project 365.

due to the overwhelming response I received on Monday's post regarding any accomplishments/goals you have for the year, I decided to quit blogging and become a motivational speaker. hold on a sec. did I just "see" a few of you shake your heads and mumble, "from fuitcake mom to motivational speaker, what next?"

seriously though, you mean to tell me that not ONE of you has a single thing on your list that you'd like to accomplish this year? (besides my SIL Ruth who said she hopes to give birth this year instead of next:) no trips or vacations planned, no house projects to tackle, no goals, dreams, aspirations, no... nothing? so you're all just going to stare out the window and giggle into balled-up fists like I do? oh I'm sooo happy! finally, someone to keep me company. *giggle* and before you start hurling rocks at me, I'm totally kidding.

so. if you're not going to share, then I will. cue drum roll, please. you guys, my HUGE project for the year is to take a "photo-a-day." um, I'm just now thinking that huge is an understatement. maybe ginormous x 7 million would be more accurate. anyway, this requires pulling out a camera (even a picture with my phone counts) EVERY day. (don't tell anyone, but I already missed day one, heh.) obviously there will be days that I'll take more than one picture. like who could go to the beach and take only one photo? and no, taking a hundred photos on one day does not qualify as "catching up", nor does it excuse you from taking the rest of the month or year off, are we clear?

so what's the method behind my madness? well, I'm guessing we're all pretty good at pulling out our cameras for vacations and events like birthdays and such, right? but what about when it comes to capturing the everyday? like how your child's tongue hangs out when he/she is concentrating on homework. chubby hands playing with trucks. hubby snoring on the couch, mouth hanging open (no?!) a case of serious bedhead. a cute expression your child makes that you want to remember. a grubby toddler face. potty training. sleeping baby eyelashes. these are the moments that make up the majority of our lives, are they not?

aaaaand unfortunately, the older we get, the further south our minds go, thus the more apt we are to forget these moments when we look back on the years of raising children. sure we have umpteen pictures of the trip to Yellowstone, but what happened in between that one trip in July and so and so's birthday in November? no idea.

if you're slumped over in your chair, overwhelmed at the thought of taking a picture a day, try taking one a week instead. or when the moment strikes. in this case, something is better than nothing. keep in mind, the objective isn't about getting the "perfect" photo, either. in fact, the less perfect and more "real", the better.

I know this is going to be a challenge for me, so to help with brain fog, I'm making a back-up list of ideas for those days where I'm all, "help! what can I take a picture of today?" that way I can pull out my handy-dandy list and go, oh yeah, I wanted a picture of a cute, dimpled bottom. "quick! Gary! pull down your pants!" click.

I promise not to post the "photo of the day" every day out of fear I'd lose you all, but maybe a few here and there will be fun.

here's what I have so far:

Chloe gets some SICK air sledding.

someone discovered leftover bows in my closet and decided they matched Scarlett's outfit.

Rowan smiles for the first time in six months.

I think it'll be fun!

-jessica