me & my pLanners

I've used a planner "off and on" for many years. (Like since the early 1980s.) I enjoy writing things down in my planner, and using a planner helps me when I'm the most stressed. I've had numerous Franklin Planners and one Filofax. I prefer the quality of the Franklin Planners, so when I want a new one, I usually go to their website.

 I also write detailed to-do lists almost every day - most of the time they're written on note paper and not kept in my planner. They sit on my kitchen counter waiting to be completed. I'm tying to keep my to-do lists in a section of my planner, but as they say, "old habits die hard," and my habit of writing my list on a loose sheet of lined paper is pretty ingrained. So, my planner contains my week-at-a-glance calendar and other sections with information and notes. And my to-do lists float around. 

I wanted to increase the list cuteness, so I ordered a darling to-do list from Christy Tomlinson's Etsy shop. It's a printable download, so I can just print my lists on heavy paper at home whenever I want a few. (I love Christy's planner style, but that's another post!) 

Lately, there has been a resurgence in planner popularity - and I love it! It's so fun to follow the Instagram feeds of so-called "planner girls." There are Facebook groups and Pinterest boards filled with planner ideas. I love seeing so many women discover the joy of paper planning. And to add extra joy, there's a whole world of { planner decorating } and planner-page embellishing. AND there's a sub-category called listing that's really fun. I like all of it because it's a wonderful mix of scrapbooking, paper crafting, writing, and planning all rolled into one. Add the elements of social media sharing AND shopping, and I'm hooked. 

Sure, we all have our smart phones, and I do use mine to calendar and write notes including my favorite app Evernote. But there's nothing like sitting down with a piece of (good) paper and a favorite pen to plan the day, week, or month. 

I could go on and on, but instead I'm going to show my latest planner and a couple of my decorated weeks. My current planner is the Franklin Pippa. It's the "compact" size which is 6 1/4" wide and 7 3/4" high with one-inch rings. It's not too big, but not too small. It's easy to carry with me to a committee meeting or church. But I don't carry it in my purse every day. I use my iPhone to remember things when I'm out and about. And my to-do lists that I described above. In the planner world, the most popular sizes seem to be the A5 size and the personal size. The compact size is kind of in between and it's a Franklin-exclusive size. The paper measures 4 1/4" x 6 3/4". This can be hard to deal with if I'm wanting to buy special printable planner pages from little shops on Etsy. But as long as I stick with my pages from Franklin, I'm fine. 

The planner itself is high-quality leather, and for most months of the year the red/maroon color is great. Right now spring colors are more appealing, but I don't let that bother me. (Well, maybe I'm a little tempted to buy a spring planner. If I could find an aqua Kate Spade…) 

So, anyway, this is a good planner and good size and boy, does it have potential! I could utilize it a lot more and make it prettier inside too. I'd like to make a section for rotating menus because the need to fix meals never ends, even for empty nesters. And a section for notes as I read my scriptures. 

This is a sample of the week at a glance that I use. I MUST have my days set up vertically like these, rather than horizontally. This view is perfect EXCEPT for the ugly blue marbled design on it. I wish I could have a personal meeting with the company and explain why they need to make the same pages in a simple black and white color scheme. I would also prefer having the week begin on Sunday, but I understand why that's not possible. 

Here's my planner with a decorated week in February. I ordered an extra-special set of Valentine's stickers, paper and washi tape from the premiere planner girl, Christy Tomlinson of The Planner Society. (Christy's rise to planner prominence could be a whole post by itself! Think: hard work, more hard work, cute voice on Instagram, awesome art skills, over-the-top creativity.) You can see how I used pink Washi tape and other stickers to try to cover the blue-printed sections of the page. It's so pretty in the colors that match the month. As planner decorating goes...mine is quite mild. Look at The Planner Society's Instagram page for so gorgeous, super-decorated planner pages.

And here is last week in my planner. I usually take my pictures before I write EVERYTHING down - it's just prettier that way. As the week goes on, I can add things I need to remember and keep adding to my schedule. It's also valuable as I need to keep track of my mom's appointments since I'm her main chauffer and scheduler. If we both had to rely on my memory, we'd be in trouble. That's why I - and my mom - love my planner! 

PaRk City

We try to go to Park City every year for a day of skiing. This year, I didn't ski because of my knee and the arthroscopy I had in October. It's coming along, but if I happened to fall and bend my knee back, I think it'd be pretty painful. So we got Becky to come and ski with Scott and I tended the kids. Since it was really cold and windy on the mountain, I had more fun than they did. 

We also had some time to "pursue hobbies." Scott isn't ready to retire and do this full time, but he enjoyed a couple of evenings painting. I did some decorative journaling, and I hand sewed a quilt binding. It was a fun couple of days.

doodle a little

I love to collect notebooks, journals, pads of paper, even 3x5 cards. I keep a little stash of 3x5s in my wallet so I always have something to write on. Notebooks are everywhere.

I want to fill my notebooks, but sometimes I just can't think of anything to write. I'm so weary of my journals and how they drone on with the same old stuff that I always write about...the old angst about myself that's so tiresome. So, I went online and found lots of information about "what to write when there's nothing to write." One website suggested you open your journal every day and start by making a sketch. The simple act of putting pen to paper will get you started, and the words will come once the drawing is finished.

That's laughable. I can't draw...not even stick figures. But I am VERY inspired by the art journals of many artists/writers. Especially Mary Ann Moss who blogs at Dispatch from LA. So I decided to try the suggested sketching/writing exercise by copying a sketch from Mary Ann's blog that I like so much. 

I went to the blog and found a little flower to draw. Turns out, my little flower looks nothing like the one on Dispatch from LA. OK, it's a disaster. The flower was too difficult for me. I need something easier to sketch. Something with simple graphics. I need to doodle...not draw. I remembered my favorite Orla Kiely notebooks and the simple leaf design that I love. I turned to a new page in my notebook and copied the simple leaf design onto my page. Yes, that's more my style...doodling rather than drawing, and the colors make me happy. I then wrote about an interesting experience that happened yesterday.

Here's my doodle:

And here's what I wrote:

Sometimes when you least expect it, a good thing happens that just changes your outlook and puts a spring in your step. That kind of thing happened to me yesterday. I had been helping my mom with errands she needed and the day was fading fast. I took her home after an hour in a dress shop in the mall trying on tops and sweaters. Then another slow walk through Bath and Body Works to buy soap. After I took her home, I decided to grab a Diet Coke at the gas station. I needed energy because in a short hour and a half, I had to go back to mom's and take her to a birthday party for her longtime friend, Iva Lou, I filled my soda cup and approached the cash register where a big, scruffy college guy was working as clerk. He jumped from his perch on the counter, smiled, and said, "So what are you doing today...anything fun?" I said (kind of woefully), "Oh, I'm taking my 85-year-old mother to her friend's 90th birthday party at an old folks' home." He said cheerfully, "That sounds fun." I replied, "Not really." And then the unexpected sentence that sent me out the door with a smile on my face. The young man shared this attitude-altering suggestion: "Just look at it this way...you'll be the youngest one there!" And then he grinned at me.