• Cart
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Chronicles
    • The Lovely Archives
    • Family
    • Ina
    • Journals
    • Hurley House
  • Nav Social Icons

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Cart
  • Hospitality
    • Cooking
    • Hosting
    • Household Management
    • Celebrate
    • Basics
  • Lovely Living
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Favorites
    • Hobbies
    • Parenting
    • Personal Care
    • Reflections
    • Small Business
  • Recipes
    • Appetizer
    • Main Dish
    • Sides
    • Dessert
    • Breakfast
    • Beverage
  • Chronicles
    • The Lovely Archives
    • Family
    • Hurley House
    • Ina
    • Journals
  • Shop
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • Closet
    • Cookbooks
    • Gifts
    • Home
    • Kitchen
    • Library
    • Needlepoint
    • Organization
    • Party
    • Table
  • Learn
  • Blog
  • About
  • Events
  • Mobile Menu Widgets

    Connect

    Search

  • Hospitality
    • Hosting
    • Household Management
    • Cooking
    • Basics
    • Celebrate
  • Lovely Living
    • At Home
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Favorites
    • Gifting
    • Hobbies
    • Parenting
    • Personal Care
    • Reflections
    • Small Business
    • Travel
  • Recipes
    • Appetizer
    • Main Dish
    • Sides
    • Dessert
    • Breakfast
    • Beverage
  • Events
  • Learn
  • Shop
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • Closet
    • Cookbooks
    • Gifts
    • Home
    • Kitchen
    • Library
    • Needlepoint
    • Organization
    • Party
    • Table
  • About

Chronicle The Year

January 10, 2023 · In: Hobbies, Lovely Living

Last week I shared with you my thoughts on planning your year. Today I want to shift gears and talk about chronicling your year.

Planning is how we look ahead and determine the direction we want to head. Chronicling is making intentional choices in the moment so that we can look back and appreciate where we have been.

I am a chronicler by nature. I’m not sure where it comes from, but I have always had an internal drive to capture moments, knowing I will want to look back on them in the future. As a result, I have tried a lot of different methods for chronicling, and today I want to share some of those with you.

If you have never considered chronicling, don’t feel overwhelmed. Chronicling is meant to be a joy, never a burden. Chronicling is how we are going to give our future self the gift of glimpsing back with nostalgia and warmth at the days we are living currently. The key to chronicling is to think of it like brushing your teeth. It’s something you do as a part of your regular life versus a massive project. Small, incremental chronicling that you can sustain for the long haul is a better approach than over-the-top goals that you will never execute.

WEEKLY PHOTO ALBUM CARE.
One of the easiest ways to chronicle your life is through photos. I mean, who doesn’t already have thousands of shots on their phone? The trick here is to be intentional about how you organize those photos so that they serve a purpose. I create albums on my phone at the beginning of the year, each one with a different purpose. One day a week (I usually do this on Sunday night), I scroll through the photos from the week and assign them to different albums as needed. For example, I have a “Hurley House 2022” album from last year. I take a lot of photos at work, and at the end of the week, I would choose the ones that best represented memorable work moments and transfer them to the album. At the end of the year, it gives me a nostalgic collection of all the best moments, and I love scrolling through. There are a million ways you could customize this idea based on what you want to capture, and I find the weekly routine very manageable.

PLANNER AS A JOURNAL.
I use a lot of digital tools in my life, but I am also a paper planner person. Paper planners can quickly become an easy way to chronicle your life. You are already recording dates and events, and with just a tad bit more attention you can jot down any number of life events or feelings along the way. At the end of the year, my planner looks like a scrapbook, and I love it.

FAKE INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT.
I have never done this, but I heard about the idea, and I wish I had started this years ago. The idea is to set up a “fake” Instagram account, meaning not the account you primarily post from. The account is private, shared with no one, and serves as a holding pen for photos and captions that you want to publish into a Chat Book at the end of each month or quarter or year. This is a genius approach to photo album maintenance.

FIVE-YEAR JOURNAL.
I’m sure we have all seen the one-sentence-a-day journals that are meant to be maintained over time to see how your thoughts change and grow. I love this idea, but I especially love it for teenagers and college students. It’s a bit of a commitment over the long haul, but don’t you wish you had a five-year record of how you felt while you were at college? I think this would also be a great idea for new parents, newlyweds, or anyone entering a new season of life.

HOBBY TRACKING.
Pick your hobby. Tea. Running. Stitching. Dinner Menus. Houseguests. Parties. Nail Polish. Travel. Whiskey. Gardening. Make a habit of regularly recording details from your hobby in a notebook as you do them. Over time, you will build a chronicling of a very specific area of your life. My daughter Norah does this with her books and her teas, and I know in twenty years she is going to love looking back on these pages.

WEEKLY JAR.
I think this one would be particularly good for children, and I wish I had known about it sooner. The idea is to find a jar and get a stack of index cards or small pieces of paper. At the end of every week, you write down the highlight from the week and put the paper into the jar. At the end of the year, you empty the jar and relive your year by reading through the scraps of paper. If I did this with my children, I think I would keep the best scraps of paper and compile them on a page. What a treasure!

I used to think of chronicling like a project or a performance, and if it wasn’t perfect, I had failed. But as I grow older, I learn that the best time-capsules are the ones that track the mundane moments and remind me where I have been. Don’t overthink it. Just find a way to keep a record of your days, and then live! One day you will look back and be glad you gave yourself (and your loved ones) the gift of chronicling.

By: Katherine Sasser · In: Hobbies, Lovely Living

you’ll also love

How To Style A Trench
Middle School
Party Dress Trick

Join the List

Stay up to date & receive the latest posts in your inbox.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah says

    January 10, 2023 at 3:17 pm

    Love these ideas! I did something similar for my firstborn… I kept a notebook in her room, and would jot down something about the day, every day. Even if they were repetitive in the early days, such as eat, sleep, change diapers 🙂

    Unfortunately I didn’t keep it up for my second, but as a boy he probably won’t mind not having that record as an adult!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Next Post >

My Birthday Card System

Primary Sidebar

Search

Featured Posts

Amazon Finds, Volume 2

Pantry Refresh

Hurley House Favorites

Latest on Instagram


Walking in heels is not for the faint of heart. W
Walking in heels is not for the faint of heart.  Wobbling ankles, pinched toes, and a hobbling gait tend to make us look less than elegant when we don our favorite pair.​​​​​​​​​
Today on the blog I am talking about how to walk in heels, as well as a strategy I use to make the process easier, a true marker of success, and an amazing product I have recently discovered that makes it as comfortable as possible.

If you are purchasing a wedding gift for someone,
If you are purchasing a wedding gift for someone, the best practice is to choose something from their registry.​​​​​​​​​
However, if you're looking for a little extra something to add, or if you've already selected an item from their registry and want to do more, tender wedding gifts are the way to go.

Tender wedding gifts are sentimental items infused with meaning and future rewards, and today on the blog I am sharing a few of my favorite ideas.

Looking for a no-big-deal way to instantly feel re
Looking for a no-big-deal way to instantly feel refreshed and ready for a new season? I’ve got three projects that you can tackle in an afternoon. Big results. Minimal effort.

If you are a bride or know someone who is, today's
If you are a bride or know someone who is, today's post on how to register is for you! ​​​​​​​​​
This post isn't a generic guide or a list of suggested items.  Instead, I am sharing my very strong opinions on how to approach registering so that you serve the needs of  your wedding guests while also filling your home with items you want.

When I find a brand I love, I tell everyone I know
When I find a brand I love, I tell everyone I know about it, and Summersalt is one of those brands. ​​​​​​​​​
I have owned the one-shoulder swimsuit and the striped maxi dress for over a year, and they are still performing well and exceeding my expectations.

And if you're looking for a body-positive brand that highlights the beauty of real people...check out their catalog.  It's inspiring.

Today on the blog, a cute lineup of a few of my Summersalt favorites!

Add this dish to your summer snack-meal rotations.
Add this dish to your summer snack-meal rotations.  Barely a recipe and more a list of ingredients in suggested proportions, Cucumber Feta Salsa is cold, crunchy, fresh, salty, and sharp while being a cinch to throw together.  It satisfies in a way that makes me want to add it to every menu.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The recipe (if we're calling it that) is on the blog!


Load More...



Follow on Instagram


Browse by Category

Hi, I'm Katherine

Hi, I'm Katherine
hello!

I share lifestyle content through the lens of hospitality. If you are interested in learning about the beauty that creating space can bring, you've come to the right place!

Read More

Connect

Recent Posts

Get Dressed First 06.10.23

Amazon Finds, Volume 2

Archives

Follow Along

@katherinesasser

Walking in heels is not for the faint of heart. W Walking in heels is not for the faint of heart.  Wobbling ankles, pinched toes, and a hobbling gait tend to make us look less than elegant when we don our favorite pair.​​​​​​​​​
Today on the blog I am talking about how to walk in heels, as well as a strategy I use to make the process easier, a true marker of success, and an amazing product I have recently discovered that makes it as comfortable as possible.
If you are purchasing a wedding gift for someone, If you are purchasing a wedding gift for someone, the best practice is to choose something from their registry.​​​​​​​​​
However, if you're looking for a little extra something to add, or if you've already selected an item from their registry and want to do more, tender wedding gifts are the way to go.

Tender wedding gifts are sentimental items infused with meaning and future rewards, and today on the blog I am sharing a few of my favorite ideas.
Looking for a no-big-deal way to instantly feel re Looking for a no-big-deal way to instantly feel refreshed and ready for a new season? I’ve got three projects that you can tackle in an afternoon. Big results. Minimal effort.
If you are a bride or know someone who is, today's If you are a bride or know someone who is, today's post on how to register is for you! ​​​​​​​​​
This post isn't a generic guide or a list of suggested items.  Instead, I am sharing my very strong opinions on how to approach registering so that you serve the needs of  your wedding guests while also filling your home with items you want.
When I find a brand I love, I tell everyone I know When I find a brand I love, I tell everyone I know about it, and Summersalt is one of those brands. ​​​​​​​​​
I have owned the one-shoulder swimsuit and the striped maxi dress for over a year, and they are still performing well and exceeding my expectations.

And if you're looking for a body-positive brand that highlights the beauty of real people...check out their catalog.  It's inspiring.

Today on the blog, a cute lineup of a few of my Summersalt favorites!
Add this dish to your summer snack-meal rotations. Add this dish to your summer snack-meal rotations.  Barely a recipe and more a list of ingredients in suggested proportions, Cucumber Feta Salsa is cold, crunchy, fresh, salty, and sharp while being a cinch to throw together.  It satisfies in a way that makes me want to add it to every menu.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The recipe (if we're calling it that) is on the blog!
Today I am sharing the books I have read lately... Today I am sharing the books I have read lately...and they span the genres from personal memoir, beach fiction, serious fiction, and non-fiction. ​​​​​​​​​
My favorite from this batch?  The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab.  Seriously amazing.
I recently hosted my staff for dinner in my home, I recently hosted my staff for dinner in my home, and my number one goal was to do as little cooking as possible so that I could be fully present.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Today on the blog I am sharing my (mostly) store-bought menu, and if you're hosting a crowd this season, I hope you can find some inspiration for your table!

Copyright © 2023 ·