As our evening is coming to a close in the Good household, we realized that we have been blogging for 176 days straight. Just 5 days short of 6 months of blog posts!
You have heard about our adventures, read about our struggles, and have watched our son grow up right along with us.
You have probably laughed with us (or at us, which is fine too) and perhaps cried with us (as I did while writing some of my posts).
We are having a budget meeting. Yup. Anyone want to join us? (I’m only partially kidding.)
We are wondering…
What are some ways you make your budget meetings fun?
If you don’t have budget meetings… well, why not? (only partially kidding there too) 😉
If you don’t have budget meetings, what ways have you found effective for keeping your finances in order?
I’ve been listening to the audio book “Delivering Happiness” by Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos. His life story, never ending creativity, and continual drive to pursue his goals have been eye-opening to say the least.
I’m sure many of you know about Zappos. You may have bought shoes from them in the past. I know I have and I was always impressed with their service. One time we bought a pair of shoes and expected them to be delivered in 4 or 5 days and they showed up on our doorstep the next day!
That made me a loyal customer.
For the next few months, at the end of each month we are going to be posting a Month in Review. This is something we have really enjoyed reading on other blogs and we thought it would be fun to include it in ours as well. In each review, you can expect to be filled in with some of the behind the scenes details of our blog.
For starters, here are our 10 most viewed posts:
Have you ever had a bad day? Like a really bad day, maybe you were late to work. You didn’t get a good night of sleep because the baby was crying all night. You had an argument with your wife before you ran out the door stuffing your face with a granola bar. Then you got stuck behind a slowpoke going 15 under the speed limit with no opportunity to pass. On and on it goes. It’s just one of those days.
A bad day.
At the end of the very bad day. You become moody and sullen and think the world is against you. You start to despair, when the phone rings.
It is your friend. He just lost his wife. It was cancer. He has kids, a family to take care of. With no wife at his side and no mother for their children. He is devastated.
Suddenly your problems don’t seem like problems anymore. It is like someone slaps you across the face and says, “Hey, snap out of it! You’ve got so much to be thankful for! Choose to focus on that!” and you do.
You realize that your problems are minuscule compared to your friend. This is perspective.
Perspective is so powerful, it literally has the power to change your life.
This video is an inspiring story of perspective. A (now) 108 year old holocaust survivor talking about the beauty of life. Enjoy.
Question: Has perspective ever slapped you across the face?
—–
Can’t see the video in your RSS reader or email? Click here!
Question: When’s the last time you have been that determined to get something you wanted?
—–
Can’t see the video in your RSS reader or email? Click here!
Honestly, today was wonderful and really rough all wrapped into one big blob of a day. I felt like I accomplished a lot and nothing at all depending how I look at it.
The day has come to an end while we clean up the chaos it seems to have left in its wake. Michael has been in the kitchen scraping the remains of burnt popcorn off a pot for the past 30 minutes as I type. The sound makes my insides quiver. It’s grating.
I pulled weeds and my hair at the same time today but sang and laughed with my son while doing so.
Jude took a bath in the kitchen sink. Dinner was left unmade.
Some days it all swirls about in a big mass. I need to put a different head on to be able to see out of different eyes. It gets that way, your own head, if your not careful. It twists things and rings them through tight, ever-revolving wheels of hurts and insecurities. Then, it spits out my interpretation of what happened. Often it isn’t really what happened. Or is it? See!? That’s what I mean.
Claudia and I are working on refining our mission statement. It’s been a learning process and we’re just about finished, all but the very last sentence! Perhaps when it’s completed, we’ll have to share it with you.
I’ve come to realize writing a mission statement is much like brainstorming. It’s a process and you have to stick at it till you come up with something you like.
There was a time of my life, not too long ago, that I felt that I just couldn’t get anything going in the right direction. I wasn’t happy with the way things were, but I was discouraged and overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start.
The getting things going in the right direction part was a slow and painful process. However, it greatly helped when I understood that success is not a destination, but a process.
On a normal day 4 years ago, my husband Michael and I realized we weren’t living the life we wanted to live. We were living a boring life! So, on a hot weekend in July, we started a new life.
Learn More...
