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

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.   

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.

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.

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!!!

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Now I challenge you to get your bucket list recorded!

Challenge #73—Fail On

No one in this world is perfect…in fact, if you’re like me, you’ve made PLENTY of mistakes.  The thing about making mistakes, is that if you don’t learn to laugh at them, it can make for an unhappy life.  So, today’s challenge is going to help us all learn to poke fun at ourselves and our mistakes.  (Plus, I think it helps those who come after us to realize that we were human too!)

What is a fail that you’ve had?

First of all, I just HAVE to post a few things to get your minds rolling…and get you to giggle a little bit too. 

Source

Source

Source (plus a few more if you’re still craving some laughs!)

Here are a couple ways to do this challenge:
*Make a list of some different fails you’ve had—you can give a few details about each one. 
*Go into detail on one fail.  Write a story, a blog post or make a scrapbook page about it.

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What I did:

I actually made a scrapbook page a few years ago about a fail I’d done.  I didn’t have time to do a different one right now, so I thought I’d share this one.  I made a scrapbook page poking fun at myself for my little fail about accidentally baking a batch of brownies where the spoon fell into the batter and I didn’t know it until I cut the brownies up!

And since I made this a few years ago, I really have no clue who made the supplies, otherwise I’d list them…

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Now, I challenge you to record one of your fails! (Or more if you want! )

Challenge #72—Personal Records

Our first challenge of 2014 is finally up!  (Sorry, I’ve kind of been out of the habit, so it’s a day late.  Please forgive me…)

If you read the last post, you know that we are only going to have 4 more challenges and then we’ll be done with new challenges.  So, I’ve come up with four fun challenges that I think and hope will round out anything that we’ve left out.  This one was a bit of a challenge at first for me, but the more I thought about ways to do this challenge, the more excited I got!

What are some of your personal records?

Here are some ways I thought of completing this challenge:

*Record one thing that you’ve done that was a record and tell about it in detail.  Maybe you won a pie eating contest, or did the longest plank at the gym.  It could be something you did a long time ago—like winning a softball throw in 2nd grade or getting a 4.0 your entire high school career. (No, I haven’t done any of those things…these are just examples to get your mind going.)

*Record as many personal records that you remember setting.  (If you can remember all of them, that is a record itself!)  They can be serious records, like miles run in a week, or silly things like the ability to touch your tongue to your nose!  Be creative and think outside the box!

*Record the records you’ve set within a certain time period.  It could be this last year, or during college/high school/summer camp/etc. 

Remember that you can complete this challenge in any way your heart desires!  Write about it, do it in pictures, write a poem or song about it, scrapbook it or any other way you can think of!

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What I did:

I decided to record some of my records for 2013.  I thought it’d make a nice little wrap up of my year!  I think I will do this every year too, so I’m going to keep track of some things this year to record about.

I just made a digital scrapbook page of 7 records I set this year.  (I blurred out my kid’s names, just in case you’re wondering what those weird gray marks are.)

Credits: Digital template: Scrapping with Liz.  Patterned and solid papers: Meredith Cardall.  Fonts: Century Gothic (journaling), Bombshell Pro (title), Georgia (year). 

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As you can see, this challenge is a fun one! 

Now I challenge you to go and record about some of your records! 

Challenge #70—Bon Voyage

Raise your hand if you like vacation!  I’m sure everyone is raising their hands, right?  (Even if you didn’t do it physically!)

So, think back to all the vacations you’ve been on, the people you were with, the place you stayed and the things you did…now…

What was your all-time favorite vacation?

You can go about this in a few ways. 
-Describe the details of your favorite vacation.
-Make a top 10 list of your favorite vacations if you can.
-If you can’t narrow it down, just record what a favorite vacation is for you.
-Think outside the box—it doesn’t have to have been the most expensive and lavish vacation you’ve been on.  It could even be a fun staycation where you explored your own stomping grounds!

Here are some examples.

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What April did:

When thinking of my favorite vacation I came up with the time we took our kids to Disneyland or when my husband and I went to the Bahamas for our honeymoon or when I went to Europe after I graduated from High School. But the one “vacation” that I truly loved the most was not really a vacation in the sense of going somewhere exciting. On September 26th-28th, 2013 my husband and I had the amazing opportunity to attend 3 Key Elements’ “Royalty & Romance” couple‘s seminar taught by Kirk and Kim Duncan at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah. This seminar was an AMAZING experience for us and it has changed our life. It was fun, entertaining, and informative. My husband and I have grown so close since attending and we are already planning on attending again in the future!

Credits: Font: Bellevue, Photos taken from 3 Key Elements’ facebook page and website as well as my own photos.

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What I did:

This was a really hard topic for me.  I’ve had some amazing opportunities for vacations—so narrowing it down was hard.  I decided to do a kind of cop out, and tell a little bit about my favorite type of vacation, just my hubby and me.  I just typed it up this week because I’ve been so busy.  I hope to find some pictures from these vacations and make a scrapbook page with this journaling. 

Family vacations are awesome.  I love spending time doing fun and different things with my family and not having to deal with the daily grind of life.  But as awesome as they are, my favorite vacations have been those with just me and Quinn. There’s something about just spending complete alone time with him that just can’t compare to family vacations when we have the kids to worry about too. 

Here is a list of the fun vacations (and staycations) that have been just me and Quinn.  (I didn’t include the many times we’ve stayed in SLC for Quinn’s work conferences which were mostly work anyway.)

*Our honeymoon—Cancun, Mexico.  December, 2002 Saw lots of ruins (Chitzen Itza, Tulum, Coba, and spend time on the beach).
*Oahu, Hawaii—December, 2004  Toured everything we could on the whole island!
*Salt Lake City—August, year I don’t remember and need to look up.  Stayed at the Little America and saw the Broadway musical Lion King. 
*Chicago and Nauvoo, Illinois—October, 2010  Spent 3 days seeing the major sites of Chicago, then spent 1 day in Nauvoo.
*Anchorage, Alaska—August 2011  Saw many things between Palmer, Whittier and Seward. 
*Salt Lake City, Utah—December, 2012  Celebrated our 10th anniversary close to home with a night at Little America, a movie, shopping and a snowshoe hike to Donut Falls.

There is nothing I love more than spending some one on one time with my best friend in the whole world.  It doesn’t matter if we do something extravagant or even just have a night at home alone when the kids are at grandma’s.  As long as I’m with Quinn, it’s my favorite!

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Alrighty, now I challenge you to go record about your favorite vacation or vacations if needs be!

Also, don’t forget to be working on the 30 day self-portrait challenge!  Use the hashtag #timc30days on Instagram for a chance to win one of three $10 gift cards to Amazon!  The more you post, the better chance you have!  Also, see my note at the bottom of this post about what to do if you have a private Instagram account. 

Challenge #68—Yum, Yum

Food.  We all eat it!  We all enjoy some or a lot of it! So, this is what today’s challenge is:

What are some of your favorite foods?

You can go about this a few ways. 

• Focus on your very favorite food, whatever it may be, and go into the details of why you love that food. 
• Make a list of all your favorites.  You can even add things you don’t like if  you want. 
• Focus on your favorite meal for each time of day  (“My favorite breakfast is ________.  My favorite lunch is ________.  My favorite supper is ________.”).  Or you can focus on just one meal you would eat a lot if you could. 
• Don’t forget dessert and drinks!  If you have any favorite desserts or drinks, you can add those as well!

Here are a couple of examples for you. 

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What April did:

Fonts: Bodoni, Benguiat, Goudy Catalogue Italic
Page Embellishments: Chandra Element Pack by DesignerDegitals, Misc. Embellishments
Papers: Kitty Dots, Shabby Princess-DiamondPaper, Promise Paper-CreamDots

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What I did:

I made a list of my favorites in each type of category.  (Also some of my least favorites mixed in there as well.)  This would be easy to do by hand or type up quickly if you’re short on time.  Remember, just get it recorded somewhere, somehow!

Fonts: Wish I Were Taller, CK Higgins Handprint. Template: Scrapping With Liz. Paper: Creativity By Crystal. Photo Source here—lots of great ideas on the Clean Eating way of life (which I am personally embracing and loving!).
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Now I challenge you to record this little bit of information about you!

Challenge #67—Smart Kids

As I’ve thought upon the things I’ve learned throughout my life, I’ve come to realize that some of the most basic things I learned as a kid—how to read, tie my shoes, use the bathroom, share, etc.  So today we are going to record some of those things!

What is a lesson you learned as a child and never forgot?

You can just record one lesson in detail, or record a few of them!  Make a list, write it as a story, make a numbered countdown, scrapbook it, or record it in your own way! 

Here’s a couple of examples to give you some inspiration:

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What Laura did:

Supplies:  patterned paper-Sassafras; cardstock-unknown; chipboard-My Mind's Eye; letter stickers-Heidi Swapp

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What I did:

I decided to make a backwards numbered countdown of 5 things that impacted who I am now—but these aren’t the ordinary things.  I simply recorded some different things, some sad and some funny, that weren’t the normal “share and get along” type of lessons.  These were personal lessons that I remember quite vividly, and though I didn’t share many details about the things that happened, one can easily assume the things that did happen.  Maybe someday when I have some time, I’ll go through and explain these all a little better. 

Supplies used—Template: Scrapping With Liz, Papers: Cosmo Cricket, Fonts: My Own Topher, Porcelain, Sketch Rockwell.

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Now I challenge you to record one or more lessons you learned as a kid! 

Challenge #66—Wear it proudly

Yipee!  Our summer break is over and we have a brand new challenge for you today!  I’m a little giddy about this one. 

What is a favorite article or type of clothing?

You can do this in a broad way—think types of clothing like jeans, shoes, jackets, t-shirts, etc. are you go-to faves.  Or you can do this in a more specific way, like recording about a very favorite hoodie, or some beloved yoga pants.  This is a time to show a little bit about why you wear what you wear, so don’t forget to record why you like that item/type of clothing!  You could also do a little spin on this and record about a favorite item of clothing that is no longer…and maybe even find a picture of it and tell why it was your favorite and what you would do if you could have it again. 

This would also be a fun challenge to do with kids—especially if they have a favorite item of clothing they love to wear a lot! (I’m so doing this with my twins who constantly wear their Superman and Batman shirts!)

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What April did:

April just had carpal tunnel surgery, so she went easy on this challenge instead of her normal digital scrapbook page…and that’s quite alright!  I hope no one ever feels that they always have to do the same thing every time—that’s what makes the challenges unique, just like you!

There was NO hesitation for me as to what my favorite piece of clothing is! I served a mission for my church for 18 months in Paraguay. I spent the first two months in Provo, Utah learning Spanish. It was September and October and cold in Utah. I hadn't prepared for colder weather since I was going to a tropical climate so I didn't have anything warm to wear while I was in Utah. I ended up buying a sweater there. I didn't know it would end up being my favorite piece of clothing!
I'm glad I ended up having to buy that sweater because I used it a lot on my mission in the winter. Winter temperatures only got in the 60's in Paraguay, but with the humidity it seemed cooler than it was.
It turned out to be a comfort item for me as well. It was a little piece of home. I wore it traveling from my mission in Paraguay back to my home in Utah!
It kept me warm through many winters and I took it everywhere with me.

(Me in my sweater my first winter back from Paraguay.)

(Carving my pumpkin for Halloween in my sweater.)

(It came with me to collage at Brigham Young University in Rexburg, Idaho. I was REALLY glad I had it there. It is FREEZING in Rexburg during the winter!)

I finally had to retire my sweater. I wore it so much that the zipper pull fell off, the sleeves are shreds, there are holes in the pockets and the elbows are almost worn through. I can't bring myself to throw it away and still sometimes pull it out to snuggle in during the winter.

(This is me in my sweater now.)

(It is nearly falling apart!)

This sweater has been with me for a very long time. I have many memories wearing it. It's a part of who I am. In a way, I consider it a dear friend who has gone through the good times and the hard times with me. I don't think I will ever part with it because we have gone through so much together!

How cute is that story? 

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What I did:

I have a serious love of shoes.  I know it’s totally cliché, but for some reason I’ve always loved shoes.  I remember as a little girl sneaking into my mom’s closet and wearing her high heels, dreaming of the day when I could own my own pair.  Now I have A LOT of them, so I decided to record a little bit about why I love a cute pair of pumps.  (And a little bit about my other shoes.) 

Credits:  Template—Scrapping With Liz, Fonts—Century Gothic, CK Bella, Playful, Papers/Embellishments—Amy Heinman. 

I have already recorded a little bit about my love for shoes before, but this one is a little different.  See the first time here.

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Now I challenge you to record a little something about a favorite clothing item!

Re-Challenge #52

This is a re-post of a challenge that was issued on Oct. 3, 2012.

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Most of us have some kind of collection, whether it is an on-purpose collection, or something we unconsciously collect!

What do you collect?

Now, if you don’t purposefully collect anything, you can be creative on this one…for example my husband jokes that I collect plastic sacks, because I keep them in various places around the house so I don’t have to go get one from the collection bag in the kitchen every time I need one. 

But, most of us probably have something we buy as souvenir’s each time we go somewhere, or that people always give us a gifts.  This is also a fun challenge for kids to do who collect something.  I plan on doing this one with my 7 year old who collects rocks from everywhere we go! 

Here are a couple of ideas to get your mind going, but remember, you don’t have to scrapbook it.  Even just taking some pictures and writing a blog post about it is great!

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What April did:

Explanation: I never intended to collect bells. It just sort of happened. One year for Christmas someone, I can't remember who, gave me a bell. And from that time on everyone thought I collected bells and continued to give me bells for birthdays, Christmas and just for fun. So I started getting bells in all the places that I traveled and all the places that mean something to me. Each bell has a story and has become a history of who I am and where I've been.

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What I did:

From the time I was young, I have loved elephants, and started collecting them when I was a bit older.  Though, when we moved 6 years ago, I packed them all up and only took them out today to photograph—I have little kids now and I don’t want them to get ruined!  So it was fun to pull my little collection out and see them.  My 3 year old twins were in awe of all these cool elephants they’ve never seen before.  Sadly, I will have to pack them back up again until our basement is finished and I have more room to properly display them!  It was fun though, to remember all the places I got them!

Product sources: Template, Scrapping With Liz.  Papers, Crystal Wilkerson and myself.  Brushes, Dainty Swirls 2.  Fonts, Smiley Monster, Homemade Apple, Mom’s Typewriter.

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Now I challenge you to record about something that you collect!

Re-Challenge #40

Originally posted on Feb. 8, 2012

I remember once reading an email about some of the perks of being a parent—and the first one of those perks was naming rights.  Having had the opportunity to name four children myself, I know it’s fun and also a bit intimidating!  A name is with a person for life.  Sometimes there’s a reason for a name, a story behind it.  So…

What is the story behind your name?

How did your parents come up with it?  Were you named after someone special in their lives?  Do you like your name?  What does it mean?

You can record this in many ways, and go into detail on it or just skim the surface.  If you’re not sure, be sure to ask your parents, an older sibling, or someone else who may know.  Even if you think you know it, it doesn’t hurt to ask! 

Here are a few ideas for you:

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What Kim did (wrote on her blog):

My name...

At one time in my childhood I remember liking my name. In fact, I liked it so much that I wanted to have triplets and name then: Kim, Kimber, and Kimberly.

At another point in my childhood I remember hating my name and wanting to change it to Cynthia.

Now, I love my name again.

I go by Kim, because it's easy, but I think Kimberly is a pretty name...and I LOVE my middle name--Lillian.

The history of Kimberly:

I was named after my brother.... who was named after a doll. :) If I remember correctly (which I may not)... my older sister had a Kimberly doll and my parents liked the name. When my mom got pregnant with what they thought was going to be a little girl, they decided that she would be called Kimberly. When my brother was born, they decided to give him a more masculine name--luckily. They saved the name Kimberly for me, their next girl.

The history of Lillian:

Lillian was passed down from my grandmother's care-taker, Lillian. I never met Lillian; she passed away before I had the chance to meet her. But I do love her name.

It's origins are Latin and come from the flower lily. I think lily's are a very beautiful flower as well, which just adds to the enjoyment of my middle name.

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What April did:

I love my name and was excited to do a page about where and how my name came to be. People have always asked me why my parents chose my name and how come they picked it when I wasn't born in the month of April. It was fun to put the story of my name in a scrapbook page.

Photoshop Brushes: "Out of the Blue" by Seishido.biz, "Watercolor" by Mcbad  Fonts: Cambria (Journaling), SNF Infinity Bold (Title)

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What I did:

I made a traditional scrapbook page, and just told how I got my name and why it’s meaning fits me perfectly.  To be honest, I don’t make a lot of “girlie” scrapbook pages—I don’t think my boys would appreciate that too much in 20 years—so I’m not good at it, but I did have fun using half a package of flowers!  I must say it was a fun change! 

Credits: Patterned paper—Sandy Lion.  Cardstock—Bazzil.  Flowers—Prima.  Buttons—Unknown.  Letter stickers—SEI.  Pen—Sakura Gelly Roll.

Now I challenge you to record the story of your name!

Re-Challenge #8

Oops!  I totally spaced doing the re-challenges for the last two weeks.  This is why consistency is so important for me!  I am still going to post those re-challenges, and you will see one today, one tomorrow, and then the one I’d scheduled for today the day after that.  Don’t feel like you have to get them all done in 3 days—please do these at your own pace!

Here is the re-post of challenge #8.

 

Addictions. Everyone has them. Some people are addicted to bad things, some are addicted to good things. Some people won’t admit it, and other’s happily admit it!

This week’s challenge: What are some addictions that you have?

You can focus on one addiction, or you can record all of them. You can make a list of them and tell why. You can take a picture of each one and make a slideshow or scrapbook page of them. You can record in detail what you’ve done to try and stop this addiction, or you can say nothing at all about it. You can laugh about it, or get serious about it. Write a song or a poem about it. It’s up to you how you want to record it!

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What I did:

I took a picture of one of my addictions—lip junk as my hubby calls it. I took it on a white background so that I could blend it onto a white blank document in Photoshop. Then I just wrote about my addiction to lip junk. Simple. Easy. Here’s how it turned out:

Fonts: Cry Kitty and Pea Laura, both from Kevin and Amanda’s Fonts for Peas. Check out Amanda’s site for tons of cute fonts for FREE! We love free!

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This post was from over 2 years ago, and it’s fun to see this because I’ve ditched the Carmex for another lip balm…which I’m now addicted to (Burt’s Bees, if you’re curious).  I honestly forgot how addicted I was to the Carmex, so I’m glad I recorded that little slice of my life!  I’m so going to be doing this challenge again, though probably with a different (current) addiction.   

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Now get out there and record something you’re addicted to! 

Re-Challenge #20

I must admit, it’s been fun for me to go back and see these challenges again.  And though I’m taking the summer off from recording challenges, it’s made me really want to go back through and do some of them again, just because things have changed that much and I want to record the now as well!  How grateful I am that I recorded the things I did when I did.  And yes, when I have a spare minute, I will do some more recording! 

Here is this weeks’ re-post of challenge #20:

 

Not one single person in the whole entire world is like another.  We all have different physical features, different likes/dislikes, different habits and talents.  Even identical twins are individual and unique!  So, here’s to uniqueness:

The Challenge:  What are some of your funny and unique habits and talents?

In this week’s challenge you can focus on just one funny or unique habit or talent.  You can make a list of every unique thing about you.  You can focus on some of your funny talents.  Complete it how you want to!

This week’s challenge would be a fun one to do with the whole family—get them all together and have everyone write what they think all the other’s funny and unique talents/habits are!  It would be a fun game!

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What Kim did on her private blog:

This one happens to connect with my soccer days as well:
In high school we had to jog in place while passing the ball back and forth to a partner for warm ups. It was part of our daily routine.
To this day when I play soccer (which is only once or twice a year now if I am lucky) I still find myself jogging in place when either passing the ball against a wall or to a partner. I've noticed that when I pass it to another person they will look at me like I am crazy because they are just standing there passing it back and forth, but my feet just won't stop jogging!

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What I did:
I had a busy week, so I just made a quick list of one thing for each member of my family.  (For the kids, this is just a look at them now—phases if you will—because we don’t really know what cool talents they have yet.)  I am dreaming up a scrapbook layout with a picture graph of each person and one talent and one habit.  Someday…  Here’s a quick look at what I have finished, to give you some ideas of things!  (Or just laugh at...!)

Quinn:  Can touch his tongue to his nose!
Emily: Can arch one eyebrow—on both sides!
C: Can make new friends anywhere he goes.  He pretty much tells them his life story in 5 minutes.
T:  Goes from the worst kid that makes us scream to the sweetest, world’s best kid in 2 minutes flat.
R: Has to take his “Dog Dog” stuffed animal EVERYWHERE!  (That thing is nasty.)
C: Can talk like Tarzan on his vowels!

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Now, I challenge you to record your “you”niquenesses!

Re-Challenges #7 and #34

Okay, here’s another two re-challenges for you…sorry that I didn’t get any up last Wednesday or the one before that.  We went on vacation to the beautiful Black Hills area of South Dakota, where apparently there aren’t many cell phone towers for me to get on to the internet.  And on top of that, we camped at campgrounds, so no free wi-fi for some reason.  ;)    So, here are the challenges I’d planned on doing, but forgot to schedule before we left.  Oops.  Sorry. 

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Re-challenge #7:

Have you ever seen a magazine article or an ad with numbers in bold, and then some information that is pertinent to that number? Well, that is the inspiration for this week’s challenge!

The Challenge: What numbers best represent you?

You can do this a couple of different ways. You can make a list from 0-10 (or even to 20!), and think of something about you for each number. You can also write a list of some things you’d like to share and figure out the numbers for each thing.

I’ve thought about some things to give you a jump-start:

Places I’ve lived.

Years I was in formal schooling.

Years I have been married/dating.

My age.

Number of children/grandchildren/nieces/nephews/brothers/sisters/etc.

Pairs of shoes/ties/jeans/sweaters/etc. I currently own.

Bedrooms in my current home.

Times I’ve been a patient at the hospital.

Pets I’ve had.

Times I’ve been outside the U.S.

Hours of sleep I get each night.

Minutes I spend getting ready for the day.

Projects I’m currently working on.

Vacations I’ve been on this year.

Traffic tickets I’ve gotten.

Accidents I’ve been in.

Childhood friends I’m still in contact with.

Countries I’ve visited.

Continents I’ve visited.

Boyfriends I had.

States I’ve lived in.

Countries I’ve lived in.

Continents I’ve lived on.

Boys/girls I kissed.

Cavities I’ve had.

Years I was/have been in the military.

Years at my current job.

Years playing instrument/sport.

Hobbies I’m currently passionate about.

Paid jobs I’ve had.

Years until I retire.

Foods I’m allergic to.

Cars I’ve owned.

Eyeglass prescriptions I’ve had.

Minutes/hours I read each day.

Mountain peaks I’ve climbed.

Times I’ve been bungee jumping/skydiving.

Times I brush my teeth each day.

Times I change my clothes each day.

Minutes/hours I spend on the computer/facebook/blog/etc. each day.

And yes, the list can go on and on…!

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What I did:

I went through this list, and decided which things I wanted to highlight. I made a 12x12 scrapbook page, similar to a magazine ad I saw. I wanted to put a cute picture of me on there too, but alas, I am always the one behind the lens and I seriously couldn’t find anything but the picture I already used on a challenge.

Here’s a look at my page.

This is just another version, using only the numbers 0-10.  Scrapbook Credits: Paper, scallops and stitching: Creativity by Crystal, Fonts: Cooper Standard, Pushkin, and CK Higgins Handprint.

You don’t have to make a scrapbook page though—you can just write it down in a journal or word processing document. You can write a simple poem or jingle about it. You can even take pictures that represent these things and put them on your blog or make a slideshow with music if you want! The possibilities are endless on how you can record this week’s challenge! Now, go write down your own numbers!

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Re-challenge #34

This challenge was originally given in December, but I though it’d be fun to bring up again in July, since most people have fun summer traditions to record then too!  (Well, at least it’s summer here on the northern hemisphere…)  What are some fun summer traditions you have?  Family reunions?  Summer activities like boating, camping, hiking, a certain vacation spot?  Certain holiday get-togethers?

Every time I hear the word “tradition”, I can’t help but sing the same titled song from “The Fiddler on the Roof”!  A lot of traditions are deep-rooted, and have been around for too many years to count.  Other traditions have just been started, or are a few years old.  It doesn’t matter how long it’s been, it’s still fun to record it!

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?

You can record some of the traditions you’ve had your whole life, some you had growing up, or some you have started recently.  Make a list of all the traditions you can think of, record one favorite from each time period of your life, or even focus on all the ins and outs of just one.
Here are some sub-questions to help you get thinking:  How did it start?  How long has it been going?  Have you changed the tradition at all through the years?  How long do you foresee this tradition continuing?  What do you hope your family will remember about it?  How has it helped your family grow closer to each other? 
Here’s a couple of ideas of things that we did, and there will be a few more next week from the rest of the TIMC team! 

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What Laura did:
For the past few years, I’ve put together a December Daily album*.  I’ve approached it a few different ways.  Last year I also participated in a month-long photography workshop where I was prompted to take a different picture everyday in December.  My journaling for my book last year didn’t necessarily go with the picture that I took, but at least I got journaling written and a different picture taken for every day.
This is the page that I put together for last year’s mini-book.

And the journaling:

I love the traditions that we do share as a family, even if they aren’t extravagant.  I think everyone’s favorite in our house is the night we watch The Polar Express.  We make a big bowl of popcorn and enjoy the movie and being together as a family.
(*If you’ve never heard of a December Daily Album, check it out on Ali Edwards’ blog here.)

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What Rachel did:
I took some time to reflect this week about some of our family Christmas traditions and where they came from. I could have made some many layouts just on this topic. I picked a couple traditions that we do with our kids and took pictures of them. In addition to what I have on my layout; we also go to our church Christmas program, read and watch Christmas stories all month, read the bible Christmas story on Christmas eve, have a special family Christmas meal…I love the holiday season and everything about it!

Credits: All paper and embellishment are from the kit “Christmas” by Albums to Remember. Pictures by Rachel.

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What I did:
My husband and I got married 4 days before Christmas, which meant we were on our honeymoon for our 1st Christmas together.  I thought it’d be fun to buy a Christmas ornament to remember it by, but then it became a tradition!  Most every place we go on vacation, we buy a Christmas ornament, or something that we can make into one.  We all love reminiscing about the places we went and who went and how old the kids were as we decorate our tree each year!  I decided I wanted to scrapbook the story of our ornament tradition!

Credits: All designed by me.

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Well, there you have it…a little bit of something fun to record.  Take some time to record some fun summer traditions and a little bit about you by the numbers!