It was a week of many days of “almost” forgetting to take a picture for the day, and I had to rely on iPhone pictures 2 of the days, but you know what? That’s what #Imperfect366 is all about…remembering that every day isn’t going to be perfect, and an iPhone picture is better than no picture! Right? (The photo above is from my Rock Your Happy Newsletter! Are you subscribed? If not you can check out the first one that went out by clicking here, and if you are so inclined to receive a weekly piece of happy mail, feel free to sign up!)

OK on to our week in photos……

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You all know I love to take pictures, right? I mean, if you follow my Instagram account it’s pretty obvious that I can be a bit of an Instaho sometimes. What can I say? I love capturing memories “on film”…and I have for as long as I can remember!

When the iPhones came out with their great cameras, it made it even easier for me to capture moments. The only problem was, my big, wonderful Nikon DSLR was feeling a bit lonely. Sure, I would always use it for food and work photography, but when it came to taking it on the road with me or out of the house, it just became too big and bulky and my iPhone would come along instead.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my Nikon with all my heart…but realistically to take it along when I traveled was tough. It’s big and expensive… I was always nervous about it getting damaged when I traveled, so would just keep it safely at home.

So. when I went on the hunt for a smaller camera….something more sophisticated and higher quality than a point and shoot… I was so glad I came across this post by TidyMom about her Samsung NX300 Mirrorless Camera. After looking at the amazing quality of pictures on Cheryl’s blog post, I knew this camera was the one for me! You guys… I love this camera so much! I never thought I’d say that about a non-DSLR camera, but I just can’t get over how small it is, yet how packed to the brim it is with features. I’m not being paid to tell you this either… I paid for this camera myself and I absolutely love everything about it.

The Samsung NX300 camera is the camera I used to take all of my photos on the Princess Cruise I recently went on. Have you checked out those blog posts? Would you ever guess that those pictures weren’t from my “big girl” camera? Me neither! This camera delivers such high quality photos, I never once missed having my big camera with me. And I took so many more pictures because my Samsung NX300 is so portable and would fit right in my purse.

Below are some more pictures I took while traveling on the Regal Princess with Princess Cruise Lines, along with some of the things I absolutely love about my Samsung NX 300 mirrorless camera….

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2014 is through. It’s so hard to believe, isn’t it? I don’t think I’ve ever remembered a year going by quicker than this one.

This past January, I  learned from my friend Pam about the importance of giving yourself a performance review at the end of each month. This is a time of reflection and enrichment… a time to give extra thanks for all the blessings and reflect on things that made us stronger.  I’m going to be sharing my monthly “performance reviews” going forward here on the blog, but I thought it would be a great way to wrap up 2014 on Dine & Dish as well. Inspired by this post on the Victoria McGinley blog, I’ve decided to share my 2014 year in review in a similar format as Victoria. I hope you’ll reflect along with me!

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Happy Happiness Report Day, everyone! The photo you see above is of Leah this past spring at Ella’s first communion. I found it while I was looking for an old photo of a recipe I needed and it made me realize how much I miss sharing my Project 365 photos. This photo along with the ones below would most likely suffer the fate of sitting on my external hard drive, never to be seen and enjoyed by anyone. What’s the point of that?

To rectify the situation, I’m starting a “no-rules” Project 365 project for myself. No rules meaning… if I accidentally skip a day of taking a photo, I’ll say oops and move on. If my photo is taken with my camera phone instead of my DSLR, I’ll say oops and carry on. No rules meaning I’m not waiting until January 1st to start. I’m going to start on December 1st…or if I feel like it, tomorrow or whenever. No rules is not within my comfort zone, but the thought of a no rules photography project makes me very happy! I actually think I’m going to call it just that “The No Rules Photography Project”. Sounds easy enough, right?

Here are a few of the photos that I saved from external hard drive purgatory……

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Hey all! Before I get into my #ThisIs40 Week 4 in Photos, I wanted to tell you about a new project I’ve started. So many people contact me each week for advice on writing, so I thought I’d share my free “writing workouts” with those interested. Head over to the new inspiredPrompts page on Dine & Dish to learn more! If you want to improve your writing skills, I promise this will help.

OK, now on to my #ThisIs40 week 4 in photos!

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This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Tania of Love Big Bake Often for the winning comment chosen through Random.org. Thanks for participating!

Today I am sharing a combination of two of my very favorite things with you!

You all know I love Instagram. In fact, I love Instagram so much people have started to take notice of my obsession. I’ve now had the opportunity to speak at conferences about my love for Instagram, which is kind of cool. Sharing my love for a platform that helps people capture and share the everyday life moments they come across in life makes me happy!

When my friend Sylvie from Gourmande in the Kitchen asked me to contribute to her Summer Photography Series with a post about how I use Instagram, I happily obliged. If you haven’t checked out Sylvie’s photography series, you must. I’m honored to be included among such talented people. I hope you’ll hop on over to my post on her blog to see what I have to share. But first, wait… read here about my 2nd love… Keepsy Photo Albums (and stay until the end for a 20% off discount code and giveaway!)

You know when people ask you the question… “If your house was on fire and you could only grab one thing, what would it be?” Well, if we weren’t including my family in the answer, my response would probably be my 2011 in an Instagram Keepsy photo album. This album of Instagram photos has quickly become one of my most prized possessions. What do I love so much about my Keepsy album? Well, let me tell you!…

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This giveaway is now closed. The winner, chosen by Random.org was Lacey Hemphill (Twitter @Laceylouwho02). Thanks to all who participated and to Kelly Moore for offering such a great giveaway!

Since I began Project 365 (where I challenge myself to take a photo each day for 365 days) last year, you will most often find me with my Nikon DSLR close by. I love photography and enjoy having my camera along with me, as you never know what might pop up that you want to capture through a photo.

Although I have always enjoyed photography, I became more of an avid enthusiast with the purchase of my first DSLR in 2007. Since then, photography – of food, life moments, travel, people…basically everything – has become a definite passion. As much as I enjoy having my camera with me when I’m out and about, over time I found it very frustrating that there weren’t a lot of options aside from manly looking backpacks for camera bags. I wanted something beautiful and stylish with room to hold my big camera and a lens or two, accessories plus the things I need on an everyday basis – car keys, phone, wallet, lipstick, etc….

The post Kelly Moore Camera Bag Giveaway – CLOSED appeared first on Dine and Dish.

I read the book, The Happiness Project by Gretchin Rubin, this past year and it changed my life. It was a big factor in getting me through this year with a smile still on my face. Yes – we’ve had some pretty big bumps this past year, but I made it through and am still smiling. I owe a lot to the words placed within the pages of The Happiness Project. (Haven’t read it yet? Do it. Now!)

It seemed only natural for me to make a photo book of things in 2011 that really made me happy. A visual reminder of happiness, every single time I look at it. My book includes food, travel, family, and random things that make me happy, like coffee and gumballs. It’s a fun compilation of happy things, ordered from A through Z.

Making a photo book with Snapfish was incredibly simple… makes me want to kick myself that I haven’t made one before. I anticipated it being completely overwhelming, but it wasn’t. Some of the things I found to be really neat about the Snapfish Photo Book creation project were:

• Uploading your photos to Snapfish is quick and easy. I was surprised I could upload a group of my photos (which tend to be fairly large files) in just a few minutes. I didn’t have to carve out a big part of my day babysitting photos uploading. It was quick and painless!
• Snapfish has a big selection of themes and layouts. From travel to love, there were themes to suit every occasion or even every non-occasion. Simple to elaborate, Snapfish allows you to choose a theme that will totally match the look and feel you want.
• Drag and Drop. I don’t know about you, but I love anything that let’s you drag and drop pictures. I think that is the easiest way to do things. Inserting photos into the book layout is as easy as dragging the photo you want and dropping it into the spot on the page.
• Helpful service. If you are making your photo book and get stuck or have questions, Snapfish has representatives you can chat with on line and they’ll assist you. I love that feature! If you are too busy to make your own photo book, you can also enlist the help of a Snapfish adviser to create the photo book for you!
• Snapfish Photo Books are inexpensive! At one time in the past year, I had looked at putting a selection of some of my favorite blog posts into a book. The service I had looked into was going to be hundreds of dollars. At Snapfish, you can create a beautiful photo book for as little as $11.99.

If you have photos lying around that you want to preserve in a way that is simple and special, I would highly recommend making a Snapfish photo book. Whether for yourself, or as a gift, it is something that will be treasured for years and years to come!

Here are a few more screenshots from my ABC of Happiness Photo Book. Stay tuned while Snapfish judges each of the books from the 10 bloggers. If my book is chosen, the first 100 people who commented on my original Snapfish post will receive $100 credit to Snapfish! Fingers crossed!

This is a sponsored post as part of the Snapfish “Your Creative Lens on Life” campaign. I am receiving compensation for my time and Snapfish is providing me with a photo book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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