Don't you love that you can show someone a photo just because you have your phone in your pocket? It's pretty amazing, really.
One of the downsides of photos on phones, though, is that phones have limits. If you have a 512 GB phone, you have to divide that up between apps, photos, and such. Same if you have a 64 GB phone.
Another downside is that you can generally only have photos on your phone that you actually took with your phone. It's a bit complicated to put pictures of, say, your parents' wedding or your great-grandpa Jones on your phone.
Another downside is that phones are not permanent. A phone can be dropped in a lake, or it can be stolen. Phones are really easy to lose, too. In fact, 70 million smartphones are lost each year, with only 7% recovered.
So it sounds like what we need is a permanent solution for accessing as many of our precious photos as we want on our convenient phones without requiring a lot of available gigs that eat into our phone memory capability.
And so I give you: how to carry every photo you own in your hand.
You only need two things:
the Forever app on your phone
Forever Storage
One is free, and the other you'll buy and own forever (for generations!).
Let's get started! First, I want to show you how awesome it is to use the Forever app and how it lets me show every picture I own, using my phone without hogging up the memory on my phone.
Isn't that fantastic?! I love the convenience, but I also love how accessible all my photos are. I love being that connected to my pictures and having them that shareable.
NOTE: I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find several affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.
Now it's time to learn about Forever Storage and see what's so great about it and which option will work best for you. Keep in mind that Forever Storage is unlike any other digital cloud photo storage company anywhere! Here are the differences in a nutshell:
This one-minute video shows how Forever Storage is really a permanent home in the cloud for your photos, videos, and memories. There's really nothing else like it.
The video explains how the Guarantee Fund works, too.
Don't forget, too, that posting pictures on social media is not a permanent (or secure) place for your photos.
It's definitely a great way to share photos immediately, but Facebook and Instagram (among others) do not guarantee the privacy or the permanence of your photos. You probably already know that social media platforms change their policies any time they want. Don't use social media as your photo storage because it (very literally!) is not FOREVER!
This video tells you everything you need to know about Forever Storage! Grab some popcorn and spend 20 minutes learning something that can change your life. It's amazing.
And this video shows you options for organizing and even tagging your photos in your Forever account:
You can see all the Forever Storage options here. (Don't be thrown off by the "monthly" cost shown there. You still OWN your storage space because you are buying it. The monthly breakdown is just an option if you'd rather pay by month instead of all at once. You are not paying a monthly fee--you are purchasing your own personal Forever Storage. And you can always buy some and then if you discover you need more, buy more later. That's what I did.)
And, remember, it's permanent storage!
By the way, you can even store voicemails in your Forever Storage!
So if you've got a special one you've been saving on your phone for a while, give it a permanent home! It's easy to upload to your Forever account with the (free) app, too! Here's how:
And that's all there is to it. You can carry every photo you own in your hand, plus have the peace of mind that comes from having your photos privately, securely, and permanently preserved for your lifetime plus 100 years.
Your grandkids can use the latest app to show their friends your wedding pictures. Imagine that.
It's too good not to share! Tweet, share on Facebook, or Pin this image using the social media share buttons at the left.
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This blog has been dedicated to all things photo, memory, and story for well over a decade now! Yes, we've had a sprinkling of crafting and DIY, too, but all-in-all, it's really about photo & story treasures. It's about self-care, family connections, creating legacy and heritage in your home, and connecting with your own heart.
If you're like most people, you don't have a consistent memory-keeping solution that works for you. You might be "behind on" your photos or your scrapbooking or your photobooks. You might feel a lot of Photo Overwhelm. Or you might have a desire to do something with your photos and memories but don't know where to start.
So start something new in 2022!
Photo and Story Treasures is your go-to resource to make photos and memories into something meaningful. Here's what Photo and Story Treasures ft. Forever can do for you, from permanent digital photo storage to printed treasures you can hold in your hands (and heart):
So that's what Photo and Story Treasures can do for you, but let's look at why it matters to you in the first place. It's so much more than you probably think.
Why You Take Photos
Taking photos these days is so commonplace that you've probably never stopped to think about why you do it.
A photographic image has power to unleash emotions, connect people, and bring back to our minds why we took the photo in the first place. Photos connect us with our stories. Photos let us see things or times or people that are gone. Photos have been shown in studies to boost mood (in other words, make us happier) as well as increase relaxation and lower stress.
In fact, if you click that link, you can read about studies done on the effects of photos on your happiness level. Spoiler: looking at your photos has been shown to make you *ten times* happier than eating chocolate!
And photos are about even more than happiness, especially when they're connected to your experiences.
Kids who know their family stories have greater resiliency, higher self-esteem, and do better when faced with challenges. This is especially true with stories of those who have gone before, but it's also true of the story those kiddos are living right now. A current "family history" is the vacation you took to the beach last year and going to Grandma's 80th birthday celebration last weekend. The photos and memories you record from events like those and other everyday events are your story! And your child's story.
Having access to our own photos and stories makes a big difference.
What To Do With Them
We have precious pictures and meaningful memories, but they often don't make it off our phones or out of our heads. The best thing you can do with a photo or a memory is preserve it.
NOTE: I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find several affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.
Here's what I've discovered about why I take pictures and why I make sure I preserve them with my memories:
I take pictures because I want to remember special moments. I want my kids to have the benefits (listed above) of being the stars of their own photo-storybooks. I want them to be able to sit down on their beds after a really hard day and be able to look back at happy times and get a little lost in better times for a few minutes.
I want that for myself, too. My pictures on my phone don't tell the whole story. Putting those pictures on actual pages I can thumb through and smile at later lifts my heart. Being able to put down on those pages some descriptions and memories of why those photos mean something to me allows me some therapeutic time in my own head and heart that increases my gratitude and re-centers me as it gives me perspective.
Why It's So Much More Than Photos In this busy world where we often feel like our life controls us instead of us controlling our lives, we often don't take opportunities to sit down and breathe, to connect with ourselves, to record our life experiences through photos and memories. There is great power (and peace) in all these things. Photo & Story Treasures will help you grasp it.
Yes, creating treasures from your photos and stories is meaningful for you and for kids and for loved ones and can directly affect your happiness and self-esteem and feelings of connection and capability. But it's even more than that.
One thing I love about the tools at Photo and Story Treasures is that you can do the important, meaningful work of creating photo-storybooks of vacations and weddings and everyday moments like first days of school--it's a great way to get into a regular habit of preserving your photos and memories, whether you consider yourself a digital scrapbooker or not--and it's also an important way to give heartfelt, irreplaceable gifts to people who might need a little extra boost.
But it's also perfect and beautiful for life storybooks to remember those who have passed on.
This blog is an amazing resource, full of tips, strategies, solutions, ideas, and helps. Click around (especially at the tabs along the top--accessible from a desktop but not mobile) and find plans and approaches that will work for you. Above all, contact me with any questions or help you need!
Whether you want simple, easy-to-create photo-storybooks you can make in an hour or two, or you like the full digital-scrapbooking feel of creativity and flexibility and font options, Photo and Story Treasures has what you're looking for.
Whether you want to share your photos digitally with family members over a secure site, or you need media digitizing services (like VHS to DVD) for old family treasures, Photo and Story Treasures has what you're looking for.
There's no better gift.
There's no better option.
And there's no time like the present.
Many people are overwhelmed with years of photos, not sure what the best ways to preserve and share them are. This method provides them with the peace of mind that comes from fireproofing their photos by giving them a permanent home. People love escaping the overwhelm and enjoying convenient access to their memories by safeguarding them at Forever.
This 30-minute class will give you all the details.
Why not get started right now?! That blue "get started" link has all the details you'll need.
There aren't many things you can do with your time that you'll thank yourself for that your children and grandchildren will also thank you for.
But Photo & Story Treasures are right at the top of the list.
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