enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

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around here I am really hoping to get my Week in the Life album complete and on the blog by Friday at some point (most likely that will not be 5AM). This is one of those projects that I need to finish quickly or I'll lose steam. I didn't take nearly as many photos as I would have hoped. I'm most inclined to blame the heat for this, but really I think it's because Ellerie's at sort of a tough age for me to be like "hold on from this sweet moment while I set my camera up and use the timer." When she was tiny it was easier. I imagine when she's a bit old and "gets" what I'm doing it might be easier again. But right now, she's pretty engaged and it's hard to break away from that to pick up the camera.

around here the Braxton Hicks contractions have arrived in full force. I don't remember this at all from my first pregnancy so it's a bit different. Makes me hopeful that I'll actually go into labor this time around, but considering I'm only 30 weeks today, I hope the little lady sits tight for awhile.

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around here the park is our best friend. Ellerie is at the stage where she is happy to play on everything and can almost handle it by herself. I am already imagining our fall and winter when the new baby will be content to sit (or sleep, or nurse?) and Ellerie will be able to run out some energy. So grateful for the local parks and so grateful for my brother who captured the above photos of her last weekend – one pig tail and all.

around here I am still slooooooowly making my way through Cutting for Stone. I feel like at the end of September I'll have read just one book and that will be it. But in other book news, I got to be a lucky recipient of a press copy of Lovable Livable Home, the new book from John and Sherry Petersik. My job has a few perks but getting cool free books definitely tops that list.

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around here I got a video recorded that goes into more detail on some of the "extra features" of the Get To Work Book®. There is no right or wrong way to use the book but if you feel like you want to get some extra mileage from it or just want to hear a bit more, it might be worth a watch. It's the second video down on this page.

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around here I am thrilled to have gotten all my photos off my phone and into Google Photo. It's a total gamechanger (made even better by the fact that it's free). Besides the great news that I'm not going to get that dreaded "out of storage" message this fall when I am taking another 600 photos a day of the new baby, everything backs up instantly (when I am connected to a wireless network). No more emailing photos to myself or using airdrop. I just open Google Photos on my computer and boom, there they are – for use on the blog or as the case was this week, my WITL album. You can read more about this here. Beth's explanation is great.

around here I want to thank you for your support this year. There has been a lot going on and I am learning how to handle it all. Safe to say that some days I do better than others and many days I make mistakes. I'm working on it always.

around here I'm headed up to LA to see Taylor Swift in concert with some college girlfriends!

around here on the podcast I'm chatting with Samantha Shepard and Amber Housley in another episode about marketing your small business. This chat in particular was a good one; I love when there are concrete tips. Subscribe or stream here.

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37 responses to “around here.”

  1. Leah Buckley Avatar

    Fun stuff! Yay parks! Maybe it’s just me but something seems different in your posts the last week or so. Can’t put my finger on it but I like it. I’m always grateful you work so hard in this space; I love reading your posts each morning. xo

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  2. Joy Avatar

    I started backing up all of my photos on Google Photos at the beginning of this year because of how much space my photos take up on my phone. It’s great! I especially like how you can scroll down to whatever month/year you want to see. Makes “catching up” on scrapbooking easier too!

    Like

  3. Lesley Avatar
    Lesley

    Braxton hix!! Can be so uncomfortable. Super normal to have them earlier in second pregnancy. Hang in there! They can be tiring.
    Possible blog topic… if you are feeling it…
    Any chance you can talk about Google photos and HOW you access from anywhere?

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  4. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Oh my gosh, enjoy the concert! Two nights ago would have been amazing with Alanis, Dixie Chicks and Ellen(!). Hopefully you will see some fun guests!!

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  5. Carrie Avatar

    I’m also using Google Photo. The dreaded no memory message has always terrified me! It works great!
    Also, I’m still ooooohing and aaaaahing over the rainbow quilt.

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  6. Annette Avatar

    Great tip for Google photo! Will check it out!
    I noticed you already do this, but when my girl was Ellerie’s age, I just embraced her always in motion phase and tried to capture that. She’s five now so I do get more “hey, stand there and let me take your picture before you run and play” kind of moments. But still not too many. I just get what I can get and move on.
    Right now she’s at a stage where she will actually ask me to take a picture of something she likes too, which is kinda cool.
    Enjoy Taylor Swift!

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  7. elise Avatar
    elise

    Probably not a full post, but it’s an app, so you can pull it up on your phone whenever – though it would use up your wireless data if you were not connected. It’s also part of your google account so any time you’re on a computer, you can go to photos.google.com and see the, all there too. Tons of organization methods, but right now, just having them backed up is nice. 🙂

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  8. elise Avatar
    elise

    I’m so curious to see who’s there!!

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  9. elise Avatar
    elise

    Thank you, love! I’m starting to wind down for maternity leave. I made that decision last week and that’s probably what’s coming through. Super observant!

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  10. Ali @ Anything You Want Avatar

    Have fun at Taylor Swift! I’m jealous (and the 13 year old girl inside of me is too haha)!

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  11. Olivia Avatar

    I just love having a glimpse into your thoughts and days! As a college student about to go study abroad I’m in quite a different place than you but I’ve been reading for more than a few years and it’s always a joy to come to this space. Keep being wonderful 🙂

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  12. Anna Avatar

    So excited to see your Week in the Life album! Especially because I didn’t take as many photos as I might have wanted either (this was my first go at WITL), so I’m interested to see how you make an album work with a limited supply of photos to choose from.

    Like

  13. Bethany J. Avatar
    Bethany J.

    Wow, I never knew how easy google photo was….this is amazing! Thanks for sharing!!

    Like

  14. Sarah Alves Avatar
    Sarah Alves

    Yes! I hoped that you were gonna see TS while she was on the west coast! I saw her in May and it was so good.
    -Sarah Alves

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  15. kelly libby Avatar
    kelly libby

    I love Google photo. I’ve been using it for years (it used to be Picassa). You can also DELETE photos right from your phone super easily. One tip if you’re interested: turn off the “assistant” option which makes strange little collections. It’s SOOOOO annoying and takes up too much space which you then need to delete constantly. And, remember to delete the trash. It automatically empties every 60 days.
    Have a great day, Elise!! : )

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  16. Michelle E Avatar
    Michelle E

    Ooh I’m excited to try this Google Photos thing – how did I not know about this??

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  17. dawn Avatar
    dawn

    Love all of this, so fun to read your posts! YAY for WITL, can’t wait to see yours! Saw TS in concert too, she is the best, enjoyed it so much with my girls and nieces and sister. SO GOOD!

    Like

  18. Jillian C-L Avatar

    How fun!! I’m hoping to scalp tickets to see T Swift in October. Following along with who the guests are is so fun.
    That’s awesome that you get to read YHL’s book in advance- I miss them out here on the interwebs!

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  19. Erica Ambrosio Avatar
    Erica Ambrosio

    Google Photos is the best! When I travel I take pics mostly on my phone, because if it’s stolen they’ll be on the cloud. If they steal the camera I’ll cry bitterly and because there is no way to back up those pictures unless I upload them on my computer.
    I’ve been using it for two years now. I love it’s Year in a Review Video they sent me at the end of each year with some of the pics on the cloud.

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  20. Beth Penn Avatar

    Hi Elise! Thanks for sharing the link to the Google Photos post:) Yay for backed up photos!!!!

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  21. EMILY Avatar
    EMILY

    I think the Braxton Hicks around 30 weeks are totally normal. I had no BH at all with my first, but they started around 31 weeks with my second!

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  22. Michele H. Avatar

    Hi Elise – just the glimpse I see of your WITL album looks fantastic. Does this make you miss paper crafting a bit? Your making me want to put an album together again:)
    The google app looks great. Do you also save your phone photos to your computer? I haven’t in awhile and thinking that the google photos may be a good way to go for now.

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  23. Margaret Avatar

    Thanks so much for the recommendation for google photos! I downloaded the app as soon I as I read your post!

    Like

  24. Donna M Avatar

    I think kids are pretty unpredictable with the camera/timer, even as teens! You just have to go with what you can get and bribery is sometimes required! Also we as readers don’t notice your mistakes. I personally don’t know how you pack so much into your days but you’re always the first blog I read and continue to inspire.

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  25. Leah Noble Avatar

    Yeah ditto! You’re the first blog — sometimes the only blog — I read each day. As for mistakes, oh my gosh, the only thing I can think of is the edit from the other day about canned responses, and I (as a small biz owner) didn’t see anything wrong at all with the original post. You’re a star and you shine like one!! 🙂

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  26. Laura Avatar
    Laura

    Have so much fun at the concert! I went to her concert with my 11 year old sister in law(I am 28) in May and she was amazing! I think I was more excited about Taylor than she was! You are going to love it!!

    Like

  27. Abby Avatar
    Abby

    Elise! Thanks so so so much for sharing about Google Photo. Genius! I’m constantly messing with airdrop and email.

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  28. Gayle Avatar
    Gayle

    My 12 YO daughter and I saw Taylor Swift in Philly in June. It was great. Have fun!

    Like

  29. Erin Toews Avatar

    I know you use libsyn for your podcast hosting, but how much to you pay for it? I need to expand my storage space from the free version of Podbean, and thinking libsyn might be my best option.
    http://www.toewsadventure.com/podcast

    Like

  30. Jeni Avatar
    Jeni

    Elise do you keep a copy of your photos anywhere else other than google photo? I am a little nervous to keep them all there invade they somehow get accidentally deleted/hacked or disappear into cyberspace!! I would love to delete all the photos and clear up some space though if possible (not that I would know how to delete the whole lot though!?)
    Thanks for your thoughts and lovely blog as ever
    Jeni

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  31. Christine Avatar
    Christine

    Great stuff Google photos, most people take for granted or overlook the fact that they are not uploaded on the full resolution because hey, it’s free. I hope they will look okay when used in print.
    I personally use Dropbox and Amazon photos, same idea except Amazon uses full size resolution and it’s free.
    This all is great stuff for photos on your phone, but what do you do with the 65,000 pics from the big girl camera that are on your computer or laptop? I back mine up with Crashplan but would love to hear what others do?

    Like

  32. Karen S Avatar
    Karen S

    Hi Elise! Enjoy the Taylor Swift concert! We saw her a couple months ago and she was fabulous!
    I’m a little leery about Google photos. I love most things google but having all my photos stored with them gives me the heebie jeebies. Their terms of service scare me, in addition to the fact that they don’t store full-size images.
    I use Carbonite to back up photos on my hard drive, a 1TB hard drive as annother back up and then amazon photos to feed from iphone.

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  33. Jen Avatar
    Jen

    I had Braxton Hicks for almost my entire last semester with my second child, as opposed to only the last 4 weeks with my first. They were more frequent and more intense the second time around. And until the night I went into labor they always went away when I sat down, drank a bunch of water or went to sleep 🙂 That’s how I knew I was in labor the second time, I woke up a few hours after going to bed and I was still having contractions! It was good prep as I did not want to be induced again! Best wishes for the remainder of your pregnancy!

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  34. abby - www.littlecityadventurs.com Avatar

    Rest up and keep your feet up, mama!
    And I have to say, I’m pretty jealous about the T-Swift concert. Because that sounds awesome.

    Like

  35. Adelaide Avatar
    Adelaide

    So this might be a bit random, but I was looking at quilt fabric online and saw this and immediately thought of your blog! 🙂
    https://www.fabric.com/buy/0366390/urban-zoologie-flamingos

    Like

  36. Jeanne W Avatar
    Jeanne W

    Best concert EVER. I’m so jealous.. And that picture of allergies coming down the slide is everything. And I had tons of Braxton Hicks with my second and then she was late.

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  37. Jeanne W Avatar
    Jeanne W

    Autocorrect: Ellerie to allergies. Sorry!

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