Mommin' It Up since 2004!
Kate’s 9th birthday was Monday.
Ninth.
That seems so old. She’s halfway to 18, a thought that’s quite disturbing to me.
Andy and I were reminiscing about her first few days, and it seems like yesterday and forever ago all at the same time.
“We had no idea what we were doing,” I told Andy, as we remembered.
In a lot of ways, we still don’t. But we’ve wound up with one amazing kid. She’s smart and kind and funny and I am so, so proud of her.
Happy birthday, baby girl.
As you may remember, after much consideration, last spring we adopted a dog.
Jenny implored me not to do it (if you haven’t read this post, read it now. It’s a Mommin’ It Up classic. Go ahead, I’ll wait.) But we did it anyway.
After a year of dog ownership, I must admit…
I do not get it.
Why people would choose to have a dog in their house is beyond me. The hair, the farts, the poop (the fact that the freaking dog caused me to use those awful words!!!) – it’s disgusting. Not to mention the fact that we are now THAT HOUSE – you know, the one you go to and innocently ring the doorbell only to be accosted by a barking dog? Yeah, that’s us. Yay.
But what about the affection, the love, the joy the dog has brought to my life?
I’ve found none of that. NONE. The dog and I co-exist, and that’s the extent of our relationship. I cognitively understand that many, many people experience these things, I just don’t. And it’s not that he’s a bad dog – he doesn’t mind being in his crate for hours on end, he’s never (knock on wood) had an accident in our house, and he doesn’t chew on anything but his tennis balls.
The problem is that he’s a dog.
And I’m not a fan of dogs.
I guess what I’m saying is, Jenny was right all along.
This post on making a difference in the world through your own photography is brought to you by Johnson & Johnson and The Motherhood, who sent me a box of products and compensated me for my time. Opinions, experiences and photos shared here are all my own, and I hope you enjoy them.
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I take about 320 pictures a day on my iPhone. Who’s with me? Ok, so maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but I certainly use my camera app daily! I’m sure many of you do, too, and that’s why I’m excited to tell you about a way to use those pictures to make a difference in the world.
To encourage consumers to live well while doing good, the Johnson & Johnson family is introducing the Donate a Photo app during their Healthy Essentials program. Donate a Photo is a brand new, free app (available for iOS and Android) that allows each of us to give back to causes we care about and make a difference just by taking a photo.
Using Donate a Photo couldn’t be easier – all you do is take a picture (or choose one you’ve already taken) and choose the cause you want to support and voila, you’ve done your good deed for the day! I particularly liked that they make it easy to share it on Facebook and Twitter so you can encourage friends to get involved in helping the causes, too.
Right now, you’ve got three non-profits to choose from:
–Safe Kids: One photo helps protect a child from a sports injury
–Keep America Beautiful: One photo helps restore a public park
–Save the Children: One photo helps a newborn get medicine to thrive
When a cause reaches its goal, another takes its place. You can donate one photo a day, every day.
Also, just by visiting the Healthy Essentials website, you can get $50 worth of coupons (Jenny, did you hear that??) for the Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies products (including Neutrogena, Band-Aid, Listerine, Avveno, Neosporin, Visine, and more) by visiting HealthyEssentials.com.
And – we’ve got a fantastic giveaway as well! You can win a box of assorted J&J products worth more than $100! To enter, leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite J&J product. For an additional entry, download the Donate a Photo app and share a photo, and then leave another comment here telling us you did so. Comments will be closed on April 22 at 5:00 pm.
This is a contest you want to win, people – when my box of J&J stuff arrived, my husband, who is used to random packages showing up at our doorstep, took one look at the contents and said “YES! This is stuff we actually NEED and can use!!” Practicality FTW!
No purchase necessary. Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia, Eighteen (18) years of age or older. Sweepstakes end May 20, 2013. Prize(s) provided by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Company Division of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. Void where prohibited. See Official Rules for complete details.