Be Kind

I know I promised a post on making your own stickers and I am working on that one but it is a really detailed post that is going to have to be split up into several different parts. I didn't spend enough time on that post to have it be ready for today so I am posting on something different.
Lately I have read several posts in the blog world and the comments on them have been so mean. Words are so hard to read without the expressions that go along with them. We may read something one way online but come to find out later that the author meant it to be read in a totally different light. This happens all the time for me, on Facebook, Instagram, and the blogs I follow. I would say that generally people aren't trying to be malicious with things they post but others take it that way and it makes me sad. This blog here is a good example. I love Danica's posts and her writing style. I honestly get what she is saying in the post, some people just love to complain and others get sick of listening to it all day. But people took it the wrong way and left some kind of weird/mean comments. I wanted to say something but like always just kept my mouth shut because it's "easier" that way. (As you can tell I am a total introvert, don't like confrontation etc). Another post that could have been easily taken the wrong way. Anything about motherhood basically because people always want to tell you to do it a different way/ give advice/ etc and it can be hard. I know with Claire I have taken it as it comes and just went along our merry way but for some people it really offends them.
The point of all this is that we should use the internet for good. To uplift others, encourage others, be creative, get new ideas, a new way of thinking about things. We shouldn't use it to hurt people, even unintentionally.
I encourage you to use the internet to help someone feel better about themselves. That's what I am going to do from now on.
XO
Caitlin

Updates!

A quick update post for my regular followers.
I have missed a few days of blogging this month but I am determined to get back on track. I have some fun posts planned for the month of March.
I quit my work at home job yesterday, it just felt like I needed to do that, so we will see how it goes.
Stay tuned for tomorrows post on how to make your own weekly kits for the Erin Condren Life Planner. I hope you have been following my planner instagram account: holladayplans because I just posted a bunch of pictures of my weekly kits I have been making.
Until then
XO
Caitlin

Claire is 6 months!

My baby is growing. You know how they always say it goes so fast, well it's true! I can't believe that 6 months ago I woke up on a Saturday morning to my water breaking and a wonderful day ahead of meeting my beautiful daughter. Being a mom has been the most amazing experience.

Four Month Appointment:
Weight: 16lbs 5oz  75%
Height: 25 in 75%

Two Month Appointment:
Weight 12lbs 4oz 75%
Height 21 in 75%

Two week appointment:
Weight 8lbz 8 oz 75%
Height 20 in 75%

We haven't been to the doctor yet, we go on Friday but I am guessing she is going to be in the 75th percentile again, I mean she's pretty consistent. I will post her stats from that appointment on my blog's Facebook page which you can find linked up in the top right hand corner.

Stats:
Rolls Over, from tummy to back and back to tummy
Laughs, especially at her dad
Reaches out to have people hold her
Loves touching faces, pulling hair, and giving kisses on the cheek
Car rides are her favorite
Loves smiling
Hates Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Bananas and Rice Cereal. (we are going to try Oatmeal cereal this week)
Has one tooth on the top starting to poke out
Wears 3-6 month clothing or 6 months from Carters
Sleeps 8 hour stretches, wakes up only once at night and then sleeps another 4 hours
Army Crawls/scoots to wear she wants to go
Takes 2 naps during the day. One morning nap for about 2.5 hours, one afternoon nap for about an hour

Writing out all her stats like that has me amazed at what she can do. I am such a worry wort and am  constantly worried that she is "slow" at hitting her mile stones but really she is right on track. She is so fun and we love having her around.

XO
Caitlin

Online Book Clubs

I am a huge introvert. The best definition from Urban Dictionary: Opposite of extrovert. A person who is energized by spending time alone. Often found in their homes, libraries, quiet parks that not many people know about, or other secluded places, introverts like to think and be alone.

For those of you who know me this describes me so perfectly.  In high school I worked at our local library, and would spend a lot of free time there. I would get to work really early and just hang out in the library, I would also spend a lot of time in my bedroom at home. Needless to say I love to read and I really enjoy book clubs. I don't often like meeting with book clubs in person so the best solution for me was to find online book clubs I could join. This is the best thing about the internet, for people like me I can still find some interaction with others about things we read in the book club without having to meet face to face. It's a win win.

I am part of two online book clubs. I didn't want to exhaust myself and join a bunch in a month but two is the perfect number, especially since my goal is to read 3 books a month. These book clubs follow the same pattern, read the book and then have a discussion via blog posts, or a facebook group for the book club.

The first book club I am in is Paper and Glam. I found this YouTube channel in 2013 when I was getting into planning, because Lisa would post planner videos and I really enjoyed those. I subscribed to her channel not knowing she did an online book club. I found out that she did do the book club and joined her Facebook group on it. The book list for this year:
February is Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gray
March is The Girl on The Train
 April is To All The Boys I've Loved Before
May is Breakfast at Tiffany's
June is Blonde
July is Gone With The Wind
August is Night Circus
September is The Great Gatsby
October is  A Discovery of Witches
November is Go Set A Watchman
December is Letters From Father Christmas

I love this list, definitely has selections that I normally wouldn't pick for myself. I might skip March's book The Girl on the Train, it's just not my cup of tea. That is what I love about the online setting of book club is that I don't feel "guilty" for not joining. She posts a review video on her YouTube channel once a month discussing the book and I really like her discussions so you should check them out if you can.

The second book club I am in is the one by Bonnie at The Life of Bon.
Her book list for this year:
February is A Man Called Ove
March is Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking
April is Attachments
May is Nineteen Minutes
June is Why Not Me?
July is Room
August is The Martian
September is So You've Been Publicly Shamed
October is Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
November is The Nightengale
December she doesn't do a book that month

Again a great selection of books. I am most excited for March's book and actually bought this on my Nook a few month's ago because I knew it would help me understand me better. I am also excited for June's book which is the other book by Mindy Kaling.

You should see these books pop up in my books I read this month posts, like I said I pick and choose which ones I read so you may not see all of them. I have tried to start a book club on this blog so many times but have always failed, I just can't get motivated to host it every month. Maybe in the future. Hope you join me in reading some of these books.
XO
Caitlin

On Working From Home

I am so grateful that I am able to work from home right now. It's been a big blessing for our family, it doesn't bring in a lot of money but it does help. I love that I am able to be with Claire when she is awake and watch her learn and grow. I love that I have a much more flexible schedule and can work on my own time. Basically I work for a company called Nudge  out of Lindon and they are hiring. If you live in Utah and you are looking for a work from home job go here to apply, you can put me down as a referral. I answer phones and call out to people who have expressed interest in attending a real estate seminar that is coming to their area. If they want to attend they sign up and I register them. Simple as that, it's a really easy job and it allows me to stay home with my sweet baby. Although it's easy, I have learned a lot about telecommuting and I know so many people are curious about it so I thought I would share what I have learned.

First Dilbert:

* It's so much easier to treat a work at home job as much as you can like a regular job. This means getting up in the morning, getting dressed and ready for the day as if you were driving into an office. I am more productive when I do this and I am more motivated to get my hours in for that day.

*You still have deadlines and a schedule to maintain. I know every work at home job is different but for mine I can work anytime during the hours of 8am- 8pm. I have to get in 16 hours a week, which is about 3 hours and 15 minutes a day. I work during Claire's naps, so I have a quiet professional background without a talking baby being heard. I can't always predict how long or how often Claire will nap so I take full advantage when she is sleeping and work the entire time she is napping.
Although it's so tempting to get up and do other things, I know I can do those things when she is awake, but I can't work when she is awake

*You still have weekly meetings. When I was an administrative assistant I had weekly meetings with all the girls in our office, updating them on policies, etc. Now I have weekly meetings with my teamlead and the rest of my team over the internet.

*You still have certain goals and requirements to meet. Just like working in an office, I still have certain goals I have to meet. I am required to get 1.5 Registrations per hour and if I get 2.0 registrations per hour then I get a bonus on my check. It helps motivate me to be nice to people on the phone when I want to scream at them sometimes.

*Working in pajamas is totally acceptable. I mean no one knows what you are wearing to work, but like I said before the more I treat it like a normal office job the better I am at it.

*Creating a comfortable work space is important. Right now the office/nursery share a space together. Check out this post to view a layout of it. It is strange to be working and to glance over and see all the baby stuff in the room. My desk is often messy but I try and organize it because having a clean work area makes my life so much less stressful, I try and clean on Saturdays but it doesn't always happen and I can tell the difference by Monday.

There you have it, a few of things on working from home that I have learned. One of these days I will do a day in the life type post to show you what my typical schedule is like.
XO
Caitlin

Current Makeup Favorites

I almost didn't blog again today, if you noticed I missed Wednesday. Some day's I am just not feeling it you know. But after looking at what I had planned on blogging today I decided to go ahead and go with it. My makeup favorites have changed because I used up my foundation, mascara, and concealer from the last time I posted. So onto my new favorites.

For primer I have been loving this one from NYC. It's cheap but very moisturizing and luminous. Lately I have been trying to go for that dewy skin look and this has been helping out with that.

Foundation I have been using this one from Neutrogena and it is perfect for this time of year. I have very very dry skin now and this one combined with the primer above helps to make my skin not feel so dry. It gives medium coverage which is perfect for me and all I have to do is cover up my dark under eye circles.

Speaking of concealer. The one I have been loving is the Mac prolong wear concealer. Although I am not a fan of the pump as I feel that you end up loosing a lot of product because it dispenses to much I really do like this concealer. It's full coverage which is perfect for my under eyes and doesn't crease. I highly recommend it. This is also one MAC product I can recommend because it isn't breaking the bank and lasts a long time.
Next is face powder. I am still using my favorite from the drugstore, the Loreal true match powder in the color C3. It's perfect, doesn't settle into my pores, doesn't look cakey, I just love it.

Now onto eyes.
For primer I have been using this one from Wet N Wild. It is fantastic and a great dupe for the two faced shadow insurance primer I used to love. It's always in my Walmart or Walgreen's and I currently have two backups, that is how much I love it!

Eyeshadow I have been going back to my classic MAC colors: All That Glitters for all over the lid and Soft Brown in the crease. Then I just use whatever brow bone highlight I can find, usually something from a palette or MAC nylon.

For Mascara I have just started using my very first benefit mascara and so far I am loving it. I usually have a hard time with mascara because I have slight hooded eyes and the mascara if it is too wet usually transfer up onto my crease. But this one doesn't so I love it. It's the benefit roller lash. Try out a sample if you want to see if it would work for you, samples are so great and cheaper then the regular product.

Oh I almost forgot but my blush and bronzer are the same as the last time I did my makeup update a month ago so go check out that post to find out those products.

XO
Caitlin

January Weekly Spreads

Hello!
I am back with another planner post. I do post my weekly spreads once a week on my planner instagram account which is @holladayplans. Follow me there if you are interested in seeing more. For now I am going to post all my monthly spreads here so that way if you don't follow me on instagram you can see them. I love watching planner flip throughs on youtube so here is my version.

 First week in my planner and of the new year! I used a kit from ohhellostationeryco and I loved how the purple and gold week turned out. The gold glitter washi tape is from scotch brand and it is the best glitter tape because it doesn't flake off. 

 Week 2 I used another ohhellostationeryco weekly kit and I loved the color's again. I am also loving my polaroid zip to add pictures of my family in my planner.

 Week 3 I used a printable kit from Miss Sabine Elise. Her kits are beautiful and affordable and I just print them out at home. I am using the app called touch blur to blur out things on my planner I don't want the internet knowing about.

 Week 4 I used another printable kit by misssabineelise called vintage florals.

Week 5 I used the frozen printable kit from miss sabine elise mixed with the mermaid tales darice sticker book from michaels and glitter tape from Target. I LOVED how this spread turned out. It's my favorite one of the year so far!

Hope you liked this peak into my planner.
XO
Caitlin

What I believe: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

I don't often get asked a lot of questions about the church but recently I have found that people in my life are more curious then ever about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints so I thought that I would share our basic beliefs. Sometimes it makes me nervous talking about the gospel and how much it means to me. It is something so dear to my heart but I truly want to share it with everyone. If you are interested in learning more or have more questions please feel free to send me an email.

Mormons. First we don't like to be called Mormons, not that is inaccurate or anything we just prefer using the full name The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This helps distinguish that we believe in Jesus Christ.

Christ's church and apostasy.  We believe in the church Christ established in the New Testament. He established this church with his authority and gave that same authority to his apostles so they can administer to the people in his place. After Christ died and his apostles, this authority was no longer on the earth. We believe that people tried to live the church the best they could but without that direct line of authority the truth of the gospel became unclear and lost. This period of time we refer to as the apostasy.

Joseph Smith. In the 1800s, in upstate New York a young man was born to a religious family. Joseph Smith was raised reading the bible, praying and attending church. When he was a teenager (14) he had questions about which church was true. Many churches were proclaiming they were correct over another and he wasn't sure about any of them. He read in his scriptures and prayed to know what he should do. He received an answer and was directed by Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father to join none of them. At this time Christ started bringing back His church and the proper authority to run it. We don't worship Joseph Smith but we do believe him to be a prophet of God such as Moses, and Adam.

Prophets and Apostles. This authority that is used to establish Christ's church is passed onto each prophet as they lead and guide the church. Thomas S. Monson is our current prophet and he has 14 other men who help him in his calling. Having a prophet has been such a blessing in my life, knowing that God communicates with him to help him guide the church and give us direction brings great comfort.

Scriptures. We believe in the bible. The Old Testament and the New Testament. We also believe in the Book of Mormon which is another testament of  Jesus Christ. We also believe that talks given by our latter day prophets, from Joseph Smith down to President Monson are scripture as well.

Temples. In the bible, the people of the church often built temples to worship in.We build temples now for the same purpose. In temples we discuss the plan of salvation, what our purpose here on earth is and how we can be with our families for all eternity. We perform ordinances, such as baptism,  for others who have passed on before us. We make promises to our Heavenly Father that we will live a certain way and He promises us great blessings in return. Once a temple is dedicated you have to have a special recommend to go inside, before that you can attend as part of the open house and see all the rooms inside.

Coffee, Alcohol, Tea, and Drugs. Church members refrain from using these as we feel it impacts our ability to choose for ourselves. When addicted to something often times that addiction drives everything around you and it is hard to break from it. Besides these substances church members are also cautioned against pornography, and is counseled to use our time on social media wisely.

Sex. We have sex, just not before marriage. After marriage we are completely loyal to our spouse and practice fidelity. Sex is an important part of a relationship between husband and wife. Sex serves two purposes to express love and to procreate, because this physical relationship can create children God wants us to do this only when a mother and father can be present to help raise that child in a loving family.

Family. We believe that the family unit is the basic unit of society. We protect the sanctity of marriage and the definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman. To read more about the family please read the family: a proclamation to the world.

Polygamy. Polygamy was practiced a long time ago and was stopped in the late 1800s. Active church members do not practice polygamy. Some groups have branched off from the LDS church and still practice polygamy. They call themselves the FLDS, or fundamentalist Latter Day Saints. We are not associated with this group and others like it in any way.

The Godhead.  We believe that Heavenly Father is our God and that Jesus Christ his Son, is our Savior and Redeemer. We believe that Christ suffered and died for us because He loves us and wants us to return to live with Him again. We believe that the Holy Ghost is a separate being in which we can use to receive personal revelation for our lives from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Christians. We believe in the divine role of Jesus Christ and the Atonement.We believe that He is the savior of all mankind and that through Him we can repent of our sins. He is our salvation, our hope, our master and our advocate. Without Him we cannot accomplish our main goal of returning to live with Heavenly Father again.

Well there you have it. Not all of our beliefs are written out and you can refer to this website if you have additional questions. I love the church, it does make me a better person and I am so grateful for it everyday.
XO
Caitlin

Utah Planner Meet up!

I went to my first planner meet up last month. It was so fun, and I am such an introvert that I was really proud of myself for doing something completely out of my comfort zone. It gave me encouragement to possibly even attend a monthly book club in person that I am part of online, normally I don't do these kind of things but I think I have been craving adult conversation more and more recently instead of asking my sweet and cute baby if she has a poopy diaper for the millionth time. Which she smiles and laughs at when she does have one, I guess she thinks that is funny.

Anyway it was so much fun meeting people who had the same crazy planner passion that I do. We got some great swag, some fun paper clips, planner charms, washi tape, and a cute bag from Carpe Diem or simple stories which is located out in Utah county and is a scrapbooking store. If any of you are interested in attending the next one check out the facebook group Utah Planner Pretties
and join if you want. We are having smaller meet ups throughout the state and a bigger one once a month.

I loved seeing everyone's different planners that they brought and getting to know more people. I highly encourage you to try and attend a meet up in your area if you can.
XO
Caitlin

Books I read in January

I got this idea from Danica over at her blog Danakin Skywalker. She does a review of the books she reads each month and I liked that so now I am doing it. My goal is to read 3 books a month, sometimes 4 if I am feeling ambitious, but 3 is a good goal for me. I want to read more and so I have joined a few book clubs and will talk about those on another post. Reading is one of my favorite things to do and I am so excited to be getting back into it. If you have any book recommendations for me please comment, I am always looking for new suggestions.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

 

I have a slight problem when reading books. I will read about 2/3rds of the way and then get really anxious and will skip to the last chapter and find out the ending. Once I know the ending if it is interesting to me I'll keep reading, if not I'll just stop right there and never finish the book. I know this will probably drive some people crazy but I have done it forever and this book was no exception. 

I read about 2/3rds of the way through and finally figured out that Death was narrating the story, I don't know why that took me so long to figure out but I eventually did and then death has to go and ruin the ending before I had even read the ending. I was kind of mad so I jumped ahead and read the last chapter and was even more mad so I stopped reading. It was a good book up until that point though. 

I really loved Liesel and Rudy's relationship and how it developed. Rudy was so sweet and kind and you could tell he genuinely cared about Liesel. He showed up and never left her side. When he always joked about earning a kiss if he beat her in a foot race, or when he rescued her book from the river for her I thought it was just typical of a boy. At first he did seem to be teasing her but as they got older I think he really did love her. That was the part that I got mad at death for ruining it for me, because I kind of wanted them to succeed together. 

Papa was another one of my favorite characters. I loved that he taught Liesel to read even though he had very limited knowledge himself. She was so proud of that accomplishment once she was finished and you could tell he was proud of her as well. It helped them bond closer together and made him more understanding of her inclination toward stealing books. He also represented the way I would probably have reacted during the war more than any other character has before. When he said he joined the Nazi party to protect his family that really hit home with me, I feel that I would have done the same thing. Even though he didn't agree with what they were doing he still joined because he knew it could protect those he loved. 

I loved so many other aspects about this book, the history, Max and that Max survived, watching Liesel grow and change in just a couple of years, watching how war changes people and places. It was interesting to see how people viewed the war, maybe they were just being passive about the whole thing because it was safer. When the Nazi's found out that a neighbor had Jewish heritage and Papa stood up for him, Liesel was so worried and she asked Max can't he just apologize. Max said who would he apologize too? That question really got me going, and when Max said that Papa reminded people of their humanity how could they have lost it in the first place? Were they just numb to the events that were happening around them? Were they trying to ignore it hoping they would eventually go away?

If you like WWII then you'll like this book, I just loved all the different aspects about it and it really did make me think about what I would have done in their situation. I give it 4 stars because it's so good, it would have been 5 but death ruined the ending all the time and that bugged me. I do recommend this book though and the movie is great as well. 

Beyond All Measure by Dorothy Love

I discovered this book browsing through my nook store one day while I was looking for something new to read. I was checking out the historical romance section because I just needed to read a good romance novel. The description on goodreads basically tells the entire story:

Ada has loved deeply and lost dearly. But protecting her heart could mean missing the love of a lifetime.

Ada Wentworth may be young, but she's seen enough of life to know she can only rely on herself. Everyone including God it seems, has let her down. Having lost her family, her fiance, and her fortune, Ada journeys from Boston to Hickory Ridge, Tennessee, to take a position as a lady's companion. Though initially charmed by the pretty little Southern town tucked into the foothills of the great Smokies, Ada plans to stay only until she can earn enough to establish a millinery shop.

Her employer, Wyatt Caldwell, the local lumber mill owner, is easily the kindest, most attractive man Ada has met in Hickory Ridge. He believes Providence has brought her to town and into his life. But how, after so many betrayals, can she ever trust again? Besides, Wyatt has a dream of his own. A dream that will one day take him far from Hickory Ridge.

As the South struggles to heal in the aftermath of the Civil War, one woman must let go of her painful past in order to embrace God's plans for her. Can she trust Him, and Wyatt, with her future and her heart?

As you can guess she ends up falling in love with Wyatt, they move out of Hickory Ridge and she does start her hat making business. It was a really predictable book, almost too predictable but sometimes I like that. Again I got bored about 2/3rds of the way through and read the last chapter, I already had guessed the ending by this point and the middle of the book got kind of dry. I would give this book 3 stars. It was a good simple romance novel, but too predictable and the characters weren't rounded enough for me. They mentioned Ada's heartbreak but never went into full detail on the breakup and why it was hard for her to get over it. With that being such an integral part of the story you would think that the author would have spent more time explaining to the readers what is happening. I would recommend this book if you need something simple and lighthearted.

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

I love this book! If you haven't read Austenland yet you should also read that. The good reads description:

When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a two-week vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his delightful new wife, her ever-grateful children, and all the rest of her real life in America. She dons a bonnet and stays at a country manor house that provides an immersive Austen experience, complete with gentleman actors who cater to the guests' Austen fantasies.

Everyone at Pembrook Park is playing a role, but increasingly, Charlotte isn't sure where roles end and reality begins. And as the parlor games turn a little bit menacing, she finds she needs more than a good corset to keep herself safe. Is the brooding Mr. Mallery as sinister as he seems? What is Miss Gardenside's mysterious ailment? Was that an actual dead body in the secret attic room? And-perhaps of the most lasting importance-could the stirrings in Charlotte's heart be a sign of real-life love?

The follow-up to reader favorite Austenland provides the same perfectly plotted pleasures, with a feisty new heroine, plenty of fresh and frightening twists, and the possibility of a romance that might just go beyond the proper bounds of Austen's world. How could it not turn out right in the end?

I loved Charlotte's character. Although she had just gone through a divorce I like that she was giving her self a chance and branching out into a new world she just discovered. Unlike most Austen fans, she didn't read Austen's works until her adult life and she got caught up in all the happy endings which eventually led her to find out that Austenland even existed. I love the twist at the end of the book, I won't spoil it but she does end up with someone who is caring, kind, and just the opposite of the man she divorced. My only negative review with this book was that again it was a little dry in the middle, I don't know what it is about books lately but the middle is so hard to get through. Audible for the win! Make sure and sign up for audible, when you sign up you can earn one free book automatically to start with.

What books have you read so far in 2016?

XO

Caitlin