Listomania!

So, I'm pretty much obsessed with lists. I could speculate about a dozen semi-psychological reasons why that might be, but I'll spare you. Suffice it so say, there's a list of some kind on nearly every page of my Smashbook.  

Yes, I read the 50 Shades books. Don't judge.

I like to include a list of all the books I've read in the section for each month. Yes, I know I'm a nerd. But, I have to tell you, I wish I had done this in some form or another for my whole life, because how amazing would it be to have a master list for all the books you've ever read? That is pretty much my wet dream. I'm sort of proud of being a book worm, and since I typically don't go around in real life telling people about all the books I've read in the last month, at least I get to document it somewhere. Plus, at the end of the year, I'll be able to brag that I've read x amount of books. Oh, so nerdy. And, what better medium to record my book lists than library cards? I LOVE library cards.

Okay, more list pages. I made this one to commemorate my birthday a couple of weeks ago. Don't you just love that scowly picture?

My daughter gasped and said, "Mommy, why you so grumpy?"

29 random facts about me right now, some of them serious, but most of them silly. I used to do these on my myspace back in the day, and I've always loved reading lists like this, but holy crap was it hard to come up with 29 of them. I'm too old. Next time I'll get some kind of prompts first! I liked the pattern on the Smashbook paper, so I left it pretty much the way it was, just adding the turquoise dots to mat the picture and ground the title. I was pleased to find the RANDOM FACTS tag in my stash, since it fit so well, and I used lots of the numbers from old alphabet sticker sheets. I tried to differentiate between the different numbers with different pens and boxes and whatnot. It's a messy page, but that's the way I like them!

#10: I am grateful for chilly winter days in which I can wear a sweater and my new books. High of 65!

Here's another list page that I created back in November. This one is even more straightforward; just a black pen and all of my many and myriad blessings. I challenged myself to record something I was grateful for every day until Thanksgiving. It's so important to be cognizant of all my many gifts in life, and focusing on what I have instead of what I wish I had can be incredibly transformative. Every time I start to feel sorry for myself or obsessed with wanting something out of reach, I make myself sit down and write a list of all the things I'm grateful for, just to remind myself of how unbelievably lucky and blessed I truly am. It doesn't always bring me out of my funk, but when I look back in ten years, I want to remember trying to see the good in my life. 

This page is a little bit more scrappy; I prefer them that way. While I like my handwriting okay, it's nice to have pages that aren't all text. Last spring, I made a page like this for each member of my family to commemorate all the little things we were into. They are some of my favorite pages, because this is all stuff I have already forgotten. How precious are these tiny things?! I've only been Smashbooking a little over a year, and I'm already so grateful that I took the time to preserve these memories. I think I just inspired myself to make new ones like this for this year. Thanks, self!

And, since I can't help myself, one last picture. I bought my next Smashbook tonight! I've got about 10 pages left of my foxy doodle book (How awesome is that felt fox? I love it so much I can hardly stand it.), but I have the suspicion that it wont last me through the end of May. After much deliberation and angst, I decided to go with Smart Style, since my Little Mister will be starting kindergarten soon! Also, can you see how much fatter the red one is than the blue one? Once they're finished, they're so fat that they can't stand up anymore, and they have to be rubber banded shut just to fit on the shelf! There's something so lovely about a new, flat one. They're so much easier to write in in the beginning.

That's it for tonight, friends. Thanks for reading! Hopefully, I'll be better at updating in the next couple of weeks. I intend to post my Easter page next, so watch out for that. Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what a dork I am, or share your Books of April list and brag about how many more books you read than me.