Thankfully this year we made a conscious effort to not over plan our 'break' so we'd have plenty of down time.
Ha.
I recently shared with y'all how B spent 5 days straight at Dr's offices and emergency rooms. As soon as he had the Dr's okay, we were (rushing) off to spend time celebrating Christmas at several different family get togethers. After spending a little time at home, we were headed back south to celebrate the life of my step-sister. She was celebrating this Christmas with Jesus after a tough battle with Lou Gehrig's.
While we've had a great time catching up with family this week, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't switched into survival mode yet.
Enter my new favorite planner!
I know you were totally expecting me to post a picture and link to my favorite planning app for the iPhone. And last year at this time I definitely would have done that. But then there was the great hard drive crash of 2012 and my love/hate relationship with technology took a little turn towards the hate side. My master calendar was (of course) on the hard drive and I spent a lot of time figuring out what was supposed to be where and when. Yikes.
So I'm back to my roots and got myself a good old fashioned, pencil to paper, planner.
But it's so NOT old fashioned. This planner has thought of everything! I love the month at a glance view but my favorite pages are the in between pages. After each month there's a page for: a to do list, favorite moments, funny happenings, 10 things i'm grateful for, ramblings and more!
And you know I love me some pictures of my sweet boy. There's room for those too!
In the back of the planner there's a section for notes and thoughts. I added a smash pocket to one of the pages and it works perfect for me to stick current projects in.
Side note: have you guys heard of Smash?? I was introduced to it at a Favorite Things Party and fell in love! Cutest stuff ever!
Besides adding the Smash pocket, I've added monthly tabs by folding washi tape over the edges and marking each month. I've paper clipped in some sticky notes. And I've replaced the elastic band that holds the book shut with a Smash band.
I also bought these super cute mini colored pencils to use in it.
Not that they're necessary but they are cute, right? :)
All that to say that this planner has totally kept me sane this month and I'm so excited about using it in 2013! If you're looking for a new planner for 2013, I definitely recommend the Paper Coterie 'Stuff to Do' planner!
Pros:
-Super cute! You customize the cover with your own photos and add your own images throughout the planner. There are more options than the 'Stuff to Do' so you can get whichever look you love!
-Month at a glance pages.
-Lots of space to add memories and fun moments (which totally makes it a memory book to keep once the year is over!).
-Sturdy, thick pages. The one year old has gotten ahold of it on numerous occasions but you cant tell- the planner is tough!
-Great style that's easy to customize if you want!
Cons:
-If you like the weekly/daily planners, this one doesn't have that. (I don't so that's not a con for me but could be for you! They do have weekly planners so if that's more your style, check these out.)
-It's not dated so you have to go through each month marking the dates in (I almost put this in the Pros column because that means you can purchase the planner at any point in the year and make it work for you but in the end, it was just a lot of time and effort for this busy mama.)
-There are only 12 months. I know.. it's a yearly planner and there are 12 months in the year but I always like my planners to overlap just a little since I plan so far in advance.
Seriously though, best. planner. ever. Go get yourself one!! Now!
