Keepin’ the memories alive

Life is so hectic these days what with school and work and volunteer stuff…But I am determined to keep up with my blog for the sake of my own sanity. This thing haunts me in the best possible way. I’m so overwhelmed with everything lately, but it really is nice to put some thoughts on paper (er…electronic screen) and decompress.

Though the weekend was pretty jam packed, I was so lucky to be able to spend some great time catching up yesterday with one of the amazing women God put in my life here in Austin. People like her make me think I could never leave this place. Saturday was super fun because I got not ONE but TWO surprises in the mail! I just love forgetting I ordered something and then having it show up at my doorstep.

The first gift to myself was a photobook. It is actually just the latest edition to my collection of photobooks I’ve been making over the past few years. I got the idea from a friend who makes a huge “yearbook” each year with all of her pictures. Since I have an irrational fear of losing everything off of my hard drive, I figured I should probably go ahead and make one every few months instead. I subscribe to Groupon, Living Social, and Moolala, and between the 3 of them, a great deal on photobooks comes alone every couple weeks. So far I have paid for every one of mine with a “daily deal” coupon. The one that arrived this weekend is definitely my favorite I’ve made so far. I used a chalkboard themed look for the book with a lot of little embellishments. I can’t say that I had an easy time dealing with the company I made it through. That is the hardest part of the process…Be prepared to lose your work many times before it actually saves it in time to print!

I’m so happy I decided to start making these. They usually end up costing around 30 bucks a pop, which is well worth the peace of mind I’ve gotten knowing my pictures will never be lost forever if my computer crashes. I also love the idea of my future kids looking through these one day in the (far far off) future.

My second surprise that showed up Saturday were these fun canvasses that I had ordered a couple weeks ago and forgot about. I’ve always wanted to get a canvas printed of Josh and I for our bedroom, but almost every picture of the two of us was taken on a cellphone. After getting a professional to take some in Georgia at Christmas, I figured now was the time to splurge. Actually I found a groupon for these too, so it wasn’t much of a splurge 🙂 $75 for both from Canvas Lifestyle. They were much bigger than I had anticipated, and I loved how they turned out.

I have to say though, it’s a little weird seeing myself staring at me from the wall in my bedroom. These things are ginormous compared to the tiny rooms and low ceilings in this apartment. Hopefully one day we will have a nicer place that will do them justice.

What ways do you guys have to preserve precious memories? Don’t forget to protect your pictures and back up those hard drives so you’re not devastated one day!

I’m also so excited to say publicly (for the sake of accountability) that I’m running the Capitol 10K here in Austin in April. It was a goal of mine for 2013 to run in a 10k, and this one is the biggest Texas has to offer. Am I confident I’ll be able to run it by then? Not really. But so far my training has been going so great and my running enthusiast husband has been a great support. Cheers to keeping new years resolutions! 

Happy Monday!

Caroline

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