Back in Action & Camera Phone Photo Tips

 

Well, hi there.  I hadn't intended on taking a blogging break...truly.  But it happened.  I figured something had to give after four weddings, traveling to Utah, Chicago, Houston (twice), Louisiana, and Iowa, hosting Easter at our house, planning a March for Babies walk for 40,000 people and fundraising for our Guatemala Mission Trip. 

 

It's no wonder I'm exhausted!

 

I'm slowly easing back into this, and I've just been reading quite a few blogs and getting re-inspired. 

 

While traveling this spring, I have gotten so used to using my iPhone for photos, and I hardly use my "real" camera any more.  For convenience sake, this works, but when I do actually pull out my big fancy camera, I'm reminded at what great quality it provides.  If you're stuck in a rut using your iPhone, I found this post to be a really helpful and applicable way to make your photos better on your phone.  She gets into some of the great apps that are out there, too. 

 

My favorite tips?

• Look for the light.
• Hold the camera button down, and don't release 'til you're ready to take the photo.
• Take as many as you need to, but then only keep one or two. (I'm so guilty of not deleting photos off my phone, and then running out of room!)

 

{Review} Doodle.com {Scheduling Assistant}

Ever need to find the best possible date to have an event, but you have so many people involved that it just gets nearly impossible?  I ran into this problem recently and found Doodle.

Once on the site, you don't need to create an account or anything, which I think is great!  (One less username and password to remember.)  Of course, you can, but I just preferred not to do that.  

I entered about ten dates that were available on the calendar to create the poll.  You can do it by date, or get more specific and list dates and times.  Once created, you'll have a link to copy.  You can either send the link via your personal email by copying and pasting it into your own email, or use the Doodle program to send the emails.  

When everyone goes to the link and selects their availability, it's easy to see what the best options are.  I love it!  We have a group of girls together for dinner pretty often, so this works really well. 

Try it out and let me know how you like it--happy scheduling!

The When and Why of Asking for Help

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing I'm being reminded of right now is how and when to ask for help.  We weren't made to do everything.  That's the beauty of family, friends and community. 

 

For example, I'm a fairly organized person.  But if I don't stay on top of it, the laundry at our house will get out of control (OOC, as I like to call it), and it just becomes a huge pile of clothes in baskets.  All clean, but not put away.  So after weekends of back-to-back travel, I asked my mom to come help me sort through things.  And as embarrassing as it is to admit that I'm 26 years old and need help folding clothes, it helped immensely.  And gave my mom and I a chance to spend some quality time together, too.  (win/win).  And now that I'm caught up, it doesn't seem that bad.  I just needed a little help.

 

In my work life, our division isn't doing so hot.  Our numbers are down.  Our fundraising efforts that have worked in the past really aren't cutting it this time.  So we invited three people from other major markets to take a look into what we're doing.  I walked away with a new bank of ideas and renewed strength that we are not alone in this.  It was just the kick in the pants of encouragement that I needed.

 

And last night, we had some friends over for a spontaneous dinner.  Usually, dinners must be planned weeks in advance because we're busy and so are our friends.  But it worked, and we had plenty of spaghetti to go around.  It wasn't fancy, but it was fun.  While they were there, we talked about fundraising for a mission trip Adam and I are going on.  And they suggested an easier/better/more efficient way to do part of it.  All because we simply opened up the door for conversation.

 

I am extremely grateful for these instances, and for the knowledge that I really can't do it all.  So here are a few tips I've learned about times when I really need to ask for help:

 

1. If a task is too large to conquer on your own, first try breaking it down into more manageable tasks. 
 
2. Then, find someone who is good at it and see if you can make their system work for you. 
 
3. If you're overwhelmed by the thought of a task, explain your dilemma to a some friends and see if they are willing to help.
 
4. Find someone who thinks differently than you do.  It will stretch your brain, and make you think outside the box.  And I love that.
 
5. Set a time limit.  Whether it's a week, a month, or just a day, quantify it.  Write it down, put it as a reminder in your phone, or have some accountability around it.  I promise it makes a difference!

Do you have any tips on when to ask for help?  Feel free to share!

 

 

Lovely Links

This photo has nothing to do with today's post, except it's of things that I like (all are great--the candle and the two cookbooks).  And I'm sharing with you links that I like.  :-)

I've already devoted several posts on this blog to Shauna Niequist, my favorite author, but here is a post she wrote about six months ago that I still think about much later.  I'm a Lover, Not a Fighter.  This quote sums it up pretty well:

What I do know is that as far as the interwebs are concerned, I’m on the lookout for good—things that are beautiful and wise and helpful, things that connect us, books I think you should read, meals I think you could serve to the people you love.

Not only is it a good way to blog, I think it's probably a good way to live, most of the time.  Definitely food for thought.

In my second link, Kelle Hampton, another of my favorite bloggers and author of Bloom, writes about transitioning from two kids to three.  Although I'm far from that stage in life, I found it really heartwarming and just lovely.  Like Shauna, she finds the good in life and chooses to focus on that.

Life does not lend itself to smooth transitions.  You just jump in and swim.  It works for both the big hard challenges as well as the monumental celebrations in life.   

And lastly, Ann Voskamp's Sanity Manifesto--25 things to remember are great words of encouragement when life is crazy.  

So I scratch down these 25 points, like my own sanity manifesto, and there are a thousand ways in a thousand seasons to make a life glorify God.
I scrawl out mine, which would be different than yours, and make a place for it on the fridge and it’s not a law, but a scaffolding for the shaky, struggling days.

So be encouraged today, my friends.  Happy Thursday.

Pet Friendly Hotel Site

If you poke around here for a few minutes, you'll quickly learn that we love our Rye Dog.  And we also love to travel.  Mostly, this means that we are really grateful for some sweet friends who we can trade dog-sitting duties with, and Uncle Troy also loves Rye--in fact, the feeling is mutual.

But sometimes we need to take Rye with us, like when we head to Iowa to spend time with Adam's family.  It's a 12-hour drive that can be made in day, but sometimes we start out in the evening and need a place to stop along the way.  (We tried driving through the night together once, and I never really recovered from the lack of sleep until it was time to leave.)

PetsWelcome.com is a site I've used several times to find pet-friendly hotels.  The great part is that you can type in your start and end points and it shows you hotels along your route.

The best option I've found is La Quinta Hotels, as they have no pet fee and no weight limit.  This may not be an issue for everyone, but when you have a 70 pound dog, it limits things a bit!  You can also bring two pets, where other hotels will allow only one.

Other choices include some hotels in the Marriott chain and the Holiday Inn, but they have pet deposits and weight limits, so it's definitely something to consider.

Do you have any other recommendations for pet-friendly hotels?  Feel free to share with us!

Free Printable Valentines

Hi again!  It seems that the last several weeks have gotten the best of me, and I am playing catch-up after traveling for weddings, work and play.  So here we go again!

Since it's the week of Valentine's Day and all, I thought I'd share some free printables with you!  They're kind of cheesy, but I think that's part of the fun.  There are ten "love notes" available to download here as a PDF, but here are a few to see below:

Happy Valentine's Day week!

Wedding Registry Tips

It's spring, and that means wedding season is in full swing!  We have five weddings in six months to go to, so our house is currently inundated by all manners of invitations, bridal showers and gifts.  It's a fun time of life!

I thought I'd enlist some help in giving some tips on what to think about when you register for your wedding.  Today we're going to hear from my sweet friend, Bethany, who got married about three years ago.  We went to Baylor together and have become closer since we now live in the same neighborhood.  She is just one of the kindest, most thoughtful and genuine people, so it's such a treat to introduce you to her today!

I laughed when I wrote the line, "real tips from real brides," because when are there fake brides?  But whatever.  Just roll with me.

Here's what Bethany says:

1. Register for everything you think you'll need/want and then some. It's amazing what people want to buy for you. I found it hard/awkward to ask for lots of things because I felt selfish.. but then someone told be that it's okay because your family and friends WANT to bless the bride & groom....they will bless you either way, but it's helpful to them if you have some items on a registry.
2. Be sure that you have lots of items on your registry that are between $25-$75. In my opinion, I found that these priced items were a perfect amount for a gift. And, keep in mind that you can always take things back and get credit! (I'm pretty sure we received 4 different salad spinners.) We ended up taking them all back & used the credit later on after we had been married for awhile. 
3. Whatever you do, register at Bed, Bath & Beyond...They will return anything! (I literally blew up our crock pot in our kitchen after we got married! And, BB&B exchanged it for another one without any charge!) 

A note about out of state weddings:

If you have a wedding shower out of state, don't go to the hassle of trying to ship all of your gifts home. Just return them to the stores after your shower, get the store credit & re-buy the gift when you get home at your local stores. It's much easier than transporting all of your gifts! 

Shay's note on high-dollar items:

I think Bethany has some really great points--it's especially helpful to register for that $25-$75 price range, which will help all of your twenty-somethings out, but we also found it helpful to register for a few high dollar items because some people like to go in together and purchase something.  This was particularly eye-opening to me when hostesses from our first shower said, "I couldn't find anything with a high price-point, so we got you several small things!"  Knowing that people were actually looking for those things made it easier for me to register for a few more expensive items.

We went ahead and added a really nice knife block, a fancy trash can and our bedding set from Anthropologie and a complete pots & pans set.  Our family, friends and hostesses were so incredibly generous, and we ended up receiving all of our high-ticket items.

Adam and I registered at Dillard's, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Crate & Barrel.  All of these have online stores, many have free shipping, and you can always return or exchange things.  I ended up registering completely online at Crate & Barrel, and it was by far the best and easiest way to do it.  For BB&B, I would recommend going to the store and getting a scanner, since they have so many choices.  But the great thing is that you can always change your registry online.  Crate & Barrel has so many additional choices than what you see in their stores, and I loved going section by section online to add to our list.  It was simple and straight-forward, and I would highly recommend it.

We still have a few gift cards from our returns and registry, which come in so handy when something breaks, or you realize that it would be really helpful to have a particular item in your kitchen.  BB&B is great because they also carry so many household items, so you can purchase window treatments, wall decor and even coffee there.  So don't feel like you have to spend every gift card right away!

Be sure and check out Bethany's blog.  They are super creative over there, and recently built a patio and fire pit.  It's pretty incredible!  

Let us know if you have additional tips that would be great to add to this list!