Shellie's Planner Story

I love pens! I mean, like I look at a pen and want to write with it right away, if I like it I NEED it! I get excited when they are on sale and want every color in a style I love. Paper-Mate Flair comes out with new colors all the time and I get it stuck in my head that where I am just thinking about how much I want it. It’s a bad addiction. If someone picks up my pen to use I get a little sweaty, like are they going to press too hard, what if they take off with it? Ugh, I look like a NUT. I do get excited though when people ask me for my thoughts on a pen, then I have to go into great detail, do you want a ball point, gel ink or a fine line pen.   Are you left or right handed (lefty here!)? It depends on my mood with what I like in the moment. Usually I use my Paper-Mate Flair, then I might switch to my Stabilo 88’s.   It depends on what I am doing; writing, coloring, drawing… and sometimes I use a mix of them. I think that mixing the types can really give ...

As I flipped through Instagram there were many times when I doubted my talents, and myself and I questioned whether I should continue to do these things. The good news is that since I started my planner Instagram I have felt more empowered and have gotten such positive feedback on the things I do.   I remember telling my husband I was going to start my page and he said don’t take anything personally.   I promised that I wouldn’t, and I believe that he has prepared himself for the worst.   Luckily, this group of people are a wonderful group and for the most part, live by the golden rule.     Starting planning has really made me start thinking about things differently and I am starting to try things that I haven’t done for YEARS. I am drawing again, I practice hand lettering and feel like I can actually do it, and it is all making me a better person and want to be a better mom.   My son has started to want to play and make things with paper and I ha...

I know that there are other people out there that want to talk about their planners all the time.   To tell everyone how great and keeps you organized AND you get to be creative! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have Instagram’s or Facebook accounts talking about them, being part of groups… all that. Then there are the people who just don’t get it… What do you do? The nice thing is that the planner community is a positive one with very little “trolls” or rude people, we all know that there are some, for the most part though, it is a group of empowering women who support one another. I do bring a planner with me almost everywhere I go, I leave it on my desk, bring it to meetings and appointments.   I WAIT for people to ask me about it or be interested in it; then I let loose! I have a few people who I have brought along my path with me. I am a little proud when they show me their new planner and talk about their stickers. I don’t expect others to feel the same way I do thou...

So, I was planning last night and as I work on my planner I also watch You Tube videos to get inspiration.   As I am flipping through the people, I see that Kell of Plan has a Meal Planning Video, it has changed my way of thinking about meal planning! She gave me inspiration and I am excited for planning my meals for this next MONTH! Check out her video here … So instead of using a mini page and drawing out my month, I created this printable for 2 months’ worth of planning. Just print 2 sided, flipping on the short side if you can, otherwise having 2 sheets will work too.   Just trim them down to size and viola; you are good to go! I liked her idea of trimming the post-it’s to fit in the squares and then you can move them to your planner if you wanted, or you can write it directly on the calendar itself. Can’t wait to see if this changes my life! J

I hate meal planning. It is the bane of my existence.   My son has finally gotten to a stage where he will try more things, shame on me for not making him earlier in life, so I feel like we have made a huge leap! I have scoured Pinterest and All Recipes to get ideas for my family.   Most of the time I make something once and forget it.   Probably the worst part is the fact that my husband and I grew up in different cultures.   He’s Asian ate rice every day.   I am a White Midwest girl; I am used to potatoes and corn! When we think of dinners, we have totally different ideas.   I have tried to incorporate things he would like in to our dinner plans, steak/chicken/pork chops with rice.   I can tell you, I get burnt out on the rice after about 3 meals a week. And… how many times can you eat the same thing? So once a week on the weekends while we’re eating breakfast we are all together and discuss dinners for next week.   Our son requests...

Sometimes I feel like an empath; like that, I can let other people’s behavior change my mood.   I am trying not to let these things affect me so much, not let other people dictate how I feel or my attitude.   I have some strong personalities at work.   Some people that think that the world is against them and then others that look at the positive side of life.     I lean towards the positive people so that I don’t think of negative things.   I tend to try to pep those naysayers up; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. When I look at my sticker books, I can tell I am a fan of the positive quotes.   I will get home from a shopping spree and find that I bought the same quote book I had trips back.   I even look through all the stickers while I am shopping to see if this is what I want.   I figure that I cannot have too many quotes pumping me up. I think those little reminders around you help make or break your day.   If I feel d...

I will not say I am an expert by any means, and I know that there are only so many things you can complete in a day. I do feel confident that I have my grasp on my time management though.   I have been successful in my job as an Operations Assistant and Project Administrator because I follow a few tricks that seem to make sure that my tasks are done.   1.        I write everything down! ·          I write down things I have done and things I need to do.   That way I don’t forget about what tasks need to be completed and I have all the info there.   There are things I write in my planner (either work or home) and somethings I keep on my Outlook/Apple calendar. It depends on which one is best suited and who I am looking to remind.   2.        I always do the thing I hate the most first. ·          There is nothin...

I have to admit, there are not a lot of times that I have Mommy Guilt.   I know that I do things to make my son’s life better.   I want him to have all the things that I was unable to have growing up.   My husband and I made the decision that I would work and he would stay at home with our son.   They get to go on adventures together while I am at work and I know that he is well taken care of. I have a flexible job to let me go to his school events (not to mention the fact that I work a mile away from school too). He got me last night… School starts tomorrow, I was set, had scheduled to come in later and then be able to take him to school.   Unfortunately, the day after I got things cleared, an important all day meeting starting ½ hour before I wanted to be there was scheduled.   WHAT DO YOU DO? I have NEVER wanted him to think that my job was more important to him.   My mom missed all my kickball games and other events for work.   I wa...

We spent the weekend with extended family this weekend. I am exhausted, only because they were long days and late nights. It is fun to get everyone together; my husband has a HUGE family! He is the youngest of seven, and with all the kids, there are a lot of us! I have found myself talking about my planner with them, I feel a little uncomfortable wondering what they will think of my hobby.   Am I just a little girl playing with markers and stickers? Well, maybe, as I get more into my conversation, I am confident and proud of what I have done with my IG page. It makes me laugh how the outside world thinks of planners.   I know that not everyone gets it; it is funny though, as I have my Happy Planner out, people end up getting interested into what I am doing.   They want to know what I think about pens, brands and stickers. They want to show me what they are doing and excited to talk about it.   It opens doors that I didn’t know were even closed! It is ni...

I love doodles, I want to be a better doodler, but all I see to draw are these odd shaped “blobs” inside one another. I find it relaxing and it keeps my hand moving. I feel like it helps me with some hand eye coordination because I try to get the one line as close as I can without touching the one next to it. These are full 8.5" X 11" papers when I doodle these... I have been practicing a doodle a day to describe my day in my planner.   It is fun to look back on the day and pick the one that I can draw. I have been practicing doodling various things.   I am not so into the flowers, I really enjoy the space rockets and animals.   I don’t think that I am good at it, but like everything, you won’t improve if you don’t practice. As I type this, I think of my son, he draws EVERYTHING. We have pictures that he has drawn all over the house and often go to bed with a cute little picture he drew for us for a surprise.   I love it! I need to be more like him a...

Planning gets expensive, especially if you fall into the sticker trap and feel the need for more.   It gets hard looking at all the pretty pages on Instagram when you don’t write pretty and feel like you are a little less than some other planners.   We need to remember 1.        We all know how hard it is to get that “perfect pic”.   Rarely do you ever get the picture right on the first try and you need to move a few things, tweak the lighting or even start over. 2.        Everyone has a different budget, gets “gifted” items or are spending above their means… I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus, it’s important to remember that nothing is worth going into debt to create a pretty page. Some talented artists are giving us things free! These are some of my favorites: Victoria Thatcher – I cannot say enough about Victoria Thatcher! She is SO awesome and has some beautiful work that she is giv...

We moved into our house in October of 2017.   It had new carpet and fresh paint so we didn’t need to do much to it to make it ours. We have almost been there two years, I look around the house and we are NOT put together! I still have boxes in the living room and office.   We have a bookshelf that we can’t put anything in it for fear of it falling (yay plush carpet). I am in there every day and I haven’t taken care of these things. I sit at night with my pretty planner relaxing and writing lists, but I never look at my house as to what we need to do. Well… I am changing that today! I am making a list to get these things done. I am not going to sit and wait for someone else to do it; I am going to get it done. (This is me hyping myself up) I know that when I go down in the basement my husband will follow because he will worry that I will mess up his "organization". I would show you pictures, but I have gotten strategic in how I take photos to post for the world! Tryi...

Do you do the challenges on IG? I love them, I love to look at them and see the creativity.   I know that some are intimidating.   There are a lot of REALLY good hand letterers out there as well as some creative planners. The nice thing about the challenges is that it gives you something to practice.   I know I have sat so many times without anything to write or practice writing. I also like that it keeps me accountable if I post it.   I really like the accountability! It is sometimes hard to keep up with them, I do find that it is important to take the time out for me.   If you haven’t done a challenge, I would highly suggest you do one.   There are SO many to choose from! I love that there are ones for doodles, lettering, and planning designs. It breaks you out of your shell that you might be hiding in.   Believe in yourself, you are probably better than you think you are. Some of my favorite challenges to follow: @letteringchallen...

We’ve all started something new.   It’s thrilling, scary, nerve wracking; yet, it being new only lasts for a short time.   The thing that makes us or breaks us is do we keep up with it.   Many times the thing we are starting is being “healthier” going for walks or eating better.   Getting ready for my walk I can tell you I started waking up earlier and going for walks every morning. I decided that I want to be healthier for my son and not be the person who goes to work, comes home, and sleeps (which is what I was doing every day). I wasn’t being the best mom I could be.   Now I have been doing it for 2 weeks, so I feel like it’s still pretty new, but it is part of my routine.   I have learned that if I miss a day (because I missed one) I am tired and feel a little distracted throughout the day.   I am a much better person if I do it. I do log these walks (the fact I do it) in my planner with a HOORAY for me.   It is part of my FIT goal an...