January is
A clean white sheet, newly-ironed
An empty page:
A field of freshly-fallen snow
Waiting to be mapped
By our footsteps.
– John Foster
Hello, mid-January! As mentioned, I’ve taken these first days of the year to set new rhythms. All of January (and likely part of February as well!) is my “January 1st.” I love these first days of the year and the opportunity to be made new through new habits and intentional choices. It’s fun to try new things!
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One change I can report as we’ve started 2024: I am officially a paper planner person. Grace asked me yesterday, “Mommy, why do you have three planners?” 🙂 To everything, there is a season, and my command center (below) is a necessity in this season. I use the weekly setup for big-picture planning, marking weekly habits, rhythms, and goal-centered action items. The daily setup includes the kid’s schedules, household to-dos, and meal prep. My PowerSheets remain the home base for tending to my goals little by little. I took my time easing into the year and just finished making my January Tending List. A rare mid-month look at my PowerSheets…
January has mostly been filled with small steps, with the exception of one. The most surprising goal progress of the year so far (maybe even of the last few years!?): I finished four years (!) of family photo albums last Saturday. And, I did it all from my phone, using Chatbooks‘ Yearbook feature. It was so easy and I am thrilled to have this done finally! Chatbooks is smart: they break your photos down by month, allowing you only to choose photos from one month at a time. This simple separation helped me avoid the overwhelm of selecting photos. Within a couple of hours, I was DONE. This has lingered on my goal list for years, friends.
I had two rules that helped me get this done:
1. I only chose photos that jumped at me and made me feel something, not necessarily the “prettiest” photos—photos that brought a family memory or story to life.
2. I did not edit photos. I just went with it.
The results were wonderful, casual albums our kids have already loved pouring through. I plan to hand-write captions for them as my next step. I love them!
Your turn! What habits are helping you so far this year? Any new things you’re trying? I’d love to hear!
P.S. Looking for my favorite healthy things to start your year? I’ve gathered them all for you here.
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6 Comments
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on January 16, 2024 at 10:55 am
As someone who’s slogged through family photo book projects for the last few years, I’m celebrating alongside you!! What a win!
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on January 17, 2024 at 1:32 pm
Love this so much Lara!! I am a scrapbooker of almost 20 years so I feel and know your excitement!! I did step back a little on mine the last two years but have jumped fully into it again this year. It is hard switching from kids at home to empty nesters in my scrapbooking but feel ready now. I have used Chatbooks before and love them.
I am taking time setting up my goals and routines too. Feels so good to do this. Take care, friend. -
on January 17, 2024 at 3:57 pm
Thank you for sharing the Chatbooks yearbook! I am horribly behind in making those books (it’s been a goal for years…we have been married for 16 years!) but this seems so much easier!
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on January 17, 2024 at 4:34 pm
I am going to have to check that out! I have so many pictures on my phone and memory cards that I need to go through!
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on January 17, 2024 at 8:34 pm
Woohoo!!!! I know what an accomplishment that feels like to get photo books printed! I’m putting the finishing touches on my family’s 2023 book… You’re inspiring me to get it done! The past few years I’ve tried to keep in the habit of creating Google albums for each month and writing a monthly summary. That has made the process much easier!
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on January 22, 2024 at 7:41 am
Absolutely LOVE this – and now I wish there was a local album company that would make it that easy for me! But way to go, friend x