Every year I get a little nervous on December 1. It’s because the beginning of the December Photo Project feels much the same to me as having a brand new blank journal. So exciting, so many possibilities. So probable that as soon as I fill up the first page (or the first three) I’m going to want to want to rip it (or them) out and have a do over.

I’ve decided this year to write actual words along with the daily photos, which promises to be a challenge indeed. I was trying to think ahead to what I might write about today or in the days to come when I’ll inevitably get stuck. But that’s the thing (well, one of the things) about this daily photo challenge — you never know quite what you’re going to get.

I thought I had today’s writing in the bag: I was going on a field trip with Ian’s preschool class to Paint Yourself Silly and Ivana Cone. Easy! I would take a great picture of Ian and/or his little buddies painting and write something brilliant about kids and creativity (maybe a riff on Paper Source’s motto, “Do Something Creative Every Day”?). Or, as a backup, maybe I would get a good shot of Ian gobbling some ice cream and write something about that (though I never really did come up with a good ice cream story hook).

Wouldn’t you know it, though, I don’t really feel like writing about any of the photos, at least not directly. Part of that, honestly, is that I’m grumpy tonight, which makes me feel lazy too. The bigger part, though, probably is that I’m impatient to finish the last twenty pages of my book, so rather than inflict any more oh-my-goodness-I’m-soooo-dull ramblings on you, I’m going to go read. And, true confession, I’ll probably also spend a good forty minutes on the Paper Source website — looking up that link made me feel all inspired.

DPP pics from past years: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

I look forward to the DPP every year, and tomorrow it begins again! A simple and brilliant idea my friend Rebecca had nine years ago — to take a picture (and post it!) each day for the first 25 days of December — has become a tradition as cherished as making my grandma’s gingersnaps.

I did remember to take a photo today, which means I have taken a photo every single day — without missing a one — for the last two years. At this point, I feel comfortable saying that I’m in the habit of taking daily photos (I did drop off from posting all the photos sometime this summer, though). I have been thinking of imposing an additional challenge for myself: at this point, I am leaning toward either posting all black-and-white photos or posting some actual writing each day in addition to a photo. I’m open to suggestions.

I’m writing this post partly to test if I even remember how to post to the blog. It’s been, ahem, a while. I’ll be glad to be back in this space a bit, and who knows, I might even post some photo shoots that I’ve done over the past year or so. Probably I will.

Here we go!

My dear friend Joie is spending the summer as an intern at Prairie Whole Farm in Ida Grove, Iowa. The kids and I visited yesterday, and I don’t have words to describe what a terrific day we had. We came home dirty (so dirty) and exhausted (in the best way), our heads and hearts full of new experiences and our arms full of produce and fresh flowers and even eggs from the prettiest  chicken I’ve ever seen (June). I’m still buzzing from friendship and inspiration.

Missy and Phillip (the farmers) and their family were so generous with us. The kids made fast friends, and the hardest part of the day by far was saying good-bye. We harvested vegetables for a snack and for the most delicious lunch ever (ok, maybe not ever, but it was so fun to know that more that three-quarters of the food on my plate came from the gardens less than an hour ago. I’m still kind of in awe of that. So, yeah, maybe ever). And I finally learned the secret of kale chips!

We played with the animals (that poor cat!) and walked in the gardens and splashed in the puddles and jumped on the trampoline. I don’t think I could ever get enough of this place. What a gift it was to spend the day with Joie and get a glimpse of her life and spaces this summer.

As I mentioned, Jason and I are doing a Whole 30 for the month of June. (Actually, my friend Joie suggested that we do a Whole 40 because of the biblical significance of the number 40. Sounds good to me.) I’ll post some updates here about how I’m feeling and such, but most of the Whole 30 love (meal plans and recipes) will be over at Needs More Butter.

I did a Whole 30 a couple of years ago too, and to be honest, I don’t think I got a lot out of it. I didn’t feel worse, but I didn’t feel particularly better. I lost a bit of weight (8 pounds if I remember correctly), but it didn’t really change my relationship with food. Basically, I think I did it wrong. I was compliant food-wise, but I didn’t really do any of the mental work to break habits and cravings and such.

I do believe I’ll have a different and better experience this time. I’m in a different head space entirely. I don’t know quite how to articulate that, but I’ll try over the course of the next month or so. First up, I think Jason doing it with me this time will be so good. I’ve also done a lot of reading and research this time around. Personality-wise, I do well when I’m on a kick, and right now I have a lot of energy for this pursuit. I’ve been more or less compliant for a week or so (although yesterday I had hummus and Dairy Queen and root beer all because I still could), and I feel great in a lot of ways.

The Whole 30 is strict, and some days are just going to be harder than others, but I recently read some good advice: “The chatter you keep running in your head makes a huge difference in how successful you are with change. Instead of ‘this is hard,’ try ‘I’m going to feel so amazing’ or ‘I can do hard things’ or ‘I’ve totally got this.'”

Day 1, here we go!

A car conversation earlier today:

Me: Seriously, I just can’t get over the clouds today. They are incredible.

Simon: I call them “weaving clouds” because look how they go together. I put them in my cloud collection.

Me: Where do you keep your cloud collection, buddy?*

Simon: In my brain! Where else? I also call it my nugget.

* I recognized the idea of a cloud collection from a delightful new series we found on PBS Kids  called Plum Landing (we watch on the Roku, but it’s also available online). One of the characters keeps his cloud collection on his phone. I was so happy that Simon picked up the idea that I pulled over to Holmes Lake to let the boys use my camera to save some of their clouds, and later we laid a blanket out in the back yard to do some cloud watching.

Later in the day when we were in the car again:

Simon: Look! That cloud looks like a geyser.

Ian: You should put that in your nugget.

These photos are taken by the boys. Enjoy a peek into their nuggets.