How P365 Changed My Life

My name is Emily(aka mle Card) and I am a mom to two wonderful little kids. Meri is 4 and Benjamin is 18 months.  And wife to a very patient husband, Tom.  I’m pretty much in that part of life where you feel like you’re constantly moving and accomplishing very little. Life is just pretty much a blur. At the end of last year, I sat back and thought of 2011 and all that happened: our 10-year wedding anniversary, a trip to Vegas, my husband’s birthday, a visit from my mom, a huge trip to Seattle for a wedding, Meri’s 4th birthday, her first day of preschool, her first day of ballet classes, my son’s 1st birthday, my 33rd birthday, a 1500+ miles road trip to Florida, Disney for the first time, Thanksgiving in NY, and then Christmas at home. That was 2011 in a nutshell. Crazy, huh! And while I consider those moments to be ones worth treasuring and certainly should be recorded with pictures, I found myself wondering where the year had all gone. To be honest, I felt a little panicked. Here I was with my 4-year-old and 1-year-old, and I didn’t know how they got to be so grown up. Sure I could look at my pictures I had taken (and I’ll be honest that is no mean feat, I like to take pictures). But I felt there were so many gaps in our year because my photos were all taken around those big events with nothing in between. Were the gaps important? I think yes they are. We aren't defined just by the big events. I think we are more defined by the daily life. The routine and yes sometimes the boring. As I sat there I could hear the echoes of advice from that older generation of people: “Cherish these years they go so quickly.” “You’ll miss these days when they are all grown.” “Ah these are the good times”. And I try to cherish them, but man is it difficult some days. And then the guilt sets in. I should be enjoying this more. How can I not remember those little moments? I know that I had them but I can't remember any of them. How can I possibly remember all those little moments? There is no way for me to write it all down as I am just not that organized. There is something wrong with me. So as I sat there reflecting on 2011 and all that happened that I didn't remember, I decided something needed to change. But I had no idea what.

As I often do when I don’t know what to do with myself, I got on Facebook and just started to zone out. In my feed was a picture that one of my friends had posted in their project 365 album. I clicked on it and I started perusing through her year. I had known about p365 for several years, but didn’t think that I had it in me to keep up a project of this magnitude. I am one of those people who gets excited about a project, I go full steam ahead until the next project that interests me comes along, and then I lose sight/interest in the first project. Hence the half-finished cross-stitch projects and the unframed paintings that I keep meaning to get up on my walls. So I truly thought that starting a p365 journey would end up to be a huge disappointment. Wow, I could not have been more wrong. Day one, I captured this photo:

And I thought, this could be fun. And how neat would it be to look back and remember this moment forever? And over 90 days later I do remember yelling to my husband who was in the other room to come and take picture quickly. And even though it was just a camera phone picture I was in love because this is a picture of our real life. A somewhat serious 4 year old who has a fairly long attention span and a 1 year old boy who likes to get into trouble. Seriously, whoever said boys were different, they weren’t kidding. I get nothing done when he’s awake wreaking his cute little havoc. Like a good little p365-er I went to my Facebook page and I created an album. Under the description I wrote “Let’s see how long I can keep this up.” I’ve been pleasantly surprised that I have been doing this for a quarter of the year and I have yet to miss a day(though there were some near misses). And I have yet to run out of ideas for pictures(more about that in another post).

  So, onto the changing my life part. As I started taking pictures, I thought, “What do I want to remember about this day? Is there anything important going on that I might like to document on this particular day (i.e.birthday, a first something for one of my kids or me, anything new or different, etc.)? And if there is nothing new/important happening, what haven’t I photographed yet this year that I think is an important part of our daily life.” After 90 days I have captured some really interesting moments. Like these:

Temper tantrums, random face painting, beautiful moments, frustrating moments, silly moments, PICTURES OF ME (which to date have been so rare). Each day I think of and find new and interesting moments of our life that I know I will look back on and treasure. I have found joy and humor in even those frustrating moments. Being behind the lens each day has giving me a new perspective on life. It has made me step back and look at these moments and realize that I have the ability to slow down time. I know it has been only 90 days, but I truly feel like I have discovered a way to CHERISH the moments that everyone has been telling me to do. P365 has changed my life! I feel so much more appreciative of even the mundane things in our life. And I have found beauty and satisfaction in things I often found frustrating and boring. I feel happier!

  If you know me well then you know that I love God and I can’t finish this article without giving Him a mention. Excuse me for getting a bit religious. But it is important to my journey and I think it could be important for others. For me, I feel like I am better able to see the beauty of this world He has created. I feel closer to Him and I feel a greater longing for knowing Him by acknowledging the beauty of this life. Even in the mundane parts I see Him working in me and my family. Photography is turning somewhat into a form of worship for me.
  Now you don’t need to be religious or anything to experience the positive impact of p365. I think p365 has the ability to make just about anyone’s life better. And it is not too late to jump on this exciting journey! You can start your p365 today!!! Day 1 for you will just be the middle of the year. And honestly it might be a better starting point because you’re not also dealing with the post-holiday vacuum, or the other New Year’s Resolution. It’s never too late to slow down your life and appreciate its intricacies. Just hop behind that lens and start clicking. The rest will fall into place! I will be back next week with some ideas on how to make your p365 journey a bit easier on you and less stressful!

Project 365 recap: week3

I had a busy weekend with my mom visiting. So my apologies for the delay in getting week 3's recap up. Its also been a pretty tough week in our house. A lot of colds and fevers, headaches and coughs going around. I feel like we have been rotating sickness for awhile now and this week it seemed like all of us had a different cold. I will be thankful when all the runny noses stop! So here are my pictures. It was still a pretty fun week taking pictures, but I did find myself getting busy on some of the days and just needing to take some kind of picture. I am getting the first glimpses of how this can be difficult!

Day 15: Meri was feverish so she had to take a bath separate from her brother. Benjamin was really confused and a bit sad.

 Day 16: Fever still lingers. Meri was cold so she decided to put on a coat. It just makes sense...

 Day 17: Benjamin climbed up on the sink and helped himself to his toothbrush and was doing a pretty good job brushing his teeth!

 Day 18: Licking the beaters is one of the greatest things in life. Benjamin and his first beater :)

 Day 19: His favorite puppy had to be washed. It cannot be put in the dryer because the fur would be ruined(and I'm pretty sure the fur is why he loves it so much). So we spent 45 minutes blow-drying it just so he could take it to bed.

 Day 20: My little helper.

Day 21: Playing with her strawberry shortcake dolls.

Project 365 recap: week2 {freebie}

I hope week 2 has been a great one for you. I am enjoying this journey and getting to know my camera and photo processing better. It was a busy week for sure in the Card household. My husband has been very busy with work and it makes it challenging to get much done. But it is rather neat to look back at my week of pictures. I realize that it is not the blur is usually seems when I when I have a week like this one. Maybe p365 will seem to have the effect of slowing time. It will be interesting to find out. And I'm also curious if I will look back at these photos at the end of the year and remember each day better? So here is my week:

 Day 8: Working on a commissioned painting. Always a nice time to think. It was a great way to start my week.

 Day 9: My little coupon helper. She loves to use the scissors.

 Day 10: The boy contemplating why I even bother putting veggies on his dinner plate.

 Day 11: I'm sure he will love this when he is older!

 Day 12: Fun with WASHABLE markers!

 Day 13: Getting a little Vitamin D.

Day 14: An impromptu visit to the in-laws. The kids all love Grandma's piano.

And here's my freebie for today. A painted border brush for your pictures. Stamp it onto your pictures in different colors. Play with the blending modes or even stamp it outside your pictures. Download here!

Project 365 recap-week 1 {FREEBIE}

I've decided to try my hand at project 365 this year. So far I am enjoying it as I am capturing a lot of moments that are just normal life at home. And I'm getting to know how to utilize some pretty sweet actions by My Four Hens. If you haven't checked her out you need to and don't forget to like her facebook page(she posts some great freebies). Not only is she a sweetheart but her actions will make your photos look like a professional took them! But I digress. I want to share with you my photos this week in hopes that it 1.) keeps me accountable  2.)Hopefully inspire you on your p365 journey. I also made a sweet little freebie for you. Its great regardless of whether you are doing p365 or not! Just scroll down to the bottom to download it!

Day 1:  Just a day in the life of a multi-tasking mom

 Day 2: My daughter is frequently dancing around the home. She is quite graceful(which she did not inherit from me). I love capturing these un-noticed moments.

 Day 3: I am rarely in pictures. And I want that to be remedied this year. I recently inherited a tripod and I am loving it! Now I just need to buy a timer so I don't look like a lunatic trying to get back to my spot before the camera goes off.

 Day 4: My littles one's 15 month checkup at the doctors.

 Day 5: I got to meet my friends newest little baby girl. So sweet and so tiny. Its hard to believe they are ever that small.

 Day 6: Just a quite moment with my son.

Day 7: Just my two kids playing together which they have been doing a lot more of recently. It has definitely been an amazing thing to watch their relationship grow.

You will notice that I have some pretty nifty date stamps on my photos. Those will be available next week. But for today I have a sweet little Day of the Week Digital Scrapbook freebie. I hope you enjoy!