{ramona williams}

{Today I will Choose}

This photo is a great reminder that no matter the challenges or circumstances, choose joy.

{The Summer List}

Summer.

That blissful time of the year between Memorial Day and Labor Day in the U.S.

Each year the time comes and goes by fast. Usually it's during the cold, winter months that I think of all the things that I want to do when it is warm outdoors. This year, I decided to write a list. (Thanks to reading a post on Ali Edward's blog.) Following are a few things that I want to do while its hot, sunny, warm outside.

 

Do you have a list? If not, you should write it down.  

 

~go to the drive-in

~go to the zoo

~sit on the deck and read books

~make summer fruity drinks

~use the grill!

~go fishing (Marc)

~spend time outdoors each day

~spend time with family

~eat lots of summer fruit

~sit in the park bench near home with my husband

~dream

~take small steps to pursue my dream

~rest

~go on vacation to Washington D.C.

       ~watch the sunrise/sunset

{summer list on chalk board in kitchen.}

 Here's to Summer.

{The 140 Character Mission Statement}

Yesterday, I read Michael Hyatt's blog post on the 140 Character Mission Statement.  In the post, he mentions the book,  The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make A Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau.  In his book, Guillebeau talks about defining your mission statement.

 Here is an excerpt from Michael's blog --

 >>Here’s what Chris says:

Let’s break down the planning process into a very simple exercise: defining the mission statement for your business (or your business idea) in 140 characters or less. 140 characters is the maximum amount of text for an update on Twitter and a good natural limit for narrowing down a concept.

It may help to think of the first two characteristics of any business: a product or service and the group of people who pay for it. Put the two together and you’ve got a mission statement:

We provide [product or service] for [customers].

Note that it’s usually better to highlight a core benefit of your business instead of a descriptive feature. Accordingly, you can revise the statement a bit to read like this:

We help [customers] do/achieve/other verb [primary benefit].

Focusing like this helps you avoid "corporate speak" and drill down to the real purpose of the business as it relates to your customers.

Here are a few examples:

If you have a dog-walking service, the feature is "I walk dogs." The benefit is "I help busy owners feel at ease about their dogs when they’re not able to be with them."

If you sell knitted hat patterns, the benefit is something like "I help people be creative by making a hat for themselves or someone close to them."

If you make custom wedding stationery, you might say, "I help couples feel special about their big day by providing them with amazing invitations.">>

After reading the post, I had to ask myself, what is my mission statement? With regards to work, my professional mission statement is

I help clients bring ideas to life by taking those ideas from concept to finish using business analysis, functional and technical design. In other words, by profession I'm a business analyst.

But, what is my personal mission statement? More specifically, what is the purpose of my blog? When I started blogging 6 years ago, my purpose was to sell digital scrapbooking papers, share scrapbooking layouts and personal experiences from my life. Over time, the blog has changed, I'm no longer selling digital scrap papers, but I'm still taking lots of photos and sharing life experiences. So, my 140 character mission statement is

 I inspire/encourage people by sharing personal life experiences, experiences from others and helpful information on my blog.

 What is your 140 Character Mission Statement?

Slowing Down

2012 has been a busy, hectic, stressful year. However, over the last few weeks I have seen a slight shift - life has started to slow down, just a bit.

Whew.  

I'm still busy with a really long list of things to do, but this weekend I'm going to pause and enjoy the moment(s).

I plan to watch the NCAA/March Madness tournament (my brackets are already breaking). Marc talked about cleaning out the grill and cooking something for us Saturday evening.

I plan to enjoy the summer like weather we are having (before it is officially Spring).

Whatever events occur this weekend, my goal is to enjoy the moment, enjoy life.

Hope you do the same.

~Have a good weekend.

Happy valentines day!

It was a good valentines day. My Sweetie surprised me with yummy chocolate cupcakes!!