why i blog

It's true. I blog a lot. Maybe you think I'm a narcissist, or maybe that I have loads of free time. The reality is I just like to record. Yes, I was the eight year old in scrap booking class with a bunch of my mom's friends (and my little brother Fenton but he may have been there for the candy and /or under duress).

In university I studied history. I used to think I loved it because of the dates, time tables and all the facts, but the reality is, I love the stories. The stories of the famous people we remember and also the stories of the nameless people we don't. In one of my last classes we watch a very depressing video on all the people who had drowned in the Seine during a period of time. The facts were listed, age, occupation, etc. Then some sort of story was pieced together, but the truth is, we don't know how their bodies ended up in the river. There was never anything concrete--no connection of facts to a reality, it was merely assumptions dreamed up by whoever came across the public record.

These are the stories I love--the ones that have been lost. Maybe that's why I find it so compelling to record. To record my history, the history of my daughters, the important things that happen and the everyday experiences we have. Perhaps its dull or mundane, I hope it's never boastful or ostentatious, that's not why I do it. I'm aware that we have been given a unique opportunity to live abroad and with it comes experiences that seem exotic. But I don't want my blog to in any way make another persons life seem less. I am simply recording our lives and doing so in a way that is public. I'm still not sure why our blog is public. I've gone back and forth on public or private, (what always sways me in the end is my sister, Abbie, telling me she wouldn't read it if it was private). In no way am I blogging to brag. I am blogging to record and to share our stories with our friends and family who live five thousand miles away. I hope they want to read what's going on in our lives (are you there Abbie?)

So there you have it. This is our blog.

And now for the reason I started this post, this is what I do with our blog at the end of each year--I make a book. I use blurb, they have their own free down loadable software which is easy and fast to use and there are almost always coupons available but I have found their prices pretty reasonable for photo books

 They've gotten progressively bigger.

 I generally include the original text, as I seem to remember things better right after they happened--another reason I try to keep up on our blog. Every now and then I will change things to include more or less.

I love catching Elie looking at the old books and I love to tell her more about the picture and stories she finds. This is her history and I want her to know it, especially since she wont remember it.