3G2S Turns 6 Years Old Today!

I realized only yesterday that 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires turns 6 years old today.  Shame on me for not planning something great for my wonderful readers.  I bow my head in shame . . . 

In all seriousness, I would not have stuck with blogging (and all the work that comes with it) if it weren't for my readers.  If it weren't for you, I would be just talking to myself, and that's not nearly as fun!

I need to give an enormous amount of credit to my family, who puts up with my working too many hours, working on nights and over the weekend, and my occasional stress-induced outbursts.

Also, Jerinda, Todd, and Jake all deserve much recognition for contributing quality content to 3G2S.  The success of this blog is definitely a group effort between them, our families, our readers, and myself.  This is most certainly not a one woman show!

I'm sure I'll blink and find myself composing a 7th year post soon enough.  Until then, I hope to continue to share content with you that is both engaging and fun.  Thanks so much for being a 3G2S reader!!

3G2S Turns 5 Today!

It is difficult to believe, but 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires turns 5 years old today.  At the beginning of each calendar year, I usually make at least one resolution involving my blog.  I did not make one this year.  It saves me the massive amount of guilt I usually feel when I break that resolution.  The truth is that, even after 5 years, my blog is still evolving.  What may be a great idea for my blog today, may not be a good idea for my blog in 6 months.

This is what I would like to see for our 6th year . . . 

• An increased focus on shopping and fashion for women, men, and children
• An increased frequency of posts sharing easy recipes and simple crafts
• Continued product reviews by our contributing writer Jerinda about Asperger's, homeschooling, living green, children's books, fun toys, and more.
• New content by contributing writer (and husband) Todd about tech tips, gadgets, pets, products for geeks, fatherhood, and more.
• Continued family-friendly reader giveaways

I very much look forward to another great year.  My blog would not have survived this many years without my family, my contributors, our readers, and the continued support of the MomDot blogging community.  For these I am very thankful.

Platinum (and Diamonds) to Celebrate a 20th Anniversary

Diamond jewelry is the official modern-day gift to mark the milestone of 10 years of marriage.  Our 10th wedding anniversary has come and gone.  In fact, this year my husband and I will be celebrating our 12th anniversary.  When our 10-year anniversary did arrive, I thought to myself that ten years did not feel like a long time.  No, we did not feel like newlyweds.  However, although we have gone through so much together, it still felt like there was a whole lifetime in front of us of reaching goals, making new ones, and watching our children grow inside and out.

The official gift for 20 years of marriage is platinum.  I have decided to declare that the gift should actually be platinum AND diamonds.  By 20 years, our oldest will be thinking about college and the twins will be entering high school.  We would be in a completely different phase in our lives.  Now that is something worthy of diamonds!

If you read my shopping blog or follow me on Pinterest, then you know that I have a thing for rings and that, for diamond jewelry, I am a fan of jewelry designs by Simon G.  When I have an extra moment or two, I enjoy browsing for uniquely designed rings, especially engagement rings.  Although I am always drawn towards princess cut diamond engagement rings, I always go back to round cut diamonds, like the one pictured here from Kranich's Jewelers.  I absolutely adore my round cut diamond solitaire platinum engagement ring, but it is fun to wonder once in awhile . . . What if we went with a bridal set? or Maybe we should have chosen a sapphire engagement ring?  In the end, I would never trade in my ring for anything, but I would want something different in platinum and diamonds for our next major milestone.

Review: Dream Day True Love (PC Game)

When I was offered a chance to review the PC game Dream Day True Love, I thought that it sounded a little sappy for my taste.  I am so glad I decided to give the game a chance because it turned out to be quite entertaining.  I think the main reason for this is because, although it is considered a hidden pictures game, it is packed full of a variety of games . . . so no long drawn out storyline, but rather one interesting game after another.

The premise of the game is based on your job as a wedding and event planner to coordinate a 70th anniversary party, which takes place at the couple's old house in the country.  Each game or task presented to you is actually designed with your end goal in mind, so the game was very cohesive and not random at all.

Aside from the classic hidden picture games, other mini-games included in Dream Day True Love were:

• Following recipes
• Sorting and organizing items into a grid
• Fitting items into a space without overlapping
• Decorating and designing objects or spaces
• Spotting the differences between two pictures
• Spotting what is new in a picture
• Completing a picture with multiple choices
• Card games
• Cleaning objects with limited supplies
• Assembling puzzle pieces into a grid
• Hidden picture puzzles where you can move the items around (Example pictured below)

I found the mini-games to have a wide range of difficulty.  Some were barely challenging at all, while others were wonderfully difficult.  I must say that I even found the easy games to be engaging.  You may have an added challenge if you are not familiar with some of the objects the game asks you to find in the home decor, fashion, and home improvement categories.  I know there was one tool that I had never heard of before and I had to ask my husband for help, who only had a vague idea of what it was himself.

I think I finished the entire game in approximately 4 hours combined.  I still need to go back and complete the the more advanced level of hidden picture games in order to reveal what is inside the anniversary gifts.  I thought it was smart of the game designers to add that in because it extends the play time, which adds value to the game.  Currently the game is available to download for a free trial at iPlay.com or can be purchased for $19.95 for non-members and between $6.95 and $9.95 for members.

System Requirements:
Operating system: Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7
Processor speed: Pentium III, 1000MHz
RAM: 512MB, 1024MB recommended
Video RAM: 128MB recommended
Hard drive space (uncompressed): 150MB free hard disk space
Resolution: 1024x768
DirectX version: Dir


Thank you to Oberon Media for providing a complimentary sample download of this game for us to base this review upon.