Day In The Life™ Photos + Words | March 2016

Today I want to share with you my photos and words to tell you the story of a day in my life yesterday. 

Thank you to those of you who played along - the #aedayinthelife hashtag was a trending topic on Instagram much of the day - which was fun but also ends up having all kinds of crazy images included in the hashtag feed from people who are just tagging whatever the trending topics of the day are (such is life in our technological age). I loved browsing through your photos and I especially loved being given the specific opportunity to remember once again that we are all just living our own lives day to day - we are in different seasons and moments and I love the reminder to embrace the whole of it for what it is right now. 

I planned, as I usually do, to take photos with both my iPhone 6+ and my DSLR but I ended up with mostly iPhone shots. I usually like the opportunity to use my bigger camera for these projects, but today felt more like a phone day and it just simplified things for me overall. I took all the photos below myself - using the timer on my iPhone or DSLR for any shots that include me. For Week In The Life™ in May I'll definitely be using my DSLR in combo with my iPhone. Quick reminder that the Week In The Life™ pre-order period ends on March 31st. 

I shared more photos on Instagram today than I have in the past for my Day In The Life™ projects and I really liked that format for both the photos and the words. Tonight as I put this post together I simply had to copy and paste what I'd already written on Instagram for my journaling. As you'll see below I've included a few other photos that I didn't post on Instagram - I decided to not add any additional words to those images and just let them tell their own story within the flow of the photos from my day. What you see below includes most of the images I took today (a little over 40 images) and definitely enough to tell the story of this day.

PS | If you are looking for inspiration on ways to see through the lens of your own camera (phone, DSLR, etc) please make sure to check out my Lens Of Joy workshop that starts next week. It's a deep dive into my thoughts and processes for how I personally see through the lens (vision & voice: composition, design, etc) along with a closer look at my uploading, editing, choosing and printing processes. 

Here's a look at my day: 

5:52am | Up and at 'em (or something like that). The story of my morning so far includes both kids waking up way too early and me telling them to go back to bed // allergies (ugh) // feeding animals // moving laundry around // making coffee // and now sitting at my desk to do some editing before the kids get up for real to start the "get-ready-for-school-routine."

6:54am | A Tuesday that feels like a Monday for this one.

7:42am | Kid-to-school-drive #01 underway.

7:56am | Drop off in the gym for morning assembly. Chat with teacher about allergies and give her an @oliverjeffers alphabet book for the classroom (accidentally bought two). Love his illustrations and books.

8:14am | Pull back up to the house to find George & Sam hanging out on the front porch waiting for me.

8:23am | Next up is this guy. He totally lamented that I didn't let him stay up when he woke up at 5:30am. He would have liked some time for video games before school. Bagel & cream cheese & strawberries for breakfast for him.

8:49am | A conversation about being respectful and kind as he climbs out of the car to begin his school day.

9:13am | Back at home and at my desk to work. I'm usually in my office most days from now until about 3pm when I start kid pick-up/afternoon activity facilitation. On my work to-do list today: One Little Word April content, handouts for @sctmagazine event, and new digital products for April. Ready, go.

10:23am | Yep, pretty much the same spot as early this morning.

12:15pm | A benefit of working from home is that when you really need a nap after a bad night of sleep, that can be a possibility. Aaron's been in his bed with the flu since we got back from our toad trip and I'm really hoping I don't get it and I'm really trying to take care of myself. So a short mid-day nap it is. And yes, I still have my coat and vest on because it's cozy.

2:56pm | Worked after nap and now rounding up stuff for kid pick-up. Noticing how awesome it is that the sun came out after a cloudy and foggy morning.

3:28pm | Pick up kid #01 from school. Question: "How was your day?" Answer: "Same as always." (Which, according to Simon, means it was a good day.)

4:16pm | Soccer Chocolate Kittens begin another season! Anna's totally been looking forward to this. Me too. About 20 minutes after this photo was taken Anna sprained or twisted her ankle which resulted in quite a few tears - I think more tears just over the fact that she was so excited about soccer starting in the first place.

5:53pm | Simon starts horse riding again tonight for a spring session (we stopped for the cold and dark winter months). Tuesday's for the next few months will be busy from after-school until we get home after 7:30pm. Figuring out the logistics for snacks and food and travel times from one place to the next.

6:33pm | Peek in on Simon when I take Anna to the bathroom. He likes to ride without us watching. 

7:29pm | Home again. Unload car. Feed animals. Start dinner (taco Tuesday of course). These two end up on the papasan chair with Anna asking if she can play video games with Simon. I'm listening to him teach her the basics of Lego Dimensions. So far, so good. 

8:05pm | Dinner on the couch + just a little bit of the Lego movie + a little time to edit my photos from today. By this time of the day I'm tired. I'm not a late-nighter - I'd much rather get up at 5am (which is what I do). A bath after getting the kids in bed is calling my name.

8:59pm | Reading about presidents before lights out.

9:20pm | Getting my post ready for tomorrow and Sam telling me it's time for bed. 

So what's next? I'll take the next few days to work on how I'm going to incorporate today's content into my Project Life® album and plan to share that with you here next week. 

Again, thank you for sharing your stories. I can't wait to see how you bring your own photos and words together.