Showcasing Your Grad’s Life
Graduation is here! Time to shine a spotlight on your special grad. Move over photo boards, here are some special, sentimental ways to showcase their amazing life so far for their graduation celebration.
The Places You Can Safely Store Your Photos
Love to take pictures? Those files add up and soon your phone, camera or computer is notifying you that your space is almost full! But there are SO many good ones. Here is a list of places to store your keepers for safe keeping.
Capturing the Best of High School
No doubt there were memories made over 4 years that are worth keeping forever. And no better way to capture and preserve this fantastic story than through photos, videos and music. Here is a checklist to help ensure all the “big picture stuff” is captured.
Need Help Organizing Photos?
There is no greater time than now to finally organize and backup our photos. But can you imagine sitting at your computer and going through every photo – organizing them into folders, deleting duplicates and blurry photos, renaming files, and, if you’re really into it, maybe touching-up some photos with editing tools? For perspective, I have over 40k pictures on my PC alone. If I took 5 seconds each to analyze, label or delete, that would be well over 40 hours of work. Thankfully, there is software that will do all this for you!
10+ Brilliantly Thoughtful, Unique & Local Gifts
It’s time for the yearly 10 most unique, thoughtful gift list! I love this time of the year and figuring out what challenging limits I can place on this list. Just when I think I’m really going to be stumped - I get WAY too many finds to trim to just 10.
This year’s challenges are:
Must be incredibly unique.
Must be able to be treasured for years to come.
Must support a local (PA/Pittsburgh), small business.
Must be responsible and respectable to the environment and each other.
As I mentioned, this list is not exhaustive - there are SO many special, incredibly talented businesses in the Pittsburgh region. I encourage you to search local, small businesses while internet browsing, or visit some of the venues that sell multiple artists’ works.
I promise this will be a pleasurable shopping experience - where you feel good about who are you buying from, the super cool gift you are buying and who you are buying it for. Spreading holiday love and cheer is what it’s all about.
How Well Do You Know Your Family’s History?
With the loss of each generation, a little bit of family history slips away…never to be told again. It’s up to you (person reading this) to help preserve as much family history as possible so future generations will know where they came from, who they are. And the time is right now. Ever wonder - how much do I know? Should I know more? How should I be documenting this? Taking this short quiz will give you an idea of how much you know, get you to start thinking about the questions you should be asking and offer a meaningful way to preserve what you have. It’s all important, no matter how much or how little.
A Special Gift For Mom
Searching for a fantastic Mother’s Day Gift? But fast!? What if you're not crafty? Short on time? Or your kids are getting older and have moved beyond the "cute" stage - 0r If-I-can’t-use-my-phone-forget-it phase?
I’ve got the perfect gift for you!
A gift that captures every emotional attribute AND is easy for her to hold onto (something that the moths won't feast on in the attic) AND your teen can keep their phones attached to them.
What to Do With Aging Photo Albums
When was the last time you looked through a photo album? No, not on a screen. A physical book - where the pages crinkle when you flip them. Where the edges are yellowing and the colors don’t look quite as vibrant. Or, perhaps they are in black and white. Whether it’s your parent’s photo albums or yours (I’m looking at you Gen Xers), the pictures (and you) are not getting any younger. It’s time to address this reality and put a picture preservation plan into place. These photos preserve the memories woven into our family’s fabric. They allow us to reconnect with loved ones, past and present. And they need to be passed onto future generations.
This is a big task. Don’t be hard on yourself. Take baby steps, because every action you take to better restore, preserve and/or organize these photos goes a long way in increasing their longevity. Here are three ways to preserve those precious memories:
Your Questions About A Family Legacy Video -Answered!
What is in a Family Legacy Video?
Why should I do a Family Legacy Video?
What would I talk about – I don’t have an exciting story?
How does the process work?
All of your questions and hesitations are addressed here!
INCLUDING: how both the interviewees and their family will love and benefit from this
Quick, Easy & Fun (& Free!) Holiday Games For The Family
As if the holiday season wasn’t asking too much of us, the kiddos are home for school for (what seems like) a very long time! While there are many activities and distractions throughout the week(ish), there is always the inevitable lulls in the action. Perhaps, even the gaming gets old? Or, you need to lore them away from the gaming is more like it. Here are a few simple, short and fun (and free) games to break the boredom or tension or away from the cookies or as dinnertime conversation…anytime games.
10 Incredibly Thoughtful, Unique Gifts You (Probably) Never Knew Existed
Back by popular demand: 10 Incredibly Thoughtful, Unique Holiday Gifts That You(Probably) Didn’t Know Existed. I’m posting a little earlier this year, as some of these ideas may take a little prep. But I promise you – they are awesome! While I stuck with my original standards from last year, I added 2 more requirements when gathering my list; 1) The gift must support a small business, either directly or indirectly. 2) The gift helps, in some way, to preserve family history.
Spending Meaningful Time with Grandparents
Every member has unique talents and skills that they bring to the family. Skills that, if we were to lose a family member tomorrow, we would be losing all that knowledge, a portion of our family’s library. And grandparents, being the most experienced at life (and wisest), have a bundle of life’s tasty tidbits of knowledge and passion to pass on. Here’s how to make this Grandparent’s Day super meaningful.
Ask These Questions At the Family Dinner Table!
One of the most important locations in a family’s home is the dining table! It is here that we share food, but more importantly our stories - from the day, our lives. Every family has stories. Stories that need to be told, heard and passed down. Here are the questions you should ask!
Fun Ideas for Family Reunions that Help Build Your Family History
Have a family reunion on the calendar this year!? Use this time to capture some valuable family history, while having fun!
The Last Message You Leave
What would my last message be? How would I sum up a lifetime of love and experiences into a single message?
When listening to seniors bearing their souls, they are not thanking their employers or boasting about job accomplishments. They are not raving on about their possessions. Or ranting about regrets or grievances.
When revealing their raw vulnerability for their family (with a complete stranger behind the camera), I find these messages come down to 3 important life concepts…
5 Incredibly Thoughtful, Unique Gifts
These 5 ridiculously thoughtful gifts will impress any recipient. They are original, can’t be outgrown, they won’t lose interest and can be passed on. (P.S. - they aren’t just for the holidays either!)
What Would You Miss the Most? Here's a List:
Are you missing anyone right now? Whether they are gone from earth, still here but not physically near or maybe their memory is fading.
What is it that you miss most about them? Maybe that cannot be answered with one word or concept. Relationships are complex like that. If they were sitting right beside you on that bench, what words would you speak or what actions would you take? What if you knew it would be the last time you see them?
Write it down. Here are your prompts…
