So, today is all about love. But instead, I’m talking about all the things I’m thankful for, which happens to align with those I love, too. So … bam. Perfect Valentine’s Day post.
I know a lot of people focus on thankfulness in November leading up to Thanksgiving. I started a new gratitude/journaling project the first of the year, and I’m loving it. I’ve waited until now to share because I was thinking it may be another project that comes and goes. (I’m not the best at keeping up on projects like this for the long haul.)
I have always wanted to be a journaler or a scrapbooker. But, if I’m being honest, I’m just not that person. I don’t keep up projects like that. I do better with crafty projects with a firm start and finish. (I really wanted the five-year journal to be something I kept up with. But, it wasn’t.)
But, this project. This project was born out of necessity and integrated into existing daily routines. And so far, I’ve been able to keep it up. Hurray for me.
Get the woman a cookie.
No seriously. I want a cookie.
The necessity –
I ordered the most amazing daily calendar from printstagram that features an Instagram photo every day. I have always had a daily calendar that I tear off every day, but in November, I was on the hunt for one that would feature my photos. I was only able to find one printer that did it (thanks to my Instagram friends for pointing me in the right direction). Most online photo printers do monthly, but not daily.
I highly recommend printstagram. It slurped all of my (hundreds of) Instagram photos and I chose which ones to use. As you can imagine, our calendars are Henry-heavy. It’s not as cheap as my old pug-a-day, but it was worth the $40 to me, since I truly use the calendar every day. (And I justified that it’s really only .10/print.)
After getting it in the mail, I couldn’t bear to toss the pictures every day. So, I wanted to find a way to keep them. My friend Jenn at Perfectly Imperfect recommended a journal, and I loved that idea. But, mostly, I also wanted to take the opportunity to remind myself of the many things to be thankful for in my life.
The daily routine –
There’s approximately a minute between the time I put in my password on my work computer and when it’s ready to rumble. This is when I usually flip my daily calendar and the amount of time I reasonably had to work with.
The solution –
I take an extra step when flipping the calendar and jot a quick note on yesterday’s calendar page. (There’s a white space at the bottom with the date.) I don’t overthink it. I just write down the first thing that pops into my mind that I was thankful for yesterday. Playtime with Henry, a glass of wine, dinner with Ryan, a fun lunch date. Sometimes, I think of several things and write them all down.
Then, I paste the page into this Smashbook I picked up at Target. It has space to paste six photos on each page. It came with a “reversible” pen-glue stick, which is the bomb-diggity. Within a minute, I have my little nugget of thankfulness in my “scrapbook.”
This is an awesome start to my morning, and a really good reminder of all the good in my life. And the best part, it’s so simple and quick. I’ve been able to keep it up since January first, and I’m still going strong.
Instead of stressing about weekends, I just finish up all three (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) on Monday morning. It’s usually not difficult to remember what happened each day. And it’s a happy start to Monday, too, which we all need.
Oh, and there is so much to be grateful for.
Are you a scrapbooker or journaler?
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I love this idea! I went to bed last night with the idea that Instagram would now be my daily gratitude journal online where I post a picture or a word or sentence to highlight what I am grateful for that day. I hope to keep it going for atleast a year so I can look back over it and smile. :O) Maybe I could also incorporate this idea… Thanks!
LA in GA
Great idea – love the idea of sharing gratitude. Sometimes social media becomes a dumping ground for complaints. Kudos to you!
what a cute, perfect and reasonably priced idea!!!
Such an awesome idea. I’m with Michelle, remind me to do this next year.
I’m finally commenting on one of your posts…. And it’s to tell you I’m totally stealing this whole idea! I have decided the calendar will be my Christmas present from the boys and I’ll do the journal stuff on my own 😉
Also….. I love reading your blog! It’s the only one I check on everyday!
This is an amazing idea! I love the concept.
Oooo, this is fun. Remind me to do this next year because I’m weird about starting things after the beginning of the year.
This is just fantastic all the way around. I have cookies right here! Sugar cookies that I’ll share if you want to swing by KS. 😉
What an amazing idea! It will be such a treasure to have a whole year of those and I love the idea of a gratitude journal. I have been pretty successful with my one line a day journal, but have thinking about wanting to add a gratitude component. But two lines a day may put me over the edge at night. The morning at work is a brilliant idea.
What a great idea. I am more of a scrapbooker but it seems I only really get to do it in chucks and usually towards the end of the year. I have a journal and need to remember to write things down. Thanks for the push.
I pretty much love this and I wish I had done it! I told myself I would write down Kevin’s likes/dislikes each month and I haven’t even done that. Great job and I hope you had 2 cookies 😉
This is totally awesome, Kim. I love every part. From the calendar, to the jounaling to the Smash Book. So cool. I pretty much use my blog as my journal. I can’t tell you how often I look back st it to check certain events in our life.
Awesome idea! So many people don’t know what to do with all their photos or how to display them and you have been sharing some really creative ways lately 🙂
I wrote a post about how I document here if you care to read it. 🙂
Such a sweet idea, Kim! 🙂
Very cool! How fun will this be to look back at! If only I used instagram. I’m hoping with this floating around in my brain I’ll think of a way to utilize this idea.
This is awesome. Love the idea of using them as a journal and the smash book. I quit instagram a while back when there was that terms of use and advertising “scare” but this is almost enough to make me rejoin. I’d love something that would make me take more day to day pictures of my little one!
What are your thoughts on their terms/privacy? Should I start using instagram again so I can have a calendar by next year?
OH. MY. GOSH. I absolutely love this. I may need to start my own gratitude journal. It’d be awesome to look back at after lots of time has passed. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
neither – but probably more of a scrapbooker, the digital kind. I make yearbooks for my family in Shutterfly. If you have time Kim, check out my review on an APP at my site, I’m sure you’ll love it if you haven’t discovered it yet. Happy hearts day!!!
Wow, I love it so much. What a perfect way to start every morning and what a treasure this will be to look back on at the end of the year (and 10 years from now!).
This is SUCH a great idea!!! 🙂
Wow once again I’m floored. Maybe I’ll send you a box of cookies instead? Lemon. Double Chocolate?
PS: Right now I’m trying to figure out how to copy you even though I don’t use instagram… any ideas. I’d love to start on it now so I’ll be ready for 2014. Yep. I’m that lame. But I make cookies :o)
What a great way to instill gratitude in your everyday!
I have journaled for years. I keep a monthly journal for myself and one about my son. Then I do a daily (M-F) intention journal.