Name: Heidi Bullock

Hometown: Parowan, Utah

Major: General Studies

Engagement track: Creativity

 

Memories to See and Enjoy

 

           

I chose to take the 15+ years of pictures I have accumulated and organize them. I wanted them all in one place vs. the many different devices, and storage options they were currently located. I wanted them to be backed up and protected. I wanted to put them into albums. I wanted to be able to look thru and enjoy the memories we have made. I also wanted a system to be able to continue so current memories can be documented the same way.

           

I wanted to learn and utilize digital options as well. I wanted to have everything stored digitally for convenience and accessibility. It was important to be able to find the pictures I was looking for and be able to do projects or albums. I wanted to minimize the process by keeping the pictures digital. This way I can put them right into albums and have photo books printed.

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My inspiration for this project came from my feelings of anxiety. My kids kept growing. The piles of pictures kept growing- mostly on my computer or phone. The worry of losing all the pictures haphazardly stored in so many places kept growing. I was getting further and further behind. I needed to do something. This project gave me the accountability to get motivated.

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Challenges are part of life. I ran into a few along my way. The first challenge was the sheer volume of stuff I had accumulated. I didn’t have enough space on my computer to hold all the files. I moved to a different computer but then needed to purchase an external drive to download all the CDs holding pictures. This led to purchasing online storage space so everything could be in one place eventually.

 

Another challenge was wanting to stop and look at everything along the way. This took up way too much time. I would easily get distracted and then progress would slow. Keeping focus and determining the direction I wanted to go to end up in the correct destination (finished product) was difficult!

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This project has brought benefits to more than just myself and my peace of mind. My whole family has enjoyed looking thru pictures. We have remembered so many important events in our lives. We have learned more and gained appreciation for each other. It has also made finding pictures or remembering dates for things like school projects a lot easier!

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True, I am the greatest beneficiary for this project. I sleep easier knowing all our families memories are safely stored (in more than one place), organized, easy to access, and available for enjoyment. My storage of so many physical pictures and scrapbook product has been minimized. Piles have disappeared. In their place I have albums. Albums filled with memories, stories, experiences, and people that mean so much to me.

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I had to keep saying to myself, “Keep going. Don’t stop to look now. Soon it will be easier to look thru everything. Don’t stop. You’ll never finish if you look at everything now. Not everything is sentimental!”

 

Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.

                                                  ~L.M. Montgomery

 

Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.

                                                                                                ~Dr. Seuss