Kids

  • Travel & Vacation: Family Vacation…..Way Up NORTH!!!

    Picture of the last Alaska Airline plane we got on!

    North to ALASKA!!!  We took a family vacation to Alaska this summer!  We had a blast!  We packed a lot in our time in Alaska.  We flew Alaska Airlines.  The girls did amazing on all the flights.  We flew through the night both on the way to Alaska and on the way home too.  They went through the airports fine, helped with the luggage, entertained themselves on the plane (and even rested).  Thankful for kids who love to travel and explore new places.

    Jake and the girls getting on the plane….notice they are entering the back half the plane.  First time on this type of plane!

    Sleeping Beauty on the plane!

    Another one bites the dust….

    The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family, ways we relax, and tips on how to make trips more enjoyable.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!

  • Relationships: Characteristics of a Friend

    Lily - Red & Orange Flower - Mother's Day Gift

    What Is a Friend?

    • A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.
    • A friend is a living treasure, and if you have one, you have one of the most valuable gifts in life.
    • A friend is one who will always be beside you, through all the laughter, and through each and every tear.
    • A friend is the one thing you can always rely on; the someone you can always open up to; the one person who always believes in you in a way that no one else seems to.
    • A friend is a sanctuary.
    • A friend is a smile.
    • A friend is a hand that is always holding yours, no matter where you are, no matter how close or far apart you may be.
    • A friend is someone who is always there and will always-always-care.
    • A friend is a feeling of forever in the heart.
    • A friend is the one door that is always open.
    • A friend is the one to whom you can give your key.
    • A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.

    – Collin McCarty

    There are certain qualities in friends that truly stand out more than others.  Some of those characteristics are hard to find while others are more common.  What type of friend are you to others?  Do you stand out and have all or at least some of these characteristics above?

    We are not called to be perfect every moment of each day, however, we should be reflecting qualities of positive characteristics in our lives.  We should be walking life with others.  Be real and sharing.  Let’s make sure we are investing in developing good character in ourselves and lasting friendships in our lives.

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Last week was amazing, refreshing, fun, and fantastic!  I LOVED spending the extra time with my family.  It was great to focus on spending time together and not worrying or concentrating on all the tasks, goals, and items on my “To Do” list.  I needed the break from the “normal” so I could focus on enjoying the people I love dearly in my life.  The kids are growing up way too quickly and I treasure the time that I have with them.  I want to pack in as many awesome memories with the entire family while they are still growing up.  This week will be a mix of focusing on my family and gearing up for the regular routine again.  I don’t want to switch too quickly as to shock my system, although I do need to get back on track with my tasks and goals.  I figure if I gradually ease into it again I will be good to go soon!  The shorter list was nice and much easier to tackle (and enjoy), but I cannot do that every week if I want to stay on top of life, schedules, and everything else going on with the family.   I am keeping it pretty close to the same as last week, but will be adding on a few items each day.  Here are my goals for this week:

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading The Forgotten Filly by Karle Dickerson to the kids – was able to get a good chunk of the book read with the kids
    2. Read 7 more Stories from the Bad Pets on the Loose by Alan Zullo book to the kids. – had some good laughs reading this one
    3. Go through 7 more Brain Quest Flash Cards with the kids. – learning more everyday
    4. Read through 7 more pages of History Trivia with the kids. – interesting trivia
    5. Reflect on our blessings and prayer time with kids every night.
    6. Plan one special activity with the family
    7. Play a Game with the Kids
    8. Create Memories with the Family
    9. Spend Quality time with each family member
    10. Do a new, unique, or different activity with the family this week

    Kid Goals

    1. Spend time Monday –Friday encouraging the kids to find creative ways to learn and grow their skills
    2. At least 30 minutes of outside play, fresh air, or activity time a day

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water, wear FitBit, and do yoga (or at least stretch out) each day

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. Focusing on my Family not the “to do” list

    Business Goals

    1. Focusing on my Family not the “to do” list

    Ministry Goals

    1. Quality time with my family

    Financial Goals

    1. Focusing on my Family not the “to do” list

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading The Forgotten Filly by Karle Dickerson to the kids.
    2. Read 7 more Stories from the Bad Pets on the Loose by Alan Zullo book to the kids.
    3. Go through 7 more Brain Quest Flash Cards with the kids.
    4. Read through 7 more pages of History Trivia with the kids.
    5. Reflect on our blessings and prayer time with kids every night.
    6. Plan one special activity with the family
    7. Play a Game with the Kids
    8. Create Memories with the Family
    9. Spend Quality time with each family member
    10. Do a new, unique, or different activity with the family this week

    Kid Goals

    1. Spend time Monday –Friday encouraging the kids to find creative ways to learn and grow their skills
    2. At least 30 minutes of outside play, fresh air, or activity time a day

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water, wear FitBit, and do yoga (or at least stretch out) each day

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. Focusing on my Family not the “to do” list

    Business Goals

    1. Focusing on my Family not the “to do” list

    Ministry Goals

    1. Quality time with my family

    Financial Goals

    1. Focusing on my Family not the “to do” list

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Counting My Blessings: Week In Review

    It was a busy week packed full of work, summer camp, and more fun activities.  We were able to get a lot done around the house too.  Thankful for my family and the many blessings I have been giving every day.

    I want to be accountable to you so the following are snip-its of some of the things I am thankful for this past week.

    Counting My Blessings – Week In Review:

    Monday –Thankful for that I was able to get Jake’s haircut done today.  We’ve been trying to get it done for over a week now, but finally found a good time to get it done.

    Tuesday – Thankful for a great chiropractor who helps keep our family in line.

    Wednesday – Thankful for the girls hard work as they finished up their Summer Reading Programs from the library.

    Thursday – Thankful for a family that pitches in to help when there is items that need to be done around the house and yard.

    Friday – Thankful for the girls having an opportunity to go to Roper Mountain Science Camp this week.  They learned a lot and had a terrific week!

    Saturday – Thankful for technology and the way we can stay connected with family, friends, and others even if there is a lot of miles in between.

    Sunday – Thankful for extra time with my family and a chance to relax, have fun, and make memories.

    What are you thankful for today?  I encourage you to take the time to write down a few blessings that you have in your life today.  It will help cheer you up and turn your focus on the amazing blessings you encounter each day.

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    It was a little bit of a wild week, but we got through it!  Thankful for my family and the opportunities we’ve had throughout the week. The girls enjoyed a week of Summer Camp at Roper Mountain Science Center.  Glad they were able to learn a lot.  Jake and I had a busy week at work, but were able to get some items accomplished.  This upcoming week I have scaled back my goals list to allow some more free time to spend with my family.  There are only a few more weeks left in the kids summer vacation and I want to have the opportunity to spend some down time with them and Jake.  My main goal for the upcoming couple of weeks is to focus on my family, have fun, and create memories.  I will give you an update on my goals, but next week will be a much slimmer list!  🙂  Every once in awhile it is good to have a week like this to refresh and regroup.   Here are my goals for this week:

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading The Forgotten Filly by Karle Dickerson to the kids. – have not finished reading it yet
    2. Read 7 more Stories from the Bad Pets on the Loose by Alan Zullo book to the kids. – getting through a few each week
    3. Go through 7 more Brain Quest Flash Cards with the kids. – read some
    4. Read through 7 more pages of History Trivia with the kids. – continuing to read through these with the kids
    5. Reflect on our blessings and prayer time with kids every night.
    6. Plan one special activity with the family
    7. Play a Game with the Kids – did not have a chance to play a board game this week
    8.  Attend After Work Activities
    9. Lunch Boxes packed the night before work & other planned activities
    10. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
    11. Prep & Figure out Schedule for upcoming Summer Break
    12. Work on family projects together
    13. Daily 15 minute “Speed Clean” for entire family to keep the daily clutter under control
    14. One-on-One Meeting with Jake to go over this week and future events on Calendar

    Kid Goals

    1. Have kids do work in their Summer Workbook(s)
    2. Encourage Kids to read independently at least 30 minutes a day
    3. Have kids work on our approved educational websites to encourage growth (at least 2 hours for the week) – we were not home to do these activities
    4. Have kids work for at least 1 hour on this week on improving their typing skills – they did not have a lot of computer time this week
    5. Each kid finish creating at least 2 blogs posts for their Fun with Sis blog
    6. Spend time Monday –Friday encouraging the kids to find creative ways to learn and grown their skills
    7. At least 30 minutes of outside play, fresh air, or activity time a day
    8. Attend Summer Camp – the girls went to Roper Mountain Science Center and had a great time learning!

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Keep up with my FitBit Goals – it has been a busy week, came close
    3. Do yoga at least 5 times a week
    4. Go to my Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily
    6. Tackle some lingering projects on my “to do” list
    7. Read over the kids blog posts

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – Family Room) – work in progress
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – Laundry Room) – made some progress
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Clean up items under deck – toys, bikes, wood, etc…)
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Refill Goat & Dog Food Bins / Clean Out Pet Water Buckets & Refill)
    7. Repairs – (Focus – Check on Water Heater Recall Notice we received) – on hold

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients
    5. Notes typed for work
    6. Folders Labeled for work
    7. Training on new projects
    8. Do at least 5 blog posts this week – didn’t get to all the ones I wanted to this week
    9. Catch up on Hootesuite – hoping to get caught up soon
    10. Upload pictures from last few weeks and update – got it started

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. One-on-one quality time with Jake (talking, date night, or doing an activity together)
    3. One-on-one quality time with Brina (talking, date night, or doing an activity together)
    4. One-on-one quality time with Karlie (talking, date night, or doing an activity together)

    Financial Goals

    1. Meet with Jake to go over Finances and Status Update – went over part of it
    2. Sign up for Work 401K program
    3. Schedule a meeting with the Financial Advisor – on my list to schedule for August once our schedule calms down a little bit
    4. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – made another small payment
    5. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    6. Go grocery shopping one time this week and stay within budget
    7. Sell, giveaway, donate, or through away items no longer usemade another Goodwill donation this week
    8. Take items to the recycling distributor
    9. Make meals with items from pantry, refrigerator, and freezer to use up what we have and eliminate any extra spending

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading The Forgotten Filly by Karle Dickerson to the kids.
    2. Read 7 more Stories from the Bad Pets on the Loose by Alan Zullo book to the kids.
    3. Go through 7 more Brain Quest Flash Cards with the kids.
    4. Read through 7 more pages of History Trivia with the kids.
    5. Reflect on our blessings and prayer time with kids every night.
    6. Plan one special activity with the family
    7. Play a Game with the Kids
    8. Create Memories with the Family
    9. Spend Quality time with each family member
    10. Do a new, unique, or different activity with the family this week

    Kid Goals

    1. Spend time Monday –Friday encouraging the kids to find creative ways to learn and grow their skills
    2. At least 30 minutes of outside play, fresh air, or activity time a day

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water, wear FitBit, and do yoga (or at least stretch out) each day

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. Focusing on my Family not the “to do” list

    Business Goals

    1. Focusing on my Family not the “to do” list

    Ministry Goals

    1. Quality time with my family

    Financial Goals

    1. Focusing on my Family not the “to do” list

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Counting My Blessings: Week In Review

    It was a great week with my family.  We had some good fun together while accomplishing a lot of little, but much needed tasks around the house and yard.  The girls have been enjoying their summer adventures too!  Love hearing about their days and what they have been learning at camp and the adventures they are enjoying.   Thankful for an opportunity to have an extra day with my family over the July 4th Holiday.

    I want to be accountable to you so the following are snip-its of some of the things I am thankful for this past week.

    Counting My Blessings – Week In Review:

    Monday –Thankful for a great July 4th Holiday to celebrate our country, time with my family, and a chance to have an extra day at home to get some items done!

    Tuesday – Thankful that Jake took the girls into summer camp so I could get into work earlier.  Also, grateful that I was able to get off work at lunch to pick up the girls and spend the afternoon with them.  We had a lot of fun hanging out together.

    Wednesday – Thankful for Jake and the girls help getting some items done around the house.

    Thursday – Thankful for an opportunity to spend extra time with extended family.  It wasn’t on the schedule until last night, but my Grandma Willa was in town visiting so we had an impromptu dinner with Grandma, my brother & his family, Aunt Pat, and my cousins and their families.  We had a great meal, the kids played well, and a good time of catching up.  Grateful for an opportunity to see family.

    Friday – Thankful for the girls summer camp and the adventures that they have been able to enjoy this summer.  They met a lot of neat people this week and was able to get in a lot of biking time (also the importance of staying hydrated on hot summer days in South Carolina).  Both girls were grateful for the camel backs this week.

    Saturday – Thankful for some time to catch up on projects around the house and yard.  Grateful for Jake and all he does for our family.

    Sunday – Thankful for the freedom to worship and fellowship with other believers.

    What are you thankful for today?  I encourage you to take the time to write down a few blessings that you have in your life today.  It will help cheer you up and turn your focus on the amazing blessings you encounter each day.

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    It was wonderful starting last week off with a Holiday!  We were able to get some extra items done around the house and spend some time together as a family.  Having the holiday on a Monday did through off our week a little bit, but we adjusted just fine!  We had a spontaneous dinner and gathering midweek with extended family which was a lot of fun too!  The girls had fun at bike camp while Jake and I tackled projects at work.  We’ve been busy working through a lot of items and project around the house as well.    Here are my goals for this week:

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein to the kids. – finished reading it, the girls loved it!
    2. Read 7 more Stories from the Bad Pets on the Loose by Alan Zullo book to the kids.
    3. Go through 7 more Brain Quest Flash Cards with the kids.
    4. Read through 7 more pages of History Trivia with the kids.
    5. Reflect on our blessings and prayer time with kids every night.
    6. Plan one special activity with the family
    7. Play a Game with the Kids
    8.  Attend After Work Activities
    9. Lunch Boxes packed the night before work & other planned activities
    10. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
    11. Prep & Figure out Schedule for upcoming Summer Break
    12. Work on family projects together
    13. Daily 15 minute “Speed Clean” for entire family to keep the daily clutter under control

    Kid Goals

    1. Have kids do work in their Summer Workbook(s)
    2. Encourage Kids to read independently at least 30 minutes a day
    3. Have kids work on our approved educational websites to encourage growth (at least 2 hours for the week)
    4. Have kids work for at least 1 hour on this week on improving their typing skills
    5. Each kid finish creating at least 2 blogs posts for their Fun with Sis blog
    6. Spend time Monday –Friday encouraging the kids to find creative ways to learn and grown their skills
    7. At least 30 minutes of outside play, fresh air, or activity time a day

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Keep up with my FitBit Goals
    3. Do yoga at least 5 times a week – not so great on this one, got out of my regular routine
    4. Go to my Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily
    6. Tackle some lingering projects on my “to do” list
    7. Read over the kids blog posts

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day – it took more than 1 day with everything going on this week
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – Clean Living Room)
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – Label & Hang Up Kids Necklaces)
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Pick up Sticks found in the yard from the past couple of storms)
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Work of the Goat & Dog Fences)
    7. Repairs – (Focus – Check on Water Heater Recall Notice we received) – haven’t been able to do this one yet

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients – need to wrap up one more
    5. Notes typed for work – need to update with new information
    6. Meeting regarding work goals and upcoming tasks completed – update and review
    7. Folders Labeled for work – working on it
    8. Training on new projects – making progress
    9. Desk drawers organized – getting it there
    10. Do at least 5 blog posts this week
    11. Catch up on Hootesuite
    12. Upload pictures from last few weeks and update – have more of them completed

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. One-on-one quality time with Jake (talking, date night, or doing an activity together)
    3. One-on-one quality time with Brina (talking, date night, or doing an activity together)
    4. One-on-one quality time with Karlie (talking, date night, or doing an activity together)

    Financial Goals

    1. Schedule a meeting with the Financial Advisor – narrowing down the schedules
    2. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – working on it
    3. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    4. Go grocery shopping one time this week and stay within budget – went more than once with the impromptu family dinner with 17 people on Thursday night! 🙂
    5. Sell, giveaway, donate, or through away items no longer use – making good progress, but still have a ways to go
    6. Take items to the recycling distributor
    7. Make meals with items from pantry, refrigerator, and freezer to use up what we have and eliminate any extra spending

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading The Forgotten Filly by Karle Dickerson to the kids.
    2. Read 7 more Stories from the Bad Pets on the Loose by Alan Zullo book to the kids.
    3. Go through 7 more Brain Quest Flash Cards with the kids.
    4. Read through 7 more pages of History Trivia with the kids.
    5. Reflect on our blessings and prayer time with kids every night.
    6. Plan one special activity with the family
    7. Play a Game with the Kids
    8.  Attend After Work Activities
    9. Lunch Boxes packed the night before work & other planned activities
    10. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
    11. Prep & Figure out Schedule for upcoming Summer Break
    12. Work on family projects together
    13. Daily 15 minute “Speed Clean” for entire family to keep the daily clutter under control

    Kid Goals

    1. Have kids do work in their Summer Workbook(s)
    2. Encourage Kids to read independently at least 30 minutes a day
    3. Have kids work on our approved educational websites to encourage growth (at least 2 hours for the week)
    4. Have kids work for at least 1 hour on this week on improving their typing skills
    5. Each kid finish creating at least 2 blogs posts for their Fun with Sis blog
    6. Spend time Monday –Friday encouraging the kids to find creative ways to learn and grown their skills
    7. At least 30 minutes of outside play, fresh air, or activity time a day

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Keep up with my FitBit Goals
    3. Do yoga at least 5 times a week
    4. Go to my Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily
    6. Tackle some lingering projects on my “to do” list
    7. Read over the kids blog posts

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – Family Room)
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – Laundry Room)
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Blow off deck, sidewalk, & driveway)
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Refill Goat & Dog Food)
    7. Repairs – (Focus – Check on Water Heater Recall Notice we received)

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients
    5. Notes typed for work
    6. Meeting regarding work goals and upcoming tasks completed
    7. Folders Labeled for work
    8. Training on new projects
    9. Desk drawers organized
    10. Do at least 5 blog posts this week
    11. Catch up on Hootesuite
    12. Upload pictures from last few weeks and update

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. One-on-one quality time with Jake (talking, date night, or doing an activity together)
    3. One-on-one quality time with Brina (talking, date night, or doing an activity together)
    4. One-on-one quality time with Karlie (talking, date night, or doing an activity together)

    Financial Goals

    1. Schedule a meeting with the Financial Advisor
    2. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt
    3. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    4. Go grocery shopping one time this week and stay within budget
    5. Sell, giveaway, donate, or through away items no longer use
    6. Take items to the recycling distributor
    7. Make meals with items from pantry, refrigerator, and freezer to use up what we have and eliminate any extra spending

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say?

    Our fortunes!

    Recently we had Chinese food and the following were our fortunes from the meal:

    • Jake – “You will be traveling to distant lands for business purposes” (He travels a lot of places for work!)
    • Bridgette – “You will travel to many exotic places in the next few years.” (I LOVE to travel.  I have already been to many amazing places over the years and I cannot wait to see more of the world.  Plus, sometimes I get to travel with Jake when he goes on work trips.  Maybe our fortunes were suppose to be together, sounds like more fun for me though! 🙂  Already looking forward to these exotic places we are going to together!)
    • Brina – “You have a flair for adding fanciful dimension to any story.” (She is definitely the more fancy of the two kids!)
    • Karlie – “You will soon be involved in many gatherings and parties.”  (I am curious about what she’s going to be doing!)

    It was a fun evening of relaxing with the family, eating Chinese food, and laughing about silly fortunes.  We have so much to be thankful for in our lives.  We are richly blessed and take many things for granted every day.  Let’s treasure the time with have with our friends, families, and those around us.  It is not impossible to run into people that you know even if you are across the world.  Our lives leave an imprint of each person we interact with whether it is only once or many times!  Make each moment count for good!

  • Counting My Blessings: Week In Review

    It was a busy week, but we had a lot of fun.  The girls came into work with me first thing in the morning for a little bit.  They helped unlock the doors, turn on lights, and get set up for the day before spending time working on their summer workbooks for some time before I took them into camp.  They did a Music & Technology camp in the morning and a Rube Goldberg creative experiments in the afternoon.  It was super neat seeing what cool creations they developed over the course of the week.

    I want to be accountable to you so the following are snip-its of some of the things I am thankful for this past week.

    Counting My Blessings – Week In Review:

    Monday –Thankful for an opportunity to spend some time chatting with the girls on the way to work and their help getting everything set up for the day.

    Tuesday – Thankful to have an chance to see and hear all the neat things the girls are learning and creating in their week at Summer Camp.

    Wednesday – Thankful for a dentist near home, that gets me in for an early appointment, and that I didn’t have any cavities or items that need to be done! Yay!

    Thursday – Thankful for the girls curious and inquisitive minds.  They are not afraid to ask questions so they can learn more from people in various areas.

    Friday – Thankful for some quiet one-on-one time with Jake.  It was nice to relax, catch up, chat, and spend some time together.  Grateful for his thoughts and for being a sounding board regarding my crazy ideas.  He brings peace, calm, and great insight to areas that am I trying to figure out.

    Saturday – Thankful for an opportunity to spend time my family!  We got a lot of accomplished, but also had fun together!

    Sunday – Thankful for the freedom to attend church, learn, and grow.  Grateful for a refreshing and much needed moments with my family.

    What are you thankful for today?  I encourage you to take the time to write down a few blessings that you have in your life today.  It will help cheer you up and turn your focus on the amazing blessings you encounter each day.