Inside my Erin Condren Life Planner 2014

Hey all! So I am going to do an inside view of my planner from this past year, all of these photos are from my instagram feed which you can follow me on here. I post a lot of planner related pictures which I wont always add here on my blog.

One of the first pictures I posted of a weekly spread (sorry its so pix-elated, actually a lot of these photos are pretty blurry I am going to work on that!) I was actually using a color code during this time, light purple was meals, pink was blog posts, blue was work, magenta was personal to-dos, Orange was bills. I used one sticker on this page and that was to indicate a pay day. It's interesting to look back in these early months and see how I have progressed, kind of fun. 

Monthly view for October. I use this for bills as you can see, I put them on the sticky notes and then when the bill is due I just move it over to the right of the monthly view in the notes section. That way I know what bill has been paid and what hasn't. I also keep track of my paydays and Zack's paydays so I know when money is coming in as well. Because I mainly use this for a bill tracker I decorate it all the time with stickers and washi tape. I got the candy corn washi tape from Target, and the Halloween stickers from Target and Michaels.

Here I started doing the one color pen per week because the color coding just became to much. I was keeping track of blog posts, meals, my momma's birthday, and other things. It's simple but the stickers added some fun to it. 

Here I tried something completely new and went with a Pilot G2 pen and just decided to write everything down in my brain that I thought of, which as you can tell was a lot. I wrote every detail down and I found that this type of method really does help me a lot. and I highly recommend the Pilot G2 pen. Also the only stickers I included this week were for functional purposes, so the workout stickers for workouts and the clean house sticker to mark a time when I needed to clean. 

Here I started to really get into decorating more. I put in an inspirational scripture from the Book of Mormon. Again the stickers are functional, a laundry machine for laundry, a clean house sticker, and a workout sticker.

Such a fun Christmas spread I did. I used the blue flags at the top to mark workouts. I used the hot cocoa sticker to say I needed to take a moment and sip some hot cocoa. A $ sticker for bills ( I wrote out what bills to pay that day in the square). A shopping sticker to indicate I needed to go grocery shopping. A nail polish sticker to change my nail polish. A temple sticker because I went to the temple. A popcorn sticker for date night for Zack and I. An actual date night sticker for an official out of the house date we were having. I really got into the functional stickers here. 

Again all the functional stickers, I love decorating the side page and just using a project life card as a to do list because it has more room.

Other side of that spread, it was super cute and fun. Many people ask why I decorate my planner this way, for me it just makes it really fun and really makes me want to open my planner and use it. I know this works for me because I have used my planner everyday for the last 6 months, I definitely have gotten my money's worth out of it.

And from this week in my planner, another scripture reminding me to trust Christ because He has been through it all.

There you have it, I will probably do a post like this once a month so you can see the inside of my planner often.
XO
Caitlin

BOOK CLUB 2015

How it works:

Every month we will read a book, at the end of the month on a selected day we will have a discussion via the internet. If you have a blog you can post a review on your blog and link it up to the book club review for that month. If you just have Facebook you can go to my blog's Facebook page and post your opinions there. I know I was not good will book club at all this year but 2015 will be totally different. 

BOOKS 

January: Unbroken  by Laura Hillenbrand. An amazing WWII novel about how resilient the human spirit is. I may have already read this book but it is so good I am going to read it again. It is inspiring and I think it will help us stay motivated throughout 2015. 

February: Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole. March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence—sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets—their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.

 June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns her against seeking love in wartime, an admonition Margaret doesn’t understand. Then, after a bomb rocks Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come raining down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts. As Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone, she must also face the truth of what happened to her family long ago.

Seems like an interesting love story intertwined with self discovery, plus I love war novels so I hope everyone else likes this book too. 

March: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I think all of us can relate to this novel in one way or another. It's about a girl in college who blogs about her favorite TV show. The show is her life and she's having a hard time letting it go. 

April: Me Before You by JoJo Moyes. Another love story set in modern times about putting another person's happines above your own. Seems like it will be a quick read. 

May: The Guernesy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows.

Another WWII novel (what can I say) about the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans who made the inhabitants stay on the island the duration of the war. It's actually a very interesting situation and I know many anthropologists have studied the behavior that happened on the islands during occupation. This book is about a book club that existed on the island, and about the man who ran it. Without going into too much detail the book is based on the man writing a letter to a woman off the island, she began corresponding with him and eventually went to Guernsey to see what it was about. 

June: Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson. A light read, perfect for a day by the pool in summer. This is a sweet  love story between childhood friends and how the two came to realize their love. 

July: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. The story about Ernest Hemingway (author) and his wife Hadley. I'm excited to read about how they met and feel in love, from excerpts I have seen it is clear that Ernest thought the world of Hadley and I love it when love stories are like that. 

August: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Derr. Another WWII love story emphasizing the ways people are generally good, even during hard times. 

September: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. Just because I miss reading about Harry and sometimes we can use a little bit of magic in our lives. 

October: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. What better book to read during Octoboer? Jane Eyre is rather gloomy and can be dry at times but I love the story and the characters. 

November: A book of your choice! This month will be busy so I think it will be fun to have everyone choose a book they love/ haven't read and have been wanting to. That way I can get more ideas for book club in 2016 and I can add more books to my list. 

December: Yes Please by Amy Poehler. I love her, so I know this will be a good read and pretty light for December. 

Well there you have it! I hope you join in and you have fun reading.

XO 

Caitlin

Zack's Job

Hey all! So sorry I haven't been posting the last Wednesday, Friday and Monday. I have been really sick with this horrible cold this week. I finally went to work all day today and have somewhat of a normal energy level back. Here is what has been going on lately.

Sorry for the horrible quality on this photo. The lighting is way off. I figured I should do an update on my Zack. He is still working at Wasatch Electric and he loves it. Seriously he loves his job. It's great! He has been working a ton of overtime lately and yesterday he worked a 15 hour shift, just because he could. Crazy! I don't really know what he does at his job except that it has something to do with fiber and internet cables, and going into roofs and being in man holes inside walls... Sounds interesting. For his job he gets the opportunity to work on temples for the LDS church. (Find more about Temples HERE). In order to go inside a dedicated temple and work like Zack does you have to have gone inside a temple before and hold a temple recommend. Not all of the people at Zack's work are LDS so it provides him with a lot of opportunity to go to many different temples. He has been to the following temples:

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Temple

Asuncion, Paraguay Temple

Panama City, Panama Temple

Adelaide, Australia Temple

Melbourne, Australia Temple

 Madrid, Spain Temple

Edmonton, Alberta Canada Temple

Cardston, Alberta Canada Temple

Washington D.C., USA temple

Houston, Texas USA Temple

Denver, Colorado USA Temple

I didn't realize how many he'd actually been to with his job until I made this post but its really exciting that he gets to go to all these places. The best part is that his company pays for the trip (of course since he's working), his hotel room, and gives him per diem money for food. On the list for next year are the following temples. 

Laie, Hawaii Temple

Suva, Fiji Temple

and...

Papeete, Tahiti Temple

I am secretly hoping he gets to go to Tahiti. I would totally go with him hands down! We would just have to pay for my flight over there and my food, and trips/souvenirs. The great thing is that when he flies he keeps his miles so he has a ton that could help cover for my flight lowering the expense even more. I am hoping I get to go with him no matter where he goes really, any vacation is fun. 

Well sorry this wasn't much of a catch up post. I will talk more about the rest of the week/month next time. Once I got started talking about the temples I decided it would probably be a good idea to document all the temples Zack has worked at for future reference and so I can see all these beautiful buildings. 

To find out what happens inside temples go HERE. To find out why the LDS faith builds and uses temples go HERE. To see the structure of the inside of temples go HERE. And to see a new video the LDS church released about Temple Clothing go HERE. 

Thanks for reading. 

XO

Caitlin

How to stay motivated to work out

Hey guys!

So lately I have lost some of my motivation to work out. I dunno at the end of the day I just come home and want to be lazy, making the gym sound like the last place I want to be. I am going to try and wake up early tomorrow and start working out in the mornings, I think that would help me out the most, it just means I would have to wake up at 5:30 am. So early, I don't like waking up early but since I work at 8:00 in the morning it would be the best time. Part of motivation includes making sure I have all my work out clothes set aside the night before. This is such a huge time saver when I wake up that I don't have to search for my clothes. I am also going to start establishing a bed time routine so that my body gets used to going to bed at a certain time, this will help with the early morning hours. Well wish me luck, hopefully these tricks will work this week. 

XO

Caitlin

Princesses workout to! 

Christmas Wishlist

Sorry about last week, it was a little crazy and I wasn't able to get a third blog post up. On Friday I worked a double shift at work and ended up staying until 8:00 pm, by the time I got home blogging was the last thing on my mind so this week you will get an extra post! Today I am posting my Christmas wishlist, on this list I have items that are $5.00 up to $170.00, so if you are looking to get me a gift, or anyone else a gift within this price range this is for you.

1. Maurices Sweater Dress found HERE $54.00: I would love to get a great holiday sweater dress, pair this with leggings, a red scarf, and boots and you are good to go for any party. This would be a perfect all around gift.

2. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette found HERE $58.00: A total luxury item that I would absolutely adore. I have other hourglass powders and I love them. I know I would wear these colors all the time and any beauty lover would enjoy these.

3 & 4. Where Beauty Lies and Beneath the Glitter found Here $14.54 & $7.50: I would need the hardcover versions because I am a book collector. I love books and I love reading. These books are probably full of fluff and nonsensical jargon which will totally melt my brain but I think they would be a fun read. The authors have YouTube channels which I have watched on occasion. Again a great gift for beauty lovers.

5. A nice pair of black tights from Target found HERE $5.00 - $6.00. Tights are a great addition to any outfit in the winter time and I know that I would get a lot of use out of these during the colder months. Especially on Sundays for church.

6. Urban Decay Naked On The Run Palette found HERE $54.00: This is a great purchase. It includes mascara, eye liner, lip gloss, 6 eye shadows, a blush and a bronzer. This is great value for your money and perfect for traveling, you can get an entire look with this one palette. It's very versatile and makes a great gift for beauty lovers.

7. Harry Potter hardcover box set found HERE  $117.00:  A total splurge item but I would love to own the entire set. I will forever love Harry Potter, the first book was published in 1998 when I was 10 and the last book was published in 2007 when I was 19.  The books are an iconic part of my childhood and I would love to get a set.

8 & 9. This blouse and sequin shirt can be found HERE for $78.00: The cutest outfit ever and Maurices is one of my favorite stores. I feel that I could wear this all winter long, that sequin skirt is to die for, I'm in love.

10. Girl Online. This book can be found HERE for $11.12. Another book written by a You Tuber but I heard that it's really good. It seems like a cute plot line and a light fun read. I would love to get this.

11. Slippers. These are ugg slippers and I don't necessarily need these ones I just need slippers. I would love cute ones that are also functional, cozy and warm.

12. Hot Cocoa Mug. Found HERE at Target for $24.99. I love Hot Cocoa. I have an entire pin board on Pinterest dedicated to hot cocoa. These mugs are so cute and would just make me smile.

13. Malm bed frame from Ikea found HERE for $179.99. I am going to start to update my master bedroom little by little and this would be the first start. I really like this bed frame and I could work a lot of great designs into the room with a piece like this.

There you have it, my wishlist for this year. Hopefully you got some great ideas for other people in your life. This post was just for fun and if I don't get anything from this list I wont be disappointed at all, besides Christmas isn't about just the gifts.
XO
Caitlin

My Advice for Sister Missionaries (really all missionaries)

I am sorry I didn't post yesterday! I have a really good reason. My little sister is turning 19 in March and just got her mission call for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am so excited for her to experience the joy that comes from a mission. I can't describe how I feel about my mission in words, all I can tell you is that it was the second best decision I have ever made in my life. The best decision was marrying Zack of course :)

My Advice for Sister Missionaries!

I love all these girls. Each one of them helped me become a better person, more compassionate, more understanding and they taught me to truly enjoy life.

1. My first advice is as soon as you get your call, commit to being 100% obedient! I know this one is going to be the most difficult out of all the advice I have. But its going to be the one that will make you a better missionary. Before I left my stake president (leader in charge of LDS congregations in an area) committed me to being 100% obedient and I said I would do it. I tried my best at being obedient, but I still fell short of that goal. In the end I used my knowledge of Christ and the Atonement to help me become a better missionary and the more I tried the better I got at being 100% obedient, I wasn't perfect but I did my best and I have absolutely no regrets. If you can make a goal of being 100% obedient on your mission you too will walk away with no regrets. This means making sure your phone calls home are only 30 minutes if the hand book says 30 minutes, this means getting out of bed at 6:30 to exercise, this means taking only an hour lunch break and nothing more. I promise the more you work at being obedient the more you are able to have success.

2. Read the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ and if you want a Free copy (for those reading who aren't LDS) you can get one here. The Book of Mormon is a book about relationships. It's about families who go through hard challenges, about brothers who are learning to get along, about couples learning to communicate. It's about men finding God and learning how they can come closer to Him. It's about people everywhere learning what Christ did for mankind and experience the love He has for His children. The Book of Mormon helps testify of Christ and helps show that He loves every single one of us. My advice for missionaries is to read The Book of Mormon every day. Don't miss a single day of reading it. This book will help you gain a different understanding of the gospel, of the work you are a part of and of the Savior Jesus Christ. Reading the book everyday with your investigators in mind will help you when you go to teach them, you will know what they need to hear and you will be able to help them understand the truths that are taught. The Book of Mormon is a powerful tool and I know that if you read it everyday it will help you become a better missionary.

3. Write in your journal every night. My mission was the one time I wrote in my journal every single day. I have never done that before or after but I am so grateful I did it then. I love reading through my journal, some stuff I wrote was all venting. That is totally okay, we all have days like that where we just vent. Other times I wrote about my testimony, the people I taught, my companions etc. I love reading my journal and I know my kids and grand kids will love reading my journal even more than I do. I hope you commit to writing in your journal every night.

4. Pray for your companion. This is important, I didn't learn this until half way through my mission. I am not the easiest person in the world to live with and I know my companions probably disliked the idea of having to be with me 24 hours 7 days a week. After I figured out that what I was doing wasn't working I started praying for my companion. It helped me see them in a different light, it helped me feel more love for them and it helped me be more conscious of how I was treating them. Now my companion's and I are really good friends. I go to them for advice and I know when I have kids I will definitely ask their advice because most of them are mom's now. I love them all dearly and I truly believe it's because I prayed for them. So if you aren't getting along, just remember to pray and hopefully things will get better.

5. Smile a lot. Have fun! This is going to be one of the best times of your life and it will be the best because you make it that way. Don't forget to smile and have fun.

I love my mission, I have way more pictures and a ton more memories but everyday was fun and I loved it so much.
XO
Caitlin

November Beauty Favorites

Hello Loves!

I was going to do a post showing you the inside of my planner but I decided to go ahead and do my November beauty favorites instead. I feel like everyone on YouTube did this post today so it got my mind rolling of what my favorites were this month. On Wednesday check back for my lifestyle/everyday favorites that aren't related to beauty items, things like books, etc. I decided to split them up into two posts so you guys can see a wide variety of my favorites for the month. 

First up: The Sonia Kashuk matte palette. 

I love this palette. I bought it a week or so ago and I have used it everyday since. The white (upper left hand corner) is the perfect brow bone highlight for me and I am about to hit pan on it, already! I use it that much! This palette was 20 dollars at Target and its making me want to go buy its sister palette, the shimmer version. This are great every day shades that make any other palette you own wearable because it can add the matte shades to the look. 

Here are the swatches and after looking at them I am going to have to try that third lightest color as my next brow bone highlight once I am done with the white. These shadows blend easily and make other shadows blend out nicely too. I love it. 

Next: Makeup Geek Vegas Lights Palette

That color Roulette you guys! Its so incredibly pigmented. Its a beautiful rose gold shade and I have used it on many looks. I actually wore it on thanksgiving and received a lot of compliments. I highly recommend this palette, the colors are in the warm family but I like doing warm looks so they fit me well. 

Another makeup geek product! This is the makeup geek pigment in Afterglow. This is the perfect champagne highlight color that adds a fun glow to any look you put together. I wore this on the center of my eyelid when I was wearing Roulette, it really made the whole look pop. The only downside is this pigment is messy, it gets everywhere, so be prepared. 

Next is the eyeliner I have been wearing, its the maybelline eye studio gel liner. It's really good. This is my first time using a gel liner and its a really forgiving product, meaning if I make a mistake the formula of this product makes it easier to clean up. I am a beginner when it comes to winged liner but I feel with this I can accomplish this look easily. 

I finally found a primer I love. The Baby Skin pore eraser primer from Maybelline. I love it! I have a lot of imperfections on my face but this primer really helps to even out my skin tone. Now it doesn't take those imperfections away but it definitely helps it look flawless. If you are looking for a dupe for the benefit porefessional primer, I heard this one works great for that too. 

For brushes this month I have been loving my new makeup geek brushes. I have the foundation stippling brush (first one pictured) and the face buffer brush (second one pictured). The foundation stippling brush blends out my foundation so smoothly, the bristles are soft and the perfect size. I highly recommend either brush.

Last but not least, I loved my ipsy bag for this month! The bag was silver and sparkly with a pink zipper, right up my alley! If you want to sign up for ipsy go HERE. Its a subscription service where you get makeup samples for $10.00 a month, I have only done it for the last three months but so far I love it. 

What are some of your beauty favorites?
XO
Caitlin