Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Where Are You? What Do You Do There?

It may sound crazy,  but I am asking my readers where geographically they are located.   There is a reason,  want to know what it is?

I have found that locals always have the best information on their areas.  There are plenty of online sites that list the top attractions, or top restaurants, or top destinations.  I found in traveling this year, that those places don't always fit our demographic,  or the vibe we are looking for in food, entertainment, or activities.

Mountains in Boulder

Recently while in Boulder Colorado, we had the opportunity to stay an extra day after our business retreat ended.  I asked my friends in the area where to eat, and what to see during our bonus day, and the results were AMAZING!   The difference was they knew what we were looking for and were able to point us in that direction.  Not always to  the most popular spot, but to ones they knew we would love.

Rooftop Garden in Colorado

We live in Maine.  It is as far north east as you can go in America, and we love it.  We also live in a VERY tourist centric town,  so when people ask me where they should go,  I use caution with my secret spots, so as not to release them all to the general public, but try to balance that with my desire to drive business to the places that I love. It is a tricky balance at times,  and that is the whole purpose of this post.

Southern Maine at Sunset

A transition has occurred in our lives as you can see from the past few posts.  A corporate layoff,  a miscarriage, and then life in general, which I have not written about in the ways that I likely should have.   That transition however is generating the ability to travel, and I really want to talk to locals in areas, not to steal their spots, but to absorb their culture, and learn more about the rest of the country (and the world) outside the Atlantic
north east.

So,  in getting back to the original question... Where Are You?   Should we visit your area?  Where should we go? What should we eat? Where should we look? What do we NEED to see while there?
Hint Hint

If you are comfortable posting in the comments,  feel free,  you can also message me, or reach out through social media.   I am really excited to move forward, and look forward to hearing what you think about the journey coming soon.

Happy Wednesday,

Mitch

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Ikea Shelf Assembly

If you have ever been to IKEA,  you know that some assembly is usually required on furniture pieces.  That said,  they make the process quite easy,  and we have a lot of their stuff in our home.  Since being self employed,  I have found that I do in fact have more time with the kids, and family,  but I also have time to put furniture together.  I hope you enjoy this fun time lapse of the assembly process.

Happy Wednesday!

Friday, May 6, 2016

I Quit My Day Job

After struggling last year after the layoff to find a steady job,  it is hard to believe a year later that I am even writing this.   I actually quit!  I gave my notice, worked with HR and department heads on transitioning my work and current project load,  served out the 2 weeks, and walked away.  That was 1 week ago.


Turning in my parking pass, and building access badge
Heather has been teaching natural health classes and selling essential oils for the past few years,  and the business reached a point where it could justify a second set of hands, both in work load, and financially.    I am beyond excited to be home with the family,  but this time without the stress and burden of needing to find a job.  

The timing is perfect too.  it is baseball season, and Little League is getting into full swing.  The first game is tonight, and I don't have to worry about jetting out of the office early to get to the field to coach.  AND, we are getting a new puppy at the end of the month,  so I will be able to help with the training.

Brackett and I at our first visit

So looking forward to 2016,  this is going to be an amazing year for sure, and I am excited to get back to sharing it here!

Hope your day is Awesome!

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Delaying The Inevitable

I knew going into it that February was going to be rough.  

If you look at my last post you see joy, anticipation, and excitement.  February came and went but those feelings had (over the last 6 months) seemingly been replaced with fear, anger, and jealousy.  But there is light at the end of the tunnel so keep reading.

This summer, at 12 weeks pregnant, we had our first miscarriage.  I say first not that we have had others since, but rather in acknowledgement that some have gone through this multiple times.

I have put off writing about it here (despite the birth announcement) because I didn't know what to say.  It felt bad feeling bad.  I didn't want to be jealous of every friend that posted their pregnancy photos.   I wanted to be excited for them, offer up some tips and tricks for the first timers, and enjoy a cigar in the delivery room with the dad.  Ok so that last part may only be in the movies, and I think they hand them out without actually lighting, but still I wanted to be happy about it all.

Happy just didn't seem to form. 2015 had already started off on a semi-crazy note which began with the layoff; I was able to get a contract job in March.  The pay was good, but as a contractor, there were no benefits or time off.

  In august my contract was terminated unexpectedly (another potential downside to contract work)

 While the very nature of the position was such that they could end it at any time, I was still quite surprised.  

I had been missing time at the office due to the miscarriage, and wanting to be home with Heather.  My employer incredibly generous and considerate and had no problem with my time away.  I couldn't help but think though that my performance had slipped as well.  Indeed it had.  Without actively realizing it, I had let deliverables fall through the cracks and my attendance began to start later and later in the day. My work that I was turning in was slowly but surely losing quality.

Autumn found me right where January had.  Unemployed, without prospects, but now, I was also frustrated, saddened, and confused by the miscarriage. I had lost a significant swagger that used to be in my step.  

So you can see why despite my desire, the idea of just being happy wasn't working.  To be honest though,  I wasn't working all that hard on it either.

There is a danger in the feeling of invincibility, and I walked that line without attention to that danger for a bit too long. Broken and seemingly at the end of my rope there was one more key step in the  "knocking me off my pedestal process" though that still had to happen.

  I began a video log of everything that was happening, starting with Christmas 2014 to document our journey, I had plans to take this wild difficult year and turn it into something inspiring for others. 

I took hours of video documenting how I was feeling what was going on, our road trips while looking for jobs, and even our pregnancy announcement.

Despite the trials, and pain of the year thus far,  I had convinced myself it was all going to be ok by taking comfort in the fact that at least all that video would be a great way to look back on the year.  After all,  I was narrating it,  I was going to edit it really nice, place a score and other music as needed to really hit the important parts (note the arrogance beginning to re-form).  

Then the computer crashed.  When I say crashed, I mean like hard.  HARD!  As in Hard Drive.  So bad in fact that the computer tech who attempted to fix it acknowledged just how sophisticated the virus that had just erased my entire year was.

All of the data was gone.  Hundreds of hours of home video and interviews deleted forever.  Seemingly this would be a tiny piece compared to everything that had happened in the year,  and in fact it was.  It just happened to be the last piece I was holding onto.

I promised light at then end,  so here is is.  I am here. A far less ignoragant and arrogant version.  Neither of those are attributes I would ever have thought I possessed, Lesson learned!

  Our family is ok.  There is excitement for the future, and at the end of the day,  God is good.  I look forward to sharing many positive moments as they come, but had to take a minute to breathe, reflect, and collect what had come along with a year of crazy. 

We are blessed beyond belief, and I cant wait to get back to the fun, outgoing, crazy posts that I love.   The baby we lost will ALWAYS be a part of us, moving forward does not have to mean moving on.


I will never forget 2015 and the lessons I was forced to face.  I am not happy about what happened or how I reacted most of the time to it, but I am grateful for the opportunity to have learned from it,  and look forward to what God has in store for our family in the future.