Earlier this week, I posted a picture on facebook {see it here} with this caption:

“Last night, Jonathan and I did our yearly interview with each other. Complete with cheesy grins & weirdo sunburn lines.
One of our favorite traditions!”

This is something we started last year {see that picture here!} and loved so much we decided to make it a yearly thing. A few of you asked about it, so I thought I’d share more deets in case it’s a tradition you want to start in your own family!

Why did you do this?

I love looking back at videos of my kids. How they talked, the way they interacted with each other, their laughs, etc. Videos capture something that pictures and words just can’t. I wanted to capture the same thing with my marriage.

So last year while we were on vacation, I asked Jonathan if we could video ourselves asking each other questions. Now since this is something we just started last year, we did a super brief (like 1 minute) timeline of what went on in the previous 6 years of marriage. Then we came up with 5-ish questions to ask each other about those years. When we “conducted” our interview last week, we only covered one year in our questions.

What did you talk about?

Both Jonathan and I came up with questions for the other person, but didn’t tell each other what the questions were until we were on camera. Having done this one year, we loved hearing the answers that were just “on top of our head” and it was fun to catch each other’s reactions on video. Some of the questions we’ve asked over the past 2 years are:

• what’s the best thing that happened this year?
• what’s the hardest thing you’ve gone through this year?
• any new things you’ve tried and loved this year?
• are there any areas in which you want to change over the next year?
• what are you doing now that you want to continue doing next year?
• what advice would you give your 21 year old self? (this was Jonathan’s question to me and I gave a rambling-ly long response about how I used to not want to get married because I thought married people were horribly boring and then Jonathan was like, “ummmm…wait, I think you forgot the question. and why did you decide to get married?” and then I couldn’t remember what happened to my argument about married people being boring. all I know is that I’m glad I’m married to Jonathan. despite my previous arguments against marriage.)
• how has becoming a parent changed you?

There are, of course, a whole host of questions you could ask. And even though these questions are mostly pretty serious, there was a whole lot of laughing going on – mostly because I’m so incredibly awkward in front of a camera that I can’t help but laugh nervously even though no one else is watching. It’s a lovely talent I possess.

How did you record the video?

In 2014, we used a highly technical process called an iPhone.
In 2015, my husband’s iPhone was low on storage, so we used the webcam on his computer to record it.

We’re very tech-y, as you can clearly see.

What do you do with the videos?

We save them. On our computer and external hard drive.

We didn’t make these videos to show anyone except ourselves. And maybe our kids one day if they feel like watching them. Which they probably won’t. We’ve watched our 2014 video several times over the last year and it’s just incredibly fun, funny, and – dare I say – even instructive to listen to and watch our interaction with each other. I really cannot recommend it enough.

So, get ye to a chair with your spouse. Think up a few questions. Grab some hot chocolate or something. And start rollin’ the video.
Chances are, you’ll make some fun memories in the process. As always, if you try this, I’d absolutely love to hear about it!

Happy memory making.