Chinese New Year

Out with the Old, In with the New

On February 14th, millions of people will celebrate love and family ties across the world. And many of the celebrations may have nothing to do with Valentine’s Day.

This year, February 14th is also the day when the Chinese will ring in their new year. Traditionally, in China and for Chinese families across the globe, the new year is the most important occasion of the year, more important than their birthdays or any other day of the year. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are occasions when the entire family gets together to celebrate, much like Thanksgiving or Christmas in the Western world. The exact date of the new year changes every year as it is based on the lunar calendar. The Chinese celebrate New Year on the first day of the first moon in the lunar calendar. This date usually falls between Jan 21st and Feb 19th. This year, it coincides with Valentine’s Day.

Traditionally, celebrations in China begin a few days in advance. Homes are swept, dusted and cleaned. Auspicious verses or Spring Couplets scrolled in black on red paper are hung on walls. Flowers are used to decorate homes. A grand feast is prepared for the Kitchen God who leaves a few days before the start of the New Year to report to heaven on his observations of the family’s behavior. New Year’s meals are prepared a day ahead and all sharp items are put away on New Year’s day as they are believed to hinder or ‘cut’ the coming in of good luck. Members of the family gather for a New Year’s eve feast. Even those not present are remembered. Children offer their respects to elders by bowing to them. The elders give them cash gifts in red envelopes which are considered auspicious. On New Year’s Day, people visit family and friends, exchanging wishes and gifts, dressed in their finest new clothes.

In China, the new year festivities last for a fortnight. There are fireworks, parades and lion dances on streets. The seventh day of the Chinese New Year is considered “Everybody’s Birthday”. This is the day when everyone adds a year to their age, since individual birthdays are not really considered very important in traditional China. The festivities come to an end on the 15th day with the Lantern Festival that involves dragon dances performed by men and people carrying lanterns into the street and joining the parade.

While, this may be how the Chinese New Year is celebrated in parts of China, it’s obvious that not too many of us today can afford a 15-day long break from work or to have a New Year’s party lasting two weeks. So, in America and other places with a considerable Chinese population, a shorter, simpler version of the celebrations can be witnessed. If you have the chance to visit Chinatown in San Francisco or a similar area in any other city, you might still get to see most of the above celebrations. It might just be packaged more appropriately to fit our busy work lifestyles, taking into account practical considerations.

One thing is for sure. It will be a celebration like none other. After all, it’s not everyday that you get to watch colorful lion dances and dragon parades and participate in celebrations that reflect a centuries-old culture.

And no matter where you are and how you celebrate, don’t forget to send your friends and family free Chinese Near Year ecards. They may not be part of Chinese tradition, but they are sure to be loved!

Source:http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/festival/newyear/newyear.html

It’s a great place to start if you’re looking for love!
If you have a shiny new 2010 calendar in front of you, the month of February no doubt looms large at you. The 14th stares back silently. You may not have circled it, but, everyone knows that every time your eyes fall on the calendar, you sort of draw a mental circle around the date. For some of us, it’s a pleasant reminder of the blessings we have in our lives. And an opportunity to do something nice for the ones we love. Be it sending Valentine’s Day ecards, flowers, planning an elaborate date or a romantic getaway. For others seeking passion and adventure, Valentine’s Day holds promise.
But if you’re one of those millions of hopeful people looking for that elusive thing they call love…what does Valentine’s day mean to you? If you still haven’t found the One or feel betrayed by past experiences, you are probably wary of giving it yet another shot. If you find yourself feeling unworthy of love or think that you’re probably not desirable enough – I have one word for you. Stop! Instead of beating yourself up for being alone or not being able to find the right person, think of Valentine’s Day as a chance to get to know yourself better and to do something nice …for YOU!
It doesn’t matter how old you are, or how much success you’ve had with relationships. Before you find that someone who loves you, you have to learn to love yourself. So, if you don’t have a date for Valentine’s Day( and even if you do), why not start with these simple steps to celebrating YOU -
1. Do what makes you happy. Pick a hobby or sport. Indulge. Make time to enjoy it. Invest in yourself. It’s not your looks, career, bank balance or real estate investments that define your worth but the quality of time you spend with yourself and with those around you. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t danced or painted in ages. If it makes you happy, you should make time for it. It’s as simple as that.
2. Travel. Go somewhere you’ve always wanted to. Either by yourself or with a friend. Explore, experience and enjoy. Send your friends free photo ecards from wherever you are. Come back with pictures, memories, a journal and a rejuvenated spirit.
3. Join a class, club or group. A book club, writing group,marathon training session or sculpting class may help take your mind off some of the depressing, negative thoughts and help you realize the wonderful gifts you have.
4. Offer help. Whether you offer to care for your neighbor’s kids as she works her second shift or join a volunteer project in your community or tutor underprivileged kids – using your gifts and time to help someone is one of the surest ways to feel grateful and find a purpose, especially if you’re going through a bad patch in your own life. When you spread love around, you find that you’re surrounded by more of it.
5. Pamper yourself. Whether it’s a long-overdue spa visit, a luxurious massage session, an expensive dress you’ve wanted for months or a vacation you’ve been putting off – why wait until the perfect ‘One’ shows up to treat yourself to something special? Allow yourself the indulgences that you have earned and deserve to enjoy.
There you have it. Five simple ways to treat yourself to a beautiful Valentine’s Day, regardless of where you are in life. Each of these things is guaranteed to do one thing – help you learn more about yourself and appreciate your life. And, that is even better than having someone else say how great you are!

Top 5 Reasons to use Free Birthday Reminders

Here’s a small sampling of what I had to do today: I took my dog for a walk, worked an 8-hour shift at my job, came home and worked out, paid the electric bill, made a deposit at the bank, and cooked dinner.  That’s just a normal Wednesday, and it’s not over yet.  But I’m not telling you anything you don’t go through yourself, on a daily basis.  Our lives, after all, are usually packed from morning to night.

And usually, everything somehow ends up working out okay.  But if you throw a little monkey wrench in there—a birthday, an unexpected car repair to make, visiting a sick relative—your whole day can get thrown hopelessly off course.  Now, I can’t help you fix your car (I can barely fix my own!), and I can’t do anything for your sick relatives other than offer my best wishes, but there is one thing I can help with: making sure you don’t forget birthdays.

Free birthday reminders are a great way to, well, remind yourself of upcoming birthdays.  Here are the top five reasons why you should use birthday reminders to help you keep track of all those birthdays that have a nasty habit of messing up your busy schedule.

5) They’re Free! You could hire your own personal assistant to let you know when a friend or loved one has a birthday coming up.  And while your own personal assistant might be a little more entertaining that birthday reminders, they cost a heck of a lot more.  Birthday reminders, in fact, are absolutely free

4) Birthday Reminders are Incredibly Easy to set up. How many times do you check your e-mail every day?  Let’s say four or five (not counting checking your inbox at work!).  Even if you check your e-mail five times a day, you’re still spending more time doing that than it takes to set up a birthday reminder.  All you have to do is go to the birthday reminders homepage, type in a little bit of information, and boom!  You’re done!  Back to e-mail!

3) They see the Future. Most of us will probably use our birthday reminders just a couple of weeks or maybe a month in advance.  But if little Billy has a birthday today, you can send yourself a reminder for his next birthday today!  That’s right: a day, a week, or a month in advance, you can set up your birthday reminder to send you an e-mail on whichever date you choose!

2) Options Galore! Not only can you schedule birthday reminders for events occurring far off in the future, but there are plenty of other scheduling options available, to make sure the reminder works exactly how you want it to.  You can, for example, set up a reminder to be sent to you on the day of the event, a week before, or even a month ahead of time.  Also, you can set your reminder to do annual notifications, as well.

1) A Simple Part of a Complicated Life. Like I said above, we all have too much going on in our everyday lives to risk forgetting our loved ones’ birthdays.  Free birthday reminders were created simply because of that fact: because we’re so busy, and any small thing to take away a little of the burden goes a long, long way.

So for these reasons—and many more you’ll discover yourself—try out free birthday reminders for the next birthday on your calendar!

Birthday

Birthdays are a great time for celebration, but they can also be quite the hassle, if you don’t happen to be the birthday boy or girl.  There are cakes to bake, parties to plan, and gifts to buy.  Not only that, but if you live too far away from that friend or family member who’s celebrating a birthday, you have to worry about paying postage the cards you mail; and once the card’s actually in the mail, there’s that several day period of nervously hoping that the card actually arrives—and on time.

No one can help you over the stress of baking the perfect birthday cake, but there is an easy solution to those birthday card jitters: free ecards.  Ecards come in all the same great styles you’re used to with store-bought cards, but with a few extra advantages.  The first advantage, of course, is right there in the name: they’re absolutely free—free to pick out, free to personalize, and free to send.  And secondly, ecards eliminate the need to call your friends and relatives to make sure they received your gift, because ecards arrive instantly, through e-mail.

In fact, with just a few easy steps, you won’t only be on your way to sending great birthday ecards, you’ll actually be finished with the whole process!

• • First thing’s first: point your browser to the got-free-ecards birthday cards page, or just click here.
  • This part’s the most fun: now you get to scroll through all the different designs, click on your favorite one to choose it.  You can scroll through your choices one of two ways: by clicking on the arrow to the right of the page, or by using the theme-oriented tabs at the top of the page.  Either way you do it, click on your favorite ecard design.
  • Click on “play” on the next screen, to get a full preview of the card you’ve selected.
  • Once the card has finished its animation, you’ll see an option at the bottom of the screen to personalize it with your own photos, or even your own recorded voice.  If this is the option for you, click the button and follow the easy on-screen directions.
  • We’re almost done!  Now that your card is personalized, scroll down to the bottom of the screen, and fill in the recipient information: along with the birthday boy or girl’s name and e-mail address, you can add your personalized message to accompany the card.
  • The last step is to decide when—and how—you want your card sent.  You can choose to send the card immediately or, using the drop-down box at the bottom of page, pick a day up to a month in advance.  Then, using the buttons to the right, choose whether you want to e-mail your card, or send it by Twitter.

I could go on, but we’re finished!  It’s really that easy to send free birthday ecards to everyone on your list!

Here is the top 10 New Year’s Resolutions. Do let us know yours.

1. Lose Weight

2. Get Fit

3. Manage Debt

4. Save Money

5. Get a Better Job

6. Get Better Education

7. Drink less Alcohol

8. Quit Smoking Now

9. Reduce Stress

10. Take a Trip

Source USA.gov

Eitors Note: Here is a funny exercise ecard you could send out from our collection

2010

Wishing you every happiness this Holiday Season and prosperity in the New Year. Thank you for being  part of our blog. We look forward to continuing our relationship in the coming year.

If you have not sent out your ecards yet here are some links:

1. Free New Year Ecards

2. Free Photo Ecards

3. Free Printable Calendars

Make a fresh start this new year

A very happy new year to you, dear reader.

I know. I’m a week early. But as you will agree, if you’re serious about kicking off a great new year, you shouldn’t wait until January 1^st. Now is the time to start thinking about your goals, analyzing your priorities, assessing your progress and plan for the next year. If you haven’t done so already.

A better, more fulfilling life in the year to come -

What does that mean? Different things to different people.

Be it financial success, better career prospects, a more fulfilling relationship, continuing your formal education or embarking on new projects, the beginning of a year is a wonderful time to start afresh. It’s a time to put the past behind, bury negativity, adopt a great, positive attitude and stride into the new year with hope, conviction and a will to work towards your goals.

If you find yourself uncertain about your resolutions or if the whole process of planning for the next year overwhelms you – I suggest you take it one small step at a time.

1. Spend time with yourself. Sometime during this last week of 2009, go away to your favorite, private hang out. Be it your attic, a lake side bench, the park or your patio, take a notebook, a pen and some coffee along and plan to spend a couple of quiet hours away from all the noise and crowds. Get a babysitter for your kids. Leave worries behind. I prefer to leave my cell phone behind too. Or, at least, turn it off.
2. Enjoy your moment. Let’s face it. Given today’s lifestyle, who really gets some quite time like this to themselves? I don’t. And I’m pretty sure, you don’t either. So, first of all, enjoy the quiet. Make up your mind that you won’t think about anyone else’s problems for the next couple of hours. Relax. Breathe.
3. Relaxation leads to contemplation. When you’re relaxed and your mind is free from stress and worries, you experience a strange thing. You feel free to think about YOU. Indulge your thoughts. Write them down in your notebook.
4. Acknowledge your dreams and thoughts. Do you dream of starting a business, writing a book or finding a new career? Maybe you want to go back to college? Or start a family or travel to an exotic country. Or just find a better job to pay your bills. It doesn’t matter what your dreams are and how many of them you have. Give them some space in your notebook. Writing down your dreams helps you see them in a new light. Maybe you will realize which ones matter to you the most. And which ones you can accomplish more easily and which ones need more effort to be realized.
5. Categorize your dreams and goals based on timeline. Instead of using ‘long term’ and ‘short term’ to define them, determine a more specific time frame. Which goals can you accomplish in a month? (Losing a few pounds, catching up with old buddies, painting a room in your house or reading 5 books, applying to 20 new jobs?) Some goals will obviously take longer – like writing a book, traveling the world, making a million dollars.
6. Break it down. Divide these goals into attainable sub-goals. For example, if you want to write a book, maybe you could allocate 1 hour a day, 3 days a week starting January 1^st. Or commit to finishing one chapter every month. If your goal is to land a lucrative job in 2010, break down your goals so that you get your resume reviewed by professionals, network with head hunters, locate a few suitable open positions, or find companies you want to work for and complete their application process. This way, even large, seemingly unattainable goals become easier to visualize, manage and accomplish. Bit by bit.
7. Consider road blocks. By now, you have decided on a few key goals to accomplish in 2010 and have broken them down into less overwhelming bits. Think about what might still stop you from reaching them. Do you need to learn a new language or get a certification? Do you need to find time to write a chapter every day? This is critical. In order to overcome the odds, you need to foresee at least some of them and prepare yourself accordingly. So, now you know, you need to hire a babysitter or request a friend or relative to watch your kids for a few hours once a week, when you write your novel. Or, you need to take a night course to meet certain criteria to find that new job. Maybe, you have to wake up earlier, spend more hours, cut back on spending, move to a different city or make other types of sacrifices in order to reach your goals. You can’t always anticipate all the hurdles, but make up your mind not to let them stop you.
8. Set up a date with your dreams. Goals are no good if not revisited. Unless you revisit your goals, you won’t know how far you’ve come and how much more you need to do. Before you end your session, set a date and time to come back to your notebook and reassess your strategy. Maybe every 6 weeks. Or 2 months. Maybe each month on your birth date. Whatever you’re comfortable with. Just make sure it’s something you will remember. Put it down in your calendar. Or send yourself an auto-reminder. And on that set day, come back with your notebook and read what you aimed for, what you’ve managed to accomplish and what remains to be done. If you’ve met your goal for that time frame, applaud yourself. If you haven’t, find out what went wrong and work to fix it. There’s nobody watching or judging you. So, be honest with yourself. Don’t beat yourself up if you lag behind. Stay positive. Stay focused and do what you need to do. If you can honestly say to yourself that you’re doing your best, nothing else matters.
9. Pick a partner, if you like. For some people, a little positive push from outside works wonders. If you are one of them, choose a close friend or someone you trust to do this whole exercise with you. So, when you’ve written down your goals, you share it with each other and set a date to meet again in a few weeks. When you meet, you listen to each other, provide encouragement, offer suggestions and support. This way, you help keep each other stay motivated and on track, without being judgmental. Just make sure you pick a person with a positive frame of mind who is as committed to his goals as you are to yours and who is truly supportive of you.

From the gotfreecards team – here’s wishing you good luck with your goals and may you make your dreams come true this year.

As a starter, why not make an open commitment? I invite you to share one of your 2010 goals below in the comments.

I’ll start – One of my goals is to get two of my sites redesigned this year to attract more business. Now it’s your turn.

Why New Year’s Ecards Trump All Others

After the last Christmas present has been opened and the house is quiet again, the countdown to the biggest celebration of the year begins.

New Year’s – The Mother of All Celebrations

If you think that the best of the holiday season is over with Christmas behind you, consider this - many countries in Asia, it’s not Christmas, but New Year’s that is celebrated with gusto. Even though the new year begins at different times of the year for different cultures( Chinese New Year, Hindu new year etc), almost every part of the world holds some form of New Year’s Eve celebrations on Dec 31st. New year’s eve is the occasion that boasts some of the biggest parties of the year in every part of the world.

It’s a New Year …Wherever you live

Take Times Square, for example. Every year tens of thousands of people throng to Manhattan and Times Square to witness the traditional crystal ball drop at midnight. The celebrations at the London Eye on the South Bank in London attract equally large crowds. While Christmas is more about shopping, spending time with family, exchanging gifts, singing carols and attending Mass, New Year’s is an entirely different experience.

Even people who almost never send cards, don’t skip New Year Cards

A key element differentiating New Year’s from other holidays, is the number of greeting cards and ecards people exchange on this occasion. Since, New Year’s is celebrated by people across countries, cultures and religions, it’s natural that this New Year cards are among the most popular category of greeting cards and ecards. Regardless of location, and the influence of political and economic conditions, businesses and individuals exchange New Year’s greeting cards. You send them to your clients and customers. To friends, family and colleagues. To teachers, students and almost anyone you know.

New year’s ecards and greeting cards serve important functions -

In business, sending new year wishes is a great way to build confidence, trust, goodwill, brand image and to stay in your business partners’ and clients’ memories.

Among family members and friends, new year’s cards help forge or strengthen bonds, build bridges and even offer a fresh start to a strained relationship.

Sending free new year’s ecards is one of the easiest ways to stay in touch with people you care about or who are important to you in your professional or personal life. For many people whose resolutions may include getting back in touch with long lost friends and associates, sending a free new year’s ecard is a great starter.

Whatever your reasons – whether you send them every year or have never sent out a new year card before, be it to your best friend or your boss, and no matter where you plan to ring in 2010 – don’t forget that this isn’t just any new year. It’s a new decade! And no matter what else you do, do not miss sending out free new year ecards.

We want to thank you, our READERS, for the support during the year and wish you very Happy Holidays! And if you are still looking for last minute Christmas Cards we have many options listed below:

1. Free Christmas Ecards – instantly Email these animated ecards

2. Free Printable Christmas Cards - Print At home and send it your your loved ones.

3. Free Photo Ecards – Make Ecards with your photos add Christmas Effects

4. Free Printable Christmas Photo Cards – Create 5X5 or 8X4 photo cards right at home

5. Free New Year Ecards – Email New Year Ecards

6. Free New Year Printable Cards

I don’t know about you. But I never really get tired of printed greeting cards.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I think free ecards are fabulous. Especially when they’re so easy to send.

But, even after I’ve sent free ecards, I still like to print out a bunch of photo cards to give to my friends and family when I see them on holidays. There’s just something about a physical greeting card – the smell of paper, the feeling of holding a special wish in my hands, the magic of the hand written note and the uniqueness of adding my family picture to them – that I haven’t yet outgrown.

Thankfully, you don’t have to choose between ecards and printed photo cards this Christmas. You can give your loved ones both – at no cost.

You know that gotfreecards has a large selection of wonderful, animated, free Christmas ecards. But, you probably didn’t know you could also create your own personalized printable Christmas Photo Cards and Photo Ecards.

For what’s Christmas without a picture greeting card or holiday newsletter from your family, eh?

So, go ahead and print out a personalized Christmas photo card today. Simply upload a great picture to one of our existing 5 X 5 greeting card templates and print it out. You can then add a personal note or invite your friends to your Christmas party in your own handwriting. It doesn’t get any warmer or more personal than that.

Or, if you prefer sending an ecard, but with a personal touch, opt for a free photo ecard. You choose a picture to upload, type in your message, select a frame, title, music and effects for your photo ecard.  And we deliver it to your recipient on the date you specify. And that doesn’t get any easier!

Free ecards, photo ecards, personalized printable Christmas cards – whatever you prefer, there are plenty of options. And the best part? You don’t have to settle for one.

Have a wonderful Christmas!