No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.” – P.T. Barnum If you haven’t yet seen the new movie “The Greatest Showman”…. GO SEE IT!  Oh my goodness it is fantastic!  Seriously, the storyline, the music, and the cinematography are just amazing!  And there are so many great messages in the film: […]

Can I just put it out there that facing the real world after a long holiday is seriously terr-i-fying! Really though…there is far little more daunting then having to actually face up to the fact that for the last month you have completely ignored all your incoming emails, phone calls, most of your paper mail, […]

Welcome to 2018 everyone! Isn’t it just so exciting?!  A brand new year, a clean slate, a fresh chapter…2018 is the beginning of something extraordinary! Hopefully everyone found time to go through their 2018 calendar and block out all the days they want for their vacations etc that I wrote about here, and hopefully everyone […]

I can hardly believe that 2017 is almost over.  This past year has held some of the happiest moments of life, and truth be told, it has also held many of the saddest moments of my life.  Without a doubt it is a year I will be happy to have come to a close as […]

Christmas is amazing…but the after Christmas clean-up, not so much….Once the holiday is over, taking down the decorations is about as much fun as unpacking your suitcase after a fabulous vacation…not fun at all… As I’ve faced the need to take down my own Christmas décor I’ve been wondering what I could do to make […]

Okay people, this is the week to get out that cardboard sheet and a glue stick and find some pictures to represent everything you ever wanted and then make your 2018 Goal Posters!  Before you start poo-poo’ing the idea I strongly suggest you read some of my past posts in which I share the MAGIC […]

I wish it was possible to give every single person reading this blog a beautifully wrapped Christmas present from me to you.  It would be impossible for me to put into words how grateful I feel for all of you who take time out of your busy lives to read the things I write in […]

Just as 2017 passed us by in a flash, 2018 will do the same if we don’t take control of our calendar right now…BEFORE it starts filling up all on its own.  And believe me when I say that Calendars have a funny way of doing that.  They start out looking fresh and full of […]

I distinctly remember as a kid the fear I had of doing something bad that would cause me to get put on Santa’s naughty list. I think most kids, from a very young age, are fully knowledgeable about Santa’s Naughty and Nice list that he uses to determine whether he will be bringing them presents […]

I realize we refer to this month as “the most wonderful time of the year” and I don’t disagree with that, but let’s have a little #realtalk for a second…the week before Christmas is straight up the most stressful week of the year! Let’s start with the fact that every time you go to an […]

Today’s post is a guest post from my daughter Ashley. She said if I stayed up late to watch a movie with her tonight she would write a blog for me so here it is: “Buttery Flakey Crust” For those of you who haven’t seen this video of a commercial being made, please take a […]

Every night as I drive home the weeks before Christmas I look up on the hill above my house to see a big star that is lit up on the mountainside. It’s a star a neighbor has lit up for years during the holiday and I look forward to seeing it every night. There is […]

Tonight my husband and I were able to go and see Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol at the new (and amazing) Hale Center Theater. I’ve heard the story a million times but it still gets to me every time.  It’s impossible to watch the play without thinking about your own life and where the ghosts […]

Let’s face it – shopping for the perfect Christmas gift can be STRESSFUL! It’s so hard to find something unique or special to give. My personal feeling is that gifts from the heart are the best kind of gifts, but for those who are looking to buy something fun for their loved one I thought […]

All I Need To Know I Learned From Santa    (written by unknown) *Encourage people to believe in you. *Always remember who’s naughty and who’s nice. *Don’t pout. *It’s as much fun to give as it is to receive. *Some days it’s ok to feel a little chubby. *Make your presents known. *Always ask for […]

For those who aren’t aware of it, I have a 24 year old son, Dalton, who is absolutely, unequivocally, obsessed with Star Wars and all things Star Wars. Not only has he spent years collecting Star Wars Lego sets, he has made it his life goal to own every Star Wars Lego Set so he […]

I was so happy today when I saw a pretty blue box of V-Chocolates had been delivered to my office…then I was a LOT LESS happy when I discovered that my two business partners at REES Capital had gotten to the box before I saw it and the two of them had eaten almost all […]

Even a perfect plan can go awry. Take it from the girl who thought she had a perfect plan in place for her life at 18 only to find that nothing in my life those next ten years went according to my perfect plan. Years later I came to realize that rather than trying to […]

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you have been going a million miles an hour all day long, only to get to the end of your day and have absolutely no idea what you actually accomplished? Yeah…so today was one of those days. My day started at 5:30am because […]

“The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.” – Henry David Thoreau Last Sunday a friend shared that quote during a conversation about doing the right thing even though doing the right thing isn’t always the easy thing. I liked the quote so much that I hurried and wrote it down […]

Awww yes…we have entered the fabulous month of December and the fabulous season of Christmas (and Hanukkah, Ramadan , Kwanza, and all the other fabulous December holidays being celebrated). And as should be done every December, it’s time to whip out that classic movie from 1983, “A Christmas Story” to watch little Ralphie ask Santa […]

“Sometimes,’ said Pooh, ‘the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” ― A.A. Milne Such true words spoken in that quote said by Winnie the Pooh. When I think of the things that have really touched my heart the most I think of the smallest things others have done that meant the […]

“If anyone ever tells you your dreams are silly, just remember here’s a millionaire walking around who invented the pool noodle.”  – unknown That quote makes me happy because it’s a great reminder to everyone who makes fun of someone else’s dream that they might want to think twice before making fun…you never know what […]

The last several months life has thrown me some major curveballs that I frankly never saw coming, and those curveballs have caused me to have to deal with things I never expected to go through. As each of them hit I felt completely unprepared to deal with the mix of emotions hitting me all at […]

Much of my life I struggled with being on time to things. I would always pack my schedule a bit too tight and then forget to leave adequate driving time in between appointments and inevitably I would end up racing around yet still arriving five or ten minutes late to everything. Until one day someone pointed […]

I hope all of you had an amazing Thanksgiving holiday off of work spending time with your loved ones. Other than not being able to fit back into any of my clothes after eating so much turkey and pie…sigh…my holiday was one filled with family and fun memories and fantastic food…so much food… Normally I […]

I grew up in a big family. My parents have ten children and nine of the ten are married currently and all ten of the children have children of their own, and some of those children have children of their own. In fact at present my parents have a total of 70 something children and […]

If you haven’t heard of The Piano Guys before then let me just tell you that you are seriously missing out.  These guys are a perfect example of what happens when good people with incredible talent come together…they create something truly magnificent, not to mention inspiring. Each of their talents are unique, and each one […]

“They do not love that do not show their love.” – William Shakespeare I can hardly believe that it is Thanksgiving this week!  I feel like the past few months have been a bit of a blur in which time has both stood still and yet been flying by. As odd as that description is, […]

This past week has been one big adventure in my life and after a week of numerous public speaking engagements, several board meetings, two black tie events, and hardly any sleep, I just got home. It’s near midnight and I still need to prepare a powerpoint presentation for another speech I am giving tomorrow morning […]