as well. Anyway…..

As I was opening the box, all my gasps kept my husband looking at me all strange and finally he said “ok, lemme see this thing” and when I handed it to him, he smiled so big! Then he took out the labels and said “wowww!” and when I showed him the notepads, he dropped his voice a few octaves and said “from the desk of Monnique Arnold”. He’s so silly.

I’ve spent the last several hours putting in my important dates and phone numbers, upcoming appointments and commitments….my daughter talked me into doing a fashion show with her. Me? A fashion show? What are you talking about? Fashion show? What? Are you crazy? Fashion show?

Yeah, fashion show!

So I put that in my planner as well. It just makes me happy to look at it and now I’m so motivated to get completely organized, I’m organizing a mission to get organized! I stumbled upon an awesome blog a bowl full of lemons, and let me tell you, this woman is an organizing genius! Check her out. Part of my commitment to myself to be less stressed is to get more organized and i think she can help. Her name is Toni and her blog is amazing!

So that’s my schpeel on my new planner. New I get to use all my pretty new pens! Newest obsession realized!

Happy planning!

Yay!!!

Yay!!! She finally shipped!!!

My Life Planner is on her way home!!! I’ve been stalking checking Erin’s website all day periodically (ahem) and I raised my arms like my Chargers scored a touchdown and hollered “yes!” when I saw my order status changed from ‘printed’ to ‘shipped’ with a fedex tracking number! (hehehe)

Now….

The next hardest part…..waiting patiently for the next 3 days to see that fedex truck pull up in front of my house. I hope I don’t tackle the poor guy! I hope the drivers make it all the way here (TN) from CA safely with all this crazy weather. Be careful!! You have my new bestie in there….precious cargo! J

Luv peace & hair grease!

Patience....

Patience IS a virtue!

Ugh!! It’s been exactly one week since I ordered my Erin Condren Life Planner. I’ve stalked the website every day since then and I’ve watched my order go from ‘pending’ to ‘invoice to print’ to ‘printed’ (omg!) But my order seems to be stuck on ‘printed’!

Ugh!!

I’m so anxious for my planner that I dreamt I was sitting at my dining room table drinking a steaming cup of French vanilla coffee and writing in my planner! Silly huh? I’ve always been the voice of reason in my house “Patience! Patience!” and now when it’s my turn all that ‘patience’ goes right out the window!  :-D

Ding! Dong!

Oh that’s my email alert…..wonder if it’s about my order….be right back…….

Nope! Dang! Patience right?????????

Fuel for my obsession…

I know I mentioned that I bit the bullet and ordered my Erin Condren Life Planner, but did I mention I’ve become the newest stalker of her website? I’m dying to see my order change from ‘pending’ to ‘printed’ to ‘shipped’!!!!

Omg!

I got my hubby on board with my mission to own one and he just rolls his eyes (happy wife, happy life right?) and says “whatever you want baby”. Lucky me! Well, Erin has a new customer for life!

Like most other ECLP purchasers, I have truly tried to do be a digital planner. It worked for some aspects of my daily planning, but for others it just wasn’t feasible and I’ve tried several different methods, apps, and hardware. I have 2 laptops, an Android tablet and phone and most situations, when I need to jot something down really quick, paper is faster. When you have to go thru all the security measures and waiting for apps to open and such, you could have written down that something several times. Digital is great for me for labeled alarms but long term planning and (call me crazy) color coding is best on paper. I just like writing!

Take care & have a fab weekend!

Oh I did it I did it!!

I ordered my Erin Condren Life Planner!!! I took advantage of her great sale that has going on right now. She’s offering 40% off (while supplies last) when you get a planner and stationery or a planner and gift labels, but you have to buy a combination. I even got my hubby on board with my mission to have one! Even though I am entered in a number of contests to win gift cards and discount codes, I just couldn’t wait any longer. I have to wait until March to find out if I won! Besides, I told hubby if I do win one of the contests, I’ll use it to buy the 2013 planner she’s releasing in June with (wait for it)…… IMPROVED TABS!!! (And then he rolls his eyes…..) When I get my planner, I’m going to have those Avery clear tabs to put over my tabs to make them last. I plan on using the hell outta it!

I chose the Candy Lace design in pool & mocha with a pic of hubby and our 2 babies on the front (when they were little). Then there will be my name, the year, and one of my catch phrases …. “too blessed to be stressed!” Now I’m gonna be like all the other bloggers waiting for their planners to arrive….stalking the EC website, then stalking the Fedex man. I get happy just thinking about it!!

I will post once it gets here. I haven’t seen any unboxing videos for EC (geeky right?) so if nobody steals my idea, I’ll do an unboxing video and then later I’ll post my post-use impressions. I am in no way being compensated for what I’ve said or will say. I just love the product and I’m happy to tell anyone who will listen!

As Erin would say…..enjoy!