Anything Saturday (2): Back to Paper Planning

Way, way back in the day when I was a high school student, I used a paper planner, because that's all that was available then, haha! In all seriousness, though, I LOVED the planner that I bought in my school's tiny bookstore. The layout was just perfect for my needs, and, again in all seriousness, that planner was one of the handful of fond memories I have from high school. I lived by that planner. I bought the same one every year, and when I started college, I was actually sad that I had to go out and buy a different type of a planner. Yes, I was that hardcore about my planner, OK? LOL.

Once I'd graduated college, I didn't feel the need for an actual planner as much. I took to jotting notes on whatever scrap pieces of paper were handy, and that "system" was good enough for quite a long time. At one point I did own one of the Palm PDA models, but it turned out to be overkill.

Fast forward to the present, when there are times when I need to write myself a note for . . . just about everything. I used Evernote for a while and was pretty happy with it, but sometimes I just want to make a quick reminder without having to open the app, start a new note, tap it in, and remember to save at the end. I don't know if I'm just lazy, but that seems like a bit of work to write down something that I need to buy on my next trip to the grocery store.

I'd been seeing Erin Condren's Life Planners mentioned everywhere on social media, and the buzz made me curious to check them out. There are some really beautiful designs, and I loved the idea of decorating the pages. I had no idea that decorating your planner, kind of like you would a scrapbook, was even a thing. It is a brilliant idea, though; in fact, and this is gonna sound weird, but I used to keep my old planners as mementos of the time they covered. (Alas, I got rid of them during one of those if-you're-not-actually-using-it-you're-throwing-it-out cleaning purges.) So maybe I was on to something back then, although adding stickers and stamps to the pages never occurred to me.

Back in July, I finally decided to give paper planning another go. The stores here were stocked with school supplies already, so I thought I had a good chance of at least getting my hands on a student planner to get me through the rest of this year, and then I could get a regular planner for 2016. I was surprised to find Target stocked with all kinds of planners, even ones not specifically designed for students, that went all the way through the end of 2016. So I left Target with this planner in hand and feeling like the planner gods had, er, planned this:

Once I had my planner, obviously I needed a few accessories to jazz it up a bit. At the same time, I didn't want to go crazy buying stickers and other embellishments. Stamps, which are reusable, seemed like a good compromise, and when I spotted a stamp set in Michael's that actually had a "Blog" stamp, I knew I'd found what I was looking for:

Washi tape seems to be a must-have for planner decorating, and so I picked up a multi-pack of that as well, along with these stamps that I found in the Michael's bargain bin:

Since I started using a paper planner again, I really do feel like I'm better organized. For whatever reason, writing down a task in the planner makes me more inclined to do it, lol. And with my trusty "Blog" stamp, I find blog planning less stressful when I break things down into more manageable pieces. This planner has a very generous Notes section in the back, and I like using it to brainstorm future post ideas.

For the $15 or so I spent on the planner, I definitely think that it's more than paid for itself. Are any of you guys planner fans? If so, do you have a preference for paper or digital, or do you use a combination of both?

Anything Saturday (1): Adventures in Binge Watching Avatar: The Last Airbender

It's been a loooong while since I wrote a random-ish post; so much for consistency, lol. I've had a couple of ideas, but you know how it goes: not enough time to turn them into posts. The few posts I did churn out went up on Sundays, but Saturday now works out better schedule-wise, hence the name change to "Anything Saturday." XD Now let me quit rambling and talk about my latest obsession: Avatar: The Last Airbender!

I am a big, big kid at heart, and I think I always will be. I still love watching animated shows and movies, even though it’s been a long time since I was part of the target age group for most of them, lol. I’d wanted to check out Avatar: The Last Airbender for ages; I know that a couple of my bloggy friends loved it, and it was one of Ally’s childhood faves, too. Ally kept reminding me over and over and over again that I needed to watch it. It’s a good thing that she’s so persistent, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be sitting here writing this ode to AtLA. And believe me when I say: I FREAKING LOVE THIS SHOW!

Where to start with the fangirling? How about with the animation itself? It is absolutely gorgeous, from the way each kind of bending is brought to life to the scenery. One of my favorite visuals from the series was the first time the gaang laid eyes on Ba Sing Se. That was a breathtaking tableau, as you witnessed the city in all its vast glory. And then there’s the bending—what I wouldn’t give to be able to bend any element. There’s such beauty and grace in each type of bending, and I got the chills whenever there were multiple benders, bending in unison. It was like watching the most mesmerizing of dances.

My mind is still in complete awe of the depth of the story lines and the incredible development of the characters throughout the series. A good number of episodes don’t wrap up neatly by the end of the twenty-two minutes or so; major plotlines span multiple episodes, and in some cases, an entire season. The storytelling is epic and compelling; the problem with binge watching a series like this is that there’s NEVER a good place to leave it for the night. I went to work quite bleary-eyed a few times due to ditching sleep in order to watch just one more episode of Avatar. And the bleary eyes were totally worth it!

Aang is one phenomenal hero. His destiny is to save the world—not a small burden by any means. For all of his youth (and he is still young, despite really being much older in actual years), he shoulders that weight with an awe-inspiring strength. Aang’s airbending skills are insane, and later, once he masters all forms of bending, he’s unstoppable as the Avatar, but he also possesses a gentle spirit that reveres life. I wish that I were more Zen like Aang; if I’m being completely honest with myself, I most resemble Azula in temperament when I get really stressed, lol.

Accompanying Aang on his journeys are some equally amazing friends. I LOVED the camaraderie between the core gaang: Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph (and, of course, Appa and Momo!). If not for Sokka’s jokes and quips, the series would not have been the same. He’s also a great leader in his own right and is simply spectacular in the final episodes of the last season. I adored the sibling bond between Sokka and Katara. Sure, they sometimes razz each other and get on each other’s nerves, but they’re also fiercely protective of one another. Katara is kind of the overall motherly presence within the gaang in addition to being one powerful waterbender. As the self-proclaimed greatest earthbender in the world, you just don’t mess with Toph. She’s not exaggerating, either—her skills are uh-mazing. While I never had a least favorite type of bending, I gained a whole new respect for earthbending once I saw Toph in action. This girl is a badass!

You may have been wondering when Zuko was going to show up in this post; obviously, I’ve saved my favorite character for last! I. LOVE. HIM. It’s as simple as that. The transformation that his character undergoes is astounding. ASTOUNDING! Okay, I confess that when I first began watching Avatar with Ally and she proclaimed her love for Zuko I was a tad skeptical. My response was something along the lines of, you love how obsessed this guy is with capturing Aang? But, as in almost all things, Ally was right, especially about me eventually loving Zuko too because I love broody boys. As more of Zuko’s backstory was revealed, I got it. Restoring his honor and being allowed to return home meant everything to him. As much as I loved all of the Avatar characters, it was Zuko’s arc that had me counting down the seconds until I could sit down and watch the next Avatar episode. I waited with rapt attention for the episode(s) when Zuko would reach the potential that his very wise uncle Iroh saw in him all along. Without going into spoiler-y detail, we’ll leave it at this: Zuko made me extremely proud by the end of the series.

I’m going to stop myself here because I could go on about Zuko indefinitely. I can’t promise that I won’t go ahead and write a post entirely about him someday. For now, though, I’ll wrap up all the Avatar/Zuko gushing by dedicating this post to Ally, who absolutely called 1) how much I would love the show and 2) how much I would love Zuko. Ally typically makes customized birthday cards for everyone in the family, and I’ve already put in my request: I’d like the front of the card to have the “Hello, Zuko here” scene on it. When this happens (and notice I said “when,” not “if.” Because this is happening.) next year, I’ll be sure to post a pic!