My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software - Review & Giveaway!

I haven't posted much about my love of scrapbooking here because I haven't had the space to do much while living in this tiny apartment. I'm totally addicted to it! Once I start, I can't stop. Just ask my husband. He calls scrapbooking an occult. Dramatic much, Honey??

I was super excited to hear about My Memories Suite because, OMG, I can scrapbook ON MY COMPUTER?! This is going to be fun! Nothing will replace my love for paper and glue and sparkly bling smooshed together, but when I want to get creative and can't (or just don't feel like) dragging all of that stuff out...digital scrapbooking to the rescue!

This is perfect for quick projects. You can pick a template, upload your pictures, and have it printed. It's so easy! I loved that you can also add embellishments (my favorite part of scrapbooking). There are SO many options to use that I haven't even tried them all yet.

My favorite things about My Memories Suite:

-You can either pick from a library of templates or make your own. Want to be creative? Do it. Want to stick pictures in and be done while still having a cute album? Done!

-Add embellishments, shapes, different fonts...so many options.

-More than just pictures! You can upload videos and edit by adding music, text and more. Love that!

-Share your albums! There are options to save your albums and share with others, including printing them!

-Card making - Christmas cards for next year? So easy.

-Narrate your pages. Ok, this is cool. You can record yourself talking about each page and save your albums on a disc. So instead of browsing a paper album and reading the words, you can look at them on your computer or tv screen and listen to the narrations! That feels like such a fun George Jettson way to look at pictures! GREAT gift!

Here is a screen shot of one of the albums I'm working on right now...

So, of course, I'm going to share the fun with all of you! First off, please enjoy $10 off your purchase of My Memories Suite! Use coupon code STMMMS4969 to get $10 off instantly!


Once you receive your software, you will also receive an additional code for $10 off your next purchase at MyMemories.com!

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!  Sorry. I know, but I had to...

One of you will win it for free! Just visit MyMemories.com and tell me what you see that you love the most! What's your favorite kit, template or designer...and that's it! You're entered to win the My Memories Suite digital software!

Giveaway ends Thursday, February 23rd at midnight and the winner will be announced Friday!

Share the love by tweeting or facebooking about the giveaway for an extra entry! Just tell me you did so with a link in your comment.

Good luck!

*I was provided with a free copy of this software, however, all opinions are my own! I really do love this! I'm not a liar. :)

Dinner Date

Really bad picture of the back of Matt's head. We'll say it's artistic, not blurry.

Matt and I had plans to go to dinner with some friends last night. He asked me to get him some clothes ready.

Me: "What do you want to wear?"

Him: "I don't know. All I know is that I want to wear my nice brown boots."

Me: "Is this shirt ok?"

Him: "I don't know I kind of feel fat today."

Me: "Soooo..."

Him: "I don't know. You know how sometimes you just feel fat and nothing fits right? I might be having that kind of day."

Me: "Actually, I know exactly what you mean. But I'm not going to iron this shirt if you aren't going to wear it."

Him: "Fine. I'll just look fat all night."

Apparently I married a woman.

She sure is cute in those nice brown boots, though!

And not fat at all. 

How To Roast a Chicken

Roasting a chicken can sound overwhelming and just plain hard if you are a beginner in the kitchen. I remember in my early days of learning to cook that I wouldn't even try! If whole chickens were on sale, I wouldn't know the first thing to do with it! So I thought I'd share how I do it for those of you just getting to know the kitchen.

Sometimes whole chickens (also called fryers in some places) will go on sale. The one I cooked here was only $5!! They can be frozen, of course, so if you have freezer room, stock up when they are that cheap! You will then need to let it thaw in the fridge for a good day or two, depending on the size. Mine was a little over 5 pounds and took a good two days to thaw in the fridge.

A very important thing you should know if you have never cooked a whole chicken (and all of this applies to roasting a turkey as well which I posted about here!) is it will usually come with some weird things stuffed inside. Gizzards, the neck, and all kind of gross things. Some people like to cook these things. Those people are not my friends. Pull all of that out and throw it away, please and thank you.

Prepare the bird. OK, some people say to rinse the bird and pat it dry. Some people say not to because of bacteria or whatever. I usually do. Do what you want!

Preparing the bird is not as difficult as you think! It's very simple to get a nice moist chicken with lots of flavor!

Rub the bird down with butter or olive oil or...ahem...both. I like to make sure my roasting pan is coated so it doesn't stick. I will then rub the bird with butter and diced garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. You can also sprinkle with other seasonings, throw in some fresh herb sprigs, whatever floats your boat! Here I used some Italian seasoning. For extra flavor, try to rub some butter under the skin too. YUM. I also like to sprinkle some lemon juice on it as well.

You can cook the bird alone if you like. I prefer to roast mine with potatoes, onions, and carrots. You can add any kind of veggies. If a veggie is tasty roasted, it's tasty roasted with a chicken! This will also make for some extra delicious juices in the bottom of the pan. Season your veggies and drizzle with olive oil or spats of butter as well.

Bake at 350 degrees uncovered. It should take about 20-25 minutes per pound. Since mine was a little over 5 pounds, I knew it would take at least 2-2 1/2 hours. Baste the chicken with the juices at the bottom of the pan during cooking. If you don't have a baster, just use a spoon! Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature by placing in the fattest part of the bird. Poultry is fully cooked at around 170 degrees.

Let the chicken sit for a good 5-10 minutes before carving into it. I like to serve it over rice with all of those tasty juices. Serving over rice makes the meal go even further!

What I love about this meal is that I can get a good three meals out of it. I'll serve it over rice for one night and eat the leftovers the next day and still have enough chicken to throw into a pot pie another night that week!

See? It's not that hard at all! Go ahead and buy some chickens on sale and have some fun with it! You'll get plenty of meat off if it to last at least two or three meals. Have fun and enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

My husband called me this morning.

"Hey Honey! Are you going to the store today?"

"No, why? Do you need something?"

"Yes, I just realized that it's Valentine's Day and I need you to pick up a card from me to you."

"Oh! You are so sweet! I'd love to pick out my own V-day card! You are such an awesome and thoughtful husband!"

"I know. You can barely stand it, can you?"

13 years, ladies and gentlemen. 13 years.

For the record, I laughed really hard. And he is going to feel SO DUMB when he sees what awesome gift I got him.

And then I shall get the best husband guilt back rub in all of history.

Happy Valentine's Day!

PS - He also sent me this lovely text! We're really romantic.

Family Intervention

I saw this on Pinterest (another addiction).  It just fit. :) Photo belongs to failbook.com

My husband stayed up until 2:45 am playing Civilization on his computer this weekend. I was teasing him that we needed to have intervention for him. So the boys asked what intervention meant. The conversation went like this:

Me: An intervention is something you do when someone you love is addicted to something and you want them to stop. So we should sit Daddy down and have a Civilization intervention with him.

Chase (8): Hmmm. So we need to have a Facebook intervention with you then Mommy.

Charlie (7): Yes! Mom, I think you are addicted to your laptop.

Everyone agrees with head nodding.

Me: Hahahaha. You kids are so funny. But I'm not addicted to those things. I just really, really enjoy them.

Chase: Mom, you know what you always tell us about pointing out other people's problems when you have a problem of your own?

Me: Laughing. So hard. You guys give me an awful lot to blog about.

Charlie: Don't you dare blog about us!

Chandler (11): Guys.  She blogs about us ALL the time. You just don't know it.

Chase: See? There's another she's addicted to! Blogging! We need to have a serious intervention with her guys.

All I could hear from Matt in the other room was chuckling. WHILE HE WAS PLAYING CIVILIZATION ON HIS LAPTOP.

My name is Tasha Lehman and I am addicted to the internet.

SO SUE ME.

Coming soon: Why I love Facebook and don't care who knows it.

What do you need an intervention from?

PS - They forgot to mention chocolate so I get to keep over indulging in that, right?

Recipe: Easy Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

There is nothing better than the classic peanut butter cookie and a glass of milk. Here is a recipe using three ingredients that will make you very happy!

1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg

Mix together. Plop on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Seriously, it's that easy.

I use a cookie dough scoop to make mine nice and round. But you could just use whatever spoon you have! I then use the crisscross fork trick to flatten them down. If you are making them into the ever popular peanut butter blossom cookie, just leave them as a round ball and after baking, squish a Hershey's kiss on top. This recipe also works perfect in a cookie press!

My biggest cookie making tip is not to over cook them! Take them out just before they are done and let sit on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to a cooling rack. This lets the sugars crystallize and the cookie will harden but still stay soft inside!


Enjoy!

Linked to:

 

The Stages of Underwear Laundry...Oh How Times Have Changed

Stage One:

Young and single. Thin. Rested. If you are not rested, it's for fun reasons. Reasons that are worth being tired over. You do laundry when you think about it. Your underwear are colorful and fun. Probably cheap because that's all you can afford. But who cares.

Stage Two:

Newly married. Not as thin but you are too in love to care. Rested. So very rested. You do laundry once a week. You always wear your prettiest underwear first. If you are wearing granny panties your husband knows to bring you chocolate and keep his distance.

Stage Three:

Married with young children. You eat leftover french fries for dinner. Thin is no longer a word you even think about. Rest? What is that? You do laundry every single day to no avail. You wear whatever underwear are in the drawer. Your husband does not notice what underwear you are wearing. He's just happy he's wearing some. Even if they are turned inside out so he can get an extra day out of them.

Stage Four:

Married with older children. Attempting thin. Not happening because when you're over 30 your metabolism goes on vacation. Rested once again. It's about freaking time those kids sleep through the night. You do laundry two-three times a week. You wear underwear in whatever order you feel like BECAUSE YOU CAN. Your husband happily wears clean underwear once again. He knows that if you are in pretty underwear it means nothing. It's probably just laundry day because that's really the only reason those underwear even make it out of the drawer. But he doesn't complain. At least they are on you once again.

Stage Five:

I'm not in this stage yet but I imagine at this point laundry and underwear no longer rule your life.

Which sounds like a great stage to aim for.

I'm happily in Stage Four right now. It's not too shabby. Nor are my underwear.

Which stage of underwear laundry are you in?