That was Then, This is Now...

Some projects take a long time to happen....this was one of them...

I had the idea months ago to go through the box of memorabilia I had collected and saved from when Steve and I were dating and add it all to my SMASH journal. Well finally last week, when I was off work, I had the time to take a trip down memory lane and play around with paper, pockets, and pretty embellishments to create a few pages in my journal.

Starting opposite the page which suitably reads "That was Then" I added a pocket into which I slipped some handwritten notes and the score card from when we went mini golfing on our first date (in finding this score card again we finally settled the debate over who won...it was Steve).

On the next page I added a favorite photo and two pockets with ticket stubs from all the concerts we went to together...so many fun memories. We also went to a lot of movies when we were dating but rather than keep all the ticket stubs - especially since some were fading and were barely legible - I wrote a list of all the movies we saw (bottom right). Believe it or not, Star Wars is on the list; Star Wars is evidently a permanent fixture in my life, then and now.

There were a lot of happy tears as I went through the things I had kept from our dating days, but nothing tugged at my heart more than what is in the large pocket (in the photo above): five pieces of paper each listing five reasons why Steve loves me. I remember vividly finding these papers tucked into my school bag or in my car over the course of a week or so one fall semester so many years ago. It was so sweet and even funny to reread these reasons so many years later and we had a great time one evening last week reliving our happy memories of falling in love.

I finished up the "dating history" section of my journal with a photo taken of us last year on our twelfth wedding anniversary opposite the page that reads "This is Now"....

After so many years together, after so much has happened, after so many changes, after so much growth, I am so proud of us and what we have accomplished, from where we started to where we are now...