But there's a catch. You are given the million in the morning and all of it must be spent by that night. If this opportunity happened to me I know without a shadow of doubt I contact as many school as I could to find out how I could give a four-year scholarship to those individuals who were majoring in special education. Even if the student was a senior that year, I'd give a one year scholarship to that individual to pay for all of his or her expenses. When I read the first prompt for the … [Read more...]
FALLing into Place
Nothing in life is ever easy for most of us. It's the things we work hard for that tend to be the most rewarding in the end. Compare someone who started from the ground up in a business and worked hard to make it a multimillion dollar one or the child born into wealth who never had to work a day in his life that when he turned eighteen he just expected much of the same. Who will appreciate what he has more? Hopefully it would be obvious that the guy who worked hard as the one who did doesn't … [Read more...]
Spring Forward or Fall Back
When you think about springing forward in March or falling back in November, which do you prefer the most? If I had it my way I'd say neither as I hate having to put my clock forward an hour in the fall only to put it back in the spring. It messes with our body systems. I know, it's only an hour, but it's still an hour. However, if I had to choose, I'd always pick falling back because you gain an extra hour whereas with springing back we lose an hour. I remember back when Keith and I first … [Read more...]
Choosing to Fail
Think about this quote: "A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything." —Malcolm X I've heard this before but put another way. The gist is if we never try anything new we will never know if we will succeed. It's those who are willing to fail who become the successful ones. Throughout my life, and especially in my adult life, I've tried many things and have failed many times. I've tried to do several business from home. I've wanted to do many different things. I've slowly learned … [Read more...]
FALLing apart
In life there are those moments where it feels like everything around us is falling apart. Sometimes they are only a small fall and other times we biffed the big one. The worst time for me, as anyone can imagine, was during those sixteen long days while Mari lay in a hospital bed deteriorating in front of me. My world began to crumble with every turn for the worse that happened to her. No matter how hard we hoped or prayed, our little girl continued to get worse. E. coli is no joke and should … [Read more...]
FALLing on my face ⎯ literally
Have you ever fallen hard when walking, especially on ice. The year my husband turned 30 I decided to throw him a surprise big 30th birthday party. We invited around 40 people to our friend Missy's house. She had a nice big house at the time that fit everyone comfortably. I purchased a sheet cake from Sam's Club. I got him a special t-shirt that actually said something nice, and not snarky, for his birthday. The day of the party, if you can believe it, Keith ends up getting sick. He was … [Read more...]
Looking Up or Looking Down
Which do you prefer? Would you rather be on the ground looking up at a really tall building or would you rather be at the top of a skyscraper and looking down to those below you? I can honestly say both for different reasons. When you are looking up at everything around you, you can enjoy those things close to you. However, there will be more noise around that might distract you from the beauty that surrounds you. When you're on top of a building and not only looking down, which by the way … [Read more...]
FALLing Asleep
Have you ever wondered how long it takes you to fall asleep? There are times where it seems almost from the moment my head hits that pillow I'm out. And then there are other times where I can be laying there for a couple of hours, tossing, turning, looking at the clock, and still not being able to go to sleep. But for the most part I'd say it probably takes me five to ten minutes to get there. Something that helps me along the way is reading a book. Here recently, the books I've been … [Read more...]
Embracing Failure
"So go ahead. Fall down. The world looks different from the ground." - Oprah Winfrey How many of us out there can say without a doubt that they embrace failure? To be honest, I think our first instinct is a no. Who wants to fail? I hope that answer is a big no. However, do we fail a little, sometimes, or a lot? Absolutely. It all depends on our knowledge of what we are trying to do and how big the likelihood it will. In the end it's how we handle those failures that matter. Do we kick … [Read more...]
Justin
He was the first boy I really fell for. It was the summer between my 6th and 7th grade year. We went to the public pool a lot during that year. I got to meet a lot of cute guys, but Justin is the one that stuck out the most. I was 12 and had turned 13 that August. I would be attending junior high and it was a completely new school. That was the summer I also wore my first bikini. I was so shy and bashful about wearing one. I just remember talking to him a lot and hoping that maybe he'd be my … [Read more...]