1st Runner Up - Ultimate Stacy Contest

The 1st runner up in our Ultimate Stacy Contest will recieve a signed copy of Stacy's new book "Photo Freedom".

Congratulations to our 1st runner up, Staci Compher!

Here is Staci's entry:

WITHOUT YOU

I would love to hang out with Stacey julian…..because she is such an uplifting…inspirational woman, and she realizes how important family can be…and right now, more than anything I need to be uplifted and inspired, because on October 26th 2007, my husband of 14 years, (been together for 21 since we were in high school) went to work ….and never came home….we searched all night, and he was reported missing…..but we didn’t find him until the next morning, at 37 years old…he was dead of , what we later found out was dilated cardio myopathy ( an enlarged heart)that we didn’t know anything about….so for the first time in 21 years I am on my own, and trying to raise our daughters, who are 11 (Sommer) & 18 (Tonee‘)..., my husband (Ed) was always the provider for our family, so I am trying to figure out which direction my life is going to go….and how I am going to take care of myself and my girls, I feel like they’ve always just looked at me as “weak” old mom…but I want my daughters to be proud of me, I want to be one of those strong single mothers, who do everything they need to do , to take care of their kids, but to be honest I am scared, I sometimes don’t know if I have it in me. I never planned on raising our girls on my own, this was never how we thought things would be…I thought we would grow old together …I looked forward to growing old, only because he would be by my side…like has been since I was 15... I am so proud of my girls, they seem to be holding it together a lot better than their mom….I’ve made it 4 months…and 4months ago I couldn’t of imagined making it this far…..but I fight everyday, to remember my husband, good memories…raise my girls…and try to find happiness, try to have a “normal” life…I know it is going to be a New “normal”……I know that he would want me to be happy…he used to always say “if you’re happy. I’m happy”…and I want to be happy, and with scrap booking or as I like to call it “scrap therapy” I’ve been able to share memories, and tell stories, and even document my feelings during this time, I’ve been scrap booking for almost 6 years, and I truly believe that scrap booking was brought into my life for more than just getting my families memories into albums, it's like it was brought into my life for this exactly what I am going through now, the friends I have made through scrap booking….have helped me through this, every step. So I would love to be able to listen and learn from….Stacey. Thank you so much Staci Compher

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Don't forget to check back tomorrow to find out who the WINNER of the Ultimate Stacy Contest is!!