I think I must be afraid of not being heard.
I must be, because it recently occurred to me that I have an abundance of journals that I currently use to record every thought, every opinion and every message that I could ever possibly wish to say.
This blog has been a big part of our family history for the past 5 years or so, but can you believe that it doesn't even begin to account for all the journals we have?
Here are some of the other journals we have:
1.
This is a journal that my "uncle" Avard Toone gave to John and I when he sealed us in the temple 11 years ago. He gave us specific instructions to record our important family moments in this book.
And so I do.
2.
This book contains every love letter/note we've ever written to each other from the time we first started dating. It is so painfully awkward to read through those early pages of this book, and a part of me thinks I should really just burn or shred them! haha. But still- no matter what dorks we were back whe we dated, it's still a history of us right?
3.
These are journals that I've put together while pregnant with each of our four kids.
I used mod podge to secure some photos to the cover, and inside I often write letters to them, or record some of the highlights of there current age.
I've discovered that I even managed to record some of the "low" lights of this journey called motherhood as well. For example- just a few pages into Abbys book you can read about the time I put her bouncy chair up on the kitchen counter to sit. WITH HER IN IT! Minutes later, I heard that bouncy chair and my TWO WEEK old crashing to the floor!!!
Yup. Glad I recorded that memory;)
Just recently, I wrote in Nathan's book about how he continues to tag "poopy pants" on to anything he says to me. (ie: "yes please Mommy Poopy Pants" or "okay Mommy poopy Pants." I keep thinking he'll grow out of this but it's been a month or two and he's still going strong!)
4.
This binder contains about 3 years worth of emails that John would send to his siblings every Sunday recounting his week. It begins when he is single, recounts the history of our ever so awkward courtship, and documents the first few years of our marriage, in the form of weakly updates!
I LOVE this binder as it is chalk full of details I didn't even realize we were keeping.
For example- John got a job when we first got married working for a telemarketing company in which he made $7 an hour. We wrote to his family describing our ELATION at what a good job he got! lol
(What can I say. We were young and in love. Obviously money was of no issue:)
It contains a break down of when our first couple of kids started walking, when we started giving them solids, how sick Abby would get when a new tooth would come in, and how sad we were as we watched close family members pass away.
There are a lot of memories packed into this big black binder, and one day I'm going to find a way to get those letters onto my computer:)
5.
The entries in our big black binder stop just as the entries on our online blog begin.
This blog sorta just replaced our weekly emails to the family, and instead became a means for me to make "WEAK"ly posts about this life I love so much.
Every couple of years, I turn our blog into a hard cover book, and we've collected a few of these now.
It was a profound realization to John and I one day, when we discovered that we literally have a week by week hard copy record of our entire courtship and marriage!
Pretty priceless stuff, I tell ya.
Cheesy, pathetic, dorky, and at times downright embarrassing....but priceless, nonetheless!
When I sit down to read through some of these pages now, I can see so clearly the hand of God in my life and I feel so very very thankful for the evidence of it in these pages.
I've pretty much told my family that if there is ever a fire and they have to leave the house, to make sure they grab THESE books!
But that just goes without saying;)
