As you can see I've saved a really ridiculous amount of things. I mean dried prom flowers... My corsage from prom? I almost threw them out when I went through the box, but when I took them out of the brown bags they were still so pretty and I could just picture myself one day showing Reaghan what her daddy gave me when we were in high school. 

I've saved this shirt that Mark made me when I was 16. "Sweeticle" - it's a long story that wouldn't  interest anyone, but it holds "sweet" memories for me.

Mark actually made me a few different shirts with inside jokes on them. It's pretty funny now to think about how much I loved them then!

I'm also a lover of cards. I love to give them and to receive them. And I save ones that make me think of certain times or mushy feelings. Like this birthday card my little sister made for me. She went through a phase where she always hand made the best cards for people and would draw all of the things they loved in their card. I save it because it reminds me of her cute little face. (and maybe because she said my face was "beutiful". ; )

I've also kept letters to myself - like this one from a mission trip I went on when I was 16. It reminds me of how passionate I was for missions when I was in my teens. 

But my favorite of all the things I save are my journals. These are only some of the ones I have. I've always kept a journal, starting with the hot pink hello kitty one at the bottom of the pile to my pregnancy journal at the top of the pile. This project of putting all of my things into new totes took me almost all day and its because I spent the majority of the time reading through these old books and remembering days that I had forgotten, recounting things the Lord has taught me that I may or may not be living out now, and reliving all of the precious details of Mark's proposal. 

If you have never kept a journal, I highly recommend doing so. Life goes by so fast and we forget so many wonderful moments... the details of this life we've been given deserve to be remembered!

Truthfully, I keep way more things than I probably need to. I am, as I said, sentimental that way. Do I really need my cast from when I broke my arm when I was 8? Probably not. But I love to look at the names of the people that signed it and remember childhood friendships! It's just who I am. Anyways, I finally finished my project and split up my things into 2 totes so they wouldn't be so heavy. I added some new momentos of my first few years of being married, and then put them back up in the attic. 

I probably won't see them for a couple of more years, but I know I'll enjoy pulling them back out again. And you can be sure I'll have a box or 2 of Reaghan's things by the time she's old enough to appreciate it. : )

What about you? Do you find yourself holding on to things from your childhood?