A grant-a dream come true

I stumbled across a blog that mentioned a small business grant "contest". I quickly clicked on the link to find out that it is legit and sponsored by Chase.

Sooo, I decided to apply!
I have a business plan with a great idea for my area. I don't want to give out details, but if we can get a bigger place and marketing money, I know it would be a hit!

The only thing is, I need 250 votes to even be considered-haaaate thaaaat....

Now, I need to ask all of you if you would mind voting for me?

I R E A L L Y appreciate it if you could!

Just click to here:
http://www.missionsmallbusiness.com

You will need to type in Tess Moody Photography to find me.
Thanks again!!!!

Like a first date

I haven't been out on a girl's night for as long as I can remember. After I got married and had another baby, the years just flew by. The promises of getting together with old pals became more and more empty. The new business (photography) took up more and more of my free time, and when I did have it, I felt obligated to spend it with the hubby and kids.

My old friends moved on without me. I was ok with it most of the time, but I did miss good old girl talk and being crazy together, letting off steam that only a night out with the girls could.

Sure, I have online friends, but it's just not the same hanging together online and it looks funny clicking a Bud Light with the computer monitor. So, I decided to drop everything and plan a girl's night out and not feel guilty about it.

I invited a lady that I've befriended at my daughter's school and we are planning on painting the town with my oldest daughter and her friends. I'm actually very nervous. It's been so long that I've forgotten how to be just a girl. To hang out with other females and have fun.

I've tried on ten outfits, bought new make up and made sure I have a purse full of breath mints. Will I know how to act? Do I let them know that I'm a light weight, and two Pina Calida's later, I'm dancing on the table?

Yep. It feels like a first date. I'm hoping to get lucky.

Wait-you didn't think I meant THAT did you?

I hope I can remember how to have fun again. Not as a mom. Not as a wife. Just as a girl hanging out with other girls on a girl's night out.

Someone up there mad at me?

After the week I had last week, I'm afraid to get out of bed today.

My week started with having a bride email me out of the blue and say they were cancelling their contract for their September wedding. No explanation whatsoever. Hmm. Ok.

Then, I find out that one of my credit cards was being cancelled. One that I've had forever and wasn't behind on or even had a balance on. What the...?

After that, I find out that my oldest was contacted by her potential boss only to find out that she wasn't getting the job she was promised after all, because the person that was going to leave decided not to quit. Oh my!

And after that, I have more problems dealing with weddings, like a bride scheduling her hair appointment so late that we will only have an hour to do 3 hours worth of photos. Or, another couple are still putting their details together when their wedding is right around the corner. Grrrr...

Oh, did I mention that my printer broke down right before a client was coming to sign a contract? !$#@&

If THAT wasn't enough, on our way to shoot a wedding this Saturday, a deer jumped out in front of us and smashed the left side of my car....

So, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back under the covers until next Tuesday...

Do you have a shoulder?

As May approached, I knew that I would be super busy. I have the more weddings this year then I ever had. I knew this meant weekends booked with weddings or engagements, and weeks filled with editing and writing. Its only half way through May and I'm already wanting to pull my hair out...

The thing is, I'm feeling that mom guilt. I can handle staying up late and being busy, but I can't handle how it effects the kids. I don't like having to say, "Dad will have to take you" or, "Can we play tomorrow?"

Arggggh!

I applaud those moms that figured out how to balance it all. Sometimes I do, sometimes, I don't. Does that make me awful?

I do plan on taking a vacation at the end of June after the bulk of my first batch of weddings will be done. Will it make up for all the lost time? Maybe not, but I do have a goal for all this hard work and missed time from my children. This goal will eventually allow me to spend more time with them when I . When I get sad, that's what I think about and it keeps me going.

So, kudos to all you hard working moms-please don't feel guilty for providing for your family. I know how you feel and I'm there for you!

The best Mother's Day ever

This has been a great weekend.

Now, before I go into detail, if you are not a long time reader, then you do not know about my kids. I love the little boogers , but I have to say, they are very selfish children. Is it my fault? I don't want to take the blame, but I might have spoiled them just a bit too much over the years.

So, it started when my son (age 16) said he wanted to make me a dessert for Mother's Day. He went to the store and bought the ingredients (spent his own money!) and started working on it Friday night. He spent two hours mixing and baking. He even cleaned up his mess.

Now, if you knew my son, you would have fallen over. He does not part with his money. He does not clean. Heck, he doesn't even acknowledge our existence unless he's hungry, or needs his clothes washed. Yes. He's a teenager.

I was so happy that he did that for me-I'm still smiling.

Next, my youngest stepped up. Ok, to let you know a little bit about her personality, I'll tell you this...

IT'S ALL ABOUT EMILY.

It doesn't matter whose birthday it is, she expects to get something too. Every weekend should be a shopping weekend for her. She finds it very hard to give the attention to someone other than her.

I blame her dad.

Anyway, she went out with her dad to go Mother's Day shopping. I was very anxious to find out how big of a fit she threw to have to get me something instead of herself. When they got home, the hubby said everything went well-she didn't throw a fit at all.

"Hmm," I said to myself. "This should be interesting..."

So, when I opened my gifts this morning, I was shocked. She got me a movie I had wanted, a tart for my scent warmer, and a Square Card Reader for my iPhone. I had to ask if she got any help. Hubby said nope, she had remembered me saying I wanted those things.

SHE ACTUALLY THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT SOMEONE ELSE WANTED.

I think a tear actually formed in the corner of my eye.

There might be hope for my kids after all.

The hubby did take me aside later and told me that he did have to buy her a Monster High outfit that day.

Okay. It's a baby step.

The Hubby's Secret

I'll be the first to admit, I'm addicted to reality tv. Mainly, Bravo channel. I can get into pretty much every show on there. I'm also a made for tv romantic comedies junkie.

The hubby tries to be one of those if-it-hasn't-won-three-awards movies, or not on the History channel, he's not watching it type of macho guy. He constantly complains that reality shows are a waste of time and fake (he hates Bethenny Frankel-my idol).

So, when it comes to who gets to pick what we watch together, it's not pretty. I pretty much win most times, since I keep the Netflix movies full on our list. Then, when one of my movies arrive in the mail, he looks at the title and rolls his eyes.

The thing is though, what he doesn't want to admit is that he actually ends up liking the movie or show I pick. Sometimes, he even gets into it more than me. I give him one of those I-told-you-so looks followed by a smile and he acts like I don't know what I'm talking about.

The real kicker was yesterday, when I walked in the door after shopping and caught him watching Million Dollar Listing. He started talking excitedly about how that one guy yelled at the other guy and he might fire him.

I laughed and said, "Hmm, isn't that one of those terrible reality shows I watch?"

"Well, yeah," he mumbled and continued, "But, we turned it the other day right before he was going to fire him and I just wanted to see..."

"Honey," I interrupted.

"Yeah?" he answered reluctantly.

"Don't ever knock my shows again."

Who ate the cake?

Hubby: Oh, you know what sounds good?

Me: What??

Hubby: A big glass of milk and a piece of that chocolate cake.

Me: Um....

Hubby: What?

Me: There might be a problem with that.

Hubby: And??

Me: It's gone.

Hubby: What?! There was two pieces left yesterday!

Me: Yeah, yesterday. I asked if you wanted a piece and you said no.

Hubby: Yeah, that means there should be at least a piece left, right? Did you eat BOTH?

Me: Noooo. I had a piece yesterday and one today.

Hubby: Right. You ate both.

Me: No. It was a whole new day, so it doesn't count.

Hubby: (just rolling eyes).

Halloween is right around the corner

Thanks to Emily, I probably know more about Monster High than I should. I can name all the characters and I'm finding myself looking forward to the movies that are coming out.

One thing I know about Emily is that her favorite character is Draculaura, so I knew she would be excited when she saw what came in the mail.

A Draculaura costume!

Monster High costumes are going to be all the craze this Halloween.

This costume is so adorable! It came with everything except the wig. She loved it! I haven't been able to get it off of her. I worry that it's not going to stay nice for Halloween.

I'm thinking that I'm going to have to sneak it away from her.

Have you thought about what you are going to be this year yet? It will be here before you know it.

What if you won a gift certificate towards a costume?

Well, you could!

Just tweet the following:

Kids costumes @CostumeSC by visiting http://ow.ly/ajIBV
and enter to win a $100, $50, or $25 gift certificate!!

Never the cook

I love to watch cooking shows and I pour over foodie blogs, dreaming of being able to cook and bake like them. To put together wonderful dinners like Sandra Lee of Semi -Home Cooking. Other than my family benefiting from being able to serve something other than Mac n Chs, I would love to be able to photograph my creations.

Ahh, the dream...

The problem is, it has stayed just that- a dream.

It's not like I didn't try. I've tried different dishes, from homemade pizza, to even meatloaf. Did my entries look like the beautiful photos in the countless cookbooks I've purchased? Heck no. Did they at least taste good? Turned up noses say no.

I even tried baking, thinking maybe I could at least provide a tasty dessert to the family after a disappointing dinner...

Several lopsided cakes and dry brownies later, I've given up.

So what if I can't cook or bake? I look at it as job security for restaurant owners and bakery shops. God gave them that talent to keep people like us fed.

At least that's what I tell my husband.

(So far, it's working).

Puking up Monster High...

Is your daughter into Monster High? My Emily is. So much, that I fear it's an addiction. I admit though, that I enjoy finding a "hard-to-find" doll with her. Maybe I'm addicted too. Anyway, she started getting into collecting them since last year, and she got all her friends into Monster High as well. Sorry, parents of those children!

Right now, she has dolls, ten outfits, their play makeup, purses, shoes, posters, and list goes on. She probably dreams in Monster High.

Here is a photo to show you how her barbie house was taken over by these monsters.

Crazy, huh?

We just might be spoiling her a bit-just a bit.

Every time there is a holiday, I dread taking her to school. Why? Because she wants to be the first to get the latest doll. If one of her friends gets a doll that she couldn't, I do NOT want to be that girl...

I'm hoping the makers of Monster High toys slow down a bit, because I fear that I will have to get a second job to support this girl's habit.

Yes, this is a plea-PLEASE STOP MAKING NEW TOYS!

Pretty please???

Empty Promises

Promises we make to our children that we have no intentions on keeping...

Im going to leave without you!

I'm telling dad!

No Christmas presents for you!

I'm trading you in for another kid!

You won't get another meal until you eat your vegetables!

You can get that toy next time...

What do you promise (threaten) to your children?

The flu

I woke up to a gurgling tummy. Not the hungry gurgling-not at all. I tried to ignore it, but it kept at me until I had no choice but to get out of bed and run to the bathroom.

I hate the flu.

I laid on the couch with two pairs of sweats on, a sweatshirt, a hat, mittens, and three blankets and STILL was freezing. I do not wish this sickness on my worse enemy-well, there was this ex-boyfriend I might not mind wishing it on...

Unfortunately, it spread throughout our household, each day someone else got it. We tried to figure out how we all got it-like that makes it better? Why do we do that? After a week, it left our home to invade some other poor unsuspecting families' home I'm sure. Then, they can argue about who brought it in their home.

I'm still trying to catch up on work. Emails waiting to be answered, messy house to be cleaned, argh!

I hope to have things back to normal soon, because I have an awesome giveaway coming up!

Back to school, Monster High, Freedom

Today was Emily's first day back to school, so the morning was spent running around looking for backpacks and school shoes. Listening to the moans and groans of two children not looking forward to going back to the boring and long day of teachers and school work.

As I warmed up the car and the kids dragged themselves out of the house, I sighed. I really like when they are home for breaks and hate to see them go. At the same time, I welcome the freedom to work and not feel guilty because the kids are saying they are bored of their Christmas gifts already.

Speaking of Christmas presents, I really didnt get a chance to tell you what we got this year. I'm always anxious to see what the hubby got me, since he likes to spoil me once a year. Last year it was a new camera body (still love it!). I knew he wouldn't be able to go so expensive this year, but I was still excited.

I had been complaining that I miss my Netbook-it contracted a terrible virus that we still haven't been able to get rid of-so, he decided to get me an Acer Iconia Tab A500 Tablet. He was going to go with the iPad, but it doesn't do flash and I go to a lot of photo sites that do flash, so it was a good choice. I love, love, love the convenience of carrying it around while listening to podcasts and other learning material. Normally, I'd be stuck at my laptop and would have to drag it around or put on pause if I needed to move. It fits in my purse too, which is nice. I brought it to my dad's house on Christmas and I didn't think that I was getting it back. lol.

Jordon was so hard to buy for this year, so we just let him go clothes shopping and gave the rest in cash. Jessica was the same way, but Emily was super easy. She loves Monster High, so we just bought anything that had to do with Monster high dolls . I now want to puke when I see a new Monster High toy at the store. We don't even let her go down the toy aisle unless she has a twenty in her pocket. Good bye TY Beanies, hello Monster High obsession.

I was glad to take down the tree and get on with the new year. Like I said in another post, I'm ready to start the New Year Resolutions, starting with keeping up with eating right. I let myself eat badly somewhat for the holiday, which is okay. I was actually looking forward to my healthy eating- I feel so much better when I do!

Hey! This is nice. I've been able to type more than three sentences without someone yelling from another room that they are hungry or bored.

Maybe the kids being at school not so bad.

New Year's Resolution?

I'm not usually one to make New Year's Resolutions, but to make goals all year round. I'm what you call A List Maker, actually. I'm an entrepreneur, so I've got to always be challenging myself. It's hard competing out there in the business world. You always have to reinvent yourself all the time.

So, I make goals for myself on my pad of paper and reference them daily. I tend to do this strictly business wise, but this year I would like bring my personal life into my list making challenge.

By this, I mean that I tend to put some mothering on the back burner when I get busy with work. I've noticed this when I realized that my seven year old should be reading better then she does. Bad mom. My other two were reading at an early age and reading is so important to me. I loved to read when I was her age, which blossomed to wanting to become a writer.

Another big goal is to get back into blogging more. My plans last year was to share my life experiences and photography to the world. I started slacking a bit towards the end of the year and then got out of it. I worked hard on my blogs and then I let them go. I'm not sure what happened, but I plan on jumping full force this year. Starting today.

Try making lists. They are addictive and a great way of full filling your goals. I almost forgot to mention that I finally stuck to my goal of losing weight! Okay, most would have said I didn't even need to lose any weight, but it was important to me to get to the weight I wanted to be at. I can now fit into all the clothes I used to be able to wear before having Emily. Woo hoo! Actually, I want to lose another four pounds and I hear the last 5 pounds are the hardest to lose. I'll post what I did to lose that weight. Mind you , I don't diet. I just changed my life style I guess you could say.

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy your day off if you have it!

Calm

Some may remember when I announced we had adopted a kitten about five months ago. Here he is when we first got the little booger.

He fooled us with his sweetness. He was cute and lovable the first couple of weeks. THEN, he began to show his true colors. We quickly found out that he was a devil cat.

So ornery. So crazy. He was in everything all the time and wanted to "play" with us and the result was scratched up hands and a few close calls of an eye getting poked out by his claws.

This cat was the poster child for cat nip.

We got him fixed, hoping that it would calm him down-nope. We came to the conclusion that we would just have to deal with him the way he was and hope that age would calm him down eventually. One thing I did know was, he was getting his front paws declawed because I wasn't taking anymore chances of any of the kids getting their eyes blinded by his playfulness. Did you know that little ones like to put their faces in cat's faces?

So, the little brat went to the vet for two days (it was heaven for us, lol). When we got him back, we were worried if we left him out that he would break his stitches, but he just meowed if we kept him in the carrier. He ended up sleeping for two days and limped around for another three.

One thing I've noticed with him is that he's alot calmer now. Maybe he finally settled down after this traumatic experience, or he thinks we just punished him for all his meanness.

Either way, I'll take it!

Nothing like the last minute

I've been so busy this season, I haven't had a chance to do my own family photos. We never got a group family photo this season at all this year, which I'm a bit upset about. To let you know just how crazy it's been, we JUST got the grand babies Christmas photos YESTERDAY.

From past experiences, I've found that these two are not fond of getting their photos taken.

So, I was worried if we would even be able to get them to sit long enough to get their photos taken.










But, as you can see, they behaved quite well.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to promise them chocolate and toys if they behaved.

Or, threaten them with no Christmas presents tomorrow...

Merry Christmas!!!

Breaking the promise

Every year, we promise not go over board with gifts. We always end up breaking that promise.

This morning, while digging through the mound of presents overflowing from under the tree, I realized we once again, broke that promise...

Ba, Humbug

Every year around this time, I enjoy going Christmas shopping. Yes, I love to walk through the mall, or department stores and watch other shoppers swarm through the isles, looking for that perfect gift, while I listen to the soft holiday music piped through the store's speakers. I'm probably one of the few perfect customers that a cashier wouldn't mind waiting on. I'm nice to all of them and thank them for giving such great service.



This year, however, I was slowly losing the Christmas spirit. I've been treated so horribly by cashiers, waitresses and pretty much any service person. I was getting such terrible service that I even had to complain to management. Shoppers have been pushy and jerky as well and I even have been treated badly by clients. I was starting to feel like I was wearing a tshirt with the words BE MEAN TO ME-I LIKE IT on the front.

Was this what mankind has turn into? Are we so miserable that we don't even feel the need to be nice to each other?


So, needless to say, I've been depressed this year and not feeling like going to the mall to just people watch.


Today I came across this article on Yahoo and it brightened my day. Well, after it brought tears to my eyes. It's given me hope that there still is Christmas spirit in the world, if not for just one short time during the year.

A changing world

Last week, while walking back to my car with a load of groceries, I was approached by a woman. She told me that she just got an apartment behind the grocery store and a new job, but didn't have any money yet to buy food. She asked if she could have some money. I told her that I don't carry cash on me and I quickly walked to my car. I felt bad, but my mama told me to not talk to strangers, and usually it's a scam to grab your wallet while you are getting them change.

Yesterday, while IN the same grocery store, I was approached by a man who GAVE ME THE SAME EXACT STORY. Ok, what's the odds of this happening twice? I told him that someone approached me last week with the same story and he quickly left. I found a manager and told him the story and he apologized and told me to tell someone next time and they will kick them out. I thanked him and told him that I just wanted to make them aware that this scam was going on there (it's a nice store in a fairly nice area).

While feeling bad the first time, I'm glad I listened to instincts (and mom) and not trust the person. It actually makes me sad to think that people have to resort to doing such things and I hope that we don't have to start worrying about being approached, or robbed going to a trusted neighborhood just to get groceries. I don't live in a big crazy city like Chicago to avoid such encounters.

Am I making a point here? Not really. I just wish that instead of holding out their hand (and scamming), people would find their self worth and make something of themselves!

True story of puss'n boots

I'm sure everyone wants to see the new movie, Puss'n Boots when it comes out, so what a great time to see The True Story of Puss'n Boots with Emmy and Golden Globe winner William Shatner as the voice of Puss. The True Story of Puss 'n Boots from Phase 4 Films, is an animated movie based on the classic children's story Puss ‘N Boots by Charles Perrault.

The True Story of Puss 'n Boots is about a young farmer's son, who inherits a talking cat with magical boots. The magical cat Puss helps the farmer's son win the heart of the princess while battling her other suitors.

My youngest, Emily, who is 6 watched the movie and liked it. I wouldn't recommend it for younger children due to the semi rough scenes. When asked, she said she would watch it again and we plan on using it for entertainment when she has some of her friends over on the weekend.

A nice gift for anyone wanting something different for children ages 6-10.

I was given a free copy for review in partnership with Team Mom/Child’s Play PR. Thoughts and opinions here are 100% my own and not influenced by others.