Feedly

As a Social Media Specialist, I need to know what’s going on in the world that’s going to be relevant to fans, followers, viewers, customers, etc. I could spend countless hours scouring the internet to read the blogs and feeds that have current content that I will find interesting. Instead, I’ve discovered the wonderful convenience of feed readers – I find the feed URL to the blogs and online news sites that I am most interested in and put them all into the same location for reviewing. I’ve tried several for myself personally at home and through different professions over the years, but none have compared to my latest find of Feedly.

As the website states, “Feedly is a news reader for creative minds, a simple and elegant way to read and share the content of your favorite sites.” I absolutely love the magazine-style layout which I have almost complete control over. Since I mainly use Firefox at work and at home, I use the Feedly add-on in Firefox, but it is also available for iOS, Android, Chrome and Safari. In addition to having a Feedly tab available whenever I need it, on every page that I browse, there is a small icon in the lower right of the screen which allows me to save whatever I am reading to my Feedly to read later – or I can share it on common social media networks. Pretty neat little feature, if you ask me. Feedly typically logs in with an email address, so you can login to your Feedly from any other computer with a Feedly component downloaded – another cool factor. I usually check my Feedly articles when I first arrive to the office and go through the recent articles to sort out which ones I am going to schedule into my posts. It’s a super time-saver and I love the customization features.

Hootsuite

Twitter can easily be a time-sink in terms of publishing content. At Workplace Essentials, I publish between 5-6 tweets per day, though many companies and organizations publish far more. Sometimes there’s content that I want to publish across several platforms – say LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook – and having to go to each individual page to do so was a bit too tedious. I had looked into things like Co-Tweet before and a couple different social media dashboards like Seesmic, but I had heard some great things about Hootsuite so I decided to check it out. I love this thing. Seriously.

You can access Hootsuite from any computer that can get on the internet, from your mobile device (I have the Hootsuite app on my iPhone), and it’s pretty sweet. Hootsuite allows you to bring in your Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, WordPress, LinkedIn, Ping.fm, Foursquare feeds and more all into your own organizational flow. I’ve set mine up with different tabs for each social network, and within each tab I have columns for my news feeds, mentions, scheduled posts, and keyword searches. Hootsuite even shortens URLs automatically to an ow.ly short URL. Love.

My #1 favorite thing about Hootsuite is the ability to schedule posts to just one or multiple social media sites in advance (I typically have 50% of my daily posts scheduled a week in advance) and they will post automatically when that time rolls around. This is fantastic for vacations or even just for getting things done more efficiently. After I sort through my Feedly articles, I go through my scheduled posts in Hootsuite and look at my newsfeeds to search for any re-tweet worthy posts or articles to look into myself.

My #2 favorite thing about Hootsuite is the add-on & desktop availability. I have Hootsuite downloaded as a desktop application via Fluid which shows up as an icon next to my Firefox icon on my Mac. This makes Hootsuite its own application – leaving my Firefox tabs to fill up with all my other tasks. The separate app is a huge deal to me, but there are also add-ons for Chrome or Prism. While that’s my favorite desktop add-on, I’ve also got the Hootbar installed in Firefox. This handy little icon allows me to go to any article, click on the Owl icon and schedule a post directly from the article versus copying the URL and then going into Hootsuite to schedule everything. Wonderful timesaver.

We actually purchased the “pro” version of Hootsuite which allows for some amazing analytics on our Twitter and Facebook networks. For just $5.99/month, these analytics are completely worth it. You can see the types of tools you will have access to with the pro-version when you are using the basic Free version – and you can absolutely just stick with the free one. I just thought you should know that the analytics reports are phenomenal and totally worth $6. : )

Visual.ly

Statistics are a crucial part of my blogging, tweeting and posting process. Many of my articles require some kind of in-depth numerical data that can sometimes be hard to wrap your mind around. Even concepts can sometimes be hard to explain with simple text and a regular image. This is where Visual.ly comes in. My older sister introduced me to this site (she’s a global studies teacher in Charlotte, NC) and I have spent so much time soaking up knowledge here. You can seriously search for just about any keyword or topic you can think of and you will find infographics that take the data or concepts and explain them with easy-to-follow images and such. These things are super appealing to the eye and are a great way to grab interests from clients around seemingly dry topics that have a wealth of knowledge if you can really explain yourself well.

Whether I’m blogging for Workplace Essentials or for my wedding business, HilaryColleen, I’ve found a wealth of information that is aestheticaly pleasing and draws me in to the very facts I’m trying to convey to my audience. I’ve also found myself just searching around here for my own curiosity. Political campaigns, how much money presidents make, the reality of student loan debt, Santa’s carbon footprint… you name it! I definitely encourage you to take a look and see what you can find. You can educate yourself and educate your prospects with these great visuals that were already prepared for you! Have some information that you would like to share? You can now create your own infographic on the Visual.ly website! Love this.

So there you have it! My top 3 web tools currently in my marketing “ninja backpack”. Investigate. Try them out. See what you think. Do you have any web tools that you think should be in every online marketing professional’s ninja backpack? Share away – I’m going to go do some Visual.ly searching…

I hated myself. I felt like I would never amount to anything – that God couldn’t use me. And the worst part was that members of the local church communities my family was connected to throughout all these years had also thought the same thing. It was a terrible feeling as a teenager when your self-esteem is low enough already and you think people are talking behind your back only to find out that they actually were. There were a handful of times that I heard my name brought up in such a sad tone – “It’s such a shame for a pastor’s daughter to be so sad and depressed.” “I’m sure she could be a great girl if…” Luckily these were the only portions that I heard at the time. Just three or four years ago I was told that I was considered a “lost cause” and that some friends of mine should not associate themselves with me or waste the effort – I was too far gone. I know I know – I wasn’t doing drugs or getting drunk or beating people up or being pulled off to jail. But the cloud that had eaten almost a decade of my life was so apparent to those around me that they were warding others away. To them I was a blackhole and they could feel the darkness around me – and they wanted nothing to do with it.

When I graduated from high school, I completely intended to start a new life and leave the old garbage behind however best I could. After nearly 8 years of keeping a secret all to myself, I let someone into my bubble. It was scary and unnerving and uncomfortable, but it was huge for me. No one else knew – just me and this one person – about the crap that had taken over my life when I was 10. And while it helped, I still hated myself and most of the same depressive stuff was still there, I just wasn’t as lonely anymore.

I made some great friends in college who completely changed my life and most of whom are still a part of my life today. AND I developed the very beginnings of a true relationship with God – a huge step in the right direction for me. I knew that He forgave me. I knew that my darkness would pass. But I hadn’t forgiven myself for the person I had become through those years in depression and loneliness. All these scars that I refused to let heal because I didn’t deserve it… So, I finished college happier than I ever remember being, but I just knew that there was something missing – that there was something more.

Today while home alone getting rid of a stuffy nose and sore throat, I found a video I had made in college at another one of the roughest spots I’ve ever been in. Looking into her eyes – my eyes – I could see the sadness, loneliness and fear… A fear of being left behind, left to rot, and left even more broken hearted than where I started… Because once you experience what you’ve been missing for most of your life, losing that is even more painful than just dreaming about what it was like before… And I didn’t want to go back to being alone.

As I’m watching this video, I just wanted to reach out and tell myself that it will all be okay – trust God and everything will work out just fine… And I can’t believe how everything changed and worked out. I was so broken… I mean, people could sense the broken in me even though no one ever saw what was going on. I was in such a rough spot that people could just feel it. I remember some people in high school were afraid of me… I was just so strange, so dark, for a number of years. Flash forward to the summer of 2009 when Jesus took a hold of my heart like never before and showed me that I am His beloved daughter and He has everything under control. I started to see that He truly did love me and what He could do through me… And the chains just fell off and the scars started to heal up all at once. I was free of that darkness – even though it felt like just a few clouds remained, they were all blown away and I could see clearly for the first time since I was 10 years old. At 22 years old, I was finally able to be who God created me to be without that darkness controlling me.

I remember many times being completely ready to give up. While I believed in God through all that was going on, I didn’t believe He truly cared for me or would actually do anything to get me out of the mess that I blamed myself for. I remember not asking for His help or guidance because I felt like it was a waste of time to trust anyone, so why trust God? And even when I did give things up to Him, I remember being so afraid that I was going to turn out like everyone said… That I was going to be stuck in the state I was in and that God would never use me… Happiness and a life full of His glory could never find me. If I could send a letter to myself, I would just include pictures of how my life has changed… Even pictures of me smiling and in happy times from my past, you can still see the huge weight that was on me. But then I look at pictures like these and I know God was with me through it all and I would not be who I am today without all of this.

I am able to spend my weekdays in a job I love with co-workers who make me laugh and inspire me to do the best that I can. I get to photograph and plan weddings for amazing and beautiful couples who show me so many different aspects of love in the way they live their lives. I have an absolutely amazing family that has always been and will always be there for me, even if I shut them out – they are phenomenal. I have a ridiculously handsome, God-fearing, passionate and loving boyfriend who is determined to show me who I truly am in Christ no matter how much he may have to beat me over the head with God’s truth and I can’t believe that I get to keep him. I have a second family of friends who are the most wonderful, challenging, encouraging, loving and understanding people I have ever met and I could never thank God enough for sending them to me. I have been blessed with friendships that have lasted through the years and never faded away as well as new friendships that are some of the most beautiful things I have ever been a part of. I am at such a wonderful spot in my relationship with God – and it won’t stop there. He has brought me out of the woods, out of the blackhole, out of the ocean of fear that I was drowning in and has placed me on His mountain that I will only continue to climb… With friends, family and Jesus, I am never alone and never unloved and never unworthy.

Looking at all the details and issues and problems and blah blah that came into my life, it’s so hard to believe that it could all work out like it has without God having my back. My story is pretty unbelievable. And so is yours. Don’t give up. You’ll see…

Oh, and here’s a song that was in the video I watched and is coincidentally a part of the title for this post. There is a point near the end of the song where you can tell that those who were separated have been reunited – the song just soars… I was 10,000 miles (or more) away from myself since I was 10 years old… and I was reunited with myself after that darkness was lifted. So, I hope you enjoy the song.

When I started work for New Horizons Computer Learning Center in Nashua, NH, one of my key responsibilities was to develop a social media plan and to take our sales team into the domain of using these networking sites to generate leads. Hah! I thought that was all just crazy talk, right? I started doing my research and discovered that there really were a lot of benefits to using LinkedIn for prospecting and networking with current clients. Before I could get my co-workers going, I needed to get into it myself, so I spent a week or two going through all the features and fully vamping up my profile (which I had just started 10 days before my first day). I added previous jobs & job descriptions, skill sets, a link to my portfolio, educational information, and briefly checked out the recommendations area. I did a little hunting around in groups and such and then discovered a jackpot for our sales people and, even though I didn’t know it, a future me: job postings.

For our sales people, they could find a company that was in need of someone to do X and they could offer our services to train them to do X. So, we jumped in and did the training, got everyone setup with LinkedIn profiles and links in their email signatures and they were off and running . Everything was going grand with my social media projects and all was well. Then through an unfortunate string of events including budget cuts, I was laid off.

I was completely jobless in a matter of 5 minutes with no prospects but plenty of student loans, rent, utility and other bills to pay. I jumped head first into looking for jobs using The Ultimate Job Searching Technique and searching for a job became a 24/7 thing quite literally… I would wake up around 7 or 8 each morning and would open up my computer in bed until I got hungry. I would check through apps on my phone whenever I was making food or out of the house. I spent every day in my living room searching through the same sites 2-3 times and applying wherever I could. I got a couple of interviews out of it, but my marketing skills were seemingly not needed at that time no matter where I looked. What was I doing wrong? My job search system had never failed me or anyone I knew before… What was I missing?

About one month after I lost my job, I started to notice job postings on LinkedIn filtering into search results I was making on Indeed. I decided to check it out and see what LinkedIn had to offer on the job front and was pretty surprised to see so many relevant job postings for me that I couldn’t find anywhere else. So, I started researching and boosting my LinkedIn profile into full gear for job hunting (there are some great resources out there if you do a little Google searching on using LinkedIn for job searching). I added my LinkedIn job searches into the daily routine I had developed through my ultimate technique and applied to a good number of jobs through there on a weekly basis. Within one week of this process, I had three interviews scheduled through jobs posted on LinkedIn, all with companies and positions that I didn’t feel I would be settling for and was pretty interested in learning more about. I was still slightly apprehensive about each of them and went ahead and had my interviews while also going to an interview for a job I had heard about from another online source. I wasn’t expecting much to come of them, to be honest. I thought I wanted this other job that I was interviewing for more than any of the jobs I had found on LinkedIn. And out of the three jobs I found on LinkedIn, I was completely shocked when I fell head over heels for one of them versus the job I thought I wanted. And I was offered the job within a week of interviewing.

So, here I am. A little over a month from first applying to a job at Workplace Essentials online through LinkedIn and I will have been the Social Media Specialist for their corporate office for a month on Friday. I absolutely love my job, the people I work with, the company I work for and all the things I’m learning and doing every day. I would not have found this job were it not for LinkedIn – and, for that matter, would quite possibly still have been jobless and approaching the holidays. I’ve been encouraging people left and right to get on LinkedIn, whether they are looking for a job or not, and explain to them some of the crazy benefits of using LinkedIn as a professional networking/job connection tool (as well as telling them my story).

Easy-to-print resumes
When you create your profile on LinkedIn, you allow executives who are hiring to potentially see your profile which serves as a resume (job & educational info, skills, etc.). The great part about LinkedIn? There are these wonderful Share, PDF or Print options on each profile which will create a pretty sleek and professional resume format for that viewer to share with their team and review together. If you have LinkedIn, click the PDF option on your profile and check it out – definitely neat. My current employers actually printed my LinkedIn resume before they even spoke to me.

Recommendations
References are a great bonus to any resume, but the beauty of recommendations on LinkedIn is that potential employers could actually check out the profile of the person who recommended you, see what type of capacity you worked together, and it’s all in one place yet again. Requesting and giving recommendations are also as easy as clicking a button and typing it out. Perfect.

Links to everything
Oh, you worked at ABC Company? Well, there are 3 ABC Companies near where you are, so how is a potential employer going to know which one unless you detail the address and then they can go searching for it? LinkedIn allows you to have links to companies, people, etc. right in your profile so there is no mistaking where you worked or went to school – an employer can just click right there!

The power of connections
While it may seem time consuming at first, connecting yourself on LinkedIn with people you have worked with, gone to school with, know personally, etc. can open some great options for you when searching for jobs. You can see who is connected to the company you are applying to and ask for a recommendation or that company could see who you are connected to, which can give you great kudos if they know people that you know.

If you are not on LinkedIn, jump on board. It’s not something you have to drown yourself in or spend hours a day every day checking up on. The best part of LinkedIn is that once you set it up, it pretty much does the work for you. I know people who just check in once a week or once a month and utilize things just fine. I’m currently a daily LinkedIn user mostly for my job, but it’s an excellent resource for news, connections, and (obviously) career opportunities. Hope to connect with you all soon!

I’ve done it again – gone and not posted for over a month. *Shameful*. Nevertheless, I have plenty of fantastic and wonderful things to update you all on!

At the end of the day on September 15th of this year I lost my very stable, comfortable and local job in Nashua. It was so completely unexpected and I was worried about finances and all that jazz. I began collecting unemployment and did everything I could to be ridiculously frugal so that I could still pay my student loans, rent and other bills. From time to time at my church we take time together to declare certain things over our lives – we have a set of PowerPoint slides that we go through and say aloud together which includes things such as thanking the Lord and declaring with Him for jobs and better jobs, benefits, sales, commissions, bills to decrease, blessings and financial increase to name a few. I remember one Sunday we did this and I was nearly in tears. Then that night my ever so wonderful boyfriend, Derek, had me put one hand on my wallet and the other on some of my bills. He asked me to simply pray “Lord, increase this (my wallet hand) and decrease these (my bills hand).” It seemed so silly, but I did it. Over the next month, I was noticing that some of my student loan payments were less than they used to be and I was actually having more money left over in my account each week than I had working full-time previously! It was unbelievable! And God wasn’t finished yet…

Exactly one month from the day I lost my job, I started a new job! I had my first day as the Social Media Specialist for Workplace Essentials in Billerica, MA on October 16th. I can’t even begin to tell you the blessings I have received with this job and working here – a pay raise & crazy awesome benefits are just the tip of the iceberg… And the commute is typically 30 minutes in, 20 minutes out. I will still be able to spend the week of Christmas in South Carolina with my family even though I will not have finished my 90 day probationary period and I have already been guaranteed any amount of time I would like to take off every year for SoulFest. It just seems like life couldn’t get much better than this, right?

Well, not only have I been booked more weddings for the 2012 season than I did all of the 2011 season already, but I received a phone call a week or so ago from one of the lovely ladies at The Knot telling me that I had been selected as one of their Best Of Wedding 2012 photographers! One year officially in the wedding photography business and I have already received an award from the #1 wedding website?! The announcement will be made officially on their website in January but I can share it now and celebrate!!

Seriously, I must be on cloud nine or something… When we pray for blessing and increase, God really knows how to show up big and take care of all the things we could waste time worrying about – so why waste the time on it at all??! : ) I’ve been spending this entire month remembering to be thankful for all the things I have and the things I take for granted. The results have been marvelous… I feel better and God has just been pouring love and blessing on me. Do not forget to be thankful, especially since this time of year is “dedicated” to things like this! It serves as a great reminder each day to be thankful in our every day lives. LOVE IT.

With all that wonderfulness out of the way, here’s what my upcoming plans consist of:

• Thanksgiving with my dad’s side of the family (minus my parents and sisters but plus Derek!) tomorrow in Connecticut
• Black Friday Shopping (duh.)
• 11/29 my dad will be here to visit with me after work for a bit!
• 12/10 photographing a wedding in Massachusetts : )
• 12/16 going to see Quidam by Cirque du Soleil in Worcester after work with Derek!
• 12/17 Christmas party awesomeness and my “family” of world changers will be reunited
• 12/23 flying out to South Carolina in the morning to spend the next week with my family for Christmas!

I am sure I missed something… but this is all the super exciting stuff I’ve got on my brain right now.

As many of you know, I’ve had a lot of free time lately. Generally speaking, any free time that I have had would go into job searching, writing my book, working on things for my wedding business, etc. When I get time where I can actually relax, I tend to choose things to do that aren’t entirely relaxing. My boyfriend gets on my case about this a good bit, reminding me that relaxation is not a synonym for laziness (I have a hard time seeing the difference sometimes). Well, all this free time has been allowing me to look at different ways of relaxing that I would really enjoy. Thanks to the inspirational Facebook postings of my artsy younger sister and an oh-so-crafty childhood friend, I’ve realized just how much I love making things and have started to explore different types of things I would like to make. And it starts with blankets. Yes, friends, I’m going to make some blankets.

Embellished Recycled Sweater Blanket

Cozy Sweater Blanket

I love the idea of recycling sweaters, whether it be some that I currently own or going to thrift stores and finding some. I love checking out Katwise and seeing what she’s done with her recycled sweater coats, dresses and arm-warmers (though I have yet to find one that is quite my style, I still think they are incredibly neat and unique).

I stumbled across this beautiful Embellished Recycled Sweater blanket idea first and got so excited. I mean, can you imagine cozying up under about 20ish sweaters worth of snuggly wonderfulness on your couch on a cold winter day? (Or, in our case here in New Hampshire it could even be a snowy October day – we got 12+ inches of snow last night!)

This may not be the blanket I start with since I have 0 idea how to use a sewing machine, but it is definitely on my list and I will get to it! : )

Tshirt Quilt

Favorite Tshirt Blanket

This may be the blanket that I am most excited to make… I have a ton of tshirts that I love and cherish but either no longer wear or only wear to bed for different reasons. My current plan is actually to make this blanket out of my old tshirts from when I worked at Apple – pretty awesome and exciting, right? I mean, how many people can say they have an Apple blanket, let alone an Apple blanket made out of Apple tees?!

Yes, I know this one also takes a sewing machine, and since I’m in love with this idea a slight bit more than the sweater idea, this blanket will probably be post-sweater blanket so that I can get better at using a sewing machine.

Tie Fleece Blanket

The Snuggliest of Blankets (no sewing!)

This, my friends, will be blanket #1. Why? Because there is absolutely no sewing involved. : ) Tie fleece blankets are really easy to make, comfortable and can look absolutely fantastic. All I’ve got to do is find 2 different fleece fabrics that I like, cut them to size, cut the fringe pieces all around the edges and then start tying. : )

I actually have an Apple fleece blanket from the days when I worked there… Stuart (my 7 year old cat) decided to make it his sleeping pad and now that beautiful navy blue blanket has orange fur all over it no matter how many times it is washed. I’m going to try to stay clear of dark colored fleece fabrics, especially since I now have an 8 week old kitten (Oswald) as well to furritize anything and everything in his path.

Vintage Yellow Chair

My craftiness isn’t going to stop with blankets – this just happens to be one of the things I can share how-tos and images on. I also have plans for rearranging and redecorating a couple rooms in my house, starting with my studio/quiet space. During the Christmas season it is used as a photobooth by friends, family and guests as they come for different parties and occasions, but during the rest of the year it has slowly turned into a storage room – not what it was meant for. I cleared things out yesterday and today I will start putting up the photos, organizing the furniture (it is a small room, but it has a double papasan and the beautiful yellow chair featured at the right in it), and fixing the backdrop curtain. The idea is that the space can double as a small studio and a quiet space for myself and my roommates. I’m pretty excited to see how it all turns out. : )

Bedroom Photo Wall

Then I will be moving on to updating my bedroom. Shortly after I moved in to my apartment in the summer of 2010 I took the time to put together a pretty intense photo wall that I loved. It has been absolutely fantastic, but now I find myself wanting something a bit different for my room. My boyfriend is going to help me with dismantling the wall as I start to figure out what I would like to do, but I have plans to add a piece of furniture (probably some kind of shelving unit) and some wall shelves and decor. My bed is actually already on the opposite wall with some new wall art above it, which I really like. Just need to finish the transformation.

Once I know from my landlord when they are replacing that last window in the picture with a new one (this window is hidden because it is absolutely hideous) I would really like to paint my room. The entire house is the color of my room, so I would love to start changing things starting where I sleep. : )

Well, there you have it – some of my current and upcoming crafty-type projects. I’m sure as I spend more time looking around on the web I will find more to add to my list, but I’m pretty excited about these few. I will keep you all posted on my progress and how things turn out. I would also love to hear about the different crafts and projects you have taken on recently! Tell me all about them – inspire me!

Photo from W2W Soul

Ever have those days where you’re  just not happy with your life. Out of nowhere, you start picking apart every little thing and trying to figure out why it just wasn’t as good as you want it to be. You know exactly the type of day/mood I’m talking about – you don’t like your job because you don’t find it fun or because you don’t feel like you’re doing enough; you don’t like your house because it doesn’t look the way you want or isn’t in a location you really want; you don’t like your car because it doesn’t have a CD player or because it’s not as new as you want; you don’t like yourself because you don’t feel you’re good enough at anything to consider it your “true talent” or you just feel lonely… The list can go on and on. And thinking about all these things that are “not good enough” for you on those days makes you start thinking about how on earth you can fix it all and it quickly becomes completely overwhelming. The only way to fix your life is to get a better job, make more money, buy a house in the country, buy a new car, and completely change who you are by next week because you simply cannot go on living the way you are any longer. And since that’s practically impossible, you just shut down and want to give up. It’s not worth fighting through all these obstacles, so you might as well just surrender and try to keep on living.

Photo from Mike Duran

Giving up is the easiest thing to do, sure. Surrendering seems like the best alternative at the time, I know, but have you ever stopped to think about why you all of the sudden are thinking all of these things? Where did the thoughts come from? You didn’t really feel like that yesterday or last week did you, so why now? And even if you did think that yesterday or last week, what exactly makes you feel that way? For some of you, it definitely may be time for a job change, a new living situation, etc. But before you go spending a bunch of money on something that may not even solve the issue, ask yourself one simply question: what in your life right now gives you joy on a regular basis? (and video games do not count) It is important to have things in your life that bring you joy on a regular basis – and by regular basis, we’re not talking once a year or when they happen randomly. Something consistent. Something real.

Chances are that you couldn’t think of anything too steady considering where your mind was at – if you did, that’s fantastic and you should probably do more of that and see what happens. For those of you who couldn’t really think of anything (and even for those of you who did), it may be time to invest some of your time in something that can bring you joy. And I’ve found that one of the easiest ways to get joy is to give joy to others who need it, one way or another.

Photographer Unknown

 My suggestion is to find a place where you can volunteer your time to give back to your community, to your country, to the world in whatever way you would like. Pick something, give it a try and if you like it, try to make it a regular thing (once a month is a good goal – once a week if you can). If you don’t like it, look for something else and give that a try. I can pretty much guarantee you that you will see joy increase in your life, whether it’s through appreciation for what you have, seeing the smiles on other peoples’ faces that you’ve been helping, making new friends, realizing that your life isn’t all you were thinking it was and that you were just missing something, etc…. There are some amazing opportunities, people and experiences to be had in volunteering your time to give back, and one of the things you will get back is pure joy – that puzzle piece you were missing for a moment there.

Photo from Alicia Kata

Not sure where to look for opportunities to give back? Here are just a few options that come to my mind:

I’m willing to bet you think the Red Cross only needs medical personnel… But this is very far from the case. If you visit the Red Cross Volunteer Match site and search around your location, you will find various opportunities. For those of you living around Nashua, current opportunities include:

• Disaster Action Team (preparing food, clothing and shelter in case of disaster)
• Maintenance Volunteer (janitorial work at a local chapter)
• Youth Services Administrator (work with youth in Red Cross Clubs)
• Community Events Coordinator (help plan fundraising activities, fairs, etc.)
• International Services Intern (working to educate others about fundamental human rights, international affairs, etc.)
• Health & Safety Sales & Marketing Consultant (assist in promotion of health & safety courses)
• Disaster Planning Intern (help plan for and prepare for disasters)
• Office Assistant (front desk and clerical a couple hours per week at a local chapter)
• Volunteer Management Team Member (Manages and coordinates local chapter volunteers)
• Community Disaster Educator (give presentations to groups about ways to prepare for and live through a disaster)

If you have at least 4 hours a month to spare, enjoy working with young people and think you could be a great role model, Big Brothers Big Sisters is definitely an organization to look into. Littles are kids of all ages and backgrounds that do not have an older sibling to look up to – some may only have one parent – and they are striving to find someone to look up to. There are two types of programs – Community-Based Mentoring and Site-Based Mentoring. Community-based mentoring takes place about one hour a week and the Bigs and Littles share time together in their community playing basketball, sharing stories and spending time together. Side-based mentoring takes place about one hour a week in schools, libraries or community centers sharing in the same types of activities. You can learn more about becoming a Big at your local Big Brothers Big Sisters website.

Whether you choose to believe it or not, every town and city has people who live every day without a home, not knowing where they will sleep that night or where they will eat. There are many ways you can help those in your own community who are less fortunate than you, and here are a few ideas:

• Get together any clothing items that you no longer wear (especially shoes and jackets) and bring them to a clothing drop
• Donate canned goods and food items to a local food pantry or soup kitchen
• When I was in college, there was a group that got together on Saturdays I believe and we would make sandwiches and bagged lunches before heading into Boston and giving them out to as many homeless people as we could, taking time to chat with them as well. I wouldn’t say this is for everyone and I would encourage you to only do this with a group during daytime hours, but it was definitely a wonderful experience
• Check in at your local food pantry or homeless shelter to see if they need volunteers. For you Nashua area folks, the Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter is always looking for volunteers and they are open every day of the year. Have a look at their website to see where you can help, including areas such as:
• Sorting donations
• Unloading deliveries
• Preparing foods for evening meals
• Coordinate a food drive in your neighborhood
• Dinner shift help for serving food & beverages, cleaning tables & washing dishes

While there is definitely a need right in your own backyard for food, clothing and shelter, there is also a great need overseas in third world countries – children either abandoned by their parents, orphans of HIV and aids or slowly dying with no way to overcome the poverty that has stricken their whole country. With organizations like Compassion International, you can sponsor a child for as little as $38 per month which gives that child nutritional meals, education, medical aid, the nurturing care of a local church and the message of Jesus. And don’t worry – you’re not just sending your money away with nothing in return. You will receive pictures and letters from your child – and will also be able to write back! Can’t do it on your own? Pair up with some friends! If you would like to see what sponsoring a child can do, simply check out this video and have your tissues ready.

Again, these are just a couple of ideas that come to my mind, but there are so many more ways to give back in your local and international community. What can you give?

I’ve had a variety of different phones through the past 2 years – Palm Centro, Palm Pre, Saumsung Fascinate, iPhone 4… – and it’s fairly obvious to anyone who knows me that the iPhone and I were made for each other. I never thought I could love a phone so much or do so much with a phone, but goodness, am I glad I can! I have about 85 apps currently on my iPhone. 85. I’m sure you think I’m completely insane, but I’ve discovered a whole lot of great apps that I get so excited about, I just walk up to random people and tell them all about this great app I just discovered (I do the same with websites – ask any of my co-workers). With all this app surfing I do to find the best apps for what I need or like to do, I’ve come across some apps that I think everyone should at least know about. So, here I am to share some of those with you – apps that I doubt you’ve got that I think you should get – in categories such as Navigation, Social, Games, Entertainment, Photography and Finance (to skip to a category, just click one of those links).

Navigation

In college, my mom got my younger sister and I a GPS unit to help with our navigation of “the city” (My sister went to college outside of Philadelphia – definite need for a GPS. I went to college in Boston and insisted I would be fine without one, but I was very thankful for it when I got it). And my TomTom was an absolutely wonderful help – until it just stopped turning on or charging when I needed it the most. I took the time to do some research and comparison on GPS apps and found a love for the Garmin StreetPilot. The deciding factor between the TomTom app and the Garmin? The Garmin included live traffic updates for free whereas it was a paid service through TomTom – plus it had better reviews.
App Cost: $59.99 one time.

Social

I tend to upload a lot of pictures to Facebook from my phone, and when uploading more than one photo it gets pretty tedious since the iPhone will only let you do one at a time… A friend of mine introduced me to iLoader Lite and it is a definite must have. I can now upload multiple photos at a time. Simple, but oh so important!
App Cost: Free

Games

Okay, I never thought I would be that kid who had a lot of games on their phone, but I really have a good number of games… My top favorites would have to be Flight Control (you are the air traffic controller handling multiple incoming aircrafts and with your finger you show them the path to land without crashing – sounds simple and lame, but it’s super fun), Sky Burger (each level you are given an order with a certain number of ingredients to add and by tilting your phone, you are to catch all the needed ingredients before catching a top bun – seriously addicting) and either Words with Friends or Wordfeud (both of which are free versions of Scrabble that you can play with your friends who have the app or who use it on Facebook).

Flight Control - App Cost: $0.99
 

Sky Burger – App Cost: Free
   

Words with Friends and Wordfeud – App Costs: Free
 

Entertainment

As far as movies go, even when I’m on my computer and I want to see when a movie is playing and where, I hop on Fandango – you can browse multiple theaters, see prices as well as the times and you can even purchase your tickets online for some theaters right then and there. Definitely saved my having to wait in line a few times when I was in Boston.
App Cost: Free

Photography

Okay… I have a lot of photo apps to share since I love pictures so much, so bare with me.

My absolute favorite photo apps are a tagteam – Fotolr Camera & Fotolr PhotoStudio.

I started with Fotolr Camera after being somewhat disatisfied with the Instagram app – I really wanted to see the effects before I took the picture… And Fotolr Camera lets you do that. You can choose from lens options like LOMO, Pop Art, Mirror, Old Photo (my fav), Sepia, Rainbow and more as well as choosing the type of film you use such as Die Cut, Film Style, Doodle, Black Borders and more to give your photo a neat edge or texture effect. As mentioned, my favorite part is that you can see what the photo will look like before you take it – and then you can upload directly to Facebook, Twitter, etc. The one thing to be aware of is that Fotolr Camera takes a little bit less of the frame then what you will see when it takes the photo, so give yourself a little extra room.
App Cost: Free

Fotolr PhotoStudio was an additional download I made when there were photos I had taken with the regular iPhone camera app (or even with the Fotolr Camera app) that I wanted to jazz up some more on my phone. Crop, rotate, resize, doodle, change brightness/contrast, add color effects like you can in Fotolr Camera, add text (with lots of different fonts!!), and top it all off by adding a frame/texture or putting your photo into one of about 40+ different scenes. And again, you can upload or send straight away to popular social networks or text messages.
App Cost: Free

I’ve always wanted a way to shoot cool panoramic shots – especially 360s (love). While working with SoulFest this summer, my friend Kenny was taking some panoramas on his iPhone and they were unbelievable. I asked what app he was using and he just says DerManDar. I know, right? Strange name, but this is a free app and the quality and ease is absolutely stunning. You just hold up your phone, press Start and it takes picture #1, then just keep moving and as it gets to the end of the next shot, it will take it automatically as you rotate until you click Finish. Then it stitches it all together and the stitching is nearly flawless. 180s, 360s, whatever you would like!
App Cost: Free

These last two photo apps are discoveries within the last week. One thing I really disliked about my iPhone’s camera is that I was terrible at holding it in a way that I could take a good picture of me or my friends and get us all in the way I wanted. What I really needed was a self timer… So, I did some searching and found just.SelfTimer which I will admit I spent a little too much time having fun with when I first got it on my phone. Set spans of 3, 5 or 10 seconds and the screen will actually count down for you once you click the camera button. All images are saved right in your gallery! Best discovery of the week for sure.
App Cost: Free

I’m a collage fan – I like to find neat ways of putting pictures together, but usually it’s in more of a presentation way than pictures on top of pictures. I had wanted a way to put multiple pictures into one neat, framed image on my phone and discovered a love for Pic Stitch. Choose from a variety of different layouts to include 2, 3 or 4 photos. Rotate, flip, change color (b&w, sepia or regular color only), change the size of the final document, and export directly to Facebook, email or your phone’s gallery. I partnered it with Fotolr PS for some little text additions and was having waaaay too much fun. : )
App Cost: Free

Finance

Before my iPhone (and a long line of could-have-been phones from Palms to Droids) I had a Samsung Fascinate and was trying to find a way to keep track of my bills and finances and all that jazz. While Mint had been mentioned to me over and over, I was really looking for something more basic that would just pull in all my bank accounts into one location as well as my main bills. Thus the discovery of Pageonce that has now been moved to my iPhone (yes, this is available in BOTH platforms!!). On one page, I can see a summary of all my bank accounts, all my bills due, my investments (which I have 0 of right now) and my credit card debt (also which I have 0 of). If I tap any of these categories, I can see the breakdown by account and even open up to see the latest transactions. Even my student loans are listed in here for me – love this. Very easy to keep track of, and there is a web component if interested. The app will also show you reports of where your money is going and more if you are interested. I still might check out Mint when I’m looking for something more in-depth, but I love Pageonce… So simple and quick.
App Cost: Free

I’m a proud ING user. My savings account and my business account are housed with ING and I have nothing but the highest praise for how they conduct their banking business. Thus their award for my favorite bank app, though it’s not really even for the bank – it’s for finding ATMs with the ING Free ATM Finder app. Search by current location or type in an address and up pops a map that you can zoom in on and select a location where there is a free ING ATM. Very handy. : )
App Cost: Free

So there you have it – my favorite apps on my iPhone that I think you should know about. What are your favorite apps? Any you think everyone should know about? And what about you Droid users – care to share?

We all have our own paces in life. Some people just take things as they come, figuring out the next step as they make it. Others plan things far in advance and know each step they are going to take 5 steps before they even take it. Some people keep their calendar free and clear to do a little of this and that here and there while others just fill up every available space they have with something to do. If you haven’t figured it out already, I’m one of those girls that likes to stay busy. I have a full-time job, run my own wedding photography/planning business, sing with the worship team at my church, work with the management team for a multi-day music festival in the summer, spend time working on a book that I plan to publish in the next year and still find time to have a social life (which includes awesome get-togethers like the now annual Christmas party that is coming up – so excited). I just came out of my first official wedding season in which I had a wedding every weekend from May 31-July 16 and then went straight from a one week vacation in the south to a week running a music festival. I keep busy. And I love it – I love always having some project to work on and accomplish.

We all have these journeys we go on – whether it’s something as simple as heading out to work/school, hunting for a job, starting a business or getting married and buying a house. We all have our quests like that of Dorothy and her misfit friends making their way down the yellow brick road to their endpoint – the Emerald City. I typically have multiple quests going on at the same time so my road is rather multicolored, but what happens when you run out of road? Sometimes you get to a place where there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to go, nothing more to be done and you feel lost and stuck…

This is where I have been finding myself lately – so many quests I’m on and trying to get to the endpoint but all of my roads have suddenly stopped and there is no way to turn – and it is a terrible feeling… I was finding myself sinking into some level of misery, feeling trapped and like I would never be able to accomplish all these things I was working on previously… I didn’t know how to get from A to B so that I could get to C… Everything had just sort of stopped and I don’t know what to do with lack of motion…

So what do we do in times like these? I did what most do eventually – I complained to friends. A couple of my dearest friends heard an awful lot of me talking about feeling stuck and hopeless and trapped and useless. And I did – I know so many of you have been there. What we don’t really expect is for our friends to tell us exactly what we need to hear and not necessarily what we want to hear. Here’s how it played out for me:

Me: Whine whine whine, complain complain, I’m stuck in this and I’ve been trying so hard but I have no idea how to get out… It’s just so discouraging…

Friend #1: Well, as you’re telling me this I just keep hearing that verse that says “be still and know that I am God.” Maybe you just need to be still?

Me: Baaaaah. I’m not good at being still!

A few hours later in a completely separate conversation about the exact same issues…

Me: Whine whoa is me complain, I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong… I have no idea how to go anywhere to accomplish these things I want to accomplish and do these things I want to be doing whine complain.

Friend #2: Maybe this is one of those times the Bible talks about where you need to be still and know that He is God and that He is in control.

Me: ALRIGHT ALREADY! I get it God, but I’m terrible at being still!

Friend #2: Don’t worry, I’m sure He’ll help you with that, too!

There comes a time when we really do just need to be still. A lot of the time when we start to see all the things we love that God has planned for us, we get ahead of ourselves and try to make them happen faster or our way. We get to what appears to be the end of our Yellow Brick Road and we start laying our own bricks and then wonder why it’s either taking so long or why it isn’t going where we thought it would be going… Dorothy didn’t build the yellow brick road… She followed it. And it brought her right to where she needed to be, even if there were a few bumps and turns in the road. If you want to get to the places God has destined you for, don’t try to get there on your own. He is the one who will set the bricks into place on your yellow brick road and get you to the end of your journey. Don’t waste time trying to lay the bricks yourself. If you ever find yourself in that place, just be still, know that He is God and He will take care of the rest – yellow bricks and all.

Tony’s Tiger Bites

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package (10 oz) regular sized marshmallows (or 4 cups of mini marshmallows)
• 1/4 cup margarine or butter
• 1/3 cup peanut butter (though I usually put almost 1/2 because I LOVE peanut butter)
• 7 1/2 cups of Frosted Flakes cereal (store brand will work fine)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter & marshmallows on low to medium heat, stirring often until completely melted
2. Add in peanut butter and stir until completely mixed and smooth
3. Add in frosted flakes and carefully start mixing together (I usually keep the burner on its lowest setting just to make sure the marshmallows don’t start to solidify too quick). It’s okay to crush some of them as you stir.
4. Once completely mixed, place in thoroughly greased 13×9 inch pan and spread around evenly.
5. Let cool 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

The recipe says this makes 16 servings, but the serving sizes I make usually makes it more like 12 servings like in the picture above. Enjoy my favorite snack, friends!

BEST GROOMSMEN

Francovitch Wedding in Devon, PA
These guys were the most fun to photograph. It can be hard to be completely yourself in front of the camera and be entirely comfortable hamming it up and having a blast while someone is watching you behind a lens. Not true for Tommy & his fantastic group of groomsmen.

Rarely do I find myself in a position where I have to move the camera away from my eye because I am laughing so hard I can’t see straight. Bravo to you, gentlemen, for being completely comfortable with who you are. It was a blast capturing these photos of you! You guys were so awesome I just had to post three photos of you. : )

BEST SPORTS

Pickett Wedding in Virginia Beach, VA
A wedding on the beach in Virginia Beach in April is a guarantee for some absolutely amazing shots, right? Well it really all depends on the couple and the bridal party… Especially when the weather is less than ideal. You wouldn’t know it by these shots, but it was about 40 degrees on the day of Lee & Krista’s wedding.

The bridal party totally sucked it up for the photos and you really can’t tell that they were absolutely freezing. Well… until you look at this precious moment when the happy couple’s feet first met the ocean… You guys were so committed and so trusting. Thank you for your endurance through the cold and positive attitudes! You guys are great!

HAPPIEST FAMILY

Iacono Wedding in Lowell, MA
Tim & Darlene had been together since high school and their sweet little girl Kya was probably the most excited about her parents finally getting married. You could tell throughout the day that Tim & Darlene didn’t want the focus to be their day – it was their family’s big day. It’s always fantastic to see two best friends become husband and wife. And as Tim & Darlene will tell you, it was about time. You three are a phenomenal family and the love you share for each other is so precious. Kya is one lucky girl. : )

MOST EXCITED TO BE MARRIED

Galucki Wedding in Nashua, NH
I have seen my fair share of happy couples. I have seen brides and grooms so excited to finally be husband and wife. I have never seen two people more excited than Steve & Manaseh. It was absolutely adorable, overwhelming and completely electric to see the two of them during the ceremony… You could tell the two of them just wanted the prayer to end so they could kiss and be pronounced husband and wife. You both are absolutely wonderful and your marriage is so blessed. Thanks for allowing me to be the one to capture all your absurdly cuteness. : )

BEST PROPS

Chaney Wedding in Alton, NH
Some of the cutest ideas from a bridal party came at Nick & Anna’s wedding – umbrellas & rain boots for the ladies. Straight up classy. Not to mention the gorgeous train caboose on site that made for some gorgeous photos of the bride & groom. Thanks for letting me photograph the wedding of the other twin, Nick & Anna! I’m so glad I was able to photograph your family again!

CUTEST MOMENT

Cutting the “Cake” – Galucki Wedding in Nashua, NH
Partially to save money and partially because Manaseh loves them so much, the cake at the Galucki wedding was actually ice cream sandwiches for all. When the time came for the newlyweds to cut their cake, an ice cream sandwich with two cute newlywed bears on top was brought out on a plate with a knife. Steve & Manaseh took their time carefully cutting the ice cream sandwich in half before feeding each other, taking the appropriate amount of ice cream and putting it on the other’s face. Cutest thing I’ve seen to date.

BEST DANCERS

Bridal Party – Francovitch Wedding in Devon, PA
Most couples will go to a few dance lessons before their wedding just to make sure they don’t look like complete silliness on their wedding day. No need for Tommy & Jess nor a majority of their bridal party as they happened to have been a part of their college’s swing club since their freshmen year. Many of the attendants were swing dancers as well and there was even a quick swing dance lesson prior to the reception during the cocktail hour so that guests could have an opportunity to learn and have just as much fun. It was crazy awesome.

Those are just some of the amazing memories and moments at this year’s wedding season and next year is already starting to fill up (save your date now!). It was an absolute privilege to work with each and every single one of the couples that I worked with this year. I got to see my childhood best friend marry the absolute best man for her, my younger sister be a gorgeous maid of honor in the wedding of her two best friends, meet an absolutely wonderful couple and their sweet daughter with a beautiful story, come back to photograph a wedding for the twin sister of a previous client (and good friend), and see two of the most passionate and Christ-centered people I have ever met finally become husband and wife. And with that, I will leave you with some of my other favorite photos from the year. Thank you all!

And this photo isn’t from a wedding I photographed, but it is one I took at a wedding I attended. And it was just too wonderful to not share.