My slightly strange new obsession

I love making lists...for EVERYTHING. It makes me feel organized and keeps me on top of things (most of the time). I have two calendars and lots of post it notes on hand at all times. I just love being organized. Everything always has a place and if something has been moved I always know.

Recently I have made a bullet journal and I am loving it! I have seen lots of people that use them for different purposes, but I use mine for lists and planning. I have a list for planning Christmas presents, a list for books I want to collect, plans for a long weekend trip, and basically just a lot of lists! Some people make their bullet journals elaborate and draw fancy banners to make it look really put together, but I am perfectly satisfied with using colorful pen and colored pencils and just making lists with a doodle here and there.

Here are some examples of pages I have made:

Other examples include:
~Short term/long term goals
~Social media passwords
~Seasonal bucket lists
~Things I want to learn
~Things that make me happy

I think this is a great way to keep organized, at least for me it is! There are plenty more examples of prettier pages on Pinterest, but this is how I like mine to look. What type of pages would you put in a bullet journal?

My nail saga

**Not sponsored by Sinful Colors, Walmart, or Target**

Ever since I was a child I picked my nails constantly. It was probably a nervous habit, but regardless my nails have always been short. They never went past the skin at the end of my fingers, and I also never painted my nails. They were not very pretty for most of my life. I got them done occasionally and got acrylic nails which I always ended up taking off myself, and leaving my nails looking even worse than before I got them done.

In the last couple of years I have tried to grow them out on my own, I tried to take Biotin, I tried lots of things to help my nails look prettier. I finally just started painting my nails about every other week. Once they were painted I was less likely to pick at them. I had tried this before, so who knows why it's only started to work after 22 years of picking. Finally my nails look less horrible than they have in the past.

I started by purchasing some cheap nail polish in colors that made me excited to paint them (I found out that a more expensive top coat with cheaper nail polish is better than the alternative). I have kept it up for the most part. Of course sometimes I have had days that I was too busy or just didn't feel like painting them so I opted to keep my chipped polish on, but overall I have been able to keep fresh polish on to prevent picking. Hopefully I can keep it up so my nails can keep getting stronger and healthier.

My favorite cheap brand is Sinful Colors the I found at Walmart and Target! They have awesome colors, they are easy to paint with, and they last (with a good topcoat). What is your favorite nail polish brand?

I am a bookworm at heart

Ever since I was younger (and learned how to read) I have loved reading. It is a magical way for the adventurer to escape for a little while. You can imagine the scenes however you want, and I just love getting cozy and reading a good book.

In fact I have two different book lists. One is books I want to read and the other is a book of classics I want for my collection (yes I collect books). In the future I would love to have either a massive bookshelf or a small library...hehe. I recently staring reading The Fate of the Tearling, which is the last in a trilogy and I love it so far!

The last book I read was 1984, which is a classic and no I did not read it in high school. I loved the dystopian novels I did get to read in high school, so I knew I would like it. I liked the novel a lot! It's definitely one of my favorite classic novels.

The next book I am going to read is A Lion Among Men, the third book in the Wicked series. There are plenty more books I would love to read, but I won't bore you with the rest! What was the last book you enjoyed?

My happily ever after

Many girls dream of their wedding from the time they start watching the princess and fairytale movies. They have their dream dress in mind, their dream venue, dream bouquet, etc. However, wedding planning can become a big headache! If you don't hire a planner then it can be especially difficult because you are doing everything on your own. (I have loved doing everything with my fiance and family).

As most of you know I am engaged and was very exciting to start planning the beginning of my life with my future husband. I decided not to hire a planner because there are many other important things I'd rather do with my budget. When I sat down with my fiance and parents to start planning we didn't know where to start. We had no idea how to make a budget because my parents got married 25 years ago, so things have changed since they were planning. Essentially we went to Google and looked at so many venues until we were blue in the face.

We went on lots of tours in the span of a couple weeks to find out our options of what was available, what prices range we needed to consider, things we might need to rent that the venue would not provide, etc. This was super helpful to create a reasonable budget to guide us when we started to narrow down venues (well kinda...I knew the second I saw the venue that it was the one lol).

We are still in the midst of works out kinks and finalizing everything for the venue, but I am very excited that this chapter of wedding planning is coming to a close! It is not a must for every couple to hire a wedding planner. Sometimes Google, newlywed friends, and your contact person from the venues you visit are enough to help you figure out what is best for you on your big day! :)

**And I accidentally burnt my dinner writing this post..oops lol**