What did you do for Valentine's Day?

I'm kind of working my blogs backwards today. Before I left for my week on the road, my super girlfriend took the day off from work to spend time with me. We exchanged a few gifts, worked out together that morning, had a picinic in a local park, took a short hike in the park and had dinner later that night. A great way to celebrate the day with the one you love. Here are a few pictures from our hike. Kelly and I are always pointing out scenes that will make great photographs for the blog or to hang on the walls at our home.

I also have to wish my girlfriend a very belated Happy Birthday. She celebrated her birthday while I was on the road. I had a gift waiting for her on her b'day, but I plan to make it up to her this weekend. When you have someone there to support you, you have to be there to do the same. Thank you Kelly.....Happy Birthday and I love you!

If any of you ever see a photo you really like, let me know and we can talk about getting a copy to you!

On the Road Again

I'm back to blogging. Rodger and I just finished up a week on the road. We were in four time zones in four days. Phoenix, Cleveland, Chicago, Madison, St, Louis, Houston and Las Vegas were some of the cities we passed through or visited.

The first stop of a busy week was the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Rodger and I were on campus to present and teach at their annual leadership conference. The morning began with Rodger and I speaking in front of over 500 students. We enjoyed the conference, we were treated like royalty. We have to thank Kasie and her staff for a great time.

Below are a few pictures from the home of the Wisconsin Badgers. Yes it was cold! I believe it was minus 4 degrees Saturday morning. There was a ice fishing tournament outside of the Student Union. There was also a polar plunge for charity. That means they cut a whole in the ice and people jumped in!










After we finished working with the students of Wisconsin, we jumped in the car and headed to Chicago to take a flight to the "Show Me State." We flew to St. Louis to present at the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) National Conference. Rodger and I were a part of the Training Showcase Sunday morning. We competed against six other performers to sell ourselves. Things went really good. As of today, we booked three future dates with schools that participated. Several other schools are looking to see where we fit into their calendars. I'll post the dates on the blog soon. The dates we were booked for are for August/September 2008! St. Louis was also a good time because I got a chance to spend time with my friends and students from my former employer, Lakeland Community College. Kayte and Rich it was good to see you. For those of you in Ohio who read my blog, Lakeland has invited Rodger and myself to speak on campus Wednesday, April 23rd. I will post more information soon. Here are a few pictures from the conference. The pugs name is Max. His mommy is our agent Brooke. She brought him to the conference to attract people to our booth.






From St. Louis, we jumped on a plane to Phoenix for a day of rest. Kelly welcomed us "home" with a great homemade dinner. I got a chance to unpack and repack. Rodger got a chance to see a little bit of the Phoenix area. From there, we were back on a plane to Las Vegas. Wednesday night, Rodger and I were at again. This time things were a little different. We were performing/speaking in Las Vegas! How many people can say they did Vegas. UNLV invited Rodger and I on campus to participate in their Leadership Week activities. The students who attended were great, especially our one student who had a great hat and enjoyed yelling "impact" all through our presentation! We have to thank Heather Brown for the UNLV shirts and treating us out to dinner. The food was great! Good Luck running for President of the United States in 2020. After performing, it was time to show Rodger Las Vegas. I only had about six hours total to show off the strip to my friend/Vegas Rookie. Every time I return to Vegas, it is amazing to see all the changes. It was a little different to be in town during the "off season." A lot of the hotels are cleaning and fixing things before tourist season starts.
























Visitors first and last chance to gamble while in Las Vegas.....the airport!

New Indiana Jones Trailer (Click Here)

The new Indiana Jones movie comes to theaters May 22, 2008. Click on the link above to get a sneak peek of the movie!

Early V-Day Surprise!

I love coming home from trips. Before I moved I used to come home to an empty place. Now when I get to come home things are different. My girlfriend is always there to welcome me home from my trips and ask how they went. The weather is good here in Arizona, so thats always a plus too. Seeing the Sun can be an amazing thing! The people who live in the Northeast and Midwest know what I'm talking about. It was really nice to come home yesterday because of the picture above. Kelly will be busy at work this week, so she used the weekend to get ready for Valentine's Day! She made me cookies and frosting from scratch. The cookies are really good.

These are just a few of the reasons why I come home with a smile on my face.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Life from the Roadside

The next 10 days are going to be a very busy one for Rodger and I. We will be in Arizona, Cleveland, Chicago, Madison (Wisconsin), St. Louis and Las Vegas. The super trip kicks off on Friday. We will be performing/appearing at the University of Wisconsin, The NACA National Convention in St. Louis and the University of Nevada Las Vegas in a 5 day span. I should have lots of interesting stories and pictures to post on the blog.

Rodger and I are looking to put together several video blogs to show the behind the scenes of traveling on the road. Adventures in the airport, on airplanes, in the hotels and trying to find a good meal. It should be interesting. Our schedule is busy, but we're definitely having fun!

Our Lady of the Lakes University (Click Here)

This weekend Rodger and I were in San Antonio, Texas to educate and entertain students at Our Lady of the Lakes University. We had a great time with the students and the staff. To attend an all day leadership conference on a Saturday takes a lot of energy. We have to thank everyone who attended for their participation and energy. We also have to thank the group of students who created "The BAD BAD Apples Dance." That was a lot of fun. I also have to thank Mary for the tour of San Antonio. I also have to thank the ladies of ABS (Association of Black Students) for assisting during the program and keeping Rodger and I laughing. I also have to thank the eighth graders who attended, all of you are definitely heading in the right direction.











Texas shaped waffles anyone?

Applebees Commercial

This morning I got invited to work on a commercial for Applebees Restaurants. I don't know when the commercials will start airing, but I should be in plane view. I'm a customer having a lunch/dinner with a friend. The funny part is, I'm talking to no one because of the camera angle. When I see or hear about the commercial airing I'll let people know.

I have some upcoming speaking dates that just got added to the Calendar.

I will be in Las Vegas - University of Nevada Las Vegas on Wednesday, February 20th. I will be at Colgate University in upstate New York on April 10th.

Rodger's Blog (Click Here)

My friend Rodger has joined the world of Bloggers, click the link above to check his blog out. Also feel free to use the link on the right side of my page.

Frank

I'm too busy!

February is here already! How is your year going so far? A lot of us set goals/made resolutions for the New Year. We were all excited on New Year's Eve. " This year is going to be different!" "Things are going to change!" But now it's February and life has happened. A lot of us are saying these words......"I'm too busy!"

I've been working with several people lately and listening to them say "I'm busy!" I would have done ________ , but I was too busy.
I decided to look up busy in the dictionary. Here's what I found:

busy |ˈbizē|
adjective ( busier , busiest )
having a great deal to do : he had been too busy to enjoy himself | there was enough work to keep two people busy.
• occupied with or concentrating on a particular activity or object of attention : the team members are busy raising money | he was busy with preparations.
• (of a place) full of activity.
• excessively detailed or decorated; fussy : they papered the bedroom with a busy pattern of satyrs and dryads.
• (of a telephone line) engaged.

Rodger and I were recently helping a student. She said she was too busy to get a lot of projects done and no one would help her because they said, they were too busy. We started to talk to her about the definition above.

A lot of us use the excuse of being busy. The real truth is, the things we are too busy to do aren't that important to us. When something is really important to you, you find time for it. I know people who are busy in many ways, but they are busy doing things that are important to them.They have a great deal to do. They are doing things that are important to them.

Many of us are busy doing things that aren't that important. When we write down our goals for the year, those are important things, but then we let a lot of distractions get in the way and make up the excuse of "I'm busy." The sad part is a lot of times we concern ourselves too much with things that aren't important. You hear people say I'm too busy to work out or diet. Hmmmm, we have time to watch tv, surf the internet, talk on the phone. What is more important? You hear people who say I'm too busy to find a better job; but they spend tons time complaining about how bad there job is, working tons of extra unpaid hours or nothing at all. Finally you have people who say they are too busy to spend time with their loved ones. They don't send emails, make a phone call, send a text or spend time. But once again, there is time for tv, internet, and tons of other unimportant things.

We all live busy lives, but think about the next time you say "I'm too busy." I wish I had time for ________, but I'm too busy. You're essentially saying that the thing you're too busy to do isn't that important to you, or that important to you at that time. Watch who you say those words too. You could be telling someone they are not important to you.

When something is important to you, you will find time to do it. The excuse, I'm too busy won't come out of your mouth.

There are still 11 months left in 2008. Many of us wrote down all of the important things we want to do this year. Go back and look at the list. It's never to late to get started. Sometimes we need to kick ourselves in the butt and get things going. We need to look ourselves in the mirror and say _______ is important to me and I'm not going to use the excuse, I'm too busy. I'm going to avoid all the distractions and start focusing on what is important.

So, I hope everyone keeps busy doing what they enjoy or what's important to them! Just avoid that line in the definition...."He was too busy to enjoy himself!"