Photos.

At one point or another, whenever I go back to my parents house I always seem to find myself sitting on the basement floor, sifting through thousands of photos from the past.

These photos sit in a big blue box and they are by no means organized - quite the opposite actually. They sit in their box, scattered, some with the corners just a tad bit ripped, some crinkled and all of them 100% jumbled together. You're never quite sure which photo you might pull out, and to be honest - that's just how I like it. 

The funny thing about this big blue box is that it isn't pretty - there are some dings, some rips and the lid barely stays on, yet it holds all of those photos, memories if you will.

I remember bringing my first boyfriend to this box and digging deep, sifting through photos as I shared memories and stories of my past.

Then I remember bringing Taylor down to the basement for the first time and the two of us sitting on the floor sifting through hundreds of photos and again, sharing all about my past.

And now I can't help but think that one day we'll remember bringing our kids to this box and just like we did, they'll dig and find photos and share memories of their Gammy, Pappy, aunties and uncles. 

Sure you could say that this is just a big blue box, but in my 26 years I have come to realize that not only does it hold all of our precious memories, but it is a creator of so many new memories. 

The other day Taylor and I were sitting on our couch watching a show and I found myself on my phone scrolling through photos from the past year. My mind drifted to our future and how one day our kids would most likely want to look at pictures of us from "way back when". It then hit me that when our kiddos go to look at our photos, it's likely that it will be on a screen of some sort, and as I realized that, I felt my heart sink. 

There's something about realizing how fast this world is changing and the things that we used to do, the simplicity that used to be and the memories such as mine with that big blue box, my kids may not ever experience. 

I don't want my kids to have to look at photos of their dad and I, their grandparents, cousins, family, school photos, etc. on a screen or while they sit on a couch and simply scroll through a phone. 

I want them to be able to know the feeling of turning the page of a photo album, sifting through stacks of photos with their own hands and turning over the picture to read who's in it and where it was taken, rather than reading a catchy caption. 

I want my kids to know the simplicity of life aside from all of the technology that surrounds us 24/7,  and perhaps this photo thing is just a start.

So with that being said, i've jumped on board a semi-daunting journey of trying to print out all of our photos - there are A LOT. It's not going to be fast, but I'm making it a point to do it. 

This has been a challenge not only in the sense that I am going to be printing out thousands of photos, but as I've been going through my phone and computer I find myself automatically picking photos where we look our best.

What I've realized is that the pictures of my family that I have come to love the most are the imperfect ones - the ones where somebody looks goofy or it may not be the most flattering angle. As soon as I realized that, I began to intentionally choose some of our imperfect photos along with the good ones, because I don't want to leave only perfect memories behind. 

I want my kids to laugh at the photo where their dad looks totally goofy or where their mom is making a ridiculous face. Aren't those the best ones? 

 I have printed out 400 photos so far and y'all that is just a DENT. It is a process, and a long one at that, but just in these first few orders, I have come to remember the joy that comes with looking at real, printed photos. 

For those curious where I've been ordering my photos - I use the Free Prints app (it allows you 85 photos per month for free + 10 dollars for shipping and it's not a subscription). 

I also use Walgreens, Shutterfly and Snapfish when I see deals. 

I have loved going through all of our photos and choosing ones to print. As soon as I place the order every month, I get giddy with excitement just anticipating the day when they come in the mail! 

If you're like me and literally have thousands of photos on your phone, computer, tablet, etc., start printing out your photos - it is so worth it and so, so easy. 

Happy photo printing, friends!!