Finish Strong | Week in the Life 2015 Edition | The Giveaway

I love a good project. I really do. 

Week in the Life™? I'm in.

December Daily™? Bring it on.

Project Life®? I couldn't sign up fast enough.

Add in countless numbers of other mini books and albums in progress and I will tell you easily that I have more unfinished than finished projects.

But does this make me a terrible memory keeper? Definitely not.

Does this mean I should pack up my room and put it all in the garage because I'll never be able to keep up, so why start or keep going? For me the answer to this is no, but that's okay if for you it is a yes. 

Does this mean I sometimes need to re-think or re-work a project? yes and yes. 

And finally, does it mean that sometimes I get frustrated and just really want to finish a project even though I don't have the time to finish? most definitely yes.

Most recently, I participated in Week in the Life™ again. If you are unfamiliar, it is a weekly documentary project created by Ali Edwards. Click here for more information. I love this project! In fact, looking back through my finished and partially finished albums brings me such gratitude for even my attempts at documenting our life. I really do love this project. (you can check out my preparations for this year here)

And yes, once again, my album is on the brink of being in the unfinished pile. 

And if that happens? It is okay! Repeat to myself 10 times! I have it prepped, I have my notes and my photos backed up. So I'm fairly confident I can finish given the time and motivation.

But I really do want to finish it and I've made more progress this year than in past years. Ideally I'd love to finish before getting started on December Daily®. But more than likely I will start working on that while trying to finish this one up. What's December Daily you ask?

Well, it's another favorite project created by Ali Edwards, where you document the month of December (or at least days 1-25 for many people) with one story per day. I've been doing it since 2010 and have finished two of these. The rest are in progress.

And it's another project where it really helps to pre-plan your pages. Years where I have finished, I had pages ready to go for the most part and I found it helpful. 

 So one of my goals right now is to finish up my Week in the Life™ project or find peace with it being in the "in progress" pile. 

And here's where the fun begins. (hint this includes a giveaway so keep reading!!)

Last year I was a co-teacher for a class at Big Picture Classes called "Catch Up with Project Life." And even though I had joked for years that someone needed to teach a class on finishing old projects, I never thought that one of those people would be me! 

It wasn't easy. I won't lie. I had to face my own piles of unfinished projects and realize just how many I had. 

But the amazing thing? For the most part I became overwhelmed with gratitude for each one. For even the attempt at creating these projects. Because life is busy and it passes so fast!! The cool thing I realized is that I have something to show for our life at the time as well as my own growth and creativity. 

I fell in love with these projects and even more in love with those that I gave a little love to.  I re-worked some projects which made them more enjoyable to view and look through and even finished some pages I would definitely not have done otherwise. 

And it was awesome to hear others having a similar experience. Gratitude for what they have accomplished and fresh enthusiasm to keep at it and finish strong. 

As part of the class, I created three different mottos:

1. Just Start
2. Keep Going
3. Finish Strong

Each week was centered around one of the mottos and I tried to create handouts and motivation to get started, keep going and finish strong. 

I realized I am just a memory keeper with lots of ideas and I like to explore those ideas. And it's okay if some live in the "in progress" pile or re-worked or even let go.

So very long backstory, but apparently I have a lot to say about this!

And here's the thing. I realized that community and accountability really helped me to get motivated and finish up more that I would otherwise.

So this year I decided to hold myself a bit more accountable with finishing my Week in the Life™ and tried to create a community on Instagram where we could encourage each other. 

A big Thank You to everyone who has posted, shared and encouraged one another. 

Finish Strong | Week in the Life 2015 Giveaway

To give us more incentive to participate and finish strong, I decided to purchase a Week in the Life™ kit to give away and created a hashtag on Instagram to share our progress: #finishstrongWITL. It has been awesome to see our progress there!

In addition, a few of my friends have joined in for the giveaway as well. So there will be three items to give away (three winners total, one for each item)

1. Ali Edwards Week in the Life™ Kit (grey album version)

2. Tracy Larsen Simply White Collection + Simply White Life Pages package

3. $25 gift certificate from Persnickety Prints

Ali Edwards Week in the Life™ Kit (grey album version)

This is the grey Stories album 2015 kit from Ali Edwards. It's an awesome kit!

2. Tracy Larsen Simply White Collection + Simply White Life Pages package

This awesome package from my dear friend Tracy Larsen includes the full Simply White Collection (versions 1 - 7) + her 12x12 Simple White Life Pages tempts (versions 1-9).

Hello, how awesome is this?! If you aren't familiar with Tracy, I highly encourage you to check out her inspiring projects and products here and on Instagram here.

3.  $25 gift certificate for prints at my favorite photo printer: Persnickety Prints!

Persnickety Prints is known for their quality and attention to details. They have a huge variety of sizes, including 6x8 if you are using the 6x8 album. It's also where I go to get my Collect App prints printed or my Project Life App pages printed. 

Please go say hi to our wonderful sponsors!! 

To enter: 

All I ask is that you share your progress of finishing strong. You can share in-progress photos and finished albums using the hashtag #finishstrongWITL on Instagram. You can also share your progress in the comments below if you do not use Instagram. 

The hope is that we can get motivated and encourage one another to finish strong. 

Originally I had decided to give us until the end of October but life got super busy for me and I'm just now getting to write the post! So I think I will give us until the end of November. I realize that will overlap with December Daily preparations, but hopefully that will give us time. And it will make a fun present for the winner!

So the deadline will be November 30th with the winner announced on December 1, 2015.

(Giveaway is not sponsored or affiliated with Ali Edwards or Instagram. Open to international entries.)

Looking forward to seeing what you guys create and here's to Finishing Strong!!

Do The One Thing

So back at the end of August, Ali asked us in the One Little Word group for our suggestions on additional journaling ideas and prompts to help us stay connected to our word. 

At the time I had been debating owning my story that I want to get better at photography. I have always wanted to be a photographer. It was always on my list. Does this mean I have to quit my job, quit everything to make a dramatic scene to make this happen? No, I really don't think so. Keeping my family fed and happy is very important to me. Plus, I really like being a physical therapist. But I know that following inspiration really helps me be a better person in all areas of my life. 

But I can keep taking steps towards improving my photography and see where it leads. If anything, I hope to continue improve my photography for me, my family and my friends. To help inspire us to live in the moment and capture + tell our stories. 

So to answer Ali's question I wrote this:

Something like a "One Thing" prompt: I know you've done a similar thing before. Maybe blend it with the Battle prompt. It's that one thing that you are going to be be vulnerable and put yourself out there and just do. (can you tell I've been reading Brene Brown?) Maybe a twist on that would be to have an adventure with our word. Make a plan and do the "one thing" that has been in your mind and heart that you just haven't done because of ….. (fear, shame, time, whatever.)

So that very day I decided to take my own challenge and go for it. I registered to go to a photography conference that I had been debating attending for about three months or more! 

And tomorrow morning I head out to go to my first photography conference where I don't know anyone and I'm so excited!!

In case you haven't heard of it, it is the Click Away Conference by Clickin Moms. I will be sure to give a report!

I've signed up for a video storytelling class, an unposed boutique and my Golden Hour class is going to be about Light Play! hello…my One Little Word is dancing all around me right now! 

And I get to hear and hopefully meet Karen Walrond! How awesome is that? Her tagline is "Look for the Light" and if there is anyone to help me get inspired about a possible career / life change, I would guess she would be a great one for gaining inspiration.

My One Little Word is "light" this year. It's been such a wonderful word. 

Okay, so I'm nervous but also excited. And it's time to get packing.

How about you? How is your One Little Word reaching out to you right now? Are you reaching back and following your inspiration? 

 

I hereby challenge you to "Do the One Thing!"

Let's go have an adventure with our word!

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Also, in other news: if you are following me on Instagram and you are struggling like me to finish your Week in the LIfe™, I am giving away a Week in the Life™ kit from Ali Edwards, plus Persnickety Prints and Tracy Larsen are joining in with a giveaway! All to help us be inspired to Finish Strong!

All you have to do is tag your photo of your pages in progress or finished album #finishstrongWITL to be entered.

I will have a post on my blog soon with more details. My work and side projects are a little busy right now! Will get it up as soon as I can!

Check out details on my Instagram here.

For more information on Ali Edwards and Week in the Life™ click here.

Giving away an Ali Edwards Week in the Life™ Kit (grey stories album) to help us finish up our Week in the Life™ project! Details coming soon. Not affiliated or sponsored by Ali Edwards.

And I'm finishing up class content for a Project Life® prompt/process class at Big Picture Classes. I've been wanting to share for the past year my process for using the Project Life App among other things. And as usual, I went overboard! So, it's coming! 

Thanks for all your support! Can't wait to share more about the conference too.

keep looking for the good and hope you have a wonderful day!