Cherish the Memories....Mother's Day

I'm a very sentimental person.  I save things that remind me of the people I love.  It can be a bottle, a piece of cloth, a vase, a pin, a lovely necklace or photographs.

Recently, I gathered a collection of black and white photographs of my mother and grandmothers to display on one of my kitchen shelves.  I call it my "Mothers Day shelf".

I'm so blessed to still have my mother in my life.  She lives behind me...only steps away.  She's always been there for me when I needed advice, needed a hug or to hold my babies when I couldn't be there.  So many memories.  Many more to come.

When I look at my Mother's Day shelf, I am reminded of many things.  My grandmothers.  The comfort of her voice, warm hugs, sound advice and long stories.  Oh, the stories.  I wish I had recordings of all of them so I could listen to them over and over.  Memories.....

The sound of a door closing

Pictures on a wall

Chenille bedspreads and handmade quilts

Cakes made "from scratch"

Rice pudding

Homemade biscuits with honey

Certain smells

Watching soap operas

Kitchens

Rocking chairs

The list is endless.  The memories are priceless.  I cherish every one of them.

Happy Mother's Day!

May is ALS Awareness Month

The month of May is very important to me.  It's the month of my birthday, my mother's birthday, Mother's Day and this year, my oldest son's high school graduation.  But May is also ALS Awareness month.

ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.  It's a debilitating, neuromuscular disease that can affect ANYONE.  It slowly takes your life....but leaves your mind intact.  You (and your family) become imprisoned by this disease.  There is NO CURE.

I HATE ALS!  It took my father.  It has lingering effects on me and my family.

May is ALS Awareness Month.  We NEED to find a cure to this horrible disease.  Become aware.  Knowledge is power.  Watch this video.  It will only take a minute of your time.

Getting Ready for Graduation

My oldest son will graduate high school next month and I'll be one of those parents sitting in the stands beaming with pride as he walks across the stage to receive his diploma.  I've been waiting for this moment for thirteen years!  It's bittersweet.  My baby has grown up and is leaving the nest but I'm proud of his accomplishment and excited for his future.

As I stated in my last post, I have been helping him plan for graduation and all of the things that come with the last semester of a high school student's senior year.  One thing that I wanted to do this month was to order his high school graduation announcements.  I didn't want the usual plain jane, white, school sponsored graduation invitations.  When I graduated high school that was the only option.  Thankfully, those days are gone.  Now there are many different styles and personalized options available.  

I wanted a modern and stylish graduation announcement that had a photo of my son printed on it.  After looking at several online printing companies, I chose TinyPrints.com.  Not only did they have a wide variety of card styles but I liked their design options.  Once I chose a card, I could decide on colors, font style and font size.  I could even edit my photo right there on the site.  I don't know about you but I like being able to design the card myself, not have someone design it for me.

Most of the time my son has no opinion about the details of graduation planning but when it came time to choose a photo for the card, he wanted full control.  His hobby is modifying a Ford Mustang car so, of course, he wanted it in the photo.  He chose a picture of himself leaning on the front of it.  It was casual and anyone that knows him would recognize the car that he calls his "baby".

I decided to order both graduation announcements and thank you cards.  My goal was to get them ordered in April so I could mail the announcements by May 1st.  I placed my order last Thursday and received an email from +Tiny Prints the next day stating that my order was ready for shipment.  What?!  I wasn't expecting it to be that fast!

The following Tuesday morning, my order was sitting by my front door.  Everything was perfect.  The announcements were printed exactly as I wanted and the photo was clear with perfect colors.  +Tiny Prints even included white envelopes for each announcement (free of charge).

I've been so pleased with the quality and service from +Tiny Prints that I'm planning a second order.  I forgot to order return address labels for the announcements (oops!).  I'm not worried about time anymore because I know they will be delivered super fast!

If you (or someone you know) needs graduation stationery (announcements, invitations, thank you cards, etc.), consider TinyPrints.com.  They offer modern and stylish products of good quality with excellent service. Here is where you can find them:

http://www.tinyprints.com/shop/graduation-announcements-invitations.htm
http://www.tinyprints.com/thank-you-cards-notes.htm
http://www.tinyprints.com/shop/personalized-address-labels.htm

I don't normally write about or recommend products or companies to people on this blog.  However, I've noticed many bloggers are getting ready to attend blog conferences and are looking for unique and creative business cards to pass around during their attendance.  I think +Tiny Prints would be a great source for this.  Their excellent service and super fast turnaround will be helpful when trying to get to the conference on time.  You can check out their business card selection here:

http://www.tinyprints.com/businesscards.htm

I hope everyone (students and parents) have a wonderful and memorable graduation this year.  And if you're lucky enough to get to attend a blog conference this year, have loads of fun!