Welcome back to the 34 Things Blog Party! You can see the introductory post in this series here, but here’s the gist:
To kick off my 34th year, I’m telling 34 stories. I’m sharing 34 things I want my daughter to know about me, all small-but-significant stories that didn’t make it into the album for my Before Your Story workshop.
And best of all, you’re invited to participate with me! You can find all of the instructions at the end of this post.
#8 of 34 | I’m not particularly athletic. I played softball when we lived in Michigan, but was often found trying to catch bugs in the outfield. I swam and played tennis after we moved to Texas, but was never a top player in my age group. While I had a lot of fun when I was younger, my lack of competitiveness and athletic ambition became clear by the time I was in high school.
#9 of 34 | I’m creative. While I could share one of so many photos of me making something (and I do below), this one from the Four Corners Monument says it all. Thinking outside the box comes naturally to me. It never even crossed my mind that standing at the intersection would also fulfill the goal of simultaneously being in four states at once.
#10 of 34 | I had braces, but my teeth aren’t straight. I was blessed with big teeth in a small mouth, which are the perfect requirements for crooked teeth. From fourth through tenth grades, I had appliances and braces to get my teeth straightened out. I wore a retainer until my sophomore year in college, when it was identified as a partial cause of migraine headaches. That’s why my teeth are still a bit wonky.
#11 of 34 | This plastic canvas church and the coordinating houses are my most-treasured Christmas decorations. Your great grandma, Mary Jane Sjolin, made these buildings in the 1980s. They sat in her window each Christmas and playing with them was a favorite part of the holiday season.
#12 of 34 | I made our stockings. The year before your dad and I got married I lived in a small condo apartment in Bethesda near the mall. I had a whole room just for crafting, though I wasn’t a scrapbooker then. I made our family stockings from a pattern that year, but added the letters after you were born.
#13 of 34 | My favorite color is turquoise. Before you were born, our bedroom was covered in turquoise. Then we painted your room that color. Though our bedding has warmer colors today, it is still my favorite color and I use it often in scrapbooking.
#14 of 34 | I went to high school in Texas. If you Google “Texas high school”, it will auto-add “football” to the end of that phrase. Football, and homecoming especially, is a big deal in Texas. Girls wear these giant mums made of artificial flowers, ribbon, and trinkets. The one you see here is actually the smallest of the three I received during high school.
How to Participate
To participate, create a blog post with your list of 34 things. It doesn’t have to be long or even include photos. You could even create a layout and post it to a gallery. Then, link up your post by February 27 for a chance to win a seat in Before Your Story.
Note: You’ll see some of the Simple Scrapper team members participating too. Look for (giveaway) on the linky entries for even more chances to win a seat in my Before Your Story workshop!
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Blog Badge
When you share your post, I’d love if you linked back to this post. You can even download and include this blog badge for use in your post. Click here to download.
Template
If you’d like to personalize a blog graphic like mine, or even print it out for your pocket album, I’ve got a free template for you to download. Click here to download.
I am hoping to join you in this cool sharing opportunity in February.
Wow! I may have to resurrect my blog!
I’m definitely going to do this! Probably in a book form tho. Not sure I even know how to find my blog….it’s been soooooooo long!
Try to keep it simple. You could even write a list, share it on Instagram, and link up to the photo. Doing a basic list is a great first step for doing a large project like a photo book later.