Anyone who knows me, knows I live for a planner or notebook. Like legit obsessive levels of love. I’ve always loved a list and get great happiness out of crossing things off of it. So much so that if I do errands or something that’s not on my list, I will come home and write that thing down, just so I can cross it off. A friend of mine once called it my holly hobbie notebook and it totally stuck so even though it has absolutely zero similarities to holly, it’s always called that. Or the bible. I’d be lost without it and truly, it helps keep me so organized and motivated. It’s probably ridiculous that a notebook full of paper, lists, colored markers and stickers makes me so happy, but these days we gotta take what happiness we can, right? And it really does keep me motivated- to get all my work done for both my businesses, keep on the diet track, with walking, projects, goals, birthdays, etc. And it’s pretty! (the colored markers and stickers are a new addition this year, and I realize I have faaaaar too much time on my hands. But its a pandemic, so…)

Here’s a few shots of my Erin Condren planner. You can find it here.

Also, I’m using the “canceled” and “rescheduled” stickers far more than I’d like. I did buy a 4 pack of white out because I cannot stand scribbles on canceled things and everything is always canceled this year. Or changing last minute. (the black scribbles in the picture are not on the actual planner. i just did it here because it’s some private stuff.)

Before I decided that I was going ahead with the Erin Condren planner again for 2021 (always looking for the BEST planner out there), I found this Ivory Paper Company one and I ordered it. I figured I could compare and see which one worked better for me. There’s a lot I love about the Ivory one, but the Erin one still works best for me. I need the bigger weekend day areas, to be able to look at the whole week at once, and have a weekly block for projects. I do love the big page list on the Ivory one, the hydrate tracker, the food tracker and the gratitude section. If I could somehow combine the two, it’d be like the Holy Grail of Planners. But since no one (not even crazy me) needs TWO planners, I’m giving the completely unused/unmarked Ivory Paper Co. planner away. The only thing is that it says beth on the cover, but that’s easily covered with a sticker (or white out!- I have plenty to spare). So if you’d like to be the owner of this planner, just leave a comment and you’ll be entered in the giveaway. I’ll announce the winner tomorrow night (thursday 1/28).

Well, some people said they were interested so today’s a good a day as any to start. Don’t worry, I’ll still be posting lots of pretty pictures from 2020’s family sessions and you won’t have to read about pandemic purchases too often. Or if you don’t care, feel free to skip it entirely.

You guys know I DO NOT EVER run, everrrr. Not even if chased. I’d rather just curl up in a ball and be killed quietly without sweating and being out of breath. But, that said- I do walk. Well, I should correct that to I used to walk. A lot. Like 3miles a day for a while there. That and WW helped me to lose about 75 pounds in the past. And I liked that walking (mostly). It was good therapy just to be outside in some sun with some awesome music blasting, actually moving my body. Well, sadly I gained back like 40-50 pounds of what I lost and I’m all fat and out of shape again. Beyond depressed from the pandemic and all that entails for almost a year, with the only fun to be had was eating and drinking so that’s pretty much all I did. All. The. Time. And no walking. So when I saw the Get to Sesame Street Challenge, I figured I’d give it a go. I mean, you know I may be old as shit but I will be immature forever- what better for motivation than some Muppets!? I signed up for the 100 miles (maybe I should’ve done the 500 miles to really challenge myself but winter and walking not so much.) and am happy to say I already reached Elmo for 15 miles. Every time a milestone is reached, you get a pin of that character mailed to you and at the end of the 100 (or 500) miles, you get a medal where you can pin all your pins on the ribbon. I am also a big fan of collections so this is an added good motivator. Its been pretty freezing again, so I haven’t put in any miles yet this week, but I’m hoping to get out tomorrow to walk a bit. I just want to not be hugely fat and uncomfortable anymore. Again. Also, I can’t wait to get the Cookie Monster pin!!! He’s always been my favorite (and matches my Cookie Monster pj’s!) for understandable reasons. The perks of the 500 are the Bert, Ernie, Snuffy, and Grover pins. Hmmmm…maybe I’ll have to upgrade to the 500 afterall.

If you’re interested in signing up, you can find the Get to Sesame Street Challenge here It’s $100 for either the 100 or 500 miles challenge and both include a tshirt, bib, the 6 milestone pins and the medal at the end. I’m using my very awesome and cheap $20 fake fitbit I found on amazon here and then logging my miles on my Spark Challenges app and in my planner. Omg, you guys the planner!!!!! But that’s a post for another day.