Journal writing

I’ve never been any good at keeping a journal. I would write for a few days, forget to write for about a month.. maybe two and then try to start up again. I would always do it on New Years Day and try to make a resolution to keep a journal.. but, IT NEVER WORKS.

That is… until I found Moleskine! Well, here’s how it actually played out. Carlo’s cousin Elisa uses a Moleskine agenda to keep track of stuff. I have also not been very good with planners or agendas but for some reason, I really liked her Moleskine agenda because it looked so neat and organized.

A few days before we left back for Texas, Elisa gave me a Moleskine agenda of my own as a gift. I have loved it from day one and have not used any thing else. While using this, I also realized what a great journal it made.

Not necessarily to write down my day or goals… because again… I’m not good at that, but just for the everyday things.

Not only did I write down all of the plans we had during our trip, but I started keeping souvenirs to add into my book. So, for the picture above, there’s a train ticket to Aosta, a napkin from Fiorio, business cards from La Reginella Pizzeria and the chocolate shop in Aosta that makes awesome hot chocolate and also a pass-a-long card from the Sister Missionaries in Torino 1st ward…. oh yeah.. and a bracelet that Carlo bought for me in Milan from those guys who sell them at Piazza del Duomo.

Not to mention, the famous Crostata recipe I got from Carlo’s mom. I stapled it to the pages from the day I learned it. Now, when I make it, I just turn to that page and I have it handy and not to mention when I travel, I can pass it along to anyone else who wants it!

Remember when Carlo and I went to Hawaii?! Well, all of that is also documented in my Moleskine with ticket stubs, post cards and flight information.

One of my favorite things to remember is when we first got to Italy. Everyday was a new adventure and I tried to document and blog without Internet as I went. I remember the day finally arrived when we did get Internet installed at home! You’ll notice from the picture above that it was on the 28th of January and on the 29th I was going to “blog all day“…which I did!!! The 28th was also the day “Fred Mertz” came to check out our heater, which I also blogged about, as well as my first time going to a Turkish Bath with Elisa.

I loved that May was super busy for us! Having my brother and his wife visit us was great as well as our trips to Florence and Portofino. Anytime we go somewhere, I just make sure I keep something to put in my book.

It’s been so fun to look back at my agenda and see all of the fun stuff I did and how busy I was. Especially from my trip to Texas. This Moleskine is my lifesaver. It has everything somewhat important to me. My list of things to do, places I’ve been, work schedules, travel plans, phone numbers etc…

With my agenda and this blog, I’ve learned a whole new way to keep a journal. It doesn’t mean you must write down everything single detail in a book but something simple as what you did on June 26, 2009.. which was my mom’s Colonoscopy with Dr. Franko at PDC, then shopping at NorthPark, and a stop at Bank of America. (I also included things like where we ate too!)

Now that I am expecting, I hope to be better at Journal writing and adding things like how I feel on each day or what I look like in the mirror. So far, I’ve written about my positive pregnancy test (which was Thursday, August 27) and appointments but hopefully I’ll remember to add more emotional entries in my Moleskine.

Oh.. and speaking of pregnancy stuff….

thanks to the not-so-tech-savy people at Ospedale Martini, here’s a fuzzy picture of our little meatball. It’s not the best quality, but at least it’s something.

7 thoughts on “Journal writing”

I'm so glad you were able to keep up wih it. I wish I had! I'm still thinking about how to start with last years trip.
Your book is so neat! Keep It Up!
Lil. Carleto is going to love reading out of it.

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I love this idea!
I always kept a journal growing up for my future kids to read, but stopped when I found that wasn't possible for us.
I've wanted to get back into it but have since gotten really lazy. This is perfect and easy! You have totally inspired me! Thanks!

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Cool journal. I like the way you staple memories to it. I myself always wanted a journal but was too lazy to keep at it. I might consider picking up one of those moleskins haha.

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Great idea! I have the same problem with journal writing…my blog is mostly my journal. I may try this myself. 🙂

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So your journal reminds me SO much of my mom and how much she would save for her journal, and for journals for us kids. I think it's beautiful. Also, my dad served his mission in Milan, and I LOVED looking at your pictures from there (in the below post) I really love reading your blog and how it takes me to a new place that I've never seen before. You are amazing and good luck with the pregnancy! I'm so happy for you! I love that you call it a “meatball!” That's too funny.

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Hi, I saw your blog on my sister, Penni's blog, and I love hearing about Italy. Anyways, this is a great idea for journaling. My blog is definitely my journal…I am really good at blogging every day…but try to get me to write it down? It just doesn't happen. Keeping souveiners is a great idea! : )

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