{The Rosie Network~ Andrea Gallagher Photography}

I have been afforded so many amazing opportunities since I began my photography business but I think this is one that from the onset has just really touched my heart! 

The two ladies you see in the top left corner of this photo; Jill and Stephanie have created an amazing resource for Military Spouses that I have been able to be a part of! 

The Rosie Network Inc is similar to what would be Angie's List for Military spouses and what they are doing is nothing short of incredible for those that have come on board!

Each one of these ladies has their own business which they are highly passionate about and the products and services they offer are incredible! 

Mandy ~ from Garage 36 {top Right} specializing in furniture revitalization  

Peggy ~ {Bottom Middle} of Salon Cabana offers facials, waxing, and many other services

Jessica ~ {Bottom Right} of J Hill Interior Designs specializing in Interior Design Makeover Projects 

Me ~ Bottom left! {Photo Credit my lovely Daughter} 

Please check out each one of these amazing businesses and it was an absolute pleasure to work with all of them and capture them in their element for their business head shots!

All the best in your business ventures to each of you and also keep an eye out for more exciting news about this in an upcoming National Media Publication! 

{Make-A-Wish ~ San Diego | Hotel Del Coronado}

One of my favorite things and also the biggest blessing with my photography is when I get a chance to give back. I had the amazing experience to partner with a team of photographers to offer Family Portrait sessions to over 30 Make-A-Wish Families! 

Make-A-Wish San Diego set up shop right on the beach in front of the Hotel Del and each family came and was paired with a photographer to complete their 20min mini session! 

The day was just an overwhelmingly humbling experience to meet these families and find out some of what their children are facing and also what their 'Wishes' were and if they had been granted yet! 

More on that in the future but I have to say that this was one of the best experiences I have had so far with using my gifts for good and blessing others in the process! I hope these photos will be a sweet reminder of our time together and your families and your children will be in my heart and prayer for a lifetime! 

xoxo

Carson and His Family! 

These two boys were just so sweet and handsome!

Absolutely Amazing couple had such a good time with them! 

Isabella and Her Family! 

Bella was dressed just like her sister and Love this sweet shot of those two;) 

This is such a cute shot with Bella bc all her siblings were behind me coaxing her to smile! Mission Accomplished! 

Giving Back~MISSION Focused

When I was asked to partner with MISSION Focused to offer Free Photo Sessions for Military Families I was thrilled to have a chance to give back to those who sacrifice so much for our country. Some of these families may not otherwise have the opportunity or means to have professional photos taken without the help and support of MISSION Focused.

MISSION Focused is a non profit organization who's mission is "to use the power of photography for God's Glory" 

This past Saturday MISSION Focused assembled a group of photographers with the goal of blessing Military Families in San Diego and that is exactly what happen! 

36 Families representing 3 branches of our Military; Navy, Marine, and Army were photographed for FREE! Families were paired up with a photographer when they arrived and photographed in 15 min mini sessions in and around Liberty Station Grounds in Point Loma. 

These are the two beautiful families I photographed that day and I hope you enjoy their little sessions! 

Thank you for all that you do in serving our country! 

This was my favorite from their session :)

I loved the boys red hair with the fall colors popping in the background! 

Mom and her boys :) 

This shot was very special, their mother wanted to recreate the photo of the old brother (framed right) and have their littlest son with the same shirt and pose for their father because they look so much alike at this age! 

This was my favorite shot from this session!

Daddy and Mommy with the babies :) 

These two were so adorable! 

And two more family shots for 2012!

{How To Be An Everyday Philanthropist~ April}

April~ Use Your Talents

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.' " ~ Erma Bombeck

This is the April edition of a year long goal to practically live out a philanthropic way of life. I am accomplishing this with the help and instruction of  Nicole Bouchard Boles book~ "How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist" The book is a great read in and of itself and oddly enough the beginning of this chapter highlighted a story of a man; Mario Betto, who styles hair for a living and has 'turned that skill into a force for good'. The book goes on to say; "His philosophy is simple: If people don't feel good about themselves, they won't be able to face life's challenges with confidence." So Mario start a nonprofit called Hairstylists for Humanity offering free haircuts to the homeless and other low income people.

I was blown away by this and thus my very own amazing stylist for years, the lovely the endlessly talented Martha Ramirez was recuited (very willingly) to use her amazing gift to bless my friend Regina with a brand new look!! This is a glimpse into how easy it can be to give back and use your talent to make a difference, even if it's one hair cut and color at a time :) 

Martha has worked as a stylist in top salon's in Europe and currently works in and around the San Diego Area while being a devoted wife and mother, she is my kind of girl<3 She can be reached @ hairdone4u2@yahoo.co.uk

Martha hard at work...

Martha complets the cut by blow drying and styling Regina's new look! 

As a side note, Martha introduced me to this stuff and it is amazing, totally changes the texture of corse and over processed hair. 

The Adorable Miss G with Mama:) 

Regina opted for a side swept bang to complete her look!

Ta Da! Fantastic new look in an afternoon and fresh new hair always makes you feel like a new person!

Special thanks to Regina and Martha for being a part of this installment!!

{How To Be An Everyday Philanthropist~ March}

March~ Use Your Computer

So we are a little behind but better late than never right! :) Welcome to those of you who are just joining us!! At the beginning of this year I set a personal goal as a mother to instill the importance of philanthropy by doing simple and easy projects with my two oldest children.  

 In all honesty I had picked up a copy of 

 Nicole Bouchard Boles book~ "How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist"  a year or so before and had never followed through with really using this amazingly helpful guide! So 2012 is the year! I decided to designate each chapter for a month in the year and use one of the suggested strategies in the corresponding chapter to highlight the importance of philanthropy in real hands on ways. 

So March was 'use your computer' which was a very fun and easy way to give back without even leaving our home. My kids are constantly trying to haggle with me for computer time and this was a total win-win for all.  

 This is our photo journal of completing our March challenge and another valuable lesson that giving back can be fun, easy, and even educational!

{Links below for fun and easy click-to-donate sites so take a look!}

The kids choose the site FreeRice.com to start with where you can learn while you give back! The kids were tested on everything from Math, to German, to Flags from around the world and had a blast watching their rice pile up! For each answer they got right 10 grains of rice were donated to the United Nations World Food Program.

The kids actually worked together answering questions and helping each other without fighting which made the experience even better! 

They even took turns being the one to 'click' the right answer to earn the rice;)

By the time we had to leave for school that morning the kids had earned over 1,000 grains of rice for the needy and hungry people around the world; now that is a hugely rewarding endeavor for any child to be a part of and I know we will continue to frequent this site and others for years to come!

If you are looking for fun and interactive ways to help your kids learn to give back here are a few that are listed in the book!

Click-To-Donate
CharityClickDonation.com
HungryChildren.com
Care2.com
TheLiteracySite.com
TheAnimalRescueSite.com
TheRainforestSite.com

This is just a few of the many helpful links listed in the book.
For your own copy of How To Be an Everyday Philanthropist by Nichole Bouchard Boles: {'Click' Here :) }

 

{How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist ~ February}

February~ Use Your Family

If you are just joining us on our year long journey this is a glimpse into one of my personal goals to instill the importance of philanthropy into my two oldest children through easy and simplistic ways.  

 To accomplish our goal we are using

 Nicole Bouchard Boles book~ "How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist"  as our guide and we will use one of the suggested strategies in the corresponding chapter for that month. For previous posts please see {here and here}

February was 'use your body' and the kids choose to do "Hands-On Service" so we searched a local non profit through the Volunteer San Diego website. I pursued several orginazations and found that younger children were very limited in their ability to serve and then we came upon the San Diego Food Bank who had very flexible volunteer age requirements of 6 and up which was wonderful!  

 This is our photo journal of completing our volunteer service at the Food Bank and another valuable lesson about giving back to the community and the importance of philanthropy! 

We arrived at the food bank ready to work, signed in with the front desk, and met Ian McHenry who helped show us our job for the day!

Ian was great with the kids and took time to explain their job of sorting non perishable food items into their specific categories 

We got started by pulling items from the main bins...

Checking the expiration dates...

and then taking the items and placing them in boxes set up on the outer perimeter which were designated with specific categories.

While at the food bank I realized that we were sorting some of the food drive items from our local grocer; Von's, which we had donated so I explained to the kids one of them could be ours and now were we here sorting them on their second stop before distribution to needy families which I thought was really great! 

The kids both worked really hard and with the help of our other volunteers we did over 10 pallets with thousands of food items for needy people!!

The day ended with a stop in the food banks gigantic freezer that was minus 15 below which the kids loved!  I want to say a huge thank you to the San Diego Food bank and employees for all the hard work done each day for our community and for the amazing experience at their facility which really inspired my children and encourage them on their journey to becoming everyday philanthropists!! 

{How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist ~ January}

January~ Use Your Body

This year one of my personal goals is to encourage my two oldest children to partner with me in a year long quest to give back. My previous post {here} will shed more light on this:) 

We are using

 Nicole Bouchard Boles book~ "How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist"  as our guide to achieve this. 

We choose to designate a chapter for each month in 2012; and each one offers different ways you can give back. For January~Chapter 1, it dealt with using your body. Their were many suggestions and strategies listed so I encouraged the kids to agree on one that was special to them. 

The kids both agreed that they wanted to plant a tree as a way of giving back to our environment! 

So here is the Journey of completing our first months task and learning how to give back; even if in small ways, and hopefully along the way instilling the importance of philanthropy! 

We read through the chapter and Treven and Ava decided that Planting a Tree was our months goal! 

We arrived at our local Nursery to pick out our tree!

We asked for help in choosing a local variety that would grow in our area well.

After scanning the aisles the kids both choose a Sugar Tree, quite possibly for the name alone:) 

We went inside and researched more about the specifics our new tree would need so that we gave it the best possible home.

We even made a new friend while giving back; Butterscotch

After purchasing our tree we headed home to water and care for it for a week before planting.




The Big Day!! {Take two}
We had attempted to plant the tree prior to this occasion but only to find out that in our hurry to beat the setting sun we had forgotten our tiny shovel after arriving. It really was a blessing in disguise because it would have taken us forever to dig with that tiny thing!! haha
So I borrowed two shovels and we were back on track a few days later! 

Headed to our location to plant our tree!

The kids picked a spot they liked and got to work digging the hole

With the tree securely in it's new home the kids made sure to give it lots of water

Mission accomplished! Tree Planted!

Treemert <3

This was a wonderful experience and even with bumps along the way, some bickering, and issues with trying to find the time to accomplish what we set out to do; by the end of it the kids were so happy and proud they named their tree "Treemert" and decided to come and water and visit it every Monday:)