It's been a "Minute and a Mile"!

 For now, I say ... it's been over 10 years since I've written here.  I've missed this form of expression.  I don't know where to start, but I'm confident the words will come.  Much has transpired, much to say.

Build A Stronger Family ... Read this!

Monthly Focus Ideas…12 Months to a Stronger Family

The rest of this Companion Guide will be devoted to Monthly Focus Ideas. The purpose of a
Monthly Focus is to take great ideas and use that month to focus on them. We’ve come up with
what we believe to be very powerful and important ideas to use each month of the year. You are
NOT too busy for this! If you incorporate these into family time, you will be creating new habits
that you’ve actually been putting off. It’s easy to be busy with unimportant things, but please
consider these monthly focuses below as you incorporate them into your family life.

You will find that you’ve uncovered some things that you’ve been trying to get to for way too long now. Experts have said for years that a new habit takes 20 to 30 days of repetition to take hold. These
months are designed to focus on one new habit per month that will strengthen your family.
We’ve created each month to coincide with the months of the year. So start with the month that
you’ve received this system. For example, in Summer there are ideas that apply to the Summer
time, and in October, there is a genius idea about how to prepare to be completed for Christmas time.

Bill Gates List

-->

Bill Gates List…….

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Happy Fall

Just a quick note to say hello.

I am cleaning, picking up after 3 very messy children and wanting to get outside on this gorgeous day here in Denver. I have a book to read, so I'll step out to lunch before kids come home.

Last night we had Family Fun Night and had so much fun here at home playing Ping Pong, finding fun new apps for my i-phone and laughing so hard from the boys humor I cried tears down my face ... Tigist ran to get me tissue and said, "It's okay Mommy". It was so funny. I said, "No sweetie, I'm laugh-crying. I'm not sad." I posted the photo on my FB page you have to see it ... look for a naked cowboy.

Hope you all are well.

Talk soon.

Tigist - A montage about our daughter's adoption from Ethiopia

Enjoy ...

Lisa Wills Sings "The Way I Am" by Indrid Michelson

I recorded this song, how fun is this ... I did my own background vocals.

I recorded a song 24 years AGO in a studio that cost a lot of money and it sounded nothing as nice as this one!  

THE WAY I AM sung by one of my favorite artists, Ingrid Michelson.

Have a listen and tell me what you think,

Brandon Turns 15. Happy Birthday Handsome Guy!

March 22nd, Brandon turned 15.
Here is Tigist, Brandon & Evan.  Brandon invited a few friends to go to a huge trampoline place where you literally bounce off walls.  I hope he had a great day.

Of course we had to drive to the Lamborghini Dealership to touch, see and smell these puppies.

Our favorite color

Can you imagine driving in this baby?

So close, yet so far from owning one.

Tigist was such a big girl about the birthday party being about her big brother and not her.  She was very excited for him to have a birthday and cake and prezzies.

Back in March Photos

I tried to post these back in March, but here they are now

Thank God for this yard sale snow blower, it is the bomb for clearing our property. 

I love popping my head out the door during the day or right before I go to bed.  I say g'nite to the day and take a deep breath in of this incredible air that smells so fresh and crisp...especially in this Mile High City.

Living on a corner, you need to clear the front, the corner and all along the side.  So sometimes we just keep on going and do a bunch of neighbors.  It's good exercise and gets you all warmed up.

Hard to imagine this was March when at the moment I have the fan in the living room on high cause I'm hot.

When Life Gives You Lemons ... Make Limoncello!

The Limoncello is now in process.  The rinds of 10 large lemons are swimming in a liter of rocket fuel.  This is 190 proof Vodka by Everclear.  They will soak for 5 days, shaking them only once a day.  Then the simple sugar added then sitting another 24 hours, then another 24 hours in the freezer.  So you know Wednesday night we're checking out the goods ... wanna come over?

This is the adorable Luigi and Francesca.  They allowed me to stay in their Rome apartment as well as their Tuscany 13th Century Monastery home.  They are in Santa Fe at the moment exploring the gorgeous middle America.  They call me and tell me how they are doing and they are truly having the time of their life.  They come back here to Denver on Sept. 1, 2, 3 & leave on 4th back to Rome.  They are absolutely life-long friends, for sure.  I just love these guys.