I gave Nicholas an old cigar box to use while he was working on one of “his projects”.

As I was getting ready to put away all his treasures, I was struck by all the bright colors

and the little trinkets in the box.  (So I took this picture.)

When you’re four you need to collect a lot of things.

I’m a few years older than four and I still collect a lot of things.

I’ve often thought, if I only had 20 minutes to grab my most valuable possessions,

what would my treasures be?

Besides my family of course, I’d grab the clock that my parents gave us as a wedding present,

a few pieces of sentimental jewelry and my photo’s and photo albums.

Oh…and maybe the baby books.  (but, I wasn’t too good at filling those things out.)

You see, all those other things are just stuff.

Clothes, furniture, etc…they can all be replaced.

My photo’s are a different thing, they are my treasures, my memories.

So why do I have most of the photo’s from the last several years still on my computer?

Good question.

With my digital camera’s I easily take 25 times more pictures than I took before.

Instead of taking one more picture for good measure, I take 12.

The more pictures you take the better chances of getting that perfect shot. Right?

The problem:

Once I received my first digital camera, I stopped regularly printing pictures.

Unless I was working on a special project or giving them away as a gift,

I never seemed to get around to it.

I currently live in fear of my laptop crashing and losing all my precious photos.

I should back them up on my external hard-drive.  (and I do, sometimes)

So here’s my goal for 2015:

To go through the last few years of pictures and print them out.  (maybe even put them in an album)

I don’t want to risk the chance of losing them forever.

So if you’re in the same place as me…

Print them out!

I use Shutterfly* a lot for printing and photo books and they always have a deal going.

New Customers get 50 free 4″ x 6″ prints for just opening up an account.

But I should let you know…

If you decide to click on the above picture and just happen to place an order,

I will receive a very small commission.

So… wherever you decide to take your pictures, it really doesn’t matter.

Just as long as we print them out.

Disclosure:  I am a Shutterfly Affiliate.