Organization

Is this a 3 year old or....

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a beaten wife? Edited - to correct to 3 year old & 3rd birthday...

This picture is just wrong on so many levels....

But it still makes me laugh.  This was me on my 3rd birthday.  I don't remember the full story, but the way I remember the story as told to me was that a few days before my birthday my mom and dad were washing down the driveway and washing my Dad's truck.  I think they told me not to do it, but I climbed up in the bed of the truck, and very obviously fell and gave myself a black eye.

It required a trip to the emergency room.  My mom said they were questioned about it to make sure they didn't do this to me (they didn't). If I remember right I may have had a concussion. Now I know what's wrong with me. LOL!

I do remember later that evening, being on the couch with a big ice bag on my face.  Then a few days later I got to celebrate turning 3 looking like this.

The iron, just add's to the image. Even more so, since I can't remember the last time I ironed anything.

Over the past 8 months, I have been working through the 23,000+ pictures stored on my computer and cataloged in Adobe Lightroom.  Last year I scanned all of my pre-digital pictures, as well as those I had from my mom.  I have spent tons of hours organizing these pictures by date, tagging them with who, what and a bit of where. Rating the best to cull them down, deleting bad pictures that just are not worth keeping.

Why did I do this? Well for a few reasons...

  • This process is making it easier to find the stories from my childhood and family history that I want to tell.
  • I want to enjoy these pictures.  I can have them scrolling through a slide show on our digital frames and computer screen savers.
  • I have shared many of them with my parents and siblings.
  • I also think at the rate we take photos today. my boys will end up with hundreds of thousands of images from their family history. I don't want them to be so overwhelmed by the thought of it that they do nothing with them or worse delete them. Because they may not appreciate what they have until after I am gone.  At that point they would be left wondering who the people in the photos are.  The task to organize them at that point would be daunting, and likely never done.

I am establishing a process that I can maintain.  And while I was already well on my way, I am loving the  class that Kayla Lamoreaux  is offering on her site for Lightroom organization.  She started with digital scrapbooking supplies, but has just moved into the photo organization module. And amazingly she is giving this class for FREE. If you have any desire to improve your photo organization, I strongly suggest you check it out. Even if you use a different organization program she has a lot of really great methods for organizing your photos.

Life, Organization, Scrapbooking and Valentine’s Day

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(Photo heavy post ahead) 2011 is already zipping on by.  We have been keeping busy with long work days, home organization projects and trying to fit in some creative/hobby time (usually late at night after the boys go to sleep.

Today’s challenge at ScrapTiffany was to use metal or wire. I ended up making 3 layouts using this challenge. This is the one I submitted to Tiffany for the design team layouts.

This layout was rolling around my brain since a few days after my mom passed away in December. The Orianthi song Courage came on the radio and I knew this was something I needed to make….

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For this one I used some old metal flowers mixed with new.

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and this one I embossed a thin sheet of metal with the cuttlebug for the heart in the title and the photo corner. Pictures were from our photo shoot with Maggie Holmes.

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We have been on a clean out, get rid of and organize mission lately.  Two weekends ago we attacked the pantry and the linen closet.

This is what the pantry looked like when we started.

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And now, although I am not happy with a few things, so I have ordered some more of the larger baskets and will move some of the smaller ones to the laundry room cabinets. But it is nice to have a place for everything,.

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This is the start of the new backsplash, behind the stove. I have one more piece on backorder that will fit below the shelf area down to the counter top. But this is making me very happy.

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Superbowl Sunday was spent hanging around the house. Or climbing if you are Jackson…

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Making some yummy treats…

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Nicholas liked watching half time and the commercials more than the football game (just like his mommy)….

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I was home early from a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. Jackson was playing and then suddenly it was quiet….

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Nicholas now knows how to play Daddy’s train game on the computer….

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This past Saturday, Mike’s mom came to watch the boys so Mike and I could attack this disaster.  Our house has a 2 car and 1 car garage set up. The 1 car garage has become a dumping ground for everything….

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We took out everything opened all the bins and boxes. Moved all the shelves, swept, and wiped down everything.  Then we added new shelving and a file cabinet. And we actually have a garage again.

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In January I also did the larger garage. It wasn’t as crammed with stuff. This side just needed a better set up and a good clean out.  I guess I didn’t take a before shot, but here is how it looks now….

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my favorite area is this one. We do most of our grocery shopping at Costco, saving money is great, but storing the bulk stuff is a pain. Now it is all in one place, convenient to grab when we need it and easy to unload after the Costco trip each week.

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Nicholas in daddy’s shoes (showing off the closet that is coming up on the list of things to clean out).

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Mike has been busy working on his radio project.

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We celebrated Valentine’s with a few goodies for the kiddos.

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my Valentine’s present will be shipping from Verizon soon….

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After the kiddos went to bed, my Valentine and I spent the rest of the evening enjoying

Dinner….Greek Salad

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Wild Mushroom Lasagna and Meatballs….

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and a movie…

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Have a great week!