How to Organize Your Photos

Photo organization is more important than ever before. I say this because the amount of photos we take now is astronomically more than we did 5-7 years ago. I'd venture to say that most of us don't even print our pictures out anymore (at least not the majority) because where in the world would we put them all?? Last year I took close to 8,500 pictures. That's a lot of pictures! I just got a smart phone a few months ago (Behind the times, I know!) and I'm betting that will even increase that number more. Without good organization, all this documenting I'm doing has a good chance of never even being seen by my children when they grow up. What a waste! So today, I'd like to share with you how I digitally organize my photos or basically a glimpse into my "process".

Step One: Upload

Everyday or perhaps every few days I hook up my DSLR and phone to my computer and upload every picture to Lightroom. Lightroom has been such a fantastic way for me to organize my photos, but no worries, if you don't have it the ideas I'm about to share will still be helpful. I have a "Pictures" folder on Lightroom and my computer that sorts everything out by year then the date.

A glance at photo organization in Lightroom...

Step Two: Edit

I then go through my upload and delete the ones that are blurry or what not and flag the ones that are my absolute favorites. I define favorites as the ones that are framable or possibly usable in a photo book at some point. I'm trying to do a little better at weeding out as I'm still left with quite a few "okay" ones. I just have a hard time parting with some of the candids! You just never know what you will want to look at years down the road.

Yearly "Favorites" Collection...

*Notice how few pictures are in each folder.

Ok so at this point I edit the "favorites". And yes, I typically do all of this the day that I shoot the photos. I have found it is very, very important to not get behind on this. Do it while it's still exciting and then be done with it instead of letting it overwhelm you later. After I edit, I save my favorites in a collection in Lightroom. I label these in my back-up disk as Date_Edited_Event. And my "okay" photos are just labeled Date_Event. That way I can quickly find my favorites if I need them for a blog post or photo book. Some days are just labeled with a date and those are typically my random phone shots that just have 1-5 pics in the folder. 

Step Three: Back-up

I back-up my photos 4 different ways. I feel this is super important because you can never trust just one system. Everything has a potential risk of failure, but it's highly unlikely that all three systems would fail me at once. 

Everyday

I use an online backup system to automatically backup everything on my computer and my external hard drives every single day. I personally use Crashplan although there are many services out there like it. It costs $5/month on a month to month basis...I did a longer term, I believe 4 years and it costs $4/month. I don't know about you, but peace of mind is worth a lot more than that to me so I'm happy to hand over my money. I've used it to restore accidentally deleted files. If your whole computer goes down you can either restore it online for free or you can have them ship everything to you on a hard drive for about $200 for a quicker restore. Considering I have all my memories on here....that is priceless. 

I also use my computers back up system to back up everything on an external hard drive. I do this less often than I should...every few days, but it should really be everyday!

Monthly

At the end of each month I transfer all of my photos to an external hard drive. I sort them much like I do in Lightroom. 

Inside my 2013 folder...

A look inside the month of October...

I also upload them to Shutterfly. I solely do this because it is typically where I order my photo books from and how I share pictures with family. They have an easy to use sharing site that will email your family once a week to share any new pictures you choose to share with them. I previously used Kodak as my go to photo site and was greatly disappointed to learn that Shutterfly does not offer high resolution downloads. If I had not backed up my pictures elsewhere I'd be stuck with low-res quality pictures if I ever wanted to order from any other site!

**Side Note** I know we are talking mostly about pictures here, but I do the same thing for my videos. I separate all my videos from my pictures into their own little folder each month. At the end of the month I'll put together a highlights reel of sorts using iMovie in hopes that maybe one day my kids will actually watch it instead of having to sort through hours of video to find the good stuff!

Step Four: Making It All Tangible

Oh, this is the step I'm still working on. I try so hard to think about how our children are going to be able to sort through all of this documentation one day. If I took an average of 8,500 pictures every year for the next 18 years that would be 153 MILLION pictures and probably a years worth of hours of video. No one is ever going to sort through that people! 

At the moment, I make a year end video using all my monthly highlight reels and stick it on a DVD as well as my back up disk. I also make a yearly photo album using my "favorite" pictures and a yearly Instagram only photo book to show more of our daily life. Minus the pictures I hang on the wall, I do not order prints. There are just too many! And where would I put them???

Instagram Books

Lately I have been feeling the need to make the boys their own keepsake box of photos. I love photo books, but I just make one each year for the family and the photos are still not really tangible for the boys in the future. I'm hoping to order one of these for each of the boys soon to put my absolute favorite photos in it each year and perhaps put together some sort of disk with extra photos and video for them to go through one day. I don't want all this work to go to waste! 

How do you make your photos/videos tangible for the future generations?

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Getting All Caught Up...

Apparently, I've given myself some grace in the blogging department, but here I am. Hello. I always have such a hard time bouncing back from breaks and honestly we are just now getting back into the swing of normalcy around here. But that's okay...just practicing some more grace in life right?

I think I mentioned this in my last post, but I decided that this year I would join in on the Project 365 fun on Instagram. You can follow me here. I'm not sure how often I will link up on the blog, but today seemed like a good day to have a picture filled random post so here is what we have been up to so far in 2014...

1/365

I woke my husband up 20 minutes before this picture was taken at midnight. Approximately 5 minutes later he puked (and it was not from having too much fun). Yep, that's how this household rings in a New Year....with sickness. I'm holding out hope that it was just left over sickness from 2013. Fingers Crossed.

Besides that little detail we had a very wonderful New Years Eve. We took both boys to see Frozen. They were entranced the whole time. Ethan was caught up in my Sour Patch kids (and the singing) and Jackson was mesmerized by the large bag of buttery popcorn. Although I much would have seen American Hustle or Saving Mr. Banks, I have to say I really enjoyed the movie. We even braved dinner after the movie and I couldn't have been more pleased with the way the boys handled it all. Yay for getting out again!

2/365

This little guy has been doing more and more walking lately and he is completely obsessed with apples! Really, food in general is an obsession at this point. He is now officially our number one beggar and he has some pretty stiff competition. We had our one year appointment yesterday and finally this guy is in the clear growth-wise. Height and weight are both over 40% and his head is still ginormous at 78%. 

3/365

We have decided to continue with the Emeals program this year. We have been doing the clean eating plan and I love how easy meal planning has become. We are still struggling with managing a grocery budget though! This week will be our first week trying out the low-calorie and comfort food menus (the comfort food is per request of the husband). I'm hoping these might be a tad less costly, but we will see. 

4/365

Ethan is now obsessed with having all kinds of things in his bed with him. We are up to 3 "blanks", a fox**, an "Ellie", a turtle and various bears. This is why I have a fairly strict "please no stuffed animals as gift" rule. These were all preapproved gifts by the way ;). I know, I suck. But seriously, he carts everything downstairs in a crate everyday and most of the time requires multiple trips or assistance. It's getting out of control.

**And yes, we are OBSESSED with "What Does A Fox Say?". He almost knows all the words and even has a book.

5/365

One of my goals this year is to find more one on one time with Ethan. I get to spend special time with Jackson while E's at school, but honestly I hardly ever get any one on one time with Ethan. This has got to change. I miss being fun and silly with my boy. Not that we can't be fun and silly with Jackson...it's just different. I'm spread thinner, more distracted. We need our special time. So when we got a chance to go to the grocery store by ourselves, I let him do something he always begs me to do...push the cart. Watch out folks! We are dangerous both to other shoppers and our grocery budget. I'm pretty sure I came home with at least 5 items I had no recollection of putting in our cart. 

6/365

Jackson is in teething hell right now. Scratch that. We are all in teething hell right now.  My beautiful, angel of a sleeper is now a party animal who refuses to go to sleep and won't even settle for being rocked or held. He has had 6 teeth for the longest time, but now has at least 4-5 more coming in all at once. I recently got him some teething tablets and one of those crazy, magic bead necklaces is on it's way to our front door. *Hangs head in shame.*

Oh hey, did you know last week it snowed and was really freaking cold? Yeah...it even made it's way down here to Tennessee and we enjoyed it for all about 5 minutes. Anything below 30 degrees is entirely too cold for me. Please never make me move north. That statement was probably the kiss of death.

7/365

Not only am I not prepared for cold weather, neither was our house apparently. While I love having snow for a short period of time because of its beauty, I could do without the cold that comes with it. We had a busted pipe causing water to spill out of ceiling in the bedroom and one heating unit stopped working on us all in the same day. Thankfully our downstairs unit held strong and we all just piled into our warm, yet leaky bedroom. I am super thankful to God that everything was resolved the next day with very little impact to our wallet thanks to a handy husband. 

While the experience was annoying, it did remind me of how lucky we are to have the simple things like a warm, dry house that can weather out the cold. I really feel for families less fortunate than us that can't afford to keep their heat running for days or don't have enough coats for their children when in-climate and unusual weather strikes. The experience was a little reality check for sure. 

8/365

If you pretend I am on central time, then I made this picture just in the nick of time to count for day 8. I thought this project would be a snap, but turns out sometimes it is hard to find beauty or something interesting in a typical normal day. I'm thankful that this project is going to stretch me in that aspect. 

9/365

Yesterday was the first day in what feels like 3 weeks that actually was normal. I was needing that so much. Ethan headed back to school, Michael actually left the house for work and Jack and I had a couple of errands to run. It felt so good to be back on track! 

As always, I appreciate your support. Thanks for over 200 likes on Facebook. Totally amazed...

More Grace in 2014

I honestly think 2014 is the first year in many, many years that I truly do not know what is going to happen. We have a few travel plans we hope to follow through with, but other than that the calendar and life planning are generally clear. I am looking forward to the surprises that life will bring this coming year (hopefully good ones!). But good or not so good, I'm leaving it to God to show the way. 

Every year I come up with a little paragraph about my hopes and goals for the next year, nothing too specific, just a general theme. I find it's invigorating and nice to start the new year with a little inward focus. I just love the thought of a fresh start and a renewed focus on bettering myself and life around me. 

Quite frankly, my goals have been somewhat similar the last few years: slow down, enjoy the moments, be a more joyful giver and financially fit. And this coming year, is not really any different. I still want to focus on those very same things. With every new little life change…a new baby here, a new move there…new challenges always seem to arise. There is definitely still room for improvement.

This year though, I'd like to add a new focus to the list. Something that God has laid on my heart and that is to have more grace. More grace for myself; more grace for others. If I may confess, this is not a strong suit I have. It is a place where I fail time and time again. I have very little patience for things not going as planned whether it is my own fault or someone else's. It causes undue stress for myself and everyone else and it's time I practice giving myself and those around me more grace.

Happy new year friends! 


**To fill my goal of slowing down and soaking in the little moments life brings, I've decided to do project 365 through Instagram. You can follow me @mythoughtsuninterrupted.**

The Best of 2013

The year just doesn't seem complete without some kind of look back of all the little and big things this year has brought us. I've been blessed with several new pairs of eyes around the blog lately so hopefully this will give you all a chance to catch up and see something new. For those of you who have been around…maybe you'll see something you've missed!

January

January was all about a new life with two. I wrote about Jackson's arrival and my first week being outnumbered. Life certainly picked up pace but was also smattered with lots of baby cuddles. My, possibly over detailed, "Day in the Life" post was statistically a big hit. I gave breastfeeding another go and made the horrific discovery that Jackson was allergic to dairy. January also brought our first big snow and we discovered just how wonderful Ethan took on the role of big brother.

February

February brought on the first round of the sickies. Honestly, if I had to sum up 2013, I would refer to it as the year of the snots. For the love…we still have them. Be gone already! Our family went into survival mode and we made the unfortunate discovery that Ethan becomes super hyperactive on any kind of allergy medication. Joy. I opened up and shared my "Just a Mom" moment and made the goal of focusing on patience during the season of Lent.

March

March brought us a new sense of normalcy. I had experienced a new love for my toddler and longed to bottle up his innocence. I shared my favorite baby items and some postpartum essentials. I also confessed to not being able to do it all…or at least not all at once. 

April

In April, I blogged about blogging (tsk, tsk!). I confessed to sucking at Twitter and emailing and urged you all to connect with me on Facebook and Instagram (@mythoughtsuninterrupted)…my happy places. I mourned the fact that I was entering the last year of my twenties. In case you were wondering, I'm over it now. I also shared a super cute 2.5 year v-log interview of Ethan (of course, I might be biased). 

May

In May I talked about life with boys and how I consider myself to be an adventurous parent. I lamented over the fact that I still did not have parenthood all figured out and proclaimed that for Mother's Day all I wanted was my own freaking time out. I marveled at the joy of sibling love and enjoyed a family fun beach vacation. May was apparently a roller coaster of emotions.

June

June apparently was a turn around month for me (minus the fact that the "trying threes" reared their ugly head a little earlier than planned). I urged you all to be confident mothers and wrote about why I thought second borns were the lucky ones. I also gave a little shout-out to my better half on our 5 year anniversary while we took a romantic get away to Asheville, NC.

July

July contained a wide variety of events. I shared 7 warnings about potty training. I also kicked off Operation Get Fit with some embarrassing post partum photos. I reminded myself to let my first born be little and shared some photos from a baby "love" shower I hosted. 

August

Jackson honed his crawling skills in August and Ethan began school after we took our last mountain vacation to Bryson City, NC. I wrote a review on the Dr. Oz Cleanse which is one of my most popular posts to date on a subject that isn't talked about much on here ever. I also shared a v-log with you guys about a parenting fail of mine and discovered that you guys do like v-logs…every once in awhile. I haven't done one since.

September

We returned to the beach and hit a parenting sweet spot in September. I shared a favorite recipe, attempted to teach my child to count and did a follow up post to Operation Get Fit. I also vowed to put myself on my priority list because as we all know: "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!".

October

Ethan turned 3 in October and I talked about letting go and striving to be a better example. I struggled with not feeling personally fulfilled and wondered if the grass might be greener on the other side. October brought us more sickness and cancelled plans and let's just say I wasn't sad to head into November.

November

We finally got over sickness enough to celebrate Ethan with a Red Tractor themed party in November. I reminded myself to take in the moment and I got rather crafty and broke my "no Christmas before Thanksgiving" rule by decorating early. I shared tutorials on painted mason jars and making an advent wreath. I did a final (for now) Operation Get Fit update and joined up with some other bloggers to form a local Knoxville Mom's Blog.

December

Jackson turned one in December and I did my final monthly onesie update. I shared one last craft (a DIY typography canvas) and then gave you a holiday home tour. My son reminded me that pretty came from within and then I took some time off to enjoy the holiday season with my family. 

Looking back, I can say 2013 has been a transitional year for sure. We did a lot of learning and adjusting and I think we have finally found our groove. Thank you all so much for the love and support you all show me and my family. I truly enjoy connecting with you all! I strive for this blog to be a place where you can feel normal and a little inspired and I hope I have provided that for you. I'm looking forward to 2014 and everything that it will bring. 

Just 10 shy from 200 on FB! You guys rock!

Jackson's 1 and Thoughts on More...

**This will probably be my last post until after Christmas so I can take a break and enjoy time with my family. I hope you and yours have a very wonderful holiday! In the meantime you can keep up with our fun here and/or here.**

So, I know I haven't mentioned this yet on the blog, but I HAVE A ONE YEAR OLD?!? How did this happen? Truly. I'm stunned at how fast babyhood passed by this time. 

I shouldn't really say "passed by". It was savored. It just went quicker than I would have liked. While I know he still is baby-ish at this point, the (and I use this term very loosely) experienced mama in me knows that in fewer than 6 months he will most certainly be exhibiting all the toddler traits. It will be an exciting time for sure, but I will miss babyhood. 

Since I just posted his 11 month update 10-ish days ago, there really isn't much to report…except that this happened just last night.

While I didn't exactly encourage it, I am so excited for Jack to be walking now. I have been waiting for the day that my two boys can run around the house together and really play on more of an even field. I know that the even-ness is still really some time off now, but we are getting closer right? These two kids are quite a pair and love each other so much. Just the other night, Jack crawled over to Ethan and gave him the biggest hug. Sweetest.thing.ever!

Jackson has been such an easy baby and seeing the two boys together only makes this mama want more. Seriously…I need another baby. Chest snuggles and chubs…well my babies are never chubby…and sweet giggles and newborn smells. Please don't tell me it's over forever! Michael on the other hand is having a mild heart attack, but no worries, God-willing we will be having at least one more. 

While the thought of additional mess makers does scare me somewhat, I have started to see how the transition from two to three might not be as, should I say, shocking? scary? as it was going from one to two. Mama's of three or more…am I right or just living in a crazy delusional, hormonal, sad that my baby just turned one world? On second thought…just let me stay there. It's probably better that way.

Tidbits about Jack: He is a true Christmas baby and is loving all things Christmas-y. Besides mama, dada and lola; he can now say tree, star and this. He loves, loves, loves Christmas lights and in fact we went on a little Christmas light walk as a way to celebrate his actual b-day. His party…well…that will be in January since this mama can't handle Christmas and birthday planning all at the same time.


This first year has been wonderful. I am sad to see it go, but I am looking forward to what's to come. I can't wait to see more of Jackson's personality revealed and more adventures with two!

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