Do you ever experience a time where you go to your computer portrait files or even flip through your files on your phone and look at all of your pictures and almost have that overwhelming feeling of; “Well, crap. I need to put these photos in scrapbooks and get them off of my computer and or phone.” And you’re so right. They aren’t doing you any good just sitting in your computer and phone.

As a photographer I encourage and educate my clients to have their images printed into prints or into albums. It is always a great idea to organize your images and save them in organized files on your hard drive. Although, if you skip the printing step, what is the purpose in having them take up so much space in your phone and on your computer. No one can see them. No one can cherish these images with you. And how often do you look through them? I thought the purpose of taking pictures was to cherish and be reminded of those glorious times and to have them hand in hand to look through often and yet we don’t want to let go of the images that take up so much storage space.

We are all guilty of doing this. We live in a digital world where we take for granted in having a camera in our pocket and taking as many images as we want. Many wont ever know the experience using film and waiting for it to be developed. And for many of us that have experienced that, have forgotten that moment of waiting to see how our images turned out.

This is the moment where I have decided to go through each year and “scrapbook” ( journal) my images that are on my computer. Many are digital, and many are film images that I have scanned. But each of these images tells a story. Now I have had my share of external hard drives that crapped out and lost thousands and thousands of images. But, I can’t dwell on what has been lost, but I can share and cherish the ones that I still have.

Come and enjoy this journey down memory lane as I take you all on a photo dump ride of my life. Let me start from the VERY beginning.

“Once upon a time…….” Lol; I’m just kidding, I won’t bore you with the entire story, but I will share what I have saved on my files. Many of my film images have already been scrapbooked, but the ones I have left I want to get them into books and I figured this is a great place to start.

My Parents got married April 6 1982. I was born in Arizona on February 3rd 1983. I am the oldest of 5; 2 brothers and 2 sisters. We all were best friends and believe it or not, we didn’t really fight. Our life was filled with dancing, performing, practicing the piano, doing inside and outside chores, singing, going to church, reading the scriptures and praying as a family. My parents had order, taught us how to be respectful and the importance of family, we laughed, quoted movies with each other, and yet, my parents marriage struggled and came to an end 2018/2019.

Pictures can bring two sides of emotions; joy and laughter or pain and heartache. But, I have learned that we need not to throw the pain under the rug. Memories are apart of our lives. Whatever emotion the memomories bring need to be embraced, recognized and learned. Ask yourself; ” What was my favorite part of this memory? ” What is painful now that I can recognize and learn from?” My parents did so much for me and my siblings. I recognize that now. As a teengager and even a young adult, I hated it. I only remembered the frustrating times and the things they did that I didn’t agree on. But my parents worked hard to keep us together and strong. Though they separated on their personal differences and choices, I can look back and think on how many powerful lessons and experiences I learned that helped me to reconginze my own feelings, heal from my pain, and cherish what I have.

Click Here to read Chapter 2 of the Story. You will receive a free motivational wallpaper image for your phone at the end of Chapter 3. I hope you enjoy!!!

Hugs-

Britney