Everyone has said we jumped from mid-June to mid-September and my blog proves it!  We had a great Summer but as always it was nuts.  We made the most of it, spent a lot of time with our friends and family whenever we had the chance.

One great trip was to Wichita to spend time with my family to celebrate all of the July birthdays: Russell, Aunt T and Liam.  We had a ton of fun at the Wichita YMCA waterpark.

After the waterpark we visited with the Browns.  Kyle left for Afghanistan (thank you baby brother for your service and bravery) so we spent as much time as we could squeeze in with him and the family.  Little Ethan had a great time with his cousins, aunts and uncles who don’t get to see him NEAR enough!

The kids went on a trek with their grandparents for 10 whole days!  I have to say I was ABOUT to die by the 4th day!  OMG!  But, they had fun and Brad and I got some quiet alone time to regenerate and learn how to have a conversation without being interrupted.  That was tricky the first day but we got used to it.  We went to movies and dinner and nights out without paying a babysitter…it was a great way to kick off a 16 year anniversary celebration!

At the end of that trip we celebrated our 16th anniversary in St. Louis at a super cool boutique hotel called Moonrise.

And then our reunion with the kiddos!  We were watching the clock until we got to give those three monkeys a big squeeze!  We had fun hearing about all of their adventures and swam in the hotel pool.  We were all in bed early…mama didn’t sleep well because of all the kicks and wiggles but I didn’t mind, I missed my snuggle bunnies.

And home sweet home…the drive home was actually pretty relaxing…for me anyway since I got to sleep in the back with Whitney and Russell.  We laughed at the hotel when we were all color coordinated (unplanned) with splashes of orange.  When we got home Russell’s best buddies all had orange on too.  I guess we were all on the same vibe that day knowing we’d be HOME SWEET HOME!

In addition to starting a new job and running myself ragged with everything else life has to offer I’m finally coming up for air.  Whitney and I spent Tuesday-Sunday in Branson, Mo for her National Dance Competition.  She did awesome and even survived a foot injury that could have been extremely tragic at this point in the season.  I was staring down 11 costumes being tossed out the window if she was laid up.  But, after some ice, soaking, a brace and LOTS of love and attention from her dance team she was back on stage.

While there Carter was burning up his State Baseball Tournament in Columbia, Mo.  It was hard to be apart but I know Carter and Whitney felt the support of the rest of the family in our respective locations.  His team ended up 9th in the tournament which is amazing!!  Carter had his best performance in the field and at bat so I couldn’t be more proud of him.

So back to the grind for five days then we have Whitney’s recital Friday night, a matinee on Saturday and final performance Saturday night.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to sleep in on Sunday!  I may be in my jammies all day that day!

I started the Brave Girls Club, Soul Restoration 2 class amidst all of this craziness.  Admittedly I’m behind but have enjoyed stealing a few minutes here and there to watch the videos.  I have a birthday scrap trip 7/7/11-7/11/11 so I will be catching up on that class and enjoying some R & R big time!  Below are two birdies my kids drew for the Brave Girls Club daily emails.

Have a fabulous weekend!

 

Our business development team had a fabulous time in Las Vegas.  Sure the sites and refreshments were enjoyed but mostly the warm welcome we received from the Relocation Industry!  I’ve been around the block a few times and have not always…actually NEVER been welcomed with open arms to an industry.  While new, innovative, companies might be seen as a threat, this group loved having young fresh faces!

We learned a ton from our future customers and have so many angles to follow up we’ll be work diligently to get in touch with all of the terrific people and companies we met.  We are already planning our trip to Denver, Colorado in October for the next RELO convention, GMS.  We are already planning for after-conference gathering and other ways to spend more time with our customers and prospects outside of the event.

So, if you are getting ready to move call me, email me whatever works, my company will save you money and deliver unmatched service.

Kim Woods

Agent Marketing Manager

BuildMyMove, LLC

7245 W 95^th Street, Suite 200

Overland Park, KS 66212

913-951-2966 Direct

816-616-7190 Cell

913-951-2989 Fax

kwoods@buildmymove.com

www.buildmymove.com

skype name: kimwoodsbmm

http://www.facebook.com/buildmymove

www.twitter.com/buildmymove

I don’t remember seeing “Day Moons” prior to just a few years ago.  Now I feel like I see them almost every day.  Russell and I are particularly fond of Day Moons and have many conversations about them when they are out.  I love having a fellow astrologist in the family and at 4 his take on things is pretty great.

Well Miss Alice did not get to see her eggs hatch…bummer. BUT my neighbor has babies in his grill which we decided is the *bird nest mansion* so we’ve enjoyed his babies.  He’s selling his grill and I’m tempted to buy it just to keep for Robin babies in the Spring.  I know….I’m crazy but I really think that sort of thing is amazing.  I’m thankful to be a human with shelter and food and to not have to worry about my babies if the Spring is as cold as it has been this year.  Poor mama birds…

We have been in a literal whirlwind of dance and baseball.  Mother’s Day weekend was spent at the ball fields for Carter’s tournament which was super fun!  The only bummer is there was not time for all-day jammie days and planting.  We did squeeze in time on Monday to plant my geraniums in pots, herbs and peppers.  The view out of the door to my deck is monumentally more enjoyable with gorgeous green plants and flowers instead of dried up sad remnants from last year.  I remember welcoming Fall but I have to say January-March and even April if it is cold like it was this year is pretty annoying…except for March Madness.  Combine a long Winter with an early tournament loss and we really don’t know what to do with ourselves until May.

I look back at the last few months and am really kind of amazed at all we’ve shoved into the calendar.  Dance, baseball, Jessica’s wedding festivities, a new job, Kindergarten enrollment, preparation for Summer School and what the heck I’m doing with the kids after that…madness.  But, when I think about my most productive times it is when I’m holy whirlwind of tornados busy.

Here are a few pics from the fun of the last few weeks.  Next week I’m off to Vegas for a trade show.  Brad and the kids will be holding down the fort Tuesday-Friday then we have a dance competition and baseball tournament.  Typical craziness…

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In the last six months I have been given the opportunity to choose what career path, life path I want to follow.  I’ve had lots of offers, all kinds of offers.  Thanks to Brave Girls, Soul Restoration I’ve been able to really think about how I want my life to look.  I’ve had that BIG job with all the stress and travel and late nights.  The one where my family is sad that I’m missing so much of the day and missing games and events.  It’s the job where I put work before my family.  And why?  Because I feel like making that money will take care of my family…but what I have come to realize…is that my family needs ME to take care of them, not money I work hard to earn.

So, I revert back to my Brave Girl projects, words of wisdom, support from all those ladies who have faced a million obstacles and have traveled through them to get to the other side.  As much as my brain thinks, “oh just take the easy way out, get that DEFINED job, make the money, work the hours and all will be fine.”  But my Brave Girls “training” kept bringing me back to “what makes everyone HAPPY?”  I don’t meant the kind of  lavish vacation HAPPY, not shopping spree HAPPY, but truly, 100% genuinely HAPPY…our family being together is the answer.  Plain and simple.

My new career is defined as *working for ME!*  I am blessed with a fabulous network of clients/friends.  It’s hard for me to call them clients because I genuinely care about their business and treating their customers the best way possible so we all get the referral business and repeat business that makes life easier.  Brave Girls taught me to seek out and surround myself with awesome people.  I think before I kissed up to those I didn’t respect and honestly…didn’t like, but I did it for the money, to feed my family.  I find my new outlook is probably attracting more people to my business and I definitely know it is helping me be happier on a daily basis.  I don’t mean just jolly I mean dialed in, loving my children, hearing their funny conversations, watching their 400th time of dunking the ball or trying a dance move.  Even seeing my dog do a funny stretch and “talk” to us.  And I think my husband would agree for the most part that the new career path is good for him too.  I know he sees me dialed into work afterhours a little too much.  Before the shift in my career I was dreaming of vacations to Mexico and any other beach I could find.  Now, I really think I’ll be perfectly content to hang out at the pool, on the back deck and on my business partner’s pontoon boat.  As awesome as vacations can be and how amazing they sound, they are expensive, the kids rarely eat the expensive food we buy, drinks are kinda gross at resorts and beds can be uncomfortable.  (yes I am telling myself this but I do kinda believe it)  A vacation at home means our favorite meals, sleeping in because our bed is so comfy and walking to the pool rather than frantically packing, going through the crazy airports and paying $10 for a grilled cheese that doesn’t get eaten.

The point of all this rambling is I have been given the gift of looking forward to every morning and every evening and every weekend with my kids.  I can plan a vacation that is as fun as any other vacation but spent at home with all of our comforts and *stuff.*  There is no way, absolutely no way I would ever have this mindset without the amazing gals at Brave Girls and the Soul Restoration class.  I adore them, I think they are so smart and talented.  If I could punt all money making activities to work on Brave Girl-esque projects I’d totally do it!  In a heartbeat.

Here’s a link to this amazing course.  *shhhh* I have a few assignments to finish from SR1 which I will do and enjoy all the way until I get to Soul Restoration 2.  I’m sure my perspective changes all the time so what I make and do and write will evolve all the time.  That is pretty darn cool!

http://bravegirlsclub.com/soul-restoration-1-and-2

Wow am I a slacker or what?  I’ve been DOING too much to download the pics I took while DOING and have been running around too much to blog about what I’ve been DOING.

I hope tonight while I’m watching American Idol (love, love the judge trio this season!  Best yet!) I can download and edit my new pics hiding on my memory sticks.  I’ve celebrated THREE 40th birthdays of THREE amazing friends in the last few weeks.  My sorority sister, **AOT KDs**, Suzanne who I’ve known for 21 years and is always game for a fun girls scrap weekend in a a local hotel or if we are lucky somewhere out of town.  The next was my hair girl Christin, I feel weird calling my *hair girl* because she is sooo much more but has an amazing talent for doing GREAT hair…I’ve known her since my hair was to my waist right after college which was 17 years ago!   And finally, my NEWer friend Julie who is a dance mom, teacher, Arbonne Rock Star and one of those gals who absolutely LIFTS you up every time you see her.  Now that I think of it, these three women have played a huge roll in changing my course the last year.  They’ve supported me through the rough patches and totally made me remember what my insides look like.  So, I’m excited to post pics from our fun times together but have been having so much fun I haven’t had time.

Speaking of lifting up…another woman who I just met in Utah at Spark! on September 10th has had a huge impact on me too.  This tiny little gal is the BIGGEST superstar when it comes to energy, personality, Photoshop/creative talent etc.  She blends inspiration with art which is the new trend…my favorite trend in scrapbooking.  Soooo much better than sticker packets..right scrap sistas out there?  HOLLA!  So I’m loving all things scrap-spirational (does that work as a new word?).  So here’s a super cute printable found here:  http://rhonnadesigns.blogspot.com/2011/02/day-2-6-week-shape-up.html

She’s got the whole working out/dieting and making it fun with scrap elements down to the letter! Go Rhonna Go!!!