Written In Your Heart: July 2011

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Straight Talk Proves that Mom Know Best

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Moving in to my own apartment for the first time is exciting as I'd finally get the chance to manage my own household. Before leaving for Michigan, though, mom always told me to use my resources wisely, and would talk about ways to save money.

I thought I already knew all about it until the time came that, for the first time, I'd be paying for my own utility bills. I felt like going back home at the sight of the sky-high dues for the gas, electricity, water, phone, and rent; add to these the persistent collectors who would call me for six or more times a day to remind me that my auto-loan amortization is already due.

Then mom, as has been her wont, called to check on me and I told her all about the bills. She laughed and promised to deposit a few dollars to my checking account, and then introduced me to Straight talk as one way to save money.

In one week, I have purchased my very own Straight Talk wireless phone from the local Wal-Mart, and for starters I subscribed to the All You Need plan; that's $30 for 30 days that covers 1000 minutes, 1000 text or multimedia messages, 30 MB of data transfer for data phones and 411 calls at no additional charge. Mom said she's subscribed to Straight Talk's Unlimited Monthly service for only $45, which includes calls, text, picture messaging, and web.

It's also interesting that you get to enjoy quality mobile service without having to burden yourself with a 3-year service contract and pay unnecessary charges. At a very affordable price, Straight Talk provides quality reception so you don't have to experience those drop calls again.

Straight Talk cutting my phone bill in half is one worry off my shoulder. With the money I save, I get to buy other stuff that I need plus I get to call a friend and family whenever I want. This time, mom's not the only one who's been doing the phone calls. I'm able to save money and get to talk to mom more often now, it's all thanks to Straight Talk. Thus, Straight Talk proves that mom knows best.

I've already recommended Straight Talk to my friends because unlike other providers offering so-called "quality services" that we take hook, line and sinker, unaware of the hidden charges, Straight Talk bares it all, it's everything you need-- No contracts, no hidden charges, all quality services.

So if you're reading this blog and haven't subscribed to Straight Talk wireless services yet, you had better get one now and start feeling richer by cutting your phone bill in half. Imagine the amount of money you could save switching to Straight Talk.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Summer in NYC

Guest post from: Natalie Walter

Man, in my opinion, summertime is one of the best times of year to live in New York. I love how the town sort of clears out when everyone goes to the beach and to “summer” somewhere and the heat really brings out the crazy all over the place. I especially like how many street fairs and outdoor concerts are held here during the hotter months and my dog sure does love not having to wear snow boots anymore. The one thing I don’t like about it here in the summer is how stifling hot my apartment gets – it was built in the 1940s and until a few summers ago it didn’t even have air conditioning. That is, until I had it installed! I paid an arm and a leg for the unit but offset it at NewYorkenergyrates.com and man, I’ve never been more glad to feel cold air in my life. I don’t know how anyone lives here without AC and if they do, they’re a fool just like I was before!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Four Unique Approaches to Make Your Own Picture Book

To build your own personal picture book in a more enjoyable method, you could get distinctive photo albums for various events, make a scrapbook, design your personal digital picture book, or use the assistance of a photo printing retailer.

Checking photos of a fantastic adventure, a special affair, or just key events of you and your family can be made more important when you organize them in a book. Below are a few artistic and enjoyable approaches to make your personal book using photographs:

Get several picture albums for various occasions

Anyone can have their photographs printed and put in photograph albums, but if you wish your albums to be more fascinating and better organized, you can obtain several photo albums for various occasions. Purchase picture holder booklets for household birthday parties, for vacation trips, for your wedding, for your small children, and also for regular days. To make your own photo book more fascinating, place a label on no less than one of the photographs of a certain occasion so you and your friends can see the details of the event. Numerous free picture editing programs allow you to quickly place labels and also text on your pictures.

Build a scrapbook

Another conventional yet truly enjoyable technique of creating your own book with photographs is to develop a scrapbook. With a scrapbook, not only can you incorporate your images but you can also file other exciting details of the celebration or voyage by including other odds and ends, such as poems, lyric of songs, and lists that fit the celebration, and also other notes you need to include. If you wish to produce a scrapbook for your child, you can include a scanned copy of your child’s record of births, clinic labels, child’s foot print and first hand, and more, along with your photographs.

Make your own digital photo book

Electronic photograph books are becoming more popular when it comes to arranging and printing photos. Here are basic steps for making your own personal electronic photo book:

* Identify the style you wish for your photograph book.

* Select the photographs you want to include in your own album and place them in a specific folder. If some photographs aren’t in your personal computer yet, you could scan your own printed pictures and set them in the folder together with your other chosen images.

* Choose the page measurements you wish your album to have. Best sizes are 5½ by 8½, 8 by 8, or even 8 by 10 inches.

* Make sure your photograph files are large enough for your needed book dimension to make sure that final product does not look pixelated. To find out the size of a photo, rick click the graphic and choose “Properties.” Under “Details,” you may view the sizes of your picture according to pixel size.

* Edit your pictures utilizing picture editing software program which you could down load on the internet. Several fundamental programs are free, but the more sophisticated software requires a purchase. You can crop your photographs, alter the color, and add unique text, graphics, effects and more.

* Using the same software, like Photoscape or Photoshop Adobe, you could now prepare your page format and blend your photographs to make the pages of your own picture book based on your preferred page dimensions. You can also build a Word document where you could put your photographs. You can also add text message to some of your pages to describe the images.

* Don’t forget to prepare a cover page that usually has a single picture and text that perfectly describes the subject of your photo book.

* Save the pages of your book on your computer and produce a back-up copy. Then print and bind your book in your own home applying plastic sheets and a binder, or have it completed in a picture printing store for a more professional-looking photo book.

Use the services of a photo printing store

If you need a quicker approach to develop your personal picture book, you can even make use of the services of a picture printing shop. Numerous stores provide layout, along with printing and binding services so you may organize your photos hassle-free. Just select the photographs you desire to include, sort them according to the order in which you desire them to appear. For example, produce folders for Day one getaway photos, Day two, and so forth. The only problem is that you may not get to personally choose several styles for various pages. Many of these retailers have fundamental software and only a uniform structure for the entire photo book. If you want to personally pick the pictures for a specific page, you can download the program from the picture printing service and load your pictures at home. You could then just submit your finished file for printing and also binding.

Whether you create a professional-looking photo book, a scrapbook, or a simple photo album booklet, you can better tell the stories of your different adventures and celebrations in life with the organized pictures and descriptive text in your book of photos.