My Heart

Most of you know that my family is very important in my life. I have 2 wonderful parents and 2 wonderful siblings. When we were younger, it wasn't picture perfect but we had some good times. As adults we have grown so much closer and as our family expanded through marriages and children it has only gotten better!

Ray and his wife Katie are two of the most amazing people I know. They recently had their second child, a little girl named Callie. Brayden is 2 years old and he is the sweetest and funniest boy ever! I call Brayden my ‘buddy’ and Callie is my ‘princess’. Ray has turned out to be not just successful in his job, but also successful with his faith, marriage and now fatherhood. I am so very proud to call him my brother and I often seek advice from him as he always seems so levelheaded and knowledgeable in every situation. He just accepted a promotion with his current employer Exxon/Mobile that will relocate them to Akron, OH for 18 months. I am so sad to see them go, but so very excited for their family as they take on the world! Knowing my brother, this is exactly what he had in mind!

Stephanie and her husband Matt have been married for almost 2 years. They had Bryce almost 7 months ago and he is the best baby ever! He is a big boy with a big heart and at only 7 months knows how to smile and melt your heart. I called him ‘Brycer rycer’. Stephanie is going on her third year as a teacher and loving it. She is such an amazing mother and she made the transition seamless. She is strong in her faith as well setting examples for others including her nieces. I am so proud of her for knowing what she wanted and going after it. Even though she doubts herself, she never let anyone tell her that she couldn't do it. I am so happy that they live less than 2 miles from us so that we can see Bryce whenever we want to!

As I look back over the last 10 years and how our family has changed so quickly, it makes me want to write about how lucky I am. I am so happy that my parents and my siblings have lived so close and we were all able to watch our lives change together. I love you all and each of you is so very important to me.

You're in a cage and I’m in a box…..I broke through so can you!

How often do you look at someone’s posting of a good quote and get inspired? For me, it has to be more than a quote; I want the story behind it. So I began wondering if anyone had ever researched any of the stories behind these great quotes. Well I haven’t either! But the quote above is mine and I can tell you the story behind it!

Everyone always tells me that one day I will be great, or one day I will learn how to use my potential. What does that mean and how the heck do they know? I am in charge of my own life and a rebellious person like me is not going to let anyone tell me what I will become. Even if it’s positive, I won’t believe them until I have made it happen. They are the one’s defining my box but I am the one living in it! The only way to get outside of the box that society has given me is to break through it daily!

Just think of your 401K. (If you don’t have one, GET ONE!) How often do you look at your investments? Do you just put money into accounts and just leave it alone, or do you look at it to see if you actually have a positive rate of return? Most of us will trust someone to tell us where to put our money to make the highest rate of return. Why? It’s your money, why would you let someone else tell you where to put it. Do it yourself and research what is best for you!

Same thing applies in your everyday busy and crazy life! Invest in what is best for you! Whether it is education, entrepreneurship, new sphere of influence, change in habits, cosmetic surgery, etc…you get the idea! Find something that inspires you and research it. You may find that once you start taking more control in your own life, happiness is sure to follow and your quality of life starts to have a higher personal rate of return!

Just my outlook....

Last weekend, I attended a company Christmas party as well as a surprise birthday party and I wanted to make note of what were some of the nicest things people have ever told me.

One of my co-workers and his wife came up to Todd and me and said how grateful he was that I carry so much enthusiasm around with me. He said I was contagious! At the birthday party, I was approached by someone who I had never met. She told me that she hears about me all the time and now that she has met me in person, she said that I was so cool to hang out with. She also asked me how I do it.

I simply told her that when I am surrounded by people who accept me for who I am, I could not care less about what other people think. This prompted me to stop and think about my relationships with my friends. I have never had to apologize for being who I am. I stopped wasting time a long time ago dwelling on thoughts I had no control over. This thought prompted me to something else.

When people express to me that they are struggling with a situation, and they can’t control it, I tend to get upset and I don’t mean to. I am hard in that sense. People so many times chose the easy way out by placing blame on someone else, that they forget who is in control of their lives. If I hold a grudge or fail to let go of something that has affected my life, then it is my own fault for choosing the wrong way to deal with the situation all together.

Romans 12:9-21: I will just reference this verse for your own review. As many verses in the bible do, this scripture seeks me out when there is a situation where I am being judged or if I am doing the judging. It is a breath of fresh air to know I don’t have to carry a weight on my shoulders.

In this New Year, I hope people realize that no matter if they have forgiven but not forgotten, if they dwell on personal issues, if they think no one will accept them for who they are, just remember that we meet people for a reason. They are here to help us learn to love and grow as a person. These people may not be the right people, but for whatever reason they are in our lives. All drama aside, our arms should be open just as big as our hearts.

This note is extremely important; it took me years to finally learn. When you go for your dreams, everyone is NOT going to applaud you. They're just not. You can't satisfy everyone as YOU go for your dreams but you also can't reject the people that stand by to cheer you on. Remember: in life you can make your own decisions or you can let others make them for you. The key is staying true to your self and not let people pressure you in to being less of a person.