Lately

My father-in-law (Hi JD!) keeps picking on me about my absence here. I know it's been MONTHS. And I've thought about blogging often but my heart hasn't been in it. It just seems to take way more time than I have these days. Like even with this post, it was suppose to be quick and simple, but I've been sitting here for 2 hours now and ignoring my half washed sink of dishes.

6 Android Apps to Replace Traditional Daily Planners

On Monday, I explained my transition away from the daily planner to exclusively using my smartphone. A few huge pros for me have been...

• I can organize different aspects of my life separately.
• I can set reminders so I don't ever miss a deadline.
• Everything I need to know fits in my pocket and is always with me.
• Everything backs-up so I won't lose precious info.
• I can sync my info across several platforms to be able to check on things virtually anywhere.

2013 Sans Planner

I love planners. When I saw Say Not Sweet Anne's 2014 printable planner I had to hold back from hitting download immediately because in my heart I am very much a paper and pen girl.

Twenty Thirteen In Review

{source}

Am I the only one still grappling with the fact that another year just passed us by? Where did it go? 2013 was a very eventful and exciting year for us! Here are the highlights:

Currently

I think it's kinda ironic that the last time I did one of these posts was exactly 11 months ago. Where has the year gone. It's such a shame I didn't write more of these in 2013 since I do love these kinds of posts :-/

Establishing a Blogging Schedule

{source}

Behind the scenes over here, I have been working on developing a blog post schedule. Initially I thought about blogging on specific subjects on specific days. The problem with this is that my interests vary wildly depending on my mood. I want to deliver original, insightful content and if Tuesdays were limited to only cooking but I hadn't felt like cooking that week, then my content would suffer.

The Death of Google Reader

I was crushed yesterday when I logged into Reader and saw that unholy announcement about Google shutting down Reader on July 1st. I have been using blogger for years now. I literally check it every single day and it's how I stay up-to-date with all the blogs I love. Before I got married, I joined Reader to keep up with all the wedding blogs out there. For a few months prior to that, I just used Bloggers "Blogs I Follow" tool but I hated how unorganized it was and time consuming it was. So I started using reader on March 13, 2009. Since then I have used Reader to sort through and peruse 40,519 posts.
As soon as I saw the announcement, I started researching alternatives for keeping up with the blogs I love. The first one that I knew of was Flipboard.

My Stolen Wallet

My wallet got stolen yesterday :( It was only by quick thinking and impeccable timing that I was able to get it back without any loss...

Currently

72 Hour Survival Kit

So I have been aware of the necessity to have an evacuation kit for a while. And I really do understand the value of one since we did have to evacuate due to Hurricane Dolly in 2008. Despite that, I have never made any effort to compile my own kit and have it ready :-/
Well last week I came across this site and got motivated. I like how she breaks it down into a 6 month project so that you don't get too overwhelmed or break the bank. She also listed things you need that I probably never would have thought of but they really do make sense.

Breakfast with my Grandpa

My Grandfather is a very meek man and this leads to an element of mystery about him. He has lived a "Big Fish" kind of life and Luke says he's the real "Most Interesting Man in the World." :)
But since he is so quiet, my Grandma and the rest of the family tend to dominate conversations and I have never really gotten to know him personally. A few months ago, I learned that he loved Waffle House which is my favorite breakfast place too. So I made it a goal to take him out to breakfast just me and him one day.
I finally had the opportunity to this morning, and it was such an awesome time!

Twenty Twelve in Review

I am keeping up with my annual tradition and reviewing my year in blog posts but I am also listing some items I didn't blog about that were big deals in our life as well :)

Identity Protection and Personal Security in the Land of Social Networking

{source info retained for poster's protection}

I find that it is so true that the older you get, the more concerned about internet security you are. When you are a teenager you don't really think about such things, but as you get older the dangers become red flags everywhere.
I find this to be especially true for me. This past summer I joined Instagram to share photos with friends. I keep my pictures private and limit the people who can follow me to those I actually personally know in real life.
But I keep noticing more and more younger teen girls who don't take such precautions. I'm sure this comes from a misguided place of the desire for popularity and high follower numbers. But what they don't realize it what easy targets they are making themselves.
So today I want to take a few minutes to show how easy it is for a predator to find you from some basic info you share on social networks and how to protect yourself from this...

Currently

Loving:

Flipboard and Pocket - These apps have made keeping up with my reader list 100 times easier. I flick through Flipboard in a matter of 5 mins every day and am amazed that I have reached the end of my blogroll so fast. That has never happend to me before O_O Such a time saver!

Reading:

Watching: This ISR video on YouTube. 

This is one if the best things to teach your baby. We will do this.

Thinking About: Our busy weekend. I am launching Poetry on Demand at the McAllen art Walk tomorrow and then we have the Alaniz baby shower this weekend :)

Anticipating: This weekend, the Special Assembly Day next weekend, Syn coming to visit at the end of the month and Lani possibly coming down this winter. Also being debt free within a couple months :)

Listening to: The A/C unit next to me. But I have really been liking my Eisley station on Pandora.

Working on: Finishing my secret job order that I can't wait to share pics of after November and some other smaller orders. Also trying to stay on top of my intentions.

Wishing: This sinus infection would go away!

Preserving Photo Memories

*Warning: Heavy photo post to follow*

So I love to take pictures of everything. My external hard drive is filled with thousands of photos. I once took 8GB of photos on just one Spring Break vacation. Now that I finally have a smart phone, I'm finding myself taking even more photos then I used too. And love being able to look back on all those great memories. For years, I was ok with just seeing them on my computer. But in the last couple, I decided I wanted to preserve my favorite in print.
I love the concept of scrapbooking and have made some very lovely conventional and digitally designed ones. But scrapbooking just isn't very practical for someone with a busy lifestyle. So over the last 2 years I have perfected how I preserve my photo memories via photo books and our living growing family scrapbook.

The Break-Up Survival Kit

So a very close friend of mine recently went through a very heart wrenching break-up. Unfortunately since I live far away, I can't be there to comfort her. I knew I wanted to comfort her and send a smile her way some how. After some help from Google, I was able to come up with The Break-Up Survival Kit.

Currently

Loving: The new Pinterest app for Android. I was hating having to try and navigate the mobile website everyday from my phone but I love Pinterest too much not to use it. So when I signed on yesterday and I saw a notice to install the app I was over the moon excited. Luke and my mom didn't know what to do with me :) I have repinned so many things today ;)

Road Trip Wednesday #135: How'd You Spend Your Summer After Graduation?

showing off my diploma and tassel since I didn't get to walk

I have decided to finally participate in Road trip Wednesday over at YA Highway this week. There prompt today is: How'd You Spend Your Summer After Graduation?
I absolutely cannot believe that my summer after graduation was 6 years ago O_O That really makes me feel old when I say that, and I KNOW I am not old!

Our 2nd Anniversary: The $25 Date

So Luke and I  celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary last Tuesday on the 29th. I knew I didn't want the day to pass without doing something special but living on a tight budget limited what we could do. I turned to trusty google for some date ideas and found a wicked sentimental and special idea for under $25.

Weekly Intentions: April 15

So this week is packing week and there is no way I will have time for personal projects. Therefore I have no intentions other than to have our trailer loaded and headed south on Thursday.
I was able to accomplish most of my intentions last week plus I made my own detergent and deodorant. I definitely want to post my reviews of each once the trial process is over :)