I'm getting back to some basics. After eleven years as a Creative Memories Consultant, I thought I had the need to keep my stories in an album pretty much ingrained in me. And the different activities I provided as a part of my business helped me to keep things close to current, at least most of the time.
But in the past year, with Creative Memories now gone, plus seven months spent looking for a new home and then the move afterwards, my memory keeping has been seriously derailed. I've been mentally reviewing my thoughts and actions for the past year, and I question whether I even have photos of the significant events from the past several months.  And if I do, where are they?
The other issue is the lack of time. With a hugely busy job over the summer, and the stresses of moving and unpacking and getting kids registered for new schools, I have been completely absorbed in things unrelated to memory keeping.
So, how do I get back on track?
What is my plan going to be for “catching up” or just simply getting started again?
Really, I've got to make this more of a priority and set some goals with it. It's not one of those things that I can just say “I'll do it when I find the time” because that kind of time doesn't exist. With a goal, it's another thing that I can check off my list and say that I've accomplished.
I think my first goal is going to be finding all of this year's photos from all of the devices they may be on … tablets, phones, camera and Dropbox. Once I get them organized and tagged (which is thankfully made a whole lot easier with Historian), I can have the confidence that I know where they are and can start on a project.
So, my goal needs a deadline. I am going to commit to doing this within the next 10 days. Want to check back in ten days from now and see if I've done it? Want to join me and set a goal of your own?
This is definitely something we can't keep putting off “until we have time.” It's time to make the time, even in little pieces. Make your family's memories and experiences a priority.
Hi Debbie,
I have just set dates for my monthly crops again starting this weekend. I was wondering if you might want to come to one of them and give us a digital presentation again. We still meet at Cathy’s clubhouse off Fairview and McKinney on the 3rd Saturdays 10am to 3pm (although some are moved to Sundays due to conflicts). The dates are as follows: Sept. 21, Oct. 18-possibly all day for Croptoberfest, Nov. 15 and Dec. 14. Let me know if you are interested and what you could charge. Thanks.
Shawna
Hey, Shawna. Nice to hear from you.
I can definitely look at doing that. This weekend definitely won’t fit for me, but I might be able to do it in October. I’m just starting to get my brain back after moving this summer … we’re not totally done unpacking yet. I’ll try to get back to you on the October 18th date soon …
~ Deb
Make time and take time because you will never “find” the time.
I am a former local CM Consultant, though not a very good one. I assume Historian is the same basically as Memory Keeper? I’ve always struggled using Memory Keeper fully. So I have all my photos in folders and files on my computer. I do have lots of them in MK also but am finding I use my folders and files mostly and just MK to edit things. And you mentioning a damaged vault makes me nervous about dumping all my photos into MK. I’m actually happy with my system of folders and files and have done a decent job of keeping them organized. Though I have found I am only taking photos on my iphone. I guess I feel like I never really learned the values of MK. Any advice? Thank you.
Hi, Ellen.
Yes, Historian is the new name for Memory Manager. When Creative Memories sold the rights back to Panstoria, it couldn’t be Memory Manager anymore, but it’s the same program.
I get what you’re saying about folders on your computer, but I still have to say that even with the vault issue, I would never give up Historian. It creates my easiest backup, and organizes everything to degrees that I couldn’t achieve with folders. For instance, my son has a timeline of his life due tomorrow as homework. We easily just pulled up all of the best pictures of him throughout his life with just two clicks (maybe three, I didn’t count). We got the whole project put together in 20 minutes (we created the timeline in Artisan, because I knew I could make it work much easier than in Word or any of the other programs on my computer).
Plus, in most cases, I have an automatic, no-brainer backup copy of all of my vaults, so they are easily recoverable. Every hard drive crashes eventually.
You are totally right that we have to “make time and take time.” I love that. Here’s to making the time!
~ Deb