pocket protector.

While 2012 has been oh so good to us (new house, new pup, lurvely marriage, etc.), I have to be honest and say that I am coun-ting-the-days until 2013. Why, you might ask? Because of this guy.

That's right. A calendar. #it'sthelittlethings

I am like reach for the stars, over the fence, World Series kind of crazy over this little calendario. Call me crazy, but it's the first time I've had a paper calendar in a year, and I just can't wait to have paper bliss for another year! Sad, but true.

You might remember that half the reason I created this little calendar was because of these labels I found at Kayla Aimee. Adorbs, right?!

Well, I wasn't exactly treating them like the royalty they are just by clipping them on the front cover of my calendar, so I decided to make them a little pocket as their abode.

I used some leftover paper from my laundry room baskets, laminated it for durability,

...then I trimmed it down and, using my high-powered hot glue gun, I glued the two side and one bottom borders onto the back of the front cover.

After letting it dry for a bit, I loaded up the labels!

Talk about a home fit for a king!

praying fervently.

13.1

Today was a big day for Mr. Spouse and me - we ran our first half marathon and had a complete blast doing it! We don't know what was better - the run or the meal afterwards.

This is the first step in our training for a half ironman coming up next October!

Our sanity? Debatable. Our excitement? Through the roof.

Bring on the 70.3.

oh, calendar, my calendar.

Ok, y'all. I tried. I really did. I tried to be all hip and with it and now, but I'm just not cut out for the paperless life. Tree huggers around the world are probably organizing a riot as we speak. Bring it.

Here's the deal: I have always been a devout member of the paper calendar cult. Like color-coded, thrice highlighted, quadruple checked, DayMinder calendar cult. Ya, that one. But then the iPhone came into my world and Mr. Spouse was all about the "iCal". "Do it!" he said. "It will change your life," he said. "We can sync up our calendars and then we'll never double-book," he said.

So I did it. I totally drank the kool-aid. I went digi-cal.

I gave it a good, solid year. A year of greyscale rather than rainbow. A year of only seeing one day at a time without giving my index finger the workout of a lifetime. A year of holding my breath every time I synced my phone hoping that everything wouldn't just apparate ("disappear" for the non-magical population). Did it change my life? No. Did Mr. Spouse and I sync our calendars and avoid embarrassing double-bookings? No. Did Mr. Spouse and I live in blissful oblivion in a perfectly synced, harmonious life? Yes...but not because of our calendars. So here we are, another year wrapping up, and I ABHOR my digi-cal. The language is strong, yes, but my feelings are stronger.

Whilst lamenting my lost digi-year, I saw these.

Oh, holy night. Printable calendar labels. If you haven't ever heard of kaylaaimee.com, go there now. Like ASAP now. That girl-genius created these labels for a magnetic calendar she purchased to keep her family organized, but you would think that woman created them specifically for this girl. It was like the DayMinder gods were kumbayaing me back into their waiting, open arms.

Not wanting these perfectly pristine labels to go on just any agenda, I decided to create my own printable calendar, and then to share it with you guys. Merry Christmas to all!

The calendar starts off with a merrily bright, customizable cover:

I customized mine to have my first name in bold print and then my last name (blurred out) layered over it in gold:

It has month views:

And week views:

You can also print off as many to-do lists, note pages, and blog post topic pages as you'd like!

Add in the God-sent labels from kayleeaimee.com, and you might as well be a popsicle on the 4th of July. Melt.

I clipped my extra labels to my front cover for future events!

I also added these clear, adhesive tabs from Office Depot to make it easy to flip to each month and my note section in the calendar:

Wrap it all up with a cherry on top and a matching back cover:

I have posted my calendar here on Teachers Pay Teachers! Let me walk you through step-by-step on how to create your own calendar.

1. Download the calendar here on Teachers Pay Teachers.
2. Print the calendar pages you would like front/back on a color printer. I used paper that is just a shade thinner than card stock that I found at Office Depot. It's a bit thicker than regular paper, but doesn't allow the colors to bleed through and gives you more durability.
3. Download the calendar's cover {for free!} here on Teachers Pay Teachers.
4. Using PowerPoint, click inside the navy blue box and format your name, your monogram, your school's name, anything you want in the box to make a unique cover just for y-o-u!
5. Print the cover on a color printer on card stock.
6. For extra durability, laminate your front and back covers.
7. The planner is intended to be a 7"x9" document so that it can fit inside your purse, bag, etc. without being too bulky. If you'd like, you can trim the pages on your own. If you're a perfectionist like me, FedEx Kinko's will cut your calendar for $1.50 per cut.
8. Take your calendar to FedEx Kinko's or an office supply store and have them bind your calendar together.
9. Enjoy!!!

Ah, blissful calendar oblivion. Adios, digi-cal. Happy planning, y'all!