Time

As I mentioned, I'm doing two photo challenges at the moment. This week's challenge in the other contest was time. I tried several different ideas, but settled on this one.

Photo of our HUGE assortment of watches, with effects added.

The next two challenges in this photo challenge are Open Study, followed by Stop Motion.

Photography Challenge Day 13: Yourself with 13 things

This one took me forever. It's awfully hard to take a picture of yourself, let alone figure out 13 things to put in the picture with you.

Actually, some of the "13 things" are cut off at the bottom of this picture. Yes, I know, there are a lot more than 13 things in this picture, but the ones I specifically included were (from left to right):

1. Cathy - my baby doll from my youth.
2. Chauncy Bear - one of my favorite bears
3. Perry the Platypus - because he's just that cool
4. Secret deodorant - because I got a years supply free because I have "Klout"! LOL
5. The Ladybug pillow pet - because she's cute and reminds me of Angie
6. Bud Light with Lime - because it's yummy
7. My iPad - because it too is just that cool
8. Stephanie's Clown - she gave it to me when I left New Orleans. Her mother gave it to her and it means a lot
9. The Heart Aunt Pat sent me (barely visible on the clown's lap) - because she means a lot to me
10. Kermit the Frog - he was my first love
11. Pooh Bear - he's been with me since I was born
12. My iPod Touch - I use it almost daily. Best thing I have ever purchased, hands down.
13. My Kindle - my newest geeky gadget and I love it :)

Don't you just love my library, not to mention my Eeyore jammies? :)

FINALLY this photo challenge is behind me! Next up, Eyes.

My Ode to @BulldogBackup

After several years of backing up my computer about once a year maybe periodically, I decided to look into an online, automatic backup system. I stumbled across @BulldogBackup on Twitter and after checking out their website I signed up.

I am so glad that I did. Not only have they always been great to work with, but my computer died this week, taking my hard drive and thousands of pictures, songs, documents, history and dozens of other irreplaceable things with it. I tried to access the hard drive with my new computer... dead.

I would have hated to lose this picture
and about 12,000 or more like it. 

I cannot stress to you how important it is to get an online backup if you have digital pictures or other things on your computer that you wouldn't want to lose. In fact, earlier this week someone I follow on Twitter was very upset for just that reason - all her children's baby pictures were gone because her hard drive died.

I can already hear your excuses...

It's expensive... not really, Bulldog has very reasonable prices. Are your children's pictures worth $6.14 a month? Or $63.27 per year? I think so. And that's for unlimited space. Yes, you crazy picture-taking fool, unlimited.

It's hard to use... no, not at all. Yes, the initial backup took awhile, but the system allows you to throttle your upload and you can pause it if you need to and let it run overnight. Set up was a breeze and once you tell it what to back up, it automatically backs up new files and new revisions to existing documents. It even stores older versions. My system was backed up to right before it died - I didn't lose anything except the things I didn't tell it to backup (like my desktop - doh)

I backup on disk... that's great, but what if (God Forbid) your house were to burn down? Not only would your computer be gone, so would your backups. I think this thought alone was enough to convince me.

And the best part, their customer service is great. I was having problems today with restoring my files, so I emailed them. I got a response back almost immediately. They were very patient and helpful, and ultimately we got my issue resolved with very little hassle.

So seriously, get off your duff and get an online backup service. Do it now, don't wait until you have a problem. Some day you'll be so very thankful that you did it. I recommend Bulldog Backup.

Note: I'm not getting, or expecting, any perks for this post. It really is a great service, and deserves a "shout out" :)

Laugh your way to a better marriage

A few years ago someone sent me this hilarious clip by Mark Gungor called "A Tale of Two Brains"

It's so funny, because it's totally true. I have reenacted that scene so many times to friends, and they always get it. After digging around a little, I discovered that this is just one scene from a marriage seminar.

Now, I know what you're thinking... I hate marriage seminars. I don't need a marriage seminar. It's given by a Pastor? No way, I hate preachy stuff.

I get it, I'm the same way. However, we've owned this DVD set now for two and a half years and we watch it all the time. We recommend it to everyone. Mark Gungor does a fantastic job of keeping things funny, and totally spot on. And the entire seminar is not preachy at all.

He talks about sex, a lot. Like this clip about men's sex drive:

Your marriage doesn't have to be in trouble to get and enjoy this DVD. Watching it will help you communicate better. It explains mysteries like why women have to ask men to do things more than once, or why men can completely zone out and women typically can't.

A few weeks ago I was talking to some workmates and pulled from what Mark taught me when explaining why men and women talk about their problems - and how it's for totally different reasons. Men only talk about their problems if they want a solution - and that's why they're always offering us ladies unsolicited ones! Women talk about their problems because it helps them to figure out how they feel about what's going on. My male friend said "wow, that totally makes sense! I always knew I shouldn't talk or offer solutions when my wife was complaining about something, but never understood why that was!"

I cannot recommend Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage by Mark Gungor more. It's fantastic. It's funny. It's spot on. It will help you communicate better and understand each other better.

The sky tonight

It was just gorgeous...

Film Noir

I'm doing another photo challenge, and this week's theme is Film Noir. What's that? ""Film Noir" is a genre of film between 1940 and 1960, originating in the United States, employing heavy shadows and patterns of darkness, in which the protagonist dies, meets defeat, or achieves meaningless victory in the end."

Not sure if these fit the bill, but it was fun. I have the best husband ever - it was still 104 degrees outside and he put on a dress shirt, dress pants, an overcoat and a fedora for me.

Photography Challenge Day 12: Sunset

They don't call Arizona the "Land of 1,000 Sunsets" for nothin' :)

Next up in the photo challenge: Yourself with 13 things.

Maybe I'll set up the tripod and take some pictures with the timer. Otherwise it's hard to take good photos of yourself.

Hidden (basically useless) Talent Showcase!

I can color! 

Picture from Piers Anthony's Visual Guide to Xanth.