This last weekend, Amber and I took a trip down to Kansas City for our first wedding anniversary. Our first year has gone so fast, and so much has happened. So we decided to head down for a long weekend together to enjoy what KC has to offer.
We got down to a mid-70s day and were quite happy to walk all over Country Club Plaza, where we were staying. But the shops were not our destination. We headed down to the art museum and sculpture park where we came across some fantastic sculptures.
I had the extreme pleasure of getting to see Guster this last Thursday at Hoyt Sherman. First off, this was my first experience ever at Hoyt Sherman. It is amazing! It is intimate, intricate and beautiful. I have always prided myself on wanting no more house than I need, but being in that concert hall seeing how much love and devotion went into creating something that amazing made me want one of my own. But I digress…
I am proud to announce that I have started a new job with Dale Carnegie & Associates. I am now a Strategic Business Consultant, and I am so excited that I am in a state of perma-grin.
Many of you may know that I have been working with Dale Carnegie (DC) for over two years now to become a trainer. That has recently culminated in one of the most difficult and rewarding four day weekends of my life, but that is for my next blog post.
Amber likes to make fun of me this time of year by calling me Mr. Bah-Humbug. You see, I don’t like Christmas music. One of my first jobs was as a clothing salesperson at the mall, and so every year I had to sit there and listen to Christmas music day in and day out until I wished I could tear my ears off.
Honestly, I might even like it now. It has been so long that I might just be saying this because it is what I always have said. But, my dislike of Christmas music combined with my not caring if my abode is decorated for Christmas or not has gotten me a bad rep with Amber.
I wanted to discuss why I am so interested in growing my financial education through learning to invest and build businesses. Amber’s father, Tom is still on my mind and I decided to go back and listen to the speech he gave at Amber and my wedding. Here it is for you to listen: (The speech begins at 4:45 in. Sorry about the dark quality, it was a bright and beautiful day for our wedding.)
First he talks about staying strong through adversity and never giving up on our marriage. But as of right now, the thought of being without Amber is ludicrous. So I will consider that lesson if I ever (hopefully never) need it.
I apologize that it has been so long since my last post. My wife’s father passed away and the last few weeks have been a flurry of driving, seeing lots of people and just dealing with everything that comes with the death of a loved one.
Amber’s father Tom was a fantastic man, and a shining example of how to live your life with integrity and gratitude. I am glad that he was one of Amber’s main teachers on how to deal with people. And I am doubly glad that I did get what little time I had with him. He taught me many things in the five short years I got to know him.
I believe that I have two problems right now: too much desire and too many possibilities. I am frustrated by things taking so long to happen and the vast majority of them not working. I understand that anything of value takes time and work in order for it to achieve that value. I am simply upset that I can not seem to figure out how to derive that value from the time and work that I have put in already. I am continually coming up with new ideas for businesses and business models. But, I am unable to create something that produces any return on value.
It is amazing what can come from the worst conditions.
Last night I was home with my wife when her back suddenly went out. For the rest of the night she was immobile, and it has continued through today. So I called to check in with her and being the Type A personality that she is she was incredibly frustrated that she couldn’t work on the things that she wanted to get done. I pointed out that this was a great time for her to work on her patience. Patience is a virtue that can have great rewards if practiced.
One half of heaven.
Today I simply wanted to share a delightful concoction I stumbled upon with the remnants of another little slice of heaven. I can not verify that any of this is healthy for you, but I can say that it is 110% delicious.
First, the slice of heaven. I have had the pleasure of going to The Cafe in Ames, IA. One of the very first times I went there I found perfection in the Brie and Avacado Grilled Cheese. I went back three times that month and had it over and over again. Unfortunately, this lead to over a year of bitter disappointment as they changed their menu each month and for some reason they had the over-site of not putting it back on.
Keep Going! Never Stop!
Yesterday (while gushing) I said that I had decided to start over (AGAIN!!!) on my business search. What I meant by this is not that I am starting from scratch. I still have two very good ideas and I am pursuing both of them. What I did mean was that the path I was following turned out to be a bad one. I am still following Glenn Livingston’s method, and I still highly recommend him to others. I just found that I was still too broad in my target.