Amazing how quickly the days fly by – we’re already through the first third of January! All of the various albums out there recording December got me thinking that really, shouldn’t we honor each and every day? To this end, I keep trying out various ideas that will help me record life all 365 days in the year.
I don’t have time to scrap each and every day and I don’t want a separate album for every month of my life, so the solution has to be simple. Last year on our trip to Yellowstone, I kept a small (3 1/2″ x 5 1/2″) journal with me at all times. Vacations can be incredibly busy and it’s easy to have the days sort of blend all together. Having a specific place to jot down just a sentence here and there throughout the day helped tremendously. I also did this on my 3-day trip in August.
This is my foundation, the core of how I record the days – and so far this year – one third of the way through January – I’ve kept up with it each day. Some days only have a few sentences and others fill the page.
Then, I created a template for one photo and text. I’m not so concerned about trying to take a photo each day, but to fill the photo space with some photo – one I take later or one I’ve taken in the past. My goal is to just record the day – a few sentences to tell the story and a photo to illustrate a part of it. Simplify. Each month I may develop a different template to slide into sheet protectors, or I may not. So far, what I’m doing for January seems to work.
Today I worked to catch up and find a couple of examples to share and worked to finish this one. I already had this post written up to here.
Just everyday nonsense that I’ll enjoy looking back on – and then I started on the next set – added in the temperatures, changed the dates/day and then added the left photo about Trust. Then looked at my notes for the next day and stopped in my tracks. The accident actually happened on the 5th, but I heard about it on the 6th, so that’s where it fits in my story.
It’s reality. Awful, hard, cold reality. That’s my nephew’s car that’s just a ball of a mess. No, he wasn’t in it, but his girlfriend and friend were. I don’t know when the funerals were or are, but all involved come to mind at various times throughout the day. Each day since I heard. Such sadness. And memories of a tragedy I was close to in high school come to mind. Hard. Life ending and life changing. And I find myself deeply Grateful for every single moment. Every breath. And I send up a prayer. Life is hard and full of so many highs and lows. And we get the choice to choose to Trust or to not trust through it all.
I scrap to tell the story. And with that I don’t want to just gloss over the hard stuff – it’s where you really get to see who people are. How they face the rough stuff. I’ve added to my ‘stories to tell list’ the hard times from high school – I won’t post it anywhere, but it needs to be told.
You’re the only one that can tell your story. Tell it well.
Credits:
- Christine Gunderson’s Mr. Munchkin Add On Pack
- Font: Elmore
