My kids think I pooped in my panties, and I hardly ever know what I'm doing. It's been a rough day, folks. 

I wish those were exaggerations or lies, but both statements are very, very true. 

My children do very much believe that I pooped in my panties a little today. My daughter found a pair of panties soaking in one of the sinks in my bathroom. She was horrified and wanted to know what on earth was in my panties. My son, of course, knew exactly what it was....has to be poop. What else could it be? 

I really hope you're laughing and not completely grossed out, but this is life people. Sometimes you need to soak your panties, and sometimes your above mentioned children conclude that the reason you are soaking your panties is because you pooped a little. {For the record, I didn't poop.} 

"Mom, did you think it was just a toot?" questions the 5 year old. 

"Yes, baby. I thought it was just a toot." 

Things are not always what they appear. Very rarely are things the way they appear actually. The more years I spend on this crazy planet, the more I understand that. 

I really hardly ever know what I'm doing. I mean, does any parent really have any clue how to do this successfully? And not even in parenting or foster care, I very rarely ever know what I'm doing in business or life either. 

Really. Hardly ever am I sure that I'm doing the right thing. 

I've observed that many successful women operate in the same belief. They don't know what they're doing....they mostly just fake it until they make it. That phrase is popular because it's real. 

I was talking to a girl who I would absolutely love to have on my Scentsy team today. She reminds me of myself. 100%. She doesn't want to misstep. She wants to do it right if she decides to do it, but she has everything it takes to be a successful business owner. I was telling her that I really had no idea what I was doing when I started as a Scentsy consultant. I just always acted like I knew exactly what  I was doing. 

To be successful, you don't have to have all the answers, you just have to be willing to find them when they arise. It's really pretty simple. 

If we always waited to do things until we thought we were equipped or ready or fully qualified, we would never accomplish anything. I think that's why so many people sit back and wait for things to happen to them. Maybe when they lose 10 lbs or when they have more time or when they feel better about their circumstances....maybe then. 

What about now?

I fail everyday in so many areas of my life. I have no idea how to parent 3 kids and a foster baby. I have no clue how to be the best wife for my man. I don't know how to inspire other people or lead them to success. I really don't. But I do it all. Every day. Somehow, all those things happen. 

We can't just sit around waiting for things to be perfect. 

Perfection doesn't exist. 

Maybe today is the day. Maybe today is the day that you hit the gym for the 1st time in months or maybe today is the day you start a new business. Maybe today is the day you love your spouse the way he deserves to be loved. Why can't today be the day? 

You're never going to figure it out. I'm never going to figure it out, but that isn't stopping me. Get up and do it anyways. 

Whatever it is. You don't have to know what you're doing. I hardly ever know what I'm doing. But that doesn't stop me from charging the darkness or doing things that I think are bigger than me. Fake it until you become it. You can. 

And even if you have a day when your kids think you pooped in your panties, pretend you did (even if you didn't) because maybe that's easier than explaining the truth to a 5 and 7 year old.  

Oh How I Love Love Mail

About this time every month, I start running reports and looking at who the top sellers and recruiters on my team were for the previous month. My favorite way to provide recognition for them is by sending a little love mail. There is nothing like a real note in the mail that isn't a bill or an advertisement. Happy mail in a mailbox makes everyone's day feel a little brighter. 

Because I love all things love mail, I love looking for stationary and encouraging notes. I recently stumbled across Tiny Prints personalized stationary. I've ordered invitations from Tiny Prints many times, but I'm now also loving their colorful and high quality notes. 

Since I had 2 girls on my team qualify for a free trip to Cancun, I had to find a fun way to recognize them. These You=Amazing cards were perfect! They loved them so much that they posted their goodies on social media as soon as they received them. 

I also used the same cards to send out thank you notes for my customers too, so it has multi-use!

I love a good card and all that love mail. What's your go-to when it comes to sending cards and love mail? If you're looking for something new, check out tinyprints.com. Whatever you use, send some love mail this week, and make someone's week.

Spoiled With Love by the Scentsy Family

To say we have been spoiled today is an understatement. From the moment we walked up to the campus today, to the minute we left the grounds tonight, every detail was thought out and executed with us in mind. 

 

We were lavishly welcomed with a tunnel of Scentsy employees lined up and cheering as we walked from one building to the other. We felt like rockstars. Even Stella (the unicorn) and Scout (the dragon) were there! 

They were holding signs with or names on them, blowing bubbles, clapping and cheering. It was a wonderful welcome. I feel like we should have lined up and cheered them on for all they do to make our businesses successful. 

We started with a group picture. This is not the group picture (this was just my view). 

We spent the day being fed (many many times) and learning and engaging with other SuperStar directors. Even baby Ruby took a few notes. That's a SuperStar Director in training if I've ever seen one. 

After a day of training (all focused on child-like wonder and optimism) we were spoiled with a carnival. There were games and contests and cotton candy and snow cones! Brian and I may have had several competitions attempting to beat each other up and down the inflatable slide and on some crazy bungee race (that caused some serious whiplash). There were a few battle wounds. 

After several basketball competitions and a go-cart race or two, we were treated to dinner of hamburgers, hot dogs, roasted corn, salad, coke slaw and dessert. There wasn't a single detail left out. 

After a long day of learning and play, we headed to the hotel and were greeted with another treat- a ticket to movie night (the next night) with popcorn and candy. 

It was truly a fun day at SuperStar Director Summit. Oh how I love these people. 

The Stars are Shining Bright in Boise Tonight

We tackled the 1st Velata convention, our 1st camping trip, and a fun adventure in Boise with our sweet friends, and now we're gearing up for an amazing 4 days with Scentsy's top leaders.

Tonight we were thrilled to see a huge group of SuperStar directors at the Welcome Reception. 

We spent the night decorating our tees, hugging necks, and catching up with old friends. It was perfect. Even this introvert loved it because introverts love their family the most, and that is exactly who these people are....family. 

Thanks to Staci Pace and Ashely Knight, our shirts were appropriately iron with our names and blinged out. 

You can't exactly tell in this photo, but Brian has a lovely tramp stamp on the hiney of his shirt. (And he's being a good sport about it.) 

After decorating our shirts, we headed outside for Velata dippers and friends around the table. 

Of course, we ended up around the table with those closest to us. We can't help it. It feels natural. These are my people, and I love them so much. 

The stars are truly shining bright tonight in Boise. This group of people are a group of committed, passionate, and purposeful people who have a genuine love for each other and their teams, and I'm thrilled to spend the next 4 days learning from them. 

Shine bright stars. 

Preparing to be Full

We are definitely in a season of transition. My brother-in-law moved in last week to spend his senior year here playing golf. He's a good kid, and we love having him here. It's going to be a great year. Our kids love having him here despite Wyatt's face in the picture below. {I think he was concerned about the candles Brad had just blown out...ya know...our kids never see real candles.} 

Not only did Brad move in, but my kiddos went to school this week! I won't pretend I didn't cry on the 1st day. I lost it, and wanted to go back and pick them up, but it only lasted a day. After that, they were happy, we were happy, everyone was happy. What's not to love about happy? 

Plus, they only go to school Monday-Thursday. It's pretty much perfect {except that I thought it was Saturday all day today, and I took 3 kids to Target....who does that?} 

So I'm here, preparing for this house to be full. Full of family, people, kids, and love. Oh and food. Lots of food. 

As I've been looking through my journal from our Italy trip, I found a page full of a list I titled, "How I want Italy to change me." On that list was fullness. To be full of life. Full of love. To have a house always full of people. 

We are definitely getting that. My in-laws will be here this weekend and my mom, so I get to practice that full-house thing this weekend. 

Part of "preparing to be full" has meant that we're intentionally working through each room of our house to make it more functional to serve, host, and love others. Systems, a place for everything, a plan, if you will. It's all there. 

Even tonight, I sit here thinking about how we have a couple weeks to get in the groove of school and activities and business before Brian and I head out of town for almost 2 full weeks. We're headed to Boise for the 1st ever Velata convention. We are elated. Plus, we're meeting our friends there, and we'll spend a few days with them camping and dreaming and catching up. 

Immediately after that, we get to spend several days with Scentsy's top leaders at our annual SuperStar Director Summit. It's a time to re-charge and collaborate and learn, and it is sweet food to my soul. 

Brian and I will fly from Boise to Pittsburg to help launch the business of 3 new team members. 

To say it's going to be a busy week-and-a-half is an understatement. In addition to all that, when we come home from Pittsburgh, there is a very good chance that our home will officially be open as a foster home again which means, we will very likely welcome a baby into our home the middle of September (that's less than a month away folks!). 

When I say we're preparing to be full, I mean it. But full is good. Empty is bad. 

I want to be full. I want my home to be full. I want my heart to be full. So we're preparing over here to be full. Preparing to be full of love, full of Christ, full of community, full of good. 

Trying to Thrive

I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to truly thrive. I'm reading an incredible book by Arianna Huffington called Thrive. 

It's challenging me in the best kind of way. Being in direct sales, and being a team leader in direct sales means that I'm very rarely off when it comes to "work." That translates into I'm never really off when it comes to work. When you're passionate about what you do, it becomes part of your life. It's not a bad thing at all. It's an incredibly beautiful thing to have what you do collide with who you are. 

It just means I have to be incredibly mindful of turning my business and leadership and Scentsy brain off sometimes, and that can be challenging.

This book has reminded me that "the better people are at taking care of themselves, the more effective they'll be in taking care of others, including their families, their coworkers, their communities, and their fellow citizens." But it feels so selfish doesn't it? To put yourself 1st. To give into the things you know you need but often don't make time for?

I started a list....of all the things that re-fuel me, and inspire me, and just make me plain happy. Things like working out, writing, reading, cooking, studying God's word.  Those things ground me. They make me better at being me. They make me a better mom, a better wife, a better Christ follower, a better leader, and a better person all together. I have to remember that doing those things isn't selfish. It's fuel. 

I don't want to merely survive. I want to thrive. And as we face the next month with lots and lots of changes happening in our family (baby brother-in-law moved in today, school starts next week, traveling a lot in September, and then opening our home to foster babies again) I need to make sure that I'm spending time doing things that re-charge me. It's vital really. 

What about you? Are you good at putting yourself 1st? Are you good at indulging in and focusing on the things that make you better in all areas of your life? I'd love to hear what re-charges you. 

The most honest my story has ever been.....

It is so easy to become jaded.....to question and doubt all that you are and all that you do. 

The voices in our heads tell us that we're not enough and that we don't deserve what we have. And eventually, we start to believe them. 

We step back and we question and we wonder if what we're doing is the right thing. 

Six years ago, I was teaching 8th grade English. Brian was selling high line cars, and Addison was 9 months old and learning how to walk. 

And more than anything, I wanted to be home with her. I loved my job, but I loved her more. The reality was that we were in credit card debt up to our eyeballs and there was no way I could quit my job...unless I was willing to cut out cable and cell phones and groceries and heat and a/c. We live in the south. There was no way I was cutting out heat and a/c. 

Quitting my job wasn't in the cards. 

However, I don't like it when I don't like the options at hand, so I sought out other options, and by sought out other options, I mean I prayed like crazy that we would win the lottery (that we didn't play) or I would find $20,000 on the sidewalk. 

Neither of those things happened. 

But what did happen was something I never expected. Through a series of events involving about 80 tiny lip gloss like containers filled with deliciously scented wax, a Scentsy catalog, a little research on the internet, and $99, I signed up to be a direct sales consultant. 

If we were friends 6 years ago when this happened, you laughed when I told you what I was doing, but I didn't care. 

I knew absolutely nothing about sales, let alone direct sales, but I didn't care. 

I was scared to death that I could never sell a thing to anyone, but I didn't care. 

All I cared about was her.

She changed me. She made me so much more than I ever could have been on my own. 

And somehow, despite my complete lack of knowledge about all things direct sales, I did okay. And I somehow convinced other people that they should do it with me. It would be fun. 

And it was fun. 

And 3 days before my 1 year anniversary as a Scentsy consultant, I promoted to the highest rank possible. I cried in my living room on Halloween. I was the company's 23rd SuperStar director (along with about 30 other people who promoted the same day that I did), but we'll call it 23. 

And life went on. Baby #2 came along not long after that. I spoke to a crowd of 800 people at a Scentsy event 3 days before he was born. 

And business was good and momentum was good and life was good. 

Then I battled fear for a long time. It's a lengthy story that I'm sure is somewhere on this blog. {Best of luck finding that post.} 

But I worked and I worked hard, and I knew why I was working. For them. We wanted more. We still weren't out of debt.  Brian was still working long hours at the car lot, and life still wasn't what we wanted it to be. 

So I worked. I sold product and people joined my team and our company grew. 

And before I knew it, Brian quit his job. We started making more money than we had ever dreamed of making, and our marriage was as unhappy as it had ever been. I couldn't help but wonder what we had gotten ourselves into. It turns out that money really doesn't buy happiness.  

But the Lord is so gracious and so patient. We moved to house #2. We started to like each other again, and all was well in the Dalke house. 

Then one day, we felt the Lord calling us into foster care. So we went. In the process, we couldn't get a foster baby fast enough. The day we were finally approved as foster parents, we received a call that there were 2 babies. A 1 year old and an almost 2 year old. Siblings that had been living in the shelter for 7 days. And could we take them? 

We did. And they wrecked my world in the best way 2 small people can wreck someone's world. They changed everything for us. 

And our business kept on keeping on. 

And those babies made me want a baby of my own. And before they moved out, I was pregnant with baby #3. 

Then we almost moved to California. We really tried to. We tried to buy 3 houses, and it just didn't work out. 

And instead we had a baby on Halloween 5 years after that day I cried in my living room. This Halloween, I cried in my hospital bed because I knew we couldn't move to California even though we had already sold our house and we had to be out in a little less than a month and a half. 

As we drove baby #3 home from the hospital, Brian and I talked about California and about Oklahoma and about where we wanted these babies to grow up. And we both knew that it was here. 

So with a newborn in hand, we frantically began looking for house #3. It would literally have to be a miracle. I was not settling for anything less than the space we were looking for (I swear this is the last move we're making!), and we had no where near the time we realistically needed to close. 

But we looked. And we found the house we had been looking for all along. A house we never could have bought, on a lot that we never could have afforded. The perfect spot, with the perfect space, and now we just had to make it happen in the perfect time. 

It ended up all working out by the grace of God alone, so we moved and we began to settle in. 

Before we knew it, that little girl that I worked so hard to stay home with was going to 1st grade. Off she went. 

But she wasn't happy, and we weren't happy. The little girl who had always loved school was bored and annoyed by the thought of 1st grade. Not exactly what a momma wants to hear. After a lot of prayer, we took her out of public school and started homeschooling. Brian teaching 2 days a week, myself teaching 3 days a week. 

And that's where we found ourselves last year. Adjusting to life in a new house with 3 littles while homeschooling. 

I suddenly felt trapped. This incredible "job" I had, had afforded all of this and so much more. I was grateful for sure. But there were moments where I felt trapped. I felt like I was stuck and I couldn't get out if I wanted to. 

We depended on the money. It was our lively hood. Even if I wanted to just be a stay at home mom, I couldn't. Not now. We were too far in. 

So, last year, I coasted. I did everything I was supposed to do. I did more than I was supposed to do, but if I'm honest, there was something missing. 

The passion, the fire, the drive, the inspiration, it was gone. I didn't know where it was and I didn't know how to get it back. 

I tell you this story to tell you that last year isn't the end of the story. It's not the end of my story with Scentsy or direct sales. It's really only the beginning of my story. 

When I recently walked away from social media, I asked myself a lot of hard questions. I was able to think clearly for the 1st time in a long time. I knew what I thought. I wasn't confused by what everyone else thought. 

And somewhere between turning off all the voices of negativing in my head (thanks social media) and sitting on a beach watching the waves roll in, I was reminded of why I love my job. 

I honestly don't know why I forgot. 

Because this is my story, but at the same time, it's only one of thousands of stories. Direct sales is a business that creates personal change in people. I have seen so many people in my circle of friends and family who have been remarkably changed by their experience with the Scentsy family. They are better people. More generous people. More well rounded. More real. 

And in the past few weeks I have been so beautifully reminded that I get to be a part of that change in people. I get to sit across from them at coffee or at lunch or over the computer and hear about the way their business fits into their life. I get to hear about why they're working and what they want. And I get to be a part of the change that happens in people when they decided to ignore the voices of fear and doubt in their minds and do something bigger with their lives than they ever thought they could do. 

I guess this is my apology. 

I was never negative. I was never negligent. I was never absent. I was just uninspired. I forgot for a moment why it is that I work. And it's not complicated, and there is no mega dream board or 12 month goal plan. It's simply them. 

And him. 

and us. 

 This place and these people and this life is the reason I am a Scentsy Family consultant. They are the reason that I will continue to choose to run my business with passion and purpose this year. 

And whether you're a customer or a consultant or a friend or a fellow blog lover or an IG follower, my hope for you in 2014 is that you too will work with purpose and passion. 

Here's to 2014.....May it be your best year yet. 

Be brave and find margin

Oh what a week it's been. 

Something is changing and shifting and moving, and whatever it is, it feels so incredibly good. 

Somewhere along the way, I became complacent. Just coasting. Going through the motions when it came it my business. I don't know how it happened. I could blame it on multiple things, but why start the list? We all have things we can point to for excuses. Let's not even go there. 

Let's just go forward...move on. 

I'm thrilled that this new found passion and purpose is sticking around. I was a little worried it would fly out the window after a week of trying harder. But the passion is still here, and I'm still choosing my business this year. 

On a side note, choosing my business allows me the incredible freedom and ability to choose my family and to choose homeschool and to choose so many other things. This is a significant side note. 

I write the side note to tell you that it's easy to get carried away. My to-do lists this week were long. How do you make up for a year of complacency? I'll tell ya, it involves a lot of to dos. 

So if you're on this crazy journey with me, I want to encourage you to create margin. Oh margin, that fleeting, unicorn like time that sounds like a good idea, but that doesn't truly exist. 

So that is true. Margin does not exist unless you make it exist. (And no, you can't make a unicorn exist just by wishing it, but you do have the power to create margin in your life.)

Margin is basically extra space....time. It's time for your family, time for interruptions, time for God to move in your life. Our culture literally has no clue what margin looks like. 

We work ourselves to death. It's so incredibly important that you find that extra space in your day, in your week, in your month for the important things in life to truly live. Choosing your business this year does not mean sacrificing your family and your values. God and your family always have to come 1st. 

So in the midst of the laundry and the toys and the school day and the babies and the errands and your "real job" and everything that comes along with life, you have to choose to be brave. You have to choose to do hard things. 

The only difference between successful people and people living in mediocrity is that successful people decide to start. They decide to be brave and try a little harder to do a littler better. 

I'm reading this awesome book by Jon Acuff called Start. In it, he talks about how brave we have to be to step out of the easy, mundane and routine, and into something greater, and it all begins with starting. Choosing to start. He says: 

You have to be deliberate and intentional and focused. You have to be a Starter. And then you have to be brave enough and prepared enough to react when a surprise presents itself.

Jon talks about how we can't map out the beginning to the end and expect it to turn out exactly the way we planned for it turn out. Honestly, we have to start knowing that the way we get to the end may be nothing like we expect it to be.

When I started my Scentsy journey 6 years ago, I never could have planned it out this way. I had no clue. The best things that have happened in my life and in my business since then are things that I never had on my radar. People I would meet. Friends I would gain. Experiences that would change me.

I'm glad I didn't have the finish in mind when I started. I just knew I needed to start, and that was enough. It made me brave.

So tonight, I'm praying 2 things over you: Margin and Bravery. Know how and where you need space and time, and create it. You'll have to be disciplined about making sure there is margin in your life, but it is possible.

And after you create Margin, be Brave. Do the things that you know you might fail at, just to say that you tried. And try a little harder to be a little better one day at a time.

You can do it. I believe in you.

Choosing my business this year.......

 (Thanks Jaime Pilcher for the reminder that it really is about being braver than we feel. I love you and never saw you coming in my plans. How grateful I am that there were bigger plans than mine in play.)

I'm Choosing My Business in 2014

It's time to begin again. 

Do you ever just feel like you need a do-over? 

I think we all do sometimes. It's probably the new year that has me all excited about new beginnings and beginning again. But the new year also has me reflecting on the past year and looking at challenging myself to do this year a little differently. 

This year, I want to choose my business because I believe it has the ability to change people for the better. I've watched the Scentsy family help people change the course of their lives. How could I not want to see that happen in others? 

To live the life you always dreamed of. That's the goal right? 

To be finically free. To stand behind a product that you are passionate about....a product that you love. That's what I want. 

So this year, I'm choosing my business, not because I have to, but because I want to. 

I want to see life change in others. I want to share the incredible opportunity that our company allows people. I don't want to be stingy. I want to generous. 

I want to lead and love and share. That's what direct sales is really all about. 

Some of you may feel like you've just been going through the motions for a while. Honestly, all of last year, I went through the motions. Somehow, I lost a little bit of my passion, and it showed. 

So that's why I'm campaigning for a new start. A do-over of sorts. Let's scrap last year, and start again. 

Maybe you've never really run your business at all. You've sold a little here and a little there, but you've never looked at your Scentsy, Velata, or Grace Adele business as a business. Maybe you've wanted more, but never known how to go about getting more. 

Wherever you find yourself today, I proclaim today as a new day! Let's just start again. Let's remember why we signed up, what we hoped to get out of all of this, and let's run businesses that thrive. 

I want a business that creates value in the life of others. I want my business to contribute to my community and the lives of my customers and the lives of my team members. That sounds a lot better than mediocrity doesn't it? 

But before we move towards choosing our businesses this year, there is one more thing we have to address. That nasty F word. 

Fear. 

It stops us in our tracks and keeps us from moving forward. Running a small business isn't scary, but putting yourself out there and failing is. It's what we're ultimately all afraid of.....what if I try really hard to make this work, and it doesn't? 

I get the fear. I was there. But there has to be something bigger than the fear. For me, it was the face of my little girl. Addy was 9 months old when I started selling Scentsy and I desperately wanted to be at home with her. I wanted to take care of her. I was willing to take the risk of failure if it meant that I might succeed in the process. 

So what is your Big thing? What is it that will allow you to push past the fear and do something great? What is it that makes you want to be a little better everyday? 

Let's name it. 

This is your year. Choose your business this year. Forget about the fear. Push it out the way. And let's start over together. 

Your challenge is to commit. Post this picture to social media with the hashtags #IChooseScentsyFamily #IChooseMyBusiness and tell us what your reason for working is. Let's hold each other accountable. Let's do something big this year. 

Then follow along. All year long, I'll be blogging about my business. We'll start from the beginning. We'll do things that make successful consultants, and we'll do it together. 

What do you say? 

Are you choosing your business this year? I know I am. 

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson 

The Post You've Been Texting Me About! Planner Reviews! {And a Giveaway}

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.