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

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

God is on your side!

Hey guys!
Today I couldn't really think of anything to blog about. I mean I have a lot of ideas, I just need to get pictures and other content ready for them. I decided I would share what I have been thinking about a lot this week. I have been re-reading general conference talks and came across this quote:
"I think God knows something we don’t—things that are beyond our capacity to comprehend! Our Father in Heaven is an eternal being whose experience, wisdom, and intelligence are infinitely greater than ours. Not only that, but He is also eternally loving, compassionate, and focused on one blessed goal: to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life.

In other words, He not only knows what is best for you; He also anxiously wants you to choose what is best for you."  -President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

I really have needed this reminder lately. God is on our side, we don't have to fight through everything by ourselves and we have Him to help us. I am grateful that I have this knowledge and I love sharing it with others.

Remember God is on your side!!
XO
Caitlin

You can kind of see the temple there in the background, past Zack's crazy face. Can't wait to go see the lights again this year!

LDS General Conference: The 411

The 411 on LDS General Conference

At this time of year many of your LDS (Mormon) friends are starting to get excited about General Conference coming up in October. I can always count on General Conference being the first weekend of October and the first weekend of April. It never changes. 

Recently the church leaders (including a board of women) decided on creating a general world wide meeting for all women ages 8 and up. This meeting will be held this month Saturday, September 27 at 6:00 pm. It will be broadcast live on lds.org, and on BYUTV. I recommend you sit down and watch some of it. The talks are intended to inspire and uplift women throughout the world, whether you are LDS or not. I always love the talks about faith, sisterhood, integrity, virtue, endurance, and hope. Sometimes in life we just need some of that inspiration. And right now, with the way the world is, I definitely think we need that inspiration. 

This is one of my favorite quotes from the meeting:

(Source)

Now onto the rest of General Conference. It will be held on Saturday and Sunday October 4 and 5. With general sessions being each day at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. Again it will be broadcast live and if you are wondering exactly where it will be at click HERE for more information. 

What is General Conference:

General conference happens twice a year, and has been happening twice a year since 1867.

All the leaders of the LDS faith get together at the tabernacle on temple square and give us messages to help us in this day and age. The prophets and apostles pick their own topics (they aren't assigned) and submit their talk 3 weeks prior to general conference. Sometimes conference has a theme, or you may notice that a lot of talks are about a certain subject such as family history, or forgiveness, or family. I think it is interesting that the prophets and apostles really pick their talks out before hand, through prayerful fasting and consideration. They are really focusing on the needs of the people, what we need to hear to uplift our spirits and give us a rejuvenation for our souls. 

I just love conference and I really hope you will sit down and watch at least one talk. 

I love getting direction in my life. Sometimes they warn us of things to come, but mostly they give us advice and council on how to gain true happiness in this life. 

Here are some of my favorite quotes from past talks that have come through general conference:

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XO

Caitlin

General Conference

This is weekend is General Conference. It is one of my favorite things about being Mormon. Growing up I hated it. Just sitting around for 8 hours doing nothing but listen to people talk, I could never get anything out if it. I started loving it when I was at Utah State. Before I get into that, I just want to say that in the LDS church we have a general worldwide meeting for all members of the church every six months. They always happen during the first weekend of April and October. The leaders of the church pray and fast in preparation for the messages that they will give us, they are not assigned topics but rather listen to what God would have them say. Then we gather in front of the TV and watch the live broadcast. It is a great way to hear the Prophet of the world speak to us and I invite anyone to click here who would be interested in listening.
Back to Utah State...
I was a freshman and had a great group of friends. There was about 10 girls and 2 boys who we hung out with all the time. When conference came around we gathered in the basement of our dorm room and had a big party. We all actually took notes, this was the first time I had EVER done this. I don't remember what I got out of the meeting that month but I do remember having the feeling of looking forward to the conference that would be held in April.
I kept up this excitement and then it grew exponentially when I was a missionary.
Being a missionary isn't all that glamorous as some people may want you to think. After a few weeks of being in the field, I was tired, exhausted more like it, hot, and kind of getting grumpy with my situation. I had different expectations of what the mission would be like and I was finding out very quickly that those expectations weren't entirely true. I needed a break and General Conference offered that to me.
I remember sitting in the chapel of our ward and hearing Elder Jeffrey R. Holland give this amazing talk here. I cried, thinking he must know how I am feeling. I decided then that no matter how bad the mission would get, I was going to stick it out. I committed to be there for 18 months and I was going to finish. I can proudly say that I did finish and it was one of the best experiences of my life.
Since that time, conference has always had a bit of inspiration for me to look forward to. We all have questions in life, what to do about certain situations, if we should move apartments, if we should quit our jobs, whatever it is and I can tell you that the spiritual instruction we receive at conference can help answer your questions.
I hope that you all have time to watch a little bit of it, even if it is one talk or a musical number. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is great to listen to and have beautiful hymns that help us worship the Savior. General Conference has always been a great break from the world for me, and I am so glad I get to share it all with you.

How awesome is that choir? Can't wait to hear them this weekend. 

XO

Caitlin

Frozen Hidden Agendas

I have recently come across a "Hot Topic" that I found on Facebook in regards to Frozen and its Hidden Agenda. I couldn't just let it sit there, I had to post about it. It bugged me to much. First read this article here it might make you crazy. I read two paragraphs and came to the conclusion that the lady is probably insane, I don't know her personally so I can't make that judgement but I couldn't read anymore. Then read this article here. Finally read the BEST article on the whole topic here.

My opinions:

Frozen is most likely not promoting secret agendas about Gay marriage/ homosexuality in general. 

No wonder people think Mormon's are nuts. I mean really, that doesn't really help anyone making conclusions on something in that nature and being so hysterical about it. 

I am Mormon. I LOVE FROZEN. 

When I first watched the movie I felt so empowered. I immediately thought about my own relationship with my 4 sisters. How each one is different and unique, but I would do what Anna did in the movie for Elsa, for anyone of them. I also related directly to Elsa. All my life I felt imprisoned. Not because I have secret powers (I totally wish I did) but because I related it to my depression. I could see myself and the point when I came to "Let it Go" and release the feelings of depression and doubt. Now, I have chronic depression, which means its not going away with me simply deciding one day to "Let it Go". I will always have depression, my brain chemicals just don't match up. It is what it is. I can still make a decision everyday on how I react to situations, and I can choose to be happy, although its a hard choice. Watching Elsa and her struggle in the movie, brought me back to my own feelings of struggling and self-doubt. Anna not turning away from her made me think of my family and how they did the same for me. Anna's act of love reminded me of my husband, and the incredible sacrifices that he has made to help me with my mental illness. 

After watching Frozen I was reminded of the things that are important in life, building strong relationships, that some people are "worth melting for" and that love can warm our souls and our cities and our hearts. I am sad that people in my faith are saying that the movie is against their teachings and values when I see the complete opposite. I guess that is how life works, everyone has their own opinions. 

I want to point out that not all Mormon's agree with the hidden agendas some LDS members are throwing out there. In fact I would say that most of them probably see what I see, love, friendship, family, self-awareness, trust, and strong relationships. 

I am proud to Mormon. I will buy Frozen when it comes out on Blu-Ray.

I understand that people have their own thoughts about it, and I respect that. I just wanted to share mine.

XO

Caitlin

PS watch this awesome video HERE! I love the Piano Guys. 

Caitlin, Currently

I haven't been up to a whole lot lately except lots of Christmas parties, wrapping of presents, and getting ready for Dec 25. I am loving life right now because I have the entire week off (paid time off even) which means I get to be home when Zack gets home from work. This never happens. I have a whole weeks worth of meals planned and ready to be prepared. I got all my Christmas shopping done today (I know I am a big procrastinator, luckily all the stores still had what I needed) and I got my daily workout in.

Lately though I have been loving the view out our kitchen window:

Mostly I just love the snow on the twiggy branches. Its so magical. 

We went out to my work Christmas party:

(sorry its a little blurry)

It was so much fun introducing my husband to everyone that I work with. It was a little weird watching the guys get completely drunk but kind of funny when we played some innocent pranks on them. They were too drunk to figure out what was happening, maybe in the future we will tell them what happened? Ha ha I doubt it, pretty funny. 

The food was so good, I ordered Salmon:

Zack got steak so he was pretty happy about that. Everything was portioned just right so you didn't feel like you were eating a lot of food, which is good. I loved the Salmon it was so delicious. If you need a really fancy place for date night make sure and eat at Christopher's in Salt Lake City, its good food and a fun environment but really pricey. 

I love our little Christmas tree. Its so beautiful and fits just perfect in our living room. Although the ornaments are a little scattered (I am not a perfectionist when it comes to decorating the tree) it looks great and as a bit of a Holladay touch that you can only get with our family. I love seeing all the presents wrapped up under the tree as well, although our Christmas is small this year its fun giving gifts to others so most of our presents are for other people. 

And our beautiful stockings all hung up. They match which makes it even better. My mom made our Christmas countdown and I love it. I think I need to change it to two days though... Also don't mind the laundry basket in the kitchen. It's all folded I just need to put it away, which is what I will be doing today. 

I just love this time of year and I am so grateful for this time to hang out with my family. I am especially grateful for the true meaning of Christmas. This time of year I always reflect on the Savior and his birth as a little baby. I think about Joseph and Mary and how much joy they must have had at holding that little baby in their arms. I also think that they had a lot of anxiety and fear, knowing and realizing that they were going to be raising the Son of God. I am grateful that I have a Savior and that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am especially grateful that I get to be with Zack for time and all eternity. I love him so much and I am glad I get to be with him Forever. 

Well have a Merry Christmas everyone.

XO 

Caitlin

Christmas Games

Zack and I have some fun news (no we aren't pregnant). We just got an assignment in our church to teach the 9 turning 10 year olds. We are really excited for this opportunity and think that it will be a lot of fun. Of course teaching 9 year olds for 60 minutes is a lot to take on. Their attention spans don't last that long so I am coming up with some creative outlets to use during class. Keep in mind it is church so I want to keep it focused on the Savior. For a fun Christmas activity we thought this game would be great to get their minds rolling. 

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Can you guess some of the answers? 

Or I thought that LDS Christmas bingo might be fun:

(Source)

And I could never forget some good LDS Christmas coloring work sheets. 

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These are just a few of the ideas I saw on Pinterest that I thought I could use with the kids in our class, maybe as an activity before the spiritual lesson, etc. 

Hopefully they will like it and if you have a few Christmas parties coming up you can use these ideas for your families and friends. 

Now its back to studying for finals. I have one paper, and two tests to go and then I am done for the year. Very exciting stuff. 

XO

Caitlin

What I have been working on lately

I have been pretty busy with the end of the semester assignments I have, so blogging hasn't happened a whole lot. I have been working on a few side projects in between my papers and studying for tests. It gives me a good excuse to have a break. I have a paper due Thursday, a 10 page research paper due Friday, a test Monday and another test Tuesday. Also I have a test this Friday as well, I forgot about that. So busy week with lots of studying to do. Its been good to keep me busy but I will be so glad when I have a break, even if it is only two weeks long.
For this project I have been thinking about opening up an etsy shop. Mostly offering some printables and downloadable word art. I have a few of my favorite movie quotes and other quotes typed out already and just want to preview them to you guys for the time being. So here we go, right now they are going to be offered for free until my etsy shop opens. I estimate that the shop will open in January so get your quotes you like while you can and a lot more will be coming. When I do open the shop they will cost only $3.00 and look really great in your home. Enjoy these ones for the holidays.

(click here to get your free copy)

Reads the best thing to hold onto in life is each other -Audrey Hepburn 

(click here to get your free copy)

Reads her price is far beyond rubies- proverbs 31:10

(click here to get your free copy)

Reads: Marriage is a gift from god to us, the quality of our marriage is a gift from us to him -L Whitney Clayton

(click here to get your free copy)

Reads: He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. -Wuthering Heights

(click here to get your free copy)

Reads: Falling for you was like laying taking an afternoon nap, promising myself only a brief slumber, But as soon as I had fallen, I was already dreaming -anonymous

So there you have it, hope you enjoy the first batch. I have a few more coming and will post those next week sometime. I might post them Friday if I get through all my homework between now and then. Hopefully I will come on and post about our Christmas decorations and some fun activities we have been doing for Christmas. It's my favorite holiday and I can't wait for it to come. Have a good Tuesday.

XO 

Caitlin