Crossing Off My List

Earlier this week, I undertook a holiday tradition that fills me with both anticipation and dread. Not a visit to Santa or trying to find a parking space at the mall after ten in the morning, but the annual photo calendar making.

We make calendars each year for a few different people on our Christmas lists, people we’re pretty certain like looking at photos of our oh-so-adorable children every day.

Setting up the calendar as a year-in-review has worked well each year, leading to the anticipation portion of my emotional roller coaster.

Last January, my little man turned one, smearing frosting all over before tossing the cupcake onto the floor. His sparkling eyes and few-toothed-grin brought tears to my eyes as I looked over to watch him carefully stacking Legos in a single-stacked tower.

I gathered photos together, Abbey peering over my shoulder, asking about pictures and telling me her own version of the events as they appeared on the screen. I pulled her close, straining to remember when her hair smelled like baby shampoo and not the adult Aveeno we use now that her hair is grazing her waist.

Looking back on the year is my favorite part of the process, seeing their baby faces smooth into toddlerhood, the sparkle of joy in their eyes as they do something new, the silliness of Abbey’s favorite dress-up clothes.

The dread lies in finding the photos I want to use.

Though I try to keep the overabundance of my pictures organized in a way that makes sense, when it comes time for the calendar, my system seems inadequate.

Live On is a fantastic new site that could help immensely with next year’s calendar. It allows you to capture your photos in a timeline of memories-birthdays, vacations, June’s countless trips to the zoo.

I love the idea of looking back at my year as a collection of moments, drawing my favorite photos from the days that meant so much to our family, even if those memories are something as small as a Saturday at the cider mill.

Their promise to keep your memories forever is another factor in my decision to try Live On’s timeline, along with their Time Capsule feature. Capturing memories for Abbey and Dylan is so important to me, and I appreciate that Live On pledges to keep my memories intact for them to look back on years from now.

For those events that occurred before the digital age, you can use Live On Rewind to digitize photos and videos to add them to your Live On timeline.

My dad did something similar for my grandmother’s old home movies, and I can’t describe the thrill of seeing her as a young mother, pearls and lovely dresses making her look a little like Elizabeth Taylor.

Next year, using Live On might make my calendar task a little more jolly!

Interested in Live On Rewind? Use the code HOLIDAYREWIND for 30% off LiveOn Rewind.

Thank you to LiveOn for sponsoring this blog post. Please visit LiveOn to learn more about sharing and preserving your most important memories. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective. Although story ideas were provided, all thoughts and opinions are my own.