How Blogging Has Improved My Life (The Woven Moments Great Blogging Anniversary LinkUp)

When I first started blogging in February of last year, my only objective was to create somewhere for me to come when I felt like being silly. It was a way to put a small piece of myself out into the world, and I wanted it to be honest. Real. 


And usually silly. 


It gives me an outlet for my creativity, my bad puns, and my daily attempt at humor. And for the most part, I feel like each time I click the word "Publish," I've given my readers another little piece of the Abby puzzle.


The most delightful (and unexpected) thing that came out of blogging were all the perks associated with living in the blogosphere. And today, in celebration of The Woven Moments 1 year anniversary, I'm sharing 5 of those perks with you.


And believe me when I say, if this post drives you to begin your own blog just so you can come visit the Wondrous World Wide Web through the eyes of a blogger, then I'll support you one million percent. (Also, every time a new blogger joins the party, a fairy gets her wings. Just sayin'.)

5 Ways the Blogosphere Has Improved My Life

I always have pictures of myself for internet avatars, passports, Christmas cards, and all other applications where pictures of yourself are relevant. 

And I have Abby Gabs to thank for it. Never before has self-photography been so crucial in my day-t0-day life. For the first few months of blogging, any time I would hand the camera to my husband to take a shot of me posing, it required a 20 minute explanation behind why I was standing on one foot with a silly grin on my face and an imaginary bow-and-arrow in my hands. 

I guess he just couldn't imagine how this picture....

...could eventually become this year's Valentine.

However, I'm pleased to report that nowadays, he just takes the picture. Because usually, the payoff is worth the wait.

On days when life throws me a curve ball that smacks me in the eye, and I'm feeling particularly unfunny, I always know I can turn to the blogosphere for inspiration, support, and ultimately, a good belly laugh.

And on days like that, when I'm nursing a black eye, I know just the blogs I'm going to turn to for that laugh. You will see the influence of Clay Baboons as soon as you open up Abby Gabs in your browser. (Stephanie and I are one of many Robots and Bloggers Against Captcha. Join our cause today.) The Bearded Iris is one of those blogs that makes you put your coffee mug down before you start reading. Inevitably, you will forget this rule, and then you'll be cleaning coffee off of your monitor. But it's a lesson quickly learned, especially if you start with her recent post about poo. And if you love illustrated blogs as much as I do, then Odd But Nice is the place for you. The post in which she begs the PS3 to release her husband from servitude is one of my favorites of all time.

But if you're short on time and just want a quick chuckle, please-oh-please visit Heavy Browsing. What's funnier than making fun of fashion? Making fun of BAD fashion. This blog has everything a good humor blog needs: funny pictures, hilarious captions, and dry humor. It's perfect in every way.

Blogging is a huge asset to my marriage.

On the rare occasions when I say or do something wrong, all I have to do is this:

...and all is forgiven. 

I always knew my close friends and family would read my blog. But I never expected to find a community so willing to embrace my goofiness.

And want to talk about really amazing? I never expected to make friends. I have Canadian friends and Mid-Western friends and Yankee friends and Southern friends. I have people who comment on every single blog I've ever written---and I'm not just talking about my Mom. People have reached out to me on my blog, on Twitter, on Facebook--just to tell me that they laughed because of Abby Gabs. For a writer, nothing feels as good as validation. (So feel free to leave me a comment or two below!) And to know there's a group of people out there in the world willing to read my thoughts on a regular basis is downright invigorating. Thanks to each and everyone of you who have ever offered encouragement, words of advice, and your unwavering support. (You know who you are!)

More than anything, the blogosphere gives me a place to be creative, witty, and downright silly.

I spend the first 30 minutes of my day brainstorming ideas for the day's post. Sometimes I already have an idea planned, and I mentally Photoshop images to fill out the post. Other days, I have a jumble of ideas in my head, all waiting to congeal into one. Either way, as a blog author, I get to have an epiphany every, single day.

Sometimes, that epiphany comes in the form of a creative way to illustrate that epiphany. It's like push-ups for my brain.


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There are a hundred more reasons why blogging has improved my life tenfold. I could keep listing, but for those who read Abby Gabs on a regular basis, you know I have a penchant for odd numbers (particularly the number 5.) So I'll take my OCD, end this list, and wish Ryan (The Woven Moments) and her partners in linky land a very happy anniversary.


Wait...is there cake? Because I like cake.

Photoshop, The Abby Gabs Way

I recently had my very first request to do a Photoshop tutorial, from friend and fellow blogger Ryan from The Woven Moments. I excitedly took on the task, until I remembered that I'm far from a Photoshop guru. No one would ever pay me to teach them the skills I use for my blog on a regular basis. But, I figured that, for the purposes of this blog, I could at least pretend that I know what I'm talking about, and share some of my self-taught Photoshop skills to the masses. So, in my second-ever tutorial, I'm going to attempt to teach you how to make your own silly graphics using Photoshop. 


Be forewarned. I don't use real Photoshop-type jargon. I call most of the buttons "Whatzit" and "Thingymajigger."


Let's proceed.


I use Photoshop for 3 basic things: to superimpose myself into ridiculous situations, to salvage a photo that I like but that isn't usable in its current form, or to add words and/or graphics to an existing but boring photo.


So, here's how I do it.

Superimposing Myself Into Ridiculous Situations
(AKA: The Magic Extractor)

You've seen it a hundred times on Abby Gabs...Abby with a goofy grin standing at the feet of Mordor, Abby sipping on a frilly cocktail  on the beaches of Hawaii, Abby kissing Donnie Wahlberg's cheek. Photoshop allows me to live a dramatic, somewhat enviable, celebrity-like life. Without it, suffice it to say that you'd see a lot of boring pictures featuring me, my cats, and the terrible 1970s throwback wood paneling that covers every inch of wall in my apartment.

(My landlord calls it classy.)

So, in order to take yourself out of an ordinary picture and magically transport yourself into fairytale land, you simply need to make use of the Magic Extractor tool. (For the purposes of this blog, I'm making a life long dream come true and putting myself into the Michael Jackson Thriller video. Just go with me here.)

Step one: open up Photoshop, upload all the photos you want to use for your project, and choose the first photo you want to manipulate. In this case, it's my face. Click on "Image," scroll to the bottom and choose "Magic Extractor." The following screen will pop up:

Don't be intimidated. This little tool couldn't be easier to use. Use the red paint tool to mark the areas of your photo that you want to keep. Use the blue paint tool to mark the areas of the photo that you want to disappear. When you're satisfied, click "Ok."


Now here's where I differ with some of the Photoshop gurus on the innerwebs. They'll tell you to be meticulous here. And inevitably, the first few times you use The Magic Extractor, you will spend 30 minutes making sure that the stray hair poking out of your left ear is most definitely NOT highlighted with red. Let me say, though, that you will have an opportunity to perfect the photo once it's added to your chosen background. So---swirl that mouse with abandon, baby. No need to be nit-picky. Just get the job done.


Once you've applied the Magic Extractor, your photo will now look like this:

As you can see, there's some schmutz around the very edges. Again, don't panic. You can fix this later. Now, double click on your background image, figure out where you want to smoosh your face, and drag the edited face photo onto the background. Manipulate it until you get it where you want it. Then, begin your perusal of the handy-dandy little buttons on the left-hand side of your screen.

See that cute little pink eraser that looks like the kind you carried in your pencil box in third grade? That's the answer to all your problems. Select the layer of the photo that you want to edit (most likely, it's your face. You don't want to erase background, right?) Then erase away those last little remnants of the original photo that you don't want anymore. If you're having problems seeing what you're doing, feel free to click on the little magnifying glass and zoom in. It makes ensuring you don't accidentally erase your left ear a TON easier.


After a few minutes, you can successfully say "Voila! I have a finished product!"

But Abby, wait! There's a hat with flowers in that picture!! How on earth did you manage to add that to the photo? No worries, friend. We'll cover that in the Third Section of this blog. For now, let's move on to Section Two.

Salvaging a Photo That I Like 

But Isn't Usable In Its Current Form

When a majority of the photos you use for your blog are self-portraits, you will wind up with more duds than studs. They'll turn out fuzzy, or framed incorrectly, or just generally poopy. Case in point: this fuzzy photo I took of myself recently for my Valentine's Day blog:

Naturally, it didn't get chosen to go into the blog becasue it's out of focus. However, Photoshop is GREAT for fixing those photographer-errors, and  you can wind up what I call "Artsy Fartsy" photos. The first thing I do to make any bad photo into an Artsy Fartsy masterpiece is convert it to Black and White. Click "Enhance," scroll down and select "Convert to Black and White." The following page will pop up:

Photoshop is already equipped with a ton of options to make your black and white photo as artsy or as fartsy as your little heart desires. Just click around until you find the optimum option, then select "ok."

Woo hoo! This is a "self high-five" moment. You've just joined the ranks of self-involved, pretentious artists on the internet by creating your own creatively shot and edited photograph. But maybe you're still not happy. Maybe you want to manipulate it even more. Let me introduce you to Photoshop's "Artistic Effects" arsenal.

This is where clicking buttons and playing with the options on Photoshop becomes crucial. There are SO MANY DIFFERENT ways to manipulate a single photo. You can make it appear that the photo was really painted, or drawn with charcoal, or even sketched by a street vendor. Your choice. Just click the handy little buttons, apply to the photo, sit back and enjoy the show. And no worries---no changes are permanent. There's a handy little option in the "Edit" column that allows you to undo any changes you've made to the pic. 

(I chose Pastels for the below photograph. You'll find it in the 3rd row, 2nd option from the left.) Now how artsy-fartsy is THAT?!?

Now you have an all-purpose black and white photo that you can use for a myriad of applications: avatars, Facebook profile pictures, Christmas cards---whatever you need! But perhaps you still feel like it's a little lacking. Maybe you'd like to add a poem, or an inspirational quote.

That's where adding stuff comes in.

Adding Words and/or Graphics to 

An Existing But Boring Photo

Psssst. Want me to let you in on a little secret? THIS IS SO EASY. Once you have the Photoshop software, you have an entire warehouse worth of fonts, colors, warping options and more right at your fingertips. 

My method of finding the right font for a project goes like this: click on the font tool (it looks like the letter "T".) Click somewhere on the photo. Type whatever you need to type. Then highlight it and scroll through the fonts, changing it when you find one that sounds interesting. You can increase or decrease the size to fit it into the photo as needed. You can also click on the color box and change the color of your font in 2 shakes of a lamb's tail. If your text needs to be physically moved to a new location, click on the Move Tool at the very top (looks like an arrow with a compass next to it.) and drag it around till you find your inner peace. And eventually, you'll have an image that looks like this:

It's just as easy to add graphics to your photo. Let's say, for this blog's sake, that you want to add a picture of a black cat wearing a Marilyn Monroe wig. Easy enough. Let's use Photoshop's "Create" button, located to the right of your screen.

Using the drop-down menu, select "Graphics" and then smile when you see the balloons, banners, and baseballs load with ease. Double click on any graphic you want, and it will add automatically to the picture. Here, you can use the Move tool to manipulate the image however you need to--whether it needs to be bigger or smaller, straightened or catty-cornered. Add whatever your heart desires: mustaches, thought bubbles, hammers and ukeleles. And eventually, you'll end up with an image that looks more like this:

And this, ladies and gents, is what makes Photoshop my favorite photo-editing software, ever. 

I hope this tutorial has proven to be a helpful jump-off point for those who wonder how I create the images that drive Abby Gabs. If I've only managed to confuse you further, I apologize. What works for me might not work for you. Especially since I'm the kind of person who finds a black cat in a Marilyn Monroe wig hilarious.

Down the Aisle

It's Monday. *Half-hearted, mostly faked cheer.*


Not only is it Monday, but it's also Brian's first day back to school. Know what that means? 

Abby is a sad, lonely little Abby.

And if that's not enough to pout about, how about the humungo To-Do List I have to accomplish today??!?! (Ok, the OCD in me actually gets a little thrill at the concept of a list, so maybe I'm fibbing a little there.)


And so, with laundry piled ankle-high, a week's grocery list to compile, some jewelry component shopping to do, and a hundred other things, I found myself at a loss for what I would blog about today.


<Enter Bloggy-friend and Linky Fairy Godmother, Ryan from The Woven Moments.>


In true superhero fashion, Ryan has officially saved the day with a blog topic for me. (Yay, Ryan!) It's actually a linky at ANOTHER blog, Mommy of a Monster, called "Down the Aisle."


Since I'm officially in "I Miss Brian" mode, I thought today would be the perfect day to share my favorite wedding photo with you. (Let me preface this by saying that we did NOT have a professional photographer at our wedding. All of our pictures are candids and snapshots captured by friends and family. So, a lot of them are dark. Or grainy. Or I'm making a stupid face. (I do that a lot.))


I have several photos, though, that I love despite their non-professional vibe. And this one tops the list:

We'd just been pronounced husband and wife. We turned to face our friends and family, and as they began to cheer, Brian grabbed my hand. 


I'm betting they could've seen us from space, we were beaming such joy.


I love this picture so much because it really depicts just how HAPPY we were that day. For us, it wasn't about what the flowers looked like and how organized everything was and making sure the centerpieces were just so. (I know this surprises you, frequent readers...but it's true!) Our wedding day was about celebrating our love, and bringing our two families together in the most epic party known to man.


And at that moment depicted above, all the joy and excitement and love and energy we felt crashed into each other and created absolute glee.


After all, isn't that what a wedding should be all about anyway?

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If you'd like to share your favorite wedding photo, and join the linky party, make sure you visit Mommy of  a Monster!

My Naked Truth (About Love)

Readers, after the last few days I'm sure you're rolling your eyes at the thought of another AbbyGabs filled with smooshie love stories about Brian and me. You've heard all about how much he loves me, and I told you the story of how our relationship almost wasn't. I'm basically dousing your daily blog read with 100% pure sugar.


Forgive me, reader, for the sugar-dousing continues today. My friend, Ryan, at The Woven Moments, is hosting another "Naked Truth" linky. The last one I participated in, you'll remember, was a video blog. (Why? Because I'm an overachiever, that's why.)


Today, Ryan posts an inquiry: "What do you know for sure about love?"

Check out the linky here!

There are a lot of things I know for sure about love. In true AbbyGabs fashion, I shall present them to you in list form.


Love Is Not A Battlefield
Sorry, Pat Benatar. You know I love ya. But I have to disagree.

Despite the fact that Brian and I had been living together for 3 years before we were married, we still received a TON of advice over how to "survive the first year of marriage."

"It's SO hard, and you'll fight ALL the time," one friend warned.

"You just have to take a deep breath and try to remind yourself WHY you married him in the first place," another person wisely suggested.


"Money. You'll fight about money. And sex. You'll fight about sex....OH, and jealousy. There will definitely be some jealousy."


Each time we received advice about how the first year of our marriage was doomed to be the worst year in the history of man, Bri and I would look at each other, befuddled. How can this be? Is a name on a piece of paper so life changing that the healthy, loving relationship we share can morph into a Jerry Springer episode overnight?


I'm here to tell you, after almost 7 years of marriage, we've yet to have that year. Not because a long term relationship doesn't take dedication and attention. Not because we're perfect. But because we made a decision very early in our relationship to put trust in our love, and let the rest of the chips fall where they may.

Love Isn't (Always) Serious
Yes, Dr. Phil, relationships take work. And yes, Dr. Phil, love is a serious thing. But it doesn't have to be serious ALL. THE. TIME.


Right after trust, LAUGHTER is the next key ingredient in our marriage.


And here's the biggest secret of all: we laugh at each other. A lot. 

Many couples we know tend to get bogged down in the "business" of their relationships that I think they forget to laugh. Yes, there are bills to pay. Yes, you may be angry with him for leaving his socks on the floor. Again. Yes, she complains about her job to the point of exhaustion.


Don't get me wrong. We get caught up in that stuff, too.


But we try to find the humor in everything. Sarcasm is our favorite tool. 

And if all else fails, there's always the tickle monster.


My point is this: laughter allows us to find the joy in marriage. And without that joy, what's the point?

Besides, he's funny lookin'. (HA!) 


Love Isn't (Always) Glamorous
When I was a kid, I thought of love as a formula. 

Handsome man X lots of money + red roses and a diamond ring = love.

That's girl math.


And to be fair, I got the handsome man and the diamond ring.


Despite growing up in the 90s, I had a Donna Reid-esque view of marriage. Except I had power suits and a BMW, too. I never imagined real life would be so hard. That jobs could be so hard to come by, and when I finally found one with staying power, it wouldn't be anywhere near the kind of job I'd always dreamed of for myself. That my husband would have to work like a dog to put food on our table and to put himself through nursing school. 


I never imagined my husband would be diagnosed with cancer at the age of 30.


I got schooled. By life.


But I still believe in happily ever after. Even if I do have to pick up dirty tissues when my husband has a cold. Even if we have to roll the windows down in the car on the way home from our favorite Mexican restaurant. Even if I don't get to live in the fairy tale castle with big windows, a 2 car garage, and the modern kitchen of my dreams.

We may not look like Disney's version, but in our hearts,
we're Cinderella and Prince Charming.

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As I was writing this blog, my sleepy-head husband wandered into the room. He kissed me on the head, looked over my shoulder, and said, "What are you blogging about today?"

"Love," I said. I looked at him and asked, "What do you know for sure about love?"

He looked at me, blinked twice, and said, "It's Great." 


And you know what? He's totally right.


Leave it to him to reduce my 800 word blog down to two. Freakin' genius.

I'm an Over-Achiever Because My First Ever Linky Is Also A Video Blog

Thanks to Ryan from The Woven Moments for this blog idea. After my week-long adventure in the sun, my brain cells were fried. Visit her blog to learn how you can participate in the Naked Truth Linky!