Adobe Lightroom Preset FREEBIES!

Ok, so I bit the bullet and got Lightroom, at least as a trial. Well, I might as well just buy the darn thing now, cuz I'm HOOKED! And one of the main reasons is presets. They are easy to use, easy to tweak and FAST FAST FAST! Check out these awesome presets that are FREE!



Hope I've enabled some of you who were on the fence!

BWO

So, I was just blog-surfing, looking at pretty scrapbook pages mosly and I ran across a fantasticly talented group of ladies in Australia. Check out the link that got me started here They are paper scrapbookers and, to me, that is like scrapping from another planet. I tried to paper scrapbook for about two months and I was horrible at it. I had all these grand ideas and simply could not execute them to my satisfaction so I was delighted to discover digital scrapbooking which, for me, had a much shorter learning curve. Anyway, I like to look at paper scrapbooking pages because it gives me a different inspiration pool. They are working in a different medium and with different tools than digi-scrappers. Anyhoo, somehow or other I came across a link to something called Blogging Without Obligation. The basic idea is that we should blog cause we want to not cause we have to. Pretty cool, so I'm adding the blinkie to my COLLECTION! ;)

9/11 Day of Remembrance

September 11, 2001
The Day The World Changed

When I woke up this morning, my first thoughts were of 9/11 (2001). I can hardly believe that six years have already passed. My personal memories from that day:

I started a new job with ADP in April 2001 and we got Rufus as a puppy that same month. Brian and I got married in 2001 (June 16). On September 11, I was in the office. It was a Tuesday and, at the time, it was the one day of the week that I was required to be "in-house". Most days, I was working from home or making sales calls. So, all the sales reps were in the office that day. I remember that a lot of the guys had News-alerts set up on their cell phones and on their laptops. Someone saw the video on CNN (I think) when the first plane hit the tower. We all watched it and my first thought was that it was a private plane gone amok. By the time the second plane hit the other tower, we had all abandoned the pretense of working and a tv was set up in the conference room downstairs. A group of us sat together and watched the first tower fall, live on TV. I was in shock and many of us were crying. ADP made an announcement that any employees that wanted to, could leave. There was a lot of fear and paranoia. Our office was located across the stree from Ford World HQ, we were in a city that was predominantly arab-american, etc etc. So, I went home. I called Brian on the way home and for the next 24 hours I was glued to the TV. I never felt so frightened and sad. I am lucky that I didn't lose anyone personally in the attacks. My heart goes out to everyone who did. God bless.

Thursday thoughts?

I am not 100% sure why I have a blog like this, but it does seem mildly therapeutic to write down whatever I'm thinking about. Lately I've been thinking about losing weight. I am at a point in my life where it's not as easy as it used to be to drop 10 or even 15 pounds, while it is easier than ever to gain that amount of weight. I realize that I need to make changes, but thus far, have been unsuccessful in implementing said changes. So, maybe if I write it down, for the WHOLE world to (potentially, at least) see, I will be more accountable...? We'll see. But here are my thoughts:

1. No more beer or wine during the week. It's just extra calories that I don't need.
2. No more snacking on cookies and chips BEFORE dinner. This is actually what I perceive to be my biggest sin. I tend to get hungry right before meals and just grab whatever is in the cupboard. From now on, I am going to snack only on healthier options, such as carrots, raisins and figs (all things I love)
3. Exercise everyday, even if it's just a long walk or a bike ride. This is the most critical and the most difficult one for me. I have no idea why, because I love how I feel while exercising, I love how I feel after exercising...I just LOATHE getting started! This is where I need my own personal butt-kicker!

And one thing I learned in sales was that your goals need to be measurable, so since my true goal is to lose weight, I am going to commit to trying to lose 10 lbs by October 15. Phew, now it's out there! Wish me luck, I have a feeling that I'm going to need it!

On to scrapping stuff -

I recently completed my Hodge Podge layout and I really like the result. I am developing a personal style and I have to say that I think it is grungy/edgy. I seem happiest with my layouts when they are a little grungy or edgy. When I try to get cute, the whole thing just falls apart, IMO. So here's my entry:


(credits can be found at any of my gallery links, at right)

And I decided to enter the Stand Up and Scap contest after all. I think I will enjoy it, as I really enjoyed the Queen of the Crop contest at scrapbookgraphics.
I have a thought (I was going to say "concern", but that is too strong a word) about the attempt at anonymity. I understand the goal of keeping it anonymous, but I suspect that it will be impossible. I have only been around the digiscrapping world a short while and I already recognize layouts as "belonging" to one artist or another based on their children, who, understandably, star in 90% of the layouts! So, we'll see if they can take the PROM QUEEN/MOST POPULAR aspect out of it, but I doubt it. Still, it's for a worthy cause and the kit alone (with the coupons) is seriously worth it. The deciding factor to enter for me was actually the cost. To get it at SSD, and to register, the kit was $10. To get it at LDD (no registration), was $12. The $2 decided it for me, although I don't really have serious thoughts about winning. I was doubly glad I bought the $10 kit and registered when I found out that the coupons in the registration package don't come with the $12 kit!! (yes, I'm a bargain hunter!)

So those are my thoughts for today!

Happy September!

I can hardly believe that summer is over! We crammed a lot into August and now I'm just zausted!!! And a little sad that winter is coming, so instead of being melancholy, I will focus on the top ten things I love about fall...
Here goes,
1. Cider mills
2. Sweater weather
3. Riding boots
4. Carving pumpkins
5. Football and hockey seasons start
6. New TV season (Heroes, Lost!!)
7. Great sleeping weather
8. Hot cocoa
9. Halloween
10. Christmas catalogs

Happy Blogging!