Birthday

Here I am another year older, but none the wiser.  I am grateful.  I am grateful for the friends who took time out of their busy schedules to wish me a happy birthday.  Grateful for the sweet birthday cards I received and the thoughtful gifts.  Grateful for an adorable video I received from my friend's son singing me happy birthday which I will forever cherish.  Grateful for the free Starbucks coffee I got.  Grateful to share a delicious birthday dinner and my favorite strawberry cake with my family (same cake as my first birthday above - some things never change!).  Grateful for friends who know that the way to my heart is through a birthday card with an Echo look-a-like on it or a handmade drawing from their adorable kid. Grateful for an attempt to celebrate my birthday from someone who doesn't believe in birthdays.

Birthdays are special.  Don't ever let anyone make you feel small and insignificant especially on your birthday by telling you that your birthday is just another day, because it's not.  Your birthday signifies the day that you were born and those who love you will want to celebrate you because they are so grateful that you are in their lives.  Without a birth date, there would be no you.  So don't let anyone downplay such an amazing day.  Remember that you are valued, worthy, and special.  Celebrate your birthday.  Celebrate you.

Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run

J and I have been attending a fitcamp in Burbank over the past year in an attempt to get in shape, build endurance, stay healthy, and most importantly, it's a lot of fun!  The team just completed their first organized race - the Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run.  I was too intimidated to run this year, but after seeing how much fun everyone had, I may just conjure up enough courage to run it next time!  Luckily, there were professional photographers at every obstacle to capture the day!

J #788 starting his 10K alongside our coach

Carrying a sandbag uphill for their first obstacle

Balancing skills at work

The final stretch, crawling through mud - eew!

Congratulations!

The proud finishers!

Before the race when J was still nice and clean

Santa Anita Canyon

This past weekend, we went hiking in the Santa Anita Canyon and took the Newcomb Pass trail.  Our total distance hiked was 7 miles - go us! 

On our way up the mountain.  Echo looks almost human in this picture, LOL.

My favorite photo of the hike.  I love the trees surrounding us and the way the sunlight shines through.

The boys were not impressed by beautiful majestic views at the top...

...but I sure was!

I love this picture of Echo because he looks like he's smiling!

We Are Wedding Coordinators!

This past weekend, J and I coordinated our first wedding together at the Westin LAX!  This opportunity came from a good friend of mine who believed in my project management skills coupled with my Type A personality.  Because we were thoroughly prepared, there was not a hint of nerves, but confidence that we would be able to successfully deliver.  It also helped that the bride had the kindest, most easy going spirit ever and amazing organizational skills to boot.  Here are the top 3 things that I believe contributed to our success:

•  A Who's Who chart to facilitate the bridal party and family line-up. It also helped with locating and directing those who played an integral role in the wedding
• Detailed labeling and packing of agreed upon props and decorations by the bride made life so much easier during the set-up process because we knew exactly where everything needed to go, so that we wouldn't need to bug the bride on her big day
• Extraordinary vendors!  I was so impressed by how on time and on the ball all vendors were which helped us stick to schedule.  Everyone worked so collaboratively together that there were zero delays during the reception because everything ran so smoothly.  In fact, we were ahead of schedule the entire night!

Some takeaways for our next wedding would be:

• Provide a clear designation of meals by table to the servers aka who's having what
• Agree in advance the timing around corralling everyone to take their seats and when to start packing up

Oh, I hope we land another gig soon because we had such a great time!  If you're reading this, and you know anyone who is looking for a month of/day of coordinator, do think of us!  

All of our hard work paid off at the end of the night when the bride hugged me and said "Everything that I envisioned for my wedding, you made come true.".  Happy sigh. =)

Controlling People

I had an interesting conversation with a colleague the other day about what he was looking for in a spouse.  My office mate and I couldn't help but warn him that the traits he were describing would likely come with an assertive and controlling woman.  His response?

I am hoping that the security I provide will offset her need to be in control.

His insight to why a woman would be controlling caught me off guard, and even more so his sense of responsibility to mitigate that control.  Women are so independent these days that many men have abandoned any sense of responsibility to meet the needs of their wives.

We started thinking about all the ways security could be built with someone (man or woman) who lives in a state of insecurity, and therefore, feels the need to be in control.  In summary...

Be Committed

• Nothing alleviates fear more than having someone to lean on through thick and thin.  You know you can count on this person for the small things and more importantly, the big things in life.  Building this level of trust takes time and consistency.  Do you follow through on your commitments?  Or do you drop the ball and then turn around and get upset with the person who is holding you accountable to what you committed to?  I will be the first to admit that it can sometimes be challenging, and often times I will fall short, but what is important is to realize that my lack of commitment is not anyone's fault but my own.  So, if I want to be upset, be upset at myself, realize that I should have done better, and then do better the next time knowing that my end goal is to build trust with my partner.

Be Responsible

• Controlling people feel the need to always watch their own backs, so they try to have their hand in anything they can touch to create a "secure" environment.  Of course the security is an illusion because sometimes life just happens, but it sure does feel good to know that you're making smart decisions to stay prepared and avoid as much turmoil as possible!  When you're in a partnership, your decisions as independent as they might feel, are never in isolation of your partner.  If you have made bad decisions in the past and your partner has accepted them, wonderful!  Clean slate and full steam ahead!  But don't continue to make bad decisions and drag your spouse down with you.  I have been listening to Dave Ramsey, a financial guru, who refers to the child within all of us who "wants it now!".  We want the new Chanel purse, so we're willing to pour out our savings to purchase it when we should be investing in our future and putting that money into retirement.  We want to have fun now, so we eat the greasy foods and waste money on a bunch of junk food when we have been committed to working our butts off to living a healthier lifestyle.  Wait, that's not fun so I don't want to live healthy anymore.  Or, no one's perfect so hand me that bacon!  Doing so only results in a loss of momentum and demonstrates to others that you're not serious about your commitments.  Choosing immediate gratification over discipline and responsibility screams emotional immaturity.  It is feeding the inner child within us vs. making responsible adult decisions.  To once again quote Dave Ramsey "Those who live like no one else, will live like no one else."  No one is saying that you have to live rigidly forever, but if your goal is to build a partnership with security and trust, then make the sacrifices now and reap the benefits later.

 Be a Leader

• Trying to maintain control is tiring.  Most controlling people would love to sit back and relax and have someone else take the reigns for once.  But controlling people don't just "follow" anyone.  They choose their leaders wisely, carefully observing how others are living and typically align themselves with those who have aspects of their lives that they admire.  This is actually one of the many traits of successful people.  We all learn from each other, so it is important to surround yourself with people who will continually lift you up.  Would you want to follow you given where you are in life today, both from a emotional and responsibility standpoint?  You should be an addition to your partner's life where without you, they would have not grown into the amazing person they are today, or they would have never achieved an amazing milestone in their life!  Light the fire within you to be an amazing partner and start leading by example. The rest will follow.

Finally, by no means am I indicating that someone who is controlling does not have issues of their own or that it is entirely up to the partner to "fix" everything that is "broken".  This is merely a summary of a conversation that I want to share and remember.