You people must think I'm a planner expert. Maybe it's self-proclaimed.....that's definitely a possibility. 

So when I found out my friend Emmy from Much Ado About you was closing up shop, I just about lost it. 

Then I put my big girl panties on and decided to start looking for another option. I bought several....because I'm a nerd like that. Then I decided to take mediocre iphone pictures of them all for you to see. 

I have decided on what I'm using next year (even though I'm not 100% in love), and I promise to tell by the end. 

So I have 5 that you'll see here and then there is a 6th option that I didn't buy that many of you may like, but it's just not for me, so I didn't waste my money. 

1st up is a cute little polka dot planner that I found on Amazon for $15. It is an August 2013-July 2014 planner with both a monthly and weekly layout. The front and back cover are made of very thick cardstock. 

It is the smallest of the bunch and the most low key. If you're not that into planners but need a place to jot things down, this may be it. 

The front has numerous notes pages.  

It includes a 2-page monthly spread for each month.

The 2-page weekly spread has a place for appointments and to-dos and also features a section for notes at the bottom.

The back includes a Special Days section, future planning section, and a place for contacts.

Cons:

• May not last long term due to quality
• No tabs

Pros: 

• Small enough to carry around everywhere! 
• low cost 

Next Up: The Tomorrow planner. 

This is an undated planner with both a weekly and monthly spread. The front cover is shiny like a black patent leather purse, but it's really just a durable plastic. I found this planner here for $32. The ones on the site are prettier than mine! I think they're new! 

The inside cover features a plastic pocket (love that!) and this beautiful phrase: {Draw Your Tomorrow}. 

This is an undated planner, so you would have to write in the dates on the monthly spread.

Below is a shot of the weekly layout. (There are much better pictures on their website).

It also has plenty of notes pages in the back as well as another pocket on the back cover.

Pros:

• Size is small enough to fit in your purse and carry anywhere! 
• Undated means you can purchase one at any time and start using it. 
• Durable cover

Cons: 

• No monthly tabs (All the months are at the front of this planner....not in front of their respective weeks). 
• Undated....I personally don't want to fill in all the dates. 

I have a feeling this next one may be it for some of you. It is a Lilly Pulitzer Agenda (Large). You can find it here or on amazon. I personally bought mine on amazon. There are multiple sizes to pick from.

This is a August 2014-December 2014 planner with both a weekly and monthly layout. It has thick, durable cover and a rubber band to keep it closed. 

 Ahhh! Monthly tabs!

The inside cover features a double sided card stock pocket to collect fun things.

It features a page of stickers! How fun is that?!

 It's the most colorful planner in the group!

This planner has the monthly spread both at the front (all together) and then throughout the planner (where you see the tabs) before the weekly layouts for each month. 

It also features a "Dates to Celebrate" section, "Holidays and Horoscopes," and a "Notes" section. 

Pros:

• Long term planner that you could begin using immediately
• It's colorful! 
• Durable monthly tabs!
• Stickers....I'm almost 30 and I still love stickers. 

Cons: 

• Thick and not as easy to tote around 
• weekly layout isn't divided into any kind of sections (that is a personal issue) 

I really love this planner and would probably use it if I liked the way the days were arranged in the weekly layout. 

Next up.....some cuteness from http://www.stephaniecreekmur.com/. This planner is cute and girly and happy. I will give it that. The Stephanie Creekmur planner runs from August 2013-January 2015 and can be found here for $50. This planner features a weekly and monthly layout. 

And I love the inside cover....

The weekends throughout this planner are in a fun pattern (as well as the notes sections). The monthly spreads are found at the beginning of the planner. (not in front of their respective weeks)

The weekly spread simply has open space and a place to the right for notes.

Pros: 

• It's pretty. 
• Long term planner that you could begin using immediately. 
• It is smaller and more portable than the Lilly Pulitzer planner. 

Cons:

• It's pricey. 
• There are no monthly tabs! 
• The months are found at the beginning of the planner....(again, a personal issue)

Then there is always the Erin Condren Life Planner. If I liked the weekly layout of this planner (which means....if it had appointment times) this would be the winner in a heartbeat. This is the planner I don't have pictures of because I knew it wasn't right for me. 

I would HIGHLY recommend checking out this planner. There are tons of people who love it. I just personally cannot stand the Morning, Afternoon, and Evening separation of the days. I need times. It's an issue. 

Pros to the Erin Condren Life Planner:

• Durable
• You pick the start date
• Beautiful designs
• laminated monthly tabs!

Cons: 

• weekly layout makes me crazy (again, a personal problem) 
• a little pricey (but absolutely worth the money) 

I feel like I should also say that I have numerous products from this website including the Jumbo Planner, the Weekly Schedule Pad, the notebooks, the Functional Family System, the Teacher planner, and more stuff that I'm not going to list because I realize I may have a problem....anyways, the point is, check out the Life Planner. 

So my personal planner choice for 2014 is......

The Whitney English Day Designer. You can find it here for $55. 

Now, I want to say that I know full and well that this planner is not for everyone, and I will admit that it is far from my perfect planner, but it was the closest thing I could find. 

 This is a monthly and daily layout planner that runs from January 2014- December 2014. I can't believe I'm picking a daily layout, but it's the best I could find!

This thing is huge (major con) but the cover seems durable. You have to set goals and fill out worksheets before you can even start using the thing (which is sort of my love language).

The monthly layout has a place for you to revisit the goals you set at the beginning of the year. 

And a place for all your big ideas....which I like....since I have lots of Big ideas....like no social media for a year! Who does that?!

This is a peek at the daily layout. I admit it's a little overwhelming, but I love that it has the times in the left hand column and a list of to dos in the right. It also has a place for you to identify your top 3 things for the day as well as a place to record something you're grateful for. 

There is also a place to plan dinner, track your spending, and remind yourself to not forget that special something!

Then, Saturday and Sunday are listed together on one page with a reminder to take time out to do fun things.

Pros: 

• Extremely well thought out and intentional 
• Durable
• Daily layout including time schedule (love those time slots!)

Cons: 

• It's HUGE! 
• There are no tabs at all
• Doesn't start until January :( I'm ready to use it now! 

So there you have it. There they are (minus the Erin Condren....which I'm pretty sure most of you will buy). Do not judge me by the lack of paint on my toenails. (And that's my golden retriever's foot....just in case you were curious. He was not interested in moving for my picture.) I'm going with the giant one....because I'm crazy like that. 

The question is.....what's your pick? Comment below and you just may win it. I'm giving away the 4 I'm not using, but you've got to comment below to be entered into the drawing. I'll draw 4 winners on Sunday, November 10th. Be sure to mention the one you think you'd like the most! 

Happy planning friends. 

Busy, Sickly, and Full of Gratitude

We've been busy and happy and even a little sickly, but it's amazing how a little time away from social media will make you feel free. 

I don't know how to explain it. The first few days were nearly torturous. Isn't that horrible? But they were. I guess that's what happens when you walk away from an addiction. I had no idea I was so reliant on social media. But I was. 

Anyways, we had just about the busiest weekend we've had in a long time with a Grace Adele show on Saturday and then a 3 brand Open House on Saturday night and then Wyatt's 1st birthday on Sunday....it was a pretty cram packed weekend. 

I spent last night waking up every couple hours with Luke....poor guy, and he was still feeling puny today. So needless to say, it's been busy. 

Oh and we had a chicken get stolen (and thus eaten) by a coyote today. That's not fun. And a couple other not fun things were discovered today (more on that later0. But despite the busyness and the not fun happenings, I found myself so incredibly grateful today. And maybe it was because I didn't have anyone to complain to (via social media). Or maybe it was because sometimes we have days where we can look beyond unfortunate things and choose to be grateful anyways. 

I have nothing to be ungrateful for. Not a single thing. I'm even grateful for sick days when I get to snuggles my kiddos a little more. 

So I guess that's all. I'm just really, really grateful. Incredibly grateful. 

And here's a little sneak peek of Wyatt's 1st birthday....

And I know you peeps need to know what planner to buy. I've got 6 of them sitting in my office....it's coming....this week....

Happy Monday Ya'll. 

A booth, a party, and my 6 year anniversary with the Scentsy Family

Today was important for a lot of reasons. 

The 1st. Six years ago tonight, I said a prayer, took a leap of faith and signed up to be a Scentsy consultant. I don't know how to put the past 6 years into words. It's really not even possible. 

I am different. I am better....because of my journey with Scentsy. I never thought I would do something like this. I never thought I would be a salesperson or a leader as some people would call me. I really don't think that I'm either of those things though. But I am a teacher. Was 6 years ago, still am today. It looks a little different now, but I get to teach other people how to do what I've done, and help them find a way to to do it their way. And there is joy in that. 

I don't have to have all the answers (teachers rarely do). I don't have to always get it right (teachers are just willing to try). I don't have to know the best ways (teachers are just willing to search for them). 

If anything, I hope my Scentsy journey has made me humble. I will be the 1st to admit that it made me proud early on. I was proud of what I had done and how my team had grown. I worked hard, but the Lord had His hand in so much of what we were blessed with. I will never try to claim it all as my own again. 

There came a time when He gently reminded me that it was not all me, and that I would be better off to humble myself and serve people because that's how Jesus led. 

And tonight I'm still in shock and awe at the people we know and the relationships we have because of our Scentsy adventure. I am beyond grateful....so much so that it brings me to my knees in thankfulness. I don't know who I would be without some of the people and relationships in my life. 

So today was important. It marked 6 years of my life doing something I never thought I would do and becoming someone I never expected to be. And I am grateful. 

The 2nd reason today was important....I did a Grace Adele booth. 

Go ahead and gasp. I know right?! I never do shows! And I was reminded in the most perfect way why tonight. 

So I signed up to do a Grace Adele booth at a local craft fair. I had heard it was a great event to do...really busy...lots of traffic and lots of credit cards. 

I decided to go all out and buy Grace Adele stock and see how it went. I'm kind of all or nothing like that. (By the way, the only reason I risked it, was because I am booked until Christmas with home shows, so I knew I could sell it all over time if it didn't sell at the show.) 

I thought our booth looked pretty awesome. I worked my tail off all week prepping for it. 

Overall, I'm glad we did it. I was reminded that I am not cut out for shows in general (they exhaust the introvert in me). But the Lord is sweet, and we met the most amazing people and made some great connections today. 

I was also able to have real conversations with about a dozen people that I only ever see on Facebook. It was kind of like a sweet little nod from the Lord....like He was saying...."it's okay to be unplugged from social media. I can re-connect you." And I think He did today. It was beautiful and unexpected and what I needed. 

After the event (where I sold about $250), I had a home show with one of my best customers. She wanted to do an Open House with all 3 brands so I agreed. 

It was a huge success. We sold roughly $500 in product in less than 3 hours and she wants to collect orders until Tuesday. I got to eat and visit and have real conversations with people. Building relationships! That's what it's all about. It was wonderful. 

And it was the perfect reminder of why my focus has always been and will always be home parties. You simply can't replace the comfort of someone's home or having a conversation over food across a table. That's where a real business is built. 

It was a wonderful ending to a great evening. And still, I am grateful.....so very grateful.