Monthly Archives: January 2020

We Need To Appreciate How Precious Life Is

I’ve got so many incredible things to share with all of you from my amazing trip to Palm Springs recently to be with Charles Koch and his wife Liz and so many other incredible friends we love dearly for our six month meeting to discuss the philanthropic giving we all do together via our group […]

It’s So Helpful To Know You Are Not Alone

I was just finishing up a business meeting when my husband called yesterday to tell me he needed to get to the emergency room. Now anyone who knows my husband Rollin can understand why hearing those words over the phone shook me – My husband grew up on a dairy farm and he is stubborn […]

Don’t Leave Work Until Five (by Ashley Anderson Hill)

My husband had to be rushed to the hospital this evening (he’s having severe stomach pain) so my daughter Ashley agreed to cover tonight’s blog post for me. Not gonna sugar coat it, it’s been a rough night…but I’m grateful for the doctors and nursing who are working hard to figure out what’s wrong. Here’s […]

Winning Has Consequences. Be Ready To Accept Them (by Dalton Anderson)

(The following is a guest post written by Dalton Anderson who is covering for his mother, Amy Rees Anderson, who just returned from a five day philanthropy trip and was in need of sleep) Winning has consequences. Be ready to accept them. It was third grade. I was a cute, well-groomed third-grader, with great hair […]

Be Curious Enough To Dig In And Driven Enough To Do Something

Some of the greatest inventions in life have come about because someone saw a problem and decided they wanted to fix it!  One doesn’t necessarily have to be a great genius to solve a problem, in fact, some of the most amazing ideas come from people who simply want to find an easier way to […]

It’s Not Hard To Make Decisions When You Know What Your Values Are

“It`s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.’ – Roy Disney  It’s amazing how much pressure and stress it takes off your shoulders when, in advance, you have laid out the values you will adhere to in your life. If done in advance, then when faced with difficult decisions or […]

Remember Who You Are And What You Stand For

All through my growing up years as I would run out the door of our home, my mother would yell the phrase “Remember who you are and what you stand for”. I would guess I have heard that phrase literally thousands of times as a child. Most days she said it I would roll my […]

Don’t Climb A Mountain Until You’re Sure It’s The Right One

Let’s start with some #realtalk –  I am never going to be seen climbing an actual mountain because that would entail exercise which I strictly avoid at all costs 🙂 . But I have climbed my fair share of business mountains, emotional mountains, and spiritual mountains, throughout my life.  Each of which have taught me […]

A Committed Life

I was lying in bed last night when the phone beeped to alert me of an incoming text message. It was my kids wanting to know what the plan was for the family to get together on our day off the next day. “Day off?”, I thought to myself, “what do they mean day off?” […]

“If I Would Have Known Then What I Know Now. But I Did, And So Do You.”

She knew she was dying when she wrote the note which read:  “Regrets? I have a few. Too much worrying about finding the right husband and having children, being on time, being late and so on. It didn’t matter. It all works out, and it would have worked out without the worries and the tears. […]

Think You Are Too Small To Be Effective?

“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito.” —Betty Reese When talking with employees of an organization you will often discover that the rank and file employees within the organization are far more aware of the problems going on then the management is.  And […]

“Please pass me that parenting book. I need to smack my kid with it.”

I observed an interaction between a mother and her teenage daughter today and it was all I could do not to bust out laughing. Not because what was happening was funny, but because I knew exactly what emotions the mother was going through in that moment because I’ve walked in her shoes back when I […]

Never Take For Granted How Blessed You Are To Still Have Them Around

I was sitting at a corner booth that butted up against the back window at a restaurant today for a business meeting over lunch.  The rest of the group was seated on the bench seat with their backs to the window and I was seated at a chair facing the window.  As I was in […]

Working Hard Should Not Be Done For A Goal’s Sake At The Expense Of Relationship With Others

I was working at my office late tonight when a text came through from a friend with a video clip. I was super busy today and wouldn’t normally have stopped to listen to a video clip but for some reason I found myself hitting play. A young man in his graduation cap and gown stands […]

You’ve Got To Check Conditions Daily To Make The Needed Adjustments

Today we were discussing holding firm to our values in life. At one point in the discussion the leader of the discussion drew a picture of a boat and talked about the need for an anchor to hold the boat in place.  Some may picture a single anchor dropped in the water, but having been […]

That Sense Of Wonder

I answered the knock at our front door and he came barreling right in yelling “Grandma, Grandma – I’m Spiderman!!!”  There he was, my two year old grandson with a Spiderman mask on his face and a Disney Cars backpack on his back.   He ran in the door all wide-eyed and full of excitement pretending […]

You Couldn’t Ask For More

We were all sitting on the floor opening Christmas presents together when my kids said they had something for me. I waited for them to hand me something to unwrap, but instead they asked me to look up at our TV screen and watch a video they had made for me. As the video started […]

You Know It’s A Rough Day When…

You know it’s a rough day when first thing in the morning you jump on an early call at home that runs longer than expected so you go racing out the door and make the 15 minute drive to your office because you are now 10 minutes late to meet with the folks that have […]

How To Combat The Blues

Without a doubt one of the most dreaded things about January is coming back to work after the long holiday break to face all the emails, voice messages, and letters that have piled up during your absence.  Seeing all that work that’s accumulated and realizing how long it is going to take you just to […]

Starting The Decade Off Right!

Welcome back from the holidays everyone! And even more so, welcome to 2020!!! We have officially begun a whole new decade. It’s so exciting! After spending the Christmas holiday with our family here at home, which was fabulous, my husband and I decided to fly down to California to spend a few romantic days alone […]

And To All A Good Diet

“When what to my wondering eyes should appear but 10 extra pounds onHips, Thighs, and Rear!” I don’t know about you, but when the reality of every piece of chocolate, toffee, cookie, and pie I consumed over the holidays caught up with me in the form of standing on my scale….well, let’s just say it […]