7.01.2014

Welcome to the This is Me Challenge!

Welcome to the TIMC! 
 

This blog is my personal history brain child--something I came up with trying to get my parents to record their personal histories for me.  I started off doing email questions, but then I figured there are probably plenty of people out there who also want to get their parents, grandparents or even their own personal histories recorded.  So I decided to start this little blog in an effort to help anyone who wanted to get their stories recorded before they got forgotten!

After 3 years of diligently doing the challenges and recording many facets and facts of my life, I found that I no longer had the time needed to keep going on...plus so much was already covered that I couldn't really think of many more questions.  I decided to call it quits on the new challenges, but I've left the blog up for any newcomers.

Here's a quick explanation of the different things you can find on the blog:

If you would like to do the challenges as I gave them out, I'd suggest starting with the Challenge Link List.  It has all of the questions written out, plus a link to the original post so you can see what I and my team members came up with to give you ideas!  Some of the challenges are different questions than the norm.   There are also 10 bonus questions as well!

If you are itching to record your history in a timeline/subject format, check out the Personal History in Depth page that goes through all the questions you could use to record an in-depth personal history.  You can also use the list for interview questions when visiting an elderly relative.  Get out the voice recorder and ask away!

If you have children, you can start recording their histories with some ideas found on the Personal Histories for Kids page.  Lots of fun ideas there to remember some of those special milestones!

The idea of this blog was that not everyone likes to record their stories in the same way.  Some like to write, others are comfortable with video, and still others are into scrapbooking.  There are many more ways to record your story.  Check out some of them and maybe get an idea for how you'd like to record your story on the Ideas for Completing the Challenges page.

If you like just short, simple and sweet questions, check out Fast Fact Fridays!  They were five little questions I gave out on Fridays for those who just wanted to record their lives in quick and simple ways.  At the end, I started using questions from the personal history in depth to help people get their histories recorded quickly if they wanted to. 

And last but not least, if you find you are loving these challenges, share the blog with your friends who may also like a fun way to record their stories! 

Thanks for stopping by!  And enjoy recording your history!  -Emily

3.05.2014

Challenge #75—The End

Well folks, this is it…our last challenge. 

I will still post on here every once in awhile if I find something that I think can help in the cause of recording personal history. 

But today’s challenge is basically the end of things, in more than one way.

What’s on your bucket list?

If you’ve seen the movie, “The Bucket List”, you know what this is all about.  If you  haven’t, it’s basically a list that you write of things you want to accomplish before you kick the bucket. 

Alternatively, you can make a bucket list for this year, for this month, or any number of years from now. 

Write out your list, scrapbook it, find or take some applicable pictures and put them on an inspiration board, blog it, or anything else you can think of to complete this challenge!

Here are a couple of examples for you.

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What Laura did:

She made a traditional scrapbook page with her list of things she wants to accomplish this year.   

image(1)

Supplies:  Bazzill cardstock; Heidi Swapp sticker; AC Thickers; Studio Calico chipboard; Bella Blvd sticker

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What I did:

I made a digital scrapbook page of my life bucket list.

bucket list

Supplies: Template with some embellishments, Scrapping With Liz.  Papers and other embellishments, Amanda Heimann. Fonts, Bombshell Pro, My Own Topher, CK Ali’s Writing.

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Well, I guess this is it!  This blog has taken more time of my last 3 years than I ever thought it would, but I am grateful that it gave me an excuse to get my personal history recorded.  I’d love to give a big thank you to all of you who have read, supported and shared this blog.  You are the reason I put time into this. Smile

I personally want to give a big ol’ thank you to all of my team members who’ve helped me out and helped to give you some examples as well!  I could not have done this blog for this long without their support.  So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, to Laura, Kim, April, Rachel, Lindsey and Allison!!! Smile

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Now I challenge you to get your bucket list recorded!

2.19.2014

Challenge #74—The Best Year Ever

Have you ever tried explaining to someone how the world has changed since you were born?  Well, if you haven’t or even if you have, today’s challenge is a good way to document the big changes that have taken place in the world!

What was happening in the world when you were born?

You can do this about the day you were born, the month or the whole year.  There are many different things that you can record.  Here’s a list of some things you could include:

The weather on the day you were born
Famous people (don’t forget things they did)
Movies or TV shows that were popular
Songs, albums and musicians who were at the top of the charts
Companies that started and are now successful
News events that happened all around the world
What was going on in your home town or with your family

To find info on what was going on, try doing a search like “what was the number one song on (insert date)?” or “world events in (year)”.  I found quite a bit of information from 3 sites, and I was blown away by the things I learned! 

Also, don’t forget to ask your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or anyone else close to you who may remember what was going on.  They may even have pictures to share with you!

This is also a good challenge to do with kids right now while it’s easy to find pictures and info.  Plus I know my kids would love to see what was going on when they were born even though it was only a few years ago. 

Here are a couple of examples for you:

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What Laura did:

Laura typed up some of the events that were going on the year she was born and put them on a Word document.

1973

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What I did:

I made a digital scrapbook page with some of the information I found online and put them into categories.  I also copied a few pictures from a site and inserted some pictures that I got from my mom which showcase a little bit about the era (like my fancy stroller, he he). 

1977
Supplies: Paper and embellishment, Persnickety Prints.  Fonts, Lane-Narrow, CK Groovy.  Pictures, peoplehistory.com and Mom. 

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Now I challenge you to record some things about what was going on when you were born!  Smile