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!

Multi-Level Marketing Companies: What they are and why I avoid them

A few months ago I was mentioning to a friend that I strongly dislike (hate is such a strong word) MLM companies. She asked what is that? I went on to describe it and later she said "Oh I'm involved with several of those companies." I didn't really know what to say after that since I was so adamant with my opinion on them. Later I was talking to a different friend who was trying to sell me membership into her program, I told her I don't join MLM's and she also asked "what is that?" After I described it to her she said "Oh well you can still make money if you join", I just smiled and said no thanks and ended the conversation.
After considerable thought about these two scenarios I decided I should write a blog post on exactly what Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) companies are. If you are involved in one that's great! Especially if it works for you, please leave me a comment below about that. I know they wouldn't work for me, I'm a terrible sales person.

First lets define what exactly makes an MLM an MLM.
Wikipedia defines MLMs as: a marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for sales they generate, but also for sales of the other salespeople they recruit.
Dictionary.com defines MLMs as: a marketing strategy in which sales representatives of a company recruit other salespeople and earn commissions on their own sales and on the sales made by their team: Use your personal relationships to be successful in network marketing.

Basically it's network marketing. You sign up and get other people to buy your product. If they continue to be interested and want to sign up they sign up under you. Now any sales they make to family or friends will benefit you (the original seller) and you both get commissions off those sales. Some people refer to this as "growing my team". If you look at the image above its clear that one person at the top, now has 9 people under him, making his commissions high if each of those recruits continue to sell the product they are offering. Please note if you draw a solid line from the bottom all the way around the image you will eventually get a triangle, or a pyramid.

Now pyramid schemes in the US are illegal. Because MLM companies have a product they sale, that alone makes the company legal, even if the main income from the company comes from the overall pyramid of recruiting salespeople. It may be legal but it is still touch and go. The FTC (federal trade commission) monitors MLM companies very closely to make sure they are in compliance with business laws.

MLMs are legal and different then pyramid schemes for the following reasons:
1) you can make income still with out singing up new members. Say you are that bottom person in the image above, and you decide not to recruit any more members can you still make money? Absolutely. That is one of the things that can make an MLM appealing, you can buy into the business and get the product at the distributor price without having to have people join you. You can still make an income based off of your sales alone, it may not get you far but you can do it.

2) Members of any level can earn money, they also have the ability to earn more than the people who signed them up. In the image below you have three levels, the top (single guy), middle (three guys) and bottom (six guys). The guys in the bottom level do have the ability to make as much as the single guy, if they are successful and take a bottle of Felix Felicis to help them with sales.

3) As already mentioned MLMs are marketing a product which makes them legal compared to pyramid schemes. (source for the above referenced points can be found HERE)

A major PRO for MLMs is that the cost of advertising is significantly reduced for a business because the primary way of letting people learn about your product is through word of mouth and networking. (A.K.A. Facebook) This allows the business to be spread quickly and have a trusted face for the product, I am much more likely to purchase something from a friend or family member then I am for a sales guy who knocks on my door. In face I don't even answer the door when I see them on my porch.

So here's why I avoid MLM's and why I wont be joining yours anytime soon.
1) Difficult to purchase
I know this seems odd, but I like to buy things online. Amazon Prime is my best friend. I love being able to have the convenience of buying something without getting pressured into something else buy a sales man. Buying online with MLM's is available. However, its a little difficult to purchase something without having to sign up under a consultant, distributor, sales person (all the same thing). For example, say I want a SCENTSY candle. I go to scentsy.com find a warmer I completely fall in love with and add it to my cart. I go click check out but wait its saying I have to enter my zip code to find a consultant near me. I enter the zip code and several names pop up, no one I know and I am forced to choose one in order to buy my warmer. Next thing I know they are sending me an email asking if I would like to come to a party near buy to look at more items in person. This creates an awkward situation as I come up with excuses on why I can't do it and I was just interested in that ONE product. Why did buying one product turn into a sales pitch? Because that is what happens with MLMs all the time.

2) Pressure to hold parties
As mentioned before if I buy something its a key into the world of persistent sales people. The terrible part about it is that all of these sales people are dear friends who I care about. They call me all the time, only to see if I will buy more products, or invite me to events, or give me a free nail set to be a model. It all starts there but ends up going into wanting me to sign up, etc. Here's the thing I am an Introvert. And I am an extreme Introvert at that, so for me to host a party well that ain't gonna happen.

3) Exploitation of relationships just to get you to purchase something
I have a few friends involved in MLMs who I feel ONLY contact me to SELL me their product. That makes me feel terrible about myself. I mean really you can't call just because you want to catch up? You can't Facebook chat just because you wanted to really know how I was doing? You just want my money do you? Well great that makes me feel awesome :)

Now if you are involved in an MLM that is awesome!!! Especially if it works for you. If it does and you have a neat experience to share please comment, I am truly writing this so everyone knows what an MLM is and why I wont join yours, even if you keep asking me a million times. I still love you even if you try to sell me something.

Popular MLM's:

NuSkin
DoTerra
Young Living Essential Oils
Stampin Up
It Works
Mary Kay
Jamberry
Younique
Paparazzi
Park Lane
Scentsy
Avon
USANA health
The Pampered Chef
Tupperware Brands
Thirty-One Gifts
Stella & Dot
Lia Sophia

Hope you found this information helpful!
XO
Caitlin

Home Management Binder!

Happy Wednesday Everyone! As promised I am here to deliver my Monday, Wednesday, Friday posts. I have been working on a lot of blog stuff today and almost forgot to post. That would have been embarrassing. But I am here with a home management binder walk through. This is what I use to keep our house organized, it includes our budget, media inventory, cleaning schedule etc. Its a great tool to have and I can't wait to get to filling out the pages.  Lets Dive In!!!

The system I am using for the binder is the ARC system by Staples. I got the clear organizer for this project and I love it because I could choose or design my own over. 

As you see above the cover is clear and its pretty sturdy. I also invested in the Arc punch because it allows me to really use this system to its fullest. I can tear out the pages as I go, fill them out, then put them back in. I also add our bank statements from the previous month for budgeting purposes. Its like a filo fax, only 8 x 11 size and much more accessible for me.

This is my cover page, I got it from the etsy shop iheartorganizing. These printables are by Jen and she has great home binder printables as well as planners you can print off at home. Go check it out.

So behind the cover page, which I put in a sheet protector that I just used my arc punch to punch, I have this pocket folder. These are from staples here in packs of two, and are really handy to store my pay stubs for the year, receipts, pens, etc. They come pre-punched as well.

Behind the pocket folder I have a zipped folder, this holds stamps, stickers, anything like that sort of thing that I want to keep safe. I also got them pre-punched at staples here. They also come in packs of two. 

The next page is this special dates calendar, Jen has one in her shop that was mentioned above that I have in another calendar but this one I got from another etsy shop. They all serve the same purpose so it doesn't really matter which one you have. I just liked these colors. Zack wrote in our birthdays already, it was kind of cute, that was the first thing he did with the notebook when I showed it to him.

Next is the most used section! The budget. I printed off these pages for the rest of 2014, I put this binder together in August so I had 5 months in here. Page 1 has categories for rent, utilities, savings, income, food, clothing. Page two has these categories you see above, and page three has columns for Personal items, medications, free budget, eye glasses, cosmetics, toiletries, printer ink/paper etc. The vertical columns are for budget, actual, difference and comments. I love this system. I am just someone who writes things down and this really works for me, as I mentioned before I print off our bank statements from the previous months, highlight items in the certain columns and use that to put in our actual column. It really helps me to see where my money is going. Last month I was shocked to find out I spent around $500.00 on items that are completely unnecessary, this month I have a plan to really save that money and get back on track. These printables help me with that.

I made these myself but I know Jen has a very similar layout in her Etsy shop. If you would like mine specifically I can make those available as well. Let me know in the comments.

Page 3 of the budget worksheets.

Now behind those budget sheets I have the password tracker, there are a lot of websites that I go to and this helps me keep track of all the passwords. I pay the majority of my bills online so this is handy to keep in the budget section.

The next section is the media inventory section. I use this to keep track of our DVD's (I'm a movie collector), books, video games, etc. Anything media related goes here, we have a lot of STUFF :)

Behind the full inventory list is a checkout system. That way I can keep track if I let my family borrow books or movies for different things and I can bug them if I don't get it back.

The next tab houses this cleaning checklist. I like that I can write what needs to be done in these time frames, then I refer to it to make sure that the cleaning has been accomplished in our house. Even though we live in an apartment right now its still important to clean it.

 The next section houses this important info printable. Again from Jen's shop, all of the above mentioned printables can be found there as well. This one has information for doctors numbers, banking information, etc. Its handy to have it all written down for future use.

The next section is this gift giving plan, and then a party planning printable. I don't host many parties but I do like to use this guide to plan out gifts, especially during this time of year.

The next tab is cooking information, its a master list of our favorite recipes and another list for recipes to try. I was keeping this information in the back of my planner but it grew to be a really long list so it was better used here. The nice thing about these printables is that I can print them out as I need them, right now I have three in there, in the future I can get more and add it in as I go.

Last section is for the Master To DO lists. I always have a running to do list of things I basically need to do everyday, this helps me so I don't have to write those out every single day.  Instead I can get this laminated and use a white board marker.

Oops I forgot one section is for car maintennce. I use this tracker to help be on top of when our cars get updates and when its time to change something in the future. I printed two off one for my car and one for Zack's

And the end, I have more of those zip pockes and a folder pocket in the back and some pages for blog organization.

I love this system. It really helps to keep me organized. I use it everyday and I would be lost without it. Thanks so much for reading and let me know in the comments if you have any questions or want to see more details of something.
XO
Caitlin

Many Uses for the Erin Condren Life Planner

I know back in January I blogged about how I use the Erin Condren Life Planner specifically for school. Well now that I have graduated and I am out of school, I use the planner to help manage all other aspects of life, including this blog. So this year they added some new updates and I just had to get a new one, I love it so much and its so pretty.

I love it! I got the gold edition this year and its so pretty, I got the color spearmint and I just added my name on it. I could have put the Holladay family or something but its just Zack and I so I figured I didn't need it. 

This is how thick it is. I got the 18 month planner so it goes from July 2014 to December 2015. I know it will last this long because I hardly take it out with me and its held up really well so far. Eek I just love it!!!!! 

Here's the inside:

Love the inside, I haven't written in the cover yet because its just too cute, I don't want to ruin it with my handwriting (anyone else have this problem). I love that gold polka dot vellum, its very fancy and just adds a nice touch.

You can kind of see how the vellum works, its just clear paper with the polka dots. 

Next you have the first cover page and I actually use that space to write down my color coding system, yes I have a system and yes I generally stick to it.

Also I love that its made and produced in the USA, I love to purchase products that are made here!

Most of the magic in my planner happens on the monthly view, I use that thing up:

As you can see I have been writing my bills down on sticky notes, then gym stuff and a lot of other lovely things I put down in the book. On the list over on the right I put my cleaning chores, like the bathroom, reorganize the dvds etc. On that card in the middle (its a project life card) I just wrote a list of things I wanted to do for the month. 

Here is the back of that card, I used a new Erin Condren Coil Clip which is a new feature on the planners this year. 

Here is a view of the right side of the monthly view:

I love marking my pay days and in August (You'll see in a minute) I started marking my husband's paydays as well. I also mark of the days of the month as we pass them, its just always been a habit of mine. 

Here is the August monthly view:

This month I marked the paydays using the little neon garage sale stickers. I loved that because it used up less space. Then I used the orange flag notes for the bills and in the upper right hand corner I move the bills over as I pay them. Even though church is always at the same time I always mark it off in my planner, then I put doctor appointments using the stickers Erin Condren gives you and I created my own stickers on her site. The brown sticker says Camping Trip and the Blue one says Temple Trip. 

I decorate the monthly view a little bit with Washi Tape. I get my washi tape all over, Etsy, Amazon, Target and Staples are my go to places. I have recently picked up some nice ones at Michaels and they always have coupons so that is a great place to shop for planner supplies. My stickers all come from Michaels as well. 

Here is what a typical weekly view looks like. On the Martha Stewart Dew Drops I write the chores I need to get done that day, on the lines down at the bottom I right my scripture reading (devotional) and my meal plan. In the night section I typically right my blog ideas and any other plans I might have. I transfer bills from the monthly view as well as paydays and write what is due. I mark the weather up at the top using weather stickers found on amazon and my iPhone. Again on the left hand side I write out a To-Do list for the week. 

Here is what a typical page view looks like without the decorations and colorful pens. I love the clear ruler so you can still see what is going on Thursday and not have it block that day. 

I love that it has a year at a glance calendar (I bet you can tell what I keep track of here). The planner also has a 2016 and a 2017 calendar in case you want to know when certain days are in the future. I always look at this to see what day my birthday is on. My birthday is always on a Wednesday or Sunday, kind of cool on leap year its always Friday. Anyway... onto supplies. 

I carry my supplies in this cute little makeup bag I bought from the clearence section at Target. It works great for planning on the go and I keep page flags, pens, washi tape, and sticky notes in this pouch. Here is the inside:

As you can tell I use the papermate flair pens the most in my planner. They are so vibrant and bright and I just love the way they turn out on the page. I love colorful things. I also use the Staedtler pens, which offer a more refined point but are equally as vibrant. I also have the sharpie pens and I generally switch out between the Staedtler pens and the sharpie ones quite often. 

Next the project life cards: 

This book I bought at Target in the scrapbook Isle. As you can see it came with a lot of different patterns and I just think the they provide a great addition with the coil clips to my planner. 

Next I have a sample of the Neon Garage sale dots I bought at Target. They were $3.00 I want to say and come with 300 stickers so I highly recommend those for things you have to jot down every month. 

Here are there weather stickers I talked about, super cute:

Washi Tape I bought at Staples in a set. I just love how all these colors tie in together and it cost $9.00. 

And last but not least how I store my Washi Tape, in this caddy I found at the Dollar Tree. 

Well there you have it folks, I hope that gave you some great ideas for how you can organize your supplies, and your planner. 

Check out the Erin Condren planners and use this link to get $10.00 off your first order. (To get the $10.00 off you must sign up with an email account using the link, the coupon code will then be emailed to you)

XO 

Caitlin

(PS this post was not sponsored, I bought all products and supplies with my own hard earned money)

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