Heading to Arizona

I'm leaving early Monday morning for an InvestLinc trip to Goodyear, Arizona, which is just outside of Phoenix. I will be home on Wednesday and will be tired. We are going hard the whole trip and the time change is a butt-kicker. I'm looking forward to the deal though, I'm traveling with some amazing fellows.

One of the guys that I'm meeting with develops America's Incredible Pizza franchises all over the south. These are amazing family entertainment centers that are often over 50,000 square feet. They have indoor go-cart tracks, bumper carts, bowling, arcade, mini golf, etc. There is nothing like it in Michigan, so of course my wheels are turning. Check out their site and let me know if you think it would be a hit up here in the Northland.

Living on a dream

Now you know when you run into me at the office, in one of the stores, or on the streets why I probably have a stupid grin on my face. I'm just crazy in love with these little sweet peas. Can't hardly wait for "little #3" to be sitting in the middle of this pic.

Easter Fun

Easter was wonderful with the little girls. They love having their family around. Mike, Barb, Ben, and Oma came and stayed with us. We had some great food and enjoyed each others company. Church was packed as is to be expected. It was great to be there with extended family. Ashtyn learned that Easter isn't just about candy. That was cool.

We missed the Ansels and the Boudries though. They were holding down the fort in Monroe. Great-Grandpa and GranMary sent beautiful baskets up for the girls with their names stitched into them. They really loved all the goodies.

Hug Bomb

I've just registered HUGBOMB.COM

Have you ever dropped a hug bomb on someone. I love to do it.

A frequent hug bomb that I drop is on my dad. When traveling out of town, if I have the time, I like to make a detour. I'll just run into the furniture store that he works at, give him a big hug, then I usually have to go.

It's always a great surprise for him as I live out of town and don't get to see him but once every couple of weeks.

Anyways, I think this is the subject of my next blog. BUT I NEED YOUR HELP! I'm hoping to get feedback from anyone reading this. When you do or observe anything in your world that you would consider a "HUG BOMB", let me know. I'll then make sure it gets shared with our world.

Peace

Tough Questions

My friends from Cleveland are such special people. We talked late into the night about relationships, beliefs, hopes for our families, etc.

At lenght we discussed how we plan on communicating truth to our kids. These are tough issues. Most parents want their kids to, "Do as I say...not as I did when I was young." Real life is that as our kids grow up, the questions get tougher. Even now Ashtyn is throwing stuff at me like, "Do people have to die?" I can't remember any conversations about death with her in earshot. Where did that come from.

It may be hard, but I want to be honest with my kids in all respects. Even about the things that even the "All Knowing Dad" doesn't have completely figured out. They don't stay little long, do they?

Idiot

What kind of idiot would even think about purchasing a house in another city without running the idea past his wife first?

You're reading his blog.

In my defense I had mentioned it in passing. The lesson in this whole deal for me was the power of the written word as it is read by different individuals. What zips out of my head and on to this blog can often be very different from what is internalized by loved ones as they digest the content.

All is well though, my communication skills continue to be a work in progress.

Know a Realtor?

I need to find a GOOD realtor in Cleveland. I am loving spending time with my friends on the evenings when I am here, and they assure me I'm not a bother, but eventually I need a back up plan. My type A personality leads any plan of mine to be a business plan. It is what it is!

So I'm going to buy a nice foreclosed home here in the burbs of Cleveland. This will provide me shelter. I can fix it up when I have free evenings. It may prove to be a good investment. It can be a summer home for the family when the girls are not in school. It will provide a nice transition period, because it looks like we will eventually be moving to Cleveland...though that is not certain.

So much for slowing down, I have a problem.

Work Work Work

I get to work with some of the most amazing people at InvestLinc. Everyone at the company is highly successful, and by many different measurements of success. Yet they remain so humble, helpful, and approachable. It's usually tough being the new guy, but with a group like this my ramp up time has been lightning fast. I'm working on structuring deals and creating win-win situations for our clients, partners, and shareholders. It's great to contribute significantly but learn at the same time. Constant progress every day, it's all I can do.

Slow Down

There is a delicate balance to life and existence that all of us feel. It is as simple as wind that blows lightly on your skin, or as a hurricane. Forces we can't even begin to understand, but that effect us none the less.

These past few months my life balance has shifted towards work and being a task master... divide and conquer. The way my imbalanced life is often righted is with a solid dose of the 102 degrees fever. This temperature seems to be just the right amount to knock me off my feet and force me to be calm and rest for a couple of days, without sending me to the hospital.

The problem is that this is a cycle in my life that is annoying and probably avoidable. I need to figure out how NOT to fall ill to exhaustion every 6 months. I try to mitigate the stresses and live in the moment, but I'm not doing a very good job. Slow down maybe? Easier said than done. Any suggestions?

Living in 2008

I picked this up off another blog...it made me smile.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2008 when...
1.You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2.You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4.You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.
8.Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
13.Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

Super Star Sister

I just read the most interesting blog that I've ever run into. It is by Kevin Kelly and it deals with the concept of "almost famous." My sister has the talent and drive to be an amazing force in drama and theater anywhere in the world. What is holding her back though is that she lives in Michigan of all places. We are not the cultural Mecca of the world, so here options are limited unless she uproots her life.

Kelly's blog excited me for her because it offered a new way to look at making a living with your talents. He suggests that you don't need super-stardom or nothing, you can shoot for 1000 true fans. Fan's who you have connected with so deeply, they will buy and/or support any work you do. These 1000 true fans allow a girl with amazing talent like my sister to follow her dreams without being broke for years waiting for that big break. Check it out, it is a truly unique read.

Cleveland Blues

I'm getting a ton of work done on these 3 day trips to Cleveland. My productivity has got to be at an all time high as compared to the home office environment. But after spending last weekend alone with my wife, being away now for 3 days is even harder than usual. I miss her terribly...and the girls too. It's especially lonely because my host family is out of town. Their empty house is making me more emotional than normal. I picked a book off my friends shelf last night before bed. "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. I only got 20 pages in, but it started out strong enough that I think their site is worth linking to.

Exciting news today from the home front was that baby girl #3 is now projected to join us June 22, not July 9th. The sooner the better. I have patience issues, I want to hold that baby as soon as possible.

I'm leaving the office now, I'm going to be locked in if I'm not careful.

Long Car Rides

These long drives back and forth to Cleveland are giving me a great opportunity to enjoy audio books like I never have before. I just finished book one, Black, and I am on to the second book in Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy, it's titled "Red".

The books about a man named Thomas Hunter who lives two complete lives in two different, but connected worlds. He lives in our modern world during a time in history where the world is dealing with a virus that is deadly and has infected everyone.

When he goes to sleep he is on earth, but at a time in the future, where human life has been restarted by God in an Eden type place after "The Great Deception...Virus" destroyed life on earth.

The books are a crazy circle, and impossible to explain properly on a blog, but you must read them. They present the relationship between humans and God in a profound way, and give you a great perspective on some of the harder questions most of us have about God. He deals heavily with evil, and why it must exist. Book two deals a lot with who is "chosen" by God, and what that might mean for us.

Great stuff. Extremely entertaining, yet profound insights in each book. I'm glad I am reading them for a second time. I'm picking up pieces that I missed before.

Petoskey, MI

Petoskey, Mi was wonderful. It was great to reconnect with our friends from the northland. We stayed at a historic hotel "Stafford's Perry Hotel" which overlook Little Traverse Bay. Great rooms, old but clean and bright. Much thanks to our friends at Bluegreen for the free weekend getaway. Also, many thanks to wonderful in-laws who took such good care of the girls for a couple of days!