Sweet Nothings & Random Thoughts

My intern is gone today and I'm selfishly upset about it. He unfortunately had a death in his family and will be gone for the next two days. You mean I actually have to make copies, respond to emails, run errends and return phone calls myself? What? With all the bitching and moaning I've been doing about this intern and his lack of common sense, he seriously does so much for me and I, like a jerk, don't realize it until he's gone. I plan to do something nice for him when he comes back and let me him know how much I appreciate what he does for me on a daily basis (in a non-creepy way). I'm open to suggestions on how to do this (in a non-creepy way).

I also got in a fight with my husband last night. Nothing major or anything, just a little spat. And it was my fault, which is so hard for me to admit, but it's true. I even admitted it was my fault and said I was sorry, so we're fine now. It all started because Luke was checking out houses online. The housing market around our area is dirt cheap for HUGE houses that typically have a sizable amount of land associated with them. Example: 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home. Fully finished. 4 acres of land. All hard wood floors, yadda yadda yadda, some other nice stuff too, goes for $135,000 - $175,000. For those that don't know squat about the housing market, that's dirt cheap right there (why I just mocked Larry the Cable Guy, I don't know, but it just works because that's how folks talk in Wisconsin).

Long story short, Luke thinks it's possible for us to buy a house and I was being really negative about the whole thing. I get nervous when we talk about spending large sums of the money we've worked hard to save. But, naturally, it makes sense to invest that money into a home and some land. DUH. In hindsight, I understand why he got frustrated with my negative attitude. And I get it, we should consider it and we most likely will. I think I was just negative because both boys were "in a mood" last night (aka - didn't take good naps at school or daycare) and there were a million things to get done around my house. Had Luke approached me after the kids went to bed and had I finally had a chance to sit down and relax, the conversation would have been much different.

I also plan on getting hubs something to show how much I love and appreciate him. I love that he wants to grow and achieve and get a home and is thinking about the future for our family. Why was I being so negative?!?! How crappy of me.

Basically the point of my conversation today is that I need to appreciate the people in my life a little more. I need to slow down and smell the friggin' roses (literally and metaphorically).

So to get things started on the right foot, here are five things I'm grateful for today:

1. I got to spend the morning with my children. They drove into work with me and my mom picked them up to take them for the day. I got to hold them, kiss them and hear their voices for longer than a normal day. It was fantastic.
2. My husband already said "I love you" to me 3 times today. And meant it.
3. I got to spend quality one-on-one time with my boss talking about important issues and constructive ideas, rather than rushing through and not having his full attention. Seriously priceless - His insight is amazingly helpful and useful for professional growth.
4. I remembered my niece's and brother's birthdays and am sending them little cards and gifts in the mail today!
5. I have amazing friends. 

I will also end with this quote I came across in my readings this week:

Lisa Jackson, "To be a strong woman, you don't have to give up on the things that define you as a woman. Empowering yourself doesn't have to mean rejecting motherhood, or eliminating the nurturing or feminine aspects of who you are."

Amen, Lisa. Amen.

A Blast From the Past

I had lunch with an old friend last week.

Let me tell you, I was a bit nervous for this lunch. You see, I'm about 20 steps ahead of most others my age, especially from the area where I grew up and I know it sounds dumb, but I was just worried about what he was going to think of me... Not to mention, I'm pretty sure the last time I saw the guy was in a bar somewhere during the haze that was my college (partying) days.

So we get to the lunch and at first it was awkward as awkward can be. We hugged - talked about how long it had been since we'd actually had a conversation with each other, which we agreed must have been high school graduation (about 8 years ago now)... He was in utter shock that I was married and had two children. His response was that I had two kids and was still "tiny". I can't tell you how much I hate people that remark about this OR believe this stereotype about women - like automatically when you have children your looks have to go away? F that noise.

Anyway, the conversation about our lives went on and on and the more we talked, the more I realized that I missed hanging out with this guy. How did we grow apart? We used to be so close and it was sad to think that 8 years had come and gone and I didn't know anything about him anymore. What's even more sad is that he works within minutes of my office and we'd never known this...

I learned a few things after finishing:

1. I need to seriously see friends more. I feel like I do my best, but wow, no excuses anymore. I feel like I take people for granted sometimes and I need to remember that sometimes when you cut yourself off from people or don't give a little more effort, it hurts them.

2. I'm way ahead of most people my age with having kids and yes, some people think I'm crazy - this guy I went to lunch with was no exception - He asked why we have two kids and I told him that we didn't plan it, it just happened to us and sometimes life just happens and you roll with it. I wouldn't trade having my children for the world. Sometimes I feel like my friends are looking for me to say I would take back having kids or they try to fish and poke around for me to say something along those lines and sorry folks, I would never, ever say that. Having children is a blessing. I'm blessed to be a mother. One day, when you have your own children, you'll understand, but until then....

3. Sometimes in life you just have to A.S.K. to G.E.T. I never would have gotten this opportunity if I hadn't asked for it. And look all the good that came out of it? Reconnecting with an old friend and finding out things about each other in a personal and professional light...

I'm in the mood to vent so I may post yet again after this one - but I definitely had to share my experience with this lunch because it was just... Crazy, weird, good and fun.

::God Moment::

WOW - What a crazy week it's been.

I had my revelation last week that I was going to start making a more conscious effort to just enjoy my life and all things in it as much as I can and jump at opportunities when I want to and take chances. Seriously, I can't even begin to explain the blessings that I've received just in the past week in accepting this new mode of thought and living my life. It's seriously like God has told me, "Finally! You get it! Just trust me and everything will be alright!"

Starting with last Friday... Not going to lie, I've been contemplating becoming a stay-at-home-mom and the thought has been circling my mind for some time now. I think it has been there because I've been a little unhappy with the "love" I've been feeling from my current employer. Sometimes I seriously feel like I work my tail off (as I'm blogging at work - HA - this is ironic... But, seriously, I do work hard!) and I'm the only one that wants to see us grow and try to change things up and I never get rewarded for my momentum or vision or optimism around here... I know, I know, ya'll are like, "Join the club!" But, it was seriously messing with my mind and was making me start to think that I should leave my career behind. Everything changed when I got a job offer from another company last Friday...

A guy that I've met a few times out at meetings and conferences called me (for the second time, I might add) to offer me a job. Long story short, the job was a "promotion" when it comes to pay (about $20,000 promotion), but was a "demotion" when it came to the job duties. I did write him off on it because I don't want to take a step back in my career. I like being in the sales and marketing seat and being more on the "front lines" of a company rather than "behind the scenes". I flat out told him I thought I was overqualified for the position he was offering me and that I was smarter than what the job entailed. That being said, I mentioned to him that the compensation piece was enticing to me. I have a family to consider and sometimes you just have to make sacrifices when it comes to finances when you're married and have children...

Luke and I discussed the opportunity and he agreed that I would most likely be unhappy taking a step back in my career. He knows that I want to grow and that the opportunities at my current company are allowing me to do that and it has opened doors that have been amazing for me. We both agreed it would seem a bit "unethical" in a way to leave now, especially since I just completed working on our new website, name change and new "brand" to hopefully take our company to the next level when it comes to business and sales prospecting. Leave now? Are you crazy? It just didn't seem right.

But, I couldn't shake this other offer. Maybe it was the money that was making my mind hazy and causing me to question. I couldn't help it! So, I wrote a personal email to the guy that made the offer to me telling him that I'd like to hear more about the company - the pay, the benefits, the atmosphere around there and most importantly, my opportunity for growth there.

Here it comes - This was The God Moment...

That same day that I emailed the guy, I had a conference call scheduled with my boss for 2:00 PM. He's traveling right now and the chances of him calling me on time for a conference call anyway are slim to none. So, here I am at my desk, knowing that he probably wont' call me until 3:00 or later, then all of a sudden, the phone rings at 2:01 PM. It was him! Amazing! He called on time! I was considering giving him some grief about this, but we got to talking and got right down to business. I was needing his approval on some new materials that I'm ordering coinciding with our company name change (business cards, letterhead, envelopes, etc.). When we got done talking about that he said he had one other thing that he wanted to discuss with me. The conversation went something like this:

Boss: I have one more thing I'd like to discuss with you. Normally I'd wait until I was back in the office, but thought we could discuss it now...
Me: (STOMACH TURNING! SO NERVOUS!) Ok, what is it?
Boss: I just wanted to tell you that I think you're doing a great job, you're a great asset to our team, blah, blah, blah, (More nice things, feeding my ego)...
Me: Wow, thank you, that's very nice of you, I really appreciate you saying these things... (At this point I'm expecting him to deliver bad news, like, although you're doing a great job, you can improve here or you should stop doing this or you should stop blogging at work... something along those lines).
Boss: Since you've been doing such a great job, I'd like to offer you additional compensation of $7,000 to your base salary.
Me: (HOLDING BACK TEARS OF JOY AND EXCITEMENT) Wow, that's unbelieveable! Thank you so much! This is so great, THANK YOU!
Boss: You're welcome. You deserve it. I just love the work that you're doing. Keep up the good work.

GOD. IS. SO. GOOD. If that wasn't a sign to stay put at my job, I don't know what is!

And so, tonight, I plan to sip some champagne with my family to celebrate my wonderful news and people let me tell you, this raise came at the perfect time. We've got one little guy going to start montisorri school in the next month and our other little guy going back to daycare full time because Luke's going back to work. I know money isn't everything, but let's face it, you do need it!

To conclude, I have been blessed this week. I'm so grateful to God for providing me a job that I have the ability to grow. I'm grateful to my employer for seeing value in the work that I do. I'm grateful to my husband who is supportive of my career. I'm happy that I can stay with my company for the time being and hopefully, keep this going!

Happy Friday ya'll!

So Yeah, I Took a Break...

OMG are my eyes deceiving me? Is that JustAnotherMrs. on my blog-roll? Didn't think she was even blogging any more...

OK, OK, so maybe you didn't even miss me while I was gone, but I did take a little break from the blogging world. My last post was a bit dramatic and I talked about transitioning through thoughts and phases that I'm going through right now in my life and I've discovered that I need to stop taking life so damn seriously all the time.

I think I've had a stick up my butt for the past couple of months and I'm not sure why. Am I unhappy with myself? Am I unhappy with others? Am I unhappy with my job? Am I unhappy with my friends? What is it?!?! And then it dawned on me... You are in control of you. I CONTROL HOW I FEEL ABOUT ALL THESE ASPECTS IN MY LIFE. PERIOD.

So, instead of bothering around with the whole 90 day challenge to healthiness and betterness (if that's even a word) and instead of worrying about everything I eat or how much I work out or what everyone else may think - I'm going to start doing whatever the hell I want to do. I'm going to start eating whatever I want to eat when I want to eat it. I'm going to have a drink if I want to have a drink. I'm going to go for a long run if I want to go for a long run. I'm going to go out with a friend if I need to connect with a female point of view. I'm going to spend more time doing fun things with my kids. I'm going to arrange to have more alone time and date nights with my husband.

I'm going to just live and be me and enjoy my life as much as I can.

If there's anything I've been reflecting on this past week, it's that you only live once and I don't want to look back and say - man, I wish I would have done more of X or Y or Z when I had the chance.

Example: The other night my son wanted me to get down on the carpet with him and play cars. It was already past his bedtime and normally I would have been all mommy-mode and made him put his toys away and honor "bed time". And you know what I did instead? I did something completely unlike my normal self - I let him stay up and play - I played with him - then when he was ready, we put the cars away, put in a movie and snuggled together on the couch. I WANT MORE OF THESE PRECIOUS MOMENTS.

Another Example: We've been taking the kids to the YMCA to go swimming at least once every week and then we usually go out for dinner afterwards. Normally Luke and I are pretty frugal with our money and NEVER go out to eat, unless it's a date night - which let's be honest, those with children understand that those are far and few between... But, we've both pulled the stick out of our butts on this one and we go out and enjoy it! And our kids do too! Yes, they may be a bit embarassing because they're excited to be out and Jacob may cry a little and annoy others around us, but you know what? I love every second.

This weekend I'm throwing a surprise birthday party for my husband. I'm so excited to be planning this for him and it's been so much fun coordinating with his friends and thinking of ways to get him out of the house and it's amazing to see how people respond and want to be involved. I just love it. Luke and I need to connect with our friends more! They all miss us so much, I mean, my God, we're married and have children, we're not old grandma's and grandpa's!!!!

Bottom Line: This woman is a happy one and I think I am  FINALLY comfortable and at ease with who I am, including my flaws.

Take it or leave it.

Woo hoo! Happy Friday ya'll!!

Trouble in Paradise

For those that don't know, my husband has a seasonal job. He's working to transition as full-owner of his dad's company - truthfully, the full ownership is probably 5-10 years off, but he is going to work towards becoming a partial owner this year. MB&Boys, Inc. is the name of (soon-to-be) their company, specializing in concrete flatwork needs (sidewalks, driveways, foundations, anything that is flat and concrete). When he is "on season", he works long days - dusk until dawn - and sometimes on the weekends too. However, when work comes to a hault for the season, obviously his life completely takes a 180 - he ain't doin' nothin'.

Prior to him deciding to do this, we agreed that he would stay home with our kids (2-year-old and 9-month-old) since daycare runs us roughly $1,300 per month for both. Simple math, it's more affordable for us to have Luke stay home with them if he isn't working. Plus, it's hard enough right now to find ANY job, try finding an off-season job that is also "seasonal" during the winter months - it's about impossible - unless he wanted to wrap Christmas presents at Macy's ((chuckling)). Highly doubtful.

At first he was excited to stay home with the boys. He'd say, "How hard could it be?" or, "You don't think I can do this? Of course I can." - At first I was nervous for him because I know how long the days can be when I have both boys alone, without help and without another adult to talk to. The first few weeks of him staying home with the boys weren't so bad because we were still living with my folks. They were home to help him and my mom even took care of them for Luke a few days out of the week so he could go do stuff - like ice fish with my dad, run errends, work out, you name it. However, the situation has drastically changed now that we have our own home in Hudson - 65 miles away from my parents and 25 miles away from his parents - 5 days a week, 9 hours from when I leave home until I come back after work.

To say the least, this situation is starting to take a toll on him. I've suggested getting the kids out to a pool at the YMCA in town, taking them to book reading time at the library (scheduled 3-4 times per week between Hudson and River Falls - 5 miles away - libraries), getting involved in a "daddy and me" class, taking the kids to visit his mom at work or his dad out at the shop, coming to visit me at work and going out for lunch and his usual reply is to (1) tune out to any of my suggestions or (2) complain that it's too much work. And I get frustrated with these responses because (1) no female likes to get ignored, especially when she's only trying to be helpful and (2) really? too much work? So, you're going to deprive our children of socialization because you don't want to do the extra work of packing a diaper bag?

Needless to say I'm really frustrated with him right now. We need to have a discussion and find a different solution because let me tell you, I have patience and tolerance for a crabby toddler or baby, but I have ZERO patience for a crabby spouse - especially when (sorry to say it so frankly), it isn't my fault that he's unhappy with his situation. We talked, agreed and decided on this situation and I tried to warn him that it wasn't going to be easy. I'm not trying to be like, "I TOLD YOU SO!" - But, seriously, I did tell him so...

You guys, something has to change. It's been almost 2 weeks of him being alone with our kids all week and it's really, really taking a toll. Not  to mention, winter is LONG here in Minnesota/Wisconsin - we have a lot of weeks left before he goes back to work.

Case in point - 3 weeks ago I told him I had plans this Saturday with my friends - which, might I add, I rarely make time for my friends because weekends are my quality time with my kids - but, last time I had plans, I cancelled because I wasn't feeling the greatest. I haven't had a whole day with friends since last June! Seriously, it's time - And, hubby agreed that he would take the kids to his parents. Well, since these new events and feelings and frustrations have developed with him choosing to be cooped up all day staying home with our children, he wants to go ice fishing up north on Saturday... Saturday, the day I was supposed to have time with my friends, remember?

I'm totally compromised. I work all week, come home and hubby checks out mentally, make dinner, clean, bathe kids, read to the kids, put them to bed, then - get up at 4:45 AM to go to the gym before everyone wakes up - repeat.

I need time with my friends too, right?

Now, we're scrambling to try and find a solution for taking care of our children on Saturday and I may end up cancelling my plans so he can go fish.

I know that men weren't meant to be taking care of babies and toddlers - he loves our children dearly, and is wonderful to them - but, it comes more naturally to me. When they're older, this may be a different story because he could just take them with him fishing or hunting or eventually, out drinking or something, but until then, it's going to be tough.

Normally I'm good about compromising and letting hubby do whatever he pleases, but I'm putting my foot down this weekend. I need this time with my friends.

Sometimes marriage is really hard. Sometimes having children is really hard. But, we've done really well so far, this is the first sort of "blip" in the road. Maybe we need to put the kids in daycare a couple days a week so Luke doesn't feel so isolated?

Help? Suggestions?

Coming Home

Until this past weekend, my family and I were living with my mom and dad. We moved in with them from our townhome in July because my husband made the decision to start taking over his dad's company. Since his dad's company does concrete flatwork (one call and you get all your flatwork needs!) - we weren't sure what kind of year he would have AND since he was going to start taking things over he was putting in long hours - I'm talking working dusk until dawn most days of the week, sometimes Saturdays too, and most days he didn't come home at all, he would sleep at work.

And so, we moved in with my mom and dad because we had an almost 2 year old and a newborn baby at the time and we knew I'd need some serious help after working 9 hours a day with the kids while he was gone during the week. We also weren't sure financially what it would mean for our family and to be safe, decided moving in with them was the right choice.

After a very successful summer for my husband and a promotion at my job, financially we were ready to move on, but were feeling apprehensive and nervous about taking the plunge of moving during the winter months. Regardless of our feelings, we started looking at properties and the first two we saw were so disappointing I seriously lost hope right then and there. At this point I was so frustrated with not having our own place for our kids and our family, I was sick to death of living with my mom and dad (love them dearly, but seriously, it was SO HARD moving back home) and I just wanted a place to call our own. Luke, as usual, was my voice of reason and assured me that we needed to be patient and not push too fast or too soon - no sense in settling for something that wasn't what we have in mind for our family. And so, over a Pizza Hut dinner, we decided to just let be what would be and trust that God will move us when we're meant to move.

Later that night we were on Craig's List just browsing through properties and we saw a few more that caught our attention. Some were out of our price range, but one was exactly what we were looking for AND in our price range and in our location we had in mind. I called the realtor and made the appointment to see the property the day before Christmas Eve.

When we showed up to the property for our first walk-through, the realtor was 15 minutes late. I meet with people all the time and understand that sometimes people are late, but had a feeling something was up. So, we called her and she apologized for forgetting about us, but said she was crazy busy and would be there in 10 minutes. Again, we were feeling really discouraged thinking we'd rushed the situation too much... But, when she got there and we walked in - we immediately knew we were home.

This place was so awesome! Any other location closer to the cities and it probably would have been ridiculously expensive, but since we're now in Hudson, WI, the price was perfect for us. Not to mention, it's been our DREAM to get married, have babies and move to Hudson! Aww, cute, we obtained our little American Dream.

And so, The Blodgett's are now home. Hudson, WI is it for us and I certainly hope it is for years to come.

Lessons I learned from this situation:

1. Be patient. Seriously, what is meant to be WILL BE. It's that simple.
2. TRUST YOUR PARTNER. I was being so pushy with the situation because of my own frustrations of our situation being at home, but Luke was right. Even though I was fed up, I had to learn to just trust that things would work out when they're meant to work out.
3. Wrap your Christmas Decorations with care. Unfortunately, I lost one of my Christmas decorations during the move. Bummer.
4. MOVING SUCKS. Nuf' said.

More blogs in the future to come since Luke has been staying at home with our boys during the winter months (seasonal work) - I'm hoping to get some feedback from him regarding his situation of "being at home" and hopefully devote a portion of my blogs toward that topic - should make for some interesting posts and input.

Let me know your thoughts on the idea...

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff

I'm guilty. You're guilty. We're all guilty. What are we guilty of?

Not Being Thankful For...

1. The ability to get out of bed every morning and go to work.
2. Having a roof over our heads.
3. Having a bed to sleep in.
4. Having clothes to wear.
5. The ability to access professional health care at the drop of a hat.
6. Having a cell phone, computer, iPod and iPad, not just one, but all of them. Yep, we're spoiled technology brats.
7. Getting a paycheck.
8. Living free and able to make our own decisions and do whatever the heck we want to do!
9. The ability to type and express my thoughts an opinions on this blog.
10. Having access to fresh food and the ability to buy it too.

I know, I know, it's Friday and I'm starting this blog off being all depressing, but the main point I want to discuss today is that we've all got to start being more thankful for the things we have instead of the things we don't have. We all need to start seeing the bigger picture instead of having tunnel vision in our lives. Life is too short and life is too precious to not seriously be thankful for everything we have available to us. Believe it or not, I'm in a fantastic mood right now, but these things need to be said.

If your biggest problem in your life right now is that you're fighting with your boyfriend and you're not sure if ya'll are going to get married or not and blah, blah, blah - BE GRATEFUL. Somewhere out there is young woman having an arranged marriage with a man she can't stand and she doesn't have a choice about it.

If your biggest problem in your life right now is that you're swimming in debt from student loans - BE GRATEFUL. You got the opportunity to go to college. You got the opportunity to have an education. You got the opportunity to make something of yourself. You got the opportunity to learn about "Thirsty Thursday" and attend a couple too... Keep working hard, they won't be loans forever and slowly but surely the money will get paid off. And you'll never regret having an education!

If your biggest problem in your life right now is that you're not happy with your weight - BE GRATEFUL. You have the opportunity to change. You can choose to make yourself better. You can put on some running shorts and be best friends with the pavement from here on out. I don't know of any other country in the world where there are health clubs or people randomly running down the street just for the sake of physical fitness. Embrace this American custom. Put. The. Cookie. Down. I always tell my dad, because he's CONSTANTLY complaining about his weight, he has the power to change, but he has to decide when that change happens, I can't do it for him. I really wish I could... (another blog. another time.)

If your biggest problem in your life right now is that you're fighting with your best friend - BE GRATEFUL. There are millions of people around this world who don't have a best friend or have lost their best friend.

I could go on and on and on and on about the things I hear people griping about on a day to day basis, INCLUDING MYSELF! Sometimes it's obvious to me what someone is complaining about isn't that big of a deal, but other times - it gets hard because we all get tunnel vision. We all get sucked into our friend's problems, which, if you're living in America, chances are that their problems are petty compared to others around the world.

Think about the family and friends of Jack Jablonski (#13). Or Gabriel Giffords and her friends and family.

In the case of Jack, this family has their son/brother/nephew/cousin/grandson playing hockey like a normal 16 year old kid and WHAM! In a second, his life changes because he got checked from behind and doctors now say he may never use his hands or have the ability to walk again.

Gabriel Giffords husband got a call that his wife had DIED, then all of a sudden he finds out she is ALIVE (seriously, I don't know how I would handle all that emotional high/low if this happened to Luke). Her journey she's made is absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!! Please Google information about it if you haven't followed it and watch their interview on 60 Minutes. Get tissue prior.

Takeaway before the weekend - be thankful for who you are. Love yourself. There is no one in this world like you. But, that being said, take care of yourself and be grateful for everyone around you and conscious of the lives you touch. Life can change so fast...

And like the title says, don't sweat the small stuff!

"Don't worry about a thing, cuz' every little thing, is gon' be alright..." - Bob Marley

American Optimists in 2012

I'm not sure exactly why it is, but if you ask people about their hopes and their feelings regarding 2012 they are ridiculously and abnormally optimistic. Not that this is a bad thing, in fact, for an optimist and happy-go-lucky, irritatingly positive person like me it's really wonderful to hear! BUT - I have to wonder, why do you think we are all feeilng this postive energy about 2012?

Is it because supposedly the world is going to end on December 21st and we all want to make the best of our last 12 months alive? Seriously Doubtful. Sorry, for those of you that buy into this type of bullshit, you may need to stop reading now. I'm a Christian and for those of you that read and believe the bible, when Jesus comes he will come like a thief in the night. It's not going to be a broadcasted and there won't be any forewarning or exact dates and times. For those of you that have really never read the Bible, dust off the old book and start reading. I can guarantee you if you read it diligently for 1 year, it will change your life. And hey, what better time to start than January 1st, 2012?

Maybe it's because we can't possibly allow ourselves to believe that 2012 will be as heartbreaking and difficult as 2011? Ask others around you. Talk with people and I guarantee they will have something life-changing to share about 2011 that wasn't necessarily a good thing. This year I cried more on my way to work listening to the radio regarding events in our city, our state, our country and around the world more than any other year. I also had a lot of personal emotional events this year with the loss of so many people in our family, including both of our Grandmothers (this was in another blog, I won't carry on). Remember the tornados in Joplin? Or the tornados in Alabama that claimed so many lives and people's homes? How quickly the media moves on from these situations after something else newsworthy comes up. They just recently re-opened schools for students and hundreds of people are still without homes. If you're sitting on  your butt with no plans for 2012, may consider volunterring or donating some time or money to a local charity. I know that's one of my personal goals for 2012.

Maybe it's because we already know there are good things to come in 2012; like a new job, a pay raise, a new home or celebrating the gift of a new life in your family? I don't know what type of person you are, but when good things happen to you, don't be afraid to share them with others or hold back on your success. Recently, one of our good friends was offered an enormous promotion at his job. His boss came to him and announced that he wanted him to head up the new office they were building and they would pay for him to live and move to that location to any place of his choice. SO COOL RIGHT??? Well, when our friend shared this news with us, he was so modest and quiet, he didn't even realize what an enormously great opportunity he was given. He was afraid to share his success because so many of his other friends are unemployed or can't find a job. One thing about me and Luke is that we are always so praising of others success - I can't stand it when people get jealous of others that are successful - And so, if something amazing is on the horizon for you in 2012. Good for you! Celebrate and embrace the blessing(s) you've been given!

Personally, I think 2012 is going to be great. Our family is moving to a new home in Hudson, Wisconsin. I have great feelings about things upcoming at my job, Luke is officially becoming an owner of MB&Boys, Inc., the family business and Jacob, our youngest, turns 1 year old on Easter Sunday, which I think is just the coolest thing!

All the best to you all who are reading this. I look forward to reading about events happening in your lives and I certainly hope you will like hearing about things happening in mine - good, bad or ugly- I'm sure we'll share them all.

Sending peace, love, happiness and healthy thoughts your way....