Making a Scrapbook is a Great Way to Treasure Your Memories

Most of us have shoe boxes or plastic bins filled with photos from the years of our lives. If we are lucky, we have managed to sort the boxes into various years or decades, and there is some semblance of order to these memories. Amid the photos may be ticket stubs, greeting cards, and various trinkets that we want to remember but we are not quite shore how to organize. Imagine leaving this legacy to your children. They would spend days sorting through the boxes trying to order the material, piecing together a life they want to understand, but just cannot get a grip on when it is stored in a box. Chances are there are photos of people they will not recognize, curious pictures of events they do not recall, and questions about why certain items were saved and others were not. Maybe you have saved all of your graduation cards but none from birthdays or anniversaries. Maybe you kept the ticket stub from the first baseball game you ever attended but did not save a wedding program. Your kids and grandkids deserve to understand your way of thinking and why you held on to certain things. A scrapbook is a great way to help them understand once you are no longer here to explain it. Compiling one now can be a lot of fun and it organizes your memories before it is too late.

You may want to ask your children or grandchildren for assistance. They may remember stories now they can share that can be included in the scrapbook and they can read about them in years to come. Maybe last Christmas was the best ever for your six year old granddaughter. She can share those memories with you, you can write them down in a scrapbook besides the family Christmas photos, and 20 years from now she will remember the day as told in her own words.

You can also document the time before you had children and grandchildren. Start with your earliest photos and label the people in each picture. You can include stories about your relationship with each person, or include a message directly from them if they are still in your life. Future generations will appreciate the effort you made to inform them and share their heritage with them. There may be stories you forget to share when you are alive, or these stories may not capture the interest of surly teenage grandchildren. However, a few decades into the future they will be fascinated with the time and effort put into chronically their family history. You can create a scrapbook for each member of the family so they can share them and piece together their common history, or you can create all-encompassing books with copied photos. Do not forget to include things other than photos in these books. Scraps of paper, swatches of fabric, important documents, and family recipes all make great additions to traditional scrapbooks. Your relatives will truly appreciate your effort in documenting the family history.

What Is Involved In Making An Offer On A Home?

A purchase offer is a written document submitted by a prospective home buyer to the seller of a residential property. This legal document is executed once an individual is bent on purchasing the home he or she would like to live in or would like to have as an investment. But the process only begins there as negotiations between the seller and the buyer will still be involved to make sure that every detail is to their liking.

When a homebuyer has set his or her eyes on a certain property, he or she may work with a real estate agent and fill up a purchase offer form or make one themselves that will be based according to their terms and conditions. If a buyer doesn't want to get an agent, he or she should consult with a real estate lawyer on this matter.

In the U.S., real estate laws vary from state to state hence, it is advisable that a buyer check out the standard form in his state. Learning about this legal form beforehand is the right thing to do as it will help one understand the items that need to be specified in the document.

In writing a purchase offer, one of the important things a buyer needs to include are the fixtures that he or she wants to stay or get rid of in his future home. Specifically, the fixtures here refer to the things that are attached permanently to a residential property such as kitchen cabinets as well as heating and cooling systems. A house listed with a multiple listing agency would usually state what items the seller wants to sell with his or her house. If there are decorative items that a potential buyer would like to stay, then it should be noted in the offer. Other items that might be included are the outdoor storage buildings, windows, light fixtures and garage door openers.

A purchase offer must be based on the property's present condition and the items that a buyer expects to be included or rid of. After a seller reviews the offer to purchase, the negotiation between the two parties starts.

Of course, a seller may not totally agree with the buyer's terms and conditions upon receiving the first offer. He or she may just cross out some of the items not amenable to his terms and should put his initial on the changes. Otherwise, if a seller disagrees with the whole offer, he or she may propose a counter offer.

Apart from the fixtures, other items in the offer that may involve some haggling are the purchase price, the party responsible for paying the closing costs, the closing date and delivery of title and the date the seller needs to move out from the property.

Several counter offers can be exchanged during negotiations but the final contract can only be reached once both parties agree to the modifications in the offer and put them in writing. When the document is signed by the seller and the buyer, the purchase offer becomes legal.

Making a Scrapbook For a Gift

If you are a scrapper, you know the sentimental value that a scrapbook holds. Each book represents a special time in your life, memories you don't want to forget and events that made you who you are today. Taking photographs of important life moments and arranging them so they are not only beautiful to the eye, but to the soul as well, is something you know all too well. Those who take pride in the scrapbooks they create may find that providing another with such a wonderful keepsake would be a beautiful gift idea. Straight from the heart, the gift of a scrapbook is something to be cherished, just as the photographs in there are treasured.

Below are a few occasions for which you might consider creating a scrapbook for a loved one. You can do a mini scrapbook that measures 7 x 7, or go all out with a 12 x 12 scrapbook, depending on the occasion and how many pictures you have to include.

Weddings and Anniversaries

Among the most popular reason for creating a scrapbook, weddings and anniversaries are definitely occasions to remember. As one of the most important days in most married people's lives, the day a couple was joined as one is a momentous one. Consider creating a wedding or anniversary scrapbook as a gift only if you are closely acquainted with the couple, since you will be more familiar with their design taste, and you'll better know which family photographs mean the most to the lovely couple. One great idea: include a decorated page with quotes, good luck wishes, or congratulations from guests of the wedding or anniversary party.

Babies and More Babies

The number one reason moms get into scrapbooking is to make a permanent record of their beautiful child's upbringing. Babies are so special, which is why many mom's make "baby books" when their children come along. If you know of a new mom who isn't into scrapbooking, consider asking her for copies of the best photos of her little one. You can create a small memory book that showcases the baby's birth and homecoming, or consider a larger scrapbook that chronicles the child's entire first year. If you'd rather let the mom get into the process herself, you can also wrap a blank book, scrapping papers, pens and other cutting tools together as a baby shower or 1st birthday gift.

Important Travels and Adventures

Sometimes a vacation deserves its own scrapbook. Perhaps your parents went on a week long trip camping at the Grand Canyon, or maybe your children took your grandkids to their first Disneyland vacation. Travel destinations and other adventures are perfect for scrapbooking, and work equally well for a large or small scrapbook. For that once in a lifetime trip or occasion, consider asking for a copy of your friend or family member's photos and creating a gift for them.