To start you need to organize the photos....get a photo box (or any box that will hold them well) and use acid free paper to make divider cards. I have a beautiful box from the Bombay Company that was given to me as a gift....so I used this, but it doesn't fit any of my current photos so for those I use a box I got at Hallmark. Then divided the photos by year and event or person. Use your dividers to label each. Do remember that this is a temporary sorting system. Its not a good idea to do this for permanent storage.
Then get yourself a scrapbook. When I researched albums I found the Creative Memories ones to have the best reputation for durability and photo safety. Look into it yourself. You don't need to get fancy, or use any mounting paper or stickers at all. Just use a photo safe adhesive (mounting corners, splits, photo tape or a tape runner) and stick your photos on the pages. Use a water resistent, fade proof pen to write about your photos. You don't need to be a novelist....just write the who, what, where, when.....the basics. If there are certain thoughts or memories you'd like to record you can. A good general rule is to write in anything you'd tell folks looking at the pictures if you were there. When you're done that just pop a page protector on and that's it. Its actually easier than trying to slip photos into those plastic sleeves....and much safer for your photos.
And the best part is to enjoy thinking about the memories in the photos as you put them in the album! Have fun!