First Year full of Firsts

About Me

I Hi! I'm Amberleigh - 30-something, married, mom of 1. Global Trade professional by day and documenter by...well, all the time really.

I've been an avid journaler since the 4th grade when my mom gave me my first diary for Christmas. I'll never forget it - it was a pink abstract floral-patterned hardbound book with a gold lock and key. She had inscribed in the front cover - "my dearest Amberleigh - this will be first and last time I open this cover. Pour all of your thoughts and dreams into these pages. All my love - Mom". I was hooked. Something about putting pen to paper was and is therapeutic to me. In the 4th grade my inscribing was 50% boys, 40% friends, and 10% love of my pet gerbil, Smokey.

Twenty-some-odd-years later I find myself reflecting on my documenting journey. I have kept diaries, planners, to-do and to-done lists, journals of varying kinds, and I have loved it all. Recently, with the birth of my first born, I have felt compelled to document with words AND photos. The analyst in me immediately began researching. I took to Pinterest and YouTube and very quickly found the modern memory keeping community. It was perfect - photos and journaling working together creating a beautiful personal history.

My husband bought me my first 12x12 album and all the papers for my birthday and I began right away. A short 8-months later I completed my first December Daily project. I love it!

So, I am continuing the journey. I have made the choice to go digital in 2019, mostly because we live in a modest home tight on space so, it seems practical to work on digital pages through the year and have them bound into a photo book.