My Journal

To be entirely honest, I don't do a great job at this whole "journaling" thing.

I don't keep up with it as I should.
I think I'm missing an entire year between pages at one point!

Yet I just keep coming back to it - keep adding another page, here and there, whenever I find the time, motivation, and energy to give it a go.

I first heard about this type of journaling from the beautiful blog, Eyes of Wonder.  Does anyone remember her name?  Her blog is no longer available, or maybe it needs a password - of which I am not privy - but it was absolutely gorgeous!  She had many children, all ages, she lived in the country, valued God, family, home....simply beautiful!

Anyway - I read about her way of journaling and she shared a few pages of her own journal.  Simple.  Beautiful.  I was ready to give it a go!

First, you start with some basic supplies.  I bought a spiral bound notebook with a hard-ish cover, something I thought was nice.  For me, that's fall colors!  Next, I grabbed some old magazines I had around the house.  I went through each one, clipping pictures or parts of pictures that I was drawn to.  I personally stay away from faces.  This is about my life, my days & my moments - I don't want anyone's face distracting from that.  Once I had a good amount of clippings, I gathered colored pens of various tips, scissors, and a glue stick

Then I was ready to start:

Basic supplies.

I pick a few pictures (or one large pic) and glue it onto a page.  Due to the weight of my paper, I only use one side, the right-hand side - but do whatever you feel comfortable doing.  This is *your* project!

One page, right-hand side, with only one large picture.

I make sure to put the date at the top of the page, then I simply write about whatever is on my mind.  This could be about anything from the weather, what's for dinner, a sick friend or relative, upcoming trips, cute sayings from my kiddos, goals for myself or our schooling......anything!  I use lots of different colored pens, just to keep it pretty!  I'll write under pictures, down the side of the paper, draw a heart, a smiley face, maybe some arrows.

Lots of colors, lots of topics!

I've discussed struggles I was going through, stages my children were in, how God was talking to me through my day, what curriculum I was thinking about, literally anything!  Even though I am fairly open and honest, I do want my children to look at these pages, to remember their own childhood moments, but also to see their Momma perhaps in a different light.  To see what I struggled with, yet also where I found my joy!  To that end, I personally choose to be open & honest, yet there *are* subjects I may not write about.....I guess we would all have to choose where that line is for ourselves.

One of my latest journal pages.

So there ya go ~ I simply journal, but oh, so meaningful!
I enjoy reading through old pages, remembering moments I may have forgotten.

Beautiful.