Full disclosure...

I got my first camera when I was a teenager, and have loved taking pictures for as long as I can remember. When I was in college, my dad, who was financially supporting me, and I were walking together one day. I was happily snapping pictures of... everything. He chastised me for wasting money on film and developing. My reply was something along the lines of, "I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs and I don't have a boyfriend." He got a $20 out of his wallet and told me to go buy more film.

When Rachel was born, her adoring father and I both took ridiculous numbers of pictures of her. Partly because we were enchanted, and partly because most of our family lived far away and we wanted to share the cuteness. The end result of this is (gasp!) 9 enormous storage totes filled to the brim with photographs. There are so many I don't know what to do with them all, but I do want to get them under control.  I have had them stashed in an seldom-used bathroom, and since they were covering almost all of the floor in there, it was easy to toss other items we didn't want/know what to do with on top of them. I am too embarrassed to share a picture, but the end result could have ended up on the TV show "Hoarders."  Last week I took every. Single. Item. out of that bathroom. Only the permanent fixtures remain. And then I devised a rough plan to start organizing.

I got out several large paper grocery bags. I labeled one with my name, and all photos of my family and of me before marriage go in there. There is one just like it for Chris and his family of origin.There are a few of us before we had a baby, and my favorite wedding picture.

Then I designated one bag for pictures of the years we spent in our first home in Memphis. There were lots and lots of pictures taken then, because Rachel was new and Chris worked for a photo developing lab. Another bag was to hold pictures taken during the years we lived in our second Memphis home. One bag is for pictures of us before we had a baby, and another bag is for pictures that need to be thrown away. At this point I have managed to go through almost two of the totes. I am taking a needed break to have a little lunch and write a blog post.

I've found some serious treasures. Infant pictures, Halloween costumes, sweet times in our little home.

There are dog pictures, some of dogs that were grooming customers and I have not seen in 25 years, but I remembered their names! Images of parties, times the house was full of laughing (and sometimes crying!) kids, and recordings of family visits. It's a bit emotional seeing my nieces and nephews when they were little, or coming across a picture of my parents looking healthy and vibrant.

(my mom, Rachel, niece Elyse, dad and Sam the pointer, taken on the front porch of the home my dad built and I grew up in.)

 Here is one of me with my sisters taken in the early '90's.

My plan of what to do once all the pictures are sorted into rough groups is a little vague. Judging by how my old photo albums are beat up and in disarray, it may be best to scan all the pictures and store them in some sort of digital file. I need to do a little research. If you have ideas, please share them with me.

My goal is to get all 9 (!) tubs sorted by the end of the week. Then I will take each bag, one at a time, and do more stringent filtering. Duplicates can be tossed, as can images with red eyes or people caught with an unpleasant expression on their face. After that I will work on the final storage plan.

(Rachel, second from left, with my friends three kids and my two English Springer Spaniels at our first home in Memphis.)

This project is daunting, a little emotional, and embarrassing, too. Why didn't I keep these organized? I will strive to do better.

This week I will spend steeping in memories, and sorting till my eyes cross!