2018 Vista Project – installment 2: Organizing, cataloging, and temporary storing

I do not know how I ended up with 2500 photos!!!! Some of the photos have 5 copies of it as those are ones my daughter has selected for herself. So, I figured if she wanted one, maybe the others would want one too!!!! There are a handful that have 2 copies. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with those extras but I’m sure I will figure it out.

When I started this project, the photos were in the boxes we received them in from Shutterfly. I had already gone through all the photos to determine which area they should be in. And by area, I mean pre-cruise, travel day, embarkation day, and so on. This was a good start, but, obviously, still had a long way to go.

To begin the next part of my project, I would need index cards, a columnar pad, and photo boxes. Unfortunately, I did not have any photo boxes on hand, at least none that I could find. So I suppose shoe boxes will have to work, at least temporarily.

I knew I would need to divide the photos by section, so I made some dividers to use to separate the photos I would be storing in old shoe boxes. Apparently I did not plan well enough to have photo boxes on hand. Either that or I’m just blind and they are right in front of my face! So, I first made dividers to use in the photo albums for each section with the sections being: Precruise Follies, Travel Day, Embarkation, Sea Day #1, Sea Day #2, Mahogany Bay, Belize, Cozumel, Sea Day #3, and The End. I also made some dividers to divide the photos into sections. And then I made some divider cards to use within each section. One for photos chosen for possible scrapbook page and one for the photos that will go in the photo album.

The next thing I did was to sort the photos by the date, if printed on the back of the photo, and image number found on the back of the photo. The image number from the cell phones are different from the ones we took from our camera. Cell phone photos start with IMG_ while our camera photos start with P. Once they were all sorted, a made 3 separate image lists: one for cell phone photos, one for camera photos, and one for the photos we purchased from our excursion to Dolphinaris in Cozumel.

The only think left to do was to put the photos in the shoe boxes and start to decide which ones belong in which sub-category. But that will be in the next installment… maybe.

This has been a very time consuming process, but one that I think will be beneficial. Why? Since dementia runs in the family, I will have written documentation of who was on the trip with us. I know this will be very beneficial for my mom!

2022 Special Mom Project – Installment 1: Creating a scrapbook/photo album for mom to recap 2021.

2021 was not the best year, but it was not as bad as 2020. Unfortunately, the time we were able to spend with my mom was very limited. Luckily, I took pictures almost every time we went somewhere.

I have decided to make a scrapbook/photo album of the adventures we had last year. In a chronological order, there will be a 2-page scrapbook spread. The left page will have the date of the activity, what we did, and who was with us. The right side will have a scrapbook page with the photos. Any additional photos will be placed in photo protectors and put in the album immediately after the scrapbook page. This is something I know she will like.

I store all of my photos on Shutterfly. Today, using the Shutterfly app, I ordered all of the pictures I took of her last year. I have been ordering my photos from Shutterfly for a long time now. I have boxes and boxes and boxes of the photos I ordered from our 2018 Carnival Vista cruise. The quality has always been great and their service is excellent.

A website I love to use for my scrapbook needs is scrapbook.com I have purchased several 12 x 12 scrapbook albums from them. They never disappoint. Today, I found the PERFECT album to use for this special project.

I am very excited about this special project for my mom. I cannot wait until the photos and the scrapbook come in. I will be making notes of the things we have done while I wait. I hope you will follow along with me as I bring this project to life.

Modified Keto day 10 plus 3 packages in the mail!!!

I must honest, today started out real rough. I woke up with a migraine that did not go away until around 6 this evening. I managed to drag myself out of bed around 10 and decided to fix myself something to eat. Today’s breakfast consisted of bacon and eggs. And yes, I did have my normal coffee intake. But, once again, no Starbucks.

The cruise countdown cheered me up but didn’t make the headache go away. I wonder if the diet has anything to do with the headaches…

I did receive some packages in the mail today. One from Baublebar, one from Michaels, and UPS delivered 2 Shutterfly orange envelopes. Not only did I get the replacement photos that UPS conveniently misplaced last month, I also received the replacement photos that Shutterfly sent. But since I still had a headache, I did not open the packages.

In the late afternoon, I started getting a little hungry so I had the last of the left over chicken stuff I made yesterday and I also had one hotdog that was sliced and stuffed with cheese then wrapped in bacon. My beverage of choice after my morning coffee was unsweetened ice tea.

Once I started feeling better I started opening a couple of the boxes. Up first was Baublebar. Today’s package only contained one pair of earrings, the Fantasia Drop Earrings. I just love them and I cannot wait to wear them on our cruise. I also received the Lobe Wonder Ear Support patches I want to try and the Devonne Sunglasses in pink which was a gift with purchase. I truly love they way they package their products.

Then I opened the box from Michaels. I could not wait to see the different colors of vinyl I ordered. I’m even more excited to start playing with them on my Cricut Explore Air. I have plans for some tumblers and now that I have all of the different colors of Vinyl that I want, I’m going to really start on the tumblers this week. Maybe even tomorrow!!! These are the colors I ordered: light yellow, red, grape, azure, med blue, caribbean, and flamingo. I’m just so excited!!!

Now about the Shutterfly orange envelope thingy’s… It is obvious that the original one was damaged and so far, I have been afraid to open that envelope. But, I won’t know the extent of things until I do. It didn’t take much to open the original package and I was really afraid that the photos would be damaged but, to my surprise, there was nothing wrong with them!!! I guess now I can organize these photos as well as the photos from our Carnival Triumph cruise and a trip to Galveston. There are plenty of photos to do some large scrapbooks!!!

With the headache finally gone, I feel energized! I think I will use this time to do something productive. I just do not know which productive thing I want to do. I think I will start with the photos so they do not get messed up!