Monthly Archives: September 2016

You know you have created a good product when…

You know you have created a good product when people feel they can’t live without it, and when it is taken away from them they feel like their universe is falling apart! Our smart phones are the perfect example of that. I was on my way to speak at a High School District Conference today […]

There are opportunities everywhere to make a difference

The world is full of all kinds of problems that we can’t solve in a day, but what we can do is find a way to give a little bit of service here and there…whether it’s just a few hours a week or only once a month, every small effort up over time. And when […]

It’s Gonna Be Okay

Anyone that knows me knows that music is a HUGE part of my life. I love music and I love to dance. So does my family. You will often find us dancing around our kitchen or driving in our car belting out a song at the top of our lungs. I think the reason we love […]

Who’s Packing Your Parachute?

“Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience! One […]

The Kindness of Strangers

Late Friday night my husband and I began our drive home from Idaho where we had attended our Aunt’s funeral, back home in Utah. We had intended to get an earlier start home but we had spent the day scanning in all of our Aunt’s photos and papers so the family members could have digital […]

What Will They Say About Us?

Today I attended my Aunt’s funeral and I have to say it was a marvelous and inspiring day. I know funerals are usually sad occasions but today was a little different because Aunt Iris lived an amazingly full life during her 98 years on this earth and hearing the stories and memories people shared about […]

The Thirty Second Quiz

Today we are all going to take a Thirty Second Quiz.  Now I realize that the word “Quiz” probably gives a few of you PTSD as you start thinking back to the days when you walked into your college classroom and your professor would tell you to take out your number 2 pencils because you […]

What Will Matter?

Given the recent passing of a loved one my thoughts have been turned toward each of our own lives and what will matter to each of us as we face our time to pass from this life. I’ve thought about what we take with us, what we leave behind, and what will truly matter. I came […]

Life is a series of unexplained, unplanned, and the unexpected

“Life is a series of unexplained events, unplanned laughter, unexpected tears, occasional sorrows and overwhelming joy.” -Susan Gale Life – we have our calendars all laid out and booked up for our week ahead so we think we know what we will be doing each day and when we’ll be doing it. But then something […]

She was really here and she really lived

Today I want to pay tribute to an amazing woman named Iris who happens to be my Aunt. Aunt Iris would have celebrated her 98th birthday this week, but sadly on Friday we got word that Iris had passed away. On the one hand I am incredibly sad to see Iris pass from this life because she was such a […]

There Are No Mistakes – Only Discoveries

Those of you who read yesterday’s blog post learned that my 20 year old daughter Ashley’s birthday present to me this week was to write a few blog posts that I could use in order to give me a few nights off on my birthday week to enjoy myself. This post she wrote below is […]

Opportunities come when we actively seek to do good

First, I want to take the quick opportunity to say “Thank You!” to all those who sent birthday wishes my way. I can’t think of a better birthday gift then words of kindness from others and I received that today in spades 🙂 I also want to share with you an amazing birthday gift I received today […]

Growing Old Is Mandatory but Growing Up is Optional

In a few hours I will be turning 45 years old. 45 sounds SO OLD!!! To put in perspective how many years ago I was born – the internet wouldn’t be invented for 20 more years! And it would be 27 years before Google was launched!! Yikes…that sounds SO OLD!!! I’ve seen things change a lot in […]

What You Forget You Can Never Retell

“Preserve your memories, keep them well, what you forget you can never retell.” – Louisa May Alcot Tonight my sweet Mother came over to my home and we sat and scanned in several stacks of her Father’s (my Grandfather’s) papers he had written back while he was alive. As I sat scanning the different documents […]

You don’t need money to lead a rich life

“You don’t need money to lead a rich life. Good friends and a loving family are worth their weight in gold.” Last week was a week about friends and family for me and it was definitely a reminder of how our friends and family really are worth their weight in gold. From the start of […]

If you don’t believe in miracles

“If you don’t believe in miracles perhaps you’ve forgotten you are one.” I’m sure there are those who wonder if miracles are real, but I love the quote that says “We live on a blue planet that circles around a ball of fire next to a moon that moves the sea, and you don’t believe […]

The differences between optimists and pessimists

“In the long run the pessimist may be proven right, but the optimist had a better time on the trip.” –Daniel L. Reardon I love Brian Tracy. He is a motivational speaker who has some great books and audio recordings that have helped me a lot over the years. He shares some thoughts on the […]

Bring Your Own Sunshine

Most days when it rains outside we tend to feel bummed out about it and we seem to behave a little less cheery those days. But something happened last weekend that reminded me how easily we can rectify that. It was a bright yellow raincoat just hanging on the rack at the Mall. My 20 […]

Labor Day: A holiday to celebrate how hard you work!

Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope you had an awesome holiday today. For those who are wondering what Labor Day is about, don’t feel bad…I myself have celebrated Labor Day holiday my entire life but never really thought about why we had the holiday or what the holiday was about. I always just thought of […]

The only way to chase out darkness

The only way to chase out the darkness is to turn on the light. I am not a fan of evil or trashy books or shows. The reason for that is that they always seem to create a feeling of darkness that lingers in the house and I cannot stand that feeling. It leaves you […]