I have decided to take shimelle‘s Journal
Your Christmas class. More about the why in the next post. But I am
looking forward to a little bit of creation everyday. I hope this will
be the encouragement I need to get back in the groove of things.

I wanted to keep the cover very simple and I might go back to it at the
end and go crazy with it, but for now it’s just plain and subdued. For
the first few days (at least) I will be using the Scenic Route papers I
received as part of being on the A Million Memories DT. Big
thanks to both Scenic Route and AMM.

Let’s see if I can do this for the next thirty five days.

Another layout I made using the Cosmo Cricket line they sent to
wonderful AMM.

Journaling Reads:
David, since all these layouts and books I’m making are for you and any
siblings you might one day have, I wanted to make sure you had not just
your stories recorded but you also knew the stories behind your mom and
dad and all the wonderful memories we have between us.

It’s 2007, and in a few weeks, your dad and I will celebrate our dating
anniversary of thirteen years. I’ve been in this country for fifteen
years and have spend thirteen of those with your dad. Over these years,
we’ve collected an amazing number of memories. Our lives changed
considerably, and our personalities as well.

But one of the few things that didn’t change much from our first few
days together is the fact that your dad is my very best friend. A few
days after we met, he and I started hanging out 24/7. Especially since
we were in college and it was during finals, there were no classes and
we had nothing that stopped us from staying up all night and chatting.
Which we did. We talked about anything and everything. We laughed all
the time.

He became my closest friend within a few short days and all these years
later, I still prefer to share every little detail with him over anyone
else. We have a million little inside jokes and single words that
conjure joyful memories.

I don’t know how I got lucky enough to find your dad when I did and I am
so thankful that we both had the foresight to see there was something
magical there. Over the years, we’ve had tough times, and even tougher
times but we stuck together and through it all, we stayed best friends.
Today, I cannot imagine my life without him. He’s a part of the air I
breathe.

When something bad happens to me, I run to him for comfort. When
something good happens to me, I know his joy will be genuine. I want you
to know that what we have is magical and doesn’t happen to everyone.

More importantly, I want you to know that I know that and appreciate
what I have every moment of every day.

Another layout I made using the Cosmo Cricket line they sent to
wonderful AMM.

I am so glad I captured these wonderful photos while my family is here.

I’ve always wished I knew my parents as people so I could know all about
their childhood, their dreams, their fears, etc. I feel like they know
all about us but we rarely know about them. One of my biggest goals is
to have a few days of personal 1-1 time with each parent so I can get to
know them as the person they are and I will be crushed if, God forbid,
something happens to them before I get to do this.



So I wanted to make this challenge all about the layouts you will leave
to your kids, grand kids, your loved ones. The things about you that
make you uniquely you. It can be superficial stuff, fun stuff, serious
or sad stuff. Whatever you want. If you feel uncomfortable, feel free to
do hidden journaling. Cathy Z. has a section in her book about how
important it is to journal yourself for the other people in your life.



So here are the rules:
1. make a layout about you
2. use journaling spots, if you don’t have them, make them like i did
with stamps
3. handwrite (it’s ok, i hate my handwriting too but this is all about
giving the generations after you a way to know you and your handwriting
is a part of that)
4. use a layout size you don’t usually do. if you’re a 12×12’er do a
8.5×11 or a 6×6 or even an odd size like 10×7



Remember, this is not about making the prettiest layout with the latest
products. This is all about the journaling. I know there are those of
you out there who feel like they can’t write well or they don’t know
where to start. Just remember that your great-grand children won’t care
about any of that. They will be delighted to have any piece of you.



I did an 8×12. I purposefully left it plain to emphasize that it’s all
about the words.

One of my layouts for Design Team work on the AMM November Kit.

Journaling Reads:
Little boys don’t get to control much. They don’t get a say about when
they go to bed or when they eat lunch. Sometimes they don’t even get to
pick what they eat for lunch. They don’t get to decide when we go out
and when we come back home. They can throw fits, but, in the end, they
do what Mommy and Daddy want.

It must be frustrating to be trapped in a little body when you have
demands of your own. I bet that’s why little boys love to control other
people and get a reaction out of them. You’re no exception.

When you were little, I taught you the sign and sound for lions. Over
time you made it your own and now you bend the tips of all your fingers
and move your hand forward as if you’re attacking me while you make the
roaring sound. During one of our MyGym classes you were imitating a lion
and the teacher acted like she got scared. You thought this was the
funniest thing in the world and spent the rest of the class chasing her
around and scaring her over and over again. For hours.

Months later, you still get a kick out of scaring us with your roar.
Each time I have a tendency to get impatient, I remind myself that this
is one of the few ways you get to have control and you deserve that much.

My little boy, with time, you’ll want to have more and more of a say in
how you spend each moment of your life and I promise you that I will do
my best to respect your wishes each step of the way.

One of my layouts for Design Team work on the AMM November Kit.

It has hand journaling about how very much unprepared i am to watch
David skin his knee or any thing worse 🙁