Happy Belated New Year!!!

It didn't slip my mind but there is still much going on here.  I spend until January 10th celebrating the Christmas season, New Years, and my birthday which was Monday.  I review the past year and set goals and of course, celebrate in my own quiet fashion. 

On my birthday I cooked a meal in the crock pot and used this recipe

 It was very good.  I served it with broccoli. I also made myself a cherry dump cake but instead of using pie filling I use unsweetened cherries in juice.  I have to have it with butter pecan ice cream too! LOL!  I try to eat healthy except on special days and I figure my birthday is one of them!  I turned 67 but it was no big deal because all last year I thought I was 67 already!  I did that one other year when I was 44...I thought I was 45 all that year......you can tell age doesn't phase me.  
Since my girls are all rescue animals, I don't know when their birthdays are so we all celebrate on my birthday too.  They each got a little bowl of ice cream!  I wanted to watch a movie....The Holiday but it wasn't available for free so I watched Zorro instead.  We even had coke with ice and popcorn I made (the girls got a couple kernels of popped corn but no coke with ice).   It was a fun day and the food and snacks were delicious! LOL!
I also have 2 other birthdays in January so I started to quickly make some finger-less mitts for my son and another try at a hat for my SIL.

There's much more done on the mitts since this picture was taken but I have to make 2 so I best hurry up! LOL!  Today I spent most of the day gong through and clearing out old files and setting my budget up for 2016. 
I also froze some chicken broth I made using only boneless chicken breasts and you won't believe how good it tastes!  I used this recipe
I just saved the liquid and I then labeled 1 quart freezer bags and put 2 cups in each bag.  If you use a bowl and a funnel you don't need one of those fancy bag holders.  It worked like a charm!

I've been doing a little cleaning too....but not much! LOL!

Happy New Year and Happy Trails! 

Planning and Planners...oh yes!

I have been spending some time dusting off my old planner (Franklin Covey Day One planner).  I haven't used it since I left work.  I write my list on a piece of notebook paper.  But I noticed things were slipping between the cracks so I checked out the refills for 2016 and it's like $40.00!  No way!
I found so many other lovely planners....really pretty.  Like this one from Erin Condren.........

 These are so pretty and colorful compared to mine.  And then there's this one which is really my favorite............

But these are all $50.00 and up!  No way!  I was on Pinterest and found there are whole communities of people who love planners as much as I do (formerly known as list makers) and they have taken all kinds of materials, stickers and various add-ons to "dress up" up and customize their planners regardless of what kind it is.  There are even stores on Etsy for refills that you can print yourself for much less money.  (Unfortunately, I am out of printer ink right now).  They are SO cute and I am just starting to "customize" mine with some materials I already have on hand.
Here's some that I pinned on my Planners board.

 You can see how they are so unique and customized by the owner to reflect their personality while at the same time keeping them on task and all in one place.

 The accessories are all over the place and I am just showing you a few!  These are page turners/markers

 Some planner pages on Etsy..........
I love this vintage look

 Here's some weather stickers........

 I love these cute menu pages......

 How about some inspirational quotes stickers?

 There are charms too; to hang off of your planner......oh!  Somebody stop me!  I never got into scrap booking but I can definitely see an addiction coming on!
 Are you into "planners"?  If you are a list maker watch out!  There is so much of this on Pinterest I have an entire board devoted to it now.  Plus, on You Tube there are videos on how to customize, utilize and guide you through the use of one if you have never owned a planner before. 
I haven't done much at all to mine...yet..........so here's a "before" picture.  I will update it and you as I add things.

There's a bookmark or 2 here and a business card and a few stickers I had but tomorrow I'll be dragging out the washi tape, assorted trims and stamps and stickers...what fun!  I just have to remind myself that a planner is for getting your "big rocks" done (priorities) and right now, customizing my planner is definitely not one of them! LOL!
Happy Trails!