The Foley Fam - Unedited: April 2012

Monday, April 30, 2012

WIW - Wedding Edition, a Link up Party

Last call for Sponsoring The Foley Fam for the month of May! After today all ads bought will be for June slots. Thank you! Also today is the last day to enter to win a $25 Mary Kay filled Surprise Gift Bag from Laura of Our Reflection! Click here to enter to win!
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Tomorrow marks THIRTEEN YEARS to the day, since the Hubs called me and asked me to be his girlfriend. Ah, the memories. So many good memories. Some not so good. But no worries. The good ones kick the crap out of those (wink).

To celebrate our "anniversary" (and you bet we do!) I'm sharing a little bit of our la la love story! {Bonus} It's my girl Megan from Absolute Mommy and her husband's wedding anniversary TODAY and she's hosting this awesome link up that I'm participating in! You should too! All the cool kids are doing it (wink wink).

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I met Nate when I was a freshman in high school and he was a sophomore. I was a cheerleader and he played on the basketball and football teams. We "officially" became boyfriend and girlfriend on May 1st, 1999. After high school we both attended UNLV, and we were so fortunate to travel and experience new places together in our college years. Nate graduated in 2005, and proposed over Fathers Day weekend the following year. A business opportunity brought us to Wisconsin in the fall of 2006, before I could finish my nursing degree. We took a leap of Faith that Fall. Who would've known we would love the mid-West? The next few years were spent on the family's business. We learned a lot. A lot about family, a lot about business, a lot about ourselves. After a decade together we tied the knot on June 20th, 2009, in Mesquite, NV, and have been living happily married ever since.

What We Wore

I wore:

The dress: David's Bridal

Chandelier Earrings, Cuff, and Tiara: gifts from my Momma

Four inch satin silver heels

The Hubs wore:

A custom made Filipino Barong

Brown Slacks and Brown Sandals

Our Wedding Partay!

Was UH.MAY.ZING! And OH.SO.FUN!!

The gals:

My cousins, my sister, and two of my Sister in Laws

Brown dresses with Green trim on the bottom and a Green Sash

They also had a huge pink peony flower in their hair

Brown heels

I gave them matching anklets to wear

My sister who was my MOH wore the same dress, except in "opposite" colors

My little angels

Two of my God-daughters and a Niece

Got their dresses, sashes and shoes from David's Bridal too
My cousin made their flower headpieces

The guys, including the Ushers and Ring and Coin Bearer

Custom green Filipino barongs

Brown slacks and brown shoes

Friend, Cousins, Brother, Brother in Law

The little guys

Cousin and God-son

Mini Barongs of course :)

Our Parents

They were stylin in Custom Filipino wear too!

I've never documented our Wedding Day, (and the fun days leading up to it)! Look for the deets in a future post. More pics below from our Bridals right after our Ceremony!

Free digital slideshow created with Smilebox

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Sunday FUNday Link Up Partay #6

Last Day to enter to win the April Sponsor Group Giveaway!!

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Welcome to the Sunday, FUNday Linky Party!!

Friday, April 27, 2012

{sponsor} Laura from Our Reflection + GIVEAWAY

Hello! I’m Laura from Our Reflection. I’m super excited about being a guest today.

A little about me. I’m a full-time working mom of two amazing daughters and an admirable, encouraging husband who are my life. I am, regrettably, a bit addicted to social media. I have a constant connection Facebook and Twitter wherever I am. I love Starbucks, the colors pink and yellow, mountain biking, and listening to the piano. My new addition seems to be blogging!

When I’m not working my 8-5 or being “mommy”, I’m a lifestyle photographer based out of Monterey, California. In my mind, I am ALWAYS thinking about photography. It never ends. My brain takes snapshots everywhere I go. My photographic passion is people. Couples, families, and children. Nothing brings me more joy than capturing those unforgettable moments that will be treasured for a lifetime. Check out my photography page by clicking here.

Today I wanted to share with you some of my faves and helpful tips when taking portraits.

1) Time of day. Its all about lighting. The best pictures will be taken the 2 hours after sunrise and the 2-hours prior to sunset. This gives everyone that natural "glow."

2) Don't go crazy buying expensive equipment but do invest in a DSLR camera. They're not to expensive these days and worth every penny. {I'm a Canon girl myself.}

3) Keep your camera with you at all times. I'm one for spontaneous photos. The ones unplanned are always the best.

4) What should I wear in my portrait? I get asked this question all the time. The clothes a person wears has a big impact on the end result of the photo. They need to be comfortable. If they feel awkward in their outfit or environment, you won't capture them looking like themselves.

5) Don't be afraid to experiment. If you're using a digital camera, the cost of errors are free. Go crazy - you might end up with one you really love.

I hoped this help you feel more comfortable with your camera. I love questions or comments so please feel free to drop me an email.

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Laura hosts a Twitter Meet and Tweet Blog Hop every Thursday and a Photo Challenge every Friday on her blog! Be sure to join the fun!

Today Laura is giving away a
Mary Kay Surprise Filled Gift Bag valued at $25!!!

TO ENTER:

You must be a public follower of The Foley Fam blog to participate. Easy Entering below, good luck!! The first 2 entries are mandatory, after that complete more entries to increase your chance of winning!

And "may the odds be ever in your favor"

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Kassi from Truly Lovely is sharing some BIG NEWS!

Instead of my usual Thursday Random post, I get the honor of Blog Swapping with one of my awesome friends Kassi!! She is sharing some BIG news here today {squeal!}, read on friends!!!

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Hello there lovelies!!! Kassi here from Truly Lovely!

I'm SUPER excited to be blog swapping with the lovely Kristine today! Don't you just LOVE this chick!?! She's over at my place as we speak sharing a fun post by the way!

You can click that picture up there to learn more about our blog, but in short, Truly Lovely is an all things lovely blog written by myself and my sister Kayli. We write about crafts, DIY, being thankful, recipes... you know? The lovely things in life!

So... I thought and thought about what to share here today... And I decided I'd talk about a topic that Kristine and I have been discussing via email here lately... Babies. I got the fever yo!

We're at that point where we've been married almost a year... That's not that long, but consider we were together for five years before that... so we'll call this year #6!

All of our friends are starting families! OK, maybe not all of them... But THREE of my six bridesmaids have a bun in the oven right now! That's 50%. Half. Shall I reiterate? You get the point.

Wanna guess which three?? ;) Haha...

It just so happens I am much too wimpy to shout it out on my own blog where friends and family members can give me grief. You know... that SIL that keeps pestering you for a niece/nephew. Yep, I have three of those + my sister, Kayli! ;) Love em all to death, but if I mentioned my recent case of baby fever, they'd be all over that like... Something that gets all over something else. Hahaha!

So... I'm announcing it here on The Foley Fam! Haha!

My plea to you? What advice do you have for a young couple thinking of starting a family?? Got any fun baby shower ideas saved up you'd wanna share? Remember, THREE of my best friends are preggers! What about you? Caught the fever too? Already have a family started?

I'm all about making friends in this bloggie world, so if you have no interest whatsoever in anything baby related, that's cool too, just tell me something random about you! And share your blog link in the comments! I'd love to stop by and check it out! :) Ready, go!

THANKS so much to Kristine for having me over today and for being the Bloggie Bestie at Truly Lovely this week! ~Kassi

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Ok, when Kassi sent this over and I read it, I about DIED! SO thrilled she is sharing this news with you! Now we can all be excited together!! How exciting right?! Please share your thoughts with her in the comments!! I know she would LOVE to hear them!! SO excited for you Kassi!! XOXO

And if you aren't feelin the fever... let me help you :)

Magpie and Me

Maggie just hours old

Mia not even a day old

Magpie 3 days old

Mia a week old

Mia about a month old

MiaPia 2 months old

Our M&M girls now
Maggie 20 months and Mia 6 months when the pic below was taken

They grow waaaaaay too fast!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

WIWW + Social Media Reality

Facebook.

Yes, ya'll know it. And some of you might despise it, heck I've had my fair share of FB drama (ha!), but mostly I've reaped the benefits of it!

I have this love/hate relationship with Social Media in general.

Today I'm all about embracing the love half of it.

For example, it connected me with Terril, whom I haven't seen or spoken to for over a decade. Since High School to be exact. It's been so great catching up on her life via the WWW. It's an amazing thing!!

Another UH.MAY.ZING thing is her family's journey thru this crazy thing called life. I am looking forward to her gracing my blog in the near future to share their story, but I know after seeing her "goods" below you'll want to RUN and check out what she has to offer asap! I don't blame you! After seeing first hand the beauty below, you'll see why I couldn't resist on getting more!

My first customized bracelet with American Braille from Thoughts with Dots

YES! Customized! You guys know me!?! I'm a sucker for anything CUSTOMIZED!! I chose the pattern, the colors (right down to the hardware), AND what I wanted it to say. I chose the word "TODAY"

"Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road, no other way.

No day, but TODAY" - Rent, The Musical

An "oldie" outfit, but a goodie to me.

I am absolutely in LOVE with my bracelet!!

It's so easy and comfortable to wear, HUGE bonus for this {busy} Momma!

And because Terril is so generous, she's giving away the other TWO beauties below to TWO of you lucky Foley Fam readers! Again I got to pick the colors and hardware. She also customized them both with the word "TODAY" just like mine! Can I get a woot woot?!

One will be given away during Terril's guest post, and the other will be given away in her feature in June!

This month's GROUP GIVEAWAY from my April Sponsors is live right now! Click here to enter to win some AWESOME swag!

Speaking of Sponsorships, check out what I have to offer here.

May is really right around the corner!

Be ready to celebrate!
Feel free to grab the party button and share :)

<a href="http://www.thefoleyfam.com/"><img src="http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee420/nkfoley/250x250Blogiversary-1.jpg" border="0" /></a>

If you'd like to join my Blog-iversary Celebration please email me at

jandmseyecandy@hotmail.com

and I'll send over the deets! Excited to have so many friends participating already! Like her and her and more fabulous peeps!!

Happy Hump Day!! XOXO

Linkin up here.