A few years ago…okay….almost ten years ago now, I lived a grand adventure with 4 best friends in Italy. We lived and taught English in Rome. One of them had a genius idea to keep a quotes book where we’d write down funny stuff that was said. To this day when I read it I laugh so hard I almost cry. It’s the type of stuff that would be weird, gross and completely unfunny if you weren’t actually there. Even when I read it, though, sometimes I find the memory of it fuzzy. As in, I know we said it and I see it written down – some in my own handwriting – but the memory is not clear as day. I know that if it was’t written down it would be filed away somewhere in the recesses of our big brains never to be laughed over again.
With my babies now becoming toddlers then becoming kids then becoming preteens (tranquilize me, please) and so on and so on, we decided we wanted to keep a journal of sorts, to write down all the funny and sweet quotes and memories that were sure to happen. Like the other day, when we gave my daughter her first lollipop, she called it a “poppilop.” It was so cute we thought we would die. We talked about it days later…. I know….we are in love.
Some pros for journal keeping.
1) Our memories are more fleeting than we’d like to admit. Just because we think we won’t forget it doesn’t mean we won’t. New memories happen, our children grow older and, before you know it, we’ve forgotten the best rendition of Twinkle Twinkle little star that ever happened or how we caught our son eating bugs. It is worth writing down because later, when asked, we don’t want to rely only on our old worn out memories.
2) It gives us something to look back through together and laugh. I can’t wait to read my quote books with my grown up sons and daughters. It will be a great time of togetherness and, let’s face it, who doesn’t love to read things about themselves? Who doesn’t love to hear how cute and funny they were? I sure did. I loved looking at my old handprint turkeys and popsicle stick ornaments from school. I marvelled at my artistic genius. I can’t wait for my kids to do the same. I want them to know I cherish them and the times we’ve spent together.
3) Your future grandchildren will love it. I remember spending hours (not at once, mind you) sitting on the couch looking at my mother’s old yearbooks. “Is that REALLY Aunt Cindy?…” And “that can’t be Lindsay’s dad…he has so much hair…” It entertained me to no end to see what things my mom did and what groups she was in. Not only will our kids love to read about themselves in 40 years, so too will their children. Though things are now digital I still believe that handwritten and passed down is just more special!
A few months ago I purchased my two notebooks from Typo (one for each of my budding memory makers), so when Stockland contacted me about doing a Typo gift card giveaway I was all over it. Here are some cute Typo notebooks I found on their site while browsing.
1. here, 2. here, 3. here, 4. here, 5. here, 6. here
GIVEAWAY INFO
Why not make your home the best it can be in 2013? We’re giving away one $40 Typo gift card to help you create the perfect space. Stockland’s residential properties are the perfect blend of modern stylish living and a comfortable homey atmosphere. From display homes in victoria to real estate illawarra, there is sure to be a perfect place to find or build your dream home. Stockland gives your family a place to truly call home – a place where your family can live and grow, and enjoy many years to come.
Sponsor: Stockland
What: $40 Typo gift card (Australian residents only)
When: Winners will be randomly selected on 20 Feb and emailed for more details.
How:
(1) Post a comment telling one of your favourite memories!
(2) Become a facebook fan and come back and tell you’ve liked the page.
(3) If you share the giveaway on facebook or twitter (or both) then come back and leave another comment saying where you posted it for a total of 3 chances to win!!!
A Mother Far from Home 
February 12, 2013 at 7:47 am
Apart from when the boys were born and our wedding day my favourite memory is when we went on our trip to NYC, we had such a wonderful time
February 14, 2013 at 11:35 am
One of the more beloved memories of my husband and I is from a weekend when we went away with friends to a country house. While the ‘beloved’ content of the memory stems from this being the first time my now husband and I exchanged the words ‘I love you’, it is also one of our favourite due a more (now, at least) hilarious moment:
Hubby and I, basking the fresh glow of those three little words, thought we would sneak off into the nearby bush and have a few (or more) kisses in private. The following Monday, all of those who had gone away, plus some of their parents, gathered around the TV to watch some of the footage that had been filmed over the course of the weekend.
Half way through the film, hubby and I and are passionate stolen and ‘secret’ kisses showed up on screen. Unbeknownst to us at the time, hubby’s friend’s had snuck up on us and sat behind a rock, filming this ‘makeout’ session – with one of those “friends” (ha!) providing a rather good impersonation of David Attenborough talking about the mating rituals of humans, as commentary!
(I’d like to assure everyone that the kisses never progressed into ‘mating’ at that stage!)
So much to our then mortification, our friend’s parent’s were also privvy to our ‘secret’ moment.
Thankfully, when it was also brought up at our wedding 1 year later – it was something we could ALL laugh at – without me or hubby dying of embarrassment.
February 15, 2013 at 7:07 am
My favourite memory, and a memory that I can remember as though I was still in it,
is one that took place at Christmas time in Sweden.
The year was 2009 and it was freezing. Being an Aussie fella, me, my pride and my somewhat naive nature, did not
anticipate the degree of cold that would make itself present that day. I was on a trip to visit a good friend that I had
met a bible college, and we had ventured into Central Stockholm to see the sights.
At 12am, a new day was upon us. The air was harsh and unforgiving, and the mist was rising. The snow underneath
our feet was crisp and vocal as we pierced the heart of Stockholm, navigating the veins of the city with aimless wonder.
As we approached the bridge connecting east from west, music filled the air, and dancing feet sang out into night.
On the bridge that protected us from the frozen black beneath; with the cities lights creating a worthy backdrop; a young, Jewish
lady danced. The emotion in the music was overwhelming, and the snapshot of pure celebration was taken. I stopped.
I watched. Tears filled my eyes, and the memory was birthed.
February 16, 2013 at 8:34 am
When I was a child our family sometimes spent whole Saturdays at Wyangala Dam in NSW. Without any fear, my brother and I (and sometimes my mother!) took countless trips down a steep water slide. We discovered a secret cubby house; the trunk of an old willow tree centred the dark hole, its drooping branches formed the walls. I remember cricket games on sunny afternoons, and picnics with homemade sponge cakes filled with mock cream and strawberry jam.
February 19, 2013 at 3:13 am
One of my cherished memories is of a group of girlfriends in Italy and I taking a trip together in Elba and trying to figure out who would get married first, who would have the first baby, and what tattoos we would get to commemorate our friendship. It is an especially good memory because many predictions (including the tattoos) didn’t happen!