thankful thursday {8.20}

haven't posted much lately, it's been a busy week.

today I am thankful for the wealth of information available on the internet, so my list is related to that. i know there are downsides to our technology-addicted way of life these days, but i love how much information is at our fingertips, and it's often free! Here are some examples that make me happy...

- York County Mommies
as a working mom, it would be very difficult for me to get out and meet tons of moms in our area. sure making a few friends here and there is easy. but on this site, there are hundreds (maybe thousands???) of moms in our area. if i ever have a question - whether it's about where to do something fun this weekend, how to get coleman to sleep longer, or what kind of shampoo i should be using - someone there has some helpful information. as coleman gets older, i look forward to participating in more of the play date events and such. what an awesome resource!

- Printable Coupons
obviously, i've really gotten into "couponing". before doing so, i had no idea the enormous variety of printable coupons that were available online. it has truly changed the way i shop, and saved me a ton of money. some stores (like target and food lion) have store-specific printables, but there are also plenty of generic coupons out there. also, a lot of manufacturers will have printables on their sites. if there is something you use a lot...google it! for instance, we have been using a lot of wet ones since coleman started on solids. i googled it and found $1.00 off printables on their site. woohoo!
a few sites include:
- coupons.com - smartsource - red plum -

- Two Peas in a Bucket
at first, i was going to make this something more generic like "scrapbooking ideas", but this site is so incredibly wonderful, it deserves it's own props. this was one of the first scrapbooking sites i ever fell in love with, many many moons ago. it's been my "go to" resource ever since. it's the #1 scrapbooking site, and for good reason. i don't order many supplies online, so i don't use their store very often. but i do use just about every other portion of their site:

~ message boards - i don't activiely participate, but if i have a question sometimes i will go there and search the archives...can always find an answer

~ designer garden - this is where their design team shares their work: monthly themes, classes, tutorials, challenges, etc. i have found some of my favorite scrapbookers through here (elsie flannigan, jennifer mcguire, shannon tidwell, lisa brown). i recently searched for "teacher gift" and found this great template and instructions for a Gift Card holder. awesome.

~ member gallery - this is where anyone can post their work. i can't even tell you how often i go here if i'm looking for an idea on a specific project. since this is the #1 site, there are a gazillion active members posting their work. they also have it split into different areas if there are certain things that interest you...such as digital scrapbooking, photography, stamping.

~ bookmarks - one of the coolest features of the site is that when you see something in the designer garden or member gallery, you can bookmark it for easy access later. you can also bookmark a specific member. super handy!

~ pea soup - a resource full of quotes, sayings, lyrics, poems, etc.

~ member tutorials - though there are only a few (maybe a new feature???), there is a section for member tutorials. i loved this one for a cd album (something i've been wanting to do for a while).

~ classes - some are free, some are not. some are long-term, some are short-term. lots of great options.

~ free goodies - you can get free fonts and free digital scrapbooking kits. they don't add free fonts anymore, but they add kits regularly so i'm always checking back. i make sure it's sorted by release date and i can see which new ones i don't have yet.

i'm sure there is so much more on this site that i don't even realize, but i think i've wasted enough time at this point.

- Weather Maps
i love being able to pull up the radar and see the forecast or whatever. this morning it was very cloudy and i could hear some thunder in the distance. i was able to pull up the radar on the weather channel and see that there was no rain in the area and it was ok for me to walk coleman to daycare. i also love being able to check the forecast easily for out-of-town locations we are going to visits. i have a weather channel app on my iphone as well.

- Search Engines
maybe it's stating the obvious...but where would be without search engines. my favorites are ones with perks, such as good search (money is donated to a charity of your choice) and swagbucks (earn points to purchase items or gift cards).