You all know my love for Thor, and my boys have a love for all things LEGO so imagine our excitement when I received a LEGO Thor clip in my email today.
My babies, gosh it makes me tear up when I stop to watch them. It’s only then that I realize they really aren’t babies anymore. They are growing up, way too fast if you ask me. But it’s so amazing to watch them grow, to see their little personalities develop, watch them make friends and interact with each other. I love it all and I wouldn’t trade these moments for anything.
* I am part of the Verizon Wireless Ambassador program. A device was provided to me with three months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the device. All thought and opinions expressed therein are my own http://ad-for-verizon.com/ *
Three months ago I received the BlackBerry Q10 and I’ll be honest, I was a little bummed. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Blackberry Z10 so I was leery about using another BlackBerry for three more months. The positive though was that I was already familiar with the ins and outs and how to’s of the phone so I knew what to expect. I wanted to discuss a few things that while my initial reactions to them were negative they have changed and aren’t as bad as they were three months ago.
First and foremost….size. With all new phones becoming bigger and bigger seeing how compact the Q10 was really surprised me. I figured there was no way this little phone could be powerful or capable of keeping up with my daily life. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The speed of this phone was amazing. With the BlackBerry 10 operating system and a
Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with a 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU it’s very fast. I tend to run a ton of programs at once so the fact that the phone never once froze up on me speaks volumes.
Screen: Again this is size related but despite it being what I consider tiny, it still has 720 x 720 resolution, 330ppi, 24-bit color depth and super AMOLED glass screen. Just in case you don’t believe me when I say tiny, the actual dimensions of the screen itself are 3.1″ diagonally. Despite it being small the colors in the display were sharp and nothing was jumbled. The icons were small yet not too small that you couldn’t see them.
Camera: Always one of my favorite features when trying out a new phone and it’s the feature I use the most. The BlackBerry Q10 has some amazing features such as
8 megapixel auto-focus camera
Back Side Illumination for better low-light performance
5-element F2.2 lens
Dedicated ISP (image signal processor) with 64MB frame buffer
Flash, continuous and touch to focus, image stabilization
Enhanced Super Resolution Digital Zoom (5x)
1080p HD video recording
4 DOF (Degrees of freedom) video stabilization
Hybrid absorptive IR filter
Time Shift mode for pinpointing and adjusting individual elements of your picture
This camera is great. It works beautifully. It’s fast, crisp, clean, vibrant and hands down one of my favorite things about this phone.
Two examples of the camera capabilities. The first photo is an HDR photo and the second is shot in auto mode.
So what exactly are my final thoughts? I like it. The phone did take me a while to get used to and if you are used to an iPhone or even Android based phone the size alone may throw you for a while but it won’t be something so huge that will make you dislike the phone so much that you won’t want to use it. It has many positives to it that outweigh the negatives and if you are looking for seamless effort in connecting your phone to your computer then BlackBerry is the way to go (unless you have a Mac, I had issues with my Mac but none with our PC). And again, the camera. Did I mention it is awesome!
Earlier this week we all ran over to a small local pumpkin patch and let the kids run around for thirty minutes trying to find the perfect pumpkin for themselves. We had to remind our oldest that if he couldn’t pick it up it was probably a wee bit too bit for him. Our youngest though went immediately for the smallest pumpkins possible. It was adorable seeing him run to the baby pumpkins and ask for all of them. And our daughter, ever the meticulous one spent the longest trying to find that perfect pumpkin. I love watching her little mind work.
The next day as soon as the kids got home from school we all went to work. The mission at hand? Operation Pumpkin Carving! I have always enjoyed carving pumpkins. I enjoyed doing it as a child and I enjoy doing it now with my children. I’ve come to learn that when we carve pumpkins it will work one way. The excitement, smiles, giggles and enjoyment from my kids lasts about halfway through the carving experience and then I end up finishing the project. Despite this happening and my fingers having blisters on them and my hands being tired I still go on to carve my pumpkin. It has happened this way since becoming a mom almost ten years ago and you know what? I am perfectly okay with that. Because even though the kids get tired of cutting and I end up finishing it it still allows us to spend time together while having fun together and creating memories. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
My go to carving kit? Pumpkin Masters. I remember using them as a kid so for me there is no other choice when it comes to kits for my family to use. And with them being so easily accessible since they are carried at almost all of our local retailers, drug stores and even craft stores I never have to worry about not finding a kit. This year was the first year I happened to notice the kits specifically for children and dude they.are.awesome! Having little one’s wanting to carve but not being able to is not only hard on the parents but for the children as well. There is nothing like watching your older siblings having a fun time and not being able to partake in the same activity. With the Kid Kits the pictures have pre-stamped holes in them so when you tape them to the pumpkin all they need to do is trace them with the provided crayon and it transfers on to the pumpkin very easily. Simply remove the paper and wha-la you have your pattern ready to go for your little one’s. I also noticed that the cutting knife included is thicker and duller then cutting knives provided in other kits. Much safer for those little hands which if you ask me is one of the most important things when carving pumpkins with my family. That an hearing the giggles and eww’s when the kids reach their hands into the pumpkin to remove the seeds and goop. Seeing their faces is just the cutest thing.
Right now through October 31st Pumpkin Masters is having a fun contest where you can win one of SIX prizes which includes $5,000 for the Best Pumpkin decoration! If you are a pumpkin carving master make sure to enter. Here are three different ways you can enter. For official contest details click here.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
* I am part of the Verizon Wireless Ambassador program. A device was provided to me with three months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the device. All thought and opinions expressed therein are my own http://ad-for-verizon.com/ *
I am not a huge football fan but living in football country I am not allowed to admit that out loud LOL. I will watch a game, NFL or College it doesn’t matter. Just as long as it’s a good game I will watch. But I’ll let you in on a little secret…..I’ve always wanted to go to a football game. I’ve been to one before but I don’t want to just go I want to GO! I want to dress up, go all out, yell at the players, jump and celebrate with random strangers when our team scores. I want to really experience the game.
Right now Verizon is having a great contest where they are giving away a pair of tickets to a College game of your choice! Simply click the photo below, select which game you would like to attend and enter to win. It’s that simple.
There’s only a few games left that you can enter to win so hurry up and go enter for your chance to win!
I have been using the BlackBerry Q10 for a few months now and one thing I didn’t think the phone would be capable of is speed. Yes I was a skeptic. I had never heard of the qwerty keyboard and I thought there is no way this keyboard could be fast. I assumed that by having ot press the shift key in order to type out certain characters or number, that it would slow me down. I am happy and not at all embarrassed to admit that I was completely wrong. It’s not often that I am wrong, or at least that I admit I was wrong but when it comes to technology I actually enjoy being wrong because then I have learned something new. And with the constant change that is technology learning about new technology is always fun.
One thing that helped me A LOT in my first few weeks was this handy handy little shortcut sheet. Little may be the wrong word to use since it is four pages filled with helpful shortcuts to help you navigate through your BlackBerry Q10. I hope these shortcuts are helpful for you if you have a BlackBerry Q10.
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* I am part of the Verizon Wireless Ambassador program. A device was provided to me with three months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the device. All thought and opinions expressed therein are my own http://ad-for-verizon.com/ *
My husband is one of those people that loves have the latest and greatest when it comes to cell phone technology. I can’t deny that I love it as well but lets be honest folks, it can be really expensive constantly buying new phones. With contracts, early releases, fees, it can turn into a pricey habit.
Verizon recently announced a brand new program called Verizon Edge. This program, if you ask me, is pure genius! It allowes you to upgrade every six months. Yes, you read that right, every six months. Let me break is down a little more for you.
How it works:
-Instead of paying for your phone upfront you pay over a 24 month period.
-At time of purchase you will only need to pay the first month’s installment.
-You will then make monthly payments until either your phone is paid off completely or you decide to upgrade in six months.
Upgrading:
If after six, months you decide you wish you upgrade you will need to make sure you have paid for at least 50% of the phone. Once you have paid 50% you will have the option to “Edge Up” to a new one without any upgrade fees.
Contract:
When enrolling in the Edge Program you will need to have a service agreement for the 24 month period but the program does now require a long-term service agreement.
Rules:
Of course there are rules, as there are with everything. Brace yourself here these are tough one’s (kidding). In order to be eligible for the “Edge Up” the phone you are returning must be in good working condition and have no significant damage, as determined by Verizon Wireless.
Disney just released three brand new short clips for the movie PLANES which is set to hit theaters on August 9th! These clips are a lifesaver for my kiddos since every time we see the commercial my youngest says to me “Hey Mama that’s the movie you talk about, can we watch again”? THe replay button is an awesome feature LOL
Bulldog Shamed
If you are in need of shelter here is a list of local shelters
Friends of mine, Amy Bellgardt of Mom Spark and Kelby Carr of Type-A-Parent posted a list of ways you can help the residents out here.
If you have a family member in the area and cannot locate them please make sure to check the Red Cross Safe and Well site. You can check in for loved one’s to know you’re safe or you can search for your loved one’s.
You wont always get that “perfect” shot but that’s not always what’s important in photography.
I believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and going by that belief has helped me see beauty where others don’t see it. Sure I take plenty of bad pictures but Ive also managed to capture some great photos as well.
The trick? There really isn’t one. The most important thing in photography (as well as in life) is to be YOURSELF and let that show through your photos. You don’t need to spend tons of money in order to achieve that either. I like to follow these five simple rules when taking a picture.
* Experiment
* Try different angles
* Get up close and personal
* Get down to your subjects level, great for taking pictures of children
* Shoot in black and white
Landscape shots are wonderful to play around with. Stand up, sit down, get on your hands and knees, lay on your stomach. Each has a different angle and therefor a different perspective to it.
One of my favorite ways to take pictures of flowers is by getting up close and personal. You can so much more detail that way and the shots come out beautifully.
Getting down to a kids level is one of the greatest tricks I have learned over the years. When doing this it allows for the child to look directly into the camera. No looking up and straining their neck and no looking down. Just right at you.
While you may not get that “perfect” shot you were going for you are sure to get some great pictures that you love. Just think outside the box! The more creative you are the more it will show in your photographs.
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