Planner and Resolutions

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Tuesday, I posted a quick video in my Instagram stories of last year's planner and this year's planner and I got a ton of messages asking about them so I wanted to share a peek into my planner/journal... I'm also really nosy so I love when people share stuff like this or peeks at their sketchbooks. I have the Moleskin weekly planner (large) and I love it!  All the dates are on the left and then the right page is left blank (lined) for other notes. This first picture below is from my 2016 planner the week that I found out I was pregnant with Ida... It's fun to see how my planner/journal style has changed since then.

I include things in here like plans (duh), bills, meals and grocery lists, cute quotes from Cora, growth and development stuff for the kids, gratitude practice, to-do lists, and other ideas. I've tried doing bullet journaling before and this feels a little more organized and less work for me. I don't like blank days so I'm almost forced to journal each day so I can fill up the page. It has been fun to look back to get ideas (meal planning) or see what we were doing the previous year... which sometimes is very similar to what we did this year (I'm looking at you pizza picnics and movie nights). I also like looking back and seeing what quotes spoke to me at certain times. A year before Ida was born, I was writing bible quotes for the weary and burdened because getting pregnant was taking forever, but I had no idea what awesome gift was coming the following year.

This past year, I knew I wanted to do something a little different so I made sure to add a picture that sums up the week and do some kind of doodle each week. I also used highlighters to add in some color and it was interesting to see what I did with a limited supply of office supplies. On the last week of the year (second picture below), I wrote down these 10 questions to end the year intentionally and I think that will be something I continue each year.

There are also full month calendars in the front. I use this to plan or keep track of blog posts (working on getting back to posting twice a week) and write down monthly goals or to-dos.

There are also some blank lined pages that I use for my ongoing house to-do list. I just transferred the list over to my new planner and edited some of the things I no longer want to do or simplified them to reflect short term goals rather than long term goals (like 'work on renovation plans' instead of 'replace everything about the house'). I also have a page for garden notes because there is so much involved with that and I have a lot to learn after my first season of gardening. Cora also used some of these blank pages to draw some awesome drawings in.

For my resolutions this year I'm really just hoping to do more of what I've already been working on lately. I want to do more meal planning and home cooking, more rest, more healthy eating, more working on fitness, more reading, and on and on and on.  What are your resolutions?  Do you have a specific type of planner that you have to use?

2013 Goals

I have spent the last week reflecting on all of the changes that have happened in my life in 2012.  At the beginning of the year, I was (permanent) jobless, had my worst roommate yet, and I was just overall unhappy.  One year later, I am now extremely happy, I have a permanent job, all of my relationships are flourishing, I've accomplished one of my life goals of getting my own dog, I'm purging my life (and apartment) of clutter and things I don't need, and I have a lot of hope for my upcoming year.  That being said, I have been constantly making goals for myself through out the past 3-6 months.

Here are a couple that I've recently made for myself that are rolling over to 2013 resolutions:

1. Meal Planning - plan out meals for the week.  I find myself getting too tired to cook meals so I turn to the fast option of eating out.  I've started to accumulate a lot of crockpot recipes so I want to start trying those out.  I also want to pack my lunch more often so I save a little more money. 

2.  Saving Money - (going along with number 1) going out to eat takes a large chunk out of my wallet so the meal planning will help that out a little.  I also find myself shopping so I want to take that down a notch and limit myself to a certain amount (still to be determined, but probably in the $100 range a month) for things that I want (i.e. pretty things for around the house).  I've also been considering doing a no-spend month or maybe three no-spend weeks a month.  I'm still thinking the details through.

3. Walking Clove - I'm a lazy dog owner and only take Clove for short walks or out to the bathroom and then play a little inside.  I want to make a point of walking her more to benefit both of us health-wise and take down her energy levels a little.

4. Organize, Organize, Organize - This is one I've been working on a lot in the last couple months and am still struggling.  Ideally I would have this finished up in the next 2-3 months.  I want to get all of my storage, art stuff, clothes, important papers, etc under control so everything looks nice and I know where it all is.  This also includes getting rid of a lot of things I don't need.

5. Exploring - I want to explore around Cincinnati some more.  There are lot of places around the city I haven't been since I was younger or at all (museums, Findlay market, parks).  I'm also including some day and weekend trips under this category.  I want to try and get out and do some fun things.  My sister just moved to St. Louis, so a weekend trip there is on my to-do list.

Happy New Year!!!

PS. I promise to actually post my recent finished projects.  I was sick from Christmas to New Years so that kind of fell on the back burner.