Girl Scout Freebies!

I started up a Junior troop at the end of last year for my daughter.  She is VERY into Girl Scouting and being that there were no troops in the area she could join I figure I'd give her and other girls the opportunity.  I was a Girl Scout for 9 years back in the day and loved every minute of it.  With our cookie sales going full speed ahead I made some things that I could use to track our progress.  The first is a goal thermometer.  It's completely blank, with just goal marker lines and profile logo.  You should be able to right click and save this, it's 8.5x11 and is in jpg format.

The next thing I have is a ledger of sorts.  You put the girls names down the side and the activities on the top and go to town.  I use this for tracking attendance at meetings and cookie booths.  I also have a badge tracker that I filled in, it's a jpg but can be imported into photo editing software and you can add your own text and such in there, or you can hand fill it.  I also left enough space at the top so you can hole punch it if need be.

Please if you use any of these, all I ask is that you link back to here if you share them.  I've done the courtesy of leaving off a watermark but if I see others taking credit for these I won't hesitate to add one.  

One Goal Update

So far the goal a week has been going well.  I didn't get as much water in at the end of the week but I just have to keep reminding myself to do it.  It takes something like 21 days for something to become a habit right?

My goal for this week is cutting down on the amount of Dr. Pepper I drink.  I absolutely LOVE Dr. Pepper, even more when it's a fountain drink.  It's not uncommon for me to drink 1-3 large sizes from McDonald's in a day.  Yes, I love it that much.  I'm not going for elimination this week, I'm going for cutting down.  Elimination will come later.  I'm aiming for having ONE every other day tops.  I didn't have one yesterday at all and I didn't miss it.  I did buy one today but it's not very Dr. Pepper-y, it's more carbonated water than anything.

I'm still working in water every day and feel better on the days that I drink a lot of it.  I'm aiming for 4 bottles on work days and 3 on non-work days.  

If anyone reads Runs for Cookies you'll know that she LOVES David's Tea.  Well, I've been wanting to try some but I can't buy it online, my brain won't let me.  I was finally able to stop into a store yesterday and got a half bag of Alpine Frost just to try it.  I've never used loose leaf tea before so I was kinda flying by the seat of my britches.  The lady at the David's Tea I stopped at (1643 N Damen in Chicago) was super helpful.  I've read all about the Red Velvet tea and had my heart set on it when I got there.  She must've pulled about 10 different teas for me to smell and they were ALL amazing.  Some of them were very heavy on the peppermint which didn't wow me.  Then she pulled out the remaining winter teas and I fell in love with Alpine Frost.  You might be able to find it by itself in stores but on their website it only comes in the Collection.  It is a rooibos tea and there are apple pieces in there along with cinnamon, cardamom, and almonds.  It also has the most amazing smell to it, marzipan.  I immediately made a cup this morning and brought it to work, you get all the wonderful flavors and then the marzipan comes at the end, it's just to die for.  I can definitely see more of these teas coming home with me!

One Goal

By now I'm sure you all know of my love for Erin Condren, well my life planner has helped me keep track of a lot of different things big and small.  It's about to get used for a much larger purpose.  Over the years my weight has done nothing but climb.  I'm 100 pounds heavier than when I was a senior in high school and even heavier since before I got my drivers license.  I recently decided to use my planner to keep track of my One Goal.

One Goal is something I came up with that will hopefully keep me on track with my desire to start living a healthier lifestyle and start losing this weight.  Looking back every time I've failed it's because I do too much too quickly and get overwhelmed.  Drink more water, eat healthier, exercise more, blah blah blah, etc.  I've recently started thinking about it again so I decided to start small.  Each week I will give myself One Goal to meet and introduce a new one each week while still working on previous goals.  I'm hoping that building a healthier lifestyle will be much easier than shot gunning an entire new lifestyle in a day.  

This week my One Goal is to drink more water.  I have a 20 oz insulated camel bak water bottle and my goal is to drink 4-5 of those a day.  At work it's easy peasy, at home I'm tempted by the Starbucks and Dr Pepper, they're both quick runs through the drive thru!

I'm also hoping this will get me back into blogging, I've missed it!  I've tried starting a weight loss blog before but always failed on it.  I'll be using the tags One Goal and Fat Medic Slim along with both of those hashtags on other social media.  

It's just a simple note in my planner under the goals and to do section.  

A lesson in customer service

I know things on here have been quiet.  My last couple posts have been about Erin Condren and how much I love my planner.  I still very much love my planner but something happened over on the Erincondren.com Facebook page today that still has me stunned.  Take a look for yourself.  

I am part of the Erin Condren fan page on Facebook & one of our members was able to catch this before they deleted it.  Erin Condren has been having a rash of issues with quality control, especially products with photos.  The woman this is addressed to is the creator of the fan page.  A woman who has stood behind the company at their lowest this past holiday season.  A woman who had referred tons of people to the company.  A woman who has placed well over 20 orders since discovering the company just 6 mos ago.  

I myself just placed order number 10, for a wedding planner.  I purchased a notebook for my Girl Scout troop business.  A notebook for my daughter.  Several sticker orders, too.  I love all of my products and my life would be in shambles without my life planner (I'm serious), but when you treat your customers like this, especially one that has a true love and passion for your products is absolutely uncalled for.  I would love another life planner but until the dust settles and Erin herself does some major damage control my business with the company is done.  I was so excited to get my wedding planner but that excitement has been squelched.  

Product love, Erin Condren style and with a $10 coupon!!

I've had my Erin Condren Life Planner for a couple months now and let me tell you, that baby is a life saver!  I don't feel as scatter brained anymore and if I need something I can refer back to when it happened very easily.  I use mine to keep track if my work schedule, my fiances drill schedule, my kids school activities and days off, my personal appointments, and I track my calls from work in there too (we get a call bonus so I keep track of the number of calls I run in a shift).  

Since ordering my Life Planner I have also ordered a notebook with a monthly calendar added in for my Girl Scout troop.  It'll keep track of all of our activities, financials, and badge work activities.  I'm so excited to get that, I will definitely do an unboxing and review when I get it.  

I'm also contemplating getting a notebook, no calendar, just for me.  I'm a sucker for a pretty notebook! Not sure what exactly I would use it for but the possibilities are endless.  

That's my lifeline right there, I've shared that picture before but it's just so pretty I can't help but share it again! I didn't customize the colors on this one but I did on my Girl Scout notebook.  If you're contemplating getting one of these beauties but the cost is a turn off for you I have a $10 coupon code that you can get! 

Simply sign up for an account using this Referral Link.  You will get a $10 code sent to you practically immediately! The email you use must not already have been used to sign up for an account on ErinCondren.com.  Just act quickly! That $10 code expires in 30 days!! Also, if you place a small order with that $10 coupon code you can come back and use gift20 to get $20 off a second order!  Right now they have luggage and lunch boxes 25% off! Can you imagine the Christmas possibilities?! 

Disclaimer: that referral link will also earn me a $10 gift certificate ONLY if you purchase something!  Once you place an order you can share your referral code in your circle of friends, on the web, and wherever earning YOU endless $10 credit!

Getting Back into Cross Stitching

Many years ago my mom cross stitched me a stocking and I've been looking for years for something for our entire family but never came across anything that I liked enough to spend the money on.  So I decided to cross stitch my kids each a stocking.  The patterns came from Cross Stitch and Country Crafts circa 80s and 90s.  I bought the magazines with the patterns in them from eBay and finally got started on my sons.  His is the least labor intensive so I figured I'd knock that one out quick.  

Here is what it's looking like so far!

I have a lot more of the little details filled in but the scene for this stocking is a tool shop.  This is only part of the stocking but appears to be the area with the most thread color changes and teeny tiny details.  

I also created a little pattern.  It has NOTHING to do with this stocking or even Christmas.  I just saw a pic and thought it would be funny to duplicate in stitching.  

You can download the chart here:  i own you pattern

This download is hosted on scribd so it's a nice easy way to acquire this adorable coffee mug.  I can't wait to see what you make!  You could easily change the mug color too!

Erin Condren Life Planner Review

I finally got my planner!  So far I love it, I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I want to use it.  What I love about this planner:

• Size, fits perfectly in my purse
• Lots of room to write (at least for me)
• You have a monthly calendar view followed by the weekly spreads
• Each day of the weekly spread is broken up into morning, day, and evening
• Lots of stickers included! Doctor's appts, game day, mani/pedi, day off, birthday, etc and a bunch of blank ones to put whatever you want. 
• Clear zippered pocket in the back to hold things.
• Tabs are laminated!  I can see how in years past this was an issue when they weren't laminated.  They're very sturdy as they are now.  

This is the perpetual calendar.  I've put in some birthdays but I've seen others who have used it as a workout log, a financial log, etc.  They just use washi tape over the birthdays and anniversaries, I don't see this being a huge use to me.

This is the 2013/2014 at a glance.  This is super useful if you just want to see where a particular date falls in the year without having to flip to the actual month.  All the months have the same color schemes so once you figure out what they are you can easily dart your eyes to that month.  All of the color combos rock.

This is what a monthly spread looks like.  The blue washi tape shows when my kids are with their dad and the black washi is the weekend my fiance has his Army Reserve duty.  I also put when my car payment and my car insurance payments are due on this calendar.  My paydays are also written in so I know what to expect and when.  Nothing is on auto pay so it's my visual reminder. 

This is the weekly spread.  The week runs from Monday-Sunday during the weekly spreads.  Also, if a month changes during the week it will change to the corresponding colors for that month.  As you can see here, this is an Army weekend!  I chose not to put when the kids are with their dad here just because the monthly thing is a reminder, especially if something comes up and I need to know where they're going to be so I can schedule appropriately.  I also use these spaces to write down the run numbers of any ventilator transport I have as those are extra money.

 These are the notes pages.  There are a bunch of lined pages and a handful of blank ones.  The lined ones just have her little asterisk in the lower corner opposite the binding and LOTS of room to write!

These are the blank pages.  These have some of her designs on the top, this one is the fleur feliz pattern.  Others are gingham, candy lace, plaid, and zig zag.

This is the contact section, lots of places to write lots of numbers.  I use Postable for all my permanent addresses I keep track of, this I'm using for school contacts for my kids and such.  I don't see myself using this too much but it's nice to have to jot down an address in a pinch.

 This is the keep it together folder, it's double sided and fairly deep.  I have a couple things stashed in here now and I can definitely see getting some use out of this!

 The other side of the keep it together folder and the plastic zippered pouch.  I keep all the stickers that came with the planner in here.  I tore them out and cut them into their colored sections with my paper trimmer.

This is the inside of the back cover.  It's the years 2015 and 2016 at a glance.  I like knowing what days of the week birthdays fall on, or holidays so I have an idea of what we might be doing.  No, I don't plan that far in advance but it's nice to know if something falls during the week or weekend.







The coiling on the planner is super sturdy.  It's very hard to pinch two of them together so I can imagine this is going to take lots of abuse and still look darn good!  There are a couple things I'm not thrilled about already, one of my notes pages came scuffed, not a big deal but it's the tabbed page, otherwise I'd just pull it out and use it for something else.  There's a small tear in the bottom of the folder on the pink side, it's from where the ruler/bookmark was tucked into the pocket, maybe to avoid this they can snap the bookmark inside the front cover or put it with the info they put in the box.  Also, the cover scratches super easy.  The back of my planner already has some rough spots where it's been scratched up already.  They did offer for me to send my planner back but I opted not to because I've already started using it.  I just let them know because the quality of the laminate is not worthy of a $50 planner.

They also include a boat load of free labels.  You get 23 of them with your planner, which, if you were to purchase on her site is a $25 value.  I also got 2 codes worth $10 each as well.

Over all, I'm happy, I love my planner, not sure if I'll be buying another one next year but we'll see, $50 is a LOT of money for us right now.  If you want to check out a video I did head over here to you tube!



Disclaimer--I was not compensated in any way for this review, this is just such a hot item that I figured I'd write up my own opinions on this product.