Monday, January 2, 2012

Writing One Line a Day.

So... in 2010, I decided I would write a sentence or two 
(what I did, what I ate, where I went, a thought or two... whatever i wanted to write... as long as it was *something*) 
EVERY day in this blog here

Um.... Yeah, as you can see, I only did that 76 times out of the year. Oops. :-p 


I found my problem. If it's online, I won't do it. 
It didn't matter if it was a blog, Facebook or Twitter. I just like paper better.


So at the beginning of 2011, I decided I'd find myself a journal that provided me space to write a sentence or two per day. And I promised myself to give it a try... even though I knew 2011 would be tough... being pregnant and having a baby.

But all the more important that I document that year. ;-)


 Well, actually, the Mom's One Line a Day was on sale ($11) when I went searching, 
so that's the one I went with. I figured... "Hey, I'm becoming a Mom in 2011! Why not?" ;-) 
(Even the fact that it's pink didn't deter me! ;-) )


There were some other ideas out there. Like this one from Ashley Ann:


But in the end, I wanted something small, something bound,
and something I could keep by my bed (on my nightstand) or by my computer.

And guess what? 

IT WORKED!

I'm happy to announce that I have an entry for EVERY.SINGLE.DAY of 2011. :-D

Now... don't get me wrong... I didn't *actually* journal every single day.
If I missed a few days, I didn't sweat it. :-p Some weeks, I'd wait till the weekend to record the week,
but I still made sure to put a sentence or two for each day... even if I had to go back and do it.
If I couldn't remember, and I needed ideas...
Sometimes I'd go check photos I took, check Facebook statuses, check the calendar, etc.
It didn't have to be exact, and if I didn't remember something that happened,
I just recorded a feeling I was having that week.

For example:
On September 21st, I wrote,
"Hattie always wakes up smiling and cooing and giggling.
I love it so much!
I can't get enough of her.
And she's just SOOOOO adorable! :-) "

See? 
Not necessarily what happened that day, but just something that was on my mind that week. :-)

So I wanted to have a good record for 2011, and I'm glad I actually made the effort.
I'm SOOOO glad I did because it was an important year,
and I love looking back. 
When you're pregnant or have a new baby, things get fuzzy.
When you have little ones, the days mesh together. 
They fly by.

It needed to be done. :-)

Kinsey has a cool idea on her blog too! This is her day-planner, 
but you could totally use the block-style calendar to write in 
a thought or two or what you did that day. :-)



What do you think? 

Are you going to give it a try?
Project 365 with notes?

I'd love to hear how you plan to document 2012!


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Project Life for me this year. But this journal idea sure is intriguing - I think I'm going to do something like this on my Evernote app on my phone... great inspiration - thank you.

Anonymous said...

I bought a One Line a Day book at GAP of all places in the holiday gift section. I am excited to see how I do, but I am also planning to use my blog to document too. I am excited to see all of the changes in one place (er, book) in 5 years. I also hope that I will have a daughter who will be fascinated by it someday. Wouldn't you have loved to read through something like this of your Mom's?

Mary Jo said...

Congratulations! That really is an amazing accomplishment. And I like the idea of that little monthly planner :)
I have been on the fence about project life and then just decided it's not the right time. But I do think I need to journal, or at least blog more :)

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of this, PL is just too much for me right now, and I cant keep a diary so a few words work really well with me, thanks for the idea!!

April Michelle said...

I'm doing PL on a weekly basis but I plan to use my everyday journal and print it up monthly to go at the end of each month. I currently use evernote for that on my iPad. I too want my kids to just see the randomeness that I might jot down.

jamie long said...

maybe one day I will do project life, but I am a commitment phobe lol. I already scrap that way sord of, but its just the commitment that get me.

Kelly Noel said...

that is so cool and will be such a treasure for hattie to look back on when she's older too!

kinsey said...

i love this idea! i'm admittedly a raging failure with anything that requires a daily or weekly commitment so i know that project life or 365 would a source of guilt and disappointment for me, ha! instead, i'm going to do a monthly layout of currents...i'm just going to pick a random day and take some pics when the mood strikes and jot down what i'm up to :) keepin' it loose and free!

thanks so much for linking up my little planner! happy new year sweet friend!

xoxo, kins