The need to document my life through photos

The need to document my life through photos...

I blame it on my parents! My parents raised us (I'm one of 4 siblings) with a camera and video camera in hand. My mom, a stay-at-home mom, was a master at taking photos and video (on what seemed like a daily basis), particularly to show my dad, who worked a lot. He felt like he was missing out on all of the small moments that we experienced throughout the day. So, like any good wife and mom, she documented everything. Everything in my eyes, at least. :-)

Growing up, my sister and I loved sifting through old photo albums and bins filled with our old beta and VHS tapes. We would spend hours filtering through them and watching simultaneously. I remember doing this as early as 8 years old and the habit never died. As my brothers grew up, they also joined in this fascination. We are so lucky and fortunate to have the smallest of our childhood moments captured in pictures- photo or film. My answer to that infamous question: What would you grab if your house was burning down? "MY PHOTOS," I always yell. Nothing can replace them. Nothing. They're priceless and I'm incredibly grateful. 

I grew up echoing my mom's love for documenting our lives in this way. I continued to document my life through photos when she couldn't... all throughout high school and college, after college, and even in my classroom (creating class newsletters around photos). 

Through my love of photos came a new (yet similar) hobby... scrapbooking! Main goal? Finding artifacts about my life that I could save and cherish forever. I have a page in my high school scrapbook filled with movie ticket stubs that my husband and I saw from when we dated in high school. I have scrapbooks for everything! :-) 

My mom taught me to capture the smallest of moments and I now have an obsession with it. I just love capturing memories and holding onto them and I honestly feel awkward if I don't. I cherish the fact that I can relive experiences and reflect on them. I absorb the memories and emotions again, and again, and again. 

That's just another reason for why I LOVE this blog. Capturing a photo of my day and writing about it? Being able to look back and relive it? Yes, please.

This past weekend I celebrated my other best friend's son's 5th birthday. I was snapping away! This upcoming weekend I'll be celebrating Amanda's 30th birthday and you better believe I'll be snapping away! 

My favorite gifts are the most meaningful and they almost always include photos for me to laugh and cry with. My sister surprised me with a photo book on Christmas Day. It's titled "Through My Eyes" and documents my wedding planning journey through her eyes. Every single bit of it. I was blown away. Yes, you guessed right, I was sobbing Christmas morning. My heart flutters when I recall that moment and whenever I catch a glimpse of the book on display. 

I worked on a few projects tonight that centered around photos, which obviously inspired my post. I hope to share more about my hobby/obsession in later posts, too. There are so many projects on my to-do list that I'm looking forward to completing! I'll be sure to document every step of the way! :-)