Merci pour l'aventure.

Pixar created one of my most favourite love stories when they made 'Up'. Of course it doesn't hurt that Ellie and Carl is very similar to Ellie (me) and Kyle (my husband) but asides from the name similarities, their story of loyal, enduring and life changing love puts the movie up there with my favourites. I used to just sit and watch the montage of Ellie and Carl's life together because it's definitely one of my favourite montages - even though it's sad. (really sad)

Ellie's love of life, despite never getting to South America as she had planned as a girl, her happiness in her marriage (despite the bitter sadness they both must have felt when dealt the cruel blow of infertility) and most of all the way she viewed all of these things, small and big as adventures - is all a great inspiration to me. 

You can tell how much she valued her life experiences, her memories, and her time with Carl, because she recorded it. 

Wah! Such a wonderful thing to leave behind. So full of love and fond memories and moments and all those good things that you want to remember about life. How I would love to get my hands on similar creations (if such existed) from my grandparents/parents/friends/whomever. 
As a side note, this is another one of the reasons why I feel so strange and melancholy about seeing family photos and albums in second hand and vintage stores.


I totally cry nearly every time I watch Up (Its strange, but I cry more about animated movies than I do about others... hmm) 

The point though is that I often feel that things are far too mundane in my life to deserve recording in anything by the briefest of notes. I think that it would help me as much as anyone, to record things as the adventures that they are. (Small though they may be) So in the coming months you can expect a lot more journaling, tutorials, scrapbooks, art and photos as I try to capture some more, try to be more grateful for, more productive with, and do meaningful things with the life that I have. 

And just to be clear, my whole renewed energy in this is not entirely supplied by a wonderfully rendered animation, but also by some of the other more diligent record keepers in my life - like my mum and mum in law, a certain graceful ballerina I know, and others. 

I do know people in real life. 
Just sayin'.

"Thanks for the adventure - now go have a new one! Love, Ellie"