Three Things I Like about YOU!

I love my friends.  They give me strength, support, entertainment, creativity, and most of all ... love.  I remember having a discussion with one of my friends about how different friends are closer than others.  He said.. I think of it as a map.  Some friends ... no matter how far away... will be there for you no matter what.  Other friends.... that are closer on the map... are not going to go out of their way
to help.

It isn't anyone's "fault" that they aren't closer and more dependable than others.  We all have to choose, sometimes unconsciously, who we are going to give our time to.  There are friends that we might hold close to our hearts, but the feeling isn't mutual.

 Three things I love about my friends...
1.  They take me as I am.  I do not have to entertain them or be someone I am not in their presence.  They love me with all my quirks, loud laugh, and impulsive decisions.
2.  They are there for me when I need anything from a hug to help building my business.  I know I have a support group and fans out there in the world when I am feeling as small as a grain of sand on the beach.
3.  They make my life so interesting!  I can't imagine a day without connecting with a friend!

I lost several friends over the past couple years.  It has been difficult.  As I get older... Oh MY.. I am now a "senior".... I see myself and others aging.  It is quite a transition.

I quickly made a video of many of the friends I have been with this past year.  You may be in the video!  If you are... Thank you for being in my life.  If you have been missed... please make sure you are caught in my lens at our next meeting... because you are just as important!

Three Reasons to look forward to the New Year

Life is so cyclical.  The seasons come and go.  Sometimes we let the weather affect our mood.  In  It can be a bit overwhelming sitting at a desk on a cloudy dreary day trying to look forward to the coming year. January as we usher in the New Year we hear about everyone else's resolutions, goals, and plans for the next twelve months.   Don't let your attitude get you down.

No other time of the year are we reminded that we are making a new start... for the year... but really for today.  Our lives are so busy and we carry around lists of unfinished business, goals not achieved, and dreams that seem too far away. 
But as we slowly crawl into the new year we can:

1. Take on business we need to complete, 
2. Set new goals and 
3. Plan for those dreams we've stashed on the shelf.  

Anything seems possible as we start a new year.  It's all in our attitude and perspective.

3 Reasons to keep your Blog Current

Ok.. I am as guilty as any of you that are reading this ... If you haven't keep up on blogging.  I have no good excuse. I can say I have been "busy."  But, really, aren't we all "busy?"  But, everytime I write a blog post, it gets read.  The more I market my blog, the more readership I have.  The more often I write, the more people will come back.  I know this.  I teach blogging. I have no excuse. Here are three reasons to keep your blog current.

1.  Your blog will keep you in front of your friends, family, clients and future prospects.  Every time I post anything on one of my blogs, people click on it.  It gives me an opportunity to share something with all of them that I cannot possibly do at lunch today.  I want people in my life to know what interests me.  I look forward to working with them, and by keeping in touch even with some little blog post, it helps keep my name in front of them.  One of my friends described it as a cat and mouse game.  The cat is interested in the mouse as long as the mouse is moving. But, as soon as the mouse goes and hides and is quiet, the cat goes looking for another mouse.  I want to be always moving!

2.  Your blog will help your friends, family, clients and future prospects get to know you.  People like to work with others that the know, like and trust.  How can you build that with a billboard or an ad on CraigsList?  Blogging is like a drip advertising campaign.  Those little drips add up to a big puddle over time! The more drips, the more they know about me... the more chance that my prospects will like me... and that can lead to trust.

3.  Your blog will be a good step toward engaging with your friends, family, clients and future prospects.   So after you have prospects reading your blog over time they will get to know you.. Then there will most likely be some engagement. They might comment on a blog post or send you an email.  That is called engagement.  That is what you are looking to building.  You are looking for some interconnection.  It is like on Facebook.  You might post a note about fantastic your lunch was... but a photo and info on the restaurant might lead to lots of comments!  Those people are all future prospects!

Here is a link to a couple of my blogs..
NatalieReviewsBooks.wordpress.com
www.clockhours.com

Preserving your Family History

We all have a family that stretches into the past. Our relatives and family history does not define us, but knowing and appreciating where we came from can help us understand how we got here today.  We can learn about traditions, interests, and stories from the past.
I took home boxes of photos and slides when my parents passed away.  Over time I worked on sorting and figuring out the identity of many of the photos.  Then one day at my brothers house he handed me boxes with more historical information. Then when I was in town in June he pulled out more boxes.  Then last year my cousin sent me a box.  I have become the family historian.  It is quite fun and interesting.
I started making calls and have learned from some long lost relatives about my family tree and online resources.  Every so often I delve into the boxes and try to learn something new.  I try to piece together another story or figure out when other relatives immigrated and how that plays into the decisions my great grandfather had made.  Here is a photo of my Grandmother Anna's family.  She is the young girl on the left. Her parents starting a soda pop bottling company.  I found on the internet one of the old bottles with their logo and I have notes with the recipes for sodas!

There are three main reasons to learn more about your family history.
1.  You may learn about family values and traditions you might still hold honor, or about some that have gone by the wayside that might be interesting to pursue.  We have photos of the my family annual Christmas Eve fondue dinners.. which I carried on for decades with my family.  I have relatives from Lithuania and Ireland.  I can see the resemblance when I look at the old relatives.  One photo looks exactly like my son!
2.  You might share interests with your past relatives.  You might see some old trinket that is on your mantel in an old photograph.  I have my grandmothers old golf clubs. 
3.  Learning the stories about your relatives can be better than a drama or a sitcom on tv!  And, these stories can be carried on throughout the generations!  My Grandmother was pregnant when she married my Grandfather!  I have the receipt from 1920 when he bought the furniture to set up their home.

Reasons to Honor Veterans

Today we celebrate Veteran's from all the armed services.  My Dad served most of his life in the U.S. Navy... Most of my life in the Reserves.  Though I abhor war and fighting on any front, I know it is part of life for generations.  People have different values and often have to fight for them against others who truly believe that they are also right.
There are three reasons why I feel strongly that we need to honor those that serve our country.  First of all, they made a choice to be the front line for defense for the general belief for freedom in our country.  Second,y, they risk their life and health for that end.  And third, because they are not often compensated for all that they do and risk their life for.
I am grateful to live in this country and I respect my freedoms.  I dream of a world of peace... Not one where we all agree but one where we respect the opinions of others, do not live in fear, and power is not used to hurt others.
I celebrate my Dad as a Veteran but I know very little about his military career.  At his funeral a man walked in and said to my teenage son that Roman was by far the best commanding officer he ever served under.  That echoes in me when I think of Dad.
My Dad did PR for the Blue Angels for a year in the 1960's.

Three reasons Spring changes my world

Today is the official start of spring.  The season officially begins at 12:57 p.m. ET a precise and fixed point in time defined as when the center of the sun passes directly over the Equator. 
1.  When I see the bulbs and buds on the tree I feel the awakening of the garden. There might be compost and old leaves but the small colorful buds... as small as they might be... bring dots of bright color to the garden. I am reminded that life is not always that easy... that surviving the winter... from cold temperatures to wind and rain... is not that unlike the challenges I survive as the calendar page turns over. 
2.  The sun starts to shine brighter, warmer and for many more hours when we pass the official spring date.  I know that when there are too many dingy winter days, I can start losing my kick... but once I start feeling the warm sun on my cheeks and I eat dinner before the sunrise, I start to look more forward to the next day and my energy level seems to increase.
3.  More than any other season change, when spring comes I start to feel more of a renewal.  I start to examine how I am going to approach the next three seasons and what I am going to do to weed, nurture and grow my own garden in my life.
What do you think of on this day of change and renewal?

Fall Leaves are a Palette of Color

Fall leaves bring back such great memories of my childhood in the midwest!

The brilliant color!  The maple trees especially had leaves the color of rainbows.  We would find colorful leaves. Then, we would color them with crayons to match the colors. Mom would help as we'd place them on paper, cover with more paper and iron with a hot iron. Oh!  The pictures it would make!

The sound of the leaves when we walked!  They would rustle and crunch. We'd kick them and jump in piles.

The smell of burning leaves would waft through the neighborhood. It was the smell of fall!

In the northwest, the fall season doesn't have the same distinct effect on my senses.  We often have so much rain and wind during the fall, the color is usually brief and leaves adjust become mush on the streets.   But, this year we have had such dry weather that today I went to a park and walked through a pile of leaves!  It brought back so many memorized of my childhood in the fall in the Chicago suburbs.