Crowdrise Rocks

I received the most amazing email today from Crowdrise! Crowdrise is the fundraising platform I chose to use to collect donations for #miles4change.

Not only did they provide me with the platform to raise funds, but they invested in my cause! Can you say AWESOME?!?!

Negative New Year Nellies

From children to adults, we all love new! It's a proven fact! Kids love the promise of new toys and if you walk around any car accessories area in a store looking for an air fresher scent you can easily find one called "new car" scent. We absolutely, positively love new. So when the new year rolls in people are excited for new experiences, new adventures, and the possibilities of new opportunities. Everyone feels like they can take on the world, or the issues of their lives, and press forward to victory.

We also know by the end of the month, if not earlier, most people abandon their pursuits and sink back into whatever were their habits before the ball dropped and the clock striked twelve. But honestly, should our focus remain there? I believe as an online community we need to be in the business of spurning each other on, not regurgitating the defeats that possibly lies in the future.

As I visited various social media platforms today it was interesting to see how many people are taking part in the war against resolutions. Resolutions are not the problem, it's the fact that we normally stop at the resolution, which means we go no farther than making a wish, that's the problem. Not truly looking at the behaviors we need to change relearn in order to inch us closer to achieving our resolution goal.

We have heard it said before that it takes about a month to form a new habit. Others would argue that it takes even longer than that! What we can agree on is that habit forming whether new or relearned is a process and processes take time.

My Twitter page for the new year. I associate the struggles of life with sports, helps me to wrap my brain around it.

Are You Willing to Pay the Cost?

One of the shows I love watching on HGTV is "The Property Brothers". On this show twin brothers, Drew and Jonathan Scott, try to help future homeowners find the home of their dreams. They first find a home that has everything the buyer wants on their list. They take the buyers to the property, walk them around it , and "wows" them. Everything they want is wrappped up in one pretty little or big package. Then the brothers hit them with the bottom line, the cost. This is where the buyers get the gut check, and all of them, after hearing the price, look as though they were sucker punched, blindsided, hoodwinked... you get my drift. Then the brothers go on to explain that they can help the buyers get exactly what they want if they look at taking another approach to getting it. Next, the two brothers do their thing in finding properties that can be restored and turned into their buyer's dream home. At the end of the show you have happy buyers thanking the brothers for a job well done and a home that exceeded their expectations. Isn't that just like life?

Ultimate Road Trip Adventure Pictures

The farthest I've driven from my city is probably five hours visiting family in North Carolina. So I was excited to take this road trip to the Midwest. Riding in a car for over ten hours, gives you lots of time to snooze, talk and even more time to think. I spent most of my awake time staring out the window at the landscape. I'm a coastal "lowcountry" girl, the only "mountains" I have to worry about are the ones they call speed bumps outside a local Piggly Wiggly!

Passing through Tennesee

The Ultimate Road Trip

As I stated in my last post, one of my aunt's has earned here doctorate. This makes it two family members that I know of with doctorate degrees. My late aunt Dr. Patricia Cooper ( dad's sister) and the soon to be (officially) Dr. Charlene Holmes ( mom's sister).

Charlene at Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota

She graduated from Capella University and was adamant about traveling to Minnesota and walking across the stage to receive her degree. After all that hard work I don't blame her! So this radical road warrior actually got an opportunity to go on a road trip with my aunt & uncle.

Celebrate the Milestones

Yesterday my mother and I went out to dinner with one of my aunts to celebrate the completion of her process to obtain her doctorate degree. After years of hard work and  overcoming distractions, her ultimate goal is a reality. The only thing left to do is step across that stage and receive her degree. We promised that we would treat her to dinner when this time arrived. Well the time is now and the place was here...

If you are a true BBQ connoisseur or just love good southern home cooking, this is definitely the place to be. This is where our celebration was scheduled to happen and my reflection kicked into high gear. Must have been something in the bbq sauce!