Preserving Life's Fleeting Moments

I am a product of the 70s, an era best known for bell bottoms, hippies, and protests. Not really stellar photographs. Film and processing made photos difficult and expensive. As one of six kids, my time in front of the camera was rare. There were more important things than pictures, like mouths to feed.

So sadly, there are only a handful of photos for the first few decades of my life, none of which are digital.

Then in 2007 my world forever changed. I was gifted with my very own DSLR.

With this amazing gift came new opportunities to capture and seize life's beautiful, fleeting moments like never before.

Simple moments like catching bullfrogs.


Or becoming pirates.


Kissing fish.


Exchanging giggles.


Jumping in leaves.


To name a few.

Now take these fleeting moments and multiply them by several thousand. That would be the number of photos I currently possess in some capacity or another.

Unfortunately with this new found digital photography came the photo storage conundrum. Whether you use a top dollar digital single-lens reflex camera, a small point and shoot, or a smart phone, the storage dilemma is the same.

I have been through 2 computers and 3 external hard drives since that first digital camera and my newest 2Terabyte is filling up as we speak. So how does one properly preserve these fleeting moments?

This Life has come up with an ingenious solution.
ThisLife makes organizing your digital moments easier. It gathers, improves and organizes your photos/videos for you in a chronological timeline while keeping them all safely stored in the cloud.



If you have your memories scattered about the net, This Life is perfect for you. It grabs photos from facebook, twitter, shutterfly, flickr, instagram and more and instantly uploads it to one central location, the cloud. It allows you to have control over what you share and who you share it with.

It syncs to your iphone. And you can even download the desktop uploader, allowing you to drag and drop your photos which syncs directly to your bubble.

And if that wasn't enough, This Life also has a photo enhancement feature as well as facial recognition technology, making it a win-win and the perfect photo storage solution. I'm sold.

And for my project alicia readers, This Life is offering a limited FREE 6 MONTH TRIAL OFFER of their Adventure Box package, which will allow you to house and organize up to 20,000 photos! You can stay up to date with the latest developments for This Life on Twitter and Facebook.

Disclosure: ThisLife sponsored my post today. I received compensation and a free trial service in exchange for telling my story. So, go check out the ThisLife free trial today.

WW: Open Your Eyes

Wordless, Not So Wordless, and Wordful Wednesday posts are all welcome here at Project Alicia. Just grab your favorite photo(s) and come join the party.



Sometimes we get stuck in the "busyness rut" of life and we forget to open our eyes and look around. Thanks, Kristi, for the reminder. Even in the latter stages of summer there is much beauty to be found.

Grab my newest 12x12 freebie template and then share it with your friends. I'd appreciate the love.

If you are new to photoshop or photoshop elements, check out my short clipping tutorial.

And if you haven't yet entered the Crazy Days of Summer $200 Photography and Scrapbooking Prize Pack Giveaway, you're in luck. It runs through Wed, August 31st at 11:59 PM. Just go find your fav summer photos and link up!

Before I close I wanted to share this fab Color Bar template from The CoffeeShop Blog.

Talk about inspiring. I can see projects unfolding before my eyes. You can see more of this shoot and my 11 Tips to Better Photos here.

Thanks for stopping by! Link your photo(s) below. And make sure to check out some of these other fab WWs!

Crazy Days of Summer Sweet Summer Finale {$200 Prize Pack Giveaway}

We spent the last hours of summer break on the river tubing.



But now it's back to the grind- early mornings, schedules, after school activities... Our summer is officially over. Little Man is a 7th grader and Pokey is big stuff on campus now as a newbie 5th grader. That first day back caught me emotionally offguard. Who knew that being called uncool or embarrassing by a ten year old could sting so bad? I had officially been traded in for snotty nosed little brats. Long gone are the days that I could do no wrong.

So, I did what any sensible, blubbering ninny would have done- I took to my photos. As I delved in deeper I found solace in beautiful memories of our summer. Boy did we have fun.

How could I ever choose just one? So I decided to use Oscrap's template to make the mother of all summer collages. Can't wait to hang it up! (You can see a framed example at Freckle Photo.)



Highlights of our summer include:
trips to DC and Six Flags in Chicago
lazy days swimming, berry picking, and catching critters
outings to the creek, fossil gorge, and nature center
visit from Uncle Hans
my 20 year reunion
Little Man's lego cake and new cell phone
Pokey's ice skating party
tubing and fishing
watermelon, sonic slushies, and bbqs

But the most memorable by far would definitely have to be our trip to the Outer Banks, NC for my family reunion. Surf, sand, and plenty of sun. Doesn't get much better than that.


These may not be prize winning photos, but they certainly are beautiful memories- captured and preserved.

I am so thankful for the opportunities I've had to travel and enjoy time with my family. It's definitely been a sweet summer here.
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If you haven't been following along with the Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge, here's a short rundown of what you missed.

Week 1- Flowers

Week 2- Refreshing
Learn how to make an animated gif here.

Week 3- Water
Grab the free WATER template and find a short clipping tutorial here.

Week 4- Yellow Check out my 11 Tips to Better Photos here.

Week 5- Light
Find my short tutorials for Sun Flares, Silhouettes, and Balloon Glow photos here.

Week 6- Patriotism
A week in the OBX, NC with my sweet nieces and nephews for the 4th of July. You can see more of this Americana photo shoot here. Or my 30 favorite photos from our vacation here.

Week 7- Critters
Grab this free template here.

Week 8- Motion
See examples of both freezing motion and motion blur here. And check out Kristi's motion spinning panning effect.

Week 9- Bubbles
Did you know you could also freeze bubbles? See my photo here. You can find Kristi's fab bubble tips here.

Week 10- Summer Treats


Week 11- Fun with Friends

Week 12- Blue Skies
Find my Five Landscape Photography Tips here.

I hope you've enjoyed this Summer Photo Challenge with Kristi (of Live and Love out Loud) and me. Thanks so much for sharing your summer with us! It is with mixed emotions that I write this post, so I'm happy to announce that Kristi and I are teaming up with the lovely Rebecca (of Bumbles & Light) to bring you a Fall Photo Challenge, Shades of Autumn. More details coming soon.
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A special thanks to the following sponsors for their generous donations, making this amazing prize package possible. Here's the breakdown of the $200 giveaway...

My Four Hens Photography

Photographer, Sarah Cornish, is offering a $40 gift certificate to her shop, which sells photo editing actions for Photoshop, Elements and Lightroom, in addition to textures and overlays.

Weeds & Wildflowers Design

Gina Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers Design is offering a $40 gift certificate to her shop, which sells wordart, templates, paper, kits, and goodies galore.

Willette Photography & More

Photographer, Kelly Willette, is offering one spot in her Family Joy online photography course, valued at $35. The three-week course begins on September 20, 2011. Head on over to Kelly's site to learn about what participants can expect to learn and receive during the Family Joy course.

And Then She Snapped

Rachel is offering one of her gorgeous camera straps, valued at $25.

Designs by Life-n-Reflections

Kristy Doubet of Designs by Life-n-Reflections is offering a beautiful, customizable 10 page photo album, valued at $20.

Gracely Designs

Grace is offering a full blog makeover, extras included, valued at $20.

Lilly Bimble Digital Papers and Clipart

Lilly Bimble offers high quality digital papers and clipart for all of your scrapbooking needs. Lilly Bimble is offering the Honey Bee, Amara and Chevron Digital Papers, Pastel Bunting Banners, valued at $20.

Rules: The linky will be open from Friday, August 26th – Wednesday, August 31st. Submit your favorite summer photos to be entered into the drawing. Link directly to your blog post or Flickr photo, not your blog's homepage or Flickr photostream. Link back to the Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge in your post. One entry per household, please. You don’t have to be experiencing summer at the moment or have participated in previous challenges. The lucky winner will be chosen via random.org and announced on September 1st.

Summer Photo Challenge

LAZY CRAZY DAYS OF SUMMER

Jun 3rd - Aug 26th

Hosted by Kristi of Live and Love out Loud and Project Alicia.

This challenge is now closed.

Here is the complete schedule.
June
Week 1, 3rd- Flowers
Week 2, 10th- Refreshing
Week 3, 17th- Water
Week 4, 24th- Yellow

July
Week 5, 1st- Light
Week 6, 8th- Patriotism
Week 7, 15th- Critters
Week 8, 22nd- Motion
Week 9, 29th- Bubbles

August
Week 10, 5th- Summer Treats
Week 11, 12th- Fun with Friends
Week 12, 19th- Blue Skies
Week 13, 26th- Sweet Summer Finale

You can find the Top Five Pics of the Week for Weeks 1-13 here.

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And thanks to all who participated in this challenge! Kristi and I had so much fun getting glimpses into your lives. Make sure to stop back for the Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge. It runs Oct 7th - Nov 25th. See ya then!

Top Five Pics of the Week {Crazy Days of Summer: Week Twelve}

Holy blue skies batman! You certainly didn't make the pickins easy for Kristi and me this week. You gave new meaning to "the blues"... touching on almost every shade in the spectrum. And reminding me why I love doing this so much. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys rock! Keep up the great work out there! You are making the blogosphere better one photo at a time.

Top Five Pics of the Week

Submitted by Katie Lloyd Photography


Submitted by Simply You Simply Me


Submitted by Cedar's Photography


Submitted by Awesomeville.co.uk


Submitted by The Good Life

Don't forget we've got some exciting things planned for our Crazy Days of Summer SWEET SUMMER FINALE on August 26th. There's an amazing prize package giveaway filled with photography and scrapbooking goodies galore! Swing by and submit your favorite summer photos Friday, August 26th - Wednesday, August 31st for your chance to win!

WW: Birthday Extravaganza

Sorry if you're birthday'd out. It's like one long birthday extravaganza around here.

My Pokey joined us 2 years and 1 day after Little Man which makes for a crazy first week of August every year.


We try to space them out if possible to prevent me from losing my marbles, but it becomes one LONG party.


I don't do photo shoots every year but since I did one at the request of Little Man I thought it only fair that I also did one for Pokey. Hubs brought home the balloons and Pokey picked out the dress. And miraculously enough, they worked. Too bad she wouldn't wear the cute boots. But some battles just aren't worth it. I still managed a few cute pics.


This year also marks one whole decade that Pokey has been with us, so I thought it would be fun to share one Pokey-ism for every year of her life.


And now I'm going to shift gears for a quick second. This message is to all you photogs out there: Make sure to stop by this Friday, August 26th, for a Crazy Days of Summer Finale you won't want to miss. We have an ah-maz-ing prize package giveaway full of photography and scrapbooking goodies galore. Just check out these sponsors.


One photo enters you into the drawing. It doesn't matter if you haven't participated in previous challenges. All are welcome regardless of skill level. Just stop by Friday, Aug 26th with a fav summer photo and you could be the lucky winner! It's that easy!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Link your photo(s) below. And make sure to check out some of these other fab WWs!