Summer Journal 2018

I'm taking a bit of a different approach to my journal this summer, if anyone cares to know. It was a huge commitment to journal everyday last year and I'm just not up for it again. Instead, this year I've created "Summer Passports" for my girls and then my own journal will follow along with them.

Essentially, the summer passports are just a bucket list of things to do this summer but given a passport type spin to make them more interactive for the girls.

The first couple of pages are for "tallies." There are a few fun things we do throughout the entire summer, so instead of marking it down just once, these pages are for them to mark a tally down every time we do it.

The rest of the book is filled with more traditional type passport pages, where after completing the activity we'll put down a sticker, mark the date, and I'll ask them what they thought of it and write that down in their own words.  There are four sections: playgrounds; nature; rainy days; and to-do.

Then in my journal, I have a page dedicated to each one of these activities where I'll put a picture taken while doing it and write out how it went.

I also have some other pages for items that I'd like to accomplish this summer that are just for ME, such as going on a day hike, going bridge jumping, etc. The lastly, I have a two page spread dedicated for each week of the summer so I can journal once a week.

Why the heck do I have this all done already? Because Jon is a student, so summer means May through August, whether the snow is melted or NOT! We plan to play hard this summer!!! Who wants to join us?

Go Away Winter

Last summer I made a goal to write in a journal EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I have a Polaroid ZINC printer, so most entries also have a cute little photo taken from that day as well. It was a lot of work, but I did it all for one important purpose: so that when I reached TODAY, I could look at it.

What was today, you might ask? Today was the day I reached my breaking point of wishing winter would LEAVE US THE HECK ALONE!!! Last winter I barely managed to exist through a stupor of seasonal depression and I knew I needed to do something to prevent that from happening again this year. So I figured if I made a journal documenting every single day of the summer, I could look back on it for the strength to continue on until summer graced the planet again. There were a bunch of other things I did this winter that also helped with keeping the misery at bay, but when winter refuses to back the heck off, one can't help but have a day dedicated to despair. Here are some of the highlights from my little journal that lifted my spirits today.

One thing that stood out while looking at the journal was remembering just how utterly EXHAUSTED I was by the end of last summer. I spent most of the summer pregnant and then caring for a new born. I made the trip back and forth from Calgary to Raymond more times than I care to count, sold a car, and bought a new van. I printed over 400 t-shirts and spent a fat chunk of time selling and delivering them to help fund a high school reunion, which I also helped plan and hosted at my parents house. My beloved Grandpa Gibb passed away and was honoured with the most beautiful funeral I have ever attended. Our family went on a fun little vacation to Baynes Lake at the very end of the summer. I hate to admit it, but I was actually a little relieved when summer ended because the constant need to be going and playing as hard as we possibly could was over. Which made me look at winter in a new light. If I didn't have these months to recharge and hate the weather, I probably wouldn't enjoy summer as much as I do. Summer means soaking in every single day and doing as many fun things as you possibly can in those few precious months. And without winter coming along and making me absolutely categorically insane with cabin fever, I probably wouldn't have the same sort of motivation to cherish summer like I currently do. With that being said, I'm pretty certain that I have had enough of THIS winter to make me really, really appreciate this summer. So.. uh... any day now, spring would be cool.