A Little Fun With Photoshop

I think I'm probably the last person in the blog world to figure out just how awesome Photoshop is!!

Here is what I have been up to:

Before

After-Pioneer Woman Seventies Action

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After-Pioneer Woman Bring out Eyes, Boost, and Define Actions

                                                                      
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                                                     After-Pioneer Woman Heartland Action

Before

After-Pioneer Woman Black and White and Burnt Edges Actions

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                                                        After-Pioneer Woman Vintage Action
                                       
                                                                                
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                                                         After-Pioneer Woman Colorized Action

Obviously, I still have a long way to go since I'm using  all pre-programed actions, but a girl has got to start somewhere!!

Check out the Pioneer Woman Photoshop Actions here.

What is your favorite way/action to use Photoshop? Any great tips for the program? Share the wealth!!

Wordless Wednesday-Where is Drake?!?

You might be wondering where the pictures of Drake have been lately.

Well, my wild boy has decided that he does not want to sit still for a single picture. Even my super fast DLSR can't keep up with him.

So here is what Drake has been up to (hope you don't mind not seeing his face) the past few weeks:

Hopefully we can return to regularly scheduled programing full of pictures on the blog soon. Little man just needs to decide to corporate!

A special thanks to A Beautiful Mess, Parenting by Dummies, and 5 Minutes For Mom for hosting WW.

The Story of the Wedding Dress

I had a beautiful wedding dress.

It was strapless and had a lace-up back that made it fit just perfect. The dress was fitted throughout the torso and had a full skirt with a beautiful train. It was a simple dress but had just enough sparkly beads to make it special. I knew from the minute I tried that dress on it was going to be mine.

I wore this dress on one of the happiest days of my life. I laughed and cried in this dress. I danced the night away in this dress. I became a Mrs. in this dress. I never felt more beautiful than I did in this dress. I truly loved it.

I loved it so much that all I have to remember the dress by are pictures and wedding videos.

 You see, this is where my story takes a turn from the norm. Instead of cleaning my wedding dress and packing it up and putting it away in the closet. I went to the UPS store with my dress, a donation form and $40.00 to offset cleaning costs. My mom cried while the UPS worker packed away my dress that was only worn for 12 short hours but held so many memories and told so many stories. 

I am a realistic person. I knew the chances of my future daughter (if I even have one) wearing my dress was slim. I also had no desire to use parts of it as a baptismal gown for any future children. I not the kind of person who keeps things just for the sake of keeping them so I set out looking for an alternative.

I found an organization online called Brides Against Brest Cancer and  immediately knew I had just found a new home for my wedding dress. Brides Against Brest Cancer takes donations of new and used bridal gowns and sells them to raise money for breast cancer research. I could not have been happier knowing that not only was my dress getting a second chance at making another person feel gorgeous, it was all also benefiting a great charity. I knew it was a win for everybody and made my decision to donate the dress very easy.

Who says that a wedding gown can't tell more than one person's story? I'm happy that my dress has more than one chapter, and even though I will never know who had the privilege of wearing something so important to me, my wedding dress and it's story lives on.

If you would like more information about how I decided to donate my dress or how you can donate please email me at sssmomma@gmail.com

Enter my Sucre Lulu Giveaway Here

Momma Giveaways-Sucre Lulu Review/Giveaway

This Giveaway is no CLOSED

Congrats to Comment #5 for winning the giveaway!

Malena said...I'm a follower :)-- Malena

All of my previous giveaways have centered around baby products, but that is all about to change. I have some awesome giveaways coming up that are for YOU- the hard working and much deserving Momma! I'm kicking off my Momma Giveaways in a big way with Sucre Lulu.

When Theresa, the founder and owner of Sucre Lulu, contacted me to do a review of her amazing hair accessories I could not say no (and I DO say no to a lot of reviews these days). When my package arrived a week later it was filled with 5 of the most beautiful and unique hair accessories I have ever seen!

Don't believe me? See for yourself!!

See, I told you they were awesome!!

I honestly LOVE these hair clips. I have super thick hair and they work wonderfully and never fall out. I also love how versatile the clips are. I have used a clip to keep hair out of my face. I have also used them to cover up a boring rubber band and make an ordinary ponytail have a little bit of sass. But my favorite way to wear these clips is to clip it on to a plain headband giving it a whole new look and a big splash of color!

Theresa also makes the cutest custom embroidered onesies, little girls shirts and other accessories. She is one talented lady!! You can stay current on what she is up to by visiting her Blog.

The GIVEAWAY Details

Enter to win a $20.00 Sucre Lulu store credit!

You can earn three entries to the contest by doing one or both of the things listed:
1. Go to Sucre Lulu's website and tell me what you would buy with the store credit
2. Become a follower of Sucre Lulu'a Blog
2. Vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs just click here

(Make sure and leave a separate comment for each item you complete to earn your eligible entries)

The giveaway begins today Sunday, September 26th and ends at 7:00 am CST Sunday, October 3rd. One winner will be picked at random, using Random.org. The winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be picked.

Please Note: I was provided with a selection of hair accessories so I could review the product and promote the giveaway. I was not compensated in any other way. These are my own, honest opinions.

My Ever Changing Reality

Remember a couple weeks ago when I wrote about Ben losing his job unexpectedly here and about how our reality had just changed in a really big way?

Yesterday my reality changed yet again as my husband was offered and accepted a new job after only 3 weeks of job searching. In addition, it is a job he is excited about and fits him perfectly....almost his dream job. To say that our prayers were answered would be an understatement!

In the short time my husband was without a job I learned some very important lessons:

• When the going gets tough you are both surprised by who reaches out to you and surprised by who does not.  Help came from some very unexpected people who we are so grateful for. I was also very surprised by some people close to us who did not reach out. I think many times the reason for that can be they simply do not know what to say or how to help.
• Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and let people help. Even though  we did not loose any income in the process, people wanted to help us out by buying household supplies, paying for meals and treating us to pizza. At first I had a hard time accepting this, but realized that these people WANTED to help. Helping us out made them feel like they were doing something and accepting the gift with gratitude was far more worthwhile than insisting we did not need it. Ben and I will without a doubt be paying this forward someday.
• Life still happens. Just because Ben and I were nervous and anxious about him not having a job life still goes on. We still had to pay bills, make supper, play with Drake and just do the daily grind like before, it just seems a lot harder with a giant storm cloud over your head.
• Babies are truly healing. I don't know how many times Ben and I looked at each other and just thanked God that we had Drake in our life. Drake made us laugh so hard these past couple of weeks we would almost be crying. We really did try and go on like normal for Drake because he knows when we are upset and that causes him to be upset. That little guy really pulled us through.
• Networking is SO important. Ben actually found his job though a lead on Twitter. Most other job leads that he got came from people we know and not from job sites or companies websites. It really is about who you know.

I realize that we are beyond lucky to have only experienced living life  unemployed for as short of a period of time as we did. We also realize that  Ben getting a job so quickly was nothing short of a miracle and nowhere close to most people's reality.

As we found out, your reality can change for the good or bad  in a blink of an eye. I know our reality will continue to change over the years, but for right now, in this little moment of time,  I'm pretty happy with my reality.

We Declare Victory...

...against the awful monster that Drake fought for a whole year.

2 weeks medicine free and happier than ever!!

  I've been waiting a long time to say this and now I finally can...

We won the war against reflux!   

Drake Gives Back-The Donation

On Friday Drake Gives Back really did give back! We packed up all the donations and headed to Blank Children's Hospital to drop everything off.

Check out all that loot!!

 Drake and I with a representative from the hospital dropping off our donations

Here are some things I learned in the process:

1. Ask

People and companies want to help but you have to ask for their help. The worst that is going to happen is that they will say no, but even then you have at least made a contact in the company.

2. Have a specific goal in mind

When I approached the different companies for donations, I knew exactly what I was planning on doing with them and had a pitch all written out and ready to go. Companies feel much more comfortable donating when they know where it going.

3. Give something in return

In my case it was writing up a short piece about each company that donated. I also included links to their Facebook pages, twitter links, and links to products and websites. I was upfront about this from the beginning and think it helped a lot in getting donations.

4. Dream big but set realistic goals

I would have loved to have 300 donations but knew that was not a realistic goal in the the time frame I was working with. I have big dreams that Drake Gives Back will grow into something huge someday but also know that I have to start somewhere. 

I could not have been happier with the outcome of Drake Gives Back. I'm already starting to brainstorm ideas to make Drake Gives Back bigger and better next year. Until then, I hope that Drake and I were able to make some kids very happy with our donations.

 Thank you to all my sponsors and donors! 

Special thanks to my friend Tracy for donating the Puppy Playdough set and Chutes and Ladders Game. The Tonka Trucks are from Drake.

Drake Gives Back-Update #5

We dropped off our donations on Friday, but before I can post about that I need to thank once last sponsor-Discovery Toys!

When Cara from Discovery Toys heard about Drake Gives Back she immediately committed to help. She was kind enough to send both the Playful Letters and the Giant Pegboard Activity Pack. Discovery Toys are extremely high quality and a great addition to Drake Gives Back.

Thanks Cara and Discovery Toys!

Connect with Cara from Discovery Toys here:
 Blog
Facebook
Twitter

A Blast From the Past

As I said yesterday, this week I'm participating in the SITS Back to Blogging event.

Today's prompt was to republish a post that you wish more people would have read.

The post I am choosing to share is a post that is near and dear to my heart. A post that I felt really exposed in writing and a post to this day I'm so happy I published. Pretty much nobody was reading my blog when I first published it so I thought it would be a great post to republish. Enjoy!


I thought a lot about if I wanted to share this story since I have not shared this with many people, but after putting some thought into it, I thought if it could help 1 person it was worth it. So here it goes....

I knew that I wanted to be a mother for as long as I can remember. I love babies, had a perfect childhood and had loving parents who made me want to provide the same for my future children.
When B and I got married in 2005 we knew a baby was something that we both really wanted, but decide to enjoy some time alone to travel and just be "us".

In September 2007 we decided to go ahead and take the plunge and start trying for a baby. As you can guess months went by with nothing happening. I was pretty relaxed about it and had the "it will happen when it is suppose to" attitude.

For couples who are under 35 most doctors will not see you until after you had been trying for a year. When September of 2008 rolled around and there was still no signs of pregnancy, B and I were both ready to take the next step. Unfortunately my insurance did not cover infertility treatment, which can be very expensive. We decided to wait until January 2009 to pursue it any further when I could get covered on B's insurance.

I knew my time was coming, but it was hard to stay positive as it seemed like everywhere I went I was hearing news of people I knew being pregnant or seeing babies around every corner. The one thing that kept me sane in that of that craziness was telling myself "you don't know what these people have been through, they could have faced the same hurdles as you".

We had an appointment scheduled to discuss the infertility on January 6th, 2009. For some strange reason I took a pregnancy test on December 4. I had no reason to believe that I was pregnant, I was not late, I had no symptoms, but I had this feeling that just made me do it. I took a digital test and after about a minute I saw the word PREGNANT. I could not believe my eyes. How could this happen after 16 months of trying and no success?

B was so happy and excited and I will never forget the moment I told him. I was actually surprised my reaction, I was excited but more than that I was scared. I was scared that this was too good to be true, I was scared that it would end in disappointment, I was scared I would have to go through this whole process all over again.

We made out first OB appointment, and ironically enough it was scheduled for January 6th, 2009 the same day I was suppose to be seen by another doctor for infertility. As the days went on I became less scared. Finally, yesterday we were able to hear the heartbeat. I was FINALLY able to totally let go of that scared feelings and just feel pure joy and happiness.

The lessons that I learned from this experience are many. I learned that life does not always work out the way you have it planned. I learned that many things are not in your hands and are dealt with by a higher power. I learned that sometimes the roughest roads can bring you the greatest rewards. I learned to never assume you know what somebody has been going through, because you probably don't. Most importantly I learned that miracles DO happen!

I still get chills every time I read that! My hope by publishing this again is that somebody, somewhere will know they are not alone in their struggle to have a baby. Miracles happen everyday and miracles can happen to you!

Thanks to Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances for sponsoring the Back to Blogging event

My First Ever Blog Post

This week I'm participating in the SITS Back to Blogging event. I'm in need of a blogging jump start after and I thought this would be the perfect  way to kick it off!

This is the first post I ever wrote all the way back in July of 2008:

This is me..Sassy.Silly.Spunky
This is me...I have a great love and appreciation of my family
This is me...My husband is the love of my life and gets me better than anybody else
This is me...My sisters are my best friends and I love hanging out with them
This is me...My mom is always the first person I call with good/bad news
This is me...My dad is my hero
This is me...I have the greatest friends who have been there through thick and thin
This is me...My golden retriever is awesome and always makes me smile
This is me...I have the best childhood memories
This is me... I will always have a special place in my heart for Simpson College
This is me...I will always be a Southern Cal Mustang
This is me...My favorite place on earth is Hilton Head Island
This is me...I can't live without Burt's Bees chapstick
This is me...If I never got to a Laundromat again it will be too soon
This is me...Tim McGraw and Cher will always be #1 in my book
This is me... Jesus is my Lord and Savior
This is me... I could eat Schwaans fish sticks every day
This is me... My birthday is my favorite day of the year
This is me... I love to travel but have never found better people than here in Iowa
This is me... I may live in the city but will always be a small town girl
This is me... I love my job but can't wait for the best job of all...being a mother
This is me... My wedding day was the best day of my life
This is me... I have learned to love to exercise and it is my escape
This is me... There nothing better than sitting on the deck with a cold beer on a hot summer day
This is me...I love a good challenge
This is me... I am competitive especially in board games
This is me...Father of the Bride and Coyote Ugly will always be at the top of my list
This is me... I miss going to school and learning new things I even miss writing papers
This is me... I have big dreams that I believe will come true
This is me... Sassy.Silly.

As I look back on this post, I remember I had an ache in my heart at the time I was writing this. Everything in my life seemed perfect except for the fact that I did not have the one thing I wanted most...a baby. We had been trying to get pregnant unsuccessfully for almost a year at this point and my heart ached for a baby. I'm happy to say that on August 1, 2009 my wish came true when we welcomed our son Drake Donald into the world.

Dreams do come true and I'm so happy to have this post to remind me of that!


Thanks to Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances for sponsoring the Back to Blogging event

I-O-W-A

This is weekend is the Superbowl of college football here in Iowa. It is the Iowa vs. Iowa State game.
We will be proudly wearing our black and gold this weekend as we head to the game and say:

I

O

W

A

To make this even more fun, I have a pair of tickets to the  Maternity, Baby, & Toddler Expo next weekend (in Des Moines) for the first person who tells me what player on the Iowa football team wears #12.

Drake Gives Back-Update #4

You have all heard of LeapFrog, right? They make awesome and educational children's toys and always seem to be on the cutting edge with their products.

Knowing LeapFrog's reputation for excellence and owning a few Leapfrog products of my own, I could not have been more excited when they said they wanted to help with Drake Gives Back!

I was so excited when I opened up the package from LeapFrog and discovered 2 Tag Readers, A Tag Junior Reader and 4 Tag Books!! LeapFrog really stepped up to the plate to make a difference!

Thanks LeapFrop for really making a difference and helping out with Drake Gives Back!

I think I am seeing a Tag Junior in Drake's near future. It would make the perfect Christmas present for our little bookworm!

Check out LeapFrog Here:

Company website
Facebook Twitter

I have one more company to highlight this week and then I'm off to take the donations to the Children's Hospital on Friday.

I could not be happier with the outcome of Drake Gives Back.

Thank you for helping make this a success!

My Reality

You know how sometimes it seems a piece of writing was written just for you?

Like somebody crawled inside your head and saw what you were thinking and then wrote something that seemed to be written just for you?

That happened to me on Tuesday.

I was making my usual blog rounds when I stopped over at Heir to Blair and read this post. I was in a funk that morning about some things in my life and reading what Blair wrote really put things into perspective for me. We tend so often to dwell on what we wish we could have or always want more of something that we aren't really living what our reality is. After reading the post I make a promise to myself that I was going to start embracing and living my reality immediately.

Little did I know that  later that day accepting my reality would take on a whole new meaning.

Tuesday night, while I was feeding Drake dinner, our world as we currently knew it changed in an instant. My husband came home from work and told me that he had been laid off.

LAID OFF

My reality changed all in a matter of seconds.

My reality now is that I'm faced with having to go back to work full-time. My reality now is that we are those people that nobody wants to be. My reality now is what I never thought would happen to us happened.

This is now my reality

But my reality is also having a husband who is working like crazy to find a new job and little boy who still can make us laugh and smile. My reality is knowing I have friends who really care and want to help in any way they can. My reality is knowing our families are here for whatever we need.

I have Ben and Drake and Skinner. I have awesome friends. We have great families. We have prayers that we know will be answered.  We are healthy. We have a house over our head and food on the table. We are truly blessed in every sense of the word.

This is also my reality.

And you know what?

From where I'm sitting, I think my new reality is going to turn out just fine.