How I Document My Life

There are tons of ways to document - these are just the ones that work for me.  I have three main ways:

Journal:  I use the 5 year journal found here.  It lists each date on its own page with 5 spaces - one for each year. Most of the stuff that gets written here is just everyday life.  Check out October 9th and 10th:

I'm writing about the weather and being a scaredy cat, nothing profound :)  But I enjoy thinking of one tiny piece of my day that I'm going to keep forever in my little book.  (Usually I go for the happy stuff.)

The biggest reason this works for me?  This journal overcomes my two biggest obstacles:  feeling like the day was unworthy of documenting and the obligation to fill the entire page with each entry.  It only requires a phrase <insert huge sigh of relief>.  And I must write every day - because each day has a space set aside for it!

Scrapbook:  Ahh, scrapbooking. My first love. I started out putting photos in little 4x6 photo albums (and I still have many horribly executed photos from my youth in such albums), but it bothered me that I would come across photos of my brothers holding The Aristocats movie and a red plastic passport and have no clue why that picture even existed (we never really liked that movie and I'm still puzzling over those passports)!  

When I got a little older, I switched to 10x10 scrapbooks.  My tastes lean toward simple layouts, but I adored being able to create frames and add journaling to the pages.  So while my journal takes care of everyday happenings, my scrapbooks handle special occasions and my photos.

Each year gets its own scrapbook - Year in Review 2009, Year in Review 2010, etc. for events that happen throughout the year, like birthday parties, little excursions, and adding a patio to our home. I work on this slowly, usually an hour or two each month.  That keeps it fun for me. SUPER big events (like our wedding, woot!) get their own book.

The only slight tweak I've made to this system is switching over to building my scrapbooks online.  This has made me SO happy! Now I don't have to store paper, stickers, glue, etc. I can try different layouts and colors and fonts as many times as my heart desires (and my heart seems to desire plenty) without any hassle. The best part is there's nothing to clean up ;)

Blog:  Pretty self-explanatory if you're reading this ;)  Not everything that goes on in my life is meant for public consumption (which is why I have 3 separate things going) BUT it is nice to have a place to share things, be part of the online community, and get feedback. And - I've only been blogging for a month, so I'm hardly an authority on the subject ;)

So, there you have it.  How I put my life down on paper.  Do you document?  What's your weapon of choice?

Confused? Read the first part here.  That may help.  If not, feel free to call me out on it in the comments ;)