Category: Tired Mommy’s Tales

Erin Condren LifePlanner Unboxing

Erin Condren LifePlanner Unboxing

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a thing for office supplies. Fun new colored pens & notebooks are one of my love languages.

When I entered middle school, they started giving us student planners and I loved it!! From then until now I’ve used many different types of planners and until recently, it was more for fun then it was for necessity.

Yes, I’m aware how weird I am.

I have entered a season of life where I have so many different schedules, to-do’s, reminders for myself and the members of my family that finding just the right planner is very important and not to be taken lightly.

I’ve had a MomAgenda in the past and really liked that I could have separate areas for each family member. For most of 2105, I used this Sugar Paper planner I found at Target. It was good but I needed something better – more than a calendar. When 2016 came along, I knew I wanted to take my time and find something with the separate areas for each family member at least and maybe some other neat features if possible. I ended up with a Day-Timer FamilyPlus and I had really high hopes for it. Alas, it did not live up to my expectations.

All this time I’d really wanted an Erin Condren LifePlanner. I just couldn’t justify the cost until I was a little more of exactly what I wanted. In the meantime, I watched Unboxing & Plan With Me videos on YouTube and would browse the Erin Condren site and dream.

Then I got the email that all planners were 40% off!!! I could get my first Erin Condren LifePlanner for only $25! I jumped at the chance and eagerly waited for it to arrive!!!

Erin Condren LifePlanner Unboxing - Cover

I chose one of the Good-To-Go covers as it was the least expensive option and it would have been very hard to choose among the personalized options. Plus, I knew that the covers are interchangeable and I can always get a new one if I decide there’s something I really want.

Erin Condren LifePlanner Unboxing - Month View

The Monthly View is great for jotting down the bigger picture items on your calendar – birthdays, appointments, general reminders. In the Erin Condren LifePlanners, each month has a new color scheme. I thought April’s was light & springy!!

Erin Condren LifePlanner Unboxing - Week View

The Weekly View is where you can go into more detail – goals, to-do lists, daily tasks, etc. It has become queite popular to customize & personalize these pages with washi tape, labels, markers..you name it. Check out YouTube for some great ideas. I hope to venture into – likely to much lesser degree – as I learn how to make the planner work best for me.

Erin Condren LifePlanner Unboxing - Extras

The back of the planner has a pouch with lots of great bonus accessories for your LifePlanner. They include compliment cards, referral cards and a sample set of “do-it-all” dots.

I am so excited to get started using my new Erin Condren LifePlanner!!! To see more details of what was in the box and closer look at the LifePlanner and bonus items, check out my Unboxing video below. If you’re interested in getting your own Erin Condren LifePlanner, now is the time because they’ve gone down to 50% off!! In addition, if you use my referral link – you get $10 off your first order and I’ll get $10 of my next order – win, win!!

Weekly Meal Plan & Goals – Getting Back to “Normal”

Weekly Meal Plan & Goals – Getting Back to “Normal”

Weekly Meal Plan & Goals

The new year is here. Okay…it’s been here awhile. Life around here has been such a whirlwind that one day we slept through the ball dropping and all of a sudden the first month of the year is 3 weeks in. Can anyone else relate? Keith and I are logging more hours at work, Brooke is busy with Girl Scouts (it’s Cookie Season!!) and swim class, kids Worship team at church and of course, school.

All the more reason to have a plan ahead of time. If I had to come up with dinner ideas at 5:30 when the girls & I walk in the door, we’d have cereal every night. Taking a few moments to make a plan on what we’ll eat takes the pressure off. Better yet is when I can take an hour or two over the weekend and prep anything I can.

For example, my chili recipe is quick and easy enough for weeknight dinner if you start from scratch. But if you take some time to throw it together ahead of time, you really can’t beat grabbing it out of the fridge, plopping it into a pan and just heating it up. If you’re feeling ambitious, mix up a box of Jiffy cornbread. Sit down with the kiddos and look at school papers or ask about their day with those extra few minutes. Lose the business suit and change into those yoga pants!! Take advantage of those extra minutes you’ve given yourself!

Meal Plan

Breakfast

Waffles – made a double batch over the weekend to heat up throughout the week
Eggs – scrambled, with toast in a bowl, in the hole…we change it up everyday

Lunch

Tuna Salad Sandwiches/Wraps – made a double batch of this over the weekend based on this recipe
Salads
Leftovers

Dinner

Ready-to-Eat Seasoned Pork Loin
Hamburger Steaks with Gravy
Crockpot Chicken Fajitas
Grilled Cheese Night
Goulash
Cheeseburger Stuffed Peppers

Prep-Ahead Plan

Mix and shape hamburger steaks
Make gravy
Slice onions & peppers
Make goulash
Mix meat mixture for stuffed peppers

This menu plan is linked to Org Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday link up.

Goals

I’m going to keep my goals light this week. Work is very overwhelming for both Keith and I right so surviving each day is my first priority. I don’t want to set myself up for failure by committing to too many things.

Send 2 Thinking of You cards – I want to make connecting with family & friends more of a priority this year

1 (more) blog post & 1 video published – I have so many topics & ideas in my head and I just need to allow myself to take for me and get them out there!!

Join in with my church’s Bible/study devotional book – We were in Tampa for the Outback Bowl on the first day of this reading plan and so I got behind from the first day. I felt like it was too late to catch up but after service yesterday I’m just going to jump in where they are. It’s better than nothing!!

We are still tiptoeing into normal life after the holidays. I know January is more than half over but I’m subscribing to a “Better Late Then Never” mentality.

Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

My First Grocery Haul

I find these videos fun to watch – I don’t know why but I do. So I decided to try sharing one too! I’d love to hear your feedback. Do you enjoy these videos?

The content on my channel is still evolving so if you’d like to see what I’m sharing, please subscribe and catch all the videos!!