Alrighty, friends! I'm so excited about this. Seriously, I'm over here doing a little jig.
I was contacted recently by some really nice people at the My Memories Suite company. Have you heard of them? I had and I was super excited that they asked me to do a review of their digital scrapbooking software!
Please note, I am not much of a scrapbooker. I get around all that cool scrapbooking stuff--the pictures, the pretty paper, the embellishments, the glue, the formatting, the cool quotes, the cuteness---and I get a little overwhelmed. Ok. A lot overwhelmed. I can use and enjoy each of those elements individually, but put them all together and I end up just staring at them blankly.
The thing is, I love my pictures and I want to display them and preserve them, but I also want to be unique. Enter the My Memories Suite software. Not only is that site loaded with scrapbooking kits and cute templates, but you can also download software that allows you to build up your own digital scrapbooks, create photo books, add movies and music, and (my favorite) turn your pages into a movie! Plus so much more! I haven't even finished exploring it yet. OH! And they also have a YouTube channel loaded up with inspiration.
Every year, I like to put together a collection of pictures to share with my family. I usually put it off and end up spending a week putting everything together in time for Christmas. This year I vowed to get started early to avoid a rushed look and I have always liked the idea of putting my picture books on DVD, but I had no idea where or how to start with all of that!
Check this out, though (keeping in mind, of course, that it is a work in progress):
Isn't that cool! I can add music to it, I can add more prettiness to it and nice words and all sorts of happiness! AND...I did what I've done so far in a matter of hours. Woohoo! I'm going to enjoy My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software like crazy. I'm already wondering how I managed without it! (That is saying a lot for a non-scrapbooker.)
Now, here is the very best part. The awesome people at My Memories Suite are giving away a copy of this awesome software to one of you!
Really! YAY!
And, if you don't want to wait around for the giveaway, you can get $10 off your purchase by using this code: STMMMS89425
Awesome.
Welcome to my first official giveaway!! *jig, jig, jiggity-jig*
Here's what you need to do to enter:
Please go over to the My Memories Suite website, take a look at all the fun stuff they have to offer, and then come back here and let me know what you would choose and how you would use it. What would you do to make your creations unique?
And...here are some extra entry opportunities (leave a separate comment for each, please):
4. Take a look through my happy little blog and, if you haven't already, follow me in some way (Google Friend Connect, Linky followers, Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest).
5. Spread the word: Blog about it, post it on Facebook, Tweet it, Pin it.
Good luck! This giveaway will end on Sunday, June 3, at 9:00 p.m. (Eastern time). I'll announce the winner on Monday morning.
My Mister is on a much needed break. He has been in nonstop school for the last year and now finally is in the midst of an almost 4-week break.
And what does he want to do with that break?
Well, we've been spending a lot of time at the park. We've been eating dinner as a family. He and I have been staying up late catching up on movies and favorite TV shows (Psych, anyone? Grimm? Once Upon a Time? Survivor?...). We've been hanging out with friends. We've been talking a lot. We have maybe been laughing a little. I haven't been cleaning the house as much as I used to. He's been doing the dishes! =)
It's been exhausting! The good kind of exhausting, of course.
Oh, and we've also been looking for a new house. Yeah. Remember when I mentioned the sudden rush of things to be taken care of? When the Mister finishes his PA classes at the end of summer, he will be ready to start his rotations: the last step of his education before he has to take a big scary test and enter the real world as an official PA.
We had anticipated that he would be assigned to do those rotations in a city that is about half an hour from here...the city we do our shopping and stuff in. You would think that I would have learned by now that when I make plans something always changes them! He was assigned instead to a city that is about an hour and 15 minutes north of here...much further away. For convenience (and money) sake, we have decided to move up there. It's just easier.
Here's the kicker...he starts his rotations on August 27. Baby boy (W) is due on August 19. Mister's finals are August 13 -17. It's a little crazy.
But, no worries. Arrangements have been made to induce labor and we are hoping to move in July. All is well, and we are excited for a change of scene, but expect a little craziness now and then. (Do you like how I say that like that would be something new?)
Anyway, I digress. I was talking about how nice it has been to have him home. It makes me think how nice it would be to have this set up all of the time. Of course, that's not how life works. We have to be responsible.
Have you ever seen Into the Woods? It is one of my all time favorite musicals. It is full of so many little life lessons and it is super fun to sing along with.
Here's a song from it that has been on my mind:
Now, please don't assume that I'm trying to say I would like a "prince for...whatever." Really using this song is a reach for the point I'm making, but it was a good excuse to listen to a good song. =)
Still, If our lives were only made up of beautiful and extraordinary moments, would we appreciate them as much? Do we give the not so beautiful moments of life enough credit?
Life really is made up of little moments. Sometimes they can seem so boring and ordinary and we forget to see how beautiful they are. I have to remind myself to step back and look at the moments of my life. The things that make up me...the things that make me happy, or even sad for that matter...the things that make me feel and try to appreciate them for the gifts that they are.
So, I'm starting my Moments series.
And in honor of Mother's Day (which I know I'm late for), here is a moment of mommyness from my life.
L is 2 years old and lives up to that in every way possible. She is a feisty little fireball with a beautifully sweet personality. She is a joy.
This is our tradition. I am cooking dinner and cleaning up the house.
She comes in and assumes this position:
Then she says, "Again, Mommy!" and I say, "Ready...Set...Go!"
And she goes!
From the living room a few seconds later, I hear "Again, Mommy!"
