Monthly Archives: May 2018

Loyalty Is Returned

“Respect is earned. Honesty is appreciated. Trust is gained. Loyalty is returned.” Loyalty. Over the years I have learned so much about how vital loyalty is in our relationships. Whether it’s a relationship in business, a relationship with a family member, a relationship with a friend, a relationship with a spouse, a relationship with a […]

That Star You Wished On Can Only Take You Part Of The Way

“That old star can only take you part of the way. You gotta help it along with some hard work of your own.”  – Princess and The Frog Wishing on a star is often what we do when we want something in life.  People wish for riches, or fame, or success, or love, etc.  Unfortunately […]

No husband has ever been shot while doing dishes – just sayin’

My newly married daughter called me tonight and the conversation went something like this:  Mom, I had just cleaned and dried the kitchen counter…and he had totally watched me do it…and then he took his dripping wet plate and laid it right on my freshly cleaned and dried counter!  I asked him, “Did you not […]

If You’re Gonna Do It, You Gotta Own It!

“If you’re gonna do it, you gotta own it!” That’s what my daughter yelled out to her now husband as he and her brother were talking about whether he should do a funny dance number at her wedding reception a week ago.  She pointed out that anytime you are going to do something public like […]

Do You Know The Life They’ve Lived? Have You Thought To Ask?

Today I had an interesting experience while driving out to Deer Valley, Utah to go to a Limited Partner meeting for a venture capital fund I’m an investor in with my 25 year old son:   As we were making the one hour drive out to our meeting he began asking me questions about the companies […]

“Nothing proves that you love someone more than mentioning them in your prayers.”

I was thinking today about the different words of advice that were given by people in the toasts they did (mind you the toasts were done with sparkling cider since we don’t drink alcohol…) during my daughter Ashley’s wedding dinner last week. One toast in particular that stood out to me was given by my […]

You Know It’s Bad When The Bags Under Your Eyes Have Bags

You know it’s bad when the bags under your eyes have their own bags, and it’s especially bad when those bags of the bags are so big they need their own “heavy” tags attached to them… No question that the lack of sleep over these last few months has really taken its toll on me. […]

And Then Suddenly, Just Like That, It’s Over And Back to Normal Life

Whenever you have a big event to throw, whether it’s a party, or a trip, or a holiday, or a wedding, you spend months and months of time preparing and planning and getting everything ready for the big day, and then suddenly, just like that, it’s over and back to normal life. Following my daughter’s […]

A Night To Remember Forever

Walking into the Center Courtyard on Saturday and seeing my 132 page PowerPoint presentation I had created for the design and layout of my daughter Ashley’s wedding reception was a magical moment.  I had worked for months putting it all together and trying to plan out every little detail to make to try and create […]

Plan Out Every Detail, then Take A Deep Breath…And DANCE!

Well I’m about as prepared as I know how to be for this weeks wedding festivities. I’ve planned every detail, I’ve done Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint galore showing each vendor exactly what to do and how things should look when it comes together. I’ve done timelines and checklists that map out every minute of the […]

In The Blink Of An Eye

As those who follow my blog know, I am deep in the thick of wedding planning for my daughter Ashley’s wedding this week. Today as we were working on getting the song list together for the DJ and listening to different songs when I was suddenly hit with this overwhelming feeling of sadness as I […]

Work as if everything depends on you, Pray as if everything depends on God

I must have been out of my mind to think it was going to be possible for me to be gone for a week to London and then come home for a few days and go right back out of country again to Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Vienna, and Budapest for another full week and then […]

Adventure With Great Friends Is Worth The Trip

As the Chairman of the Business School National Advisory Board for UVU it is my job to oversee an annual retreat for our Board, so last week we took a group of 40 of us from the National Advisory Board of UVU on an amazing trip to Prague, then to Cesky Krumlov, on to Vienna, […]

There Is No Such Thing As Just A Mom

Whenever someone asks a woman what she does and she replies, “I’m just a Mom” I want to yell out – “There is no such thing as JUST a Mom!” When I look back at my life there is nothing I have experienced that is more challenging nor rewarding than that of being a Mother. […]

How We’d Like To Be Remembered

In speaking of how he’d like to be remembered in life after he’s gone, Muhammad Ali said: “I’d like for them to say he took a few cups of love, he took one tablespoon of patience, one teaspoon of generosity, one pint of kindness. He took one quart of laughter, one pinch of concern, and then, […]

Be Content…See The Wonders

“Everything has it’s wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.” –Helen Keller Feeling content….that’s a concept I struggle with because I have always found that not being content with things as they are has been the great motivator for me to try harder, to […]

May Your Future Be Worthy Of Your Dreams

Barbara Bush, who passed away recently, was an incredible woman and one who set a wonderful example of class and elegance. She was an amazing lady. Attending commencement ceremonies for my daughter-in-law’s graduation last week reminded me of a fantastic commencement speech that Barbara Bush gave back in 1990 at Wellesley College. It was such […]

Imagine Life Is A Game

“Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends, and spirit – and you’re keeping all of them in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But […]

What Advice Would A 80 Year Old Person Give About The Way Life Should Be Lived?

Last week I shared that my father celebrated his 80th birthday. As I was reading different bits of advice offered by people who had turned 80 years old and I came across this article titled:  What Advice Would A 80 Year Old Person Give About The Way Life Should Be Lived?  The article was written […]

Because Of Your Example

80 years 29,219 days 701,265 hours 42,076,800 minutes 10 amazing children 37 beautiful grandchildren 11 sweet great-grandchildren 1 BLESSED LIFE HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Today my father, Gerald Rees, turned 80 years old.  80 years old!  WOW!  That is really, really old 😉 The best way I can think of to honor my Dad today is […]

Go Forth And Set The World On Fire

Congratulations are in order for so many high school and University students that are about to be recognized for the amazing accomplishment of finishing their schooling and getting ready to take that next step of their lives.  To each of them I would give the following advice: “Go forth and set the world on fire.” […]

Stop Overthinking It and Start Doing It!

We always have the ability to freak ourselves out with those thoughts of “I can’t do it” or “I’m not good enough to handle it” or “this is impossible” or “it can’t be done”….one of the easiest things in the world is to convince ourselves that we shouldn’t even try…  Heck, if I had really […]