Week 11 - The Plan

I didn't get around to talking to Mr. Ziebarth about my new plan for the DIY project.  It's weird how fast/slow the week went by.  Either way, Mr. Z was talking about how it is ok for changes to come up throughout the project and to change your purpose and audience.

I have decided what I want to do though!  Each week, I will...

• Write a letter to my future self.  The first letter will be for when I finish this project, the second for when I graduate high school, the third for when I graduate college, and each one after that for my "tenth" birthday - 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, etc. until this project is over.  
• Journal daily using the application "My Wonderful Days" on my iPhone.  I also want to keep a dream diary next to my bed.  Although I used to record my dreams religiously last year, I stopped since I got caught up in the stress of school.  
• Scavenge the house and collect all things that remind me about my childhood and put it in a box.  I realize that I am still a child, but I'm definitely not the same person I was five years ago.  Towards the end of the project, I may pick the more sentimental items and put them in a time capsule.  I will probably not bury it since my family might move.
• Create a bulletin board with my favorite pictures to put above my desk.
• Create another type of photo holder (for lack of a better word) thing to put above my bed.

My audience seems pretty small considering that it is... well, it's just me.  I have shifted the focus of the project to me because now that my family's stories are uncovered, I want to make sure that mine are too. 

Let the good times roll.

Week 10 - The Week of Changes

This week, I came to the realization that I seriously lack the passion to make the scrapbook that I was once so excited about.

Exploring my family's past has been absolutely incredible - I have learned so much about their life growing up that I could have never imagined.  I feel that a mere page in a scrapbook will not do their life stories justice though. I have been digitalizing as many pictures as I can.  Since my project is centered on preserving these memories, the best way to do this is to create something that will last forever.  Although I know that it is near impossible to digitalize every picture, this project can definitely extend into the summer where I can dedicate an hour a day to digitalizing pictures.

I am thinking about shifting the focus of this project to preserving my past and memories.  Although I may only be 17, I feel as though I have some interesting stories (and probably some meaningless ones) that I would like to remember when I am seventy years old.  I have been journaling about five days a week using the application My Wonderful Day on my iPhone, but it doesn't feel like enough.  I want to create a time capsule with some of my favorite, for lack of a better word, things.  I am not entirely sure what these things entail, but I am hoping to discover what is important to me throughout the next few weeks of this project!  I also want to decorate my room with pictures.  I would like to have a cork board above my desk and some sort of frame set above my bed.

The part I am most enthusiastic about is writing letters to my future self.  For the next six or seven weeks, I want to write a letter to my future self and seal it.  The first letter will be for me to read when I graduate high school, then another letter for when I graduate college the following week.  After that, I want a letter for every "tenth" birthday - my thirtieth, fortieth, fiftieth, sixtieth, etc.    

Although my new idea seems far from my original one, it was inspired by my old one.  My family's memories and stories would have gone unheard had I not taken the time to talk to them about their life.  I want to make sure that my stories are told by journaling, digitalizing pictures, and creating a time capsule.

I'm not sure if this is just a temporary stray from my original project... I am going to talk things over with Mr. Z to get his perspective on the change of plans before it is made official!  I was inspired to make this switch after I found about ten pages of writing in code from five years ago.  I know I have the code for it, somewhere...  I distinctly remember becoming "fluent" in my language.  I was able to write it as fast as I write English!

Au revoir!

Week 9 - Supplies, supplies, supplies

This week, I was able to talk to my Teta on my mom's side to finish the family tree.  I will make the family tree in the scrapbook by breaking it up into chunks with my mom and dad's side so that everything can fit.  I am using the website familyecho.com to store all of the names for now.  It is a great website, and the best thing is - it's free!  I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to start a family tree.  How cool would it be if one day your great-great-great grandchildren knew the name of their great-great-great grandparents?

I also went to Michael's this week and looked at some scrapbook supplies.  I wanted to go once without buying anything since it is really easy to get carried away in that store and end up leaving the store with six packs of glitter glue and some yarn.  I have decided to set my budget at $80 to make the scrapbook.  Although this seems a little high, a good quality scrapbook will cost $20 and a stack of 12x12 paper will cost another $20, which will only leave me with $40 to buy the extra embellishments.  The money will all come from the money I make tutoring after school.

Although I originally wanted to buy all of my supplies from JoAnn's or Michael's, I think I will purchase the big items through Amazon to save some money.  Here is the supplies that I am thinking of getting:

 
This is a Pioneer Silk Postbound Scrapbook with a photo window which sells for $19.99 on Amazon.

I like it because it is clean, simple, and the dark blue is a calming color.  I do not want anything in the scrapbook to ever overpower the pictures that I am putting, so I think that it will be a challenge for me to limit the glitter and puffy paint.  I usually get a little too excited when I start projects like these...

I also think I am going to purchase this La Creme paper stack.  It comes with 48 12x12 sheets which should be plenty for my scrapbook.  I like how all of the colors are black, white, or beige.  The designs are simple, which is what I want so it does not eat up the pictures I put on it.

If I end up purchasing this stack of paper, I will probably use my neon papers to make a border around the pictures so they stand out against the dark background.






I will probably make a visit to JoAnn's before purchasing these, but hopefully all of my supplies will be ready for takeoff by the end of this week!

Week 8 - Meet My Jiddo and Teta!

These week I got to talk to my grandparents - David and Souheila Saad.  They told me about how they met and I am currently finding a way to contact Nicholas Sparks so he can write a book about their story.  Both of them were only children, so it added to the already protective nature of their grandparents.  When my Jiddo fell in love with my Teta, all of his friends were telling him not to marry her since her parents were so against her getting married.  On one occassion, my Teta's parents called the cops on him just for coming to see her.  But they persevered!

I also learned about their hardships growing up and raising a family during the Lebanese Civil War - particularly the burden they both had to provide for three sons and one daughter.

Is this not the most joyful Pepsi ad you've ever seen?

Although I anticipated finishing up my family tree, this week has been madness between all of the family visiting.  My house has transformed into a bed & breakfast!  Tomorrow, my aunt and my cousin leave back to Dubai which means I will have a lot of time to talk to my Teta on my mom's side and my Teta's sister.

This upcoming week, I want to finish up the family tree and start looking at scrapbook supplies from JoAnns.    It's weird to think in about two months my speech about my DIY will be over... It's crazy how fast time passes sometimes.