My first Project Life book {2006-2013}

I started scrapbooking when I was in high school. I had to put together a senior portfolio in which I basically scrapped several short personal stories that I had written over the year. I really enjoyed making it and I dove into scrapping. I have, I think, three scrapbooks from this time. But scrapbooking takes a LOT of time and I eventually stopped and got rid of all my scrapbooking supplies.

I switched to photo albums, and while photo albums are functional and easy, they aren't nearly as pretty as scrapbooks. Eventually, I also stopped this and didn't print out any photos for a long time.

I took up scrapbooking again when we got married. I wanted to make a wedding scrapbook, a reception guestbook/scrapbook, and then to start documenting our life together.

Mike got me some really adorable scrapbooking supplies for our first Christmas together after we got married. My goal was to record the most important events in our lives (our wedding, honeymoon, holidays, various trips, etc) with a spread for each anniversary to mark the passage to time.

It took me over THREE YEARS to complete our wedding scrapbook. I'd work on the scrapbook really hardcore for a few days or even weeks. But then I'd put it aside. It would sit in my closet gathering dust for months on end. 

I just got tired of cutting pictures to fit paper frames and trying to make spreads look pretty and I don't even really like how photo corners look anyway! Also, to be honest, I'm not very good at scrapbooking. You know how some people have really gorgeous spreads? I'm not one of those people. It is quite possibly because I don't have the money (because scrapping really adds up) or the creativity. 

After I finished my wedding scrapbook, I knew I had a lot of catching up to do. I had three years worth of photos printed. I had stickers and papers that I'd been collecting for the scrapbook sitting in a box.

And so, I'd sit down to work on it and debate over which paper to use and which photo to put where. I'd mess up and have to start the page all over again. I got about to the first day of our honeymoon. I continued my cycle of working on the scrapbook for a few days and then ignoring it for months.

Then, I read about Project Life on tickled yellow. I was immediately intrigued. It seemed so much easier than regular scrapbooking. And my glue was all dried up anyhow.

Armed with 40% off coupons, one by one I bought a Project Life album, core kit, and big pack of pocket pages. I went with the Honey album and kit. Not because I liked it the best but because Michael's had a limited selection and I wanted to start right away.

But I didn't. My core kit sat in a box for a few weeks until I finally gave myself a talking to. I would NEVER catch up if I didn't bother starting.

And can I just say that I LOVE PROJECT LIFE. I made my initial investment near the end of August. Since then, I have scrapped all the way through the end of 2012. I've got photos from January-July 2013 that should be arriving in the mail today. Y'all, I'm almost caught up.

Photos from when we were dating & our engagement. Yep, that is just one spread for May 2006-July 2009. I'm just now noticing that I got the date on the engagement wrong! Oops! I'll need to switch that out. (And get a new date stamp first! For some reason, mine disappeared. I think baby brain might have accidentally thrown it away, boo!)

One of two wedding day spreads. These are not Project Life cards. I had leftover wedding-themed cardstock and decided cut those papers up to make my own cards. I actually had Project Life cards in these pockets up until last night. I never loved the look, so I switched them out!

One of 2.5 spreads from our trip to Bangladesh. 

Just a spread of photos from everyday life. On the left side is one night when we had our Shepherding Group over as well as when Mike, Bella and I took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. On the right side is my dad's surprise birthday party and then a random photo of Mike and Bella.

The first Twinfest! Utilized a lot of journaling cards for this spread. My writing is messy, but I've decided that I don't care. It's more important to have messily written memories than none at all. :)

One of 1.5 spreads from our trip to Mexico. I really like detail shots when I blog, so I'll take detail photos and cut them up to fit in the smaller card slots. :)

This is from one of our trips to Michigan. I only took a film camera with me on that trip, so all the photos are either film or from my (or Mike's) Instagram. And you know what? This professional photographer is grateful for camera phones. Much of our lives is documented through them and now, instead of just letting them sit on the camera or "in the cloud," I'm printing them out. I like tangible photos.

My birthday week! As you can see, this spread isn't 100% done. See that journaling card in the upper right hand corner? I think it was a filler card before and I decided to journal on a larger card (note the smaller card also in the pocket) to include more detail. 

Anyway, that's just a little of my first Project Life album. I really love it. My spreads are not nearly as beautiful as other's, but that's okay. Because my photos are in a book and not in some phone I can lose or hard drive that can fail.

I feel so accomplished. Ever since we got married, I've wanted to tangibly document our lives. 

While this post might seem like an advertisement, it isn't sponsored by Project Life or anyone. I just love it and wanted to share! Whether you use Project Life or any of a variety of pocket pages system, it is so easy to print out photos and slip them into the sleeves. Memory keeping doesn't seem like such a daunting task anymore!

My album is pretty full, so I'll be starting a new one in 2014. Its appropriate timing. Album one is our lives before baby and album two begins with baby. I think there will be a LOT less trips featured in album two...but it will be way cuter.

p.s. I have a very cute post-bound scrapbook album for sale. Never used. ;)