For long time readers, you may have picked up on the fact that I love to journal! It’s my favorite way to start my day, having some quiet time and then time to write and reflect. I have been journaling throughout my time in college, you can read more about it here.
During my senior year in college and my first few months out of college, I journaled in the companion to Grace Not Perfection, by Emily Ley. This was my journal for 2019-2020. There were prompts every week, to give me something to reflect and work towards. But it also has enough open space to jot down you thoughts and feelings and emotions.
Finding Grace in my senior year and first few months working
The phrase “Grace Not Perfection” has been a mantra that I have kept coming back to through the year, when times get busy or hectic, I remind myself to give myself grace and not everything is going to be perfect. It truly puts things in perspective for me.
My favorite quote and a college throwback
After reading “Grace Not Perfection” during my sophomore year of college and now spending a year journaling with it, I’m much more aware and better with implementing it in my daily life. It’s no longer a matter of remembering to do it, rather it’s always in the back of my mind and I apply it without realizing it.
Maybe “grace not perfection” is not your mantra, but whatever you believe in or focus on, be sure to keep it in your mind on the good days and the not so good days.
I also believe that these past few months have put my grace not perfection to the test, so many things in life have gotten cancelled or post-poned and in those times of uncertainty it’s even more important to allow ourselves that grace and knowledge that it will all work out.
These past few months have been filled with so many unknowns, but in any situation, I always look for the silver linings, so even when the world stopped and got turned upside down, I still wanted to find the good in it. I’ve learned a lot about myself during these past few weeks and months.
One of the things that have really helped me every day is to simply put things in perspective and maintain a grateful and positive attitude through it all, yes, days were hard and challenging, but taking it one day at a time, helped me so much. Another things that has helped me as been journaling, not just daily but also a separate journal about life and working through a pandemic, I remember what I’m feeling every day, but years from now, will I? Keeping all my notes and feelings in one spot hase been so helpful too!
I was lucky enough to work through the pandemic, although days were filled with uncertainty, I was so fortunate to still be able to work. Another thing I was super grateful for was the fact I was with my family the entire time, I got bonus time with my parents and siblings as they worked and learned from home. I was able to see them before and after work, have quality time to be together that I may not have gotten in the past. Another positive in a dark situation.
What really stands out to me during the pandemic, was the importance of truly slowing down. During college, especially during my senior year, I felt spread too thin and overwhelmed with commitments, I have gotten into a much better routine since working but this pandemic, truly showed me that you don’t have to have a full schedule every single day and this is something I want to adapt in my life more this summer. Yes, more things are reopening and we are entering into a new normal but I want to still continue with slower days when I can. At the beginning of this year, I read, When Less Becomes More by Emily Ley, you can read the review here. One of the biggest takeaways from the book was living a slower and more meaningful life and the joy and beauty in the simple things. I have truly found the beauty in the simple things and the importance of taking it slow. I have also learned to not take things for granted, like just going into a store to browse, you can’t do that anymore. I also found you don’t have to be busy all the time or doing things all the time to be happy and enjoy life.
Taking it one day at a time and realizing that sometimes, the simple things in life are better.
What have your learned about yourself through the pandemic? How has your outlook on life changed?
Happy Wednesday! I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite ways to unwind after a busy day at work or a great way to start my day is with a good book. I am looking to make more time for reading in my day to day life. I always start my day by reading a devotional and journaling. Now, I want to start incorporating reading a bit every night to wind down.
Last November, Emily Ley launched her third book, “When Less Becomes More”, If you have been following for a while, you know that I love Emily Ley, her planners, books, and her mission. I have really made an effort to bring simplicity into my life and it has ultimately made me more balanced, calmer, and I lead a more purposeful life with it.
My new favorite heading into 2020
Now, onto the book review. I remember Emily sharing with her followers the process of writing her new book and I couldn’t wait to dive in.
The whole book is about how sometimes less is more and we can be happier in life when we aren’t distracted all the time and pulled in different directions. She breaks the book down in 10 areas where we can make the choice to live simpler lives and not be stretched so thin that we aren’t living fulfilling lives.
I started reading the book right when it came out, which coincided with my upcoming college graduation. I was at a time in my life where I was balancing classes, being very involved with school and campus, working, applying and interviewing for jobs and ultimately being spread too thin. Emily’s words about being overcommitted and not overwhelmed resonated with me. Like me, she loved everything that she was doing but felt burnt out. As I made my way through her book, I came to the realization that we have the power to make changes in our lives to lead happier and purposeful lives and that’s something I’m working on in this new stage of my life. Making time for things that matter to me and cultivating friendships and relationships that bring me only joy and allow me to grow.
Without fearing of being too dramatic, reading Emily’s new book came at the perfect time for me and it changed my life. I strongly recommend reading this book and Emily’s other books as well. You can see my reviews of A Simplified Life here or what I learned about Grace Not Perfection here.
This year, I also decided to buy one of Emily’s signature simplified planners. I purchased this one here. When I started a new job, I wanted to start on the right foot with getting organized. What I love about the Simplified planner is that you can use it however you want, for classes, meetings, to do lists, meal planning. There are so many ways to use it.
New 2020 Planner
I’m going to break it down for how I use I best for my schedule and life.
I first use the month calendar for when I work, have appointments, events. I have it colored coordinated for work and personal, the same colors for the calendar on my phone.
Full month calendar
For the day to day set up, I have what days I work, the times I work, and what things I worked on each day, then I have a to-list for each day. My days off is when I have longer to-do lists but I still like to see what I need to do every day.
Day to day calendar
I like having all my information in one area that I always have with me and not in several different spots.
Having a planner saves me time and makes my life run smoother, two things that Emily Ley is a big advocate for.
That’s just a quick look into how I am starting off the new year and the mentality for the upcoming year.
Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday. I hope you all had a great and restful weekend. With only a few weekends left in college, I am trying to soak up all the time I have left being with my friends, I have been taking advantage of going out to brunch with my buddies, having good conversations with friends, and always being down to do something.
That brings me to my new series of blog posts. I started this blog when I was in my freshmen year of college and a lot has happened since I started it. The next several weeks, my posts will be dedicated to reflecting on my time in college, my favorite memories, what I learned, a final semester recap, and a thank you to a place that I have truly grown in so many ways.
Four years of memories, moments, and happiness
Today’s post is something that I have talked about through the years, but I am ready to really talk about it more. Let’s talk about journaling! I can successfully say that I have journaled through my entire college career. Yes, every single day of college, is documented and written about. I can tell you what I was doing on November 29, 2016, or April 16, 2017, or January 25, 2018, and even on August 26, 2019. I can tell you how I was feeling, what I was struggling with, what sparked joy that day because I wrote it all down. Looking back, this was one of the best decisions I made while I was in college. Writing about my feelings, what I was going through, what things caused me stressed and what things made me happy was such a good way to unwind and reflect. It also put things in perspective for me. I never had a full day where I complained, I always found something positive or good about the day, whether it was getting a good grade on an exam or catching up with an old friend. Journaling every day made me realize how good life is, and all the things I have to be grateful for. Every year, I had a different theme for my journaling.
Freshmen year, my mom gifted me this journal when I moved into my first day of college. I journaled about every single thing that happened, what I ate for breakfast, how my classes went, what I did for fun and when I went to bed. I was so detailed with my journaling. It was a great way to unwind at the end of the day and reflect of everything I got done. This method really worked during a year of adjusting to a new place and new people. It was a form of comfort to me.
Sophomore year-my year of YES
Sophomore year came and it was all about yes saying to everything. I started a new job, met new friends, tried new things and stepped out of my comfort zone. I had read Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes and I made my sophomore year my year of yes. I started every day with my Years of Yes journal. The journal was set up with a topic each month to say yes to things. There was a goals section where you can map out where you want to see yourself by the end of the month. Each day is split up into three sections where you can write about the things you said yes to. Inspirational quotes by Rhimes are spread throughout the book to give you motivation if you need it. I spent 5 minutes a day on this and it was such a positive way to start the day. I loved seeing all the things I tried and said yes to through the year.
Junior Year JOY
Junior year brought JOY. I decided to journal about all the joy in my life. I found myself getting negative about the small things in life, whether it was a long day or friendship troubles. I decided to find joy in every day. I would write down three good things or three things that brought me joy. After doing this for a full year I got to change my mindset and see all the good things in my life. It also made the small annoying things in life seem nonexistent. I’m so glad I found the good in every day.
Finding Grace in my Senior Year
For senior year, I wanted to try something new. I have always been very involved and balancing a lot of things in life, which I do very well at. For senior year, I decided to give myself the gift of grace. I was inspired by Emily Ley’s Grace Not Perfection and, journaled every day from prompts in the book, A Standard of Grace as well sharing the highlights of my day. It really made me focus on what was important in life.
Four years later
Although, my college career is winding down, I will continue to journal, it has been a great stress reliever, and a beautiful way to reflect on my time in college and see the beauty and good in every day. Journaling has brought me so much joy and happiness and I am so glad I have four journals full of thoughts, memories, and happiness from my time in college.
Hey hey friends! Happy Tuesday! I hope you all had an enjoyable and fun Labor Day weekend. Although, I was at school, I did have a fun weekend with friends, and it was a great way to say goodbye to summer. Although, school started back last week for me, I’m still trying to find a good routine. Last week was all about getting adjusted to a new schedule, classes, work time and organizing all the appointments. This week is weird since we had off yesterday and tonight I’m going to a concert with friends. I’m trying my best to soak up every moment at school this semester.
I know I’m late to the game, but I am finally on the band wagon with using the calendar on my phone and laptop….I know I know, it’s a long time coming. Before I get started on how and why I am using this system now, I want to give a little bit of background on how I stay organized.
A few years back, I did a post about staying organized with school. You can read about it here.
Let me break it down for how I stay on top of things, I have a feeling this may change once I graduate from college, but for now this is what works.
Big Desk Calendar
My desk calendar
I love to see everything laid out in front of my on my desk. I have everything color coded. Certain colors for classes, Green for school things (tutoring, dinners, meetings), Blue for Work (staff meetings, when things are due), Red for when I work, and then purple for anything else that comes up. I like seeing the month as a whole and this helps me plan better when I have new things to put on the calendar. I got this planner from the Simplified Collection by Emily Ley at Target. I put everything on this calendar- it’s basically my master one-school, work, home, family, friends. It all goes here.
This has the week layout. Every day is split in two columns (The My Day and To Do). In the My Day is where I put any meetings, events, test dates or things to remember. In the To Do is where I list all my homework assignments.
What my weekly spread looks like
This is the first year that I used the monthly calendar too. Although, I love my desk calendar I was scheduling things without looking. I only write the important things in the month section like tutoring, meetings, scheduled events just so I have a reference. This planner is mostly used for school things-homework, exams, meetings for school and work things for school.
The month of September as a whole in the month section of calendar
iCalendar
This past summer, I started to use the calendar app on my phone and laptop to keep track of work things and events happening with family and friends. Since I wasn’t in school I wasn’t using a planner and since I spent most every day on my laptop it made sense to have my calendar in front of me, now I am loving it. It’s so easy to use and I LOVE how you can sync your phone and laptop calendars to be the same. I am also able to customize when I put things on the calendar and color coordinate them too. Also, the best part, by using iCalendar it keeps all my blog posts in order and I can schedule things better too.
For this calendar its divided by four topics: school (blue), blog (purple), personal (yellow) and important (red).
My four categories of what I put on the calendar
For school I only put important meetings, appointment and work commitments( no homework, no tests, no when my classes are), for blog I put down what posts are being published when, personal is activities and things with friends and family, and important are basically when the big things are due like credit card statements. This calendar is the big picture stuff, I refer to this when I am planning an event or meeting to see if I have conflicts and I always have it with me, unlike my desk calendar and planner which aren’t always on me.
The whole month at a glance
Is it necessary to have all of these? Probably not, but it’s what works best for me. I am a super organized person, so I like to do all this and keep myself on top of everything. I am thinking once I graduate about ditching the desk calendar and just keeping a planner and using the calendar on my phone. Thoughts from any recent graduates about what works best for you? After I graduate, I want to focus on simplifying my life more and I know once I am done with school a lot of these activities will be done too, so for now I am enjoying my life with my three color coordinated calendars!
Hey guys! Happy Tuesday! I have just a short post for you today. I’m currently in Rome for Spring Break! I can’t wait to share all about my trip when I return.
However, today, I have a fun post for you all about blogging. For those of you who are new here, I have been blogging for almost two years and I have loved every second of it. I love sharing fashion and organizational tips, healthy life hacks, and overall, my experience in college. I’m so glad to have you all here with me on this journey. However, I didn’t get here alone, I get a lot of inspiration from a lot of strong and powerful women who have paved the way in the blogging world. Today, I’m going to share with you my favorite bloggers and a bit about them. This post is not sponsored-I just wanted to give some love to my favorite girl bosses and bloggers! I read their blogs every day and I love to learn different things from them whether it is recipes, skin care, day in the life or travel. If you are looking for some other blogs to check out be sure to give these ladies a follow! Let’s get to it!
I love following Shay Shull and her whole crew. Shay shares everything from recipes, adoption, children, travel, faith, and family. I love how real she gets with her readers. She also has a few cookbooks out that has the most delicious recipes. I love to read her travel posts and her day in the life posts as well as her book reviews. She has been at blogging for over 10 years and always comes up with new content all the time. Such a fun blog to follow.
I found Laura’s blog a few years back and I love following her healthy lifestyle, fitness, and personal development posts. She always keeps her posts positive but also honest-two things I love in the blogs I read! She recently just had her first baby and he is cutest thing ever! I love reading all her latest posts especially balancing life with a new baby and getting into a new routine.
I found Erika’s blog through Shay’s blog. The two moms work together and are close friends. I love reading all about her travel posts, running around with her children and online shopping finds. Her posts about Q&A’s and surveys are my favorite to read. She also keeps it real and anyone who is a mom will find her relatable.
I found Carly’s blog through a friend. The first thing that drew me to Carly’s blog is that she started it in college-just like I started my blog. She writes all about her college experiences, being homesick and how she grew from those experiences. A few years ago she quit her intense job to blog full time, it’s been great to see this transition. Now, Carly blogs about fashion, accessories, and life lessons. I love her refreshing personality.
I found Abby on Instagram after I watched her husband in one of my favorite shows, SEAL Team. Abby is a blogger, dermatology nurse, and a mom of three! She does it all. I love her posts about Amazon and Target finds, her beauty and skin care treatments and above all else keeping it real with being a working mom. I can’t get enough of her posts!
Okay, by now you know I love Emily Ley based on how much I talk about her on my blog. I love how she strives to live a simplified life and lead a life of grace not perfection. She is also the Founder of Simplified, her own boss, and a mom to three. Her posts always make me energized and positive. She is such an inspiration to anyone looking to simpliify their lives.
If you are a huge fan of blogs, I hope these are suggestions of blogs to check out. If you aren’t a fan of blogs then I hope this gives you some insight of women who inspire me in the blogging world.
Hello All and Happy Tuesday and an even Happier February.
I love the month of February! Not only is January over…it’s such a long month, but I love Valentine’s Day and all the red, white, and pink that goes along with it. Not to mention the chocolate and just the good feelings that come along with it. It’s the perfect month in the middle of a long winter.
For those of you who follow me on instagram, you may have noticed for the month of January, I participated in the Simplicity Challenge through Emily Ley’s company, Simplified. I love everything Emily Ley does from her books, to planners, and simplified ways. If you aren’t familiar with her already, check her out here.For the past few years she has done a simplicity challenge for the new year and this year I knew I wanted to participate in it.
Every day for the month of January she will assign a task around your home that takes 15 minutes or less to accomplish, it can be anything from cleaning out your car, making a grocery list of easy meals, taking a trash bag and getting rid of stuff through your house, and setting goals for the new year. You can see the full list of challenges on Emily Ley’s Instagram page here.I posted myself doing the challenges every day and saved them to my highlights reel on instagram.Not only did this old me accountable for doing the challenge but it also showed you all how easy the tasks can be. Here are a few examples of my favorite tasks.
I loved starting the challenge by going through my room and getting rid of all the clutter
My car can always get so cluttered so I loved being able to get it cleaned out
I use my notes app all the time and I loved that I was able to get it organized with all the important things
With the new year just beginning I took the time to clean my camera roll and save my photos and delete random ones
It felt so good to organize my purse and get it all prepped for a new semester and replenish things that were out
I cleaned out my emailed and unsubscribed from a bunch of stores that I don’t shop at. Nothing better than an updated inbox
Last but not least, I made sure to set some time aside for myself. We all need self care in order to take care of others
These are just a few examples of my favorite tasks. I was so happy I was able to accomplish the challenge, if you didn’t get around to it, no worries. You can always start now. It doesn’t have to be at the beginning of the month or even the year. This challenge really helped get me in the right mind set for the new year. This year I want to be more intentional and only focus on the important things and this challenge really helped declutter my home and my mind. There are some tasks that I know I am going to continue to incorporate in my life every day especially when it comes to lists and organizing and there are others that I know were helpful in the moment, but I may not continue to use them in my life.
Have you tried the simplicity challenge?
What ways do you want to get simplified for the upcoming year?
Happy Tuesday! I am wrapping up fall break this week. It has been so nice to be home for a long weekend. The extra rest and relaxation was well deserved. It’s crazy to think that the fall semester is almost halfway through! This year is moving very fast.
Getting some reading in
One of my favorite hobbies is reading, I have always loved to read a child and I still try to read as much as I can as a young adult. However, being a college student, I don’t have a lot of time to read the things I want to read. Right now, my amazon cart/list is full of books I want to buy or read. I am serious book worm. This summer I was able to read a lot. You can check out my book reviews here. Throughout the semester I have been able to read one book in my free time and I’m so glad I did. I am a huge fan of Emily Ley, she is an author, planner maker, and lives her life to the simplest. If you haven’t heard of her, please check her out, she is such an inspiration and a girl boss!
Grace Not Perfection
I read her first book, Grace Not Perfection, last year and absolutely loved it. I wrote what I learned about it here. When she came out with her second book, The Simplified Life, I knew I had to read it. I am so glad I did. She breaks down ways to simplify your life chapter by chapter. She talks about simplifying your home, your faith, your finances, you family, and so many more areas. Her book is interactive, so you journal as you read. I learned so much from reading and it really encouraged me to simplify more areas of my life, not just with material things but also commitments. I would recommend this book to anyone, the busy mom, the single gal, the college student, or the grandmother. I think everyone can learn something from it and make a few changes in their lives whether it is big or small. I read the book over the course of a month but it can be easily read in a sitting or two. Once I finished her book, I felt refreshed and ready to tackle areas of my life. I felt inspired and empowered.
A Simplified Life
If you are looking for a good book that will make you want to make changes in your life, this is it. Overall, I would give this book an A-. Have you heard of Emily Ley? What changes would you want to make in your life to make it more simplified?
These past few weeks have been super busy and have flown by. Right now, I am in the midst of finals week and finishing up work before it’s officially summer. And by summer I mean, I finish my one job on Saturday and start my summer job and internship on Monday. Yes, I am busy. But, I am loving these last few weeks of school, classes are finishing up and I’m saying some hard goodbyes to a lot of my friends who are graduating. Needless to say, it’s a bittersweet time.
I did want to take a moment to reflect on enjoying where I am in life. I was recalling a passage from Emily Ley’s book, Grace Not Perfection…she spoke about the importance of loving the season you are in through life. I think that is so important. Whether you are a senior in high school, a college student getting ready to take on a career for the first time, or a mom balancing three different spring sport schedules, enjoy the season you are in.
There are often so many times when I find myself remembering past memories or getting excited about the future that I forget to live in the present moment and enjoy where I am in life. I also find myself sometimes wishing away stressful moments or long days only to find that I will miss the days of the past. It’s funny sometimes the days that I dread or I get overwhelmed about, I end up making the most memories. The same goes for moms juggling different spring sports and graduations, yes it is stressful but at one point, there will be no more carpooling or graduation parties and the house will be quiet once again. Same goes for college students, finals may be taking over your life but don’t let that stop you from creating memories with your true friends. You are only in college once.
What is the point of me saying all this?! Enjoy where you are in life. Yes, it may not be perfect, it may be messy, exhausting, and overwhelming but it’s life and it only happens once. Embrace the disorder and chaos and live for the moment. Instead of taking selfies of the exciting moments, be present for them instead.
Life is all what you make of it. Make your life memorable.
Sorry for a shorter post, but these past few weeks have been busy. Looking forward to writing more this summer. Until then…
xoxo
Ending this post with my favorite Office quote that I remind myself of daily. Live for today.
It’s out with the old and in with the new. Spring is upon us which means Spring Cleaning is right around the corner. Throughout the year, I have been reading Emily Ley’s Simplified Life. It discusses straightforward ways to simplify our homes, families, and lives. Whether you love to organize like myself or don’t even know where to begin when it comes to organizing, this book is for you. When it comes to spring cleaning, you have the power to do as much or as little as you please. For example, I do it little by little when my schedule allows, some others like to get it all done in one day, choose a method that works best for you. Work at your own pace. Here are three easy tricks I have found when it comes to Spring Cleaning and organizing.
Clothes
I saw this on pinterest and I couldn’t resist…such great advice.
We all love our clothes and sometimes have a hard time getting rid of things. Since I am in college, it doesn’t hurt to have two closets, one at school and one at home=double the closet space. Haha! Our style should reflect out personality so when we have things in our closest that we don’t like or wear, it’s a waste of space. I make my decision to get rid or donate clothes based on: if I have worn it in the last year, if I feel good in it, and how its quality is. If I have a shirt that is stretched out and stained, then it’s in the trash. If I have dress that I haven’t worn in two years, then its donated. If I half 10 t shirts from high school, I try and weed out which ones I really need and want to keep. I keep this criteria in mind so I can make decisions fast and efficiently.
Work Space
Love this motto for organizers and non organizers
Whether it’s a desk in our bedrooms, home office, or work office, our work space is crucial. At school I only have the essentials in/ on my desk. That includes my blotter calendar, writing utensils, post it notes and important papers. I work my best in a clean and organized space so having a clean desk is crucial for me. We all love to see the cute and matching accessories you can get for your desk from Staples or Target but don’t let decorations take away from your desk. Remember, a desk is your place to work, not just another shelf.
Clutter
A tidy room is a goal we all can work towards
We all have things in our homes that we don’t have a home for. Or we got something that we don’t need now but we will need in the future. Does that sound familiar? I always like to hold onto things that don’t have a purpose at the moment (or ever). For example, I got mailed a care package a few months ago, yet I still have the box… now I don’t have plans to use it, but I will need it…right?! Wrong! Why hold onto something that has no purpose in your life?! If you don’t use it, toss it.
These tips have helped me make my life more organized and simplistic. Give them a try, if they work, great. If not, try something new. Have a great rest of your week.
