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

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

More College Binder Ideas

I have had a lot of people check out this post lately on How to Organize Your College Binder. Makes sense because most colleges start in about three weeks so I can see why a lot of people are looking for ideas on how to organize/how to get started with organizing for school. I loved college, it was so fun and I learned so much. I am relieved I don't have to go back this fall since I recently graduated but I am so grateful for the experience I had while going.
Because of the influx of traffic to that post a lot of people were wondering about the class overview printable I mentioned. Well folks, here it is:

(to download this printable click HERE)

I really used this printable. Especially the class mates info. It was nice to have some place to put down numbers for group projects, etc. I hate group work, if I ever taught college I would not do group work, although I understand it gives some good experience for when you are working in the corporate world on an assignment with a team. 

Anyway I also used a class schedule overview, this is one sheet and can be put in front of a bigger binder used to carry info for all of your classes. It has information to put in such as room number (who doesn't need this on the first day of class), office hours for your professors, etc. 

I would use this in front of my binder and I would add the text book on the class line, that way I knew what was needed for what. To get the class schedule overview printable click HERE.

Well that's it for some more back to school organizing tips. I will be posting more organizing tips as the weeks roll on. I know I have had a major commitment issue with this blog but I feel that I am getting back into the groove of things and I really do love sharing my thoughts and ideas with all of you. 

If any of you have questions or want me to talk about something specific please leave a comment and I will do a post about it. 

Thanks so much guys. 

XO

Caitlin

June Favorites 2014

Yay!! June Favorites are here. I am excited about this post. I know I said I was going to post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and I know I failed miserably at that schedule. There is just something about being home alone that throws your schedule off you know. I haven't been keeping my schedule at anything since he has been gone so don't worry, this blog isn't the only thing being neglected and I am going to try my absolute best to keep a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. I also want to start incorporating new beauty posts into my blog since I have been having so much fun with makeup lately. I am going to start with some Naked Basics palette tutorials so hopefully that sparks peoples interests. I am thinking of doing beauty posts on Monday so stay tuned for that.

My June Favorites! I am so excited about a lot of them. First off I want to start with the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette. I know this palette has been out for about two years and I am way behind on the game for this, but I am in LOVE with this palette. I just got it this month and honestly it exceeded my expectations by far:

Here are the colors. I love using Walk of Shame, Naked 2 and faint for a really good every day look. But I love that you could had crave to your look and get an even smokier eye, if that is what you are going for. Foxy and Walk of Shame are really similar except Foxy is more yellow under tones and Walk of Shame has more pink undertones. My skin has more pink undertones so I think that Walk of Shame is my go to color, in fact I know its my go to color. I just love this palette, its versatile yet compact so you can take it traveling and get a bunch of looks. I would highly recommend this to anybody just getting into makeup and you want to stick to more neutral colors. 

Next thing I want to talk about is this Maybelline color tattoo:

This is in the color "too cool" and it makes a perfect eye shadow base. I think that when you apply a white base before your eye shadow goes on the colors are a lot more vibrant on your skin. This is a perfect one for me because it helps my eye shadows stay on all day long. 

Next I want to talk about this eye correction concealer from Pixi cosmetics:

This acts as a brightening cream for the under eye area and its perfect for me. I get really dark circles under my eyes and this helps make them really blend in more so they aren't as noticeable. I love this and use it along with my maybelline anti age eye concealer:

This stuff is awesome. I use it everyday as my under eye concealer and it really helps hide my dark circles. I got the color in light and I think it could also work as a highlighter as well. 

Next up my first ever MAC product:

Its a blush and the color is called peaches. I love this blush. It looks really good on my skin tone and almost matches my already naturally pink cheeks that I have going for me. This is a great blush that really stands out and I just recently ordered another blush from MAC so I am excited about that. I don't own many MAC products but I can see why people like there stuff. This blush is really pigmented and lasts a long time. I was really impressed. 

My second blush to mention is Hot Mama by The Balm:

I love this color too. Its got a little more shimmer to it then MACs peaches blush has but I find the colors of these two blushes to be very similar. I love products by The Balm and highly recommend them to everyone. 

And last but not least MASCARA:

This is the Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara and I love it. It really helps add volume to my lashes and they stand out a lot when I wear this. Its a great mascara, a little pricey but I really like it a lot. 

So there you have it my June Favorites. What are yours?

Also I got my hair highlighted. I basically went back to blonde for the summer so I am excited about that. Well thanks for stopping by, stay tuned for a tutorial coming up. 

XO

Caitlin

May Favorites 2014

I have been loving makeup lately you guys. YouTube has dragged me in and amazon has provided a great way to get all the products I need. I have been noticing a lot of blogs write posts like this and thought I would join in as well. I especially want to share this fun new hobby with my readers and share the links to all the great YouTube channels out there.

Lets start with the palettes shall we?

Coastal Scents Revealed Palette:

This is what the front looks like. Its a cardboard package, with a magnetic strip on the bottom so you don't have to worry about it opening up randomly. 

 These are all the colors. I love them, as you can see I have used several colors lately. They are pigmented and really blend well. I have heard a lot of makeup people talk on YouTube about how this palette has great dupes for the Naked palettes. I couldn't tell you if it does because I don't own any Naked palettes yet. I can tell you that this palette hasn't disappointed me and you can't beat the price at $19.95. 20 great colors at that price? Seriously guys go out and buy it.!

Nyx Natural Eye Palette:

Sorry for the light glare on the darker colors but this palette really rocks. The dark color on the far right is matte, as well as the two colors in the middle. The rest are shimmer except for the white on the left, that one is more of a sheer color and works great for a highlight color. I highly recommend this product if you are just starting out with makeup and like the natural shades. This would also work great for teenagers. I bought mine off Amazon for about $7.00.

Moving onto blush now. 

This is the Elf Studio Blush in Twinkled Pink. I love this color. Its gorgeous. 

You can get this at Target for about $3.00. This is a really great blush and looks good on my skin tone. I am a natural medium/fair skin tone so I think it would work great for any light skin tones. 

For this blush, I forgot to add the picture of the case closed but it is the NARS blush in the color Orgasm. 

Love this color and the formula. This blush stays on my cheeks all day and it makes them look a little sun kissed. I love that look, especially for summer. This is a more expensive blush coming in at $30.00 but well worth the money because of the color payoff. 

Now onto primers:

This is my favorite face primer. I have a couple of them but I love the formula. It hydrates my face as well as primes it before I put makeup on. I got mine at target for about $5.00. Go get it, you wont be disappointed. 

This is a great eyelid primer. You really can never go wrong with ELF. This was $3.00 and you only need a tiny tiny amount for it to work, it helps make the colors brighter and not crease. 

Next is this lovely eye shadow. Its the 24 hour color tattoo from Maybelline. The color is barely branded, I find it works great for a base so the eye shadow lasts all day. This also works as a great highlight color. 

Speaking of eyes you can't go out without a great mascara. 

I highly recommend this voluminous million lashes by Loreal. It is a great mascara and helps make my eyelashes look fuller then ever. 

Foundation:

This is makeup forever HD foundation in the color Ivory. This is a full coverage foundation and I actually really like this foundation, its a little on the thick side so a little bit goes a long way. This is expensive foundation coming in at $50.00. I know, I know but it was really worth it. Especially because I am very prone to redness so this helps even it out. 

Last but not least, some essie nail polish. 

I am loving essie nail polish. Right now on my nails I am wearing the purple color called sittin pretty, its a gorgeous color, just right for this month of June. However this mint green color called fashion playground is awesome. I love it so much. Its a really great color. 

So there you have it. What your May favorites? I have been getting a lot of great stuff for June and so I am excited to do a June favorites post at the end of the month. 

Well until next time. 

XO 

Caitlin 

Project Photography

I am terrible at taking pictures everyday. I have heard (from many sources) that pictures are the best way to grow your blog. Well this blog of mine hasn't had a lot of pictures because I'm not too good at taking them quite yet. So I have decided to start a project. This project is dedicated to all things photography. I have been thinking about investing in a DSLR camera for the future but before I do I need to show myself that I am committed to growing this blog and taking pictures.

To start it off for the month of April I am going to do an April Photo a Day challenge that I found on Pinterest. There is a bunch of these challenges out there and I just picked the one I thought I would like the best and that would keep me motivated to keep it going.  Here is the challenge I am doing. I think it will be fun to connect and see who else is doing this challenge in the world. 

(VIA)

If you want to join in on the fun that would be great too. I am starting tomorrow with my inspiration, first I have to find it, ;). So stay tuned for photos everyday this month as I try to become a photographer. 

XO

Caitlin