Photo editing

Here’s a question for all my photographer blogging friends:  What are some good, free sites to use for photo editing?  (hopefully ones that are relatively easy to use)

 

I am a huge fan of Picnik, but sadly they are closing in April.  I will be sure to take advantage of their free premium upgrade for all until then, but I need ideas from you all what is a good replacement, since I love to take pictures and share them with you all.  Please help

Five Question Friday

Happy Friday!  I’m so glad it’s the weekend. And here in Southern California, it is supposed to be a nice, warm weekend…I might even make it to the beach ….we’ll see.  Now on to today’s edition of Five Question Friday.  As always, feel free to play along by answering the questions in the comments or in your own post.

 

1. Do you swim in the winter?  I rarely swim ever.  I know how to swim, and the apartment complex I live in has 2 pools, but I have yet to use them.  Maybe if it was winter and I went to some exotic location that was very warm, I would swim.

2. Do you love or hate winter?  I don’t love it, and I don’t hate it.  I like that the temperature is mild, for me anyways.  I used to hate winter when I lived in NY, it was sooooo freezing and I hated shoveling snow, and was not a huge fan of winter sports.  But now that I live in Southern California, winters here are in the 50′s, though this year, they have been in the 60′s to 80′s.  It rains occasionally, and I like the rain.  And when I look in the distance to the mountains, I can see them capped in white snow and marvel at how pretty it looks, and how I don’t have to be IN the snow.

3. Do you put makeup/actual clothes on when you know you’re going to be home all day with just family?  I live with a roommate, not family.  On day’s when I’m home all day, usually I will put on clothes but often skip the makeup.  It’s nice giving myself a break and not feeling like I have to get all dolled up.

4. How old were you when you had your first alcoholic beverage?  I’m sure I had a sip or two of my parent’s beer when I was younger.  The first time I got drunk was in 7th grade.  It was accidental, of course, but I will not forget it.  Let’s just say don’t let kids and adults go to the same party and drink the same punch that the adults poured a bunch of alcohol into, that the kids didn’t know about, and the adults didn’t know we were drinking.

5. How many ill calls in a 12 month period do you think are acceptable? That’s tough. I called out sick yesterday, for a legit reason (I’ll blog about that soon). Most of the time, when I call out, it is for a valid, sick reason. But I also think people need to have a Mental Health day sometimes, especially if you have a stressful job.  I personally don’t take advantage of calling out sick, and only do it when needed.  Last year I know I was out a lot more than usual due to my back issues, but I think in total it was 9-10 days.

 

Have a great Friday everyone!

STONES

I received an email this morning with the following message that I thought was definitely worth sharing

 

TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING THROUGH THE DESERT .  DURING SOME POINT OF THE JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN ARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIEND SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE IN THE FACE. THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING, WROTE IN THE SAND ,

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE .

THEY KEPT ON WALKING, UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS, WHERE THEY DECIDED  TO TAKE A BATH. THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE MIRE AND STARTED DROWNING, BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.  AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM THE NEAR DROWNING,  HE WROTE ON A STONE:

 ’TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE’

THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND ASKED HIM, ‘AFTER I HURT YOU, YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW, YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?’  THE FRIEND REPLIED:

WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY. BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING GOOD FOR US, WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE WHERE NO WIND CAN EVER ERASE IT’

 LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.

I remember going to hear a speaker one day at my church, who was sharing something similar.  It had prompted her to do something in her own life to remember all of the struggles and trials that she had gone through.  She created a Stones of Remembrance vase, which is a vase, filled with stones, and on each stone is written a trial or struggle she had gone through, or even happy milestones and achievements. And then when she was going through something  (as we all know we will have many trials in this life) to pick up the stones and look at them and remember how she had gotten through it, and also look at the positive stones and reflect on happy times.  After hearing her story, I was prompted to make my own Stones of Remembrance vase.  I haven’t updated it in a couple of years, but I have it on display in my bedroom, and glance at it every day.  Here is a picture of it when I made it:

Recipes wanted

The last few months were very busy ones for me, with all the holidays, my trip home, roommate drama, and my new relationship, that I became kind of derailed from my eating healthy and working out goals (well the working out was put on hold due to my wrist injury).  In the spirit of the new year and wanting to get back on track, I am starting a 10 day cleanse on Monday, to flush out my system and start over.  The cleanse involves some fiber drinks and some supplements, and eating at least 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, and really limiting my meat intake.  I am asking all of you for any  good recipe suggestions, primarily vegetarian, but can include some chicken or fish, and some good snack ideas.  So please leave any suggestions or recipes in the comments for me…and if I use yours, there will be a blog post about it and I will add it to my Savory Stuff page

 

Five Question Friday

TGIF!!! and that means another installment of Five Question Friday.  as always, please feel free to answer the questions yourself, either in the comments or in your own blog post.

1. Where do you hide the reeeally good snacks?  Well now that I am back on my exercise/diet/healthy eating kick…my snacks are mostly fruits and veggies….so that would mean mostly in the refrigerator.  But I do have some yummy Ghirardeli chocolates that my man got me sitting in my room near my bed..hmmmm.

2. Do u keep your vehicle clean or am I the only one who has things falling out of their van?  since I got my new car (last March) I am surprised at how clean I have kept it, in the inside.  The outside is desperately in need of wash.  And the truck does need a few things taken out of it.

3. Have you ever been to Vegas?  Yes, I went for the first time a few years ago for my birthday.  Then I went in January 2010 to visit my friend who lived there, and while I was there, I got to meet up with one of my college sorority sister’s for brunch at the Mirage…I hadn’t seen her in 10 years!

View of the Paris Eiffel Towel with the Bellagio water fountain show

4. Warm room light blankets or cold room warm snuggly blanket?  I can NOT sleep if I am too warm, so I sleep with a fan on.

5. What is the worst airplane/flying experience you’ve ever had?  Well this post talks about how TSA tends to think I fit a terrorist profile, so that is never a fun experience.  My last flying experience in October coming back from NY was also an unpleasant trip.  It involved delayed flights, spraining my wrist, in-flight sickness, overcrowded plane with kids crying and kicking the seat, and the car not starting when I got picked up.   But the funny thing is, I prefer to fly rather than drive.

Movie snacks

On Friday, I went to opening night showing of Beauty and the Beast in 3D at my local movie theater with my man.  I have always loved this movie when I was younger, and haven’t seen it in a long time, though I did go to the Broadway musical of it last year (see this post).  It was so fun to watch this movie all over again, and even though I had seen it numerous times before, there seemed to be a couple of things that I had not noticed before, and the 3D effects were so cool.

Back to the topic though, of movie snacks.  I love movie theater popcorn…there is just something about the taste of it.  I had some this time because I just couldn’t resist.  But most of the time, I don’t buy it, because, lets face it, the concessions at movies are so dang expensive (we are in a recession people!!).  So sometimes, I admit, I sneak in my own snacks, whether its some candy, my own popcorn that I popped at home, a soda, and when I’m trying to be good….I’ll bring in healthy snacks like fruit or trail mix.

Today, I came across this funny post from Groupon and I just had to share it with you:

The Groupon Guide to: Sneaking Snacks into a Movie

Movie theaters insist that you purchase their snacks because if the public doesn’t buy them, the employees are forced to eat the remaining candy at the end of their shift. Avoid buying overpriced movie snacks with these tips for sneaking your own treats:

• Bring a suitcase full of large pizzas to the movies and say that you have a plane to catch right after the film ends.

• Fill your pockets with unpopped popcorn kernels. Hold each one over a lighter to activate it.

• Form licorice into the shape of glasses and wear them into the movie. If you already have glasses, pop out the lenses and replace them with Nilla wafers.

• Steal other people’s candy by pretending to be their wife or husband. They won’t know because it’s dark in a movie theater and you smell just like their spouse.

• Fill your mouth, nose, and hair with Mike and Ikes. When you get inside the movie, spit them out to share with your friends.

• Bribe the movie-theater staff into looking the other way by inviting them to your lake house for one unforgettable summer they’ll never forget.

• Soak a rag in soup and suck on it.

Do you sneak in snacks?  What’s your favorite thing to eat when watching movies?