I would love to nominate Kari Bradford for the Running on Empty spot. Throughout the past several months I have gotten to know Kari as she has attended our local women’s photographer group, and she has never failed to inspire me with her smiles, optimism, and faith, in spite of challenges and big life changes. In the past 14 months, Kari has welcomed her first baby, transitioned into being a stay-at-home mom, suffered a miscarriage, and is now pregnant again…. needless to say, that’s a lot of upheaval and stress for just over one year! She has faced the gamut of joy, loss, love, and grief in the past year … but with a seemingly indomitable spirit. Whenever I see her, her smile is leading the way, and the beauty of her heart really shines through. She simply glows!

Kari is also one of the least self-centered people I know. She always has a kind word for others, she volunteers time with the local fire department and church in spite of her busy family life, and pours herself into her marriage and baby, too. With all that the last year has brought, there hasn’t been a lot of time for Kari to focus on herself, and I think she is well deserving of a weekend to indulge herself with a special time of learning and fellowship with other women.

I would love to see Kari be blessed with a spot at the Confidence Workshop. She has been one of the most faithful participants in our local monthly photography meet-ups, and she always seeks to not only increase her skills but also to serve as an encourager to the other ladies who attend, even inviting others from the community to join us so we can learn more together. I know that Kari would benefit greatly from the Confidence Workshop as she is just starting her photography journey, and I think she embodies all that a Running on Empty winner should: eagerness to learn photography mixed with perseverance and hope even in the midst of challenging circumstances. And even more, I think every attendee would benefit from getting to know her and having her in your workshop: her spirit is contagious and could only be an asset.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and put myself out there …and nominate myself. This is the third time I’ve been nominated by someone or nominated myself. So I’m hoping this time is my turn. I’ve said before, and I’ll say again: I’m not nominating myself because I’m more deserving than others, because anyone who is called “Momma” is just as deserving as the rest of us. Every woman who spends her day pouring into the lives of little ones who are utterly dependent on her for their well-being and livelihood is hard working, and is amazing and wonderful, and “deserves” a break for a few moments. All I can do is share my story and hope that it catches the hearts of others who would allow me the opportunity to have that break this time.
I am a mom. I’m a tired mom. Running on empty does not even begin to describe my constant state of being. In fact, just last night I dropped into bed somewhere around midnight in tears, from my utter exhaustion. And honestly dreading the thought that I wouldn’t get a full night sleep, yet had to get up and do it all over again in 7 or so hours… I said to myself, I just would love to have a few moments where nobody is dependent on me, and I can just BREATHE. I am completely empty and when a bucket is empty, how does it fill all the other buckets around that have deep need of constant filling? I have 5 little buckets in my life. 5 boys, 5 years old and younger. I have 2 sets of twin boys and just gave birth to my 5th little love bucket a month ago. (He’s even nursing as I type this… how’s that for multi-tasking?!) When I brought the baby home, we had 5 boys under 5 years old! The fact that I have 2 sets of twin boys and also an infant is not in any way a negative in my mind, it’s just busy and tiring, and a little overwhelming at times. But I’m amazingly grateful that I have been entrusted with these 5 little buckets.
Our story has been one that has been filled with difficulty and hard times, as many others can claim as well, however we have been blessed with healthy, happy and whole children. We don’t have any stories of loss or trauma or overwhelming life circumstances, and for that reason, sometimes I feel like my story could be discounted among the stories of others who have had those painful life events, and who may be “more deserving” of an opportunity like this one. Our difficulty has been more about life throwing “challenges” at us; such as job loss in a down economy, a move across the country leaving all of our family behind, and very stressful financial circumstances; and it was our job to make the most out of what we were given. And we’ve tried our hardest to make the most of it all.
As you can imagine, my days are full to the brim from sun up to sun down (and from sons up to sons down! 😉 ) I drown in piles of laundry and dishes which are stacked up to my eyeballs. Most days I don’t get a chance to stop for lunch, use the restroom, take a shower or even brush my teeth. I feel like I’m in a constant state of overwhelm, hoping and wishing that I could just have a little bit of time to myself, rather than answering 5, 762 questions per hour, being tugged at, climbed on, whined to and spit-up on. I just would like some time to get my bucket filled up so that I can continue to pour into the lives that I have been entrusted with.
So I’m humbly asking, for this opportunity to come, and sit with some other adults, to learn from a couple whom my husband and I deeply respect and admire, and to get a little quiet for a few days, and maybe a little rest too, and get MY bucket filled. And if you choose me, I promise to take a shower, to wear clean clothes that do not smell like spit-up and I promise to brush my teeth! 😉

Sounds like some thing lots of baby boomers should study. The feelings of neglect are there in numerous levels when a single is more than the hill.

I nominate Kari Bradshaw for the “Running on Empty” CONFIDENCE workshop spot. As her husband, I completely vouch for and agree with the kind words Sara has written. Having been married to Kari for nearly five years now, I can’t think of a more deserving person. She has always been an incredible woman, and I have been so privileged to watch her grow into an amazing wife and exceptional mother. Through so much pain and adversity, she always comes through, stronger on the other side of it.

The fact that she continues to put up with my shenanigans after five years alone merits a medal, however; that fact is minute in contrast to the amount of sacrifice with her time, her energy, and her finances she willingly puts forth with a smile.

Kari’s passion for family and photography is undeniable, just looking at her Facebook photo page of pictures shows thousands of photos and that only scratches the surface of the total number of photographs she takes. I know life is stressful right now with baby number two on the way and everything else going on. I would love more than anything for Kari to be blessed with a spot at this workshop and feel that it could be the exact “rejuvenation factor” that she needs.

Thank you,
-Bo Bradshaw

As awkward as it feels, I would like to nominate myself, Kari Bradshaw, for this opportunity. I am a mom of a 15 month old rambunctious boy and 14 weeks pregnant today with baby #2! Photography is a passion of mine though I know very little about it. I’ve taken workshops at local camera stores and have recently (last year) joined a local photography group hosted by a friend of mine from church who has gone to your workshops and recommends you very highly. I’ve read your books from the library and follow your blog and love what you’re about! I don’t have a big, long, sad, story, I’m just a regular mom. I stay home with my son because that is important to our family. I clip coupons, share one vehicle and try to do whatever I can to save our family some money. I maintain the house, laundry, food, cooking, all the things moms just do. We recently suffered the loss of a pregnancy which was devastating for us but brought our family together and closer to God and we are excited to meet our angel in Heaven someday. We’ve also recently dealt with the stress of my husband switching jobs. I am tired but do my best to keep up with my 2 boys (husband and son) and our cat to try to make our home a comfortable, inviting place of peace for my family and guests who visit. It’s my passion to capture my family’s everyday moments and create memories out of those for us to cherish forever. I would LOVE to learn more about the mechanics of my camera in a way that I can understand and utilize and find ways to get the best everyday pictures of my family just hanging out in our home. You’re philosophy of ‘refuse to say cheese’ is the biggest thing I’ve learned so far that has impacted my photo taking! I love the candid shots of laughter, joy, even tears and try to make myself unseen when taking my pictures so I can get true, intimate feelings in my shots. I’ve attempted to shoot in manual mode and have done so successfully 1 or 2 times but don’t understand very much to be able to do it daily since I try to capture moments very quickly before they pass. Thank you so much for this opportunity!!

My mom is an awesome woman. I think she should win. Besides being my mom, and putting up with my 3 sisters and I, she has had a rough three years. She has been married to my dad for 30 years now. After so long, his issues are her issues. My dad was diagnosed with Stage IV B colon cancer three years ago. Ever since then most every appointment he has brings more and more bad news, the last appointment in Nov. bearing news that one round of chemo for my dad wasn’t enough and he would have to have more because while the mets in his liver and one lung shrunk the one in his other lung got bigger. Mets that keep appearing in pretty much the same spot even with surgeries. (That news came the week before Thanksgiving when he had surgery; during surgery his lung kept collapsing, and he had painful surgical complications so my mom had to take him to the ER two times the week of Thanksgiving.) His next appointment is in March and I know she is on pins and needles. If he dies he won’t be sick anymore but she will still be here and be alone and have to go out and work for the first time in 27+ years.

Aside from that, when she was taking my youngest sister back to school in VA in August she fell and broke her ankle in three places. She was still walking kind of funny when I saw her in Dec. at Christmas. So my dad was laid up with chemo, and she was laid up with her ankle, and it was just them sitting on the couch all alone in the house. I think she misses the distraction our schedules were.

I get the feeling her birthday a few weeks ago was just mediocre. So much so that in a few weeks I am excited to visit and help her with household tasks as my late birthday gift to her. And get some photos of her and my dad for his birthday gift (Mother’s and Father’s Day gifts).

She looks different. If anyone needs this it is my mom. I just barely nominated her, and I have yet to check her schedule and see if she can come where she likes to go with and be with my dad on his chemo weeks…if she can’t come would it be possible for her to get the provided study materials.

I would like to nominate my lovely wife, Jennifer Kreutzer, for this amazing opportunity. She is such an incredible wife, and mother to our 8 children, ranging from 17 months to 20 years old. She loves and cares for all 9 of us around the clock and is very passionate about photography. She is completely self-taught and can only ever carve out a few moments of late night reading to improve her skills, and yet her photography continually grows more and more stunning. It is such a blessing to have so many amazing family pictures and know that we will have them to remember our childrens’ younger years well into the future. She has also been invited to volunteer her time to shoot lacrosse pictures for soundlacrosse.com, a collaborative website of Seattle area high school lacrosse pictures by professional and serious amateur photographers.

Jennifer has been a huge fan of Me Ra Koh’s for many years and has asked each and every one of those years if there’s any way we could possibly get her to one of her workshops. She has continued to ask even though she knows the sad truth is that with the cost of living for a family of 10 on a single income, the answer year in and year out is that we just can’t afford it. It breaks my heart not to be able to fulfill this dream of hers, but the reality is that with bills, tuition, ballet lessons, sports and medical expenses along with everyday living expenses, there just never is enough left in the budget to make it happen. She even recently sold and downgraded her camera body and both of her lenses, for the second time, just so that we could get caught up on bills and buy birthday presents for our kids.

There are so many moms out there who would deserve this gift, but when I see the sacrifices Jennifer makes for our family every day, I can’t help but think she should be at the top of that list. She would be incredibly blessed by the opportunity to be among you all at the workshop, and I would be eternally grateful that by your generosity her dream could become a reality. Thank you so much for considering her.