January Goals Recap

January is pretty much over. So here's an update on how I've done this month with my goals:

• Monthly Family Photo - We took one! So that's a success.
• SMASH Books - I have my very first SMASH book. There are no pictures in it yet (I'll wait until the end of the year to print them), but I've planned out generally how I want it to look.
• Birthday Presents - I only had one family birthday in January and I sent two gifts. There are none in February, but 4 in March! So I'm working ahead and trying to figure out gifts for everyone.
• Display Photos - I've definitely made improvements here. Our fridge is now covered in photos! Also I have gotten around to finding photos to put in various frames and now (at least in the main living areas) there are lots of them up! 
• I've also done a good job of journaling every night, even though that wasn't a goal initially. 

So overall I think January was a success, but I think I started out with an easy month. Some of the other months (February!) are going to be much tougher. So stay tuned for my next post where I talk about my new goals for February!

The Happiness Project: January Goals

I mentioned in my last post that I am starting a happiness project this year based off of Gretchen Rubin's book. Each month I'll focus on a different goal (with sub-goals to get me there) towards making my life happier. Similarly to Rubin's motivation, I'm not undertaking this project because I'm actually unhappy - it's just that I don't think I'm happy enough. I've been enormously blessed (a wonderful husband, financially stable, a safe place to live, and the necessities and luxuries of life) and I feel that I should show it. I feel that all too often I don't seem happy enough and thus - hello happiness project!

January's overarching goal is memories. I want to remember all the little (and big!) things, be able to share them in the future, and cherish them forever. I believe that memories mean so much to us. Creating and treasuring them brings me a lot of happiness, but I usually don't do a very good job of doing this! I have several specific ideas to help with this goal:

• Monthly Family Photo - I'm not talking studio or professional shots. I'd like to have a record of us throughout the year. I don't think we record how we change through the year and there are so many changes! Just getting a quick photo once a month will help record these.
• SMASH Books - Those monthly photos are going to be added to my first ever SMASH book! SMASH books are like scrap books, but better in my opinion. They seem to be less time and effort intensive. They have cool backgrounds and prompts, come with a pen/glue stick, and in many different themes! They basically take a lot of the work out of scrap-booking. Perfect!
• Birthday Presents - My typical birthday present to my family is a phone call. Not too special right? I realize it's better than nothing, but I'm hoping to do a little better this year. The plan is to send each of mine and my husband's parents and siblings actual gifts (even if just a card with a written note) in time for their birthdays - the first is next week so I better get cracking! 
• Display Photos - I have plenty of digital and even printed photos as well as empty picture frames, however none of these are actually hanging from my walls. I'm hoping to get at least a couple up on display this month. I love looking at pictures of my family (especially couple shots of me and the hubs). Looking at those smiling faces just fills my heart with love and puts a smile on my face. Obviously and effective happiness strategy! 

How do you record your family's memories? Any tips or ideas for me? Please share!

Why a Blog?

I recently read Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project" and have been itching to start my own project ever since. I decided to take some time planning it out (I'm a planner/list-maker) and thought starting it as a New Year's resolution would be a good idea. 

I chose to blog about my happiness project for two reasons:

• I think blogging will add a sense of commitment to my project. If I write out what I should be doing here I'll be more likely to follow through. That's the theory anyway, we'll see how it actually works out.

• I love reading blogs! I've been reading various blogs for a couple of years. I've been wanting to start my own for quite some time and, now that I have something specific to blog about, the time feels right!

I don't know if I would classify the blog as any particular genre, but if I had to choose I guess lifestyle would fit best. I'm hoping to share my journey on this happiness project along with my day to day experiences. Bon Voyage!