NaNoWriMo 2016!

It's been a long time coming back to this blog and I still can't promise that I will be updating this blog frequently but it currently seems like a good time to use it.

November is NaNoWriMo and this year, 2016, I am making a concerted effort to particpate and make it much further than I've made it before, unlike previous years, thanks to Boho Berry and her NaNoWriMo Bullet Journal.  She made it all seem so plausible and possible. I'll just leave this link here in case anyone else what's to check it out.

I have less time than I've ever had to do it as well.  I'm currently in my last year of college and it's taking more to stay update.  On top of this, I've recently gotten a job working overnight so a good amount of my time is spent doing school, working or sleeping..

To try and help myself in this situation, I've picked a story that's been mulling around in my head for the past few months.  They are characters I'm very familiar with but placed in a new place in life and a slightly different history.  Also I'm keeping the world quite simple.  There will be no magic, and the time is pretty current so there's no techonology or social rules that I have to work out.  The location and settings still need to be fleshed out but I'm generally confident about where it is and how it'll look.

On top of this, I'm actually doing an outline that has details.  I'm hoping that all of this will make the writing smoother and manageable.

Now the next question: by hand or on laptop I'd have to lug around...

Very mini haul

I was out doing errands for my mother today and I've reached the habit of checking out Dollar stores.  I've been on hunt for a specific type of pens sold at Dollarama and I finally found them (after visiting 4 other locations in the past 2 weeks).  I went elsewhere to continue mom's errands and went to another "Dollar Store".  I was about to walk back out when I finally found the quarter aisle of stationary.  I found a plain-ish set of star stickers for a dollar.  And then I saw the stamps - and not the cheap, crappy ones expected at a dollar store.  These ones are the same brand as the ones I've found at Michaels so I left with 2 of them and will be using them in my planner...obviously.

I also learned this week that not all Michaels stores are the same.  I went to a location that was by my old workplace, to see if I could find stickers and such for the Happy Planner.  I couldn't find the planner section at all, not even for their house brand, self building set. I asked the cashier and she said their location wasn't slotted to get the planners and therefore didn't get anything to do with planners.  That's just not right.

Happy I didn't wait

The "planners" I was waiting for, arrived today. I learned that I need to read descriptions more carefully.

It's still a nice enough but it's definitely not a planner.

It has potential if I make my own pages for it. One is definitely going to be used as is as a notebook. The other one will be set aside until I am better at making custom pages for it.

The brown one has an old leather feel to it, which I really like.  The green one is nice in colour but it doesn't feel anything like the brown one.

First new addition for the planner

After the first week with my planner, I realized I needed a quick way to get to the current week. So I made myself a tab to mark the week.

For my first try, it turned out okay. The construction and functionality is great. I just would like to have done a better lamination job.  On the design side, there's a lot to be desired. I can do much better, given enough time and I'll take the time to make a better one for a later date.

This gives me good encouragement to make things like dashboards and also lets me know that I do not need to get an Arc Punch.  A hole puncher and a pair of scizors can work just fine.  However, a laminating machine is much more cost effective that laminating sheets so I should save up and get one of those instead.

Happy Planner

I was finally able to get one of my planners on Sunday.  I went to Michaels' with my friend Jaci and made a bee line for the planners.  First thing I did was pick up the green one and hugged it to me like it was my favourite blankie.  I adore this thing.

It's a Happy Planner by Me and My Big Ideas.  I love the fact that's a disc bound system

I picked up many other things that day as well.  I got a mini stapler that has green staples (can't go wrong with that), washi tape, a couple of folders, sticker paper, larger disc rings from Arc, stamps, stamp pads...I felt like I went mad and loved every minute of it.

I was hesitant about how I would use my Happy Planner but now that I have it, I am seeing the potential left, right, YouTube, Etsy and Pinterest.  I am going to try and hold myself back and keep the decorating to one week at a time, preferably on a Sunday evening, before the new week begins.  Any appointments and reminders etc, will be added by either pencil or post-it note so that everything can be finally put in on the Sunday evening before.

I don't use the Morning/Afternoon/ Evening part.  I just don't sort my days like that.  I am still working out exactly how I will sort it but I'm leaning towards a daily To Do list, Reminders, Appointments and Due type of list.

I'm still waiting for the other one (it's really 2 identical ones) in the mail.  I got the stitch markers that I ordered the same day which is came from the same country so I assume that it will be very soon.

As I get used to this planner, I will post more about my journey of being more organized.

Planner Shopping

I am so anxious to get a planner. I do have one I purchased from my school bookstore however it doesn't have a monthly calendar and as I've been looking around, I just don't think it's enough. I've turned it into my Gratitude Journal since each day has a dedicated page.

I went into Indigo-Chapters to check out a Kate Spade planner. It only had the large size and it was the same thing at the Kate Spade store in the mall. While I like the general layout of it, I wasn't completely impressed. It's coiled and I can't move anything around.

I have 2 identical planners that are on their way to my house. They seem to be a good size based on the measurement provided on the website and they have binder rings. If the pages don't work, I can switch them out or make my own, no problem (other than wanting to use a heavier grade paper than regular computer paper).

On Sunday I'm going to Michaels with glee 😀 Me and My Big Ideas planners are now being sold in Canada through Michaels. I'm pretty sure this will meet my needs. I can move things around. I can customize it. I can change its size. The only thing I can't change is the vertical week layout. I don't know if I'll have enough space to write what I need. I won't know until I try it.

Missed Opportunities

I feel as if I had a missed opportunity and I really wish I had taken it.

I have the decent skill of singing and I enjoy it very much. I don't want to make my living at it, mind you but I do enjoy singing.  Unfortunately, I don't have as many opportunities as I did before.  Last night at my church, there was a Café Night, which contains musical performances, spoken word, dance, etc.  Someone asked me last night why I didn't sing.

My honest answer was no one had asked me. The thought never occurred to me to even ask if I could sing that night.  I had not actually had anything prepared.  I had a song in mind close to the end that I had done without accompaniment before but I also have the tendency not to always get the right key to start off on and generally it will end up being too high.

Despite all of that, I went home wishing that I had sung