Our 2012 Memory Jar

Hey Friends!  I promise I am almost done with all the reminiscing.  Today is my last look back at 2012.    I presented the idea of memory jars on the blog about a month ago, but the actual jar I photographed was not a collection that told Tim and I's story.  It was just something I whipped together to serve as an example.  But I finally got around to making our real memory jar for this year!



I used a glass paint pen to write out the year so later on down the road, when everything starts to run together, we'll be able to immediately tell the dates this jar represents.



A big, non design related thing that happened to me this year was being inducted into my high school's Sports Hall of Fame.  It was quite an honor and very humbling to think back and realize how many people helped me to make my dream of playing professional basketball come true.

Of course I had to put one of Tim's wooden bow ties in the jar!  Business has been going great for the bow tie boys and I'm excited to share an update here pretty soon!  The bow tie symbolizes more than just a business though. . . to me it is a representation of Tim really discovering/understanding a part of his personality this year.  I feel like he's found his passion in these past few months and it's been exciting/encouraging to watch.



A major happening in our life this year was selling our first house (hence the key).  It was a big deal to leave a home that taught us so much and helped us to pursue our dreams by being our test lab and portfolio. That house will always be very special to me.

The roll of paper is just a written synopsis of the year.  I was able to include some bullet points of things I couldn't necessarily represent within the jar, but I think the documentation will help to spark memories when we want to reminisce.



Do you see Paisley (my dog) peering at you from the back of the jar? :)  I was able to fit a copy of "DIY Magazine" into the time capsule so we can show our kids one day.

I also included a little photo of Tim and I's appearance on "The Nate Show." Although we didn't see our ultimate goal come true this year, we do feel like we took some solid steps to making it happen.  I'm hoping to slip a DVD of the segment into the jar as well.  I'm wondering how long it will be before the  DVD becomes obsolete.  Will I open the jar in 10 years and have a silver disc that is completely foreign to the youth of that generation?  Crazy to think about!



The photos above and below have an edge blur treatment applied to them. I like it because it feels very dreamy/nostalgic to me.  I know in the years to come, we'll look back on the memories created (and held in this jar) with great fondness.



Have you made your memory jar for 2012?  It's not too late!  We made ours very personal, but I think it would be fun to do a jar that includes the coolest songs, and/or TV shows of the year. . . a more culturally based capsule.  I had a lot of fun putting this together.  As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to try and do a few more for the years I missed.  Anyway, you should do this, I think you'll be glad you did!