I'm Headed to the Beach

A year ago, when I received an email asking me to be a part of (in)courage, I never dreamed that so many of the women would become such dear friends.
Saying yes was one of the best blog decisions I have ever made. 

(In)Courage's vision has always been to be a sort of online, beach-house retreat for community. This weekend, that vision is going to be a reality as a group of (in)courage writers will be deepening our friendships, laughing, cooking and dreaming big dreams for (in)courage - on the beach in Hilton Head!!

Photo from here

Despite the fact that life is wild right now (we leave for my sister's wedding next Thursday), I couldn't miss this opportunity.

I'm so excited.

Here are the sweet women that are able to attend:

• Mary
• Robin
• Lisa
• Emily
• Nester
• Stephanie
• Holley
• Jen
• Adrienne
• Annie
• Dawn
• Sarah

If you aren't familiar with them and their blogs, take a few minutes to click. They are some of the loveliest, most genuine women I have ever known. We are definitely kindred-spirits - and will be more so after a weekend together!

We will be tweeting under the hashtag #incouragebeachwknd if you’d like to follow along.

Please pray for safe travels (Annie, Mary and I are driving to Atlanta tomorrow night and then the rest of the way early Friday morning - then driving back Sunday; others are also driving and/or flying!) and for a rich weekend of friendship.

I do have weekend blog posts scheduled, so be sure to check in! I also will likely post a few glimpses of our time together. :)

Disclosure: DaySpring and Hilton Head Island Chamber of Commerce are hosting/hosted the (in)courage bloggers for a long weekend of relaxation and fun. Hilton Head Island Chamber of Commerce generously provided the accommodations at the amazing beach house, bikes, an ocean cruise, and dinner at The Aqua Grille & Lounge. DaySpring took care of all the incidentals and meals for each of the bloggers.

My Friend Amy's Dream House

My friend Amy and I are a lot alike.

• We both love God.
• We both love old things. 
• We both work in marketing.
• We both love books. 
• We both love crafty things. 
• We both love paper products. 
• We both are very frank.

She is currently taking an old, water-damaged, mold-infested house and turning it into her dream home.

She inspires me and amazes me.

Check out this video of her and her contractor sharing their vision for the house and taking you for a walk-through.


901 Bradford FINAL from Kevin Kaz on Vimeo.

If you like design blogs like The Nester, The Inspired Room and The Lettered Cottage, you will love Amy's blog, Bradford Avenue. Go bookmark it. 

Project Life Tuesday

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday! If you are new to The Mom Creative, each Tuesday, I share my pictures from my Project Life album - a photo a day for all of 2010, and readers are invited to link to their blog posts that share their photos. My only requests are a) that you link back to The Mom Creative or post the Project Life Tuesday button on your blog/in your post and b) that you link your actual Project Life Tuesday post in the Linky Tools widget - not your blog homepage.

You can purchase a project life kit on Amazon!

My week:

Sunday, August 29: Elias loves watching his Buzz show every morning while he eats his breakfast. He looked so cute this morning in his Buzz jammies.

Monday, August 30: The honeybee room was busy with activities when we arrived for Elias's first day. His teacher encouraged him to join in the play dough activity and he didn't even cry!

Tuesday, August 31: Elias has graduated from a diaper bag for school each day to his own backpack. He kills me wearing it.

Wednesday, Sept. 1: Today on the way to school, Elias took off his socks and shoes. He thought he was so funny.

Thursday, Sept. 2: Tonight when I went in to check on Elias, I had to take a picture of him sleeping on his lion, holding his big bird... he's just so darn sweet.

Friday, Sept. 3: After school, I decided to take Elias to the park. He had so much fun climbling on everything and sliding down the slide. He's getting to be such a big kid!

Saturday, Sept. 4: Today, I walked out of the room for a minute and came back to Elias coloring all over his legs. Of course, I took a few pictures before taking away the markers. :)

Your turn!

Disney Store: Free Shipping

The Disney Store is running a labor day special - free shipping with the code FREESHIP.

This is good on regular and clearance priced merchandise.

Elias is really into Buzz Lightyear right now and I founds lots of Toy Story stuff on sale, like this backpack for $7.99.

Be sure to also check out the Disney Outlet  - the promo is good there too. The free shipping ends tonight!

Happy shopping - we had a great morning at the zoo! Expect to see pictures. :)

Disclosure: compensated affiliate link used

Shutterfly Book for $10 - TODAY ONLY!

I just opened my e-mail and the Nashville Groupon is for an 8x8 Shutterfly book for $10! After Picaboo, Shutterfly is my favorite photo book resource. The quality is FABULOUS and I have made probably eight Shutterfly books in the past.

The expiration date is November 22, so this would be perfect for a photo book that you make to give as a Christmas gift. :)

I did a little research and it turns out that just about every Groupon city has this deal! You can buy one per city, though Groupon says one per account.

I bought a couple - one to make for a photo shoot we are having done of Elias next month, one for my sister's wedding and one for a beach trip/girls weekend I am going on next weekend. I love doing photo books for trips/events that have a lot of photos. It make it so easy to put together a bunch of photos.

Remember, you don't have to live in the city that you buy the Groupon for these national deals!

Disclosure: compensated referral link used

Sweet Elias

Matthew shot this video last month of Elias playing at a local park. He just edited it and set it to music.

It is enchanting.

I hope you enjoy it.



Remember to be thankful for simple moments.

They are blessings from God.

Happy Labor Day.

Walgreens Photo Deal - 10 Cent Prints

Through September 11 Walgreens is offering 10 cent prints (50 or more) with the code ALLYEAR.

I get all my Project Life photos at Walgreens. simply because it is convenient. Their quality is very good.

I also like uploading prints there and sending them to the Walgreens need my parent's house. My mom will then go and pick up a batch of Elias photos, which is always a treat.

I think she will like this one, don't you?

Elias swinging at the park yesterday

Disclosure: compensated affiliate link used

Snapfish FREE Shipping for Labor Day

Snapfish is offering free shipping through September 7 with the code FREELDSHIP.

This is good for ALL customers, so if you have been waiting on ordering prints, now is the time.


Snapfish doesn't do a free shipping deal this good very often. I will definitely be ordering some prints. I love their matte photos.

New Customer Bonus
If you are a new Snapfish customer, you will also get 50 FREE prints if you sign up with this link. So upload your photos, then order them using the code FREELDSHIP to get them totally free.

Update
New customers can also use the code WOW10OFF to get $10 off their first purchase. This deal is good through September 16. Snapfish doesn't let you combine coupon codes, so what I would recommend is use your first transaction and spend $10 and only pay for shipping. Then use the FREELDSHIP on a second order. :)

Disclosure: compensated affiliate links used

Year in Review Photo Books and Picaboo 40% off 40+ Pages

Picaboo Book - LOVE it.
I received my free Picaboo photo book and I am in LOVE.

It is by far the prettiest photo book I have ever made - and it has me even more excited to use my Picaboo Groupon (more on that in a minute).

September Deal - 40% off 40+ page Books
From now through September 15, you can get 40% off classic Picaboo photo books that are 40 pages or more. Some people have mentioned that Picaboo's additional page cost is a lot more than other sites ($1.99 per page instead of $1), so this deal makes them practically the same.

Just use the code SEPT40 at check-out

Year-in-Review Book - Starting Out
Like some of you, I am planning on using Picaboo to make a photo book of all our best photos from 2008 and from 2009. Since I will definitely need more than 20 pages, this deal is HUGE. I won't be able to get 2008 done by the 15th, but am hoping to get 2009 done. (For more on this project, click here.)

Here's the cover of my 2009 book. Isn't it sweet? I can't believe how little Elias was.

The project has already been so liberating! You see, even with doing Project 365 and scrapbooking, I have thousands of photos that never see the light of day. These photo books are going to include many of those photos.

My general plan:

• One-two spreads of general photos from each month
• Special spreads of birthdays, holidays, trips, photo shoots, etc.
• If the photos haven't been edited, I don't plan to edit them (I just don't have the time!)
• Total anticipated size of book 50-75 pages

I love my photos and seeing them makes my heart happy.

The plan is to order two of each book - one for Elias to someday take and one for our family.

As I work on these books I plan to share my process. I was inspired to do this because of Danelle Johnson, who I have linked before. I have re-read her post about this project several times and she has been gracious enough to agree to do a Q&A for The Mom Creative, so be watching for that!

Happy photo book making.

Disclosure: compensated link used