Project 365 - 2009

{Project 365 album from the second week of January, 2009.}

I did it. I actually did it! I started Project 365 on January 1, 2009 and I have finished it! I am pretty much beyond excited about this! Check out my complete project on my 365 blog.

I started this project with every intention of finishing it. Of course, I start every project with that same intention (hello half knitted scarf sitting neglected near my couch). I got behind on this project often (life happens) and it required some catching up, but in the end, I finished and I am THRILLED with what I have documented.

At the beginning of 2009 we had no idea what the year would bring us. We made new friends, got closer to current friends, did more fun things in Boston, took a trip to California, and in October, we moved to Minnesota. Our first big move and I now have it documented day-by-day, along with all the little things that happened along the way that I treasure almost more than the big things.

Though I have not finished my physical Project 365 album yet (part of which is pictured above), I have all the photos and content finished. I basically have the fun part left to do! I plan to finish the album during various football games the next few weekends. :-)

Some tips for those who may be considering doing a Project 365 type of thing this year:
- Create a way for you to easily update your project and keep up to date with journaling. My method happened to be creating a blog where each post represents a day. Find what works for you, whether it is online or not, make it easy to keep up with.
- All you need to stay up to date is a photo and some journaling. After you have those, you are done for that day. Easy peasy. Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be and get yourself overwhelmed.
- Cheat. No, really. Haha... Some of the photos I used for certain days did not happen on that day. That's ok. Sometimes I want to show more photos of a certain day, or I forgot to take a photo one day. I'm ok with it being a little mixed up and I KNOW that anyone looking through my album years from now won't care that I cheated a little (and likely won't notice anyway).
- Modify the process to something that works for you. I'm really glad that I kept up with this project and that I completed it. I do, however, know that it's not realistic for me to do a project exactly like this every year. For 2010, I am going to be modifying the process to make it easier for me. I think I am going to switch the '365' to more of a '52' and do one layout a week for 52 weeks. I am also going to be doing the 52 layouts completely digitally so that it's easier for me to work on this project (anytime, anywhere, as long as I have my computer.)

So, there you have it. If you are hesitant to complete a project like this, I want to take this opportunity to urge you to try. It was a great experience for me and I completely recommend that everyone get a year of their life documented in 365 photos. :-)