Journaling

Mail and packages.....I don't know about you, but I love getting "good mail" and packages....especially surprise ones.  In this day and age of electronic every thing, this kind of mail is hard to come by.  Every fall I get this little box in the mail.  It is always a surprise when it comes, not because I don't know what it is, because I do.  But I kinda forget when fall rolls around and all of a sudden it shows up in my mailbox.  Oh yes, it is October and time to get the new book for next year!!!!

Back to the beginning..... about 17 years ago, I received a book offer in the mail from the Michel Design Works wanting to know if I wanted to purchase a diary for the coming year.  The glossy insert of sample pages was VERY enticing.  I wondered if my appeal for the pretty book was enough to get me to write in it EVERY day.  Could I keep up or would I get bored with the whole thing?  I really was not sure.

So I thought, I will give it a whirl and order one.  And guess what?  I did fill it out every day......365 days.....for 17 years.

You can see how stuffed some of the books get by the end of the year.  I probably should find a better place to keep them, they are just stacked in the corner of my bedroom.  I don't want them too far out of reach because I refer to them often.

My only regret is that I didn't do this earlier when my kids were small.  Oh the things I know I have forgotten.  I am lucky to remember what happened yesterday.....really.  I have a better record of the grand kids than I do of my own girls.  Which there is some benefit to that too....as the moms are so busy, I know....  been there, done that.

So the book for 2012 has arrived with the potential to hold a lot of activities and emotions that ebb and flow through the days and nights ahead.  Every year I do a mental discussion do I want to do another year, so far the answer has been yes.

There is a place to write down appointments and a modest space to journal every day.  There are special two page spreads with prompts to direct your writings for special holidays and includes extras pages in the back for special occasions and birthdays.  There is also a page to make your very own index for each book.  I include photos, newspaper clippings, ticket stubs and other mundane paper items in each book.  I have even glued in extra pages in some of them to include special items.  I write about my cooking and lack there of recently, entertaining......haven't done much of that in 3 LONG years (but hope to get back to that soon), my sewing quilting projects, silly things the grand kids say or do....naughty things too.  It is what it is.

I will just tell you the artwork and quotes included on each page are beautiful.  I did notice recently that Barnes & Noble had them, at least at our local store, it was not a hard bound book.  But if you wanted to leaf through one, you could see it there.  I am including the website below, if you want to order your own copy and start a new tradition for your own family.  You won't be sorry.

http://ourcountrydiary.com/