People

August 26, 2015 In Inspiration, Live the life you want to live, People, Today Is The Day, Uncategorized

very. exciting. things.

I’ve been holding out on you! (I can’t tell you all my secrets, all the time:)

A few months ago, just before the weather started blazing into the start of summer, I had an unexpected conversation that has 100% changed not only the course of my work life, but I feel like potentially my whole life. (ONE 5 minute conversation!!!)

For real.

So I’ve been plugging away since that day, on this new work that truly fuels me, inspires me, uses my talents/experience, and pays me. I’d been fighting so very desperately for years to figure it out and it is here!

HALLELUJAH THANK YOU, JESUS! (And I don’t even go to church.)

This means you will see big changes here to the Blue Lollipop Road you’ve known for nearly 7 years. I guess this 7 year cycle stuff is for real. I love it. I’ve partnered up with a branding company who I’ll share about soon. They’re working hard to completely overhaul my beloved BLR website into the 2.0 version; cleaner, clearer, and even more alive.

This is big time.

I was going to wait to share this news until closer to launch date, but because of a text conversation today with a friend that made me smile huge, here we are. (Also, I’m awful at staying quiet when I am over-the-moon excited, anyway. I can’t believe I’ve made it this long!)

Aha moments

(My words are in the blue bubbles.)

If you’re still fighting hard to figure out what you love/who you love/how to love/what to do/where to go/how to be…keep fighting, you will figure it out! When you get “there” all battled and bruised from the fight you’ve put up, you will be so good and so happy you’ll be unstoppable. It will feel so much sweeter, I promise. Specific to my work/money life, I’ve been at the edge of feeling like a never going to figure it out nut job for years. No joke, it has been the most frustrating and often debilitating process of my life. I’ve lost friends, screwed up relationships, driven my family bonkers, bawled my eyes out, exhausted myself spinning in circles- you name it, but I’ve kept pushing because I’ve always believed, and boom! It happened. Timing/I was ready/A random chat with a stranger in a Starbucks- whatever the reason it is, my place has come and there ain’t no stopping me now, baby!

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO GIVE UP. Believe in yourself, know there’s a place for you and you are not a freak if you don’t have it all figured out- no matter what age you are. Carry on your fight, call me when you get to your place, and we will raise a glass together.

Go get ’em, tiger.

#FindYourFreedom #WorkThatMatters #Believe

August 17, 2015 In Inspiration, People, Today Is The Day, Virginia

hello (again), monday morning!

Here’s another chance to hop all over a new week and make things happen! A little inspiration from my sunrise pier time this morning:

Sunrise Monday

#GetUpGetOut #EverydayChoices #MakeItHappen

August 2, 2015 In Inspiration, Links, North Carolina, People, Photos

365 day reflections

On this day last year, I was watching a big game at Panther’s/Bank of America Stadium between Liverpool FC & AC Milan as part of the Guinness International Champions Cup with my best friend:

Liverpool & AC Milan

Often times like today, when I’m sipping my morning coffee in silence, I think about where I was exactly one year ago. I jog my memory, then scroll photos to make connections to what I was doing, who I was with, how I was feeling, and how or how not any/all of that has changed. When I reflect, occasionally I feel a bit mad at myself because I know I could have and should have done some things better, and sometimes I laugh & shake my head at myself thinking of embarrassing things I have said or done. The constant that is always there though, in these flashback to the last year moments, is that I always feel a sense of pride for trying my best even when I am tripping up, slipping up, and looking like an idiot while eating huge pieces of humble pie along the way. Mostly, my heart feels full because I’m so lucky to still be here on this planet, healthy, with good friends & family, and I get a chance from this moment on to be better, do better, give more, and live more.

Here’s to recognizing & accepting where you’ve been, because if you don’t look back and see, you can’t move forward and be.

#LiveAndLearn #NobodysPerfect #TheRideOfLife

July 23, 2015 In Alaska, People, Photos

get lost

Three cheers for this piece! (Thanks to my brother for sending:)

If you’ve never disappeared by yourself, taken off, hit the road, please do it now- it will change your life forever. For real. (And it is summertime, so extra easy to just jump in the car.)

Solo Travel

Want to figure out what you’re made of? Build your independence and find your badass? Gain some clarity about something? Go hike, drive, bike, sit, walk, run, explore- and do it alone. It will be a pretty amazing experience and will teach you things you never expected.

Happy trails my friends! So many possibilities await…

#SoloTravel #JustDoIt #JumpIn

July 19, 2015 In BLR Play It Forward 2015, People, Photos, play, Strong Mojo, Vermont

playing it forward with forever friends

Here we are a week after BLR Play It Forward 2015 weekend. Thinking about our time together makes me smile. As I work on page updates, stories about what happened during our event, get photos from our photographer, etc. I wanted to share this one:

Good old friends

This is one of the only 2 photos I managed to get during our alumni game time. Things were so busy it was a blur, but I had to grab my friend Kate Emma right after the game while we were nice and sweaty to get a quick shot. Kate Emma suggested the idea of an alumni game when I saw her for the first time in years during the fall of 2011. I’m so glad she did. I took that idea and ran, and now 4 years later (with a lot of help from people like her to make it all happen), we have this amazing annual event that’s done so much to bring our hometown community together. People like Kate Emma mean the world to me. The ones you grow up with know you, they get you, and they love you in a way like no other friends. There’s a unique bond with old pals like Kate Emma that never go away even if our lives run in hundreds of different directions. I feel pretty darn lucky to have such a large core group of hometown ladies who support and love me so much.

Thank you Kate Emma, and to all of my girlfriends from MAU for helping to make my Vermont time each summer so special.

More Play It Forward 2015 wrap coming soon!

#Community #PlayForwardGiveBack #StrongMojoForever

July 7, 2015 In BLR Play It Forward 2014, BLR Play It Forward 2015, Inspiration, Live the life you want to live, People, Photos, Strong Mojo, Today Is The Day, Vermont

please, please, please- don’t wait

There is no other way I can say it besides now is the time.

Like right this minute.

If there’s something you’ve been wanting/wishing/trying to muster up the energy, confidence, “right time” for- start today.

If you’ve really wanted to make a change for a long time but haven’t gotten around to it- start today.

If you’ve been meaning to clear your schedule to take care of something important to you- start today.

If you have the choice to take an hour to spend with yourself, with your partner, your kids, your friends, neighbor, your aunt, your uncle, your grandparent your parents, your dog, or your frog, and ditch on that never-ending to-do list or time-wasting work meeting- do it today.

If you love someone and haven’t told them in a while, stop anything and everything you might be doing right now and pick up the phone and tell them, go next door and hug them, get in your car and drive to them, open up Skype and blow kisses through the screen at them, write them a letter, run outside and scream it out loud…

…while you can.

Today I have to say goodbye to this smiling face:

My Friend Katie

…who’s been in my life since I was a middle-school kid.

My Friend Katie

Katie, my constant hometown friend of years and years who was a most amazing sweet, kind, genuine, generous, selfless, happy, funny and positive person- passed away last week. The above photos were taken during my BLR Play It Forward event time last year in Vermont.

I didn’t get home in time to see her this summer, and she lost her fight before our coffee date that was scheduled for this week.

My heart feels ripped to shreds, but Katie inspires me to share this:

Don’t wait. Life is so short. We get busy, we think tomorrow will come for sure, we always think we have more time- and sometimes we don’t. Please give yourself a gift by reaching out to your loved ones to tell them what they mean to you. Follow your heart, your dreams, your crazy ideas. Go do, be, see, laugh, love, live it up. Be courageous. Fear is nothing. Nothing is scary until you lose someone you love so much and no longer have an option to spend time together.

Remember what’s important, celebrate the memories you have, and live like today is the day.

Thank you, Katie for bringing so much joy to this world and so much light to my life. I promise to live, love, and celebrate everyday I have. You will always be in my heart.

July 1, 2015 In BLR Play It Forward 2015, Inspiration, Links, News & Updates, News articles/Links, People, Photos, play, Strong Mojo, Vermont

some faces that inspire me to always keep trekking

Our event weekend is approaching fast, just 10 days away! Thanks to the Bennington Banner for getting the word out locally for us.

I’m honored to host this annual community event, and so appreciative to all who come out, donate, and/or participate so we can keep the memory of these amazing girls alive:

Dedication page