About Us | Mama Bloggers | The Mama Creed

Mile High Mamas was created as an entertaining community resource for area moms. The site includes regular posts by some of Colorado’s most popular Mommy Bloggers, a message board, monthly cutest kid contest , and a Mama Drama advice column. We also hold regular giveaways and product reviews. If you would like to have one of your products featured for a contest or review, please contact us for consideration.

Mile High Mamas strives to use the very latest social networking tools and we want to keep you on the cutting edge. We can be found on Twitter and be sure to join us on Facebook for fun updates and freebies.

Mile High Mamas sends out a weekly email newsletter detailing Colorado’s hottest topics, events and deals for Colorado moms. Don’t miss out so sign up here! Do you have an event you would like to publicize? Be sure to add it to our calendar, forum and Facebook wall.

We are also pleased to launch our Denver Deal. Money-saving mama Gretchen Yoder rounds up the very best bargains, coupons, sales, frugal tips and freebies specifically with Colorado moms in mind. If you know of any great deals, please email her at gretchenyoder at milehighmamas dot com.

The site is moderated by the Editor, Amber Johnson. If you are a Colorado parent who blogs and would like to be included on our blogroll, please email her at amber@milehighmamas.com. Every month, Mile High Mamas publishes blog posts from guest bloggers. To submit a blog post to be considered for publication, please email Amber.

Every month, Mile High Mamas partners with Mom It Forward to host a Mama’s Night Out where Colorado’s most influential social media moms gather. Past events have been hosted by the Warwick Hotel and Sephora in Boulder. In exchange, our moms blogged and tweeted about the venue, providing invaluable publicity. Please contact us if you are a community partner and are interested in working with us. Also, if you are a Colorado mom in social media, we would love to have you!

Mile High Mamas was a finalist in the National Newspaper Association’s Digital Edge Awards (“The Edgies”) and received an Honorable Mention for Web Site Excellence from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).

Remember above all else, this site is about you and for you as a mother. The participants determine its tone and direction. We encourage you to log on and help us make Mile High Mamas Colorado’s most enlightening, supportive and entertaining parenting Web site.

A few of the Mile High Mamas bloggers: Susan, Amber, Jaime, Lori, Lisa, Heather and Gretchen. Photography: Iman Woods. Stylists: Sarah D. (make-up) and Dawn Capra-Grace (hair)

Disclosure: While Mile High Mamas’ bloggers often receive free or discounted products, they are not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners. If we claim or appear to be experts on a certain topic or product or service area, we will only endorse products or services that we believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. In accordance to FCC regulations, we disclose such relationships.

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Mama Bloggers

AMBER BOROWSKI JOHNSON, EDITOR

Mile High Mamas is the brainchild of Amber, a former adventure-travel writer turned adventurous unraveling mother of two children. She attests the former birth was considerably less painful than the latter two, epidurals notwithstanding.

She is originally from Canada but spent a number of years working as a publicist for Utah’s ski and outdoor industry whilst moonlighting as a radio personality and travel writer. She relinquished her wanderlust life to marry the real love of her life nine years ago.

She and her husband Jamie are outdoor aficionados and share this passion with their two children, Hadley (age and Bode (age 6). Amber’s self-deprecating humor is her coping mechanism for the daily joys and mayhem of motherhood and is what has kept her sane. Well, most of the time. She consoles herself that all other lapses make for stellar blog fodder. And the fact she is married to a man who is obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin.

Amber is a columnist for the Denver Post’s new $MART section and was named the Grand Prize Winner in Microsoft Office’s Winter Games Contest and was their accredited blogger at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She works as a social media strategist at Pixo Web Design & Strategy and has been named as a Brand Enthusiast for companies such as Sara Lee, Nintendo, Ford, Playtex and Disney on Ice. She has been blogging at Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck since 2005 and was honored in Westword magazine’s Best of Denver edition. Amber has been the recipient of numerous blogging awards, including Mother’s Day Central’s Top 100 Mom Blogs, Best of MSN, Blogtrepreneur’s Top 50 Mommy Blogs and startup powerhouse Sampa’s Top 10 Mommy Blogs You Should Read. She is a family travel writer and a regular contributor for various publications and travel sites. Prior to launching Mile High Mamas, she was also a regular contributor at DotMoms, cited by Time magazine as one of the 50 Coolest Websites 2005. Twitter ID: @TheMileHighMama

Read Amber’s blog posts | E-mail Amber

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LORI, BLOGGER EXTRAORDINAIRE

Lori has lived in Arvada for most of her life, except for forays to Kansas (college), Japan (searching for self), Syria (adventure with new husband), and Denver proper (fixing up an old Victorian, pre-kids). She and her husband are now raising her two children, Tessa (10) and Reed (8) in the same zip code where she grew up.

Lori was named a Top 10 blogger by Parenting magazine and BlogHer. She has also written for Conceive magazine and Adoptive Families Magazine. Her blog has been named by both Adoptive Families and by Grown in My Heart among the very best adoption blogs.

Lori writes at Write Mind Open Heart about adoptive parenting, open adoption, perfect moments and mindful living. She spoke at Blogher08 about Adoption/Loss/Infertility (ALI) issues and she is the Open Adoption Examiner. She serves up sassy product reviews at All Thumbs Reviews. She is tickled pink to be a Mile High Mama Blogger.

Lori is passionate about de-freakifying open adoption for people considering this path to parenthood. She and her daughter’s birth mom consult with adopting couples and speak at adoption agencies on how (and why) to create successful open adoptions. Lori’s adoption stories are told at Drama 2B Mama. Find her on Twitter: @LavLuz

Read Lori’s blog posts | E-mail Lori

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GRETCHEN WHITE, BLOGGER EXTRAORDINAIRE

Gretchen was born in Denver in the early 1970s. Her first six years were spent in the suburbs, out in the middle of nowhere near Hampden and I-25. She thought the center of the universe was the big fountain at Cinderella City and that Mayor McNichols and Mayor McCheese were brothers.

Then her father got news. His job was being transferred to a place with no mall. No escalators. No fountains. No Elitches. Quite rudely she was taken from Denver to the remote desert and peach-dotted landscape of Grand Junction. It was a good thing, ultimately. She learned to love the astounding natural beauty of our state. She realized if she couldn’t be entertained by the offerings of a big city, she’d have to entertain herself. So she began to read and write and plot ways to escape. After high school graduation, she joined the tie-dyed masses at CU-Boulder, promising her friends back home she’d never, ever change. But she did.

After three years of classes like Ancient Athletics, she returned home to Grand Junction where she got a job slinging burritos and beer at a local favorite hangout. Not content to forever ask “red or green chili?” she enrolled at Mesa State College, where she met her future husband, Lee. They each earned a BA in English Literature. Shortly after graduation, they married and settled into a quiet life in the Grand Valley. Their first daughter, Aidan, was born in 1997. Their second child, a boy named Ryley, came along a mere 18 months later. Job prospects for English majors weren’t abundant in the Grand Valley, so they decided to move back to the Denver metro area in mid-1999.

Five more kids have joined the family since returning to the front range and another is on the way. Their names are Sam, Tommy, Joel, Beatrix and Archer. Life with seven kids is never quiet, so she began blogging in 2004 as a way to record and reflect on the whirlwind. She calls her blog Lifenut. She is also a regular contributor for the popular blog 5 Minutes for Parenting. Twitter ID: lifenut

Read Gretchen’s blog posts | E-mail Gretchen

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GRETCHEN YODER, DAILY DEAL EDITOR

Gretchen is a single mama. She grew up right here in Denver area (with a short stint as a youngster in Steamboat Springs). Gretchen is always busy and loves to be “on the go” deals are an important part of making sure that she can do so much! Her son and daughter also enjoy the benefits of all the deals the Gretchen finds.

Gretchen loves to be outdoors, hiking, biking or just playing a friendly game of wiffle ball with her son – he somehow usually wins. She is addicted to coupons and finding the best deals or entering sweepstakes (one day she will win something really great).

Gretchen is excited about contributing to Mile High Mamas’ Daily Deal and looks forward to hearing about great deals from readers.

Read the Daily Deal posts | E-mail Gretchen

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LISA VRATNY-SMITH, MAMA DRAMA EDITOR

Lisa is a small town girl who came to the big city for college and never left. One of Colorado’s rare natives, she has lived throughout the state from the mountains to the plains and everywhere in between.

Lisa and her husband are raising two big-brained boys who keep them on their toes, literally and figuratively. She has worked with children and families for more than two decades and is passionate about doing what is right for children, hers and everyone else’s.

A vegetarian and vanilla soy latte addict, Lisa spends her days striving finding the balance between the never ending details of life. The strength and support of family and friends keeps her going and feeds her spirit. As a recovering perfectionist, Lisa’s mantra is “life is a practice.” Practice leads to growth and more opportunity to practice. Motherhood continues to provide a consistent source of these opportunities!

As most mothers do, Lisa wears many hats in life, the most important of which is Mama. She is also a school social worker, behavioral consultant, parent coach, yoga instructor, blogger, freelance writer, and the list goes on… She created Behavior Support Solutions, a parent coaching and resource website, writes Laughing Yoga Mama blog, and loves sharing the tips, tricks, and perspective shifts that make a difference in her journey through motherhood and life.

With her ever present smile and infectious giggle Lisa is committed to using kindness and humor to create a supportive community of motherhood; helping moms to be gentle with themselves and their children, find their strengths, and continue to reflect and grow each day. Twitter ID: @laughingyogamom

Read Lisa’s blog posts | E-mail Lisa

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JOANN RASMUSSEN, BLOGGER EXTRAORDINAIRE

JoAnn and her husband have lived in Colorado for over a decade. They’d tried to leave the Midwest on New Year’s Day 1999, but Mother Nature had other plans: a raging blizzard had shut down all escape routes out of Iowa…for three days. Off schedule, but the mountains in their sights, they set out after the first snowplow cleared a path across the plains. Rather than see the blizzard as a sign to turn back, they knew it was proof that they were making the right decision.

JoAnn and her husband have traveled the world together and have had many adventures. They met after they’d both graduated from college, and JoAnn’s husband is still working in his field of study. JoAnn, on the other hand, has changed paths many times. Social Worker, Corporate Drone, Adventure Vacation Travel Consultant, Sales Director, and Independent Contractor are some titles that she has collected over the years. In November of 2005, their little girl was born, and JoAnn added the title, Momma to Claire, to her résumé.

In 2007, JoAnn started a blog. She wanted a creative outlet for her writing that would also give her an easy way to chronicle their forays into parenthood and share their adventures with their relatives back in the Midwest. At the time, she was in the midst of juggling a baby while working from a home office, and writing was one of the ways she was able to find some semblance of sanity. In 2008, JoAnn had the opportunity to quit her “real job” and focus on parenting and writing, two of her passions.

JoAnn has combined these two passions at her website, The Casual Perfectionist. She is a self-proclaimed perfectionist, but doesn’t consider herself to be the stuffy, up-tight kind. She’s more of a casual perfectionist, hence the name of her website. She tries her hardest to focus on the positive, learn from the negative, and laugh at both. In fact, she is a firm believer in the notion that if you haven’t laughed today, you weren’t really paying attention. Twitter ID: @casualperfect

Read JoAnn’s blog posts | E-mail JoAnn

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JAIME CLARK SWARTZENDRUBER, DESIGN DIVA

Jaime’s passion for adventure writing pairs well with motherhood. With 2.5 young children – Silas, Noelle and an obnoxious, fuzzy lap dog Fiona Belle – life is far from mundane and inevitably results in abundant content ideas. Sounds convenient but there is one sure downfall…the title of “mom” includes remedying all of the chaos continually produced in mass, wince.

As a Colorado native, Jaime had the privilege of taking completely for granted the amazing surroundings of her childhood hometown – located in the Heart of the Rockies – the perfect setting for an outdoor enthusiast in the making. An escape to the beautiful town of Salida (with an itinerary of sunshine and powder) remains one of Jaime’s favorite rejuvenation techniques.

A Bachelor of Science in business marketing from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and four years spent in the confines of a dorm room – three of them as a resident advisor – left Jaime’s heart longing for wide-open spaces (the state of Wyoming wasn’t exactly what she had in mind). Her venture north landed her in the English Department at the University of Wyoming, working with an array of intriguing characters, and ultimately sparking her passion and love for the art of writing.

Life in Colorado and the gift of motherhood leaves Jaime feeling supremely blessed, not to mention amazing family, friends, epic adventure, divine inspirations, ski country, Rocky Mountains, 360 days of sunshine, and the abundant opportunities she is ever grateful for including: blogging at Wine Glass Slipper, conducting editorial reviews, travel writing, freelance marketing, serving on countless committees (#habitualvolunteer) and of course, the honor of being part of the remarkable Mile High Mamas team. Twitter ID: NicestMomBlog

Read Jaime’s blog posts | E-mail Jaime

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HEATHER RUCH, HOMESCHOOLING AND GARDENING MAMA
Heather Ruch is a freelance writer based in Centennial, Colorado surrounded by her husband, two children, one grumpy old cat, one foot-long-plus algae-eating fish who prefers to hide, and two border collie puppies.

Her father was a marine engineer and tugboat captain so growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area meant weekends and school breaks were spent as a deckhand and cook and the pay was seeing the San Francisco sky-line from the water more than from the land.

Thanks to Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP, she signed up for the college radio station her first week of college and fulfilled her dream conjured in high school of playing the “I Dream Of Genie” theme song on her first radio show. At KCSC she met her husband and they have shared their love of music ever since.

Her family has grown in Colorado along with her writing. Starting an online cloth diapering business inspired her to create a newsletter, The Inside Poop. Active in the breastfeeding community when her children were young, she has been published in New Beginnings and Leaven.

Having retired from a decade in natural foods retail has provided the time and encouragement start her first novel – a thinly veiled attempt at memoir that must be categorized as fiction to protect the identity of the innocent – and to begin her own blog focusing on a topic of great interest and enthusiasm among the granola and vitamin set, www.Watching.DrOz.blogspot.com.

When she’s not tapping on the keyboard or training the puppies to not eat the furniture, Heather can be found guiding her children to learn more than they knew possible, cooking “Mom’s Legendary Chicken Noodle Soup”, and finding more fascinating details of her genealogy. Twitter ID: @HeatherRuch

Read Heather’s blog posts | E-mail Heather

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JULIE BIELENBERG, PRODUCT REVIEW EDITOR

Julie Bielenberg is a Denver-based writer. She was a managing editor for a regional home and lifestyle publication before starting Tweeter Communications, her editorial services boutique. With a BA in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin, a MA in Humanities from the University of Colorado and five years experience in Mexican radio and television, Julie has a very diverse background and bilingual career. Her passion is writing and she currently contributes to numerous lifestyle publications and outlets. When not working, she enjoys spending time with her boys—two dogs, a son and husband—in the mountains of Colorado.

Once Julie’s editors heard she was pregnant in 2009, the mommy story requests began coming and haven’t stopped. Julie has written dozens of stories on pregnancy, life with infants, shopping advice for moms and traveling with children. Nearly a year into life with her first child, Julie makes it her passion to be an urban chic mom. Balancing both work and play with Hank the Tank is the best challenge she has ever been given. In trying to accomplish this feat, Julie enjoys writing and researching about everything motherhood.

Julie is also a contributing editor for The American Dog and regularly appears in Colorado Meetings + Events and Denver Magazine. She has also covered diverse topics for www.sheknows.com. All of her editorial can be found at www.tweetercommunications.com.

Read Julie’s blog posts | E-mail Julie

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HANNAH CAMACHO, TECHNOLOGY/APP REVIEW EDITOR

Hannah literally grew up in church parking lots across America. Her father was a minister and she, her mother and her four siblings lived in a 40 foot fifth-wheel trailer having all sorts of traveling adventures together. Life was full of glorious uncertainties and living in such close quarters fostered strong family bonds. She developed a passion to teach herself every skill in which she developed an interest and earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, learned to play the banjo, studied foreign languages, and became a playwright.

Hannah studied at Northland International University and earned a bachelors degree in Speech Education there. It was there that she met her future husband, Anthony. After dating on and off, they were finally certain they would be married after Hannah graduated, but their plans soon changed. Anthony was in the military and the week of finals of Hannah’s sophomore year he got the call that he was to be deployed to Iraq. The couple got engaged the following day and married only five days later. They have now been married six wonderful years and have been blessed with three beautiful children who are the light of their lives. Aria (age 3) is full of personality and has never met a stranger. Lincoln (age 2) is shy and melancholy and more of an intellectual. Victor (6 months) is a happy boy who is content to entertain himself as long as he has a full tummy. Being a wife and mom is Hannah’s full-time job and she wouldn’t trade it for the world.

In her rare-but-precious spare time Hannah enjoys writing. She is the founder of MyAppinions.com. My Appinions is meant to present readers with honest opinions on well-known and little-know applications. She reviews apps of all kinds, but particularly has a soft-spot for educational ones. She also contributes to one of the foremost app review sites on the web: AppAdvice.com. Twitter ID: @MyAppinions

Read Hannah’s blog posts | E-mail Hannah

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AIMEE GREEBLEMONKEY, BLOGGER EXTRAORDINAIRE

Aimee was born in Maryland but moved to Denver in 1994, after an exhaustive road trip around the country that led her and her husband-to-be Bryan to feel that Denver was the perfect mix of the big, small, fun, funky, energetic, and most importantly – friendly. They married in 1996 and finally jumped into the parenthood gig in 2002 with their one and only son Declan. Yes, that’s an Irish name that you may or may not have ever heard before but the musically inclined may know it is also Elvis Costello’s real name.

Both Aimee and Bryan are graphic designers and web developers, specializing in health education sites…the content of which tends to color all aspects of their lives. It’s good to believe in what you are building!

Aimee also has recently reached back into her past and rekindled her long-time love of photography. Primarily focusing on nature close-ups and portraiture, Aimee has been extra busy in her time away from her family and work taking tons of photographs, many of which are featured on her personal blog, Greeblemonkey. Her blog was recently nominated for a coveted Bloggie award as the blogosphere’s “best-kept secret.” Aimee also takes pottery classes for yet one more creative outlet.

Aimee, Bryan and Declan like to laugh a lot, which is reflected in her writing – and her outlook on life. Twitter ID: @greeblemonkey

Read Aimee’s blog posts | E-mail Aimee

Photo credit: Pin-up photography by Iman Woods. Sarah D. (make-up) and Dawn Capra-Grace (hair).

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The Mama Creed

Welcome to Mile High Mamas, a place for area moms to connect and reflect.

Where isolation is obsolete, laughter reigns and judgments cease.

We are in the prime of our lives. If we were slabs of meat. And since we are not, we are over-tired mamas who love our children.

But don’t necessarily always like what they do.

We dream of a maid but live under our laundry pile.

We relish Girl’s Night Out, mini-vacations and playgroups.

We don’t always shower but manage to look purdy anyway.

We believe our children are brilliant, beautiful and blessings.

That toddlers and teen-agers are terrors terrific.

We believe Teletubbies are of the devil.

We acknowledge that insecurities, frustrations and calamities are a part of motherhood.

Above all, we laugh, learn, cry and vent.

And it is here we are reminded that we are not alone.

P.S. We like chocolate. Lots of it.