Happy Chinese New Year!

Jay, the foreign exchange student staying with us this school year, told us about the Chinese new year, which happens to be today, so we had a mini celebration this evening. We made a hot pot - the spiciest thing you will ever eat besides a straight out ghost pepper - w/lots of veggies, noodles, chicken and beef in it.

The last time we ate the hot pot with Jay was with my brother-in-law, Lance. I remember looking at him and asking him if he was eating or running up a steep hill? He was breathing so hard - it was SO funny. I am starting to think Travis and I have a very high tolerance for spicy dishes - Yum!

The Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is the biggest holiday celebrated in China. I remember Travis telling me about the holiday when he lived in Taiwan and sending me a photo with people crowding the streets at night wearing motorcycle helmets and shooting off bottle rockets to celebrate.

Jay told me it is a day to honor their ancestors and he will typically go to the country to visit his Father's family and put gifts on the graves, then the kids will receive red envelopes with money in them. I also read they will clean house during this time period in order to "sweep away any ill-fortune and make way for good incoming luck". From what I can tell it lasts about 15 days.

We gave Jay a red envelope w/some money in it - red is a lucky color in Chinese tradition.

At the end of the day, Chinese New Year seems like four American Holidays rolled into one longer celebration - Christmas, Memorial Day, New Years Eve/Day & Spring Break. I know it is an important day and I hope Jay feels like we gave it a go for him.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Quote: "It's all right to have butterflies in your stomach. Just get them to fly in formation." Dr. Rob Gilbert

WAY TO GO!! Number 1!!!

I already shared this on Facebook, but I had to write about it here as well. My husband went to his company kick-off last week and brought home a hilacious cold and fever AND this award and invitation to attend the company Presidents Club in Cabo San Lucas at the end of March. 

The last time we went to something like this was about 15 years ago. I didn't even realize companies still did this since the economy tanked, but Trav's company does and I am so proud of him. Here are some added tidbits that I love about this years work experience:

1) Travis was number 1 in his region in sales

2) Travis was number 3 in the company in sales

3) Travis finished at 170% over quota for the year

4) I often ask Travis if he ever works a full day

That last is just me feeling sorry for myself after a long day at the office. It would save a lot of time if I didn't have to commute to work every day, but I am beginning to realize the social aspect of a job is very rewarding and I would miss it quite a bit. In case you are confused, Travis works from home and misses the daily interaction in an office setting. (random)

This is me EATING MY WORDS! I think I will refrain from asking Travis about his schedule and work hours...he is doing JUST fine!

Look at that guy...I LOVE this photo. Trav's beard got huge this year and I love it and I made him pose for this picture...so awesome.

I Am Grateful,

HB

QUOTE: "Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire." Reggie Leach 

Do it Right...

Today I had the rare opportunity to give back to another Relocation Director. Each month there is a call/webinar that all the Relocation directors under our brand get to listen to. On the call this month our office was mentioned and, since I was on the call, my name was also mentioned. The reason for the mention really did not have much to do with me directly, but, what the heck, it is good press right?

Later this afternoon I received a call from another Director, also present on the webinar, who is in the beginning stages of starting a relocation department for her company. One of the first things I did as a new director was call other directors under the same brand to get advice and ideas...I was very happy to be on the receiving end of the call today. If you've met me, you are aware I am a know-it-all (hopefully not too obnoxiously) and love to give advice. I pretty much threw up all over her with my brilliant ideas!! Looking back on it, I am chuckling a bit.

I did give her the best advice I could think of, which was "start your department as you intend to go on". I am working with a new system right now and am finding out the most important thing I can do is get the processes set up correctly from the very beginning in order to capitalize on the benefits of the program. The same is true of creating a department. If you plan to set things up one way and then change them after "people get used to the idea" you will be in a world of hurt. Rip the bandaid off up front. Make the hard decisions NOW so you are not fighting that up hill battle every year after this one.

Tomorrow I will spend 30 minutes or so to put together an email with information on some business development ideas and things I have seen working for me over the last almost two years. Business development is, after all, full of possibilities and the foundation of what is possible is simply my belief in what I am capable of creating (this is a George-ism), I hope I can share that vision with Cheryl...and, to be honest, with myself as I work on my business plan again this evening.

I am so grateful for the assistance I have received, and continue to receive, from others in the Relocation Industry. There are some very generous people out there and it is humbling to be able to give some of the advice and guidance back to another person who is in the same position I was in a very short time ago.

GOOD LUCK CHERYL!! Enjoy the Journey!

I Am Grateful,
HB

QUOTE: "I've got to keep breathing. It'll be the worst business mistake if I don't." Sir Nathan Meyer Rothschild

Just Being Alive

I was up at my Parent's home this weekend with two of my sisters. We were able to go pick out our family photos we all had taken recently and then I got to spend a few hours just catching up with them all. We talked about ALL kinds of things, we reminisced, we gave each other a bad time, Keri did my hair, we ate good food prepared by Amy, etc. It was really lovely.

One thing my Mom said that has stuck with me is how grateful she feels each day to be alive - not like she is afraid to die, but that she is grateful she is experiencing life. I thought it was a beautiful thing to hear and it makes me feel like she is happy; this makes me happy.

The family photos turned out pretty good I think. We did one big family photo and then each family unit did their own sitting. There was one of my parents that I REALLY loved and am excited to get a copy of - They look so happy, especially Mom; she looks like she is just on the verge of laughing. I think I will cherish this photo for a very long time and am excited to get my copy of it.

Family and Relationships 2014:

1) What do I want?

I want to spend more quality time with my family this year. I see them often enough for family dinners and such, but I am looking for a few more one on one experiences with them. I also want the time I spend with my husband to hold more value and quality to it. Not always, I like watching TV shows with Trav, but I also want to start creating some lasting memories around the things we do together. I am still working out what those things will be, but I know I will figure it out.

2) What three things will be different this year?

• I will l look for new things to try with my family and husband. 
• I will say "yes" more often.
• I have a fairly quick temper; I want to work on not reacting so quickly when I get irritated. I will take a deep breath before I respond - there are a lot of things that can go through your mind quickly on a good breath. I will breath in the things I love about my husband - I made a list to chant to myself each day, for example:
• Travis tells me every day that he loves me and I love him
• Travis calls me at least once each day to see how things are going
• Travis wants to spend time with me
• Travis is generous with his assistance around the house, preparing meals & cleaning
• Travis ALWAYS shovels and/or snow blows the drive-way without complaint

I am looking forward to improving some already great relationships in 2014...All's good, but it can always be better. 

I Am Grateful to be experiencing life, 

HB

Quote: "My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment." Oprah Winfrey

Failure has a Formula

Success is not guaranteed, it is earned, and failure has a formula...

These are two of the principles John and George taught about at our Summit this month. As I have been pondering the truthfulness of the above statement and looking at it from within my personal life I have seen a lot of hard earned success and I have seen the formula for failure at work in my life as well. For some reason I am more focused on the failure formula this evening.

The book of the month is right in line with these principles - it is now out of print, but it is called "Success is a Journey" by Brian Tracy. One of the summaries says "As it happens, we only learn when it costs us money or emotion, or both. There seems to be no other way." It goes on to say the only thing to do after experiencing a failure is to look at what should be learned from the situation, to let it go and move on. If we don't move on, the formula for failure becomes exacerbated over time...what is the formula? A few errors in judgment repeated over and over...

I'm not going to sit here and outline all my failures, but I will say it bears serious consideration to recognize what the errors in judgment are and then looking at the lesson to be learned. The other thing George said was something like "the pain of failure must outweigh the pain of making the choices and taking action to succeed and/or you must be clear on what you want and the desire to get there must be greater than the temptation of making a temporary error in judgment." George went on to say that making the right choice for your life is not HARD...coming across the ocean on the Mayflower was hard, walking across the plains with handcarts was hard...making the correct decisions to exercise or prospect for business is NOT hard - "PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE!"

One of my greatest failures is, of course, related to my weight and my seemingly endless errors in judgment and the resulting resistance to weight loss. I'm not alone, there are MANY people in the company that have a goal to lose weight. George is constantly struggling with his own up and down weight. He is not a heavy man or anything, but he consistently seems to struggle with the same 30 lbs - on again, off again. He had apparently asked the agents in the morning meeting to name one personal goal they wanted to achieve this year and several said "lose weight" - he immediately challenged them to an accountability contract - lose "X" amount of weight by March 31st or donate $1500 to the C21 Community Foundation; some of the agents committed to $5,000 including George.

So - first and foremost on my list of New Years Resolutions, yet again, is the desire and goal to lose weight and get fit in 2014. The first item on the list of areas George wanted us to consider is HEALTH.

Here are the questions we were asked to answer concerning each category:

1) What will be different this year than last year? I will set realistic expectations for myself. I will be patient with the process and I will NOT quit.

I actually have my own accountability contract with one of the agents on my Relocation Team - here are my starting goals:

* Exercise M, T, H, F for 20 minutes on the elliptical - wake up at 5:20 a.m.
* Write down everything I eat and calculate calories at a minimum 3 days per week
* Lose 1 - 2 lbs per week through March - this is a total of 24 lbs

These things seem doable and I have been pretty good so far. I have been trying to do one outside hike at least once on the weekends and I count cleaning on Saturday as exercise - lame I know, but I figure a few hours of vigorous cleaning is good enough on a Saturday. I recently organized the loft to clear out my exercise space as well:

2) What do I want? I want to feel more confident when presenting in front of a group. I want to feel good about taking pictures and posting them online. I want to be healthy and fit so I can do more active things with my husband. I want to swim.

3) What do I want to do? Specific activities like swimming, hiking, biking and cross country skiing.

4) What do I want to buy? New cloths, quality boots and shoes with heels.

I know I won't make perfect decisions and there will continue to be error in judgments, but, over time, I expect to increase the GOOD judgments that will turn into that hard earned success.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Quote: "your greatest success, your great breakthrough, often comes one step beyond where you are ready to quit, to throw in the towel. How badly do you really want it?" Brian Tracy

2014 Goal Posts

This past Sunday I went on a snow hike with Travis. One of my new years goals is to spend more time DOING things with my husband and my family...just say "yes" more often and try new things I may have decided in the past I would be unable to do because of a bad knee, or my weight or any other number of insecurities I have populating my head.

The first hike I went on this year was on New Years Day. Travis and I had discussed going and I decided it would be fun to invite my sister Amy and her "hiking" family (husband Lance and their 3 kids) and to take Jay, our 16 year old foreign exchange student from China...between the kids and Jay, who always looks out for me, I decided I could go for a hike and no matter how slow I went, there would be someone trailing along with me and I wouldn't hold up the strong hikers anymore than the 4 year old would.

I re-evaluated that assumption pretty quickly. Jay would have stayed by my side if I hadn't encouraged him to go with Travis and Lance...AND the kids. Amy hung around with me a bit and Elle - yes, the 4 year old, thankfully had the urge to run, then hunker down to look closely at a frozen leaf that MIGHT turn out to be a petrified dinosaur toe nail and, while I trekked along with my hiking stick to catch up, spent an unprecedented amount of time deciding on the value of picking it up and sticking it in her pocket for later examination...maybe it would hatch and fly away later?

We had a great time - Amy, Elle and I turned around just before the trail turned real hard and when everyone got back we ate Trav's amazing Chile Verde and rice...yum. Even Chuck and his girl friend joined in the fun. It was a pretty great day.

On the Sunday hike it was just Travis and me and we started at the steep part of the trail the others had done the Weds before so I could see what it was like and figure out how much my sad sack knee could handle. Travis had gone out and bought me my very own pair of ski poles and I had purchased some waterproof boots that I love just a few weeks before, so I was feeling pretty prepared and determined.

During the hike I thought a lot about building my business plan for work and writing out the goals I have been thinking about non-stop for weeks for the new year. I couldn't help getting a bit philosophical as we walked along in the cold winter forest.

My boss is constantly talking to us about "knowing where we are going" - endlessly talking about having a vision and destination in mind. Today was our Summit meeting and the focus was setting goals for this new year. He asked us to write down our vision and goals for the following areas:

1) Your Health, 2) Your Family and Relationships, 3) Spiritually, 4) Finances (savings, debt, income, etc.), 5) Travel - where do you want to go and HOW will you get there?, 6) Career Goals and Business Planning, 7) Leadership...what skill sets do you need to learn to lead those around you to be great?

It is important to know where you are heading so you do not get lost in the trees.

The other thing I thought about on the hike was how important it is to have the proper tools to achieve the goals I set. Travis bought me the ski poles and it made all the difference to me while hiking. I know without the poles I would have difficulty navigating the uneven and often steep ground with my bad knee and I know my lower back would ache badly without using the poles as support. These simple tools also gave me more confidence in my ability to finish the hike we intended.

I also realized how important it was for me to have a guide on this first hike. There were several off shoot trails that I could have taken and I was not familiar with the trail system - my husband insisted on staying with me even though I told him I felt I could get back to the car on my own. In the end I realized it was important for me to have that guide to keep me going in the right direction and help me make the best decisions on how far to go and which trail to take to optimize my first real hiking experience to make certain I would be interested in going again.

I will be spending the next several days outlining my vision for the 7 sections of my life referenced above to make sure I know where I am going and how I can achieve the things I would like in my life. I think 2014 is going to be an amazing year and I am grateful I am surrounded by great leaders, an amazing and supportive family and a husband who wants me to succeed.

I'm Just Sayin' - I Am Grateful,
HB

QUOTE: "In the moment of decision, our destiny is created." Unknown

If Wishes Were Fishes...I'm Just Sayin'

I wish I was more computer savvy. 

Somehow I lost all access to my old blog "IAmGrateful101.blogspot.com" and so this is my new blog. I thought about giving up blogging altogether, but I do enjoy writing and I love connecting with my sister and friends via the blog sites, so I will give it another go. 

"I'm just sayin'" is a very well used phrase in my world. I didn't realize how often I use the phrase until the property manager I work with pointed it out; now I notice it ALL the time. I've decided it really means "I'm 99% sure I am right, but do what you want with the information". This phrase can be used in many tones - teasing, serious, angry, desperate, urgent, whiny, happy...the list is endless. At the end of the day "I'm just sayin'" is really just my opinion on something, for what it is worth. 

Today I am just sayin' I wish I knew more about blogging. Perhaps this means I should take a class or read about it online. How do I preserve the hundreds of posts I uploaded to my other site? Not all of them are really worth saving, but it represents many hours of writing; maybe this is why I should just stick to a regular journal to record my deepest and most riveting thoughts. :) 

Tomorrow I will begin writing in earnest again - this is really just the test post to get things going. 

I Am STILL Grateful,
HB

Quote: "I'm never, I hope, stupid enough to believe that Twitter or blogging or any of this stuff is a substitute for actually doing the work or writing a book." Neil Gaiman