Sunday, December 29, 2013

A Daily Journal that Works for Me

I love to journal. I especially love recording my prayers and little quotes that I have read in my quiet time. When I say "journaling." it usually means my reflection time in my daily devotions. And I don't always write something every day.

But I wanted to try the daily journal. I would love to be able to look back on a daily archive of my life.  I wanted something to record the milestones Hudson was making. I wanted to write down trips we took and fun surprises we experienced. I've seen ideas on different blogs - and I even tried this one. It was a cute idea, however, after just a few days, I found myself frustrated. I wanted to write more than I had space for.

So, last year, on New Year's Eve, I had an idea...(It's amazing that I could come up with any idea at all due to a new baby and sleepless nights.)


I ran out to Walmart (It was like a mini-vacation to be able to get out of the house then!) and purchased a large daily calendar/agenda. Mine is an 8 1/2 by 11 size.


Since it was last minute and I wasn't sure if I would stick with this daily journaling commitment, I purchased a plain-Jane black calendar.


Each day, at the end of the day. I would write down some detail from the past twenty-four hours. Sometimes, it was a detailed paragraph. Other days it was three or four words.


I found myself loving the different colors of ink. I would add post-it notes of a quote I read. If I pureed Hudson some butternut squash, I put the produce sticker on that date.


Some weeks, I would forget to write a thought each day - I would usually catch up on a few days, simply recording a detail I remembered or a place we went.

It was so easy to keep up with the first time Hudson clapped or the first time Jeremiah and I got to go on a date after having the baby.

The larger calendar with a daily square for writing appointments seemed to provide the perfect size space for me to write what I wanted to remember. I also love that I am limited to a small little space of lines - this keeps me from writing every minute detail down. Who has time for that?  I think I was able to continue this journal because it wasn't an overwhelming task. I could accomplish it in just a few minutes each day, and if I fell behind, it was easy to catch-up.

Since I did journal for an entire year, I found a pretty calendar in the same size for 2014.


I am so excited to see what our family will experience in the next year.


I thought this would also be a great way to record a thought or something learned if you were aiming to read through the Bible in a year.


Is anyone else out there a daily-journaler? If not, why not give it a try this year! I don't think I'll ever be disappointed that I recorded these memories. 

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