I have a goal this year to document our adventures and non-adventures in some tactile way, so that we can actually look back on our memories. I also have a goal of not using Instagram at all in 2024 (for other reasons), which is where I’ve shared and documented photos for the most part the last several years. I don’t love it as a way to document though because the stories live online and rarely get looked back on… except when I can’t sleep.

I considered picking up Project Life again because those albums from 2012 – 2014 are fun to look at (the kids especially love seeing our pre-kid life documented), but when I think about actually gathering supplies and doing it every month, I feel overwhelmed. And that does not give me high hopes for seeing it through the year.

I considered the monthly books from Chatbooks, which I did for a bit in 2022, again the kids loved getting these in the mail each month, but twelve books a year does not appeal to my pseudo minimalist views and it does not work well for sharing the stories behind the photos. I’m here for the stories. 

So, here we are. Picking up this little blog that I started on Mar 2, 2011. As I scroll back through posts all I can think is I’m so glad the internet didn’t lose all this because I completely forgot how much I captured on here from 2011 – 2017. I wish I didn’t have a seven year gap, but it is what it is and all I can do is start again. My plan is to print the year into a book, because I am Little Debbie. IYKYK.

So, on to our first weekend of the new year! We arrived home from California on Monday afternoon and it was a long week for a short four day week of school with everyone being tired and out of sorts… after what was a very long 2023.

There were some complaints on Saturday morning when it was time to leave, but we ended up having a fun time at the Sammamish Animal Sanctuary, feeding and visiting all the rescued animals.

I haven’t been an Instagram mom in a while, so I guess we’re all going to have to practice looking at the camera again.

That evening Mary came to watch the kids and Greg and I had plans to go for a walk around Green Lake then have dinner, but it started to hail about two minutes into our walk so we had a drink at Wooden City Tavern then dinner at the Broiler.

On Sunday, Greg took the kids to lunch and to see Migration with Grandma Berta. Reports are that the movie was good and Red Robin was… Red Robin. (We don’t spend $10 for me to nap through cartoons, so I went to yoga and Costco to stock up for the great blizzard of 2024 – check back next week to see if that happens or not.)

And clearly I am out of the documenting game because I don’t have any photos of our date or their visit with Grandma.

It’s good to be back. I’m already excited to get this book in the mail in January 2025!