How to organize your digital photos

If you are like me, the holidays provide the perfect excuse to whip out the digital camera and capture some valuable photos that will last a lifetime. However, these pictures won’t do much good taking up space on your hard drive.  This January make one of your New Year’s resolutions to get your photos organized! MyPublisher is offering some helpful tips on how to manage and easily share your new memories.  Here are a few of their suggestions:
 
Tip #1:
Delete the photos you’ll never use from your hard drive.  We’re not talking about the ones where the expressions are slightly off, but the ones with obvious boo boos, like your hair blowing into the lens and the photos that your 3-year-old took when you weren’t looking. 
 
Tip #2:
Rename the photo files from their original default names.  A file with the name ‘MAY_08_ZOO.jpeg’ will be much more relevant than “LD1002008.jpeg’.  Both PCs and Macs have ‘batch’ renaming tools where you can select an entire folder and then rename the files in it.  Just remember to be consistent, either by date, or name, or both.
 
Tip #3:
Create a logical folder structure for your photos.  Unlike your individual photos, try to do everything by month and year vs. by event name. Two years from now, when you are looking for a group of photos, you can narrow down by date rather than trying to remember an event name…. i.e. ‘Alaska Trip’ or ‘Trip to Alaska ’?  Trust us, you won’t remember.  
 
Tip #4:
Share your Memories!  One of the best things about digital images is they can be used over and over again.  MyPublisher offers several high quality ways to share your photos: photo books, photo cards, calendars and scrapbooks – each one created with MyPublisher’s superior craftsmanship and unique designs.


I'd love to hear how you organize your photos!

My Holiday Vox Box from Influenster! Check out these great products!

The Softsoap Coconut scrub not only smells great but feels great too! This is perfect for the cold winter months and it gives your skin a great feeling of freshness. Loved it!
The Larabar cashew cookie fell below my expectations. It was very bland, the texture was weirdly sticky and it was just plain blah. Have you tried one? What flavor did you like?
ImPress manicure. These are so cool! They are flexible and supposed to last up to 7 days. They have amazing designs and are easy to apply and remove. However, after only 3 hours 2 of mine popped off. That was disappointing.
I received the nude color and love it! It's high gloss without being sticky. Oh yeah, it smells like coffee!
Mentos Chewing gum. I don't usually chew gum, because it quickly becomes too chewy, but not Mentos! I loved it! The flavor knocked out my coffee breath and it lasted a really long time. I love the hard case. It's also a bit too hot for my kids, which means they won't be stealing it out of my purse!
I like the individual packages of these, very convenient. I didn't feel any tightening though. My skin felt clean, but not tight and refreshed. I should try a few more of these though!
Heart Eau De Perfume. I didn't really like the scent much, but scent is such an individual thing. To each their own. I did receive a trial size which goes great in my purse for after a workout! Stock up on those trial sized products!

These products were provided to me by Influenster in participation with the Vox Box Program. You have to sign up!!!

HomemadeMom is all messed up and moving!

So my wireless card went out in my laptop. I don't even know how to get online old school, so I've been armed with only my cell phone. And blogging from my cell phone sucks. Then a few days ago I downloaded Picasa on my cell to compare online photo storage sites. I saw all my blog pics. I wondered if they really needed to be there so I deleted one folder. I checked back to the blog posts and it was still there. Sweet I thought, and went ahead deleting what I thought would be safe back on my blog.

Today when I check out my site all my pics are gone!!! AAARRRGGGGG!!!!! I should have known better! After doing some googling I discovered that the Picasa albums are used for all blogger accounts. Meaning, if you have a Google + account and delete pics from albums there, they will disappear from your Picasa album AND your blog! YIKES!

There are many food bloggers and photography blogs that have recently deleted albums from Google + because they didn't want all those pics there. They wanted to be able to share personal pics of their kids, family, themselves, etc. When they deleted the images from Google + they disappeared from their blogs! Pissed we are! There is no trash bin to restore, there is no un-delete. We are all screwed.

I wanted to make some changes in 2012 like moving to Wordpress, so since my hand has been forced, I'm making the move now. So chances are I'll be absent for a bit online while I figure out a new blogging platform. If you have any tips/tricks please share them with me on my Facebook Page. It would be much appreciated!

Also, what widgets/plugins in Wordpress can you not live without? I need help!!!

Apples to Apples XBox 360 Game Review

The boys and I got to review Apples to Apples XBox 360 Game a few weeks before Christmas.

Apples to Apples is a game of hilarious comparisons. Comparing apples to apples. The game is aimed for ages 10 and up. I tried to play it with my boys ages 5 and 8. My 8 year old helped a bit, but he didn't really understand the concept of the game.

This game would be perfect for my husband and I, however, the second we turn on the XBox they come running and butt right in to take over. Meaning we get no time for our games, but later, when they are all asleep, we will battle!

I'm really thinking this game would make a great at-home date night activity. You can purchase the game online at the XBox marketplace for 800 points. Well worth it in my opinion!

 You do have to spell out your answer, which is timed and kinda difficult. I did ok in the beginning, but after I passed a few levels you have to spell out the answer, which isn't listed in any of the choices offered to you. You have to know the word and how to spell it. Tricky tricky! This is right up my husband's alley!

Want to learn more? Here's an overview: Party-style fun is ripe for the picking as Apples to Apples™ the video game comes to Xbox LIVE Arcade! This game of hilarious comparisons is as simple as comparing “apples to apples” – just select the red card you think is most like the green card played by the judge. If the judge picks your card, you win the round. And everyone gets a chance to be the judge! Play online with up to 5 friends in Classic Mode or two variant modes – Baked Apples and Crab Apples! Choose from 26 hilarious Apple Avatars, enjoy environments like Space Apples and Carnival Apples, and collect Golden Apple Cards that mix up the game! Bursting with over 1000 red and green cards, Apples to Apples™ the video game provides endless hours of unpredictable, over-the-top fun!

*Disclosure: I received this download for review purposes to share my honest opinion. All opinions are my own. Thank you Click Communications!