There are many days in our lives when we can look back and remember the day completely. Once in a while we stumble upon a lone memory that sends the synapses firing on all cylinders and a flood of awesome memories come crashing in.

One picture did just that for me today. In a flash I remembered almost all of March 10, 2011. That was the day Dad came to town and we started remodeling the kitchen.

Most of the morning was spent tearing out the old cabinets. I still remember a few of the conversations we had while we tore them out. There were a few moments that really stick out as well.  One of my favorites was when Dad was giving me a hard time about pulling out a specific cabinet.  After a while I let him tag in.  Lo and behold – he couldn’t get it right away either!  Next thing I knew we were giggling like little kids while we tried and failed to take it out.  By the time we finally got it out we found it had been nailed in at about every possible angle through each and every possible layer.  It was a blast!

Throughout that day we spent time working together on putting in cabinets.  I learned so much from my time with him that day.  At one point we’d installed one cabinet upside down and had to replace it.  He helped me see how minor little changes could make all the difference; like finding the perfect shelf to slide in at eye level and to hide the worst looking one way down on the bottom.

We accomplished way more than I expected and it was so awesome to see the tangible progress.  The best part though was the time we had joking and laughing together.  There were so many projects we worked on together like the this.  So many wonderful times together.  How blessed I am to have created so many memories with him.

Today I am so thankful for that memory of working with Dad that popped up.  My heart had been filled with joy all day long as I’ve kept thinking about our time together nine years ago.

Thanks!!!

Just a week or two ago I was talking with some of my teammates about the triple decker fort the boys and I made in our living room many years ago.  Guess what popped up in my “On This Day” feed…

I still smile when I see that picture and think back to how much fun we had.  It probably wasn’t necessarily the safest thing I’ve ever done, but we had a blast and all survived.  What an awesome random memory!

We had the boys’ parent teacher conferences and it was great to hear how well they are doing.  The grades thing is cool of course, but I was most happy with hearing how well they are doing as classmates and students.  It warms my heart to have independent validation that both of the chuckle heads above are turning into great kids.

Thanks!!!

Today was our annual Super Saturday at Express. Everyone from our 10 or so local offices get together in Rochester. It’s an awesome event to provide an opportunity to spend time training together to better serve our clients, associates, and teammates. Being able to spend time together bonding, getting to know each other better, joke around, and have a great time together is a wonderful bonus.

You know you’re working with the right people when you see working on a Saturday less as work and more as an opportunity to hang out with great friends you don’t get to see nearly as often as you’d like. It is so awesome that we also learned so many new ways to help people while enjoying time as an Express family. I’m so grateful for our time together today!

Once Super Saturday was wrapped up I had just enough time to catch Gavin’s last basketball game of the day. The result was one we’ve become used to throughout the season, but that didn’t mean I didn’t appreciate the opportunity to watch him play. Gavin’s first season of basketball ever is almost done (at least one game tomorrow) and his third game was an opportunity for me to see just how much he’s grown in only a handful of months.

As he played it reminded me of playing video games as a kid. When you’d accomplish a certain task or beat a specific level you “leveled up.” After leveling up your character gained additional strengths and was ready to proceed to the next level. While Gavin played It was clear to see that he’d truly leveled up this season. So many skills have improved and increased, but there’s still a long ways for him to go. The most important thing I’ve seen him improve is his ability to get back on defensive in a dead sprint when the other team gets a fast break. He puts everything he has into stopping the other player; I’m so thankful for his grit. It has me giddy to see him on a soccer field again after what he’s just picked up in basketball.

Today I was surrounded by friends and family – many times people filled the roles of both. I’m thankful for the opportunity to spend time with my work family and friends and also at home with family who are amongst my best friends. What a blessed day it’s been!

Thanks!!!

Just as Gavin and I have had a lot of time with just the two of us Dominic and I had a ton of time together after work tonight. Becky was watching the son of a friend and Gavin is at a sleepover so it was just Dominic and I. We’d talked about what might be fun to do. We had a few ideas, but everything we wanted to do seemed to require at last three or more people. Some of these ideas included an escape room, axe throwing, and a handful of others. We figured we’d call one of Dominic’s friends and his dad, a friend of mine. Unfortunately they were out on the escape room so we were back to only two. Seeing as they all involved having three or more and we were only a group of we finally got frustrated and decided to grab a bite to eat instead.

I hadn’t been to a Jersey Mike’s before, Dominic said I’d like it, and we were off. Shortly after ordering our subs (which were delicious) we were just thinking about other options and Dominic mentioned the name of his friend. I kid you not, at that exact moment his friend and my friend walked in the restaurant! What are the odds of that??? We ended up shooting the bull and Dominic and I decided to go bowling. Bowling worked out well for them as well so we were off to bowl! Our skills were not great, but we were all pretty evenly matched. More importantly, we had a ton of fun! Isn’t it nice when things just happen to luck out like that?

After bowling Dominic and I were shooting the bull and enjoying some time together. For some dumb reason my brain started thinking about work. After a short moment I realized that I was drifting away from the present and into something that did not matter one bit in the moment. I shook my head to get the thoughts out, mentally pictured myself flipping the switch, and I was 100% back to the present. The more I pay attention to moments like that the more I realize that I have a lot of work to do in being more present. I am so thankful I caught it quickly, re-focused, and was able to lose less than minute of precious time with Dominic. The present is where I should be, I am thankful for making progress.

The time I have had with Dominic has been perfect. Nothing too crazy, nothing too deep, or anything like that. It was just chill time. Lighthearted conversation, joking around, and enjoying each others company. That is pretty much perfect!

Thanks!!!

Last week my friend Tammie shared a compliment that will stick with me until the end of my days. “You can find a way or a reason to be thankful for literally everything.” I chuckled as I typed my title for tonight… Maybe she’s right. 😉

Today I am thankful for my shackles. I’m thankful for all of the things, ideas, habits, beliefs, people, stuff, misguided dreams, and desires that I allow to hold me back from becoming the me I should really be. For clarity, yes, there are shackles, but it is up to me to free myself from them. More often than not I’ve created them myself.

Why am I thankful for my fetters today?

They help to shape me into who I should be. They build my strength as I struggle against them. Their rubbing and chafing on my skin reminds me that I have work to do. Seeing the life around me I am free to live if I release myself helps me realize what I truly want and what is most important to me.

Sometimes (& maybe more often than I care to admit) I find comfort in having their familiar bonds wrapping around me. In a twisted way I could find an easier life by succumbing to them and living with a victim mindset. There is no fear of failure when I can blame the shackles instead of my own lack of courage, my own lack of strength, and my own lack of grit. Each link in the chain is one more excuse I can utilize later when I don’t have the strength or desire to do the tough things I must to be the best version of me.

When I set myself to breaking the shackles each stretched and eventually broken link is a sign of progress. As I break free from one binding I’m sure to catch on the next, a sense of growth and movement. Though the sweat may flow, the blood may spurt out, and the tears will come as I struggle against them I feel more alive and in control than I have before. The pressing of my flesh against the metal brings the most beautiful of pain, I am taking action of my own free will and giving all of myself in the purpose of something better.

So today I’m thankful for my shackles. They can be beyond frustrating at times if I don’t choose the right mindset, but they can be an incredible gift for which I am most grateful when I choose to view them through the right lens. They strengthen me, test me, and help me become a better version of me.

Thanks!!!

While I often enjoy a change of pace and trying different things I’m largely a creature of habit.  When it comes to driving to and from work I typically go the same way each day.  I’ve tried many other routes, but the ones I take have been proven to be the fastest depending on travel conditions (including weather, time, events, and farming season).  It took a lot of experimentation to get them hammered out, but once they were determined I’ve stuck with them.  They get me from Point A to Point B the most efficiently.

Yesterday I was leaving work from a slightly different location and was heading to the Winona office before heading home.  This left me scratching my head on which way to take so I grabbed my phone, punched in the address in my Maps app, and looked at the two routes.  One was the fastest and took ways I largely knew.  The other was about three minutes slower and was mainly country roads.  I went with my gut and took the road less traveled.

The drive through the country was beautiful!!!  The road twisted and turned as it went through valleys, followed the river, and went up and down the hills.  There was almost zero traffic and it was amongst the most peaceful drives I’ve had in a long time.  I’ll definitely go out of my way to go that route again.

Today the police and fire departments had 93 closed heading south out of Eleva.  With the luck I’d had yesterday fresh in my head I didn’t stress being later than expected, I took time to appreciate the new adventure I was about to have (and say a quick prayer for whoever was involved in the highway being closed).  Instead of taking the standard route as prescribed by the fireman at the intersection I went well out of the way and took only country roads again.

While on the county roads I left the other traffic behind.  Again I was traveling on the road less traveled and enjoying the serenity of being alone.  I wasn’t at all in a hurry, I took my time and enjoyed the ride.

Two straight days of taking other routes and both paid off in spades.  Getting outside of my normal routine showed me a couple of very beautiful areas I would’ve missed otherwise.  While I enjoy being able to get to and from work as efficiently as possible I will remember to occasionally throw myself a curveball and give myself the gift of a different experience.  Who knows what I may find traveling previously unexplored paths.

Thanks!!!

Day 1,253 – Thankful for an Accidental Shuffle

When I’m commuting to work I love reading audiobooks.  It’s a great way to exercise my brain and expand my thinking while passing the time.  During the day when I’m going on shorter jaunts it’s a lot more difficult to jump in and out of the audiobook.  When I’m doing local driving I often jump to some tunes instead.

Depending on the day there’s a wide variety of music you might find me listening to.  I have a song in mind for some random reason, fire it up, turn it up, and then let it lead me into the next song.  Today I 

So scratch all that stuff above.  That was my initial blog post.  We were all chilling and doing our own things at home so I figured I’d write my post for the day.  Part way through LuLu made it very clear she needed some snuggling from me.  Shortly thereafter we opted for a game of cribbage as a family.  Next thing I knew my laptop was folded up and we were moving furniture to have some fun as a family with everyone home tonight.

While the blog post I’d started was going to go in a slightly crazy direction showing how the Shuffle function is a metaphor to life it just didn’t feel right after enjoying family time on the couch playing cribbage.  The time with my family was exactly what I needed and the additional snuggle time with LuLu was a pretty sweet bonus.  I kind of felt like either of those should’ve been what I was blogging about today….

I’m often grateful for many things throughout the day and I start a mental blog post during the day.  Sometimes it comes out as planned and other times they get completely scrapped for something else.  I could either stick with the original post but then know there was something else I should have written about or throw the half (or more) finished original and go in a different, but possibly more right direction.

Today I’m thankful for those kind of days.  How awesome to have a day when there are multiple things to be grateful for?  Sure, sometimes it can feel weird to not finish a specific writing, but that’s so secondary to the fact that I’ve already spent a chunk of time being thankful for multiple things.

Thanks!!!

My evening was much more fulfilling with Becky back home last night.  I had fun catching up with her and jumping back into our normal life.  Snuggling up with her helped me get one of my best nights of sleep in a long while.  Heck, even the Coffee Fairy showed up again and had my travel mug filled up before I got out of the shower.  How awesome is that?

For reals, I’m grateful for Becky being home.  I’m thankful for the adventure she had with her family in Hawaii and I’m thankful for the time I had with my boys while she was gone, but it’s really great having her back home with us.  Everything just feels right and complete.

There was also another odd feeling thanks to Becky tonight.  I got home and there was absolutely no agenda for me.  No rides to give (Becky drove Gavin to practice), no school events (she also took Dominic to his Spring sports meeting), and no dinner to make (she already had it cooking in the crock pot).  What that means is that I have approximately an hour of quiet time at home alone with no agenda…  Ahhh… It feels crazy having this much peace and quiet!  The couple of weeks have been so much fun.  Between work travel, time with the boys, time with friends, work, and adulting I’ve been going pretty much nonstop.  To be able to sit on the couch and just chill for a little bit before bed (and blog) is so peaceful and greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!