I am officially obsessed with what I like to call “Life Yearbooks.” They are just like the ones in high school but WAY better because they are only the photos about your life & memories and not 1200 other kids attending the same school as you. Plus they are way more fun to set out on the coffee table because friends & family love finding themselves in the pages and recounting stories. We did our first yearbook back in 2016 and it has been one of my favorite books to look through with people or alone.

2016’s Life Yearbook was such a hit that like 2 weeks after we had it sitting on our coffee table, I knew that 2017 needed one as well! It really works out perfectly for me. I already organize my millions of pictures I take though the year in files by month, so when it comes to the end of the year, I just start a new book on Mixbook and proceed to fill it in month by month. It is like a scrapbook that takes me 2 hours instead of 222 hours (which is why my real scrapbooks are all unfinished!)

At the end of December, I sat down with my computer and a giant mug of peppermint tea and got to work! Using Mixbook for this project is the best. Last year I picked out a simple layout and this year I just made a copy of last year’s book without the pictures (I love that!) You can save & close multiple times and come back to where you were which is really nice that you don’t just have to chain yourself to your desk and pray your internet doesn’t go out! You can either go month by month or do it all at the end of the year – if you are me you do the later but even that wasn’t a huge time suck! I picked the hardcover lay-flat style of photo book on Mixbook like I did last year so that they would match & look beautiful on coffee tables or shelves.

And just like last year when I got the book in the mail, I looked through 2017 month by month and smiled. The memories, the people, the kids (how fast they grow!!) and our life. It is so easy to just look toward the future – doing one day at a time and missing what is really happening. Having a book of the year in photos tells our stories. The weddings, the dinner parties, the trips, the visitors, the community and the story – all ours. It is honestly a gift to have all these photos siting on my computer & blog but having a physical copy to hold in your hands and pass down the couch.