I moved every few years as a kid. My father’s work took us from Oregon, to Washington, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, California and then Utah. Every time we moved and I had to say goodbye to my friends it was hard. That gave me a special appreciation for the fact that from the time my […]
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Victor Frankel Sitting in a hospital all day today while my father-in-law was getting surgery I watched as families would bring a […]
“Watching someone you love suffer can teach you even more than suffering yourself can.” -Dodie Smith It is so difficult to watch someone you love suffer. You would give anything to help take their pain away, yet there is only so much you can do. First you focus on the logistical things you can do…drive […]
For the last several months my husband and I have been working round the clock to help our son and his wife to redo a home they recently bought so they can hurry and get moved in before their next baby (my second grandbaby) is born this summer. We’ve poured our hearts and soul into […]
All of us have moments of fear, doubt, anxiety, and loneliness in our lives. Some battle it only occasionally while others may deal with it on an ongoing basis, but I have yet to meet anyone who hasn’t dealt with those emotions in their life. One of the most powerful talks on this subject was […]
Some days…especially days when you are still awake at 1:45am in the morning working on your taxes that are due in less than a week …well, let’s just say those days are NOT a whole lot of fun. Days like that you’ve gotta find something to laugh about or you will lose your mind buried […]
I’m so excited about this weekend! In order to describe just how awesome what I’ll be watching this weekend will be I first have to remind everyone that I am seriously A.D.D. (attention deficit disorder)…anyone who knows me knows I have a hard time sitting still for, well, just about anything…but this weekend not only […]
Today was April Fools and as always, pranksters were out in full force. Some of the funnier pranks I saw today that at least gave me a good laugh were in the form of funny advertisements that were put out today. Here are a few of the ones that gave me a good laugh: Pizza […]
“One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson After having spent the last several days down sick in bed I was super excited to wake up feeling at […]
Today was one of those days where when it comes to an end you just want to curl up in a ball and cry because you’ve had one thing after another pile on you so fast and furious you don’t even feel like you have time to breathe, let alone catch a potty break or […]
Did you know that the habit of smiling can make you happier in life? Well it can! Here is an excerpt from an article that was published back in 2009 that proves it! (I’m not sure who wrote it but it’s awesome!): “A recent study found that a habit of genuine smiling may contribute to […]
I have to say that starting the year off with a great big completed check on one of my big goals from my goal poster feels pretty fantastic! I finished writing my very first book ever and I’m going to be receiving my advanced copy of the book fresh off the presses from the publisher […]
I have never been able to plan ahead early enough to get family photos taken and printed out, gather updated addresses for everyone, and then send the photos out to everyone with a nice letter. Yet I love it when I receive other people’s cards because it’s so fun to see their families grow and […]
It’s a pretty terrible feeling when you realize that you’ve waited too long to order your Christmas gifts and even with the beloved Amazon Prime account you still won’t be able to have all your gifts delivered in time. How has this month gone by so fast already?! I’ve still got so much to get […]
If you’ve ever watched the movie A Christmas Story then you know exactly what the term ‘double dog dare you’ means. If you haven’t watched the movie A Christmas Story then what in the heck is wrong with you?!?! I mean, you gotta watch it! It’s a holiday classic that needs to be watched every […]
Today I had a luncheon and board meeting for the Stella H. Oaks Foundation board that I serve on. The mission of the foundation is bringing hope to single moms through education. Let me explain why the foundation bears Stella’s name. Stella H. Oaks was a single mother of three after her husband died of […]
December is here and it just happens to be my favorite month of the entire year! I love Christmastime SO MUCH! I love singing along to Christmas music on the radio. I love watching Hallmark Christmas movies with my hot cocoa and whipped cream. I love the spirit of Christmas in the air. I love […]
For the past several months we have been house hunting to help my son and his wife find a home that can accommodate their growing little family…and I am all about helping them find a place because the faster we find it the faster they can start filling it up with more adorable grandbabies! And […]
Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us we can turn our attention to #GivingTuesday . Giving Tuesday is a day when we are encouraged to give of our time, give of our money, give of a gift, or give of the power of your voice – it’s a day we should find […]
Welcome back! I hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving holiday! If you ate even a portion of the food I consumed over the weekend then you too are wondering how in the world you will ever fit into your normal pants again to go back to work tomorrow! It’s been so nice to wear elastic waist […]
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs […]
“Have you ever gone through something difficult and that experience allowed you to empathize with friends or even strangers who were facing a similar challenge? Or have you seen others experience sorrow from difficult circumstances and turn their pain into a moving, empowering cause? The trials we face allow us to develop compassion for others […]
It’s an object lesson most everyone has heard of, but I was reminded of it today and having the visual image that this object lesson provides was something I really needed right now in my life. It’s the object lesson of the rocks, pebbles and sand: “A professor of philosophy stood before his class with […]
Did you know that November 1st is “Give Up Your Shoulds Day”? Me neither! I actually just found out about it myself, but I’m thinking, “How did I not know about this day sooner?!” Here’s what I learned: According to checkiday.com, “Give Up Your Shoulds Day is a day to give up thinking about something […]
“Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long you miss them.” – William Arthur Ward I’ve observed many situations where an opportunity was placed before someone, and then they hesitated, and fretted, and deliberated, and flip-flopped, until eventually their hesitation lost them the opportunity all-together. Opportunities…especially golden ones…don’t present themselves all that often. Golden […]
Want to know what’s scary? For me, it’s the thought of having the doorbell ring over and over again all night on Halloween and having to get up and done and up and down to answer it over and over to give out candy to kids that often seem way too old to still be […]
I hadn’t thought about the story of The Trouble Tree for along time. But I was reminded of tonight as I came home from a long day of work. I was worn out and feeling overwhelmed by how much I still needed to get done and when I pulled in the garage and walked through […]
Today I gave a keynote speech at the WeRoc conference (Women Entrepreneurs Realizing Opportunities for Capital). In my talk I shared several pieces of advice on raising capital: This first bit of advice probably seems counter-intuitive to be saying at raising venture conference but it’s what I honestly believe is the best advice I could […]
As those who read my blog know, I got really sick over the weekend with a sinus cold. It seems like every year at this time I get them and they are seriously miserable. And frankly I would have laid in bed all day today being miserable if I hadn’t already committed several months ago […]
Welcome to cold and flu season **sigh** In all my excitement for winter holiday season I somehow failed to remember that its also cold and flu season…that was until Saturday night when a sinus cold hit both me and my husband like a ten ton truck and the two of us had to get Nyquil’d […]
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