Have you ever had one of those months that were packed full of fantastic memories? This July was one of those months for me.
Of course, there were the typical events that make great months: long weekend for 4th of July, two fun business trips to Birmingham and Dallas, a 150th anniversary celebration of my international fraternity where I saw tons of old friends, and a week’s vacation in the Outer Banks. How could anyone not have an amazing month with that agenda? Oh yeah, my birthday was in July, too.
However, the memories that make me smile when reflecting on July are in the details of those 31 days. I played a relaxing and fun nine holes with my mother-in-law on July 3rd and watched her play at a much better skill level than a year or two ago. As I was leaving for the airport the morning of the 9th, my five-year-old daughter was in our guest bedroom upstairs waving goodbye to me. On the 15th, we ate dinner at Aqua in Duck, NC and played cornhole with other vacationers – one of my fondest memories. My daughter went ziplining on the 16th, bravely jumping off the platform as though she had done it a million times. We had a movie night as a family on Tuesday the 24th – Transylvania 3. I randomly sat at a table with a lifetime loyalty award winner at my fraternity’s international convention and had the opportunity to watch his wife grab his hand after they both realized the speaker was talking about him – a special moment. And dozens of other memories that could make up a lifetime (and a much longer post than you probably want to read).
How do I remember all these things? I use an app called Day One, a journal that sits on my phone and uses photos and captions to capture my days. It’s extremely easy to use, especially if you use your phone for your photos, and it’s made a real impact on my enjoyment of life. I take pictures of everything and don’t worry about the quality – I just want to capture the moments. It’s also fun to check out what I was doing one year ago or last Christmas Even or whenever … and it serves as an excellent log of my time. I can answer “when was that” like I’m Rainman.
Check it out. I do the paid version for about $30 per year, but the free version is pretty good too. I think you’ll enjoy it.
