I've been doing this for years...

Whenever I want to get something (pictures, files, spreadsheets) from one computer to another, I just email 'em to myself. BUT... I don't hit "send".

Say what?.

Yesterday, I mentioned my top pick for photo holiday cards.

Today, we look at the top 5 holiday card companies chosen by Good Housekeeping (in the December 2007 issue of the magazine).

Considering the fact that most greeting cards cost anywhere from $3.00 to $6.00 (and up!) these days...

To be able to find a place that makes personalized greeting cards (even photo cards with your own picture on them) for less than $3 is no easy feat.

But when a company will...

...print your full-color cards
...with your personalized message and/or photo
...and mail them directly to each of the addresses you specify
...all for $3.00 or less per a card (including the postage)

Then, that's what I'm talkin' about!

My desktop computer is starting to lag a bit when I have a ton of programs open at once -- especially when I'm working with one of the 33,000 digital photos that I have stored on my computer (like in Photoshop or something).

So I decided to have a look inside and see exactly how much memory I have, type of RAM, and the processor speed of this computer. And... how many empty slots I had available for more memory.

Let me tell you... there is no better (or easier) way to see every single thing you have on your computer than to use the Belarc Advisor program. You download the free program online (it's small... only 1456 KB) then open it up on your computer and run it.

The info it tells you about your computer is AMAZING!

Have you ever accidentally deleted some photos from your camera's memory card (SmartMedia, Sony Memory Stick, IBM Micro Drive, MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital card, or any other common data storage devices for digital cameras)?

We hadn't until yesterday. Jim was on the road. When he's at the races, he sends me a fresh batch of photos to upload to his racer's websites each day. Only, on this day, he accidentally deleted half of the pictures before he actually sent them to me.

And of course, they were the best ones... the photos that people were eagerly waiting to see online!

I did a little research here at home and found a FREE program that saved the day...

Whether or not you're living your dreams on a daily basis through your work, your family, or your personal life is largely based on priorities.

That, and your level of passion (or motivation).

To help you keep things in perspective and hopefully encourage you to take some time for yourself these days, I invite you to see what your best, most favorite hobby is.

...as if you didn't already know, huh?

A fun site that's loaded with helpful tips & tricks from "people in the know" is called Tricks of the Trade.

The site has been on hiatus for over 6 months now, but there's still a lot of valuable data in the archives!

Here are some of my favorites...

These online gift tags are a cinch to make!

Just...

Pick your favorite style. (6 to choose from)
Use the online form to enter TO: and FROM: information.
Choose your colors.
And print them out!

You can do one at a time, or full pages of 10 at a time.

I'm sure you've been in the same boat we are...

Where you find yourself constantly thinking up "brilliant" ideas. So brilliant, in fact, that the people your share your great idea with encourage you to patent it.

In mine & Jim's world...it seems like this happens all the time.

Oh sure, lots of our ideas are dumb. Or they've already been patented by someone else & we just don't know it yet (...like the date-back camera, or popcorn dental floss, or a Music City Walk of Fame). Or they might only seem appealing to a small group of people.

Nevertheless, here are some of the things that we wish someone would invent soon. Because they sure would make our lives easier!

Have a look...

On my way in to work yesterday morning, I jotted down the following list I titled "Things We've Learned About Doing Websites". (Like usual, it was bumper-to-bumper traffic. And you know me... I've always got a pen and a pad of paper on hand! So I put the time to good use.)

I was thinking that some bloggers or other website owners might find some value in hearing from someone who's been there, tried that.

We are by no means an expert on this topic, but we have definitely learned a lot in the 8 years that we've been blogging.