I just saw my life flash before my eyes...

...or at least the last 10 years of it! :)

My ScanMyPhotos box came just a few moments ago! Lucky me, Abigale was taking a nap, so I unwrapped and popped in the cd instead of finishing up my work in the kitchen... lol :)

I popped the photos over to iphoto, so that I would immediately have a backup, and a surreal thing happened. iphoto started importing them, and they were flashing in no particular order across the screen. One of Abigale's first smile, my honeymoon, a graduation, family Christmas, friends, the state fair, etc etc. It really was as if my life was flashing before my eyes - and I have a lot to be grateful for. Nice, surreal, but nice. :)

Anyway, on to my honest review.

Service: I sent the photos in last Monday and received them this Monday. The photos were returned in good condition nicely packed. CD is packed in an envelope with my name and date of scan on it.

Scanning: All photos were scanned in entirety. There were a few with a slight black edge on the bottom - but I think that is to be expected as not all 4x6 are exactly 4x6. (I noticed that as I was packing them off to mail).

Quality: Now, keeping in mind that the monitor does illuminate the photos a bit more than what they would look like printed....but I do have a Mac with a great screen which I use for photo editing and graphic related things so I have a relatively trained eye (which also brings out the perfectionist in me...) so here is what I think. The scan picked up high key white and the darkest colors and slightly exaggerated them. So, some of the faces look washed out - or some of the darker backgrounds blend together more. This was true in both color photos and some of the black and white scans. Photos were the colors were mostly midrange were not as bad. Also photos that were grainy to begin with seemed worse in the scan, in my opinion. On the other hand, I didn't notice any additional noise on the photos - such as dust that slipped in during the scan.

Was it worth it? With the special they are running ($19.99 shipping/handling only for members of blogger, myspace, facebook, etc) YES! I don't regret sending them one bit and although I'll need to do touchups before I scrap or reprint any of them - it was definitely worth my time to send them in. Would I order again at the $99 flat rate box fee (increasing to $124 soon) - undecided. For the price, I feel the photos should be a more exact duplicate of the original - in both color and clarity. Mind you, I'm not asking for miracles on photos that were not top quality to begin with, just a simple what you see is what you get. I know a photo enhancement is offered at an additional cost (maybe $50?) but in order to maintain the highest quality, I would think that would be included as a standard in the scanning. That just my opinion, and I do tend to be pretty picky about photos.

Another consideration is time. I was able to go through my photos, picking out the photos to scan in a few hours. I can not imagine the amount of time it would take me to hand scan each one...ok I can imagine and that's why I still have a box full of my grandmothers photos that hasn't been touched! I do feel better seeing the photos back and in good condition, but I am still hesitant to send anything that doesn't have a duplicate photo or negative. So, of course, there is a huge benefit to sending the photos off and having a machine scan through them all.

Is it worth having a backup of my photos - YES, without a doubt. My photos are precious to me and one glance can bring back so much emotion and memories! I would highly recommend creating a back up, either with your own home scanner or through ScanMyPhotos.

ETA: ScanMyPhotos has extended their deadline on the special through Mother's Day, May 11th. You can find more info about it here.

Undeniable

Abigale's "wa-oh song". It's her "favorite".

Undeniable by Mat Kearney



Lately we can't start the car without the request to play it!

985

That's the number of photos that I'm sending off to scanmyphotos tomorrow!

I was able to knock it all out this afternoon. (Thank goodness for an afternoon with out plans!!) Robbie was skeptical that I could pull together that many photos and started naming off people I could ask if they had a few to throw in....I question if he realizes just how many photos I take....

I was actually hoping I could get a broader span of time with the photos! Inclosed in my tightly packed box are baby photos of Abigale pre the digital rebel, preg photos and showers, graduations (times 2!), pre-baby cruise, honeymoon, a few random wedding shots and showers, other people's wedding shots (yup Laura that means YOU!), and lots of random photos that fall somewhere in between all that....

I would have liked to have squeezed in college photos, but I knew that if I even went looking for the 15 more I would be lost in a sea of photos! So I threw in the white flag and packed up what I have together!

Last night Abigale had nightmares all night, so she crawled into bed with us and kicked me each time she whimpered. Needless to say I'm exhausted!!! Off to bed early for me!

Snow!

Snow!!!! I want to go out! :)


Tasting the snow!

I couldn't resist taking Abigale out for a few minutes. How often is it that we get such big beautiful flakes???

Then we came in for some hot chocolate!



And it's still coming down!

Helicopter

We were driving down the road today when Abigale spotted a helicopter.

A: I want to ride in a helicopter!
A: ...I want our car to turn into a helicopter....
Me: Ummmm, Sorry, it's just not possible for our car to do that.
A: annoyed sigh - I'm PRETENDING
Me: OK! Where do you want to go?
A: To the top! :)

This brings me back to the conversation I had with Abigale before I left for Chicago (she was a little over 2 1/2 then)...

Me: Mama is leaving today, I'm going to ride in an airplane
A: I want to come!
Me: Not this time, but maybe we can do that someday.
A: That's ok - you ride in airplane... Me and Daddy ride HELICOPTER

:)

Soccer, where have you been all my life?

First soccer game = happy Abigale! :)



It was so much fun to watch her play! She ran with the biggest smile and enjoyed every second of it! She caught on very quickly for a 3 year old with only one practice under her belt!!!

Here are a couple of game photos!


Yes, that is what a 3 year old mob looks like. :)



She can't wait to play again! :)