enJOY it by Elise Blaha Cripe

2017 IN SECONDS.

CRIPE 2017 1SE from elise blaha cripe on Vimeo.

Another year in seconds using the 1 Second Everyday app (with music I downloaded from pond5 and edited together in iMovie)

I shared my 2016 video here last year and I am happy to have completed another full year using this documentation method. I was even more chill this time around and while I recorded often (out of habit) I usually only updated the app every few weeks. If I didn't have a video for each day I just pulled something from around the same time and called it good enough. It was (much) less thought about this time around but it is equally as special.

As with so much of what we share online, this video is a highlight reel. These are the everyday moments where I was happy enough and engaged enough to press record. I didn't capture any fights or illness or tears or worry or fears or frustration. Not because those moments don't matter (they matter deeply) but because so often when we are sick or sad or hurting our energy goes into that, not into "documenting."

Just like last year, when I watch this I feel overwhelming gratitude. For the girls, for Paul, and for the everyday moments that make up our lives.

Again, here is a post with a few of my tips. If you need technical help with the app, reach out to the ISE team, they are great!

our complete 2016 one second a day video.

CRIPE 1SE 2016 from elise blaha on Vimeo.

Late last December I set a goal to document our year though one second a day videos. I planned to use the app 1 Second Everyday. I have shared some of the clips, thoughts and tips about this project (here and here) but since it’s been a FULL YEAR, I wanted to recap.

Above is our year! In 366 seconds. Just over six minutes and it’s everything to me.

I plan to continue in 2017 and beyond and want to share a few thoughts below.

As the project went on, I got way less intense. In the beginning I was like an art director. I thought of video clips I wanted to get and obsessed over exactly the second that went into the film. By the end, I just updated the app with video clips every week or so and called it good.

I cheated. I didn’t have a clip every single day. And so when I didn’t have one, I just stuck in another video from a similar day. (July 31st might actually have been recorded July 29th, for example.) Somedays I would record three things. It was easy to move them around as long as the general time frame worked. I have no regrets about this.

Yes, I know it's a lot of the girls. Right now, it’s often easier to film the girls than it is to film myself or Paul. That’s okay. It’s the season we are in. However, I don’t think you need kids to make this project fun. In fact, I desperately wish I had been documenting this way for the past decade. My 20s, early marriage and pre-kiddo years were wonderful and in some ways, very difficult to remember. I would love to have recorded snippets like this. Just like ten years from now, I will LOVE to have these moments of the girls.

Technical stuff: Yes, it takes up a lot of storage on your phone. But you can delete videos after they have been added. I think I have a 64g iPhone and for me, this app was a priority over everything. I use the google photos app to back up all my photos and don’t store a lot of music so it worked. I bought a new phone around June. Before switching out I saved my video and then combined Jan-June and June-Dec together using iMovie. I added the music in iMovie as well. I tried to export and save the video to my computer every month so if I were to lose my phone I wouldn’t lose the whole thing.

Highly recommend this project. It doesn’t have to be complicated (don’t let it get complicated!) but it WILL be amazing.

Again, here is a post with a few of my tips. If you need technical help with the app, reach out to the ISE team, they are helpful!

six months of one second every day.

cripe family : 1 second everyday JAN-JUN2016 from elise blaha on Vimeo.

I've been using the 1 second everyday app for six months! It's the easiest form of memory keeping I have found yet. If you want to see the past six months (and the girls growing up!!) in just three minutes, here it is.

Happy July!

I want to remember : mornings 2015.

In May 2013, while Paul was deployed and before Ellerie was born, I wrote a post just like this one. Today in partnership with Olly Vitamins, I am sharing again all the things (some exactly the same and some so very different) that I hope I remember about my current mornings decades from now.

I want to remember six out of seven days a week waking up to Ellerie calling out "hiiii" on repeat from her crib. It's a sort of new thing and sure beats crying. It's how I know she's really ready to get up. My toddler alarm clock goes off (usually) between 5:50 and 6:15 AM and we're off and running. Both of us, generally, in a good mood.

I want to remember eggs for breakfast. I have eaten everything when it comes to breakfast and right now, scrambled eggs with salt & pepper, cheddar cheese and a bit of sour cream is what's keeping me full in the mornings. I scramble up three in a pan and give Ellerie a 1/3 of the portion. She eats them with fruit or leftover pancakes. I eat mine with a wheat tortilla.

I want to remember drinking a big glass of water and taking my vitamins first thing after eating. I've noticed if I don't drink that first glass of water, it's 2pm before I remember to hydrate. Right now I'm taking two Prenatal gummies, 1 Vitamin-C gummy and swallowing an Omega-3 fish oil capsule - all from Olly. It's a sweet and well-rounded mix I've been using for a little over a month. I'm feeling energetic (yay!) and my hair, skin and nails feel strong and healthy. I'm a fan of the natural flavor of the gummies and really love the fact that that omega-3 gives no fishy aftertaste.

I want to remember black coffee. I've been drinking my coffee black since just before Ellerie arrived. Some mornings, Paul makes it before he heads to work. Some mornings, when he's sleeping in after a late shift or still at the hospital from an overnight, I make it. We've got it down to a science, complete with measuring scale. It's worth it though. Coffee at our house is almost always better than coffee at a coffee shop (although we still make the trek to one of our favorite places at least one weekend morning).

I want to remember reading a book on the couch while I wake up a bit more and Ellerie watches Daniel Tiger and eats her breakfast, sometimes with a side of chocolate and regular whole milk mix. It's amazing what she's picked up from that show and we both sing the little jingles all. day. long.

I want to remember heading out to check on the garden. Ellerie in her yellow rainboots and me in my robe. I point out the red or yellow (sungold) tomatoes and Ellerie hops into the garden bed to pick them. Sometimes she gets a little over-zealous and we end up with stems and green tomatoes. But they all ripen eventually.

I want to remember not checking my email for hours each morning. It's a habit I never thought I would want or need but it's been a game changer setting in my daily pace and helps keep stress up about my upcoming work (or mama) day at bay. Boundaries (finding them, building them, learning them and expanding them) has been the goal since 2013 when Ellerie was born. I get better. I stumble. I work harder. I play harder. It's a process. But not checking email until I've had my coffee and have time to sit down at my computer is a habit I hope to keep.

I want to remember my white robe that has turned a decent shade of "coffee-stain" after two years of daily use.

I want to remember that right now, in this season, things feel easy. On the whole, my mornings are peaceful and simple. I do remember that I felt the same way in May 2013 and then I remember that it seemed to take a very long time for any part of life to feel easy, peaceful or simple in the weeks and months after I became a mama. I want to remember that life is going to change so much in the next year but that sooner or later we will be back here again. I'll find my footing again. Overtime, I'll build the routine and rhythm that works for us again.

I want to remember that life is a work in progress. Every morning we get to try again.

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As mentioned this post is in collaboration with Olly Vitamins, a brand I use daily, enjoy and plan to continue supporting. Olly is currently running an online sweepstakes and the grand prize is a Day Spa package for a lucky winner & a friend, a 6 months supply of Olly Vitamins, and a personal wellness consultation with Olly's resident nutritionist. 100 runner ups will receive an Olly product of their choosing. You can enter here.

a different documentation plan for 2015

Over the years I have shared many a memory keeping method on the blog. Traditional scrapbooking, minibooks, Project Life, bound photo books, art journals, framed collages, photo albums...even this blog is a memory keeping method. I LOVE photos. I LOVE words. I love taking photos and writing words and then looking back and reading through.

I've noticed a shift these past few months though and right now I am not as interested in spending the time putting the words and photos both together in an album. There is always a season for my hobbies and so I don't doubt I'll be back at some form of paper memory keeping eventually, but right now I am excited to change things up for 2015.

I am going to keep taking all the photos (on film, DSLR and iPhone) but I am going to be doing my "journaling" about Ellerie in a small bound book. I had it made through Pinhole Press. It's actually designed to be a guest book (like for a wedding or home) but with a few alterations it became an "I want to remember..." journal for my girl.

I added a collage of recent film photos to the first few pages (you get to add 3 pages of photos to the front) and then had "I WANT TO REMEMBER" printed at the top of every page. I want to remember is an easy journaling prompt that I have used many times. (Most recently two weekends ago.)

I went with a guest book instead of a journal because I liked the horizontal format and I figured it would be easier to write in. I plan on keeping it by my bed and keeping track of Ellerie habits, words and antics throughout the year. I won't write everyday. I won't try to fill a page. I won't worry about if the pen bleeds through the paper (it won't though, the stock is beautiful). I won't worry about miss-spellings or keeping the book precious.

Paul and I have been keeping a running list of Ellerie words on our fridge on just a scrap piece of paper and it was one of my favorite documentation methods this year. This is sort of an extension of that and something I can do without needing much time, storage or supplies.

Of course, I could have just bought a spiral notebook and did this exact same thing. I also could have bought a fun book like this or this. Having a custom book is far from the point (thought it does make me absurdly happy to see).

So what's my photo plan? Ellerie's 4x6 film photos are going into a photo album and are being marked with just the month and year in pencil. I don't have a real digital photo plan other than to take them and probably order a family photobook at the end of the year. I do have a plan to make a cool book about the MAKE29 adventure in early February. I am going to turn the E&e photo project into a book this summer as well.

So what's my personal documentation plan? How will I keep a record of our whole family? The answer is...we'll see what happens but I'm not worried about it. I have the blog for personal documentation. I have IG for all the photos. I did very little paper documentation about Paul and I in 2014 and I am not sad about it. Paul probably didn't even notice the drop-off. ;) If I'm feeling like something is missing I will start back up and I imagine I'll be more interested in trying to document a week in our life this year.

I will not be sharing the journal entries but I do hope to check in next year year to let you know if this is working or if I feel like I made a mistake and my "documenting" is lacking. I'm so looking forward to shaking things up.

note : links used in this post are affiliate. I love Pinhole Press and highly recommend them. I was thrilled with the quality of this guestbook but did not receive it for free nor was I paid for this post. The photos you see behind the list of Ellerie words are magnets that I have printed every few months by Sticky9. If you want to make your own, use code FRIEND29D9 to save 15% (and I get credit too... win, win.)