Our family had an amazing time in Washington DC this last seven days. You know the kids are loving it when they want to stay for another week, AND they have been in museums every day. I am blown away by how great of a job the Smithsonian has done for parents and kids. Not to mention, Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian. We visited everything from T-Rex to Amelia Earhart to Lincoln-stein. 🙂
Because of that movie, the kids knew EXACTLY where they wanted to go and what they wanted to see. It was awesome. We will definitely be coming back to DC again! Brian and I wanted to give all of you a quick thank you for the support you gave us in DC from tour suggestions to places to eat to places to take the kids to where to stay. All of you local DC people were amazing, and it made our trip that much richer. Thank you!
Our upcoming Minneapolis CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop is AROUND THE CORNER! The weekend is October 3rd and 4th (not this weekend but the NEXT!). Aside from the Running on Empty spot, we have a few spots left and then we will be full. We are so excited! In fact, the women have already started emailing the group 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 Minneapolis, 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 (October 2nd for a possible shindig) night all the way through Sunday night (October 4th)
D. Most importantly, has a PASSION for photography
Nominate her TODAY! Since the workshop is around the corner, we must close nominations Sunday night (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’s 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 Minneapolis! (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, September 27th at 6pm PST. 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 Minneapolis CONFIDENCE WORKSHOP, CLICK HERE!
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Do you live on the West Coast? We are kicking off 2010 with a CONFIDENCE workshop in Seattle! The November Seattle CONFIDENCE Workshop is already sold out, but we have spots for the January Workshop! CLICK HERE to get your spot!!
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 Beyond the Green Box , and our 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, click on the titles of your choice!
Mera!! I have seen these Running On Empty nominations many times and have thought “do I know of someone to nominate?” In the past I haven’t… but now I have just the woman to nominate!!
My friend Teresa! 🙂
Teresa and her husband moved to Spokane from Colorado a few years ago. They had no family or friends here. A little over a year ago they found out SURPRISE!! they were pregnant. Part way through her pregnancy she started experiencing complications which led to an extended bed rest. Bedrest… in a city where you have no family… in the dreary winter. It was really hard for her. Anyway, at around 20 weeks she delivered her baby, who did not survive. 🙁 They have worked so hard to process these events.
During this time, they also had to put down their LOVE, their rescued “special needs” Greyhound dog who was extremely special to them. So loss on top of loss.
Teresa has done a great job of keeping a positive attitude despite what she’s been through. We met last year at the gym and she’s been a HUGE cheerleader to me as I have started my photography business and taken up cycling… which she has totally helped me with. She’s so giving and encouraging.
Then just a few months ago while out on a bike ride with her husband he had an over the handlebars accident and cracked his skull. 🙁 He has been in a lot of pain and in a neckbrace all summer which has put a lot of responsibility on her shoulders in terms of household chores, caregiving, etc.
This sweet couple recently celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary. A few months ago Teresa had participated in a photography contest I had run on my blog (with a P&S camera). For her anniversary her husband bought her a Canon 5d mark ii and a 24-70 lens!!) She has been shooting like crazy. I’ve lent her both your DVD’s which she has loved. 🙂
I was riding with her yesterday. She was telling me how her husband had said to her the other day that her tears come often lately. 🙁 She has had a hard year, Mera. I would LOVE for her to have the opportunity to come and nurture her new passion. To learn from you and be filled with love & care from a group of awesome women.
AND… I’ve debated coming to one of your workshops for over a year. If she is chosen I will COMMIT to come with her if you have an extra spot for me! 🙂 I think it would be fantastic for her! Thanks for you consideration Mera. 🙂
It’s Me Ra’s ‘little Genie’ chiming in: ‘m looking forward to reading more moving stories about amazing women! Please, please make sure you follow directions and include their, or your email address in the text. Nothing more disappointing than to eliminate someone b/c we don’t have contact info or it’s after the deadline. Thank you everyone! genie@fioria.us
P.S. Last names are really helpful too – that way we can’t possibly mix up nominees…well, we could, but there’s LESS possibility! 🙂
Genie, I included it in the little box when I wrote the comment above but didn’t realize you needed it in the text. My name is Michelle Sidles (and I nominated Teresa. My email is sidles@comcast.net
OOps! Thanks for the reminder~!
Genie! ack!! Why am I creating stumbling blocks for myself!? 😉 hahah!!
I, Michelle Sidles (sidles@comcast.net) am nominating Teresa Delano (tdelano@comcast.net).
This is all the contact info you should need for the first nomination above by: michelle s.
I may single-handedly push the comments numbers into the double digits!! 😉 hahahaa!!
My Name is Jacque Frank. My e-mail address is beingfrankphotography@gmail.com
I have been waiting for this contest since you announced you are coming to Minneapolis. I would love to nominate my friend Jenifer Matthews. Jenifer is a mom of 4 children. Jenifer’s oldest son has cerebral palsy. He is a true delight. He has shaped and formed their family in so many ways…they wouldn’t be the same without him. But a child with disabilities does bring so much more responsiblity. This alone warrents a spot in your running on empty contest.
This past year has been perticularly hard. Jenifer and her husband we pregnant with their fourth child. They found out at 20 weeks that they were going to have a boy. They named him Luke. Luke wasn’t growing very fast. Luke struggled to grow. In December Luke was born early and only lived 80 mins here on earth. He then went to live with his heavenly Father. Most of us cannot fathom the pain that Jenifer and her family have gone through. I would love it if Jenifer were to be the winner of the running on empty contest. Jenifer’s blog is http://3here1there.wordpress.com/ You can read her story there.
I feel so silly nominating myself, but I figure I have nothing to lose, right?
I am a “single mom in transition” if that makes any sense to you. I have been raising a 3 year old and a 5 year old (both boys!) on my own. Recently, I met the man of my dreams and in addition to falling in love with me, he has taken on both of my boys. He recently proposed and we are beginning our life together. To start this new life, my two boys and I have moved across the country to be with my fiance. We have moved away from our family and friends, and although of course we are not complaining, there are times it gets tough. As a single mom, I have been used to doing things on my own and it is quite an adjustment for me to share these responsibilities. I am so grateful for such a wonderful man to be willing to take this on, but between us, it is a whole new life we are adjusting to. There are always days when I just need a break…some ‘me’ time. I feel guilty about leaving my fiance with the boys, but he is always encouraging me to do so, and was very excited about the idea of me going to a workshop on my own. He is such a wonderful supportive man to encourage my hobby so much. Unfortunately, with a wedding to pay for, we can’t afford the whole workshop…just the travel and hotel.
I suppose I better tell you a little more about myself. I teach middle school special education for students with severe emotional and behavioral disorders. This includes students with autism, bipolar disorder, severe adhd, oppositional defiance disorder, depression, and many other disorders. While it is a challenging job, I love it and am grateful to be a consistent force in these students’ lives…to be someone they can count on and depend on (no matter how much they try to convince me that I am not their favorite person!). I love having this opportunity to make a difference with the students that are more difficult to teach.
Between my own two children and my 8 students, I could really use a break…some ‘me’ time learning about something I really love, photography.
Thanks for considering me!!!
As a husband I thought I would enter my lovely wife into your contest. She is a huge fan and has recently started a photography business. Here a little why I think she deserves a break. This past year has been extremely hard for her. Her grandmother passed away in August, the woman who raised her until she was ten and it has taken a huge toll on my wife. She works full time as a bookkeeper in a local security business and has recently started attending school to better our family. She started Don’t Blink Photography this year and although she tries hard to make it work and I think she is doing a great job she feels like it isn’t going anywhere. On top of all the stress from her grandmothers passing, juggling school, work, and attempting to start a photography business she is a mother to our 16 month old daughter. If I could give her any type of boost for her to feel she is doing the best she can, it would be to send her to your workshop. I believe that she has the natural to make a good business of this hobby and all i want is for her to succed and what she wants to do in life, she is a great person, wife, mother, and photographer. This may be a shot in the dark but I thought this might make her year and possibly bring her back from all the chaos she has been dealing with. Here is my plea to send Jenessa to workshop and give her back her confidence at being the best person I know she is.
Sincerely
Jeremiah Evans (jbo002@hotmail.com)
jenessa@dontblinkphotography (wife’s email)
I would like to nominate my friend Laura! She is an amazing, energetic woman, who is passionate about her five children, her husband, and photography. Laura amazes me, because even though she is a mom of five (and homeschools all of them) she is always excited about life, offering a helping hand, laughing, making others laugh, and exploding with encouraging words. (I long to possess her positivity and bubbly-ness!) She has only recently picked up photography and she has been growing like a weed in her knowledge and creativity–I have no idea when she finds time to feed her photographic passion!
The only thing about Laura that doesn’t jive with her constant positivity is her view of herself. She tends to waver in the confidence she should possess concerning the beautiful images she creates. So, for her to have this ‘get-a-way’ would be perfect-she’s always nurturing, encouraging, and spreading joy to others–it’s time for her to switch places and be on the receiving end.
I’d like to nominate…myself! Here’s why:
I am infertile. But I will not let it define me anymore. Over the last 35 months, I have seen the lowest of lows and have hung on to hope with all my might. But I am beaten down and tired. It is time to give my spirit a break and focus on the blessings that I do have in my life. Yes, I am infertile – but I am so much more. I am a wife, a mother, a sister and a daughter. I am a loyal friend. I am an avid reader and have an unhealthy obsession for vanilla lattes. I love to laugh and to surround myself with people who make me smile. I also have a passion for photography and am constantly looking at the world as if through a lens.
I feel as though I have been running on empty for quite some time but I’m at the point now where I just know that there is a “gas station” just off on the horizon. My husband and I tried for 18 months to conceive our son – the longest 18 months of my life, or so I thought at the time. We had just gone to see a specialist and were told that we would never be able to conceive naturally when we found out that we were pregnant. Naturally. It was a miracle.
After a rough start to the pregnancy due to severe hyperemesis, I gave birth to a healthy son. He is the absolute light of my life and a boy to his very core. He keeps me extremely busy and allowed me to temporarily forget about the horror of infertility for a good 20 months or so. In fact, I think I had myself convinced that we never really had an infertility problem to begin with – that because we conceived naturally, then those stupid doctors must have been wrong. Turns out, I was just tricking myself, playing games with my own mind because here I am 35 months later and still no baby. Wow, 35 months! And I thought 18 months was long.
After three years of infertility treatments, emotional ups and downs, doctor appointments, blood draws, ultrasounds and having my body pumped full or hormones – I am exhausted and I am done. There is no baby in our future and I am learning to accept that.
There is a quote by Helen Keller that I’m trying to make my new motto:
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.
I am actively working to change the way I view our situation. I am taking deep breaths when I get frustrated and learning to count the blessings that I do have – and there are plenty. I am realizing that I am stronger than infertility and that I will do everything in my power not to be beaten down by it any longer.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved photography. I can look at a photograph forever, feeling the emotion or admiring the composition. Not only do I love looking at photos, I also love to take them myself. Thousands of them, in fact! I’ve always been the girl with the camera, driving every crazy with my constant snapping of pictures and dozens of photo albums. Why I never viewed my love of photography as a career option, I’ll never know. I guess at the time I never thought that something I loved so much was an option to make a living.
Like so many others, once my son was born, my passion for photography grew. My husband bought me my first DSLR camera two years ago and in the last six months or so, I’ve finally gotten out of that darn green box! Now that infertility is not consuming all my energy, I’ve really been focusing on learning as much as I can about photography. I took a local workshop and I was very excited to attend but it turned out to be a terrible experience. It felt as though the instructor was there just to take our money and I really did not get anything out of the experience at all. I was so disappointed.
Shortly after that experience, you announced that you were coming to Minneapolis! I’ve wanted to attend one of your workshops for two years and now here you’re going to be, right in my backyard – how could I not go!? I weighed the decision long and hard but the truth is, I simply cannot justify spending the money right now. We still have so much debt from all of our Infertility treatments, doctor visits, etc.
To have your workshop come to Minneapolis at this turning point of my life seems like fate. You’re even hosting it at the Open Book, which is a place I walk by weekly! It is almost as though it is meant to be, helping me bring my love of photography to the next level. I love photography but when I think about all that I have yet to learn, I feel so overwhelmed! Me Ra, you do such an amazing job of taking the complex and making it understandable. I just know that this workshop would be so beneficial to me, both in the realm of photography skill as well as the spiritual.
Attending that weekend workshop would bring me closer to shedding that infertile role that I’ve grown accustomed to and to finding me again. I eat up every word of what you post on these workshops and would just love to be a part of such an amazing weekend. I know I would walk away feeling renewed, refreshed and ready to take some amazing photographs.
Sincerely,
Angie O’Neill
abohmbach@hotmail.com
I would like to nominate Jenifer Matthews. I see that Jacque has already mentioned the details of some of the things that Jenifer has gone through in the last year. I would so like to see her receive this special pampering. Jenifer is one of those people who always makes you feel special when you spend time with her–no matter what’s going on her life. She has taught me so much about life since I’ve known her. She is one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met and I respect how she never feels sorry for herself, but rather lives with a deep sense of gratitude for what she has.