Day 30

Friday, September 18th, was day 30 with my Life Planner.

Updates of how I am using it, what I've changed since last time, and how well the unofficial covers are working.

During the first month, I kept my planner on a table and used it through out the day.  Keep that in mind when you look at the condition of the pages and such.

To start, the Harry Potter Subway Art covers are working just as good as they did on day one--which it great!  I moved my fun paper clips to a new large pencil bag and pulled out the HP Subway Art dashboard and set it aside for now.  I might find a use for it later, I moved it around a lot before I took it out, but for now, it sits with my HP books on a shelf.

Remember, you can buy these covers at Small Box of Treasures on Etsy, $20 for the three piece set and $15 for just the covers.  Check out everything else in the shop because they are so stinkin' cute!

So, one of the first things I did was write down Tom's schedule for school and work on card stock and put it in my planner.  I used washi tape to decorate it (Blue and Yellow, school colors!) and used two Clips to attach it to my planner.  Tip: when applying two Clips to one card, stick the first Clip to the card, put it in, put in the second where you want it, then take off the sticky and apply it.  I didn't measure it out that way so now that card is slightly lumpy.

I know my color coding, I've been using it for more than a year, so I put it to the front of my planner.  It is now out of the way and will be easy to use again later.

September month, showing that Day 30 is finished.  I always just X out days past, I found one line wasn't enough for me.

Recently we were shopping for a new vehicle; I started to use the Clips for business cards and would put them were I had notes for when I needed to make calls.  This made things so much easier.

Another auto salesman's card.  You can also see the cute little card that says "Our 6th Anniversary Plans."  I bought journaling cards from Walmart,

similar to these, and I have started to use them in my planner.  Five bucks for a big stack of fun card to use, YES PLEASE!

I moved the bookmark to mark the month I am on and you can see another card that I now use as my "This Week" marker.  It says, "Hello Life" and has lines to write a cute note to yourself.  You may notice that "focus" is misspelled.  That is on purpose.  It's to remind myself that even though I am striving to have patience and be focused, I will mess up and that's okay, as long as I work to be better continually.

This was the first full week of use.  You can see that I use flag stickers to point out fun things.  I also used check off flags to point out important things.  I don't like to use things like this for fun but to point out important things.  This helps me to remember what needs to be done.  My planner is for keeping mine and my family's lives organized, not for me to uselessly use up stickers and washi tape.

 PS-

One day, I was moving around my bookmark and then it started to feel lumpy at the bottom, as if it had melted.  I got a little panicked ("How did I melt it?!") but then I realized that there is a protective film on it.  Just FYI to those that buy one.  Just so you won't think that your bookmark is melting like I did.  

(It does get hot in South Texas, it wasn't as far fetched an idea as you might think.)

PPS-I have a larger bag now so I will be carrying my planner with me.  Stay tuned to see the difference from Month One of Use on a Desk--compared to--Month Two of Use in a Diaper Bag, Desk, Lap, and Everywhere Else.  Excited to see it!

Harry Potter Subway Art Erin Condren Life Planner Cover

So, I just got my Erin Condren Life Planner and the first thing I did to it, after documenting its arrival, was put on its new cover!

Harry Potter Subway Art Erin Condren Life Planner Cover and Dashboard set!

In my post about why I chose an Erin Condren Life Planner, I forgot to mention the name of the Etsy shop I got my covers and dashboard from; Small Box of Treasures.  She has such cute and awesome looking covers for your Erin Condren Life Planner.  You need to check them out!

I have been worried that this cover wouldn't match up to the official Erin Condren covers.  I am happy to say that it turned out perfectly at first use!

This is what it arrived in.  Two folders protecting it.

First look.

I love getting little cards like these in packages.  A little extra love sent!

Before I put on the new cover, I compared the cover the planner came with with the Small Box of Treasures cover.  The original cover's holes are slightly bigger and more boxy.  There wasn't enough difference to even have me worried that it wouldn't work well. 

When I started putting on the cover, my fingers started to get "snagged."  That's the best way I can describe it.  In the picture above you can see that I got myself a little tool to help me.  I looked around me for a pen and didn't see one, so I grabbed this toy spear off a McDonald's toy.  It did the job just fine!

The ultimate test!  I jiggled and shook it and this is the result.

Perfectly intact and still looking spiffy!

The covers, both on, with the planner on its "belly."

The new look of the inside.

I received the cover and dashboard set, from my mother in law, so I had more to attach.  I didn't know where to put it at first.  Did I want it to stay in one place or was I going to move it around?  I decided that I would move it from month to month.  Now, I thought the best place was at the front of each month to not cover so much of the planning.

I did The Ultimate Test again, and the results were also satisfying.

I am very pleased with this cover!  Just the right amount of Potter fandom and so well made!  Time will tell just how well made though.  Watch for future posts!

To take a look inside the Erin Condren Life Planner, check out this post.

A Look Inside the Erin Condren Planner

So Monday rolled by, August 17th, and I waited for my planner.  Nothing.  Turns out the date they gave me meant that's when it would leave the warehouse.  Today, August 19th, it came!
I ordered the ready ship with the rest of the year and also one set of coil clips.  It took ten days, from the day I ordered, to the time it shipped.  Then just two days for actual shipping.  I have been waiting for this day for a long time!

This year, my birthday presents were all about new beginnings.  My sister in law and Tom, my hubby, bought me things for my planner, my mother in law bought me my new covers and my brother paid for most of my planner.  He told me, "Okay, I'm going to buy you something but it can't be more than $50."  We were shopping around when he told me this.  Looked at HomeGoods.  Nothin'.  Looked at Hobby Lobby.  Nothin'.  World Market.  Nothin'.  So I told him that he could just give me the fifty bucks and I would put that towards my planner.  At first he said no, then he couldn't think of anything to get me, so he agreed.  My parents didn't get me planner stuff, but they gave me a gift card to Cato.  I bought three tops for myself and two for Evelyn.  Then my mom went and bought a shirt I had on hold that I was going to have to wait until payday for.  Also, within the past two months, my mom bought me three new pairs of pants.  NEW WARDROBE!!!  I love it!

Back to the Erin Condren Life Planner!
I am so excited about this!  If you are thinking about getting an Erin Condren Life Planner, use this link to get $10 off your first purchase!  (psst!this covers shipping to most places! yay free shipping!)

Let's take a look!

I will tell my story through...pictures!
(You're lucky I didn't say song!)

Evelyn came in yelling, "Guess what came Mama?!"

The Erin Condren Life Planner Box (with my Whataburger cup in the back.  So Texas!).

My first look inside.

Stickers, a postcard and my cover voucher.
(I already know which I'll get)

It's wrapped!  I'm getting excited!

Ah!  There it is with my coil clips!

COIL CLIPS!!!

First look inside my new Life Planner!

(I put hearts around our marriage anniversary!)

First pages before the months start.

It started in July, but since we are in August, I started with that.  This is the cover to August.  Each month is different.

What the vertical format looks like.
(Update: I'm on day 2 of using the planner and I checked it this morning, like I always do, and I noticed something.  The week starts on Monday.  I don't see why you would do that when your month starts the week on Sunday.  Be aware of this when you first start planning.  I had to scratch out my plans and put them a day over.  Luckily I caught it before I showed up to something a day late.)

This planner goes all the way to December 2016!

Different kinds of note pages in the back.

A glance at 2017!  Whoa, 2017.  I remember writing 1998 on my papers at school.

Birthday stickers with one "vote" sticker.  Ready for new presidential elections!

Everyday stickers.

Two pages of blank stickers in such pretty colors!

The back pocket with the perpetual calendar.

This little book is to keep all important dates and a few contacts and a few passwords in the very back of it.

The clear pouch for stickers and such.  I wish this was removable, like the covers, so that I could move it around the planner.  It's soft and pliable and opens and closes easily.

Back cover.

That's everything, front to back!

Super awesome things and my planner!


As you can see, nothing has been done.  I hadn't even written my name in the front yet.
In this post, I show just about every page of the Life Planner.  I, of course, didn't take a picture of every month or every week.  They are all the same in a rainbow of colors.  When I looked around the internet about the Erin Condren planner, I didn't find any posts that showed everything and if it did, it didn't tell me that it did.  So here!  I am trying to show you everything about this planner so that you can make a better informed decision.  If there is something I missed that you want to see, leave a comment and I will help as quick as I can!


To see how my Harry Potter Subway Art cover turned out, check out this post.  For posts about the things I have for my planner, and the first things I did with my Erin Condren Life Planner, stay tuned!