Getting My Documentation Mojo Back – Part One: The History

So I know I always mention what a documenting + goal nerd I am, but I don’t think I’ve really clearly communicated how deep this nerdom goes. I guess I’ve really avoiding confessing the depths of it because I’m a blogger, and I feel like it goes without saying that I LOVE DOCUMENTING THINGS. I mean one of my hobbies is maintaining a website about my life. Obviously I enjoy keeping track of the minutiae, right?

What you may not know though is that this has been going on long before the internet even existed. I was reminded just how long it had been going on when I was going through some boxes in my mom’s garage a while back. I mean there were boxes and boxes just like this filled with diaries, notebooks, photo albums and collages. Scraps cut out of magazines, pictures that inspired me, mementos of my day to day life.

Some of it was completely unnecessary to keep — I mean, when will I actually need to know what my schedule looked like my junior year in high school?

But some of it was fun to see.

Like my Celebrity Crush when I was 7:

(What? Who were YOU into?)

Or my intentions for years past:

Journal entries documenting big life events:

(Spoiler Alert: I didn’t get into Film School.)

Big Purchases:


(Learned my lesson with this car to never lease again!)

And of course pages and pages of ridiculous lists:


(Yep I loved making lists even back then!)

It’s all sort of silly but you never know when you will need to know exactly what you were doing on the night of March 9, 2000. I mean, if there was a crime, fear not because I HAVE MY ALIBI COVERED! I was hanging out with lame 90s bands! (But dude, Stephan Jenkins was hot!)

The thing about all of this stuff, is that it brings me joy! I enjoy keeping track of where I’ve been, where I want to go, and memories with those I love (including Paul McCartney, obvs!)

When Garrett and I first started dating I made him a photo album of our adventures every year — and now we have an entire shelf full of silly memories to look back on.

What may surprise you though is that I have NEVER had an interest in traditional scrapbooking. 12×12 page layouts, Cricuts and embellishments have always been something I avoided. It’s just a subculture that has never really appealed to me. It’s not that I don’t think it takes a lot of creativity and talent (it does!) but I’ve just realized that it doesn’t satisfy me the way blogging and photo albums do.

But then in 2010 I lost my documentation mojo a little bit. Actually, we had come back from Hawaii the summer prior, I had 9000 pictures and felt pressure to document what an absolutely PERFECT vacation it had been. And so I shut down a little. Ok, a lot. It even showed up on my Summer Bucket List THIS YEAR as something that needed to get done because I still just couldn’t get past The Pressure.

But one night, I poured myself a cocktail and said, “This is for no one else but you! Just get those pictures in an album.” And I did. And when it was done, I wanted to scream out:

I’M BAAAAAAAAAAACK!

It’s kind of started a documentation landslide, you all! And it’s been so fun, I’m going to tell you all about it (Hint: It involves this) and then of course, what my documentation plans are for 2012! (Double Hint: My plans involve documenting our last Baby Free Year. WOOT!)

2012 is going to be a fun and photo filled year!

Hey do you smell that? It’s my oil burner burning Nerd Potpourri.

And I can’t wait to tell you all about it!