By Sarah Hood, self-professed ‘geeky mama’

Raise your hand if your computer contains hundreds upon hundreds of digital pictures of your kids and family that you love love love and can’t bear to part with but really and truly don’t quite know what to do with. Yeah, me too. Until Shutterfly walked into my life. I’ve never been the same.

Shutterfly describes itself as “a leading Internet-based social expression and personal publishing service that enables consumers to share, print and preserve their memories by leveraging our technology-based platform and manufacturing processes�. Trust me when I say that’s a fancy way of saying – “Attention Moms: We make your life easier!�

Here’s the scoop. I was a little intimidated at first, but quickly got the hang of it and have never looked back. Shutterfly’s website makes the process really easy. No, really – EASY. I promise.

After you log on to www.shutterfly.com and create your FREE account, you’re ready to get started. If it’s the first time you’ve signed in, you can choose between the Welcome Center (over on the right) that will walk you through the basic stuff - uploading, ordering, etc. Or you can dive right in by clicking “Upload” in the middle of the page.

As you start uploading your photos and creating albums, home base for you will be the ‘My Shutterfly’ tab along the top of the page. As you progress, you’ll be able to click that tab and see all your stuff - projects, albums, photos.

Start small — maybe upload your folder of photos from the holidays or your little guy’s recent birthday party.  With a few clicks, you’ll have created an album using your new, FREE account and you’re ready to create your first masterpiece.

A calendar for Grandma’s fridge or Daddy’s office, stationery personalized with your favorite little toothless grin, or - my personal favorite - Photobooks. Photobooks can capture anything from one day in the park to baby’s first year - and beyond. Shutterfly lets you choose from tons of backgrounds and fonts and borders to create a book that really reflects your style and personality. You can add journaling to capture dates, names, and those little details you’ll love to read years later.

The site is fairly intuitive, and laid out well - they know Moms don’t have all day! Do some digging, you’ll find it’s a lot of fun and a GREAT way to let your favorite photos finally see the light of day. The site offers perfect gifts ideas for “the person who has everything” or priceless keepsakes of baby photos, pregnancy memoirs, or your first family trip to Disney World. And one of my favorite things about it is that it’s all online!

The only workspace I need is the space my computer already takes up on the desk – no box of materials to spread out then clean up and store somewhere, and since nothing is printed until the very end I can tweak and adjust to my heart’s content.

I predict that half of you have already wandered off and are knee-deep in clicking through the site, marveling at all the cool stuff around every corner - but if you’re still with me, here are a few tips as you dive in:

• Use Shutterfly’s editing tools to correct red-eye or convert to black & white. Super easy! One click!
• The Storyboard tool lets you select a background, dump some pictures and the software populates the book for you. Done! (I personally think this takes a little of the fun out of it but it is a fabulous time saver!)
• Photos aren’t always the whole story! Use a scanner and make digital copies of mementos like Kindergarten diplomas, birthday party invitations, and first footprints. Upload them just like photos and drop them into your Photobook to complement your pics and journaling.
• Kids LOVE to look through the pages, so consider ordering two copies and putting one “away” while letting the kids truly enjoy looking through their book at the photos and stories. That way you won’t worry (as much!) about grubby hands and not-so-gentle page turning.
• Get on the mailing list! Shutterfly will send you emails with deals like Free Shipping, 30% off, and Buy One Get One 50% Off. They run deals like this OFTEN so if you finish a project during an off time, wait a week or two and you should get an email that will help you out a little on the price. Worth the wait! I try to always have one project finished and waiting for a hot coupon!
• The Shutterfly Blog is loaded with tips, ideas and inspiration. Bookmark it and check in for cool ideas for your next holiday card photo or inspiration for this year’s Father’s Day gift.
• Every print your order can be personalized (for FREE!) with a message on the back. You can record the date, names of people in the shot, or just a favorite detail you want to share with kids, grandkids and beyond. (P.S. You get 50 FREE 4×6 prints just for signing up!)
• You MUST check out the Photobook gallery. Other users post their Photobooks for you to peruse and enjoy — and it is the BEST place for ideas!
• They even have an iPhone app! Download the FREE iPhone app to have access to all your photos and albums wherever you go. Even upload photos taken with your phone directly to your online account!

I know I’m good at hiding it - ha! - but I am absolutely in love with the concept of capturing memories this way. I recently did a book for my son’s first year, from my pregnancy up through his first birthday, and it is so special to me. I have shared it with friends and family and am so proud of this labor of love I created for him to enjoy with his family someday. I have used Shutterfly for our Christmas cards and photo calendars and have been highly impressed with the quality and service. I keep coming back for more!

There are other sites out there with similar products - MyPublisher, Blurb, snapfish - check them out, too! The idea is to make the technology work for you! Don’t let your kiddos stay hidden away on your hard drive - create something cool and unforgettable that you and your family can enjoy for years to come.

Time is made up of captured moments.

Our new technology blogger Sarah Hood says, “I’m thrilled to join the team and would love to hear from you with questions or feedback regarding gadgets, technology, or blogging – I’m here for YOU. And, of course, you’re always welcome to stop by my blog, Musings of Mother Hood to say hello.” To read more of Sarah’s bio, click here!

Here at nwamotherlode.com you can exercise your mind, body and soul through a variety of topics and how-tos from experts, fellow mamas and people who just plain know their stuff. But you can also see how some Motherlode mamas deal with obstacles, triumphs, defeats and daily life by reading the Mama Blogs.

Current Mama Blogs:

All Akimbo — a mother’s struggle with endometriosis and secondary infertility

Life With Ladybug — daily life with a precocious 6-year-old

The Rockwood Files — observations from life as a mama, wife and woman

By Shannon Magsam, married 10 years to the same sweet guy

Lingerie? Check. Presents centered around his ‘10 favorite things’? Check. The I’m-so-ready-for-a-weekend-alone-with-my-husband good mood? Check.

I thought I had everything I needed for our 10th anniversary weekend until I started getting ready for dinner that first night. Extra clothes? Uncheck. Darnit! I almost got bent out of shape, but then I realized that A) The Mt. Magazine Lodge restaurant isn’t black-tie only or anything, and B) The lack of choices just fit right in with the simplicity theme of our weekend plans.

So I just threw on some red lipstick and a red scarf for “pretty” and called it good. And it was.

We had so much fun. Not in the on-our-honeymoon-in-the-Bahamas way, or the viva-Las-Vegas way, but in a holding-hands-while-taking-long-walks, eat-chocolate-in-the-bed-together-while-watching-movies getting reconnected kind of way.

We both love to read and it was simply decadent to snuggle up next to each other in comfy chairs overlooking Blue Mountain Lake while indulging our inner bookworms. My pick was non-fiction essays and his was a book on chivalry that I’d given him as one of his ‘10 favorite things’.  (Here’s an aerial view of the lodge and cabins from the Mt. Magazine website. Gorgeous.)

Speaking of his ‘10 Favorite Things’ — in honor of our 10th anniversary, of course — I highly recommend trying it for your next big-number anniversary. It was super fun going around town picking out the presents. I doled out the goodies all weekend. They ranged from small things like his favorite candy to a nice new backpack for weekend trips.

Since he’s a lover of words, too, I also wrote him a letter sharing my “Top 10 favorite things about you”.

On Saturday we broke from our romantic mountain pursuits to drive into Paris, the little town about 20 miles from Mt. Magazine. Now we can forever tell each other in corny voices, “We’ll always have Paris.”

Getting back to reality after our 10th anniversary weekend has proved difficult. I still like to close my eyes and imagine we’re back on the “island in the sky”. Time on a mountaintop can help any marriage weather those potential “valleys”.

Shannon Magsam is mom to 8-year-old Ladybug, married to Ladybug’s aforementioned awesome dad, John, and co-creator of nwaMotherlode.com. To read previously published installments of Life With Ladybug, click here. Leave a comment if the mood strikes. 

By Jade Stone, wife to National Guardsman Jay

Well, if you are reading this you have either come back for more or have stumbled in and are new to the story so here’s a quick re-cap: The previous entry was an account of my humble entry into this world in Ft Bragg, N.C., shortly after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. The war took my father’s soul and replaced it with a capsule of dark memories and raging night terrors that would haunt him for the rest of his life. This would soon lead to the separation and divorce of my parents when I was about 2.

My mom started a new life in Springfield, Mo., with my beloved grandparents, and a surprise pregnancy which occurred towards the end of my parents’ relationship. So, in the famous words of Paul Harvey “and now, the rest of the story…â€�

As a 2-year-old, there are few things that really mattered in the world to me. 1) That I had my grandma wrapped around my finger; 2) the world revolved around me, and 3) that I was my mom’s pride and joy to dote on whenever possible.

Mom worked tirelessly at a fast food restaurant by the name of “Mac donals�, as I so fondly pronounced it, from mid afternoon to late evenings. She would keep me all day, and then drop me off at Grandma’s to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening.  Grandma would entertain me until bedtime, and then take me to that little white house for the evening bedtime ritual, put me to bed and wait there patiently until mom got home around 11.

You see, Grandma was also a very hard worker. She would then go home and sleep until 5, at which time she would get up and go to a local elementary school where she slaved in the kitchen as one of the last in a dying generation of school cooks who actually cooked everything from scratch. At times it seemed that she would pull into the driveway and mom would pull out.  While it may seem as though I was juggled around a bit, I personally never felt the sting of having an overworked, underpaid mom who, unbeknownst to me was not only struggling to keep us afloat but was also battling a broken heart and the rigors of morning sickness and all the ups and downs that go with pregnancy.

And then one day, “he� came along. Mom leaves for a couple of days and comes back with this screaming thing wrapped in a blanket. It seemed to suck the attention right out of any room and suddenly, no one came to see me anymore. All the attention I had come to adore was now redirected to that crying, fussy wad of blankets in the other room.

I no longer greeted people at the door but rather silently motioned them in and pointed to the other room because I quickly learned they were obviously not here to see me. That goofy crying ball of diapers got all the fancy ribbon wrapped presents and I got a pat on the head in passing. I wasn’t sure what this was about but I did know one thing, I did not like it! Needless to say, I had some adjusting to do!

Meanwhile, remember the young soldier I mentioned last time named Lynn? Well, as it turns out, he and mom had become close friends through the divorce process and when mom left North Carolina, they began corresponding by mail on a regular basis. Little did I know that they had become the best of friends, bound by common experiences. In fact, just before my little brother was born, Lynn was shipped to Belgium where he had been for almost a year when he decided he did not want to do this alone and the woman of two small children that he had grown to care very much for in the states needed help.

So, in January of 1978 he called mom and told her he wanted to bring her to Belgium and offered to care for her and her two small children in exchange for her companionship. Now Mom, being a single mother of two struggling to make it on small wages, faced what seemed like a no brainer.  This union would provide all of us with a nicer home then we had ever known, complete medical coverage, and a trip around a world compliments of the United States Army. What decision was there to make?

When a person finds herself in a situation such as mom’s, the decision is no longer based on ‘The man of ones’ dreams, or Love, but rather, what is best for the children involved and for two small children, much as it is today, insurance and security were commodities that we couldn’t afford to lose.

So, Lynn came home from Belgium on R&R (rest and recuperation) in February of 1978, they eloped to a small town in Miami, OK, to be married on February 9th  during a nasty blizzard, and by the 15th, we were loaded up and whisked away on the biggest airplane I had ever seen to a foreign land where everyone spoke a very strange, yet beautiful language. (That’s us in the picture above on our way to Belgium.)

What could God possibly have in store for us next ….

To read previous installments of Military Mama, including Part I of this story, click here.