Why this journal?

For those that already know me, you may be thinking “What, a journal? I thought Dave hated journaling!” My response is - well… yes, I do. At least the sort of journaling we were forced to do throughout our painful gen-ed classes in college. I found those journals to be quite pointless. However, I have three specific purposes for starting and maintaining this journal, if you will allow me to explain:

1: To capture our kids’ priceless antics and anecdotes

My first and foremost goal for this journal is to try to record the funny little things the kids will say or do, so that when they are grown and gone, we can look back and just laugh. My Aunt Toni used to tell us all the things that my cousins Christopher and Christine would do or say when they were little - we would just laugh and laugh. I hope she has those written down somewhere to go back and remember, now that the kids are not kids anymore. This is my main goal for this journal, and I have already forgotten so many things that I really wish we would have captured.

2: To document the story of our family

When I was little, my family took a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, and at the end of each day my mom made me and my sisters write a journal entry in a notebook. I hated it, but years later, we got them out of the basement and had so much fun reading and remembering everything that happened. I am hoping that by doing the same thing with this “electronic journal,” we will someday enjoy going back and remembering all of life’s happenings in our family.
We do have a photo gallery, and we try to capture things in picture form.  However, we do not always have a camera around (like my Aunt Toni!), and even though a picture is worth 1,000 words, it still does not always capture the whole story.

3: To keep in touch with our extended family and friends

One of life’s challenges is staying in touch with far away family and friends, and it is one that I don’t think we’re terribly good at. Every once in a while, we might get the energy to craft a huge email update for the last 6 months, then try to remember the email addresses of everyone we want to update. Or we just wait until the end of the year and try to remember and fit everything in one big Christmas newsletter, looking up everyone’s address and spending a small fortune on paper, envelopes, and postage.
While we’ll still probably send out the Christmas letter and occasional emails, the beauty of a web log (”blog”) such as this is that we can update it with the latest stories, in little bits and pieces, as we have time, and when we think of anything we want to capture. And in the process, we also provide a way for you, our friends and family, to visit occasionally and see what has been happening with us. In fact, you don’t even have to make an effort to visit this site to stay updated - if you subscribe via email or via an RSS reader (such as Google Reader), you can keep yourself updated effortlessly! Just click the appropriate subscribe link at the bottom of the page. Whenever we add a journal entry, you’ll automatically get it in your inbox, or it will automatically appear in your reader. How much easier could it be to stay updated?

I have a couple friends that maintain their own blog, and when I remember to visit their website, I get to catch up with them, and I feel like I am keeping up with what’s happening in their lives - I may even get inspired to pick up the phone or send them an email and reconnect.  If you’re one of our extended family or a long lost friend, my hope is that this blog will help you keep up with us and, from time to time, inspire you to pick up the phone and reconnect!