Dec22

New Graduation Pic!

Posted on by
Standard
New Graduation Pic!

Heyy everyone and happy Thursday! Yesterday evening the professional photographers from my graduation uploaded the shots that they took for purchasing. I was feeling really nervous that there wouldn’t be any pictures that I liked because, unfortunately, I hated all of the pictures of me that my brother took! Luckily, there was one totally perf picture in the bunch that didn’t feature a weird walking across the stage angle or a (Yikes!) double chin!!

Instead of purchasing a photo package of the pic which was super costly, my parents and I decided to buy a digital download of the image so that we could print it out however we want. This picture was taken right before I walked across the stage and I freaking love it! Take a look:

graduationpic1.jpg

Aw!! :*)

Even though we had to shell out the moolah to get this picture, it was so worth it, considering there wasn’t a picture taken that I deemed worthy enough to print out and frame. I love how this pic shows off the stole and honor chord so nicely and I really like the background, too! GREAT SUCCESS!!

I hope all of you have a fab day and I will talk to all of you soon! Who is ready for the holidays? Does anyone have any last minute shopping to finish? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec22

Amazing DIY Projects You Need To Try Next Year

Posted on by
Standard

Being able to make something out of practically nothing is pretty awesome isn’t it? There’s nothing more satisfying than starting out with just a few chunky pieces of wood and ending up with something super awesome to fill your home or garden with.

Furniture and decor these days is so stupidly expensive that it makes sense to do it yourself. Even the pieces that are supposed to look old and shabby cost a fortune these days, if not more, so why bother forking out all of those extra dollars when you can do it for a much cheaper price yourself?

DIY projects aren’t just great for the final result, either. You’ll have something to fill your time with, a new set of skills, and, of course, the patience of a saint afterwards. If you’ve got some spare time on your hands (or little to no spare cash), then try these DIY projects and kick start your new year in style.

  1. The Most Stylish Table Lamps You’ll Ever See: This one is actually amazingly cheap as well as super easy. If you have some spare wine glasses around the house and a few paper shades (if not, both of these items are easy to find and can literally be purchased for a few dollars), drop an LED tea light into the wineglass and cover it with a paper shade. These make the perfect dinner table lampshades that are both safe and stylish to use.
  1. A Side Table With Style: If you have some old window shutters in the garage that haven’t been used in years, then why not put them to good use? You’re clearly not going to use them for their original purpose again so, instead, make a table from them and have an amazingly quirky looking table in one of your rooms for little to no cost.

diyny

Pexels Image

  1. A Lick of Paint Never Did Anyone Any Harm: If you’ve opened a tin of paint recently and got all of your walls finished, then you don’t need to throw the leftovers in the bin. Paint is expensive these days so you don’t want to waste a drop! Use what’s left to freshen up the furniture around the house. Chairs, tables, display surfaces – whatever is looking a little downbeat, spruce it up in the simplest, cheapest, and easiest way possible.

diyny1.jpg

 Pexels Image

  1. A Little Woodwork Knowledge Goes a Long Way: If you’re not much of an expert where woodwork is concerned, then don’t worry because that doesn’t need to stop you from having great wooden furniture in your home. Simple projects like a stowaway bench will bring character to the kitchen or garden play area. For tips on what sort of equipment you’ll need to get the job done properly, check out Straight Kerfs’ homepage.
  1. Make Your Decor Pop With Mini Bursts of Color: If you find that your all white furniture leaves your home looking a little boring, then there’s no need to go out and spend a fortune on replacing it all. Simply cover the metal or wooden handles with patterned fabric swatches. You can mix or match and have your home looking far more colorful at the cost of just a few dollars.
    diyny2

    Bring on the color for a fun new look!

How do you DIY? What is one DIY project that you’re really proud of? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec22

Moving At Short Notice Doesn’t Have To Be An Ordeal…

Posted on by
Standard
Moving At Short Notice Doesn’t Have To Be An Ordeal…

In an ideal world, we’d all have a lot of notice to plan out every little detail of our house moves, and take all of the necessary steps to make sure it’s a stress-free breeze. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world! Sometimes, life throws us a fast one, and we find ourselves having to move into a new house or apartment at short notice. If you’re in this situation, here are a few pointers to make it as easy as possible:

Start Packing. Right Now! From the moment you know that you’re going to move, before every little bit of paperwork is in order, you should begin your packing process. Packing everything you’ll need is a big task and the sooner you get started, the sooner it will be out of the way. Obviously, there are certain things that you’re going to want access to between now and when you’re all settled into the new place. For this reason, start off with the least essential items, like art and other decorative items. Make sure to keep your boxes nice and organized, labeling them with categories or the room that they’re ultimately headed to. It’s also a good idea to clean the place up as you go, which will save you having to do it in one big rush closer to moving day.

Packing up house really is a monumental task. It can be exhausting and, frankly, overwhelming at times. If you are feeling the stress of packing, there is always help available even if your friends and family can’t fit an assist into their schedule. Simply enter a search for “movers in Raleigh, NC” (or your local area) as chances are high that a professional team of movers offers packing services too.

Make Reservations Well in Advance: After taking a bite out of your packing, this should be your next highest priority. While business comes in peaks and troughs, the removals industry is never exactly slow, and various moving companies, valet storage services, and so on are going to have pretty full calendars for the year ahead. For this reason, you need to start calling companies up and making reservations as soon as you have a definite moving date. First of all, this will give you a little more wiggling room for comparing quotes and finding the services which are most cost-effective for you. Secondly, there’s a slim, but potentially catastrophic chance that you won’t be able to find any professional movers in time! If you need to be out of your property pretty soon, then start making calls as a matter of urgency!

Set Deadlines: Seeing as you’re reading this, there’s a fair chance that you have a date where you definitely have to be out of wherever it is you’re currently staying. However, this shouldn’t be the only thing that you’re marking on your calendar. Moves are inherently stressful and if you want to mitigate that stress as much as possible, it’s important to exercise some self-discipline and set yourself deadlines for packing up certain boxes, making arrangements with the movers, sourcing help from your friends, and so on. Organizing yourself like this might feel like way too much but you’ll be doing yourself a big favor, and because you’re on a tight schedule you won’t have to be self-disciplined for too long! 🙂

moving6.png

Flickr Image

 Featured Image By: Wikimedia

Dec22

How To Save Time While Keeping Your Garden In Tip Top Condition

Posted on by
Standard
How To Save Time While Keeping Your Garden In Tip Top Condition

Garden maintenance is probably the last thing on your mind at this time of the year. With Christmas just around the corner, you’re probably far too busy buying presents and ingredients for the big day. However, now is the best time to start thinking about your garden because you’ll have to start working on it in the spring. We’ve come up with some excellent tips that could help you to save a lot of time and money. So, don’t stress too much when you think about how long you’ll have to spend outdoors. It’s possible to make sure that your garden is in tip top condition without spoiling your weekend or breaking the bank!

Get a Brand New Mower From a Local Retailer: There are hundreds of different lawn mowers available on the market today. If you’ve had your model for more than a couple of years, then you need to purchase something new. The motor will have deteriorated and the blades will have become blunt. That means that it will take a lot longer than it should to cut the grass. It says at http://www.lawnmowerlane.com/honda-variable-speed-lawnmower/ that Honda makes the best products around at the moment. You just need to read reviews and perform some research to ensure that you don’t make the wrong decision. Mowers are expensive, so you don’t want to waste your moolah.

Get the Entire Family Involved: When all is said and done, you are not the only person living on your property. So, it makes sense for you to get the whole family involved when it comes to garden maintenance. There is no reason why your children can’t help to rake the leaves or remove some weeds. It will get them away from their computer screens for a while, and that can only be a good thing. Also, many hands make light work. You could have the job complete in a matter of hours if you can convince your family to assist. Maybe you could offer to treat them to a special day out for their efforts? Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with bribery to make the job go by faster!!

Call the Experts: If you want to save as much time as possible, then the best thing that you can do is call in the big guns. Whether you need HEDGE TRIMMING SERVICES or a full fledged landscaping makeover, there are lots of professional firms willing to undertake the work. They charge a fee for their services, but it’s not usually too expensive. Taking that action would allow you to stop worrying and relax on your days off. Journalists at http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/12/garden/hired-hands-in-the-garden say lots of people choose that option. It’s convenient and people working in the industry know how to achieve fast results.

Use the suggestions from this page to remove all of the headaches from gardening in 2017. Who knows? With a bit of luck, you might have everything sorted in time for when the weather improves. That means you could start hosting outdoor parties and BBQs again without having to complete any gardening tasks for the occasion. At the end of the day, you can make the work as easy as you want. It all depends on how much cash you’re willing to spend.

Featured Image By: Flickr

Dec22

How To Get The Most Out Of Your New Tech

Posted on by
Standard
How To Get The Most Out Of Your New Tech

If you’ve shelled out on an expensive gadget just in time for Christmas, then you’re going to want to get the most out of it. That means everything from optimizing it to protecting it. The first thing you must do when you purchase a new gadget is to buy a good case for it. There are plenty of options on the market but don’t just go for style. It won’t matter how good your new iPad case looks if it disintegrates on contact with the floor. Buy the case that will give your iPad the best protection from the elements and the occasional drop. A good case is going to save you a lot of money in the long run. If you’ve spent a lot on a gadget, you’re going to want to protect it like it is your home.

If your gadget has a huge screen area in comparison to its chassis, that means that it is mostly glass. You should know exactly how fragile glass is! Along with a good case, investing in a screen protector won’t only protect your phone or tablet from the oils that your skin leaves behind and smudges from swiping, but it could stop your screen from shattering upon contact with the ground. Invest in a tempered glass screen protector if you dislike the feel of the plastic versions.

A power bank is a modern essential. Phones seem to run out of juice more quickly than ever before. A good power bank will not only give your phone a new charge to full from zero, but it will also do it again and again. Most power banks will work with a wide range of portable gadgets, so if your Kindle runs out just before the end of the chapter, you’ve now got your answer. As with cases, there are plenty of options on the market. Just do your research on a site like IThingum before you lay down the cash.

A good SD card is a lifesaver if your gadget allows it. Most Apple products won’t, but if you’re an Android head, then you’re in luck. An SD card will upgrade the storage of your device to levels that you’ll be able to appreciate if you take too many photos! A 32gb upgrade will do the trick for most and it won’t set you back too much. It might even increase the lifespan of your device.

You should also download anti-virus software for your new device. Mobile devices, as well as laptops, are increasingly becoming targeted by cyber-criminals. Scan your systems and ensure that you are protected from the get-go. The consequences of this are disastrous and could leave you in a bad place. Don’t take the risk!

If you’ve got a new gadget, you’re going to need to look after it to get the most out of it. With portable devices, there’s not much more that you need to do as most are already optimized for performance. Just give your gadgets a boost and the occasional clean, and they will serve you well. IF you choose to neglect them, they are going to fail sooner than you could have prepared for.

Featured Image By: Flickr

Dec22

Becoming An Audiophile Without Breaking The Bank

Posted on by
Standard
Becoming An Audiophile Without Breaking The Bank

If you’re a music lover, then a pair of headphones and a cheap mini speaker in the corner of the room isn’t enough for you. An audiophile wants real quality. In the past, that might have been super expensive, between all of the hardware and the music collection your heart desires. Nowadays, however, it doesn’t have to have anywhere near that kind of impact on your wallet. Here, we’ll look at how you can tune into your inner music lover for a lot less.

Go Digital: You no longer have to fuss about setting up a huge system including a CD player, all of the connectors, and loads of speakers. Nowadays, you only need the power of your digital devices like your laptop, smartphone, tablet, and the right musical devices to connect to it. To that end, you want to look at high-quality Bluetooth speakers from places like Speaker Digital. Not only are Bluetooth speakers easily connected to all of those digital devices, but they require minimal wiring so you can transport that music setup of yours around the home for when you want to jam to your favorite tunes in a different setting. Some of the best Bluetooth speakers are backward compatible, too. So if you do have a vinyl player or CD system you want to hook up, you’re perfectly welcome to.

Get Smart With Your Placement: You don’t have to go buy hundreds of speakers to get the best room-filling sound, either. One can be enough. It’s all about where you place it and how you equalize it. This might require a bit of testing, but if you’re diligent, you can find the right setting. Just make sure that your speaker is placed in the best position in the room, where it’s not being cut off by corners of bookshelves or furniture. You want the sound to have as clear of a path of travel as possible. To make sure you’re calibrated to all of the highs and lows of the music so that nothing overlaps or drowns out the other parts of your music, it’s a good idea to use a bit of classical music as you equalize. Most famous pieces are diverse enough to give you an idea of how clear you can hear the individual parts of the music.

Stream, Don’t Buy: If you haven’t started using digital streaming methods of listening to music now, then you truly are missing out. Services like Spotify can offer you a library of thousands of your favorite songs. Nowadays, there’s a diverse market of different streaming services, so it’s true that you might not find some of your favorites all together on any one service. But if you don’t mind mixing and matching, it’s way cheaper than collecting CDs and even digital albums. You might want to spend a bit to get the ads out of the way, but that’s a small price to pay in comparison to purchasing every CD that you want to own.

Between cutting down on those once monumental hardware costs to getting all of your favorite tracks for less, it’s significantly easier to get your perfect audio setup. Just keep in mind the rules of speaker placement for the best possible quality with no distortion or blockages.

Featured Image By: Pixabay

Dec22

Do You Work From Home? Here Are Some Ideas To Make Your Life Easier

Posted on by
Standard
Do You Work From Home? Here Are Some Ideas To Make Your Life Easier

Working from home is often an enjoyable experience if you’ve made the right preparations. However, it can become a real pain if you haven’t. There are lots of things to consider, most of which you won’t identify until you start. However, you’ll find some fantastic ideas on this page that could help you to get things sorted ahead of time. There aren’t many jobs around today that you can perform from your house, and so you should feel lucky. Most people have to deal with at least a little morning commute, but you can work in your underwear. Remember that if you ever feel like working from home has become too much of a hassle. It is always easier than going into the office!

Create a Suitable Working Space: If you’re earning money from the comfort of your spare bedroom, you’re probably using a laptop. That means you need to buy a desk, office accessories, and an ergonomic chair to create a professional workstation. Experts like those at http://www.stuartdavid.com/ understand how critical it is to get things right. While you might like the idea of sitting on your sofa, that will result in productivity issues. In most instances, it’s possible to shorten your working day by completing your jobs as quickly as possible. That is never going to happen if you’re getting distracted by the TV all of the time. Do yourself a favor and invest in some office equipment today before you start getting stressed out.

work3.jpg

 Get yourself a desk and do work!

Make Sure You Have an Active WiFi Connection: Earning your living outside of the office probably means you use the internet, too. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to complete tasks when your connection keeps dropping. For that reason, you need to invest in a decent router as soon as possible. Writers from http://www.thesmartfuture.net/ and similar websites have all the knowledge you require. So, you just need to spend some time reading online reviews to guarantee you find the best products. You can also purchase WiFi boosters or change your service provider if you think that will help. At the end of the day, you just want to work uninterrupted.

work4

Flickr Image

Have Some Quiet Time From the Kids: As we mentioned a moment ago, trying to work with the TV blaring is never a good idea. Likewise, earning your living while there are children in the house will become frustrating. You need peace and quiet to complete your tasks and fill your bank account. So, you might have to make alternative childcare arrangements during the summer holidays. It’s not too much of an issue when your little ones are out of the house for seven hours every day. However, they will begin to drive you crazy if they’re under your feet while you’re working!

work5.jpg

 BABY!

Everyone who works from home should benefit from the advice on this page. So, make sure you put it to good use before it’s too late. There is nothing worse than feeling stressed and knowing that you have to keep working. If you put some of these ideas into practice, that shouldn’t happen too often. We hope you have an excellent Christmas and we look forward to seeing you in the new year! 🙂

Featured Image By: Flickr

Dec21

How To Enter Into The New Year With A Fresh Perspective

Posted on by
Standard
How To Enter Into The New Year With A Fresh Perspective

Each time a brand new year comes around, we can often go into a panic about how the next twelve months are going to be. The idea of resolutions start to be thrown around and we instantly think about all of the crazy things we need to do to better ourselves. But, a lot of the time, they can be far too crazy, indeed. After the parties wind down, it is likely that you’ll think about the future. But, instead of thinking up tough resolutions that you just can’t stick to, why not realistically decide what you want to do with the rest of the year?

Decide What You Want: The first job on the list will be to decide what you want to get out of the next twelve months. This can be entirely personal to you but it has to be achievable. You don’t want to set yourself insane targets of looking like a Victoria’s Secret model and becoming the boss of your own fashion empire, all within a year. Instead, you need to prioritize what really matters to you.

ny2.png

Pexels Image

Focus On You: When you’ve figured it out, it’s time to turn your time and attention on to yourself. You might be used to focusing on others, but that’s all about to change. From now on, you’re going to work on you. Start by setting some personal goals and coming up with an action plan with steps on how to tick each goal off. It might sound complicated, but a concrete plan will help you to see it through.

Rest More: It might sound like you’re going to be working harder in the New Year with your personal goals and action plan, but that’s not the overall idea. Instead, you want to walk into the new year with an open mind and a better perspective on life. And that includes taking a time out. You need to be able to rest more, relax, and recover. Nobody can take on the world if they’re tired and overworked.

ny3.png

Pexels Image

Head In The Right Direction: Then, you’re going to want to make sure that you’re heading in the right direction. It will depend entirely on what goals you’ve set, but you should be able to measure how well you’re doing, no matter what they are. If it’s relationship related, maybe you need to socialize more or work on being a kinder person? If it’s career focuses, then maybe you need to get in touch with Recruitment Services and look into getting a new job? Whatever the action is, make sure you take it.

Enjoy More: And finally, what would gaining a fresher perspective on life be without a little fun? As well as driven and focused, you also need to be happy. Try and make sure that you leave enough time for fun in your life. Whatever your hobby may be, make sure that you stick to it. Make plans with friends, see family, and never feel bad for enjoying your life. You only get the one, so make it count.

Featured Image By: Pexels

Dec21

Going Away For Winter? Don’t Forget To Protect Your Home

Posted on by
Standard
Going Away For Winter? Don’t Forget To Protect Your Home

Taking a vacation over the winter period has become more and more common. Some people want to spend Christmas with the family, others want to counter the January blues by carving up the ski slopes or going somewhere exotic to get some much needed sun. Everyone has a right to go on holiday. The issue is that winter is also burgling season – abandoned houses and freshly-unwrapped gifts offer the perfect opportunity for professional thieves. To give you peace of mind whilst on your vacation, here are some great ways that you can safeguard your house and deter burglars.

Employ a House Sitter: The best way to put off thieves is to not leave your house empty. Robbers will survey a house for days before making a move to check that it is empty. They will read social media posts stating that you’re going on holiday and count the cars in the driveway. Throw them off by having someone stay in your house, or at the very least randomly make visits to check up on things. You may need someone to feed the cat and water the plants, anyway. Make sure that this house sitter is a close friend or family member that you can trust.

Install Security Lighting: The winter months are great for thieves because they’re dark, which makes it easier to go undetected. Catch thieves with motion sensitive lighting. No one will want to pick your front door lock if they’re lit up for all the street to see. This form of lighting also has non-security related practicalities, such as helping you find your keys in the dark.

Buy a Burglar Alarm: The most obvious method is, of course, to install a burglar alarm. This can be fitted on windows or a door to detect if someone breaks in. Make sure it’s always got batteries in it so that it’s always armed and ready.

Invest in CCTV: If you really want to ensure protection, security cameras are certain to ward off potential robbers. Strategically placing one of these can give you scope for all possible entries and even help out the neighborhoods (providing they are alright with you installing a security camera). Even a non-working camera can put off a thief.

Lock Up Your Shed: Thieves will often target garden tools as this doesn’t even involve having to go into the house. Keep all of your garden equipment stored away and lock the door with a padlock, otherwise you may come home to find you have a missing lawnmower or bicycle.

Home Insurance: If you choose to opt for none of these features, at the very least you should invest in home insurance so that any items that could be stolen can be replaced without you having to fork out money. This won’t help you replace sentimental objects, so if you’re worried about losing these kinds of items, the other security methods mentioned are recommended. If anything, many of these anti-burglary features such as a burglar alarm, CCTV, security lighting, and secure locks will help to lower your insurance fees and strengthen any claim you make.

Featured Image By: Pexels

Dec20

Christmas Countdown Questionnaire

Posted on by
Standard
Christmas Countdown Questionnaire

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday! I hope that all of you are having a wonderful start to your week. With Christmas being just around the corner in a whopping five days, I thought that it would be fun if we all answered some holiday season related questions and see how everyone is faring during this super festive time of year. Feel free to reblog this post and find out how your readers would answer these questions! You are also more than welcome to add questions of your own or change any of mine – I promise I won’t be offended! 😉

Holiday Q & A:

  1. What is on your holiday wish list this year?
  2. What is your favorite seasonal food or drink?
  3. Are you an early or late holiday shopper?
  4. On a scale of 1 to 10, how good of a gift wrapper are you?
  5. Best present you’ve ever received?
  6. How about the worst?
  7. Do you prefer shopping in store or online?
  8. What holiday are you celebrating this season?
  9. Who is the hardest person on your list to shop for?
  10. What is a gift that you would like this year but will never in a million years receive?

My Answers:

  1. My holiday wish list is usually the same every year – moolah and makeup! I love when I can get a full restock of my favorite beauty essentials on Christmas. It may seem kind of boring, but my beauty must haves are things that I use daily and run out of quickly so having a few extra on back stock is a godsend!
  2. I LOVE Christmas dinner, which is typically the same as Thanksgiving dinner! So stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams and all of the vegetarian side dishes are my faves. I don’t really have a favorite holiday drink but I do enjoy treating myself to a Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks at least once during the winter.
  3. I am a very early holiday shopper! I was done buying and wrapping presents by early December and I am so happy for it. Shopping any later would give me anxiety!
  4. I would say that I am a 4 when it comes to holiday gift wrapping. I start out strong but then by gift number three, I think that a toddler could wrap better than I can.
  5. Hmm…last year my mom got me a gorgeous new coat from Target that I had my eyes on for forever and I freaking love that thing so much.
  6. I can’t really think of the worst present that I have ever received – that’s what gift receipts are for!
  7. Online holiday shopping is a must for me. I honestly can’t remember the last time that I did a majority of my Christmas shopping at the mall or wherever. Almost all of my shopping was done on Amazon and it made all of my Christmas purchases a breeze.
  8. My family celebrates Christmas but as a nonbeliever, I am only there for the food and the presents!
  9. MY SISTER IS SO HARD TO SHOP FOR. You would think that she would be one of the easiest but that has never been the case. My sister is very specific when it comes to things that she does and doesn’t like. That’s why I usually have to opt for gift cards or booze for her!
  10. An all expenses paid trip to Europe, duh. 🙂

How would you answer some of the questions on my Christmas Countdown Questionnaire? How does your family ring in the holiday season? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah