We all talk about New Year’s resolutions this time of year. It’s all over social media, and I’ve listened to multiple podcasts on different perspectives on how they’re made, how to stick to them, what to do or not to do. I’m not an expert by any means on any of this, but I do feel pretty good about what I’ve got going on so far. I would love to break down one of my goals and how it’s evolved since I made the resolution last year… and failed at it… and how this year is already going so much better!
I’ve made several goals for myself and my family for this year. Here’s a brief overview to hopefully inspire you and your family!
- We are participating in the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge, which is a fantastic page to follow on social media if you’re not already. This means that I will get me and the kids outside as much as possible (and track the hours, which is what I’ve been terrible at in the past), in hopes of celebrating milestones along the way and getting 1000 hours in by the end of the year. So far we’re almost at 10 hours, which is just about 10 hours more than I would usually be found outside when it’s cold out!
- We’re going to continue (and be better at tracking) our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten for both kiddos, also celebrating milestones along the way, in hopes of getting both boys to the finish line this year!
- I’m doing a Bible in a Year reading plan through The Daily Grace Co with a group of friends… I think that’s the key on this one. More accountability! I tried and failed at this without it last year big time.
- We’re going to move more! I’m not sure exactly what this looks like yet. I’ve done walking challenges in the past through 99 Walks and loved it! But I also go to the gym and am working on our house… so maybe just working towards my daily activity goals on my smart watch? Either way, getting physically healthier is going to be big focus again.
The goal I wanted to break down for you is my photo organization. Last year my main resolution was to make memories and get better at saving, organizing, and displaying them. I did a few things that worked, some that didn’t, and started new things this year that are already feeling like they’re working much better!
I restarted my digital baby book for both kiddos using Qeepsake (I’ll link a referral code below for a discount), which I loved, but didn’t do great at staying consistent with it. I adjusted the settings this year so that I get just enough prompts to make it meaningful, but not too many to overwhelm me and make me give up. My happy number is 2 questions a week, one per kid. So far so good! Highly recommend this product.
I tried to make monthly photo books with Chatbooks. I did two. I hated it. Narrowing down my entire month’s worth of photos into 30 and printing it every month was way too much work for me. I love the concept and the platform was great, but printing photo books regularly is not my jam. I’ll share below for those of you who are paper book people!
I use an app to share photos with family. I go back and forth with this one, but ultimately decided that as long as I don’t feel like I have to back up every good photo and share our every moment, this works out great as a way to share our lives with just those people we want to, without having to share on social media or send a million texts. We use Family Album, and I’ve gone back to the free version and am happy with that for our purposes (I’ll post a link below).
I printed some of our best moments on canvases and made a gallery wall with Mixtiles. I highly recommend this company! I’m thrilled with how they turned out and how easy it was to install (I’ll link below).
Here’s my biggest change, and I’m so excited about it! I’ve decided to use Amazon Photos as my main photo back up (it’s free for Prime members, and I upgraded to include more video). I am also using this platform to organize and share my photos. It’s so user friendly and I love the Explore this Day option. This is how I am cleaning up my photo storage this year. Each day I go through just that section (so every pic from that day in previous years comes up) and I get rid of screenshots and meaningless pics. I don’t overthink it too much, just quickly clean it up. And then we share our photos on our Firestick so they display on our tv! This was a huge lightbulb moment for me. We’re a digital family. We like technology. As much as I try to limit screen time and try to go back to paper, it’s just not us. We love having a ginormous tv to watch shows and movies together. And now, when we’re sitting and playing in the living room, that huge tv is a digital photo album currently displaying all of my husbands “favorites”. My four year old just loves it. He lights up and often yells at us to look at the photo on the screen and wants to either ask questions or tell us the story. This is what woke me up. He doesn’t pay any attention to the photo albums I printed. I don’t have to minimize our moments down to 30 photos for the month. I just have to filter out the photos I don’t want shared on our screen, which helps me keep my photo organization in check. And now my photos are actually going to be enjoyed on a daily basis, rather than just being stored on my phone! I’m so exited to have this new perspective and platform to share our family photos, and I’m hoping to stick to it so that my photo collection on my phone is cleaned up before this time next year. So far so good!
I suppose my main takeaway with these goals is to just keep trying. Try new ways of doing things. Figure out what works for you in the process, not focusing on what you’re failing at, but rather what isn’t working for you. Then find something else that does! We’re all so very different in how we organize, communicate, and process things, so of course the same system isn’t going to work for all of us. Here’s your nudge to find your way in whatever goals you made for yourself and your family this year. Don’t be afraid to change it up to fit you (and not the other way around)!
Amazon Photos
Live Like A Daylily 
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