dear two-thousand fourteen,

you were a rough year – i won’t lie or try to deny it. i don’t even know where to start 2014.

you were quite the stagnant year, or at least in my mind. i went to work, i went home, i did nothing. i grew increasingly irritable & sad. bored & impatient. i didn’t find excitement in the things i had in the past. you were a very emotional year – full of losses & some gains. i didn’t notice the gains i could only focus on the losses. you were a life changing year. i learned lessons. i learned a lot about myself. i learned i didn’t like who i had become – you made sure to throw it in my face so that i saw and got up the nerve to do something about it. you were a hard & difficult year, quite the roller coaster in every sense of the word. there were ups & downs. through your ups & downs you helped me start to learn what i needed to do to become a better me & put me on the process to living a happier & fuller life. i shed more tears than i think i had before – both happy & sad. the mister & i grew closer together and started creating a ‘newness’ in our marriage. i lost some relationships & gained some amazing ones that i wouldn’t trade for anything. i didn’t travel nearly as much this year as i had hoped nor did i go see the beauty of this great state we now live in. you reminded me that i needed to journal more than i had been. you reminded me that people can care. you reminded me that it’s okay to be who i am right now. you reminded me of my love for makeup. i’m learning to love me because of what you taught me last year. you sent my beautiful sister out to learn & grow in the world where she is thriving & teaching me with every letter i receive from her. you took me to visit with my grandma which was such an incredible & fun time. we adopted a beautiful & loving maltese/poodle mix who brings joy into my day everyday. yet you threw trials at more of my loved ones & expected us to grow. you were the year i decided i needed to take care of me & it was okay to ask for help and do what i needed to do to become the me i had lost. you were the year that let me know it’s okay to take back hope & grow.  what you taught me 2014 is that i need to put my attention on God, on myself, and on my little family. i put too much attention on you last year, on life & struggles. in the end what i have taken from your crazy ride is that i need to take my happiness into my own hands – thank you for the trials & awakenings 2014, because of what you taught me last year – i know i can continue to grow and make 2015 better than most of the years in the past have been by focusing on enjoying the moments as they come & not on counting down til that present moment is over & the next one begins.

thank you for the memories but goodbye two thousand and fourteen – you will not be missed.

.my planner.

 

 

 

 

She doesn’t have a name but this is my 2014 planner. I sure have come along way since I started using the Erin Condren Life Planner 3 years ago. The planner has made changes and I’ve adapted (some I didn’t like, some I did). Just as a brief overview…

I had to place those colorful stickers on the front as they didn’t print it right, and refused to fix it – but I won’t go there. My middle initial is “l”. I requested amber l barber all on the second line so it would be closer to the edge (this I even put in the comments) and it came like this with the “l” under my first name, really? If they were going to split it I think it should’ve been done with the middle initial after my first name, but I made the best of it and just added more color!

I LOVE the inside front cover of my planner! So sparkly, happy, and motivating. 

This is my month view. I use the “block stickers” on the monthly section only – this allows me to keep space on my weekly view and gives me a good break down of the week I’m planning on Sunday or Saturday night. In the empty squares I have decided to start doing my monthly goals/resolutions with the succeeded checks at the end. (they are the Martha Stewart labels)

I have my main cleaning schedule on the month view and I just transfer it for the week. The items written in are bi/weekly – monthly – semi-annually – quarterly tasks that I set up when I created my own cleaning plan – if you’d like me to elaborate on another post I’ll start putting it together for you. I do 5 main tasks each week (after work) these are marked by the color star at the top of the month.

(yellow = dust / red=floors / green=kitchen / blue=bathrooms / orange=sheets purple=laundry)

This keeps me clean & efficient. Hey it works for me and that flylady stuff is way too complicated!

My weekly view. This is of the next week so it isn’t completely filled out. I use the top “box” as my to-do list for the day, all the items I need to accomplish. Then the day/night boxes I use like normal. Day being midnight to noon and night being noon to midnight. I like it split up this way. Mainly because I work and just using them as morning/day/night wasn’t flowing with my schedule and was leaving a lot of blank space.

I dislike the lines at the bottom but I use them for my blog to do and my reading schedule so it works, I guess. The main thing I really dislike about them is there is a line of text above them that just takes up space and is silly to me. I don’t need someone to tell me how to use the space I will/can figure it out on my own. So I cover it with pretty washi and try not to think about it except to hope that maybe on the 2015 planner it will be removed. I don’t have a picture of it as I have already “removed” them from my planner because I dislike them so :). 

I just made a charm for her today that I am in LOVE with – each little thing on it has special meaning to me or a memory that makes me smile.     That’s my planner! If you have any questions please feel free to let me know! I love the Erin Condren Life Planner and would recommend them to anyone. If you aren’t a member yet and would like to order some of her products use this link for $10 off your first order!

https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/amberbarber1005