I remember when my stepmom came home from the store, around 1993 or so, and handed me a bright purple notebook-looking thing.

“I thought you might like this,” she said.

Turns out it was my very first planner.

I got away from planners after college, when my job was the sort of thing that didn’t need me to keep investing in the Franklin Covey addiction. And then…well, insert internet. Why spend a few hundred dollars on a planner when there’s Google Calendar and Toodle-do and Evernote? And then I discovered bullet journaling last year and it was the final piece of my productivity puzzle, solved.

So who needs a planner?

Though I can see things on my Google Calendar, and though I can make a new calendar for everything under the sun (I may or may not actually do this…), sometimes I just want to be screen free. Sometimes, I need to look at things and not.be.distracted.by.shiny.

Know what I mean?

Recently, my ten-year-old, Fern, has discovered planners. And I’ve watched her have the “angels singing on high” reaction I did (and do) to organizing and having things in a list.

And it made me rethink my no planner approach.

My electronic lists are good. My bullet journal approach isn’t bad.

But it feels like something has been missing.

Enter planners. Again. Today I want to share the Catholic Through the Year planner from Catholic Sistas.

planner from catholic sistas

She’s put together a full calendar and three bundles. Not only are they very usable, with a busy mom’s approach taken into account, but they are PRETTY. (Check out the sample pages.)

Because you know what? I like pretty. Not necessarily pink and sparkly (though sometimes), but functional and simple and streamlined, with nice fonts and a few well-placed graphics.

The best part, if you’re a Planner Junkie, is the price. They were $7.50, but right now they’re not only on sale for HALF that, but they’re also part of a giveaway over at Catholic Sistas.

Here’s my take on them:

When I checked out the calendar, I loved the way each week was organized so you can categorize things.

Observe:

calendar week

 

So you have Church first, as we should (and may or may not forget to!), but three areas to chunk-list. In my world, I would probably have Home, Avila, and Other. The nice thing is that some weeks, I may want to organize things a little differently, and there’s freedom to do that. So next week, when we have Fair Craziness, I could have Fair, Home, and Other. (I’m a bit attached to my “Other” category, I guess…)

I also loved the section on prayer that’s in the calendar. There’s the text of many common prayers, excerpts from the Catechism, and pointers that are a handy reminder.

I also really liked the household supplement, especially the humor that’s sprinkled throughout. I mean, who doesn’t love being called pretty?

daily chores

There are two other pages in this section with monthly and biannual lists. From what I could tell, they were pretty spot-on. (If only having a pretty list would make me actually DO them… Well, I guess there’s hope…)

The other supplement that I found more useful than I thought I would was the blogger supplement. As a marketing and social media professional (ahem-cough-sneeze), I was ready for “been there, seen that.” I was NOT ready for this:

 

blog planner header

I’m going to tattoo this on my screen: Does this build up the Kingdom?

All in all, this is a five-star product. Yeah, you have to print them yourself and bind or notebook them or whatever. But the hardest part, the design, is done. And it’s done well.

You can check out the sample pages in depth here.

All the details about the planners and bundles:

Because I love you, dear reader, I’m copying all the details here for you. You deserve to know what’s being offered and why you should hop on over and at least enter the giveaway.

CALENDAR details       

  • 154 8.5″x11″downloadable pages to print using your own home printer or take to a printer to have it professionally printed – your choice! {you can also adjust your printer to print it in booklet size, making it perfect for tossing in your purse}
  • print in COLOR or B&W — your choice
  • beautiful cover sheet
  • 2015/2016 academic and 2015 traditional calendar available
  • this liturgical planner was created using the standard guidelines of the Church calendar, both the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969 used in the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite {the Novus Ordo} and the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope St. Pius V and reissued by Pope St. John XXIII in 1962 used in the Extraordinary Form {the Traditional Latin Mass – TLM}
  • year at a glance
  • 12 month at-a-glance pages {two-page spread per month for maximum use}
  • weekly planners for each month, giving you plenty of customizable space to meet your family’s needs
  • includes a personal information page,
  • contact sheet for friends, family, & acquaintances,
  • multiple pages for note taking {or doodling, if that’s what you like to do!},
  • and a meaty section on prayer, including verses from Sacred Scripture, quotes from saints, & references pulled from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as a truncated list of common prayers.

HOMESCHOOL details

  • beautiful cover sheet
  • 48 pages total
  • 36 pages of blank lesson plans waiting for you to get ready for the school year! Verses from Sacred Scripture, quotes from saints, and snippets from the Catechism of the Catholic Church laced throughout.
  • grade sheet printable to print as many times as needed
  • an evaluation sheet to monitor your kiddo/s’ work habits, as well as yourself!
  • and a report card printable for you to print on card stock, making your homeschool reporting look professional!

HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT details

  • beautiful cover sheet
  • 40 pages
  • a re-usable to-do list to keep track of what needs to get done throughout the day {lamination recommended}
  • 12 month of meals calendars, August 2014-July 2015
  • weekly meal planner printable to print as many times as you will use it through the year
  • daily cleaning list {lamination recommended}
  • weekly & monthly cleaning lists {lamination recommended}
  • fall & spring cleaning lists {lamination recommended}
  • 23 day organizing challenge which outlines different tasks to tackle
  • household tips sheet with some cool tidbits of information to make your life easier
  • around the house master project list
  • budget list for finances for all months of the year
  • birthday & anniversary list, by month
  • AND a gift list, with a breakdown to designate Christmas, birthday, or anniversary

CATHOLIC BLOGGER details

  • beautiful cover sheet
  • 53 pages
  • additional cover sheets for each blogging month
  • goals sheet for each month
  • daily maintenance sheet to keep track of your posts and what you’ve done with social media, did you pray?, etc.
  • brainstorm sheet with room to spread out and jot down ideas, tags, categories, SEO, where to promote, time and supplies needed, and any offshoot post ideas
  • guest post sheet to keep track of details for those who wish to write on your blog
  • sponsor sheet to keep track of ads, $$ coming in, and start/end date for the ads
  • AND a month of posts sheet to jot down all the post titles for the month, as well as    recording numbers for all your social media

Now, if you’ve made it this far, you’re obviously interested. GO FORTH AND ENTER THE CONTEST!!!