Back in May as part of my 29th birthday celebration, I wrote a list of 5 personal goals I wanted to achieve before I turn 30 this year.
Number 5 on the list is to document my 29th birthday year because as I wrote in this guest post over at Sweet Shoppe Designs, turning 29 feels like a pretty big milestone. A rite of passage. The last official year of my twenties.
And as any good scrapbooker will tell you, milestones are made to be documented.
So in July, after a mulling it over for a little bit, I decided jump into the Project Life pool and choose it as my method for documenting this year. I even wrote a post about my plan and shared my first spread.
With the start of the new year and the ensuing Project Life overload that’s going on right now, I’ve gotten a few requests to share an update on how my Project Life album is coming along. And so I’m back today with a little update…which you may or may not like.
You see…that one lonely little spread up there? That’s all I’ve completed of my Project Life album.
I know, sad.
But before you go assuming this is just another case of #ProjectLifeFail, here’s the deal.
I posted about my plans for Project Life on July 20th. And only five short days later, on July 25th, I embarked on another not-so-little project called A Week In the Life.
Having never completed A Week In the Life before, I didn’t really know what to expect. But I went into it with a plan and came out of it with an amazingly AWESOME Blurb photo book.
And what I realized once I had this book in my hot little hands is that this AWITL album achieves my goal of documenting my 29th birthday year.
Sure it doesn’t include each and every moment of every day the way Project Life might have, but it does exactly what I wanted to do with my 29th birthday year album:
It captures a snapshot of what our life is like as two child-free married twenty-somethings.
The places we go, the things we do, the technology, fashion, food and so much more we love.
And I LOVE it. I love it in a it-still-makes-me-want-to-do-happy-dances-everytime-I-look-at-it kind of way.
And that’s good enough for me.
So in keeping with my 2012 scrapbooking resolution to trade the busy for the meaningful, I’ve decided to call this goal done and let it go.
I may feel inspired to pick up my Project Life album again, I may not, but either way, I’m happy with my decision.
And with that I leave you with two little reminders:
1) It is OK to change your plans (and not feel any guilt about it).
2) Just because everyone else is doing something, doesn’t mean you have to stick with it too.
So what about you? Anyone else ever start something only to change your plans mid-way? Were you happy with the end result?
Thank you for sharing your freeing message about scrapbooking, projects unfinished and changing your mind.
And that Week in the Life album is gorgeous! Really good ideas for the highlights lists. I still need to scrap my week in the life from last summer.
No problem, Auntie T! So glad you liked the message! It’s nice to know there are others out there who can relate. 🙂
I am a repeat Project Life failure, I still have all the components from the very first kit ever made when it was featured in Creating Keepsakes Magazine. Each year I’d start again and then fail again. I wanted to give up but since I had all the parts I didn’t want to consider the wasted money. It just wasn’t something I could really get into and it also didn’t help that I never really liked the design of the kit.
Fast forward to now and here I am in 2012 starting yet again! What’s changed? Well for the first time I am really excited about it, now that I have another baby to document I’m taking a ton of photos anyway. Plus I am finding I have less time to do full layouts and this is actually quicker and gives me a way to hold onto the snippets of memories that you want to, during a baby’s first year. Even the kit has grown on me!
Ooo, good luck with Project Life! I do think it’s a cool project and you’ll definitely be in good company this year! I know what you mean about not wanting to waste the money. I purposely only bought the bare minimum (I pack of page protectors and the blank journaling cards) figuring at least I wouldn’t end up with a ton of extra stuff if I didn’t like it. Nothing worse than having something around that reminds you that you of that unfinished project, haha.
I started P365 in 2010. I had such ambitions to keep it going to the end. I was even gong to scrap it all. But after getting a title layout made and starting the first year – I decided scrapping wasn’t as important. Unfortunately – the photos only lasted through October (pretty much the moment life hit rock bottom) and the blogging of each photo only made it through June. I didn’t finish it – but you know, I never felt guilty either. Bummed – yes. Guilty – no way 🙂
So now, 2012 – I’m giving it another shot. So far so good (but then, I made it through January in 2010 too – easy peasy.) But I really feel like this is gonna be my year 🙂 But if it’s not – that’s okay too 🙂 I only have me to answer to – and I’ve already said it’s okay to not make it 🙂
I did P365 in 2009-2010 (I started mid-year). I only made it through about 3 months of layouts but I realized it was OK. I figure those layouts were more than I would have done otherwise so it works out. Good luck with your 2012 project!
I like your attitude.
Thanks Julie!
WTG, Lynnette! And I’m totally with you on stopping without guilt. It’s not acknowledging failure, it’s acknowledging that how you get your goal isn’t jiving with you. And thanks for the reminder: I’ve felt it especially last year, that these scrapping projects have made me feel a wee bit like I **NEED** to have the latest and greatest–so very high school, haha. I know I couldn’t handle Project Life as a year-long thing, so I’m planning on doing a Project Life approach to a trip I took in 2009, just so I can all the ephemera organized.
Yes, this is what I need to remember: it’s not a failure to decide something else is more important! And I totally agree with it being like high school, it’s kind of like you want to jump on board because it looks fun and everyone else is doing it too, haha.
I am crushing on your last photo, a week in the life highlights! I was curious if you would share what program you used t put that together?
I used Adobe InDesign for putting my entire AWITL book together. There’s a post here with all of the details: http://modern-school.flywheelsites.com/2011/09/15/a-week-in-the-life-2011-bringing-it-all-together/
The book looks amazing!! I’ve been hesitant to do the books because I don’t scrap in order and am anal about my books being in order, but I plan on testing that out this year with a book purchase to see if I like it better.
Thanks Darcy! I don’t do books for any of my individual layouts. I much prefer being able to add and move pages around as I go in my albums. But I did enjoy this book project too!