tangible memories

let's be honest, how many times have you printed pictures since your first digital camera? if you're like me, it's very few. occasionally to fill a frame or give as a gift, that's about it. now, don't get me wrong - i love the digital camera. the sheer convenience of being able to  store your pictures digitally and delete the ones you don't want is unbeatable. and nowadays, facebooks and blogs are a digital scrapbook of sorts. but there is just something about making a tangible scrapbook that keeps me doing it. maybe it's my love of beautiful paper and embellishments? maybe it's because josh proposed to me using a scrapbook?* but really, i think it's because scrapbooks and photo albums are what i looked through to see old pictures of my parents and grandparents, and somewhere in my imagination i can picture my grandkids with my scrapbook on their laps saying, 'i can't believe how young grandma and grandpa are in this picture'.



so, this is what I do. every year, when it nears our anniversary, i sit down and look through my digital picture folder for that year. i pick out pictures I love of different stuff we did and write down memories and highlights of the past year. I print out the pictures and type our highlights.





and then i make a page for that year.







i don't do mine super elaborate, because if I only use one page a year, I will be able to have our first 25 years together in this one single book.

so, this is my challenge to you. take at least one day out of the year and document your life in a tangible way. print out those pictures - your grandkids will thank you.




* for our one year dating anniversary, I made Josh this huge elaborate scrapbook, i'm talking, it took me three months of consistently working on it to make.


so, for our two year dating anniversary, Josh presented me with a scrapbook that he had made that documented month by month of our second year together - it meant the world to me that he would take the time to do that.


and when I got to the last page, there was a ring box stuck down inside the last 20-or-so pages. and then he asked me to marry him. i said yes.

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