Beauty Day 8

Organization!!

Not what most people have in mind when they think of beauty, but really, it truly is a beautiful thing. I'm not great at organizing. Well that's not entirely true. I organize in my own way which Jason says is ridiculous. It's Meg-anized which Jason sees as just a bunch of piles that don't make any sense -- to HIM. But usually I can find what it is that I'm looking for. I always have good intentions when it comes to organization. I buy the organizers, figure out how I want to do things, start the project and then BAM! Something else catches my attention or I just get tired of it, which leaves me half organized on a lot of things. Going back to finish the organization is a daunting task, and I tried to do anything but go back to it. Which just leaves even more that needs to be organized. And so the vicious cycle is created and repeated.

About three years ago I raided my parents' house and took all of their photos. Over 40 years worth of photos! Crazy of me, huh? But they were a mess at mom and dad's house. There was no organization to them. And my mom doesn't really scrap. So they would never be put in any sort of scrapbook album. I wanted to be able to make albums for them, so that one day, when they are no longer here, I can have them back for my children and future generations. So I grabbed the huge box of photos and started a rough sort. Basically I sorted them by decade and threw them in gallon sized ziploc bags and threw them back in the box. And there they sat. In a box by decades for a year.

Later, I grabbed the 70s and skipped to 1976 (when I was born) and started organizing the photos. I created Volume I of my childhood album 1976-1979. And then I puttered out. I got busy with other projects. I had a baby and had to work on his album and keep his photos organized.

So the photos that I took three years ago from mom and dad were partially organized (okay okay 3 years were organized and scrapped) and the remainder 37 years worth of photos were in ziplocs. In November I started to read Stacy Julian's "Photo Freedom" and decided that I wanted to begin my own Library of Memories. Great aspiration, Meg, but did you remember that you're not great about organization and in order to accomplish such a task you need to organize!! Luckily for me, I've scrapped all of our family photos up until 2008 since Austin was born in 1996. So I've got 11 years worth of photos in albums already and 2008 is on the computer, organized by month. I'm ahead of the game, right? Umm, no, 'cause I'd like to use some of my photos from my childhood.

Last night I decided to bite the bullet and begin the organization process of the photos from my parents. I grabbed the two full bags of 1980s photos. I took 5x7 index cards and wrote on the top of each card the season and year, from Winter 1979/80 until Winter 1989/90. I covered my 6 foot scrapping table with the cards and then began the sort. 90% of the photos have been sorted. Mom is coming over tomorrow to help me with a few stragglers that I can't seem to figure out when they were taken. I started putting the photos in Pioneer 3-Up albums and its been so awesome to see the progress. It has also brought back such great memories of my childhood. I've found a few photos of me that are spitting images of Riley and Matthew. I've already planned out a few pages I want to make in the near future.

I'm feeling inspired and relieved all at once. The great part is once the 80s are finished, I only have 4 years of photos to organize that will get me through to my high school graduation. I've already scrapped my senior year as well as my college years and then in 1996 my son was born. And like I said, everything from 1996 until December 2007 is scrapped! I see light at the end of the tunnel and it just makes me feel so good!