While on the water earlier this evening we saw this rolling upriver in our direction.  How awesome of a view is that?  I love watching the clouds when they are roiling on the edge of a front like that.  The colors are great, the shapes are always shifting and changing, and you can just feel the pressure change coming with them.  I am thankful to witness natural phenomena like this!

As we began our morning meeting today a song that I hadn’t heard for a long while came on.  It was Wild, Wild West by The Escape Club from the late 80’s.  If you can’t remember which song it is check out the link here ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8W9uvhdFZY ).  When it came on I had flashbacks to our family vacation out west when I was a kid.  At one point on the trip (I was thinking Deadwood, but my mom corrected me and said it was actually Rapid City) we stopped overnight and caught a comedic play.  At the finale of the presentation there was a scene that had this song blasting while the actors had an epic fight scene in slow motion with strobe lights…  at least that’s what I seem to remember.  Regardless, I couldn’t help but smile at the memories of the time with my family on that vacation while the song played.

Later in the evening the song “Walk Like an Egyptian” by The Bangles ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv6tuzHUuuk ) came on and it left me scratching my head.  It reminded me of vacation with my family as a kid again, but I couldn’t quite place it.  My brain then tried to fit the two memories together and I started questioning if that was the song in the play, not Wild, Wild West.  Stumped, I fired the question via text to my mom who reminded me that it was in the first laser show we’d gone to at Wisconsin Dells a summer or two beforehand.  Immediately the brain cells connected the dots and I was reminded of that laser show which I thought was about the coolest thing ever at the time.

Two songs heard seemingly at random today and they both reminded me of the fun times I had on past vacations with my family.  Since then I’ve been smiling as I think about how many times there is a song or two on vacation that just seem to fit the vacation and capture the essence of it.  Hearing both of these that reminded me of vacation as a kid has left me just smiling away as I type it tonight.  It also reminds me to play the tunes while traveling with the boys, I’ll never know which one or two songs might trigger some awesome memories for them thirty years later.

Thanks!!!

This morning we closed out our family weekend in about the perfect way possible…  by sitting around the dining room table shooting the bull.  Becky and I woke up a little early to get everything packed and ready to head out.  Once that was about done everyone was gathering around the dining room and kitchen for breakfast and we proceeded to just chill and talk for quite a while.  It was perfect!  Chilling like that around the table reminded me of when I was a kid the morning we’d leave Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  Nick and I would wake up to the smell of coffee and Kringle and we’d just all relax and talk until it was time to head out.  What an awesome close to our time together.

After dropping off the boys for the week of Camp Grandpa with his other grandparents Becky and I made it home in the late afternoon.  It took longer than expected to unpack and get things done around the house (as it always seems to take), but once it was done I was able to spend time on my laptop getting ready for the upcoming work week.

Thanks to some pretty exciting news on several fronts this week is poised to be about the busiest and most ridiculous week of new business I’ve had in a long time.  I can’t wait!  Between adding new teammates, adding new clients, and growing our business at current clients there is nothing but positive news and excitement on the schedule for the week.  Sure, it’s going to mean some long hours, extra focus, and some flexibility, but it’s all worth it for what my teammates and I are building.  I’m so thankful as always to have them by my side helping us create something awesome.  Knowing that when I get into the office early tomorrow morning I’ll already have a jump start on the day will help me get a great night of sleep tonight.

Thanks!!!

This was the second straight year of taking a long weekend to head up north with the family, my mom and stepBrad, and Nick and his family. Just like last year we’ve had a ton of fun spending time together.

Changing things up from last year we added one day to the trip which seems just about right. Having an extra day seemed to give us more flexible time and opportunity to just chill as a family. Sometimes we were in smaller groups and other times we were one big group. All in all it worked out well to have time all together and with each person.

The weekend was filled with so many fun things including bike rides, boating, tubing, wake surfing, playing games, and eating way too much. More important, it was full of time together shooting the bull and having fun. There were so many laughs and smiles. Sometimes they were from old remembered memories and other times they were new memories to be remembered in future years.

As I lay in bed I’m struggling to keep my eyes open as I type this. The past few days have been chock full of great family time and I’m now officially spent. Maybe it’s just me, but total exhaustion like this is from a weekend well spent, a wonderful family tradition.

Thanks!!!

Gavin had attempted to try wake surfing yesterday but a couple of lightning strikes shut that down in short order and we headed for shore. Today was a different story and Gavin was able to try it. I was super proud of him, he tried and failed, tried and failed, and kept on trying. He was smiling the whole time and kept listening to the coaching he was getting. While he may not have gotten up on the board completely he was very successful in something else. He inspired me to get over my fear and nervousness and try it too.

I’ve never been a big fan of water. My fear of drowning always lingers in the back of my head and I often let it get in the way of trying somethings. For instance, several dreams on my list involve scuba diving, something that I’m a long way from trying. Wake surfing was along those same lines. My fear of the water was stuck in the back of my head and I let that fear prevent me from having fun. Seeing Gavin today helped me realize that if my 9yo son can try something without fear there’s no reason I couldn’t do the same.

With that in mind I proceeded to try wake surfing today. Nick did an excellent job of coaching me through the process. While I’d been watching others through the day, I’d asked a lot of questions, and had an idea in my head of how to get up and out of the water it was Nick’s coaching that helped me go step by step through the process. He kept me calm, was supportive and directive where I needed it.

By some act of God I was actually able to get up on my first try! I was ecstatic! It wasn’t long before I went down. The next time I was up even longer and it was awesome.

Gavin, thanks for the extra motivation to get outside of my comfort zone to try something new. Nick, thanks for helping to coach me through this. It was a great experience and I’m so thankful for it.

Thanks!!!

Todays been an awesome start to vacation. There was a huge breakfast to kick things off followed by a wonderful long bike ride with Becky, my mom, and the boys. Afterwards Becky and I continued to ride on around the lake for a while and had a great time. We biked further than we’d had in a very long time (pretty sure ever) and it felt amazing.

After a huge and delicious dinner the boys (including Nick & Brad) and I started in on playing poker. The boys learned many life lessons while battling it out with us as we all joked around while having an awesome time. The time at the table together was priceless!

Thanks!!!

I had an awesome memory pop up yesterday in my Facebook feed. Four years ago yesterday my friend Chris Dembiec asked me a very simple and profound question. “What are your dreams?” He’d just read a wonderful book, The Dream Manager, and was inspired to try something with our team. Next thing I knew I’d written a list of over 100 dreams that I wanted to accomplish.

Looking back it was one of those moments that reignited a bit of a fire in me. Back in 2007 I’d spent time creating a list of dreams and life goals that caused me to make some large changes in my life. This conversation four years ago helped to fan the embers back into a blaze.

In the past four years there’s been some pretty sweet progress on my dream list. With it lingering in the back of my head I’ve accomplished more in four years than I’d thought possible. Some of these include things as basic as getting passports for the boys, meeting Jim Collins, and kayaking/swimming in bioluminescent water. There are many that I’ve made progress towards like visiting each National Park.

All totaled I’ve checked off about 20 dreams! That’s an average of five each year which means I’d better add at least another five new ones each year.

Chris, thanks again for helping to rekindle the fire and inspiring some dream greatness! Greatly appreciated dude!

Off to dream lab to create some new ones!

Thanks!!!

With yesterday’s post focused on being physically active something funny happened this morning.  When I woke up early this morning I was exhausted and just wanted to go back to sleep for an extra hour or so.  I hit the snooze and rolled back over.  As I started to close my eyes something hit me…  How could I write about being active if I then skipped the next morning?

The accountability I felt from my post last night and the self imposed peer pressure (not sure that it makes sense, but you know what I mean) prompted me to get out of bed and get my almost lazy butt in gear.  I got dressed and was out for a bike ride.

The ride felt great and it felt wonderful to get my blood pumping first thing in the morning.  To think I’d almost skipped it!  Chalk up one more reason I am thankful for this blog.

Thanks!!!

This morning started with waking up early and heading out the door before 5am for a run.  Sure it was still thick and sticky at that time of the day, but starting the day with a run helps me feel way better throughout the length of the day.  Even being with the dogs adds to the positive attitude throughout the day.  They are bouncing, excited, and smiling as they get their harnesses on for their run.  Their joy of the present moment always reminds me to do the same.  It’s also a great time to spend time with Becky, one of the few short moments of time we have to connect daily.  Getting the endorphins running, a dose of joy from the girls, and time with Becky puts a smile on my face before my day would normally begin.

At work I spent the majority of my time at my stand up desk.  Sitting once in a while for meetings felt good, but the ability to stretch out while I talk felt awesome.

After dinner with the family Becky and I hopped on our bikes and headed out to hot yoga.  Amber did an awesome job of twisting and bending us until the sweat was literally dropping off of me and onto my mat.  Taking an hour to focus on breathing and stretching was a great way to chill for the day.

We biked home and as soon as we got home I went outside with the boys.  Dominic fired up some frisbee in the park and had a great time laughing and joking around as we tried crazy trick throws that we had no right attempting (and failed in amazing style – enjoying every failed attempt!).   We ran around and had fun doing it.

Now as I chill on the couch and type this blog my body’s tired and I’m feeling great.  I know I’ll sleep like a baby tonight…  and then wake up and get moving early again in the morning.  It feels awesome!!!  Thanks Becky for not only supporting, but encouraging this lifestyle!

Thanks!!!

 

Let me start today by saying that everything’s fine, there’s no reason to be nervous or anything.  We’re all healthy, nothing terrible has happened, or anything like that.  All that  said, I’m going to skip the specifics about today’s blog post as the details really don’t matter.  What’s important today is the concept behind the action.

There’s something I’ve been meaning to do for quite a while but I’d just kept putting it off.  It is one of those things that not only isn’t fun, but it’s also a time consuming pain in the butt.  At the root of it there’s much thought about whether or not it’s even worth taking the action.  I’ve kept it at the bottom of my to do list for quite a while and it probably would’ve stayed there if it wasn’t for a little scare today.

Long story short, something happened that caused me to be super paranoid and escalate that task to the top of the list.  It took quite a bit of time to take care of, but I’ve completed it now.  With the task behind me I’m feeling a ton better already!

Had I not had a very healthy dose of paranoia I probably would’ve kept putting this off until it was way too late and then I could’ve run into some serious issues.  Thank you Mr. Paranoia for rearing your head to help spur me onto taking action!

Thanks!!!