It’s the time of year to look back, to relive memories, evaluate what worked and what didn’t, and feel nostalgic about old times. This year, I have six minutes of video that captures the essence of our year- what an amazing gift to myself and my family!
Last January, I saw an incredible video by Francesca Russell Photography, and I knew I had to make a video of our year too.
I set out to capture one second of every day on video.
I wrote a detailed post with how I intended to capture the video and my editing processes. Just like with any photo project, this one takes dedication. I ended up using my cell phone for way more videos than I would have liked, but hey, that’s real life.
I lost steam around August, and almost gave up. But I kept taking video even though I wasn’t staying on top of compiling them each month.
I ended up doing September to December all at the same time, which was a little daunting. I’d definitely recommend keeping up with editing footage each month to make it easier at the end.
Scroll to the end if you just want to see the video!
Our Year In Review
At the end of the year, it’s easy to lose sight of all that happened. Even with photos, which I have plenty of, the essence of emotions and highs and lows aren’t always captured. This video means so much to me. I can remember every single second of this 365 seconds.
In six minutes, I watch my youngest go from being a newborn to an on-the-move one year old. I watch my husband make our house a home by building a garden and a chicken coop with his own hands. We brought home our dog Bonnie and our cat Lincoln.
We celebrated birthdays and holidays. We jumped into homeschooling with books and poetry teatime and endless time outside. We spent the summer shifting between the creek and the river.
We had the honor of watching a graduation, and the blessing of being a part of a beautiful wedding. We spent time with cousins cave spelunking and playing for days on end.
We put a name to selective mutism and traveled to New York City to see the best specialists in the country. We watched our family suffer through Hurricane Harvey, and were right there to pick up the pieces in the aftermath.
We endured 4 ER visits, a broken arm, two ambulance rides, and a hospital stay along with three car accidents.
We took the trip of a lifetime to Disney World with all of the cousins. We discovered new adventures with two family camping trips. Daddy spent a week at West Point realizing a professional accomplishment. We jumped over waves at the beach.
We enjoyed nature school, a homeschool coop, horseback riding, tumbling, swimming, Girl Scouts, and music class. We rode bikes, painted, played board games, fingerknitted, spent time cooking together, jumped on the bed, and so much more.
We made time for family, and grew closer to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We hosted friends for our annual Fall movie night, and advent spiral walks.
We had SNOW in Texas.
What a year. Abundant in every way. See for yourself.
Can you do it?
Can you capture one second of your life every day for a year? It’s not for the faint at heart, but of course you can! All it takes is a little determination.
As for me? Will I do it again? Two days I would have told you no way. It’s a lot of work, and I stressed about getting my video too often.
But now that I see the finished product…I’m not sure. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
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