Happiest of New Years, friends! I hope your day was fabulous and that 2015 is one of your best years yet. I’ve had some down time to just hang out here at the house and relax - a first for me in a very long time - and I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about this blog and what I’d like it to represent. I will be honest and admit that at one point I considered taking it down completely, but then I realized that my reasons for doing that weren’t all that great: I am no longer on a design team (by choice, but still…), this blog doesn’t generate income for me (read this as: I am not that popular, ha!) and what the heck do I really have to blog about?

Well, today I read this post by my friend Joan in addition to being inspired by Ali Edwards’ One Little Word post and, well, pretty much everything Becky Higgins has been writing about lately (more on that in just a little bit), and was reminded that I started this blog just for me. And that just because I don’t have a house full of smiling kids or gourmet meals every day, this doesn’t mean that my life isn’t worth sharing. Because I think it is, at least for my own sake - I am blessed beyond measure and, for the most part, have a great life. I’d love to develop a habit of being able to use this online space to go back in time and just remember old times. In years past, the words that I’ve chosen to carry with me for OLW have been “shine” and “grateful”; this year I’ve chosen “calm.” In general, I hope this means more living in the moment and not being so reactionary to things that shouldn’t really bother me. Taking a deep breath. Learning to relax and be my best self.

Enter the Project Life App and Project 52. Last week my friend Julie texted me to ask if I had tried the Project Life App. She is an avid scrapbooker and said that her mind was blown, so I knew that I had to check it out; for quite some time I’ve wanted to really dive into PL more, but I’ve just been too lazy for all the photo printing and assembly, let alone photographing pages to share on this blog. Well, the words “revolutionary” and “game changer” are spot-on descriptions of this app! In a matter of minutes you can create full 12×12 or 8×8 pages…! In addition to that, Project 52 is a structured opportunity for me to create pages on a weekly basis, and to record the goings-on in my life (good and not-so-good) in a more mindful way.

Below you will find some of the pages that I’ve already created; when the prints arrive this week, I may add some small embellishments and notes, but other than that I consider them done. (If you follow me on Instagram, some of my photos may look familiar to you.) As I get into the groove of this, though, I hope to incorporate more journaling on my pages.

If you are participating in One Little Word, using the PL app, or recording with Project 52, I’d love to hear from you.

Happy New Year!