Kodak Digital Camera & Wireless Digital Photo Frame Giveaway Winners!
June 30, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 3 Comments
Thanks to everyone who entered last week’s giveaway sponsored by Kodak.
Giveaway Prizes
Kodak awarded two lucky winners from this site the following prizes: a Kodak digital camera (click here to see specs) or a Kodak wireless digital photo frame (click here to see specs).
Check out giveaway prize specs here.
Winners
These lucky winners were randomly selected and won, including:
- Kodak Digital Camera—Erica Mueller (@ericamueller)
- Kodak Wireless Digital Photo Frame—Kate Simpson (@momtrend)
Character Building Opportunities—How to Mom It Forward During Trying Times
June 30, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 7 Comments
Babywearing father, doing yardwork with son.
I am going to admit something to you that my husband wishes I’d stay quiet about. I’m sharing, because I firmly believe that community makes us stronger. I also believe that holding everything inside makes us shrivel up. And, that by opening ourselves up to love, support, and kindness and perhaps even humiliation, fear, and ridicule, we find the greatest joy and strength. Why? How? Because we learn that we are all part of a very human experience and that we are not alone in this journey of life. I have found that when I’ve shared, I have become stronger in my convictions, gained more self esteem, and ultimately gained greater compassion, resulting in a greater ability to Mom It Forward.
What’s my secret? Nothing that really should have been so secretive to begin with. Nothing that is worse than what most people go through on a daily basis. After all, there is a lot of suffering going on out there. If you read my post from last Thursday, you’ll know that I am tuned in to that. That said, we all struggle in our own ways. So, what may seem insignificant to some, is very significant to others. And, because it seems that trials are custom made for each one of us, each of our struggles, however seemingly small, are large indeed… even something as small as not having a dime to your name. And, that’s it my friends. I’m broke! The secret’s out!
Why am I broke? Well, that would require a whole blog… not just a blog post. Suffice it to say that after my husband’s second lay off in the past few years, several large medical bills, a very expensive legal suit, getting up close and personal with fraud (don’t worry, we didn’t defraud anyone LOL!), and a risky business venture, it’s just where we’ve landed. Did we care about our credit score? Too much, in fact. Did we try and live within our means? Absolutely! Did we care about education and experience so we could provide for our family? We invested heavily in both. Are we victims? In some senses, yes. But, do we take accountability for where we are? Certainly! So, now what? And that is what this post is really about… the “now what!”
First-time mom, playing piano with son.
What does this mean? To me, all this means is that we have an amazing opportunity for growth. Wow! Did that just sound sugar coated or what? For those of you who really know me, you know that I don’t love sweets, so let me clarify. I don’t think trying to figure out how to pay our bills is fun. I don’t like looking into my living room at the blank spot where my piano used to be—the one we sold to put food on the table. The one I played every single day since the day I bought it 11 years ago. I don’t like knowing the rainy day fund has dried up. I don’t like filling the grocery cart only to find out we have to leave it full at the store, because it was more painful to know what was really NOT in the account than to find out at the cash register. I don’t like wondering how I will meet my obligations, especially since I consider myself to be an obligation-meeting type of a gal.
But what I love—and yes, there is so much to love in times of trial I have found—is that I get the opportunity to grow. I get the chance to learn. When else would I learn to have such compassion other than when I am absolutely put to the test? What I hate more than all those things I mentioned above is the feeling that I need to focus on money—the lack thereof, where the next dime will come from, whether Troy will ever find another job—when there are so many wonderful experiences to have—so much life I will miss if I do. That said, I see that I have three choices:
- I can give in.
- I can give up.
- I can give back.
Does the answer to any of these questions rely on my financial status? No!
Oldest son helps with the laundry.
So, along with my secret, I am also going to share with you my five resolves.
- I resolve to live life to the fullest and enjoy the journey along the way.
- I resolve to do things I love even though I can’t afford the things I want. If that means borrowing someone else’s piano so I can make music, then hopefully I will bless them with the talent I’ve been blessed with.
- I resolve to not let this test define me. Being rich or poor isn’t my character. Giving generously in whatever ways I can, financial or otherwise, is who I really am.
- I resolve to work toward leaving a legacy regardless of my financial status. For me, I want to change the world one mom at a time. So, I resolve to work on small and simple things every week to turn that goal into a reality.
- I resolve to not let money or financial worries occupy the majority of my thoughts. Does that mean that I won’t plan, work hard, budget, strategize, and be creative to try and figure a way out of this mess? I certainly will do those things. But, they will have their place and that will not be a place that is higher in priority to my marriage, my family, my resolve, or my self esteem.
I recognize many of you are struggling. Some are fighting personal battles. Others are struggling with family-related issues. Many are striving to give to others and really make a difference in spite of everything else you are dealing with. And probably all of us are supporting, in one way or another, loved ones we know who are struggling as well.
The important questions to answer are:
- Will you give in, give up, or give back?
- What will your resolves be?
- How will you pay attention to what truly matters when what concerns you is right in front of your face, vying for your constant attention?
- How will you Mom It Forward in the midst of your struggles?
(Note: Pictures featured in this post are of me and my husband when we first entered parenthood 8 1/2 years ago. When I look at these pictures, I don’t recall the hard times we were going through then. Instead, I relish in the joy of being blessed with a child and having the opportunity to be parents to now 2 boys. Hopefully, when I look back on pictures I take during this current situation, I will look back with similar happy thoughts. That’s my goal!)
Make a Difference in Someone’s Life This Week by Giving Generously!
June 28, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 9 Comments
10 Ways to Make a Difference This Week By Giving to Others
Week 5’s Summer of Service challenge, sponsored by Alice.com, is to give back to others in meaningful, selfless ways. This means identifying what your friends, family members, neighbors, and others really need by asking yourself, “What would be meaningful to them?” Then, put that into action.
This list below identifies 10 possible ways to give to others. Please share a comment with other ideas you have or things that have worked for you.
- Spend quality time with someone.
- Identify an act of service to perform for another and do it anonymously.
- Purchase a gift and give it to someone for being a great mom, a terrific friend, a nice neighbor, etc.
- Show your appreciation by telling others thank you, writing them a thank you note, or taking them a gift.
- Validate someone’s hard work.
- Identify a charity you support and make a financial contribution to their cause.
- Identify a charity you support and schedule time to volunteer your time for that organization.
- Identify a less-fortunate family in your neighborhood and help them in whatever way they may need help.
- Take time to hug each member of your family every day.
- Tell each member of your family that you love them this week. Add other important people in your life to the list as well.
How Will You Give to Others This Week?
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What other ideas do you have for giving to others? - How has giving to others made a meaningful difference this week?
- How have others given to you this week and what difference has that made in your life?
How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?
Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:
- Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
- Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
- Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
- Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Check out this week’s prizes from Alice.com by clicking here.
- Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.
RSVP—Chat About Frugal Living, Budgeting, Couponing, & Convenience Shopping Tuesday at #GNO
June 28, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 18 Comments
Trying to stretch a dollar during these tough economic times? Tired of grocery shopping with crying babies and kids wrapped around your legs? Then this week’s girl’s night out is just for you!
#GNO is talking frugal living, budgeting, couponing, and convenience shopping this week and we have a terrific panel lined up, including amazing folks from the recently launched Alice.com team, among many other fabulously frugal gals. Join the #gno gang here this Tuesday night to share in the discussion.
- What: Girl’s Night Out (What’s GNO? Click here to find out!)
- When: Tuesday, June 30, 9-11 p.m. EDT
- Where: Party with us using our custom Tweetgrid. (Use hashtags #gno and #alice.)
- Topic: Frugal living, budgeting, couponing, and grocery shopping
- Who: @alice @bwiegand @consumerqueen @couponprincess @dealseekingmom @julieFBT @mhorine @savingeveryday
- Party Favors: Remember to check out this week’s giveaway sponsored by Alice.com.
- RSVP: Enter your twitter URL/ID in the list below (e.g., http://twitter.com/jylmomIF).
Giveaway—$100 Grocery Shopping Gift Certificates to Alice.com
June 28, 2009 by jyl johnson pattee · 161 Comments
Alice.com has made it easy to replenish your non-perishable needs from the convenience of your own home. What’s even better is that you can shop on a budget, enjoying the perk of free shipping with just the click of a mouse. And this week, not only are they making it appealing for members of Mom It Forward and the #gno community to take advantage of their services, they are making it a no brainer by offering free in-home shopping sprees!
Giveaway Prizes
Five lucky winners from this site will be selected to win a $100 gift certificate to Alice.com.
Entry Requirements
To enter to win, you are required to do the following two things:
- Visit Alice.com.
- Leave a comment on this post telling me which item(s) you would purchase with your $100 gift certificate. You must enter by Sunday, July 5 at midnight PDT, including your e-mail address. Comments without e-mail addresses will not be considered.
To receive extra entries (for a total of three extra entries):
- Take this week’s SOS Challenge by completing one of the post’s 10 suggestions or an idea of your own that fits within this week’s theme and leaving a comment on that post.
- Click here to join the Mom It Forward Facebook Page. (This is different than the group!)
- Post about this giveaway on Twitter and/or on your Facebook wall.
The Fine Print
No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected randomly through http://random.org. Alice.com employees and Mom It Forward family members are ineligible to participate. All entries received after Sunday, July 5 at midnight PDT will not be considered. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered.
Mom It Forward Moments
June 27, 2009 by Danielle Smith · 2 Comments
For a mother, giving is innate.
From the moment we discover we are pregnant, or that we are being blessed with adoption, our inner ‘giver’ stirs. And, we may not even know it is happening.
Instead of worrying about the sleep we will lose, we think only of the quiet moments in the middle of the night when we will have our babies all to ourselves. We can focus on the beauty of those precious moments, and sacrificing sleep will seem minuscule.
No one will teach us to take the burnt piece of chicken, to sing A-B-C’s until our ears ring, to walk 15 blocks to find the lost blanket our little one ‘has to have’ or give up hours of our time to work on math homework.
We will just do it.
No one told us we would come last—even in our own minds—from the moment we conceived.
And we don’t complain. Because we realize, we are teaching by example. For every hug we give, every hand we hold, every kiss we share – you – our children – will learn. You will see that giving makes the world a brighter and more beautiful place.
We take our big hopes for a kinder world and we pass them to you in a million small ways every day.
When we listen to you, we hope you will open your ears to others. When we hold you tight, we trust you will one day do the same. When we open a door for a stranger, share a meal with someone who needs it, donate clothes to a family with a new child, dedicate a prized Saturday to building a home, or simply smile, we believe we are shaping you.
You may not recognize it as it happens. But the giving will occur all around you. These will be the moments that mold.
We are momming-it-forward.
About the Author: Danielle Smith is a mommy to two smart and sassy small people, as well as the founder and primary author of ExtraordinaryMommy.com. You can catch her hosting a brand new live show, The Spin Cycle, on MomTV.com every Wednesday at 9pmEST. She also hosts a show on Blog Talk Radio and contributes to WhyMomsMatter. Danielle is thrilled to be contributing to MomItForward as ‘giving back’ has always been an important part of who she is and what she hopes to teach her children
Inspiring Women—Strengthening Each Other Through Our Trials
June 26, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 8 Comments
I attended an event last night sponsored by Cherish Bound where I was taken back to my childhood as I listened to professional story tellers share their growing up tales. If I were an artist and could have captured one sketch of the room it would have included women laughing, sharing, talking, delighting in delicacies, and relishing in the beauty of a simple, yet rejuvenating girl’s night out. And yet, one element would have been missing, because how do you capture strength and dedication in a drawing?
If you could look closely—perhaps only possible through a 3D sketch, allowing you to go much further beyond the surface—you’d realize that the laughter and sharing was made up of far more than glee and fun. It was made up of experience, learning, and LIFE!
You’d learn that one woman in the room has breast cancer and had recently undergone a double mastectomy. One woman has Lupus and she made a choice to trade one night of connection for several energy-less days after. Of course, we only saw her laughter. One woman has had 42 staples in her head and 4 screws in her jaw from Epilepsy. Another is in and out of the hospital on a monthly basis with her toddler, hearing shifting diagnosis and unanswered questions. Yet another is fighting a court battle to keep her adopted son. A couple are on the brink of bankruptcy. More than one woman is pregnant and one in particular is experiencing the joys of all-day/all-pregnancy sickness. Another was experiencing her last hooray before uprooting her family to move them cross country for her husband’s education. More than one woman didn’t know a single soul in the room. One gal was recently divorced and many were single parents. A couple were empty nesters, vying for more time with their grandchildren. Yet another was fighting to keep her business afloat during these hard economic times. The list could go on, making the stories within the stories much deeper and richer in color.
But to look at the room—or the sketch I would have drawn—wouldn’t have told you all that. And yet, that strength, that dedication to endure and triumph through life’s challenges is what makes inspiring women out of us all. It connects us, draws us to each other, gives us the compassion and knowledge to support each other. Ultimately, it empowers us to change the world one mom at a time.
Today’s “inspiring moms” post is a dedication to women everywhere who have stories upon stories, some for public view and others under lock and key. The tightly woven and intricate patterns of your lives, with broken thread and mistakes and all, make the world a better place to be! Thanks for inspiring me!
Strengthening Relationships Through PhotoTherapy
June 25, 2009 by Kodak · Leave a Comment
People can interact with photos in many ways everyday to strengthen their relationships with others. Some PhotoTherapy tips include:
Create A Picture Perfect Environment: Decorate your space with photos of friends, family, loved ones and places you enjoy. Be sure to select photos that contain strong positive memories. Every photo has feelings and memories just underneath its surface; choosing the right one enables you to revisit those moments all over again — and feel the same good feelings!- Share Your World: The people you miss, miss you too. Let the important people in your life know how you’re doing by sharing not just the special moments but the ordinary moments too. Sharing the “small stuff” can have a BIG impact on your relationships.
- Interview Your Photo: Unlock the magic of your photo. Find the happiest picture in your collection and imagine a conversation with it. What positive message would it want you to know? How would it like you to feel? What would it want you to remember?
- Try A Photo Pick Me Up: Beat your blues! Find your most positive photo and carry it with you. Looking at a photo of happier times puts you right back there again, feeling that same way, right now!
- Breaking the Ice: Turn your photos into conversation starters. Behind every picture is a great story that wants to be told; it’s just waiting for you to ask! Sharing your photos is like sharing your life; when others hear your anecdotes, connections are made that can last a lifetime.
Capturing Kodak Moments—Like Birthday Smiles!
June 25, 2009 by Kodak · Leave a Comment
Whether it’s your baby’s first, your daughter’s sweet sixteen or your husband’s 40th, these photography tips will make sure you always capture the perfect birthday smile:
To capture the light from those burning candles, turn off your flash. Hold the camera extra steady on a railing, the back of a chair, a table, or against a door frame to prevent blurry pictures.- Get Close. Fill the camera’s viewfinder or LCD display with your subject to create pictures with greater impact. Step in close or use your camera’s zoom to emphasize what is important and exclude the rest.
- Red eye is easy to remove these days with picture editor software or at a Kodak Kiosk. But why not prevent red eye in the first place? Ask your subject to look at your shoulder rather than directly at the camera. Turning on all the room lights also helps.
- Stay within the flash range. The typical digital camera flash range is 6 to 10 feet, up to 15 feet for film cameras. Subjects that are outside the flash range will be either too dark or too light. Check the camera manual and make sure your subject is within the flash range.
Food, Fun, & Friends—#GNO’s First #GNO IRL!
June 25, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 8 Comments
Last night, I was a bit stressed, driving 75 and putting on my mascara while trying to get to a location 45 minutes from home during rush hour. Why was I rushing? If I were being honest, I would say it was because I was caught up in a fantastic conversation on the phone and didn’t get around to blow drying my hair until 5 minutes before I had to skidaddle (Don’t you love that word? It sounds like candy!). Where was I heading, you may be wondering? To the first ever #GNO IRL (in real life) at The Sweet Tooth Fairy and seriously, who can say no to cupcakes and friends AT.THE.SAME.TIME, IN.THE.SAME.ROOM? Can you?
Quinn, the creative genius behind Created by Mom, is having a 1-day conference next month in Salt Lake City, UT (click here for details). The best part? She’s having all sorts of pre-parties and asked me if I’d #GNO on location from her parties. When she first asked me, I immediately said no! Emphatically, in fact. I mean, I’m an extreme extrovert. Sitting behind a computer all night would be really uncomfortable for me. But after talking to Megan, the owner of The Sweet Tooth Fairy and creator of the VaNIElla cupcake (click here for the amazing details… although you may want to have a tissue handy), I was excited. Again, should I mention the “c” word… OK! You convinced me. Say it with me: “CUPCAKES!” (See the smiles on our faces below? [Evonne (left) and me (right)] That is how we felt after eating said delicacy!)
I was sooooooo glad I went. As it turns out, #GNO-ing on location is really fun. Yes, I was behind a computer, which in essence, clipped my social butterfly wings. But… I got my friend fix tenfold by tweeting with the fantastic #gno community side by side with some other great tweeting friends, including: @emihill, @petit_elefant, @phemom, @keepingupwmom, @sweetlifeinthe, @momswhomakeit, @createdbymom, @jet_set, @evonnesell, and @inevergrewup. I could have online as well as offline discussions going on about the topic, the great comments #gno gals were sharing, the phenomenal panelists’ tips, etc. I even got advice on the questions I was asking and suggestions on some better ones to pose. In addition, party goers at the live event not on Twitter were able to check out the Tweet Grid I was on and see what Twitter and #gno was all about. Sometimes, seeing is believing, you know?
The best part? Being around so many inspiring women both online and offline all at once and recognizing that friendship is one of the greatest gifts ever (especially when accompanied by cupcakes!).
