I knew from the moment I thought about doing this contest that I was not going to be able to choose a winner on my own so I gathered 4 friends to help me. Together the 5 us drafted my guidelines for my contest, emailed each other back and forth with changes, ideas, etc. When the contest was over, we gathered together to read through my nominations. We each read the stories individually and “silently” picked our winning stories. It was a UNANIMAOUS vote…each of us “silently” picked the story below, written and nominated by Chelsie.
The winner of my “Pay it Forward” contest is TRACIE and her family!!!
The person I wanted to nominate is Tracie. She is our daycare provider as well as a good friend. She is not only an amazing person, she is also an awesome mom and step-mom. This past summer she experienced a terrible loss, her son was stillborn at 25 weeks. It was devastating for everyone, we couldn’t even imagine what they (Tracie, her husband Matt, and their three daughters) were going through. Yet through it all, she put on a brave face and dealt with it the best she could. She turned his passing into a celebration of his short life. They spent time with baby Jake after she delivered him and cherished the short time they had with him.
This experience really touched everyone that knows and loves the “S” family. It also inspired me personally. To see her take this tragedy and turn it into something positive was amazing. Of course she grieved, but she didn’t let this overcome her…as it easily could have. She actually took this experience and turned it into an opportunity to start fresh. She’s reevaluating her priorities and redefining what is important to her. She is redesigning her daycare to be able to spend more time with her family, yet still provide this awesome service to those lucky enough to clinch a spot! She was always a family oriented person, but I think this experience has made it even more apparent how important family is and how each moment with them is so precious. I think this photo session would be so awesome for them. They would be able to see what we all see…an amazing family, that can get through anything…together.
Tracie, you are an amazing, strong, wonderful and definitely deserving person!!! I cannot wait to meet and photograph you and your family!!! Thank you Chelsie for your touching and thoughtful nomination!!! I appreciate your efforts to help me “Pay it Forward.”
Thank you to all of the people who took time out of their busy holiday season and lives to sit down and write me a story about another dear person who deserves to win a free mini-session from me. Just the mere fact that you actually took that time to send in your nominations, shows that you too are people who are deserving of a free mini-session. So at the last minute, I decided to do a drawing of the “nominators” for a free mini-session. I had my 5-year old buddy, Treyton pull a name…and the winner is KRISTEN B.!!!
Congratulations to both my winners, Tracie and Kristen B.!!! Happy Holidays to you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your willingness to help me “Pay it Forward”!!!
And because posts are always better with an image…here’s an image below to get you in the “holiday” spirit!!
