DMMB Adds to the Team: Meet Summer, Leslie, and Julie

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In December, Des Moines Moms Blog put out a call for more local moms to join our team in 2015. We reviewed dozens of applications from real moms around the metro, and after a long and difficult selection process, we are thrilled to introduce you to the six newest members of the DMMB Team. (See part 1 of this post to meet Autumn, Suzy, and Christy!)

Meet Summer

Christmas shotHi there, and thanks for reading Des Moines Moms Blog! I’ve been a fan for some time now, and I’m so excited to be a part of the team. Since I love Des Moines, being a mom, and blogging, it’s a great fit.

Speaking of being a mom, I can’t tell you enough about my little lady. Luke – my husband of nearly eight years – and I, have a 20-month-old daughter named Charlotte. She is smart, sweet, funny, and has beautiful red hair just like her daddy. For someone who wasn’t always 100 percent sure having a family was the right path for me (what?!), Miss Charlotte has made me 110 percent glad that Luke and I made the leap to try it out! Being a mom is truly the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done, and I love that tiny ginger to pieces!

Charlotte loves snuggling/smashing our cats, 18monthsonlineNitro and Pickles. She enjoys coloring, dancing, playing with baby dolls, reading books, giving kisses, and she’s obsessed with Elmo.

I grew up in Southern Iowa, went to Iowa State University (where I met my photographer hubby), and am now proud to call Des Moines my home. While Charlotte is busy at her day job of being adorable and playing with friends at daycare, I work full-time as a Marketing Manager at Des Moines Performing Arts. I just celebrated my fifth year of promoting touring Broadway productions, dance companies, concerts, and family entertainment! I project manage our playbills, work with our social media pages, and overall have a lot of fun. I’ve always had a passion for the arts, and I’m excited to share that with Charlotte in the years to come.

In the little free time I find, the fam and I enjoy cheering on Cyclone athletics, playing music and singing, reading, cooking, and working on home improvement projects. I love blogging about the joys of motherhood, DIY projects, and other randomness at Random Acts of Summer, and now on Des Moines Moms Blog as well!

Mom and Charlotte


Meet Leslie

Dunbar FamI grew up in a suburb of Des Moines and graduated from Grand View University in 2004. With an English degree in hand, I became a proposal writer and marketing copywriter. After seven years of working in a cubicle, I knew I had to make a change. I attended Drake University where I received my Masters in Teaching. I am now in my fourth year of teaching high school English. I love it, my students, and the hours of grading essays (sometimes).

My patient, caring, and hilarious husband, Alex, and I have been married since 2011. We have a smart, funny, and energetic son, Sam (2013), and a daughter to come in May 2015. While I thought life was great before, nothing compares to sharing your life with your partner and children. We enjoy cheering on the Hawkeyes, spending time with friends and family, and going out to eat as a family.

I’m excited to share my insights with you as a parent, wife, and teacher. I am a mom who does not take herself too seriously and likes to make light when situations get a bit heavy. I am also a firm believer in doing what works best for your family no matter what that may be or how others may see it.

So, welcome to my journey through motherhood. I know it will be a great ride.


Meet Julie

Meet-Julie-Brightman-2

If you have met me in real life you would agree that I am hardly ever at a loss for words. Give me the assignment to write an introduction piece and I go blank. My mouth became dry and for the first time in 32 years I am speechless. This is proof that my next chapter is really beginning and I am holding on for dear life!

I played with dolls until I was 12 years old. I distinctively remember coming home from sixth grade and playing with my Barbies. Don’t get me wrong, the rebel in me certainly was out and about, but the little girl in me still loved “playing house.”

My freshman year of college, my high school sweetheart and I found out that the “playing house game” was going to become a reality sooner than expected. I was given the most amazing job title 2 months before my 19th birthday. Becoming a parent that young altered the way I would grow up and learn who I was.

Fast forward 13 years, another son, a home, college, career changes, and an exciting opportunity to be part of DMMB! My boys are older now so I have more time to focus on turning the page to my new chapter. I often find myself in a time of rejoicing and wanting to renew.

I am Julie. I am mama to Jamal (13) and Javell (10) and partner to D for 16 years. I am smart, sassy, and exciting. A bit loud and sometimes obnoxious, but I’m passionate about life, motherhood, and cooking. On the cusp of being a mom to a high school student, I have declared this year to be my new chapter. I so desperately want to hold on to my small little babies who are no longer babies.

Meet-Julie-Brightman

Two new chapters beginning—learning a new kind of parenting, and finding me all over again. I am extremely excited and a bit scared, but grateful to be surrounded by the women in the Des Moines Moms Blog network.

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