Great Causes We Love

Things have gone rather off track around here at the moment.  What should have been happy news of expecting a new baby in May has lead to some serious health concerns and partial bed-rest orders.  To make up for the lost time this is creating, I have been doing some work promoting local and national charities and great causes dear to my heart.  Today I'll be sharing those here before heading out to catch some photos of my little boy on his way to do his first real Trick-or-Treat.


EXTRA LIFE

Video game lovers around the country will be donating their time, energy, love, and dignity this weekend in a 25 hour marathon gaming event known as Extra Life.  A dear friend and former co-worker of mine is doing her part yet again and can be followed here as she sells her soul to the gamer gods to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

My husband and I are avid gamers with a deep love of zombies and Skyrim, so this is a cause we can both get behind and open-hearted nerds who have seen the wonderful and terrifying side of children's hospitals.  Please take a moment to consider donating to this cause and show the world what a little love and an X-Box can do when used the right way!

NILMDTS

More years ago than I care to think of, I was introduced to the program Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS) when a friend lost her baby in an unexpected twist of fate at the end of a healthy pregnancy.  The love in those images helped their family begin to heal by having a way to say goodbye.  These photographers are such loving and kind people who donate their time and work to grieving parents having to say goodbye just as they whisper hello.

As I mentioned, I am facing a difficult and high risk pregnancy at the moment.  Perhaps it is knowing that there is such a fragile balance with a new life that makes this all the more dear to my heart today.  Please take the time to see what an amazing gift these people do.  Someday I hope to join them in their work to bring a little less hurt to a time no family should be forced to face.

And now, I have a cuddly little race car driver (we are big BBC America fans and TopGear is always popular in our house) waiting to go collect some goodies.  Good night and Happy Halloween to you all!

2013 Return to my Roots

ONE MONTH

I can hardly believe we've been out of our condo a full month.  It has driven me crazy at times, trying to adjust to our new location, but I believe things are finally back to normal.

With people around seeing the reality of hard times on their budget, weddings have been fewer and my work has shifted to more artistic images again.  I am back to working through the changes on the site, contacting brides for 2014, and enjoying planning events with a few friends.  

Saturday was a return to working my second family business, one begun in 2003 by my mother and grandmother and the place that I first learned what it takes to endure through a labor of love and get a small business off the ground.  So often, I see those who have risen out of the start-up phase looking down on others, and it makes me sad.  Take time to go back to your roots and refocus.  You might just quell that ego long enough to learn something grand from somebody quite small.