Planning my heart out!

The other week I took a leap of faith and ordered an Erin Condren Life Planner after my sister, Mande received hers in the mail. I had been using a my iPhone, a wall calendar and a monthly planner to manage my appointments, things going on the our family and monthly budgeting. Sometimes things didn't get input into my iPhone calendar or on the wall calendar and there I was missing an appointment or trying to remember where I was supposed to be.

On Saturday, this gem arrived in the mail and I'm impressed. Let's start off saying that I got a deep discount on this bad boy and $10 off with a referral from my sister. Normally the basic Life Planners run $50 and it doesn't even include shipping. However the Erin Condren website were offering them 40% off and the coupon from my sister covered my shipping. So, with a few extra goodies added on (Pop-in Meal Planner and budget book) I didn't even spend $40. I had it personalized with my name on the front, which is included in the price. 

After I ordered this and patiently awaited it's arrival. I searched the web for how most people used them. Let me just say, there are some people who decorate the heck out of their planners.  I got tons of great ideas for adding things in my planner, like cleaning schedules, monthly budgeting and lots more. Right now I'm using the 2 page monthly spread for my budgeting and overview of appointments. The weekly spreads I'm adding in when library books are due, when my son is ungrounded, my meet-up group's activites, when to blog, grocery shopping and the biggest thing I'm working on...writing my novel! I've been trying to carve out time to work on it, but sometimes (like always) life has got in the way. Hence, why I've started this project almost 6 years ago. So I'm excited for this planner to help control the chaos in my life and finally get myself organized. I have high hopes for this planner in the hands of a mom with ADD. 

On a totally different note.....GUESS WHAT OPENED THIS WEEKEND!?!?!?

One of the local drive-in theaters opened this weekend. So the hubs, kids and I loaded up and went to the Alexandria Bay Drive-in Friday night. We opted for the kid friendly double feature of "Home" and "Insurgent". I'm excited because nothing says summer, like evening spent at the drive-in with those you love. And of course, we enjoy the "Star Spangled Banner" prior to the movie starting. 

Spring is Finally Here!!

The snow has finally melted and now we get to experience crazy high winds & the joys of chasing trash cans blowing through the neighborhood. The sunny weather this past week has inspired me to tackle several Pinterest projects that I've been wanting to do & start working on the flower beds in front of our house. I'm excited about making our house a little more personalized with each project we add to it. 

The rockers have returned to the front porch alongside a cheery new piece of wall art for the front porch. I was inspired by a friend back home, who made a sign like this for her mother's front porch. I call this the "Lindsey". The mason jars are attached to the wood with a hose clamp with a hole that's been drilled through it. Since spring has just arrived to NNY, I knew that it would be weeks before the first buds of flowers pop up in my flowerbed, so I went in a different cost effective direction. FAUX FLOWERS. ;) I picked up some fake daffodils at the World of Wally on clearance and added them to the mason jars & anchored them inside with a dab of hot glue on a glass marble. After today's crazy wind, I'm really glad that I anchored my flowers or they would've been clear across the neighborhood. 

Another addition to the front porch is my super cute rag wreath with a chalkboard sign.  This wreath is time consuming, but I used the scraps from a quilt I'm still working on and quiet frankly I might be working on forever. I think it the rag wreath turned out lovely and the "Hey Y'all" chalkboard sign hanging underneath. The chalkboard round was a group Pinterest craft my neighborhood meet-up group did the other week. Prior to painting the front, I drilled 2 holes  through the wood and when it was dry I used some orange ribbon to tie it into place. I printed out my text and traced over the paper. Once finished I just used a paint pen to follow the outline. I did the same process for the following text on my next project below. 

This is my favorite project I've done so far and is what I like to call the "Paradise" coffee mug holder. I found a similar mug holder on Etsy for $115. This one cost me about $30.  The Johnny Cash quote speaks to me and I absolutely loved it. When asked what his idea of paradise was, he answered "This morning with her, having coffee." referring to June. And as a bonus I freed up a whole cabinet in the kitchen by hanging all our mugs.  

Last, but not least, here's the most recent project the hubs & I worked on. This winter we spent several LONG weeks completing this Peanuts photomosaic puzzle while being confined to our home due to the never-ending snow. This puzzle has been hanging out, propped up on my desk and begging for a frame since we completed it. Well, hubs knocked out not one, but 3 custom frames this weekend. We finished this one in a black stain to complement Snoopy. The other two frames are awaiting stain and/or assembly & will be displayed in the near future with custom kid art and another puzzle I completed earlier this past fall. I'm really looking forward to more Pinterest inspired projects to do around the house, so if I'm not blogging I'm either reading, over pinning my heart out or in the garage working on something new. Until next time y'all!