Tag Archives: photobooks

Did you have a good Saturday?

Did you have a good Saturday?  We did! It was a nice quiet day for us here in our new neighborhood.  While Gary was finishing up the outside set-up, I was finally getting started my Year Nineteen memory book!
It’s always quite an overwhelming concept to start this project as I have to take the 3265 (give or take a dozen or two) pictures I have taken during those 12 months and whittle them down and organize them into a picture book that I can actually afford. So after a good long walk down memory lane, I managed to gather 288 pictures that seemed to represent those twelve months. And then the real work began!
Three hours later…..
I was halfway through September.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

Chomp.

Ten Things…

…I’ve done since the last time we met.
1. Did my taxes. It wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it would be (it never actually is!), but I usually put it off as long as I can. I had a few quiet moments last week and took the plunge. Thank you Turbo Tax. I’ll be watching for that refund!
2. Finally finished my Year 18 Picture Book.
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Yes, the year that ended July 30, 2022. I must confess this was a hard year to process (both mentally and pictorially) so there was a lot of stopping and starting.
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Only five months until I get to start working on Year 19! Yikes!
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3. Worked steadily on the Storyworth project our kids gave us for Christmas 2021. So what’s this Storyworth thing? Well, every Monday morning Gary and I would each get a question for us to answer, and then at the end of the year, they make it into a book. (“Oh,” said Gary when we got our subscriptions. “A Christmas gift with homework!” )The questions have ranged from “what’s your favorite joke?” to “how has the world changed since you were young?” Wait. What? So not only were some of the questions challenging, but they also came Every.Single.Monday. Needless to say, it was very easy to get behind. So our year is up, the questions have stopped and we have until April 15th to finish up any questions, edit it as we might choose, and then they will publish our books. April 15th is the deadline. And I still have four questions to go! Maybe more on that another day.
4. We moved!
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Okay, it was less than a mile (from campground A to campground B), but still, it’s a new neighborhood. And even though it was a short move, the slides had to come in, the coffee pot had to be bunged, and any movables needed to be secured. You can always tell it’s going to be a short ride when the big fat electric cord is just wrapped around the tow hitch instead of stowed neatly in its bin!
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5. We welcomed our new team members (11 new couples!)– and we’re all geared up for a great month of service here at ALERT, culminating with our big 40th Anniversary Rally beginning on March 30th.
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We’re close to 250 people in attendance for the Rally, so right now I’m feeling like my life is pretty much just one big checklist! We have a great committee, so I’m working on my delegating skills. Everyone is so willing!
6. In another move, I’m on the painting team instead of the sewing team this month.
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I miss my little Bernina that I grew quite fond of, but I’m really enjoying the ladies I’m painting with. So it’s all good.
7. I’ve been collecting quilt squares for our SOWER Anniversary Quilt.
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Fellow Sewing SOWERs from around the country have been putting together these squares and mailing them to me. During the Rally, everyone will have a chance to sign and personalize a square and then we’ll put it all together to hang in our SOWER office. I’ve been getting squares almost every day – and it’s been lovely to see everyone’s contributions!
8. Although we scoped out our storm shelter, we were spared from any major storm activity during last week’s wild weather.
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No hail, some wind, steady rain – but no need to evacuate. Thank you, Lord!
9. I spent Sunday in bed with a tummy bug. It happens. Just keeping it real, friends.
10. And I remembered anew how blessed I am to be loved by God! See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. I John 3:1

Photobook Backlog

One of the things I’ve tried to do each year we’ve been on the road is put together a photobook of memories.
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As you can see from the various sizes of the books, I’ve used a several different companies – Shutterfly, Costco, and Picaboo to name a few – and usually go with the one with the best sale or coupon at the time. Along with the Yearbooks,  I also like to make memory books for other special events – family reunions, special trips and of course, our adventures with our grandkids! This past month I’ve been working hard to catch-up on some bookmaking! Not only did I have our Year 17 Book to do (our ‘year’ runs from August 1 – July 31), I also wanted to document the wonderful Family Reunion at The Cabin we had in July and  I had TWO grandson adventure books to put together! Phew! I started with the easy ones – the ones for the grandboys. Those came together fairly easily, and I’m happy to report that those books are on their way to the appropriate grandson! (And my copy has been added to the library!)
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The other two – The Reunion and Year 17 – are taking a bit more time. So many pictures – so many choices! Putting together a book of memories that took place over a week is so much easier than trying to condense an entire year into a photobook I can actually afford! But I’m plugging away and hope to be done before December at the latest!
Looks like I might need to commandeer some of Gary’s side of our bookshelf pretty soon….
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I wrote a bit about my love of photobooks about ten years ago, so if you’d like some additional details, you can check it out HERE!