Hawaii Big Island Living July 19-26-2009

Aloha...What an absolutely fabulous time we had; the week was filled with personal growth, catching up with good friends, meeting new friends and a few firsts for me! Honestly, I would have never thought we could have crammed so much into one week; it was awesome!

We arrived on the Big Island around noon on Sunday July 19th and at first glance it wasn’t anything like I had imagined it to be. It looked like a moonscape covered with lava beds as far as I could see and I wondered what we had gotten ourselves in for. What I didn't realize was we were landing in Kona on the west or "dry side" of the Island and over on the east side or Hilo "wet side" of the Island, there is the complete oppositive; lush, tropical, unbelievably beautiful terrain with steep valleys and waterfalls!! Both certaining had their unique and inviting appeal.

Our driver was waiting to greet us with leis and take us to our hotel; the beautiful Waikoloa Hilton located about 30 miles north of Kona. The resort was over 62 acres of beautiful gardens, pools, lagoons, tropical wildlife and dolphins. The grounds were so massive there were wooden covered motorboats and a tram to transport you between 3 separate towers all connected via waterways. It was truly amazing and at that moment I knew how fortunate and grateful I was to be surrounded by so much beauty and magnificence.

David and I came to Hawaii to attend our second Summit Conference and were anxious to reconnect with our friends in the community, and also learn who our speakers would be for the week. In the 5 plus events we have attended in the past 2 years we have yet to be disappointed in the selection of presenters; they some of best motivational and personal development speakers in the world and we always get what we came for from the conferences!

As soon as we settled in to our suite…we pretty much hit the ground running and never really stopped. That evening we attended a VIP party and had our first opportunity to reconnected with some of our closer friends. This is always one of my favorite get-togethers during the conferences, because these are the friends and leaders in the company we see at all the events and have come to know well; it is a much more intimate setting and a great way to kick things off!

Monday was the day for planning our tours, checking out what was happening at the resort and going to the shopping village located nearby to pick up some supplies, fruit and drink. Two of our associates, Emily and Dave joined us for the afternoon of planning and shopping. As soon as we returned to the resort we picked up our registration packets that included our agenda, beach bag & towel before heading back to the rooms to prep for our evening Welcome Ceremonies. We now knew who are speakers would be and I was thrilled. Shawn Achor was a returning speaker who I could listen to over and over; the first time I heard him was in Cancun and he is the only speaker asked to come back for a repeat engagement because of his popularity. The 2nd speaker would be Eric Wahl and 3rd speaker Kevin Carroll; what a fabulous line up for the week and I couldn’t wait to get it started!!

That evening we attended the Vintage Hawaii Welcome Reception on the Palace Lawn where somewhere between 1100-1200 were in attendance; we did manage to save a table large enough to seat all of our associates and had a wonderful evening introducing them to the leaders in the community so they could begin developing their own new found friendships. The dinner buffet was lavish and we all had a wonderful evening mingling, eating, dancing, etc.

Tuesday morning came way too soon, even though we had a 3 hr PDT advantage coming into Hawaii…but I was excited to get into the Grand Ballroom early to get good seating for our first speaker Shawn Achor. Shawn is a Harvard Professor that teaches one of the most popular classes at Harvard; The Philosophy of Happiness. I was please to hear him present an entirely new program that was even more inspirational than his previous one, which was hard to believe. It was also exciting for our new associates to hear him speak and after the session was over everyone clearly understood why in 8 years he has been the only repeat presenter invited to participate in our conferences.

That evening we invited our associates to join us for dinner at a restaurant called “Roy’s”, it is famous on the Island for its fresh cuisine with all local produce and seafood. On Monday we had stoped by the restaurant to talk with the chef to get his recommendations and none of us were disappointed; the food and company were superb!

Wednesday I was simply blown away by the talent and energy of our 2nd speaker, Eric Wahl. Eric said as a child he was stifled by a grade school teacher who told him he couldn’t draw; you can only imagine how any child would be impacted by that since all children know they are artists! It wasn’t until he burned himself out as a very successful corporate executive who never spent time with his family he decided to take his message out to the corporate world about retaining fun in your life in order to be truly successful and became a professional speaker. Then, in 2002 he discovered his true creativity and picked up a brush and canvas to uncover his talents as an artist and decided to incorporate that into his presentations.

He said since our community is nothing like the corporate companies he talks to, he decided to start his presentation of a little unconventionally. There was an easel on stage and then music from U2 started playing…the louder and faster the music became the more his hands flew across the easel and it wasn’t until near the end of the song his painting came to life…it was a portrait of Bono! The audience was on their feet giving him a standing ovation!

Eric went on to inspire us with stories of his family, the importance of retaining fun and humor in our lives, but also emphasized having some structure as well. With each story there was a poignant message and with each message there was more music played and another painting unveiled. By days end there were a total of four; Bono, Tiger Woods, Einstein (painted upside down no less!) and the head of the Statue of Liberty.

To everyone's surprise Eric would "give" the Bono portrait to a young man in the audience who stepped up and was willing to take an unknown challenge; the other 3 paintings Eric donated to be raffled off at a silent auction during the Gala Ball on Friday evening and all the proceeds would go to the local "Make a Wish Foundation" there in Hawaii. Then Shane, a co-founder of our community stood up and said he would match all donations; everyone was on their feet appaulding their generosity!

After the session that day David and I were fortunate enough to be on a private snorkeling cruise with just about 120 leaders of the company, including its co-founder and to our surprise Shawn Achor, the first presenter of the conference! What a wonderful and fun opportunity! We had two private buses pick us up at the hotel and arrived at a boat terminal south of Kona around 4 PM. The boat was a double-deck catamaran and we were treated to snorkeling in one of the world’s most beautiful inlets where Captain Cook finally came to his demise and a memorial monument constructed. This was my first time snorkeling and boy was it ever a treat. The waters were pristine and the sea life abundant; spinning dolphins were everywhere and some even swam up close and personal. Afterwards we had a BBQ on board before heading back to the buses. What an amazing day!

Believe it or not Thursday was considered a “free day”, as far as the conference went, but not for us! We rented a car and headed out early in the AM for a tour around the Big Island with 5 other folks; Dave, Emily, Ziad, Kate and Gabby. We went south around the Island and our 1st stop was Hawi, a very small and quaint Hawaiian Village with a wonderful small café/bakery where we picked up a bite to eat since none of us were able to get breakfast before our departure. Afterwards we headed to Waipio Overlook, with spectacular views of the ocean and then Akaka Falls State Park before arriving in Hilo. Hilo has quite a history with several Tsunami’s that devastated the largest town on the Big Island a number of times, including a very tragic loss of several school children and towns folks that had stopped to observe the strange occurrence of receding ocean shore.

After having lunch in Hilo 3 departed to head back to the hotel for another evening engagement, while 4 of us continue on to the Volcano’s National Park. We stopped to walk through an amazing lava tube and then drove to the end of the Chain of Craters Road where it had eventually been blocked by lava flow. It made me realize this unbelievable Island rose from the depths of the ocean floor to become one of the most beautiful sites in the world and was still growing with each new irruption.

Darkness was fast falling upon us and we knew it was time to head back to the resort…so we headed back to Hilo in search of a Starbucks to take us the next 100 miles back. We had at least 2 dueling iPhones tracking the location of Starbucks in Hilo and passed what should have been 3 of them with not one in sight. Ahhhh…but have faith in technology and after tracking back around a Starbucks was located and we loaded up on caffeine for the drive back to the resort. We arrived back at the Hilton around 10 PM and ready to hit the sack!

Friday, the last day of the conference was another full day for us; the speaker was Kevin Carrol and his life story was surely something to speak about. He was one of 3 sons who were abandoned as children by both of their parents and his success came from his determination to not fall victim of his circumstances. His writings and speaking engagements are all based on a theme about “The Red Ball”; a symbol of survival on the playing fields in the ghettos and taking matters into his own hands as a young child of six years old.

I was disappointed we had to leave Kevin's session a bit early, but it was for a very good reason; we were being picked up to go to the heliport where I would take my first helicopter ride ever and what a spectacular place to do it. The Blue Hawaiian heliport was less than 5 miles from the resort and was renowned for its National Geographic and Frommer’s videos and travel guides. We took a two hour flight over the Big Island and saw the Volcano’s up close as well as the famous valleys and waterfalls that lined the east coast of the Big Island. What an amazing day it was, but alas it wasn't over!

We had planned our last full day, Saturday on the Big Island to be on motorcycles; another first for my bucket list...WooHoo! As soon as we landed back at the heliport we had a taxi pick us up there and drive us into Kona where we rented our motorcycles from the local Harley Dealership. Five other folks…all from Australia planned to join us for the group ride on Saturday and had picked up their motorcycles on Friday afternoon as well. They had asked David earlier if he wouldn't mind leading the group, because they were not used to riding on the right side of the roadway and felt if they followed him they would be less likely to have a mishap! We definitely understood and David said he would be glad to lead if they agreed to do the same for us when we come to Australia!! Our plan was to meet them in the front lobby ready to ride at 8:00 AM...

We still had to make it back to our resort from the Harley rental place and had very little time to clean up and dress for the Gala Ball that night...mind you, no one rushes in Hawaii, so we arrived a bit late, but just in time for the first course being served and the Party to begin.

The silent auction was taking place throughout the night and what we learned later that evening was the young man that received the Bono portrait had several offers for it the next couple of days and said "no thanks" to the highest offer of $25,000. However, just before the Gala Ball he personally donated that painting to the Silent Auction...my goodness, talk about inspiration and reaffirming our beliefs in what this community is truly about...priceless!

In the end the couple that had offered $25,000 to the young man for the painting donated the same amount for it during the silent auction. The 4 paintings, including the matching funds from Shane and his wife, The Make A Wish Foundation received a $179,000 donation! It was remarkable and heart warming knowing how far that money will go to help the children in need on the Big Island of Hawaii!

Saturday morning rolled around really early and we headed down to the main lobby to meet up with Mal, Bec, Oscar, Jenelle and Tramain at 8 AM and spend our last day on the Big Island with our new found Australian friends. What a wonderful day we had with a great group of people! We decided to stay on the west/dry side of the Island and road the coastline for awhile heading north; then connected via Wiamea to the Upper Mountain Road. Eventually we merged onto Hwy 180 and rode a narrow, windy/twisty road with a couple of coffee plantations and lots of fabulous tropical/ocean views until we headed back down to Kona. We stayed pretty cool as long as we were up in the mountains, but once going down to the coastline again it became very hot and humid; we decided it was time to go get a late lunch and cool drink along the waterfront. We had a great fresh seafood lunch and decided to cruise the boardwalk before returning the bikes at 5 PM; we made it back to the dealership at 4:50 PM…just in the nick of time! If we didn’t have the bikes back by 5 PM we would be responsible for the daily rental cost and return until Monday…not good for us since we were leaving the next morning!!

What a fabulous way to wind up our week on the Big Island. It was sad to say our goodbyes to so many of our friends, but we’ll continue to stay in contact via e-mail, Skype, IM…you name it until we meet again at the next event.

All I can say now is Maholo; I continue to be so grateful for the experiences and opportunities I’ve been blessed with during this time of my life. Life has always been good in my heart and just seems to keep getting better with each new journey that unfolds.

Please check back in a couple of weeks…David and I are scheduled to take a 2+ week motorcycle ride down the California Hwy 1 Coast all the way to Los Angrles with our puppy Bandit riding on the back! We are all excited about the journey and we will be visiting family while in Los Angeles! WooHoo…On the Road Again!!

Spring Break with the Grandkids

It's Spring Break and I thought to myself, what a perfect opportunity to spend some time with the grandkids! I asked them if they would like to come over for the week and possibly plan a trip somewhere. They really do like to come over to "chill" and play with our new puppy Bandit, or WII, watch videos...you name it; it's just fun to hang out. Michaela, my granddaughter finished reading 3 of the 4 Twilight series books and said it would be great to go to Forks, WA...what can I say????

I told her we had been to Forks, WA on an overnight motorcycle ride and there was absolutely NOTHING in Forks, except possibly Vampires!

We decided we would go visit Forks on our week-long vacation, but would stay in Port Angeles WA, since there was a bit more to do from that location. I searched on-line for hotels and found the Red Lion in Port Angeles had a "Twilight" package, including a Twilight poster, gift candle, dinner certificate and a self-guided Twilight Map of Forks. OMG, who would have ever thunk it!! What we found is that NO ONE in or anywhere near Forks was above capitalizing on the books or the movie....go figure!

Okay, it was a done deal and off we all went...David, Michaela, Dylan, Bandit and me to the WA Olympic Peninsula, in search of Vampires; only a grandparent would consider such a get-a-way with the grandkids! LOL

We settled into the hotel with the Twilight Gift Basket and checked out the Forks Twilight Self-Guided Map before going to dinner. After breakfast the next morning, off we went to check out where Bella met Edward and how the books evolved.

We arrived in Forks and headed for the Visitor's Center where we would see Bella's old pick-up truck for a photo opp. When we got into the visitor's center Michaela was clicking away on her cell phone cam and Dylan said to the Visitor Center's attendant "I'm not even sure what we are even doing here; I'm not allowed to see the movie and too young to read the books...so I don't get it!!" LOL

I said it was probably time to take "D" to a place he could relate to! We finished up the town's self guided Twilight Tour, and then headed to the Rain Forest. Dylan thought that was pretty cool and it gave him and Bandit a chance to run off their energy!!

The next day David took Dylan & Bandit to Fort Warden, so he could explore the barricks, officer's quarters and do the "guys" thing. Michaela and I went shopping in Port Townsend.

What an awesome 4 day-3 night get away it was; I've started to keep maps of the places we travel with the grandkids, so one day when they are interested in knowing I can show them.

It won't be long before little Adrian will be able to join us; he will definitely make things more interesting and I can't wait!

Acapulco Mexico March 8th - 15th 2009

Wow…what an awesome week we had in Acapulco…the weather was fabulous and the company even better. We arrived in Acapulco, the city called “The Pearl” of resorts in Mexico, on Sunday March 8th; a few days early to enjoy the beach, city & sights before the conference we came to attend would begin. The resort we stayed at for the week was the Fairmont Princess and the accommodations were superb. We had a suite with a full ocean view and veranda to sit and watch the sunsets; it was simply beautiful.

We were so looking forward to getting out of Seattle for sunnier, warmer weather...it's been a particularly cold winter in the Northwest and we knew temps were in the high 80's in Acapulco. We left Seattle in a snow storm on Saturday night, March 7th on a red-eye to Dallas for a connection to Mexico.

We arrived in Mexico on Sunday, March 8th where we had a car waiting to pick us up at the Acapulco airport to take us to our hotel. Once we got settled in around 4 PM we met up with our good friends Ruby & Joe along with two of their associates, Valerie & Gary who also ride motorcycles. There’s just something about motorcycle riders and how we all connect immediately, like long lost friends. David and I were suffering a bit from jet-lag and a red-eye overnight flight, so we decided to stick close to the hotel that evening, have some drinks, an early dinner with our associates, before calling it a night.

The next morning, Monday March 9th we decided to head into the shopping district of Acapulco to purchase the typical t-shirts, jewelry, trinkets, sun dresses, hats, etc. and then had lunch in a totally non-English speaking restaurant…oh boy that was fun! Then it was time to head back to the hotel, because I had booked a tour that would be picking us up at the hotel at 7:15 PM.

Monday evening we had 11 folks join us for the tour. We had a private van for the group of 11 for a dinner tour to see the High Cliff Divers. Kaz, one of Australia's top leaders and some of her key associates joined rest of us and our associates for the evening. The Cliff Divers were amazing; not only did they dive off 150 ft cliffs…they also climbed up the cliffs in the dark of night and the grand finale was done by torch light…it was really spectacular to see, even though not very conducive to picture taking.

Tuesday, Mar 10th we spent most of the day relaxing at the pool & on the beach, chatting and getting better acquainted with folks. David and one of our associates decided they wanted to go jet-skiing and take some videos of the coast-line…I opted for a full body massage, sauna and Jacuzzi! Ahhh…talk about relaxing. By the evening we were ready to party and went down to the VIP Repeaters Party for those of us who have attended past conferences.

The VIP Party was held in a beautiful open-air lounge overlooking the water with an open bar and wonderful food…but the real pleasure was getting to chat one on one with some of the top earners of our company. During the party we got a lot of interest about getting a group motorcycle ride together at our next conference on the Big Island in Hawaii in July. Not only will that be a blast, it will also fulfill one of my 101 bucket list must do's!!

Wednesday, Mar 11th we were off to do a Historical City Tour with our friends and had the tour guide and van to ourselves. What an amazing contrast it was to see the 3 stages of Acapulco as it developed from the “Old Acapulco” to the “Golden Acapulco” to the newest “Diamond Acapulco”. The area considered the “Diamond Acapulco” is where our Fairmont Princess Resort was located as well as most of the newer resorts.

Acapulco is known for its picturesque bays and a very large white cross visible from everywhere atop a chapel located in an exclusive area of billionaire homes built along the sea cliffs. Our first stop was at the chapel, which was privately build by one of the riches men in Mexico in memory of his two sons who died in a plane crash many years ago. Since then he and the rest of his family have also been laid to rest there. It was an amazing structure, but the exclusive homes in that area were even more amazing. It really demonstrated the dramatic contrast between the extremely wealthy and the outlying poverty, which unfortunately is widespread throughout Mexico.

Our tour got a bit diverted when we hit a major protest going on right down the main street of Acapulco. The protest was being done by one of the primary taxi companies and there were hundreds of cabs blocking the road…they were protesting to be the sole proprietary taxi company in town…our driver told us these types of protests happen often. It extended our tour longer than expected, but we did get the rest of the tour completed. We stopped at the historic Fort San Diego and the guys did the inside tour, while us gals tried to stay cool in the shade…it was getting very hot. Ft. San Diego was the main fortress to fight off pirates when cargo ships arrived in the bays.

The next stop was for more shopping...at a fine jewelry store no less; oh boy was I in BIG Trouble!! LOL.

About the time our tour was about to end we told our driver Edwardo, we would like some fresh seafood; he said he had a “special” place named Coco Loco that was off the beaten path. Hmmm…I thought…this could be very interesting and then when we arrived, there was absolutely NO ONE in the restaurant except for us!” Well it did indeed turn out to be a great place located right on the beach, but away from the hustle-bustle of the main drag. It was a refreshing open-air restaurant and after our very HOT road trip, it was more than welcomed...bring on the margaritas!! It was siesta time and that’s why the restaurant was so deserted...so we had the entire joint & wait staff to ourselves. I think I could have stayed there indefinitely with the cool breeze blowing on us and the beautiful view! The food was just as good...what a score!

That evening was our “White Hot” Team Dynasty get together, followed up by the Conference Welcome Reception Party. What a full night of fun, music and friends; it was awesome. They laid out a beautiful spread of Mexican Cuisine and drinks were free flowing. The live music was wonderful and put everyone in the mood for dancing and then out came an athletic entertainment group that performs and teaches “Parkour”. Parkour is an athletic training on the art of moving, freerunning & jumping. Wow, they blew our socks off, but before the night was over one of our company's founding members and another one of our top leaders actually jumped on stage and leaped onto some very high platforms! Well the challenge was on and during the next two days the Parkour Team offered lessons for anyone in our community who would 1st sign a waiver, and then be taught how to leap tall buildings in a single bound! There were many, many folks who took the challenge (I was not one of them) and at least 3 that I personally know are still feeling the pain from their injuries...Ouch! But I've got to hand it to them...they did it!

Thursday AM 3/12 the first day of the conference began...WooHoo! We entered the conference and in all the personal development conferences I’ve attended this felt different; the energy level in the room was the highest I've ever seen. There looked to be around 1500+ in the room and everyone was ready to hear our first speaker for the day, Richard Chang. His area of expertise is writing and teaching people how to Discover, Develop and Live their Passion. He was an awesome speaker and I took more from his session because I truly believe passion is my biggest motivator. However, by the end of the day I know most in the room became true Passioneers!

After the first session was over about 150 of us took a sunset cruise ship to view the Acapulco coastline from the water. What a great time we had and David took a lot of video of the top earners of our company as well as the co-founder of our company. It's wonderful that everyone is always accessible and more than willing to oblige. Some of the video is quite funny, because the boat got to rocking so hard at one point; it looked like everyone was way too tipsy! Noooo...that would never happen! As we returned for shore the sunset was spectacular and I think a fun time was had by all.

Friday AM 3/13 we once again entered the conference room only to find people dancing on their chairs, excited to hear the next speaker and generally just grateful for what they have in their lives. I really can’t explain it ...except it works . Our speaker for the day was Bob Davies whose topic was “The Science of how the small change of accountability leads to large results.” Bob was a college football coach at Cal State, as well as coached Olympic gold medalist, Jeff Blatnick, who overcame Hodgkin’s disease to win the gold metal at the 1984 Olympics wrestling.

After the conference it was time to go back to the room and get rested up and then dolled up for the Black Tie & Barefoot Gala Event. They actually had the Gala out on the beach, but laid down wood ground cover & cloth so we weren’t actually walking or dancing in the sand. The evening was beautiful and the setting was perfect; we had a marvelous time. We mingled, ate excellent foods and danced well into the night. Then we said our goodbyes to those who would be leaving the following day; fortunately we opted to wait until Sunday to depart. More and more I find it difficult to say our goodbyes to the many friends we have developed in our business.

Our newest friends Valerie and Gary rented a car while in Acapulco and what a great convenience it was; they were gracious enough to drive us back and forth to the local store for supplies rather than having us take a taxi. All I can say is Valerie doesn’t get intimidated whatsoever driving in a foreign country. Case in point…just outside the resort was a heavy traffic, 4 way corner that sometimes had a stop light that was operational…well, I should say I only saw it operational once. Val barreled through the 4-way intersection like she was a local pro and at one point knew there was a blind corner just under the overpass and came to a screeching halt just before a truck load of Mexican workers would have hit us broadside and everyone of those guys screamed bloody murder…it was hilarious…and then Valerie and I looked at each other and screamed back! We cracked up and it was from then on I knew I would ride with Val anywhere; someday hopefully on two wheels!

Saturday “late” morning March 14th, we got up to say more goodbyes to those we missed the night before and were now standing in the LONG line for checkout…which is another reason I always opt to spend one more day…you don’t have to wait in the long lines for check-out. But, here’s another tip avoid the long lines; I always sign up for the “Rewards/VIP” Clubs offered by most quality hotels. The Club Memberships are free and you get plenty of perks, i.e. checking out in the “Express or Club” line and in the case of the Fairmont Hotels we received daily free bottled water, fresh fruit, turn-down service and internet access in our room; non-club members had to pay $15 USD per day for internet access. However, you must sign up before or at the time you book your room; you cannot take advantage of it once you have checked in…just an FYI.

After breakfast we decided to do a little 4-wheeling on the beach with one of our associates. It is the closest thing I’ve done to motorcycling since early December because of the cold and snowy winter we’ve had in Seattle!! Although I

wouldn’t compare the ATV’s to 2-wheel riding, it was a blast kicking up the sand. We sped down the beach and hit plenty of potholes…WhoHoo…ouch…and then off we went again full-throttle (albeit full-throttle on those 4 wheelers wasn't really all that fast!).

Later that evening we decided to head into town for one last fresh seafood dinner…we invited our associate Dennis to join us and asked our taxi driver to recommend an upper-end restaurant. He said I could get fresh lobster at a restaurant called Zungars, which we had passed a few times on our trips into downtown…so off we went. We asked him if he would return for us in 2 hours and he said absolutely and we were not to pay him until he brought us back to the hotel. Wow…what a fantastic and elegant dinner it was; definitely the best we had since arriving in Acapulco and I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Acapulco! The restaurant sits on the edge of a huge sea cliff with a panoramic view of Acapulco Bay and even though it’s considered one of the higher-end international restaurants the dinner cost was very reasonable for the quality of the food. Also…on queue our driver was back precisely 2 hrs later to return us to our hotel.

Now came time to pack and get ready for tomorrow morning’s 11 AM ride back to the airport…the part of our trips I really dislike. We had a marvelous time in Acapulco; the locals were friendly, the atmosphere pleasant and the accommodations perfect.

Upon arriving home…just as when we left Seattle a week earlier in the snow…we flew back into another hail, high wind and snow storm approaching the SeaTac Airport. It was one of the roughest landings I’ve ever experienced and when the plane finally touched down the captain received cheers from all of the passengers. Ahhhh…Life is good, even though it was hard to imagine earlier in the morning we were in shorts, sandals & 88 degree weather.

As always I am eternally grateful for another opportunity to travel and share our journey with so many wonderful people.

Cannon Beach, OR with the Grandkids and Bandit

I am a lot behind in my blogging, so I’ll try to catch up and keep it brief…somehow I’m sure you all know me well enough to really not believe that…but honestly I’ll try! LOL

For David’s birthday we decided to take a mid-week break and drive down to the Oregon Coast for a 3 day stay at the Hallmark Resort in Cannon Beach. I love Cannon Beach; it’s one of my favorite places to go when there is the calling for the sounds & smell of the ocean. I was happy to learn the Hallmark Resort; the only place I’ve stayed in Cannon Beach for some 25 years does permit pets, so we were set. Then we got a call from the kids that Winter Break was also going on that week…so we said what the heck, let’s take the grandkids along with us and we can all have fun romping around in the sand. So off we went, south to the Oregon coast…puppy and grandkids on-board and what a great time we had!

When we arrived at the Hallmark Resort we were greeted with a “Puppy Gift Basket”…We as human’s were not greeted…Nooooo…but Bandit was…blanket, Frisbee, chew bones and a card welcoming our “Pet”…OMG…do they know how to market or what????

The weather Gods were on our side and we had absolutely great weather the entire time we were on the coast…and believe me that is something to be totally grateful for knowing what our PNW weather has been like this winter.

We all loved romping on the beach and exploring Haystack Rock. Michaela still has her walking boot from foot surgery done during Christmas week, but a trash bag worked perfectly to keep it dry!

It was a very enjoyable winter break; and we were able to continue a little business as usual. Ahhhh, the modern wonders of Laptops, Skype, IM, and Internet Marketing; it's wonderful!

On our drive back home we took the kids to Fort Stevens; Dylan and David were in heaven and Bandit just liked running up & down the bunkers…Michaela and I weren’t all that into it (especially since I had been there before on a previous motorcycle ride)…but what the heck we did some “Girl” bonding and talked about boys, girlfriends, shopping and Twilight.

Once we arrived home, it was time to start planning our trip to Acapulco, Mexico…only a few days before departure and we are so looking forward to sunny skies and temps in the high 80’s! More so…we will get to see all of our associates and extended family again…WooHoo, Life is Good!!

Our new little addition to the family!

Well it's hard to believe, but we took the plunge and welcomed into our home a new little puppy named "Bandit" Munchkin Baker-Bevan! He is a 4.2 lb bundle of joy, 12 weeks old and full of energy or maybe that's full of something alright!! LOL

Bandit is what they call a "Munchkin" breed, 1/2 ShihTzu and 1/2 Yorkie, he will most likely not weight more than 10 lbs full grown.

It's been an adjustment in the home that's for sure, but after months of discussion, research and prepping for what was to come I can still tell you we have a lot to learn, so we all started 101 Basic Puppy Obedience Training together this past Monday for the next seven weeks. Bandit is the smallest of 8 dogs in the class and clearly the most energetic; he's not intimidated in the least by dogs that are 10 times his size.

We knew immediately the puppy we choose would be a travel dog and riding on the back of our motorcycles would soon become his passion too. So last Saturday we took him on his first motorcycle ride and as expected he did a fabulous job. We took baby steps with him, first getting him acclimated to the sound of our pipes and then placing him in his carrier. Next was a brief ride to a nearby park to give him a treat and let him romp around. Next stop was at the Snoqualmie Falls where we learned dogs are not permitted...go figure, so off to another park for another break. All in all we had him out on the bike for about 1 hr with no signs of stress or anxiety; we think he's a keeper!! Bandit has definitely worked his way into our hearts and we are grateful to have found such a great addition to our family.

2009 Kick-off Event in Los Angeles

Wow, what an awesome LLI 2009 Kick-off event in LA last week. David and I flew down to LA early to visit with family and

friends before our business event was to begin. We visited with my mother-in-law, Jeannie and had lunch with my niece, Staci where she is the Manager at the Northwoods Restaurant in La Mirada, CA. It was pretty priceless to see fake snow on the roof of Northwoods and a fake exterior of a log cabin in 80 degree weather, especially for those of us from the Pacific Northwest! Regardless, it is a great restaurant and Staci made sure we had great service and a superb meal!


The weather in LA was absolutely beautiful, just as I remembered it as a little girl growing up there; not too often you will find clear skies, warm weather and the foothills visible for miles...so I was ever so grateful!


We arrived at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on Thursday for a 3 night stay after our brief 1 night visit with Jeannie; we would return for another 3 nights following the conference. It was wonderful to meet up with so many of our friends in the LLI Community on Friday morning with a day planned to visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame and yes I clicked a few pics of some very famous star's hand & foot prints!!


While we were on Hollywood Boulevard a couple of us; Debbie Love and Ruby Mathys were asked to interview on TV for a new movie soon to be released called "Lie to me". All of us received t-shirts and a series of pictures taken that captured our facial expressions for various moods, i.e fear, happiness, sadness, and yes deceptiveness...most of mine just looked confused! LOL


We then joined Kaz Spence from Australia and her team of Associates for lunch at Dukes on PCH in Malibu; it was an awesome day in So Cal! Later in the evening we joined our own team of associates and some other LLI friends for dinner at the Pink Taco...what an awesome time we had and the "LLI Kick-off" hadn't even started!


The Saturday Kick-off Event began at 9 AM and went through the night for the down and dirty Mastermind Session until 10:30 PM...WOW, it was absolutely awesome with all of the top LLI income earners talking about their method of daily operations and providing an intense marketing training overview. All I can say; if you didn't get what you came for it was no ones fault but your own!!


Sunday David and I headed south along the coast to San Juan Capistrano; I hadn't seen the mission where the swallows return each year for a very long time. It was a beautiful day; we enjoyed the road trip and the mission was just as I remembered it. That evening we returned to my mother-in-law's house in Cerritos, CA to spend the next 3 days with her.

We had a wonderful time visiting with my family and tried to get what little news we could about the freezing weather and flooding going on back home in the Seattle area. We felt a bit guilty enjoying the warm weather and beaches in shorts & t-shirts when everyone back home was experiencing floods and some of the worst weather in the Pacific Northwest history. Ok, I'll admit it...we didn't dwell on it too long, knowing we would get back to it soon enough!

We flew out of Long Beach at about 6 PM on Wednesday evening and the temps were 86 degrees in So Cal...when we arrived at the SeaTac Airport in Seattle it was 34 degrees! Yikes...what an adjustment we had to go through; but when all is said and done...I've got to admit, nothing is like being back home!! : ))