I ended last year disappointed in myself for quite a few things. It was not a good way to live a year, nor end a year. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to expectations and I am learning to be more kind to myself and let go of many things. But some things are too important to let go of. One of the greatest disappointments that I walked away bearing last year was the way I completely abandoned my families memories.
I have always been meticulous when it comes to photos and keeping them tucked away in albums, neat, organised and categorised. Until we bought a digital camera, then the sheer volume of photos that we were taking simply overwhelmed me. Combine this with the arrival of AJ into our lives and our digital photo images were simply transferred onto computer, a few shared on Facebook and quickly forgotten about.
That was until I discovered Snapfish. We now have a growing tower of digital photo albums and I cannot possibly imagine keeping our memories any other way. Well, until of course, I neglected all our photos last year. Not one album designed. Not one image transferred to Snapfish. Now I have a mountain of photos to sort through, an even bigger mountain of images to process from RAW before I can start uploading and making our albums.
But I’m not discouraged. This year is all about surrender. So I am letting go of the anxious overwhelming feeling that this task is too big and just getting on with it. I have been transferring photos from my camera straight into folders organised by date and occasion. So sorting through the images is no issue – they are sorted already. Next I will make a check list: photos to be processed – photos to be uploaded – albums to design. Each holiday, birthday, special occasion and school year for each of the boys is placed into its own album. Then each year has its own yearbook.
One hour a day should be all I need to get this ball rolling again. The albums are super easy to design and I get to relive all those precious memories again as I sit scrolling through photos. Remembering just how important these connections are that we make and how without these memories life would be tinged with a sense of emptiness and sadness.
I’m not looking at this task as something on my “to-do” list. No, this is something I want to do and can’t wait to get started. Want to join me? You can get started here.
How do you preserve your families memories?
Do you have a mountain of photos you need to sort and organise?
Disclosure: Written in collaboration with Snapfish and Digital Parents Collective. Before you judge that this is a sponsored post, I would like to say that for me this post has been a welcome blessing. It was the kick start I so desperately needed to get the ball rolling again. Snapfish is not something new in my life and I am grateful for the opportunity to reconnect with how important it is for me and for my family to make these memories long lasting. If you need a little kick start to keep your families memories sorted and organised Snapfish have created four coupon offers that you can use. These will expire 31st January:
• FUN20X28 40% off 20x28cm Custom Hardcover Photo Book – 20 pages
• FUN28X20LF 40% off 28x20cm, Portrait (A4 size) Lay-flat Photo Books – 20 pages
• FUN30X30 40% off 30x30cm Square Canvas Prints
• FUN30X45 40% off 30x45cm Rectangle Canvas Print
T&Cs: Valid until 31st January 2014, can be used up to 10 times on Snapfish.com.au or Snapfish.co.nz sites only. *note, Lay-flat Photo Book not available for sale in NZ.
