Revive25 in 2025: Revive Sky Memories

The 5th mini project for my Revive25 in 2025 Project is to revive sky memories. 

With the lunar eclipse on March 21st, I wondered when I began noticing and appreciating beauty in the sky. What were my oldest photos and memories? By looking back, I could then look forward to appreciate more sky moments. Could they be recreated intentionally or did they happen by coincidence or synchronicity?

I thought I had seen a lunar eclipse before and also wanted to remember the story details of the comet I saw in the late 1990's, so I went searching through my photo albums and digital photo collection. The earliest sky photo I found is of a rainbow I took in high school. I think this is perhaps common with everyone that when we had film cameras, we didn't waste photos by taking them of the sky. A rainbow was extra special. 

I have often heard that when we inherit photos, we should get rid of landscapes, places and things. It's the people photos that are most important. That may be true, but I think that photos of places and things also tell the story of who the person was and what they loved.

Many of my earlier sky photos were taken on holiday. Growing up in northern Ontario or living in Toronto, I didn't necessarily notice the sky on a daily basis. I have photos taken from 22nd floor condo view of Lake Ontario when I first moved to Toronto, but not many from just being out.

On our honeymoon, we went down to the beach in the evening with a bottle of champagne. The half moon was so bright and beautiful, we took photos of each other on the beach, zooming out to capture the moon in the background. We also enjoyed the sunsets on that trip. 

On future Caribbean trips, we loved the sunrises and sunsets. I went down to a pier to capture the sunrise every morning on our trip to Jamaica in 2012. Being close to the horizon when the sun is rising or setting, it appears much larger than it does after it has risen above the buildings in Toronto.

These views helped me appreciate the beauty of the sky but if we see it every day, it can stop being special. There's a full moon every month. Some are closer to the earth and called supermoons, but I think seeing it every month, it can stop being special. I love seeing full moons not too often and not too rarely. It's a fine line of how often we want to experience these events.

It's easier today with social media and the news reporting when upcoming eclipses, supermoons and nothern lights are happening. 

Anticipating the lunar eclipse, I thought I had seen one before. I wanted to connect these past moments that may have been lost in the clutter of photo collections and photo albums. I found my terrible photos taken with my point and shoot camera from the 2008 lunar eclipse on February 20th. Having a better camera now, I hoped to take better photos. 

Knowing the lunar eclipse totality would peak at 3am, my husband set up the camera settings before we went to bed so that I could capture the various phases of the eclipse. (He captured the bottom right photo of the quad at this time). I took the other three after totality. The auto setting captured the orange or "blood" moon we could see, but his manual settings captured the shadow beautifully. 

My plan was to wake at 2:30pm, experience the blood moon during totality then go back to bed at 3:30pm. It was still beautiful at 3:30, the orange was still visible as it appeared three quarter orange as the shadow moved away from totality, and then half orange.

Before going back inside, beautiful spiral clouds appeared. I wondered for quite a while if it was the beginning of Northern Lights. Once when I saw the Northern Lights, it began with rainbow shaped clouds. I was in awe of the clouds and didn't know whether to look at the lunar eclipse or the clouds. 

I stayed up much later than I planned, which helped me capture the phases of totality. 

The next day, I saw on a Northern Lights site that there had been Northern Lights during the lunar eclipse, so perhaps the very light green tinge on some photos were part of a very faint aurora. Either way, the sky was spectacular.

Another pivotal moment I wanted to connect that gave me a love of the night sky was in Sedona in 2015 for my husband's business reward trip. The company organized an astronomy evening where astronomers brought their huge telescopes into a field and gave us a lesson on the night sky. We loved looking at the planets and stars through the telescope; even seeing Jupiter's rings. My husband managed to get an amazing night sky photo including a satellite trails and the milky way.

Sedona has a dark sky designation, meaning they have regulations that limit light pollution so it's an amazing place to see the night sky. Connecting this memory is inspiring me to experience the night sky again in these low light pollution places.

I remember the first partial solar eclipse I witnessed in 2017. The Ontario Science Centre were handing out eclipse glasses that morning. It was chaos with so many people wanting the glasses. The lineup was so long but I was happy I got a pair. We set up a camera on a tripod at the park, but we didn't get a good photo of the eclipse. At least we could see it with our eyes while wearing the protective glasses. That evening we went to see Coldplay in concert. What a coincidence that we were seeing an eclipse on the day that we would hear Coldplay sing "the moon and its eclipse" on the song Something Just Like This. I made sure I captured the lyrics when they came up on the the backdrop and graphics. Connecting these two moments together helped me to remember the eclipse and the concert. Every time the song plays, I remember that day. 

There was another partical eclipse in the fall of 2023. Unlike 2017 when it was 70%, there wasn't as much attention given to this one that was only 39%, especially with the total eclipse expected six months later. It was supposed to be rainy and cloudy. I didn't bother to look for my eclipse glasses. I went out to run an errand that took me longer that I thought it would. Driving home, it was partly sunny and close to the time that the partial eclipse would be at its peak for Toronto. The song, Something Just Like This came on my playlist and I heard "the moon and its eclipse." Hearing it gave me a nudge to try to "see" the eclipse even if I couldn't look at it directly without eclipse glasses.

When I got home, I put the zoom lens on my camera and went out to try to capture it. Barely anything was visible, it was just a big sunburst. I tried to take photos with my sunglasses and polarizing filters in front of the camera, but it didn't look like it worked. In ten minutes, I took twelve photos and gave up.

After lunch, I uploaded the photos to my computer, wondering if I could edit them in order to see something. What a surprise I got when I saw the partial eclipse in one of the photos!! I hadn't noticed it on the small LCD screen of the camera.

It surprised me how happy I was to have captured this one and how close I got to say, "maybe next time." I have often said that it's easy to say no or next time, but often it's worth it to say yes and try. 

This motivated me to be better prepared for the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 (one year ago today as I publish this post). I ordered solar eclipse glasses (paper and plastic ones that looked like real glasses). I never wanted to be without eclipse glasses again. I was excited that Toronto would have a 99% partial eclipse, but then a friend told me that it would be 100% an hour away. Hearing that a total eclipse is SO much better than a partial eclipse, we drove to Caledonia in order to see the total eclipse and it exceeded our expectations. It was cloudy at times and we worried that we wouldn't see it, but the clouds parted just at the perfect time.

I'm happy I took videos so I hear the excitement in my voice (even if it's a bit embarrassing) and the cheering of the crowd when it went completely dark in the middle of the day (you may want to turn down the volume before playing it). It takes me back to that moment.

I want to connect these moments, the lunar eclipses with the solar eclipses; the sunrises and sunsets; the rainbows and northern lights; the day sky and night sky. By connecting all these sky memories, they become more meaningful by recognizing where the interest and appreciation began and then grew. It reminds me of these happy moments and makes me want to experience more. 

A couple of days after the lunar eclipse, we arrived home from our neighbourhood walk just as it began to pour. I thought we were lucky to have arrived just in time. Ten or fifteen minutes later, the sun started to come out. It was still raining and I wondered if there was a rainbow. I remembered an earlier lesson I learned, if you want to see a rainbow, you sometimes have to be willing to go out in the rain. The rainbow I saw that afternoon reminded me of the rainbows we saw in Hawaii. These were other moments to connect.

We can't plan ahead for rainbows like we can with eclipses or supermoons, so I really want to appreciate when I get the chance to see them now. I want to make plans to experience these moments when we know they will occur. If I'm somewhere close to the horizon I want to see the sunrises, sunsets, moonrises or moonsets that appear more spectacular. I want to notice the sky when there are beautiful clouds, and especially I hope to some day see rainbow clouds (cloud iridescence). I didn't know they existed until a year or two ago. When I'm at my cottage in Northern Ontario, I check the Northern Lights forecast hoping to see the Northern Lights. 

Looking back at what we love, gives us hope to experience more. I hope I encourage you to follow some of your nudges to revive memories, connect moments and dream to experience more of what you love.

When we work on projects we're passionate about, I believe that we attract more of what we pay attention to. While I was working on this mini-project, I went for a walk on a rare warm day this spring and noticed beautiful and unusual clouds. They may not have been magical like rainbow clouds or a heart cloud, but I still took it as a sign that I was on the right path and to keep going and follow my heart.

Revive25 in 2025: 2010 Olympic Memories

I started this post on February 14th. If you would rather watch this post in a vlog, click here to watch it on my YouTube channel.

It was 15 years ago that I took a trip that changed my life. Since I was a child, I dreamed of going to the Olympic Games; first as an athlete and later as a spectator.

I had been on trips before, but this one taught me the magic of synchronicity and the importance of following our dreams. I almost didn't go to the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. I'm so grateful I did. There were challenges to overcome but in the end, the trip could not have been more magical.

For this Revive25 in 2025 mini-project, I will combine the photos and blog posts into a photo album. Leading up to the Vancouver Games, the Canadian Olympic Committee talked about "Owning the Podium". They wanted to win the most medals at the Games. I didn't want thirty silver and bronze medals. I wanted (at least) one gold medal. I didn't want to be known as the country who had not won gold on home soil and we did it twice, in 1976 and 1988.

On February 14th, 2010, I couldn't believe that I was at Cypress Mountain witnessing Alexandre Bilodeau win the first gold medal for Canada at home. So I am using this anniversary as a nudge to revive the photos and blog posts I wrote at that time and preserve them in one place.

Blogger may not always be there, so printing the blog posts is one way that I am preserving them. I am so happy I wrote the stories because there are details I would have forgotten. 

Along with reviving the 2010 memories, I also want to connect them with other Olympic-themed moments I experienced since then. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Vancouver Games, my husband and I went to Vancouver and Whistler. We were thrilled that they lit the cauldron on the anniversary of the Opening Ceremony. 

We then visited Cypress Mountain and went skiing in Whistler where we took photos of many Olympic rings.

Other moments I wanted to connect were visits to Olympic host cities. In the 1990's, I visited Calgary Olympic venues and in 2014, we were coincidentally in Montreal when they lit the cauldron during the 2014 Olympic Games. 

By connecting these moments together, it gives the stories more meaning. It also gives me hope that I will continue to experience more Olympic-themed moments that I can enjoy, capture and preserve.

The Creative Memories albums I make are 60 pages. My 2010 memories took 32 pages, so there is almost half the album to connect my other memories.

It took me longer than I thought to put the photos and blog posts in the album, but I'm happy it's now preserved and can be enjoyed for decades. 

I hope I inspire you to revive memories from on this day. If you're interested in seeing how I plan my albums using the Creative Memories Power Layout, click here to see the video on my YouTube channel. It's part of a co-working session where you can join me in working on a memories project.

Revive25 in 2025: Recipes

I loved baking when I was growing up. When I left home, I wrote recipes in a school notebook, then later on cards I had in a recipe binder. I often made those cookies at Christmas time. 

One of them was for mint patties. I used to love rolling out the dough, cutting them in circles and then dipping them in a waxy chocolate sauce. Years ago, my husband saw me make them and questioned putting wax in the chocolate. Paraffin wax was used in vintage recipes to help set the chocolate and to make it shiny. I used to buy it in the baking aisle but he made fun because the package talked about waxing skis or making candles. There was no mention of it being edible.

I stopped finding the wax in the baking aisle and stopped making the peppermint patties. At Christmas, I researched and found a type of chocolate to use for this type of recipe. I bought the ingredients and meant to make them, but ran out of time.

With Valentine's Day coming, I thought I would revive this recipe, along with my most meaningful recipes we use to celebrate special occasions.

While decluttering years ago, I removed the recipe cards from the book sleeves and threw away the book whose sleeves had yellowed. I kept the cards together with a big paper clip not realizing how long it would take me to find a replacement book. 

Tangent: I have to add that I love black & white and purple. When we renovated our washroom, we got black and white tiles. I purchased black and white towels and added some purple ones as accents. I also had purple flowers in a vase. A few years ago, I bought tissue boxes that were black and white with purple flowers. They were perfect for my washroom. I refilled them keeping the boxes long after they were no longer in stores.

Last year, I couldn't believe my luck when I found a recipe binder that was black & white with purple flowers.

I now have this binder with beautiful paper to write or tape recipes on, so mini-project #3 for my Revive25 in 2025 was to make the peppermint patties and revive recipes from loose papers in order to have them in my binder.

This all sounded easy. I made these patties dozens of times and they were always a success but this time, it was a disaster. The dough ended up too sticky I kept adding icing sugar until I managed to roll it out and cut out the shapes.

The disaster happened with the chocolate couverture I was using. I read that this product would act like a chocolate wax mixture but it didn't. It just ran off the patties. I then thought that I could paint some chocolate on one side of the patties, but that also was terrible. I can't help but laugh looking at the photo.

They tasted like I remembered although too minty without enough chocolate to complement the patty. I managed to get a few to look acceptable, but reviving this recipe was not a culinary success. I made another childhood favourite recipe that turned out better (but still not as great as I used to make them).  

The most important thing was to collect the recipes in my binder so I could easily find them when I wanted to make them on special occasions. 

Where are your favourite recipes? Mine were found in:

• cookbooks
• in my photos app
• in emails
• in my browser bookmarks
• in digital file folders 
• loose papers
• recipe cards

I wanted to revive my favourite recipes so that they were stored in one place. One of our favourite recipes is for fried flying fish that we first tasted on our honeymoon in Barbados. I had the recipes for the fish and seasoning in my bookmarks. Realizing that the black and white paper that came with the binder would work in my printer, I decided to print the recipe directly on the paper, adding a photo I took of the ones I made on our anniversary in 2021.

Although I love the professional look of the printed recipes, handwritten ones are nice as well. I ordered photo sleeves to add to the binder for the old recipe cards I had. I can add photo memories to go with them.

Some of the recipe links I had in my bookmarks didn't work anymore. Luckily they weren't my most favourite, but it's a reminder to revive and preserve meaningful things that can disappear from the internet.

This will become a great keepsake as well. I got the inspiration from the recipe book my mom made for her grandchildren years ago. She included photos of the kids cooking, baking and eating their favourite treats along with the recipes. I actually couldn't find my copy of the mint patties to make and asked my daughter to take a photo of the recipe from her grand-maman recipe book. I'll have to borrow her book to revive more of my favourite recipes.

Add-on story: I originally wrote this blog post and recorded the vlog before Valentine's Day. I ordered a new Ticket To Ride game for Valentine's Day. When we opened it to play, I was surprised that the playing pieces were black, white and purple! 

Reviving Souvenirs

For my second Revive25 in 2025 mini-project, I revived a souvenir. I purchased a painting when we went to Australia in 2017. It was just the canvas and I wanted to put it on proper backing when I came home but never did.

I stored the canvas somewhere special in the last few years and couldn't remember where I put it. A few months ago, I found it and was surprised to be reminded that it was titled "two kanagaroos jumping at sunset". The funny thing is that I didn't see kangaroos at sunset in 2017. I saw them at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney and then my husband's cousin took us to see wild kangaroos at a golf course in Melbourne. They were hopping up and down the side of the fairways. I couldn't imagine golfing and walking by kangaroos. I was amazed! So although I saw kangaroos on that trip, it wasn't at sunset. 

Last fall we returned to Australia to visit another cousin who lives in Perth. Her property is surrounded by a tall fence to keep the kangaroos out because they are destructive when they come on the property. At sunset, we went to the edge of the property by the fence to see the kangaroos because that's when we can see them hopping. At the airport, I purchased a fridge magnet of kangaroos at sunset, not remembering the painting I bought in Sydney.

I love the connection from one trip to the other and the full circle story of the kangaroos at sunset. I'm happy to finally have the painting on display.

Revive25 in 2025 Mini Project #1 Keane Memories

For the first mini project of my Revive25 in 2025, I reflected on my 2024 memories and which moments were most special for me. One of my favourites was the synchronicity with our trip to Amsterdam. (click the link to read my blog post introducing my Revive25 in 2025 Project)

My husband had a business trip at the same time as our daughter was going to be in Amsterdam. I couldn't believe our luck. The timing wasn't ideal for me. I would only be able to stay for four nights and come back earlier than my husband would. I wondered whether it was worth making the trip. I researched what events were happening, what concerts and the tulip festival events. 

Imagine my surprise when I realized one of my favourite bands was playing the night we would arrive. While looking for the venue on a map I noticed the nearby “Olympic Arena”. I had forgotten that Amsterdam was an Olympic City. Another thing on my bucket list is to visit Olympic host cities, especially if they have venues or Olympic rings to see.

The concert was sold out. Every day I checked for peer to peer ticket sales but it seemed impossible to get a ticket this way. I looked at StubHub that I had never used before. I monitored ticket prices for a couple of weeks. The day before we were leaving, I bought two tickets that were lower priced than they had previously been. 

My favourite number is twenty. When we were in the limo on the way to the airport, I noticed the sign on the window saying our car number was 020, my favourite number. I looked at my husband and gave him a knowing smile. At the airport, I noticed our boarding time was 20:20. Our flight had a delay, but I relaxed. Everything's going to be okay.

When the tickets proved to be legitimate as we entered the venue, I had tears in my eyes. I hadn't wanted to get my hopes too high in case it didn't work out. I went straight to the merchandise counter and couldn't believe the t-shirt they had for this tour. They used the design from their first album that includes music instruments and microphones and rather than surrounding the name of the album like they originally did, they created a number 20 (for 20th anniversary of the album release). Perfect for me!

During my Revive55 Project in 2019, I started a concert album showcasing our concert tickets but then I got overwhelmed trying to include them all. What I realized was that they weren't all special. Some of the concerts, I barely remembered and weren't bands I loved. I organized the ticket stubs but also wanted to include my favourite photos, set lists and paper memorabilia for my favourite bands but never completed it. It's sad that we don't get ticket stubs anymore. I have probably lost some of my tickets with technology changes, but I took this opportunity to screen capture the tickets I had on my phone.

For this mini-project, I wanted to complete the Keane pages in my concert album and create highlight videos of my favourite captured moments from the concerts. These tasks ended up being a lot more involved than I anticipated but it was worth the effort. 

Some of my photos were in my photos app on my computer (synced to my phone) but older ones were on an older computer so I revived them by copying them to my photos app. Some of my photos were not digitized. They were cropped and taped in my photo albums. I revived them by taking the negatives to a photo lab where I received digital files and prints to include in the concert album. Doing this reminded me that I have many photos that I want to revive from my negatives before that technology is obsolete.

I love the chronology of my family photo albums, but combining my memories in my concert album from the eleven Keane concerts I have attended is extra special. I can relive those moments by looking in one place rather than 11 different albums.

While working on the pages, I printed blog posts I wrote about my trip to England to see them in concert in 2018 and more details about the Amsterdam concert. 

I created two highlight videos. For one of them, I combined videos of my favourite songs over the years. I often recorded the same songs, so having them back to back from various years was interesting. The second highlight videos were of special moments I captured, whether they were favourite songs I only witnessed once or when they had changed lyrics. For example, when they performed Fly To Me in 2007, instead of singing "When I'm far away from the places we've grown" I captured him singing "When I'm far away from Lake Ontariiiio". I love when bands refer to the places where they're performing.

I understand why I procrastinated from completing the album, realizing how much time and effort it took to complete for just one artist. I read a quote while I was working on it that one reason we procrastinate is we anticipate the hassle. We think about everything we need to do to complete a task and get discouraged from starting. This was the most involved artist so the others won't be as challenging. I am happy that this mini project motivated me to complete these pages. Loving the completed pages will motivate me to continue to complete more pages.

Revive25 to Thrive in 2025

I love this time of year when we are looking forward to chasing new dreams and also when we reflect back at the past year. I love making New Year's resolutions or choosing my word for the year. This year, I am creating a new project called Revive25 in 2025 which is an extension of my Revive55 Project I did a few years ago where I preserved my memories for 55 weeks.

This time I want to focus on the memories that matter the most to me. I will revive my memories with 25 mini projects throughout the year. I'll share ideas to inspire you (and me) to spend time with our memories. We remember what we think about so by looking at and reliving our memories, we will remember them better. We also attract what we think about and what is in our subconscious so by spending time with the memories we love the most, we can attract similar moments or feelings in the future.

By reviving our memories, we connect them to our dreams in order to create moments and experiences we'll love in the present.  We look back at what we loved most and plan to create more of what we'll love in the future. We revive what adds value to our lives in the present. What can we revive that will inspire us to thrive in 2025 and beyond?

The first mini project is to review 2024 with a lens of looking for what we want to experience more of in 2025 and beyond. What did we love in 2024? What moments of awe did we experience? What moments took our breath away? Brought happy tears to our eyes? Swelled our hearts?

For my mini project, I will start by looking at my photos. What made me grab my phone or my camera to capture in 2024? 

Looking back, we also want to revive activities we love. Did we play pickleball last year and really want to play more in 2025? Did we attend a concert or sporting event? Did we celebrate special occasions? Did we learn anything we want to incorporate into our lives? Do we notice things missing that we love? Perhaps we didn't make time to do things we love in 2024 and we want to make time in 2025.

Revive what we love.

Revive what moves us.

Revive what will help us to thrive in 2025.

Friday the 13th Memories

Today is Friday the 13th, and although I'm not superstitious about Friday the 13th anymore, there was a time when I was a little bit superstitious. I was reminded of that this morning when December 13th many years ago fell on a Friday and I was expecting my first child. Depending on which method you believe, my due date was either December 9th or December 12th. Although 12/12 would have been a date that I would have loved as a birthday for my son, it came and it went. I really did not want to give birth on Friday the 13th. Today that would have been pretty cool with Taylor Swift, Dick Van Dyke and one of my great friends celebrating their birthdays on December 13th. I found out about Dick Van Dyke's birthday when Coldplay released a new video on his 99th birthday filmed with him at his home.

That Friday the 13th, perhaps imagining that we may not have that many date nights left in the near future, my husband and I went to see The English Patient in the theater. We sat in the back row in case we had to make a hasty exit, but luckily I got to see the end of the movie and enjoy our last weekend before kids.

Another little connection which is kind of funny is that last night, I was telling my husband about the video I posted yesterday about 12/12/24 where I was talking about my mastermind group and how my takeaway this past year was to better accept periods of contraction along with periods of expansion or flow. He asked me if I think of going into labour when we talk about periods of contraction. It had never occurred to me so now I can't get that out of my head.

So now, it's kind of funny that today's date is reminding me of going into labour many years ago so that was a funny coincidence or a nudge of a few different things to inspired me to record the video and write this blog.

I think of that with reviving our memories when we are reminded of something or we get a nudge, to tell the story or revive buried memories. I had a nudge like that last week when I saw my son's birthday coming up in the calendar. I recorded another video I haven't posted yet about using the birthday nudge to work on his childhood album that I hadn't completed yet. In the video, that I'll complete and post now, I talked about how to plan an album like that because it's really difficult in the moment to decide what to include because in the moment, everything seems important. In a way, procrastinating on making this type of album is helpful, because in hindsight we get better perspective and it becomes easier to choose what is most meaningful.

I like to use these nudges to spend time with my memories and to revive things that matter. It's not necessarily about having a project or making photo albums. It can also be about telling the stories, looking at other memories like a pregnancy journal or time capsule to be reminded of other moments. Spending time with our memories when we're given reminders helps us to remember them better.