As I'm sitting here reflecting back on 2011 I realized I've really not been in 'social media' much for the past six months or so. Basically I stepped away from the marketing aspect of social media since I'm not involved in a home business right now. I've just popped on a few times a week to keep in-the-loop, but other than that not a lot of social media interaction.
What have I been up to? Well, in July we sold nearly all of our belongings to come back to our home state. We moved away from a sizeable rental home on a golf course in Nevada; to a cozy cottage rental in a prime location in an amazing school district in California. Sacrifice? No, you have to take action to be where you want to be!
We are keeping open minds, open spirits and allowing good things to flow to us. We know that where we are this moment is simply a stepping stone in time, and we are enjoying as new doors are opening daily for us.
My husband has a growing business, I have a blossoming career, our daughter attends one of the best schools in the district. We are blessed!
Right now I'm sitting here in my mini home office 'nook', the rear door is open allowing a mild breeze to flow in....on the first day of January! How lucky am I?! :)
The more things change in life, the more I realize we need to focus on the gifts we have. Being grateful for all the things great and small in our lives. As long as we keep moving in the direction of our desires, we are on the right track!
Isn't that what is important? People ask us why we moved away from 'where it was cheaper' back to California.... they look at us like we are insane. We tell them we did it because it's where we want to BE and because it's where we see our dreams coming to fruition!
With that said, Happy New Year! Join me in setting sails heading the directions of our dreams!
Alethea Anderson
MultimediaMom.com
Wednesday
My Thoughts on Steve Jobs...
Wow, Steve Jobs transcended today to another world, but not after making his 'ding in the universe'.... Having grown up in a computer techie home I was fortunate enough to have computers way before they were a household name. The first sticker I got as a kid, the one that inspired me to start a 'sticker collection' was the Rainbow Apple that people were putting on their cars.
From my first computer with a black screen and orange letters to my mini mac, to my PC with aol dial up to the lap top I type on now with high speed internet...
As Steve Jobs said "we made the buttons on th screen look so good you'll want to lick them".
With that said, I can honestly say I've never owned a piece of techonology that I love more than my iPhone and I am eager and excited for the new iPhone 4S to be sitting in the palm of my hand (and each model that comes next)
A tribute to an amazing man who did indeed leave his mark, I've collected some pictures and quotes in his memory.
Rest in Peace Mr. Jobs, we thank you for what you've created...
"I want to put a ding in the universe."
Steve Jobs
“Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
Alethea Anderson
MultimediaMom.com
Is Facebook a FAD?
Seriously, I hop on a few times a day to browse status messages, check for wall posts and all that fun Facebook stuff. Well today I've not been able to access Facebook for about two and a half hours and you know what? It's driving me CRAZY!
While on the topic of Facebook, I keep meeting people who refuse to get a Facebook account. They say it's a 'fad' and will go away so they don't want to invest the time.
Let me ask this... If Facebook were a FAD would it...
- ...be promoted on nearly every single TV show and commercial? ("like" us on Facebook!)
- ...be printed on nearly ever single print media? (magazines, newspapers, coupons...)
- ...would all of your service vendors promote a Facebook icon on their websites? (gas/electric/water/etc..)
- ...would your dentist's office have a Facebook logo on their business card?
- ...would you tell people you meet "look me up on Facebook!" ?
I don't think Facebook is going to do anything but GROW! Personally I find it a great way to see what the gals from High School are up to these days, what companies I enjoy shopping with are offering, how people are marketing and of course to meet ~ mingle and network with other like minded individuals!
So I guess one good thing about Facebook being 'down' or whatever it is that's making me not be able to access the site is that I finally did another blog post. LOL
Alethea Anderson
The "is what it is blog" (for the moment)
Saturday
Direct Sales Rant, Rave and Vent
Greetings, tis I, Alethea Anderson and I've got a BEEF. What's your beef, jerky?
"Way too many people are claiming to be Network Marketing Masterminds selling you their services based on their 'accidental' success (or for some, faux success via the fake it til you make it philosophy). " Well there it is! Shortest blog of the year from me!
There's my rant, off my chest!
Over and out!
Alethea Anderson
"Way too many people are claiming to be Network Marketing Masterminds selling you their services based on their 'accidental' success (or for some, faux success via the fake it til you make it philosophy). " Well there it is! Shortest blog of the year from me!
There's my rant, off my chest!
Over and out!
Alethea Anderson
Thursday
...sands through the hourglass and CLEAR THE CLUTTER!
It's been a busy summer with the kidlet home for vacation, family came in from out of town, shopping, boating, beach...and on top if it all MOVING. I know you know what it's like to move...
Pack it all. Move it all. UNpack it all.
I find serenity in moving though, it provides the perfect opportunity to clear out the clutter!
Getting rid of things you don't use really lightens the load of life. How many out there are guilty of keeping the little dust collecting 'trinket' (aka crap) that someone gave you because you feel guilty if you toss it away?
Now how many of you keep ALL your receipts? Have a drawer with expired coupons? Have every single magazine saved with the intent to some day go through them and pull out all those great ideas and recipes? Clothes you are keeping 'just in case' you 'get fat again' or 'get skinny again'? Yea I know it's true!
So even if you are not MOVING like I just did, take this as an opportunity to clear out the crap! They say a cluttered home is a cluttered mind. OUT with it!
From an energy stand point, think of the attachment you have to all these 'things'. Imagine little threads of energy going from you to all these items. Can you see how all these threads criss crossing and pulling different directions can tie you up? Can you feel how they bind you? Can you sense how these things could actually hold you in place not allowing you to move forward?
Now imagine the FREEDOM you will experience when you get rid of these items! Cutting all those threads of energy allowing you some room to MOVE. Nothing binding you, nothing holding you down or back. By physically letting go you are letting yourself open up on a new level.
Sometimes we just have to LET GO, even though we spent money on it. Sometimes we just have to LET GO, even though someone gave it to us. Sometimes we just have to LET GO, LIVE NOW and JUST BE!
So come on, clear the clutter, and tell me all about it!
Alethea Anderson
Monday
Ponderings of a Day Tripper! Awakenings on a Journey....
So today I drove to California, and back! My journey began at 3:00 am when the alarm went off, and I hit snooze every 8 minutes until about 3:30, showered, gathered my things and was out the door by about 4:20.
It was twilight outside, I could see the soft glow of the sun tucked down behind the mountains to the East and the nearly full moon glowed in the crystal clear sky over towards the West. There is something so serene about traveling in the wee hours of the morning...
Through 6 Mile Canyon and down Geiger Grade, I pulled over to take a picture of the Reno City Lights before I dropped down into the city to hop on I-80. You can see the sky is brighter to the right, that is towards the East.
The sky was slowly getting brighter and brigher as dawn rapidly approached and the sun's rays started stretching across the landscape.
Into California near Boomtown I hit construction...good thing I left early giving myself plenty of time to get to my appointment at 9 am in Sacramento! Very narrow lanes, like columns of cement with little room to move right or left, while trapped between big rigs at the front and rear. The only way to go was forward! Two lanes condensed to one, the only speed was SLOW. A mere 20 MPH for miles and miles with a short break in between only to be back to two lanes again.
Did I fret? Nope! I enjoyed the aroma of the sage and pine wafting through my window and was grateful for a schedule that allowed me to go on this journey. When I saw workers in trucks, on tractors and driving rigs I sent each one peaceful vibrations and sent them thanks for working all night in order to make our roads better. I also sent a blessing to our Mother Earth for these roads to cut through her hills and valleys, so I thanked her for this.
Onward I went, the road opened up and the sun was rising illuminating the hills, I took a picture at the beginning of the forest and the moon is dancing above. :)
I continued on, I was listening to U2 on the CD player and singing, it was such a 'now' moment and I was loving every single second of it. Sometimes we Moms just need that time for 'peace' you know? So as I drove along enjoying the now-ness of the moment there were a few little awakeing moments...Some bright and cheery like the amazing bright yellow flowers with a purple vine floral twisted in between.
Some perhaps a bit morbid in a sense, but awakening. A young Doe who had gotten hit by a car, lay near the divider to the left of the road. Something like this really opens your eyes to how we each are 'temporary'.
Forward I went and the trees were so amazing, I LOVE trees! Living in California for 30 some years I was used to an abundance of trees, now living in the High Desert of Nevada there are certainly more sage bushes than there are trees. I LOVE trees, I LOVE water, I LOVE nature, and I absorb every bit I can whenever I can. Even if it's being barefoot in my own yard :)
So through the trees and into Sacramento and a wall of TRAFFIC. Instantly, memories of my past 'commutes' from when I worked full time and commuted to my office job in Cali. Crawling, crawling... I took the moment to reflect on my gratitude for not having to commute like that any more!
Once I settled into gratitude, I smelled a beautiful aroma, some sort of flower wafting on the breeze, it took me way back to my Montessori school days. Funny how a scent can transport you to another time and place isn't it? I started thinking about when I was a child, my childhood friends, school... my mind was on wander with a grin on my face. I then realized how quickly my daughter is growing, wow... another awakening moment. One moment I'm back 30 years, the next moment my daughter is 11.
So at this point I'm not taking pictures as I got LOST. Yep, even with a printed map AND GPS and I still got lost. But, I was grateful I left early and though I passed through a VERY scary part of town on my adventure, I arrived an hour early at my destination! LOST is just a moment, and everything happens for a reason. The others who attended the meeting said they passed 3 accidents on the way, I passed one, so, divine intervention was in place.
Three hours in a meeting and by noon o'clock I was back en route towards home. This time I decided to take Highway 50 through Lake Tahoe instead of Highway 80. More of a scenic adventure!
So when I left my house at 4:20 am it was 66 degrees, then dipped to about 51 in the mountains and by the time I got to Sacramento it waas 80 degrees at 8 am. At noon it was 98, and on my way home I saw a high of 102 ~ wowsa!
I left my windows down the entire way, so many had their air conditioners on, I LOVE the heat! How amazing our sun heats our planet!
So I went from High Desert, to Trees, to Trees and Mountains and on the way back there were rolling hills of dry grasses.... The planet's landscape never ceases to amaze me. Always, ALWAYS be in AWE of the world around you. Never stop being amazed, never stop wondering about the miracles that happen around you.
This picture to the left here shows the dry grassy hills and just over those dry grassy hills soon will be the snow capped Sierra Mountains. Absoloutely astonishing, no?
In 102 degree heat then within minutes you can see SNOW!
Zoom, zoom and I was back in the mountains. Oh how I love it there! The air is so clean from all those trees polishing the air! As I acend the mountains I'm tripping out how HOT the climate was. 96 degrees in Placerville, crazy!
The road twists and turns, the cabin-like houses tucked off to the sides of the road are just gorgeous. What a fun place to live along the beautiful river. The river was rushing like crazy, so much snow run off, even though it was hot outside, that water is cold and dangerous and people can quickly get hypothermia in it! Eek huh? More wonderous aspects of nature!
The old fire damage looms on the naked areas of the hillside where all that remains are mere sticks from past trees and new vegetation starting a new life! Nature's way :)
As I near the Summit, my phone (and camara) battery bongs out. So the final picture is of a section of pine forest. Now this is a funny picture, you probably won't notice until I tell you. All the trees appear to be tilting to the left, well this is because I used the one tall tree on the far left to attempt to align the camara, well that tree was tilted to the right, so when I 'aligned' it ended up making th rest of the trees look like THEY were tilting LOL
So due to low battery on the iPhone (I wiped out the batt with GPS and no I did not have a car charger ~ life, raw, real, it's me! LOL) I was not able to get some pictures of Lake Tahoe, but all things happen for a reason ~ and what a great reason to go back up to Lake Tahoe again, and soon! I'm thinking next week, a day trip to the beach with my daughter. A picnic, some water fun and a spin around the cool park they have up there right on the beach!
So I dropped into Carson City around 2:30 and got my kiddo from her Auntie's around 3:00 and after chatting I was home sweet home around 3:30. That's 12 hours after I woke up! Now it's neary 11:30 pm as I writethis, I've been up for nearly 20 hours straight, no wonder I'm going crosseyed as I'm typing this! Well thankfully I can sleep in tomorrow :)
Any-who, a few little funnies I noticed along the way that I wanted to mention....
Funny Ponderings From Along The Trip:
I hope your day was exciting like mine!
Alethea Anderson
It was twilight outside, I could see the soft glow of the sun tucked down behind the mountains to the East and the nearly full moon glowed in the crystal clear sky over towards the West. There is something so serene about traveling in the wee hours of the morning...
The sky was slowly getting brighter and brigher as dawn rapidly approached and the sun's rays started stretching across the landscape.
Into California near Boomtown I hit construction...good thing I left early giving myself plenty of time to get to my appointment at 9 am in Sacramento! Very narrow lanes, like columns of cement with little room to move right or left, while trapped between big rigs at the front and rear. The only way to go was forward! Two lanes condensed to one, the only speed was SLOW. A mere 20 MPH for miles and miles with a short break in between only to be back to two lanes again.
Onward I went, the road opened up and the sun was rising illuminating the hills, I took a picture at the beginning of the forest and the moon is dancing above. :)
I continued on, I was listening to U2 on the CD player and singing, it was such a 'now' moment and I was loving every single second of it. Sometimes we Moms just need that time for 'peace' you know? So as I drove along enjoying the now-ness of the moment there were a few little awakeing moments...Some bright and cheery like the amazing bright yellow flowers with a purple vine floral twisted in between.
Some perhaps a bit morbid in a sense, but awakening. A young Doe who had gotten hit by a car, lay near the divider to the left of the road. Something like this really opens your eyes to how we each are 'temporary'.
So through the trees and into Sacramento and a wall of TRAFFIC. Instantly, memories of my past 'commutes' from when I worked full time and commuted to my office job in Cali. Crawling, crawling... I took the moment to reflect on my gratitude for not having to commute like that any more!
Once I settled into gratitude, I smelled a beautiful aroma, some sort of flower wafting on the breeze, it took me way back to my Montessori school days. Funny how a scent can transport you to another time and place isn't it? I started thinking about when I was a child, my childhood friends, school... my mind was on wander with a grin on my face. I then realized how quickly my daughter is growing, wow... another awakening moment. One moment I'm back 30 years, the next moment my daughter is 11.
So at this point I'm not taking pictures as I got LOST. Yep, even with a printed map AND GPS and I still got lost. But, I was grateful I left early and though I passed through a VERY scary part of town on my adventure, I arrived an hour early at my destination! LOST is just a moment, and everything happens for a reason. The others who attended the meeting said they passed 3 accidents on the way, I passed one, so, divine intervention was in place.
Three hours in a meeting and by noon o'clock I was back en route towards home. This time I decided to take Highway 50 through Lake Tahoe instead of Highway 80. More of a scenic adventure!
I left my windows down the entire way, so many had their air conditioners on, I LOVE the heat! How amazing our sun heats our planet!
This picture to the left here shows the dry grassy hills and just over those dry grassy hills soon will be the snow capped Sierra Mountains. Absoloutely astonishing, no?
In 102 degree heat then within minutes you can see SNOW!
Zoom, zoom and I was back in the mountains. Oh how I love it there! The air is so clean from all those trees polishing the air! As I acend the mountains I'm tripping out how HOT the climate was. 96 degrees in Placerville, crazy!
The old fire damage looms on the naked areas of the hillside where all that remains are mere sticks from past trees and new vegetation starting a new life! Nature's way :)
So due to low battery on the iPhone (I wiped out the batt with GPS and no I did not have a car charger ~ life, raw, real, it's me! LOL) I was not able to get some pictures of Lake Tahoe, but all things happen for a reason ~ and what a great reason to go back up to Lake Tahoe again, and soon! I'm thinking next week, a day trip to the beach with my daughter. A picnic, some water fun and a spin around the cool park they have up there right on the beach!
So I dropped into Carson City around 2:30 and got my kiddo from her Auntie's around 3:00 and after chatting I was home sweet home around 3:30. That's 12 hours after I woke up! Now it's neary 11:30 pm as I writethis, I've been up for nearly 20 hours straight, no wonder I'm going crosseyed as I'm typing this! Well thankfully I can sleep in tomorrow :)
Any-who, a few little funnies I noticed along the way that I wanted to mention....
Funny Ponderings From Along The Trip:
- Do the telecommunications people REALLY think the fake 'pine tree' cell towers blend in with the actual pine trees? Maybe a better color match would help, the teal trees really don't mesh with the natural pine color!
- Why someone who goes very slow (below the speed limit) on a curvy one-lane road, stacking up traffic behind them, suddenly finds the gas pedal when a passing lane opens up just to make sure no one will get in front of them. (?)
- It's in the 90's, the group of younger kids are all in swim wear walking down by the casinos in Lake Tahoe, yet wearing thick, fuzzy winter hats?
I hope your day was exciting like mine!
Alethea Anderson
When Opportunity Knocks...
“Even when opportunity knocks a man still has to get up off his seat and open the door”
"Some say opportunity knocks only once, That is not true. Opportunity knocks all the time, but you have to be ready for it. If the chance comes, you must have the equipment to take advantage of it.”
“Opportunities comes from knocking on doors until they open.”
“Learn to listen. Opportunity could be knocking at your door very softly.”
On the flip side...
“Opportunity rarely knocks on your door. Knock rather on opportunity's door if you ardently wish to enter.”
“What is opportunity, and when does it knock? It never knocks. You can wait a whole lifetime, listening, hoping, and you will hear no knocking. None at all. You are opportunity, and you must knock on the door leading to your destiny. You prepare yourself to recognize opportunity, to pursue and seize opportunity as you develop the strength of your personality, and build a self-image with which you are able to live / with your self-respect alive and growing.”
A few to ponder upon...
"A man who misses his opportunity, and monkey who misses his branch, cannot be saved." Hindu Proverb
"Opportunity…often it comes in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat." Napoleon Hill
"The trouble with opportunity is that it always comes disguised as hard work."
Alethea Anderson
Knock Knock
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