Thursday's Helpful Apps

Today I will be listing my favorite/most used photography apps from my phone. I love to take pictures of my family, my yard/flora/fauna, my pets, many things, actually. I primarily use my iphone5, now. I have a nice Canon camera that I used to love-it has a wonderful zoom! However, it's large and to take it in my purse to capture everyday moments is just too much. I only bring it to special occasions, now. Granted, my iphone can't capture everything as well as a regular camera, but it does a pretty good job. And, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the new iOS7 update for the camera has some nice features.

• Like I said, I use the "camera" app-just the basic app that came on the phone-quite regularly and its new updates like the swipe from regular camera to video or panoramic are much easier to use.
• Instagram, I have also mentioned before, is a good way for me to take pictures and instantly apply an easy filter and post it. I can also have it share that same post to Twitter or Facebook from the instagram app. Via itunes, they mention "Over 150 million users love Instagram! It's a simple way to capture and share the world's moments on your iPhone.
  
  Customize your photos and videos with one of several gorgeous and custom built filter effects. Transform everyday moments into works of art you'll want to share with friends and family.
  
  Share your photos and video in a simple photo stream with friends to see - and follow your friends' photos with the click of a single button. Every day you open up Instagram, you'll see new photos from your closest friends, and creative people from around the world."
• Picstitch is a fun app that will take two or more pictures, and like Instagram, you can apply filters to the photo, but you can also put multiple pictures into one picture. Their info on itunes says, "Quickly combine multiple photos into one beautifully framed picture.
  
  Pic Stitch packs a simple design with a powerful editor to give you everything you could possibly want to make your photo's simply amazing.
  
  Share your masterpiece on your favorite social media networks including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or order prints from your local Walgreens for in-store pickup.
  
  Use Pic Stitch to create a before-and-after sequence, combine great photos of each of your kids, or produce a photographic series."
• Beautiful Mess is a cute app that can put symbols, words, etc. onto the picture you've taken and then it can be shared. It is cute and fun! I have enjoyed playing around with it thus far. Some info from itunes states, "Add new life to your favorite photos with custom filters, fun fonts, and hand-drawn doodles by Elsie and Emma, creators of the award-winning lifestyle blog, "A Beautiful Mess". Then share your creations with friends through email, or by publishing them directly to popular social networks — Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (hashtag: #ABeautifulMess).
  
  Whether you're sharing personalized snapshots with friends and family or broadcasting your life's most beautiful moments through social media, the photo app from A Beautiful Mess makes it fun and easy."
• Ceiva is an app I use to upload pictures to a digital frame. My husband's grandparents have the digital frame in their apartment connected to wifi and it will upload pictures we send them so they can see the latest shots. They both have really enjoyed it! 
• Also, I just recently saw this article from How Stuff Works on the "10 Great iphone Camera Apps"

Do you have any camera/photo apps you love, Reader? I have heard of a few others, but haven't brought myself to purchase them, yet. Do you have any suggestions?

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I don't think I've mentioned before, but I'm reading a daily devotional called The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs by Debbi Bryson. I try to read it daily and I'm really enjoying it. I'd recommend it if you need a good plan to follow for Bible Reading. It has so much more to offer, like a way to read the Bible in a year with daily plans to follow, connections of the Proverbs to other books and verses. I have really appreciated it.
I'm also reading Death at La Fenice (Guido Brunetti Series #1) by Donna Leon I know, another mystery? :) I have mentioned I feel like this is the "year of mysteries" for me. I had a brief interlude with nonfiction/comedy, but I'm back to mystery. I had picked up a book with Venice as the main setting, and the cashier at Barnes and Noble mentioned this series. I remember Venice from our family trip a few years ago and I loved it so. So, mystery and Venice, lured me to this book from my library. It's a series, but I thought I'd try it and see...

What are you reading this week, Reader? 

Talk About Family Tuesday

            Today I get to talk about my youngest daughter. She turns 15 in the next few days. She is tall-6 inches taller than me. She is beautiful, with long blond hair-every time I take her to get it cut, people tell her that her hair color is what most women wish for. She has big, dark blue eyes. I don't think she knows how truly beautiful she is.

           What is even better, and more important, is how beautiful she is on the inside. She is polite, kind-hearted and faithful. She is very smart and works hard to show it. She is very diligent-homework, running, any task she sets before herself. She has a dry, witty sense of humor like her dad and springs it on you when you least expect it. :)

            She is currently re-reading the Harry Potter books... again! She said to me the other day, "I just can't find any good fantasy books like Harry Potter. The other books that are out are just too dark." She is also re-watching the movies. 

             She gets her artistic bent from her father-very skilled. Very little art instruction in her life, but has taught herself to use charcoals and chalk, as well as pastels. She is very good. For her birthday my parents gave her their gift early and it is an art easel. She has loved it! She likes to use a variety of things for inspiration. 

             She doesn't like to take her dirty clothes down to the laundry room or make her bed, but if asked she does so. She lets me know when she is upset with me, in a respectful way normally, but then goes to her room, thinks things over and comes back to discuss. She is quite mature for her age!

             She is not a concert lover, due to the noise and amount of people. She had her first pep rally of high school a few weeks ago and she came home frustrated. She said it was NOISY and there were TOO MANY people! I told her that was the idea of a pep rally and she informed me that she was going to hide in the bathroom with a book when the next one rolled around. ;) She didn't, she went and said she sat along an aisle so it was tolerable. :) She wasn't a fan of the big football game, either. However, she is still trying to get herself going; she went to the homecoming dance, even though she knew there would be a lot of people and lots of noise. She doesn't hide from a challenge. 

              She tries to do the right things, like when other girls on her basketball team were mean, I was going to talk with the coach, etc. She said she would just keep being nice to them, avoid them when necessary and things would work out because that is what she was supposed to do. :) I was proud of her (feeling the "mother bear" inside me wanting to come out ;) but letting her try to work things out herself) and it worked out fine. 

                She is a sweetheart who is still adjusting to her sister not being here all the time. They are best friends, even with the age difference and it has been difficult for them, missing each other. She tries hard though. 

                 She loves spicy foods-ate all the "hot" salsa my parents canned and brought for us-ALL of it! :) She loves salsa and "Mexican" food. 

                 I'm really lucky to have her in my life! I am very blessed and thankful for her. Who are you thankful for, Reader? 

Social Media Monday

Today's Social Media Monday is a tweet from Wednesday, last week. It was a Bible verse I have always loved and I retweeted it. One I need to repeat right now. Hope all is well with you, Reader.

Right Now

Right now I am

• Typing-I am really enjoying getting back into the regular habit of blogging. It is a good way to think, as well as share, feelings and thoughts. It is a nice form of journaling what our family is experiencing currently, as well.
• Seeing/Watching-my husband is outside mowing and he is trying to trim apple tree branches... This is significant because he always trims too many leaving our trees a bit more... bald than I like them. ;) And I checked with a local nursery and they said try not to trim them until March when they aren't bearing fruit...
• Smelling-I like to cook, but not off the cuff. I know I have mentioned that I love to follow a new recipe. My husband and I had decided to eat leftovers tonight so they won't go to waste. We had chicken and rice bake loosely based off this recipe: Crockpot Chicken Rice and Green Chili Casserole, but I baked mine in the stove with a few minor adjustments.  My husband went downstairs, before mowing/over-trimming trees, and whipped up a soup with those leftovers. I am smelling them now and am suddenly hungry, ready for an early dinner!
• Listening-My big dog is laying beside me, curled up, snoring away, so happy he can be in my office beside me. He was so happy to see our older daughter this weekend.
• Missing-our older daughter. She was home for the weekend, as per request of our younger daughter, to come and "do hair and make-up" for our younger daughter's first high school homecoming dance. She went with a group of friends and looked lovely. Our oldest daughter was glad to come and spend time with us all, and we were sad to see her go. And, as I said, our dog was so happy to see her, and began to act nervous when she brought her bags down today.
• Posting-pictures of our youngest daughter from homecoming. I post to only family and friends on facebook, but here I try not to post pictures of our girls. Just something from my paranoid early days of blogging. One picture had she and I together and people continue to comment on how much we look alike. It's funny how, as parents, we don't notice how much they look like us sometimes, and then in a certain photo, you see it.
• Checking-I play in a fantasy football league with my husband and some friends. The last few weeks my team has played well. We've played combinations of us vs the league average points and against other teams. I was 4-0 until today. I keep checking the game cast-the current stats for my players and I am not seeing positive results! :) Hopefully things will turn around by tomorrow night's Monday Night Football game! I was enjoying being at the top of the chart!
• Dreading-cleaning my office. I have let it get out of hand, working on other parts of the house, and it really needs work!
• Praying-for God to guide me according to His plan and purpose (see prior post)
• Aching-I ran 10 miles with my husband and older daughter yesterday. I actually had to stop at a few points to rest my aching injury that won't go away. I'm sadly scheduling another doctor appointment for this week. Hopefully I will be able to run the half marathon I have been training for-it is three weeks from today.

What is happening Right Now for you, Reader?