Photo Book Project

I just wanted to show a little peek of the latest project I've been putting together:

And now that Christmas is over and gifts are unwrapped, I can share it without spoiling any Christmas surprises! This digital album (from Studioj.com) is a recap of all things Pepper for last year. It includes her silly moments, our family adventures, and the fun Baxter events that we've enjoyed, and it's full of photos that are too cute to not print up. Even though it is a lot of work (turns out we did soooooo much last year!), it's definitely worth it! Our little bumpkin loves to thumb through the 'books about me' when she visits Grandmas' house. (She even loved the book so much she couldn't let me just take a picture of it by itself, so she made sure to present it properly for photo-taking.) And Grandma said she loved it too. Yes! This book is one of my prouder gifts this holiday season.

So, what gift were you most tickled to share this year? I'd love to hear!

Advent Calendar

Each year we find ways to refresh and test out new traditions just to keep things interesting. But when one is successful, we don't need to do much to change it. Something we've enjoyed doing for the last several years is a Christmas countdown advent calendar:

We still like to tweak the contents every year to make sure this tradition stays relevant. Last year, we had a few different items we rotated through the boxes, but the biggest hit turned out to be the Christmas books. So, we made sure to repeat that this year, too. We wrapped a bunch of Christmas books with calligraphed number tags on them and put corresponding tags inside a few select boxes. We like being surprised by the contents of the boxes, but when we discover one that says we get to open a book, we stop everything and have a little impromptu reading sesh. Our kid gets so excited to open a present and then we all get to cuddle on the couch as a family and read the book together. It's been a good tradition this year.

What sorts of traditions does your family look forward to during the holidays? Do you change up your traditions? How have you found ways to instill meaningful family time into your days?

Family Display Tray

I love putting family photos around the house to make it feel homey, but I noticed that overnight most of the pictures we had up of our family were outdated because our little pepper sprout is just growing so fast! In a tale of perfect timing, our company craft day happened to land on the very week I was considering how I would remedy such problems, and I was lucky enough to come away with this:

(All materials are from Close To My Heart.)

I know putting up photos of the people we love seems like a seemingly insignificant thing to do, but it helps remind our family to live intentionally, so it's really important to us. It keeps our loved ones on our minds when we can't be with them and keeps our daughter interested and thinking about them on a daily basis.

What small yet important steps have you taken to supporting an intentional lifestyle? I'd love to hear!

New Sketchbook

I'm not easily excitable, but there is one thing guaranteed to make me giddy on any day: a new sketchbook!

Not only does a new sketchbook represent all the progress I just completed, but it also opens the door wide for incoming inspiration. I pretty much love everything about a new sketchbook from the smell, to the crisp feel of the pages. Nothing is as exciting to me as a book full of blank pages! Fresh starts, directional changes, style exploration...so many things feel optimistic. The opening of the cover marks a new era, and anything is possible...hooray!

Do you feel the same way? What is one way you mark fresh starts in your goings-on?

Peace Out, Peace

Oh, friends. I gave it the good college try this year with my word of the year (WOTY). Here's how it went down:

The word I picked for 2014 was 'peace' and it was much needed. I realized that I was driving my family crazy with my busyness and non-stop to-dos. They wouldn't ever say anything to me about it because they are super supportive and way too nice, but I could tell they were getting exhausted being dragged around all willy-nilly.

So, in one of my little self-evaluations at the end of the year when I was considering a word to explore, I became keenly aware of the need in our lives (because of mine) to introduce peace. I realized I had to get to know peace a little more personally and learn how to incorporate it into my life.

I knew the most efficient way to make that happen would be to settle down a little bit...or a lot. I took a much-needed break from my to-do lists and considered the level of burnout I was about to encounter. As is usual with the whole WOTY experience, I considered and incorporated many avenues of exploration. This year, though, the most significant change I made was to not be driven daily by my to-do list and to take some time to relax.

Although it was hard work, I managed to take a chill pill and turn into a lazy person. I think my family really loved it, but I only made it approximately 9.5 months before I couldn't take it anymore. I'm happy to say my to-do list is back and I'm finding that motivation I thought I had lost for good. I made a good effort, but I'm relieved to be back!

It's not like my WOTY went unused (as if anyone could benefit from peace), I merely realized that one aspect of the word wasn't working so well for me. And, I still learned a lot. I'm making a bigger effort to not let my to-do list exist for the sake of doing things, but to use it as a tool to focus in on the things that are most important.

And, good news: I already have a great word for next year and I'm excited to see where it leads me! I love how adopting a word for a year really influences my perspective. It's become a meaningful practice for me that I will continue for a good long while.

Do you have a word of the year or another meaningful practice you'd like to share?