Be My Guest Monday! It's the Little Things

Hi there and welcome to Be My Guest Monday! Someone must be giving Heather, today's guest-blogger, a few extra hours in each day, because you will be amazed at everything she does. Seriously, I could only put one link on her name, but you can check out her alter-ego at Giveaway Chick. Yes, that's right: Two blogs, and she's doing Project 365. And she wasn't sure that this guest post was "extraordinary" enough. Well, I'll let you be the judge of that, but I know my vote. :)

And now I give you Heather:

It's the Little Things
Ok, so I'm not normally a downer, at least I don't think I am, who knows?  But, I've been thinking a lot about certain items in my life and why they have such a strong meaning to me and that inspired this post. I think people would look at me strangely as if they don't already if they knew the things I would save in a fire, flood, tornado, or any other emergency that would take my home.

Besides my external hard drive which has all of my files on it (pictures of my kids included) I would grab things like this -

my grandma's make up case, my grandpa's coin purse, and my Native American Dolls. Things that don't have a huge monetary value, but a sentimental value that could never be replaced.

I've been participating in Project 365 this year (here's a description of it if you don't know what Project 365 is) and in my first few weeks of taking a picture every day, I have started taking pictures of things that mean the most to me. While I'm taking these pictures I'm noticing that the things that I cherish are things that wouldn't have any value to anyone else (or outside of my family). They are almost kind of quirky.  It's not my computer, it's not my iPod, it's not our TV that I would save if I had to get out quickly.

It's things that other people I love have left their mark on for me. A little plastic dolphin that my brother gave to me when he was a teenager because he knew how much I loved dolphins, things my children have made me over the years, anything that I have that came from my grandparents are the items that are most treasured by me.

What is it about the sight of my grandpa's coin purse that takes me back years to when I'd sit beside him and he'd tell me stories from when he was younger, I swear I can smell the Old Spice when these memories come over me. When I see my grandma's make up case, I flash back to her kitchen, I can smell her perfume mixed with the smell of cigarette smoke and hair spray (ok, possibly not the best combination, I'll admit it) and I can almost feel her beside me. How are we able to attach such strong sensations to these seemingly trivial items? What about those certain items can take us back years to memories that flood us with what we felt at that time?

I am not a psychologist and I don't play one on TV, so I don't have the answer, but I'm so glad that we have that in us. Those items have helped me make it through times when it was hard to go on without those loving hands that helped guide me through my youth, without my grandma there to hug me when I am sad, without my grandpa and his smile that lit up his beautiful green eyes to make me laugh. 

What items do you have that would mean nothing to somebody else but mean the world to you? What would you save if God forbid there was a fire and you could get those precious to you out and only grab one or 2 treasured items in your way out the door? Hold those items close, but more importantly, hold those memories closer because those will always be with you no matter what. 


Heather Manning - Owner/Designer
Digiscrapping | The247mom
Giveaway Chick