Photo Contests!

Give Her an Unexpected Gift Today and Nominate Her for the Seattle CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop!

Me Ra Koh

After reading your heartfelt comments and emails from yesterday’s post, I can’t think of a better time to start our Running On Empty Contest for the November Seattle CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop.

CONFIDENCE is happening on the weekend of November 14th and 15th (not this weekend but the NEXT!). The November CONFIDENCE Workshop sold out in less than 24 hrs of being released online. But we have one spot reserved for a special woman. Will you help us find this special woman? (Are you new to this contest? If so, read below the photo.)

The November CONFIDENCE women have already started emailing each other their stories, why they are coming, what they hope to get out of the weekend, their fears, insecurities and enthusiasm. Brian and I are moved every time we hold these workshops. Whether these women live in Washington DC, Chicago, San Diego, Seattle or Minneapolis, they are excited and ready to take their creativity and photography skills to the next level. (Yes, they are nervous before the workshop, but they never let that nervousness stand in their way. And their courage brings beautiful results.)

Do you know a mom who needs this kind of group and weekend getaway? Do you know a mom Running on Empty? If so, nominate her today. Let’s turn her day around and let her know we are routing for her!

If you know a MOM who is;

A. Running on Empty

B. Lives near Seattle/Tacoma, or has mileage to spend, or lives by the seat of her pants and would book a plane ticket last minute

C. Can arrange for a sitter and get the weekend free, starting Friday (November 13th for a shindig at our home) night all the way through Sunday night (November 15th) (please double check this factor, so if she wins she can really come :))

D. Most importantly, has a PASSION for photography

Nominate her TODAY! Since the workshop is around the corner, we must close nominations Sundaynight (this Sunday night at 6pm PST).

We will announce the winner by Tuesday next week so she has a little time to get things ready for the workshop. So make sure your nominations are all in by Sunday at 6pm PST.

*If you are not familiar with this contest, read below and see what it’s all about! Moms are one of the most beautiful parts of creation. This contest is all about acknowledging their beauty, even when they are Running on Empty.

Here is how it works!

In honor of how wonderful moms are and all that they do and give, Brian and I keep one spot reserved in every workshop for a special mom like YOU! That’s right, you (or she) will get a free pass to the upcoming CONFIDENCE Workshop in Seattle! (Please note, we don’t provide room/board and travel.)

To nominate a mom, you must post a comment telling us about the mom who you think deserves a big break in life! If you are a mom, you’re probably laughing because we ALL deserve a serious break. But the moms we’re looking for are the ones who have had a ridiculous amount of stress in their life whether from trauma or things just not going her way this year. She is a mom in your life that needs a serious blessing to come her way. She needs a serious surprise that gives her empty tank some fuel. If she is a woman that has miscarried, she is still a mom in my mind b/c I know her heart became a mother’s heart the moment she found out she was pregnant. Don’t hesitate to nominate her too.

I’m proud to say that our previous winners stepped out on a limb and nominated themselves. Take courage in them and feel free to nominate yourself if you know you need a serious break. Who knows, you may have your house remodeled by Oprah!

We’ll collect all the nominees, have a committee of wonderful moms vote, and then announce the winner next week!

Nominate her today and turn her day around! Oh, wait! Don’t forget to let her know you’ve nominated her too! If I was a mom nominated I’d love to know my friends were thinking of me whether I won or not! Deadline for ALL nominations is Sunday, November 8th at 6pm PST.

PLEASE NOTE:

Nominations must be posted as a comment on this blog post. Either your email or the nominees email MUST be included to qualify. Nominations emailed or posted on other blog posts may be overlooked. Please post all nominees here. Thanks!

For more details about the Seattle CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop, CLICK HERE!

p.s. Tune in tomorrow for a special feature with Edward Cullen. 🙂

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TWO NEW Photo Contests, TWO WAYS to WIN! Deadline is December 1st! To enter and WIN, read the details HERE!

Our Refuse to Say Cheese DVD series are now AWARD WINNING! Read the press release HERE ! If you haven’t ordered your own copy yet, check out our popular Instructional DVDs Refuse to Say Cheese and , and our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, click on the titles of your choice!

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  1. denise karis says:

    ooooh – these comments have to be my favorite to read thru – the stories are always SO inspiring and knowing and reading that there are other moms out there pulling thru small or huge struggles and still staying strong for their family… totally a huge reason the mera community is so so so special

  2. Cathy says:

    Can dads running on empty be nominated too? 🙂

  3. LobotoME says:

    Is it weird to nominate someone i’ve never met in person? Well, I’ll do it anyway. She is a mom of 3 kids and budding photographer from Seattle. She recently left her corporate job with good pay to be home more with the kids and figure out who she is and who she wants to be. And to rest. To learn how to slow down. She takes lovely photos (daily) on her blog of everyday moments – a candle lit in the middle of a hurried, busy day as a reminder to slow down; a healthy dinner that her daughter helped her make; the piles of laundry that she ignored so she could be present with her kids when they got home from soccer practice. She reminds us all on a daily basis (herself included) to slow down, to savor the everyday moments.
    I recently sent her a link to your blog Me Ra and she wrote right back saying how inspired she was and how she hoped someday in the future to have enough resources in order to attend one of your workshops. With her being at home now, I know that isn’t in the cards for them financially.
    She doesn’t have some huge life struggle (that I know about at least) – just the daily struggles of being a working mom and the challenges of finding everyday peace amidst a crazy world. I know we can all relate to that.
    Her name is Denise MacArthur and her blog is: http://dmoms.blogspot.com/ {this is my life}

    xo, jenny

  4. michelle s. says:

    I have someone to nominate but due to dates I’m going to wait to nominate for the Jan.2010 workshop! Good luck to all the nominees this time around! 🙂

  5. Linnea says:

    I have a nomination for a dear friend of mine.

    Sometimes the best blessings in life come with not only joy but with stress and heartache as well. Allison has been through a lot this last year, especially emotionally. Late November of last year, Allison and her husband took in two children, 6 weeks and 13 months old, siblings, to foster and care for with the hopes of adopting. It has been a roller coaster emotionally dealing with the court system and the inconsistencies of the biological parents drug use, not holding a job, missing visitations, having hope they will be able to adopt the children and then seeing signs they may not adopt the kids. All the while her husband changed positions at his job as well as opened up a local business.

    A year later the status of the where the children will end up is still up in there. I love these kids as if they were my own, so I can only imagine how she must be feeling.

    Allison does so much for other people. (She is currently housing a 20 year old girl who doesn’t have a place a stay.) She is one of those women that does it without complaining either. I look up to her in so many ways and I want to give something to her. I want her to be able to spend a whole weekend doing something she loves. I know she’ll have to go back to life Monday after the workshop, but for her to be able to escape for just a bit would mean more to her than I think she would ever ask for.

    Thanks for reading this and considering Allison.

  6. Kari says:

    I would like to nominate my dearest and oldest friend for Running On Empty.
    Christiana is honestly one of the most giving, most God-like women I know. She seems to never stop looking out for those around her and is truly the heart of her family and our neighborhood.

    Christiana donates her time to everyone she meets. She involves herself in a local “Trading Graces” project and helps to makeover a local family’s home. She donates her photography talent to the Make a Wish foundation. She makes meals for anyone sick or with a new baby. She lets people borrow her car when they don’t have one. She watches other people’s children so that a single mom can get to work on time or an overworked mom can have a break. She runs birthday parties, is the art docent at the elementary school, and recently hosted a dinner party for 14 to celebrate a beloved friends birthday (she cooked the whole meal and set the table like Martha Steward!) She is always there when someone needs an empathic ear. Recently, I had a baby, making 5 kids in he family! She not only made us meals, shuffled the older kids back and forth for me while I tended to the baby, but she came and got the baby every morning for several weeks and watched her so I could shower, rest, and be myself. I think she is everyone’s “emergency contact” in the neighborhood. Seriously.

    She literally gives endlessly! And she does this all with almost no complaints, a sassy sense of humor, humility and grace. Her nickname is “Sugar” because that is what she is to all of us! She is one of the best examples of Christian service I have ever seen.

    Christiana doesn’t face tragedy, but I think she is still deserving of this honor. She has recently returned from living in Dublin, Ireland. As a mother of two, she had to re-acclimate her family back to the American way of doing things. Here in America we tend to go, go, go and after two years of the slower, more organic living in Dublin, the return home has been a whirlwind of stress, commitment, and tension, leaving her empty and tired. Christiana had to provide re-entry for her two girls in to the American school system. Both girls struggle in school and she is a constant advocate for their needs – having to wrestle against a public school system that is unsympathetic to the individual needs of her girls and who negate the things that motivate her children (like the arts!) She also has to find her way back into the never-ending demands of soccer, band, homework, swim team, etc that comes with our American way of life. I can tell that she longs for that slower pace, that “real-ness” that we Americans tend to forget about.

    Christiana is never without her camera – snapping photos of her own kids and everyone else’s. Christiana had so many ways she could have chosen to express herself artistically, but she picked photography because she is passionate about it. She has recently started her own photography business and is wrestling with all that new-photography-business stuff – finding her confidence, her place, and knowing this is “where she should be”. As a former running-on-empty workshop attendee myself, I wish nothing more for her than to experience one of your workshops and fill the amazing shot of worth, artistic inspiration, and lifelong memories that come from a Me Ra Koh workshop. Really, I can think of no one more deserving than this amazing, beautiful, giving woman. She really needs something to fill HER up instead of always emptying herself into others.

    Please consider her for the Running on Empty spot. Here is her website and blog: http://www.christianachilders.com/

  7. Erin McCoy says:

    I have a nomination for a fantastic friend of mine, Natalie Teabo. You can check out her wonderful photos already at rubylovephotography.blogspot.com

    she’s a super great, super busy mom of five, although right now only three are with them because they are waiting for the date when they can go pick up their new son and daughter from ghana! She’s been into photography and is now starting a photography business to help with the financial aspects of the adoption process. I know she would love for the opportunity to take a weekend and come learn about photography!

    Thanks for reading this and considering Natalie Teabo! (snapsfornatalie@yahoo.com and her blog is http://www.theteabotribe.blogspot.com) or my email is erinm0310@gmail.com

  8. Natalie says:

    I am going out on a limb here and nominating myself. I feel bashful about doing this. However I have nothing to loose except an amazing weekend finding confidence!!
    I giggle when I see the topic running on empty. I find myself there so often. I am on a different path of life that I ever imagined. Three years ago I birthed my third son Hudson Sawyer he was a tender soul and the sweetest thing you ever have seen. Hudson came into the world with many challenges and our lives had change drastically. We spent three months watching him fight for life, surgery after surgery of praying hard for healing and preparation for a child that would need care for probably his whole life. Hudson died in our arms at Seattle Children’s, he never made it home to his own crib. We held him and he past away right there in my arms, something that I would not wish on my worst enemy. Heartache and suffering that I have never felt I didn’t know a heart could hurt,literally hurt!
    Our dream of having more kids did not die with Hudson however my husband and I were freaked out of having another child die and so we began praying about option number 2 adoption. Amazingly a year later almost to date a sweet little girl was placed in our arms in Ethiopia she became a healing for us (nothing can replace Hudson)but a new vision was given to us. If we have lost a child, perhaps we can be the answer to moms praying that God would help them keep theirs alive. We are now waiting on two more kids from Ghana, West Africa. I picked up a friends camera while working in South Africa at an HIV home this past December and I fell in love! I have found life through the lens. My hubby bought me a Nikon D90 for mothers day and I decided If I love it this much I should begin to take picture for profit or atleast to help with our adoption expense. A friend introduced me to your blog and I saw your weekend, however with our adoption cost I knew I can never go. Then today like a beam of light your post about winning a spot. As silly as I feel nominating myself. I would be tickled and honored to join you. I just thought I would give it a try!

  9. DeAnn says:

    I would like to nominate Natalie Teabo, too. She’s a busy mom with 3 kids (soon to be 5), loves photography and has a heart of gold!
    Judging from her creative ideas for her family (Teabo Tribe Tuesdays that she comes up with look like a blast), I think she has the potential to be a truly amazing and creative photographer.
    I hope you pick Natalie to come to your conference to learn more about photography. I’m sure if you had the opportunity to meet Natalie you would thrilled to know her!
    Her blog is: http://www.theteabotribe.blogspot.com
    Email: snapsfornatalie@yahoo.com
    My email is: cdoneill at comcast dot net

  10. Jennifer says:

    Hello! I would like to nominate Natalie Teabo for your conference attending. She is a passionate adopting mom with tons of great opportunties for wonderful photo taking! Jennifer

  11. Sharlene Payne says:

    Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter. ~Ansel Adam

    These words articulate a great photographer, Natalie Teabo. I would like to nominate Natalie Teabo for the Seattle CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop. She has amazing potential and has an eye to capture the moment, and a heart to allow that moment to live forever through her images. Natalie’s passion behind the camera comes from deep within, her passion and love for not only her work but her family as well. Natalie Teabo is a wonderful woman of God, inside and out, and it would be an honor and a privilege to attend the Seattle CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop.

  12. Sharlene Payne says:

    Oops! Teehee!! You can find her photography at:
    http://rubylovephotography.blogspot.com/

  13. Dena Rutledge says:

    I too nominate Natalie Teabo for the reasons already shared and also because you will be glad to have her company for a weekend. She brings the sunshine on a grey day.

  14. Nicki Smith says:

    It seems as though this might just be meant to be. My good friend, Valerie, has recently moved to the Seattle area and I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this gift. I met Valerie last year when she emailed me about doing her maternity photos. When I met her and Derek, I just fell in love with them. They are two of the sweetest, funniest, and most genuine people you will ever meet. Valerie would come over and let me ‘practice’ on little Tyler whenever I wanted to try something new. She has become one of my biggest encouragers and cheerleaders. A true friendship has developed and I feel so blessed that my love of photography brought her into my life. She is definitely a keeper. As our friendship has grown, I see her passion for photography growing along with it. When I upgraded cameras, she was the first one I thought of. I emailed her and asked if she would be interested in my old camera and she snatched it right up. Watching her skills develop over the past few months has been so amazing for me.
    In addition to being a budding photographer, Valerie is an amazing wife and mother. She has moved 4 times and supported her husband as he has strived for his dreams of becoming an officer in the military. Now that he has achieved his dream, it would be wonderful for Valerie to reach for her own dreams. She has been focusing lately on seeking God’s will for her life. Should she go back to college, focus on her singing and become a music teacher, or should she pursue her passion she has for photography? These are all questions she has been mulling over and praying about. Perhaps God will use this workshop to speak to her about the path she should take. After attending the Chicago workshop last November, I know that it is so much more than a workshop about photography. I discovered so much about myself during those 2 days and I would love Valerie to have this opportunity, too.
    Thank you for considering Valerie for this life-changing opportunity

  15. Allison Cordrey says:

    I would like to nominate Sara Kelly. She’s been “running on empty” for about a year. She has had one family crisis after another. After each one I think “well it can’t get much worse” and then it does. Sara has demonstrated personal strength I didn’t know she had. I think I told her once that she is now the most grown up friend I have. Usually humor can soothe issues and struggles, however, over the last year it’s been hard for me to use that tactic to make her feel better. Some things you just can’t joke about.

    One thing above all has kept her focused on looking toward the future when times seem particularly difficult: her son Calum. A tiny little person with only 3 years life experience can get her to laugh even at her most trying times even when her friend of 15 years can’t. Somehow I don’t mind being upstaged by him because I must admit he’s pretty darn funny.

    Recently through a mom’s photography group she has found a second passion to inspire her: photography. Her pictures are great. I admit I’m not an art critic but I think she’s got a great eye. She wants to learn more and do more. I haven’t seen her so excited since Calum was born. I also think that her newly found strength has given her a different perspective that will benefit her photography. I sincerely hope you fill up her empty tank with the chance to attend the Confidence workshop.

  16. Stephanie says:

    Dear Me Ra,
    There is a park in my hometown that is right along the Detroit River. Fishermen line the railing in the summer and the dinner cruise boats dock there now and then. But each time I take my boys to this park that is not what I think of. I look at this railing, run my hand along it and remember that I use to be fearless.

    I remember walking along the top of that railing five feet off the ground without a care in the world. Did I care about the cold dirty river to my side? Not then. I would leap into anything with only the slightest notion that it would work out fine. I wasn’t concerned about what people would think or say. I just went. And it took me places.

    Somewhere since then, I lost that fearlessness. I lost that confidence to take chances. Even thought I know the best things in life usually come from chances (mine are two, four, and thirty).

    The one reason I am grateful for this path is that it lead me to photography. I’ve loved documenting my children’s lives and the lives of my friends’ children. I love the little boost of confidence I get when people compliment my photos. But photography is also my crutch. At parties and play dates when I just don’t feel like I fit in, I step back, pull out my camera and feel calm again. I’m tired of that feeling.

    If I am going to put up my camera, I want it to be on purpose and not to avoid people. I want it to be because I want to capture that moment. I want to feel confident that I am going to get that perfect shot I see in my head.

    This past year I feel I’ve made so much progress in finding myself again. I’ve gone back to school for graphic design. I was laid off but found happiness being home with my boys. I devoted time to finding my passions. Yet I still feel like I am not quite there. I’m holding back not using all my potential. If I would just let go and leap…

    So that is why once again I am nominating myself and outing myself as a Running on Empty mom. I would love to spend a weekend nurturing my creative side with wonderful people who share the same need.

    Thank you so much for these contests and sharing with us! I hope I have the chance to join you for this workshop.

  17. Jennifer says:

    Hi, my name is Jennifer and I would like to nominate one of my best friends, Natalie Teabo, to win your contest. She’s a passionate, hilarious, deeply caring and creative mom of three. Two natural boys, one supernatural(adopted)girl and soon to be mom of two more supernatural kiddos coming in the spring from Ghana!

    Natalie and I have often joked that when we grew up we would want to be photographers. This past New Years she put it on her bucket list and her wonderful husband bought her an amazing camera for Mother’s Day. She hasn’t stopped snapping pictures since! I have many beautiful and creative photos of my children now and I can see her passion and talent growing.

    This class would be a wonderful weekend away learing about her passion and would be a great break from the chaos and worries that we call the adoption process. It would be such an incredible opportunity for her to learn more about photography before she travels to Africa again. The pictures that she will be taking won’t be just for practice and fun, they will forever be, for her new son and daughter, a remembrance of the home where they were born and once knew. It will keep the memories alive for them, and that is one of the most important things she could give to her adopted children. Idenity and memories:O)

    I believe that Natalie is so deserving of this and I hope that you will consider her for your class. Thank you so much for this opportunity to nominate my friend!!

    Sincererly,
    Jennifer Heckert

    Her blog addresses are: http://www.theteabotribe.blogspot.com and
    http://rubylovephotography.blogspot.com/

  18. Jennifer says:

    Hi, I just nominated Natalie Teabo and I gave you her blog addresses, but I failed to give you her email address.
    It is: teabo5@comcast.net
    and mine is: wjheckert@hotmail.com

    Sorry about that!

    Thanks,
    Jennifer Heckert

  19. Me Ra,
    I posted previously to nominate myself, but wanted to add something. I have noticed that you have Soulumination on your site. Lynette Johnson took photos of my angel baby I am a soul mom. Thank you for sharing her site here. My hopes is that if I do get choosen (fingers crossed:) that I can give back to soulumination and take photos for families. We treasure these photos with our whole heart!
    Hugs,
    Nat

  20. Jennifer says:

    Hi, my name is Jennifer and I would like to nominate one of my best friends, Natalie Teabo, to win your contest. She’s a passionate, hilarious, deeply caring and creative mom of three. Two natural boys, one supernatural(adopted)girl and soon to be mom of two more supernatural kiddos coming in the spring from Ghana!
    Natalie and I have often joked that when we grew up we would want to be photographers. This past New Years she put it on her bucket list and her wonderful husband bought her an amazing camera for Mother’s Day. She hasn’t stopped snapping pictures since! I have many beautiful and creative photos of my children now and I can see her passion and talent growing.
    This class would be a wonderful weekend away learing about her passion and would be a great break from the chaos and worries that we call the adoption process. It would be such an incredible opportunity for her to learn more about photography before she travels to Africa again. The pictures that she will be taking won’t be just for practice and fun, they will forever be, for her new son and daughter, a remembrance of the home where they were born and once knew. It will keep the memories alive for them, and that is one of the most important things she could give to her adopted children. Idenity and memories:O)
    I believe that Natalie is so deserving of this and I hope that you will consider her for your class. Thank you so much for this opportunity to nominate my friend!!
    Sincererly,
    Jennifer Heckert

    Natalies address is: teabo5@comcast.net
    and mine is: wjheckert@hotmail.com

  21. Natalia says:

    Hello Me Ra,

    I think most of us are running on empty for a while before we realize it. I’m not running as well as I used to. I worked full time, and juggled the busy schedule of three kids until I got laid off just over a year ago. That was a confidence-killer. Unfortunately my husband was laid off just two months later. He started his own business a couple of months later and now he travels out of state every week (yes, he’s running on empty as well). So right now I’m staying home with our 15, 12 and 3 year old. It is time I cherish everyday. But I want to be able to take whatever opportunity I can to start to find myself again and redefine that person, and in doing so I find myself drawn to my camera over and over again.

    I have always been a story teller. In my former life it was through words and video. Now I want to take my passion for stills and tell other compelling stories through my photography. I have always been the one behind the lens and I’m positive your workshop would be my tipping point as I head out into something that is new and exciting and frankly, terrifying.
    Thank you for reading.

  22. Chelsea Pickslay says:

    There are so many wonderful and inspiring stories posted here that I feel a bit silly nominating myself. I don’t have any terrible traumas or hardships in my life right now, but my soul feels empty and drained. I am just a mom struggling to find my own happiness. I get so much joy from my children and their accomplishments and curiousity about the world. But I struggle to find my own joy…my own talents that are rewarding and joyful to me.

    Taking photos of my family and documenting these precious years in beautiful photographs makes me happy and connects me to my grandfather and father and their love of photography.

    I have 2 beautiful children: my son who was a Pottery Barn baby of the month with a photo that I took of him (I am very proud of this!) and my lovely, passionate daughter. I worry that I am not being the best parent I can be…I want to show them how to live with passion, even as an adult with bills and responsibilities, but I fear I am not setting a good example.

    Photography and the arts have always brought me joy and it is my sincerest hope that by learning how to be a better photographer and storyteller for my family, that I can fulfill an emptiness in myself and to better for my children. Like many, many moms, I give all my best efforts to my children and feel that now I am needing something for me.

    A weekend in Seattle bonding with a supportive and compassionate group of other women while learning a new skill would be a step in the right direction for me. I hope you will consider me for the workshop grant. Thank you.

  23. Sara K says:

    I have been struggling with whether or not to nominate myself for the running on empty spot all week. Here we are down to the wire and even as I type this I am still not sure I will hit submit. There is no doubt that this is a perfect description of my life lately, but for reasons that it is not easy to share. I have always wanted a family and when my husband and I had our son the joy I felt was more than I could have ever imagined. Sometime in his first or second year things started to go wrong. My husband who is a doting and attentive father began to suffer from anxiety, panic attacks and uncontrollable depression. I was still in the throws of sleep deprivation that goes along with young kids and being a first time parent and full time working mom I almost didn’t notice what was happening at first. Things continued to get worse and medications weren’t helping until I came home one night and called to my husband and got no response. I found him lying on the bathroom floor, barely conscious with empty pill bottles scattered around him. My world was collapsing and this was just the beginning. He was admitted to the hospital and a treatment program for what they called dual diagnosis, for people with a combination of substance abuse and mental illness. The first time I got to visit him he told me they said the recovery rate of patients like him was 7%. 7% has stuck in my brain ever since. I was determined that he would be in that 7%. I was not going to let my son grow up without a father, as my husband had. This is the part where I started to get tired. I began to spend all my energy trying to control an uncontrollable situation. I was holding on so tight to my family, hoping that if I could just be the strong one and do everything and be there for my son, while my husband got better we would be ok. The problem was I had lost my husband, my support, my encouragement and there was no one there when I needed help. I was constantly worried about the effect all of this was having on our son and I tried to shelter him as best I could, at times I thought I might literally break from the stress. About a year ago things started to look up. My husband was offered a job, a job that he really wanted and I knew he would excel at, it seemed like the perfect thing for him. The only problem was it was in Seattle (we were currently living in San Diego). I wanted to save my family, so I took a leap of faith and quit a job that I loved and followed my husband to Seattle, hoping that I would find something and maybe it would be a fresh start for us. I did find a new job and again it seemed like maybe finally things were going to start going our way, but mental illness and addiction have plagued us here just as they did there and I have since realized there are no quick fixes, but I have not given up. There was something good that came from the move, I joined a mom’s photography group. We meet once a month and it was the first time that I had done something entirely for myself since all this began. Just like many others have said, photography saved me. I have found something I can control to put my energy into and it makes me genuinely happy. I know that all the mom’s that have been nominated are deserving of this break, and I just want to thank you for giving me the chance and maybe the motivation to get this out of my head.

  24. Sharon says:

    Is it to late to nominate someone! Man! Don’t you hate when life gets in the way!!
    If it’s not too late I want to nominate my friend Bri. I wish I was a better writer. I wanted Jeramy to help me write this because I know my words won’t describe her well enough… I’ll give it a try. When I think about Bri, I think, “Small and mighty!” She Is a young single mother of 5! Yes! F-I-V-E! All under 7! And she is only 27! (Oops.. Bri should I have left that part out? ;-)) Yes… she has a set of twins! 😉
    I so wish I had Jeramy’s gift with words, but heres what I know…
    I know Bri needs this workshop! She is a gifted, talented artistic woman who needs to let that out! Ever since I first met Bri I knew that she had a gift! I remember when she got her Cannon! The look on her face was amazingly beautiful! The joy she found in capturing the lives of her children and friends was infectious!
    I didn’t say enough… I just scratched the surface. Bri has been running on empty for far too long. She brings so much life and joy to everyone in her life. She is an inspiration to so many. Not only would Bri get so much out of this workshop experience she’d bring so much too!

  25. Myrna Whitehead says:

    Natalie Whitehead is my nominee. She was born in St Croix US Virgin Islands,her grandmother was her heroe, she was a Pastor, and her best friend. Natalie graduated, and at the age of 17, she wanted to join Youth with a mission(YWAM). Natalie raised funds on her own without much help from her family. She traveled to Colorado, then to Japan, she left home and never came back. Na talie got married and had 3 beautiful boys, Josiah, Aidan,& Hudson. When Natalie was on her 5th month, she was told that little Hudson was going to be a very sick baby, and if he was to be born, life for the family will never be the same. The baby will be needing 24/7 full care, and she was given the option of an abortion, but Natalie being the fighter that she is, she decided that she will never play God. Hudson was born, and was only able to be embraced by mommy for 5 months. Being able to have more of her own children, she and her spouse decided to open their homes to children that were not as lucky as Hudson to enjoy even if for a short time being embraced by their mom and dad. Nat, and her husband has opened their homes to the adoption of 3 beautiful babies from Ethiopia

  26. Myrna Whitehead says:

    Natalie is a great mom, wife,a great friend and a great daughter
    I hope that she is given the opportunity to be able to enjoy your workshop.
    Good luck Natalie!

    Love

  27. frank says:

    This is my wife’s love and passion,and would be very happy to spend the weekend with you. Please help make her dream come true.

  28. […] have a winner to announce! As many of you know, we ask a handful of women to be the judges for our Running on Empty contest. A number of these women are also former winners. We enlist their help because there is no way […]

  29. Thank you for your provided information.