Daddy Time

Been enjoying all the experiences of being a parent (being drooled on, peed on, spit up on, pooped on, cried at, smiled at, begged for and slept on) Spending time with Elijah and Kelly has been my number one focus lately and it makes me feel so good and it drives me to do everything possible to make our dreams come true.

My blogs have been slacking lately, but as everything in life, my time management has become a great learning experience

I'll be able to share these blogs with Elijah in the future.

Thank you for your patience everyone as I spend quality time with my family.

Are you living life?

"Get busy living, or get busy dying." - Shawshank Redemption 1994

The quote about is from one of my favorite movies, "Shawshank Redemption." Recently, the movie being played over and over again on TV.

I liked the movie so much, I used to practice lines from the movie in my acting classes. One of my favorite lines is above.

I often hear people say,  "I don't get to live life." I often wonder what stops them. When, I'm down and things aren't going the way I want them, I realize the thing stopping me from living life is me.

I've had two major points in my life we're I felt I wasn't really living life. One was the 9+ months I spent managing a store for KB Toys. The second time was just after I moved to Arizona. I stopped living when the economy crashed and I "settled" for any job I could find.

Every time, this happened, I had to face myself in the mirror, stop blaming others and ask myself..."What are you going to do?" My answer, "Live Life!"

When you truly "Live Life" amazing things happen. You're getting the full experience, and it all starts with you. It's about what you do and what you stop doing!

I know what you're asking,  "What do you do to live life?"  My simple answer is this. You have to stop doing 5 things.


Stop Lying!
Stop Trying!
Stop Caring!
Stop Worrying!
Stop Waiting!


What does that mean? I'll tell you.

#1 Stop lying!

You have dreams, some come true and others don't. Why aren't your dreams coming true? Why aren't you living them? Do  you make excuses when they don't become reality? Do you blame other people? Stop lying to yourself! When you don't live the life your dreams, you get angry, depressed and start to doubt yourself. You lie to make yourself feel better. You lie to protect yourself. You lie to justify why your dreams aren't coming true. The truth is, every time you lie, you are preventing yourself from living life.

It's one thing to lie to other people, but when you lie to yourself, you are hurting yourself. If you are not achieving the dreams you want to live, you need to be honest with yourself. You have to change your thinking. You can't blame other people, you must take personal responsibility. You have to ask yourself are you doing what it takes to make your dreams come true. You need to set a goal. You need to make a plan. You need to follow through on your plan. You MUST BE HONEST with yourself and others.

#2 Stop Trying!
What are your dreams? What do you want you want to do? Don't live the dreams of someone else. Live your dreams. Don't try to be someone else. It's hard enough being you. Be yourself.
Stop trying to be something that you're not. 

Don't be the next (Instert Name Here), be you!

People spend too much time trying to be something there not. I love what Yoda says in The Empire Strikes Back, "Do or do not, there is no try." 

What makes you happy? What will make you happy? Write those thoughts down, make them into goals, put together a plan to make them happen and go out and do what it takes to make them happen!
    #3 Stop Caring!
What do you care about? Who truly cares about you? Stop caring about the thoughts and opinions of people who don't care about you and your dreams. This doesn't mean you surround yourself with a bunch of "YES PEOPLE." You want to be around people who CARE for you. People who COMMUNICATE, APPRECIATE, RESPECT and EDUCATE you. People spend to much time worry about the thoughts and opinions of people who don't CARE about you or your dreams. You need to CARE about the people who CARE about you.

#4 Stop Worrying!
 Once you stop caring, you can stop worrying too! Stop worrying about things you can't control. Worry about the thing you can control. You can't change the weather, but you can decide the appropriate clothing to wear for the weather. You can check the weather report. You can stay inside.

When you worry about things you can't control, you become stagnant.  Your worries can paralyze you. Your worries prevent your dreams from coming true. Worry more about what you can do, versus what you can do. Worry more about what can go right versus what can go wrong. Worry about what you can control.

Worriers are Fears. FEAR is FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL.  When you worry about what you can control, you are doing research.  You are searching for the truth. You are focusing on what is possible.

#5 Stop Waiting!  
I hear people say "I hope this happens." "I'll get to it tomorrow." "When "X" happens, then I'll do "Y"! "My dream will never come true." "I don't have the time." "I don't have enough money." "People will laugh at me." "I'll try another time."

Tomorrow isn't guaranteed.  All of the excuses above are made by people waiting for something to happen. The main difference between people who successfully achieve their dreams and people who don't...the successful people make things happen, they don't wait for things to happen.

You can't win the lottery if you don't play! 

If you're dreams are truly important to you, you need to show a sense of urgency. The dream doesn't have to come true right now, but you can start working on it right now. Weather you start writing down or typing the idea, you share the dream with a friend, you make a plan, or you do research on your dream you are not waiting, you are doing.

Be a person of action. Make your dreams come true. Be honest with yourself,  be yourself, seek out the support and advice from people who care about you, don't let your worries stop you and make things happen.
 
"The more you dream about your dreams, they further away they get." Frank Kitchen
 
If you want to live your dreams you must change your thinking! Stop lying, trying, caring, worrying and waiting so you can start living! 

My other blog!

I'm actually managing two blogs this year. If you're looking for more inspiration, please read the BAD BAD Apples Blog too!

The BAD BAD APPLES BLOG (CLICK HERE)

Where are the blogs?

Hello everyone, my computer glitch turned out to be a computer death! My friend of 7 years is no longer with us. I spent the last few weeks trying to revive it with no success.

No computer makes blogging a little difficult, but that won't stop me.

My mom teased me in a text last night that there's nothing "Fresh in the Kitchen." She is so right. She's making sure I hit my goal of blogging weekly.

I always tell people life it's about what you have, not what you don't. I could say I don't have time. I could say I don't have a computer. But that would be the easy way out.

I do have my wife's computer and I do have my cell phone with the blogger app in it. I actually made time to type this blog on my phone.

Morale of this story...if you want something bad enough and it's important to you, you'll find a way to make it happen look for lots of blogs the next few days to make up for the lack of blogs the past few weeks. Until then, have a great weekend.

Frank

Technology wreaks havoc on me

There's nothing worse than your technology breaking!

I sat down tonight to start posting new blogs and took a break to spend time with my son and wife. When I came back to continue my work, I was the victim of a frozen computer screen. So, I did what any person would do, I powered down my computer. When I went to turn my computer back on...A blank white screen. So, I did what any person would do, I powered down my computer. When I turned it back on.. A blank white screen stared back at me.

This process continued about five times, with no success. This is why I cried out "Why!!!!!" I tried to back my computer up last week, but it didn't want to work.

So, tonight, I sit here typing on my wife's computer, praying that I haven't lost everything that I've typed in my computer for the last few months.

Please send out your cyber prayers to me. I'm hoping the the blank white screen doesn't mean that my computer has gone into the light!

Arizona Foothills Magazine

Last November, I went to a charity event. At my table was the marketing director for a local magazine. After learning about my speaking and book writing, she invited me to be in the magazine's "Trendsetter" section.

Here is a link to the article about me and my passions in the Arizona Foothills Magazine.

Arizona Foothills Article (Click Here)

He's here!

Kelly and I are happy to announce the birth of our son Elijah Duran Kitchen.

He was born Wednesday morning January 30, 2013 at 4:12 AM.

He measured at a healthy 8 pounds and 4 ounces and 22 1/4 inches long.

We can't explain how excited we are to start our family! There will be LOTS of pictures on here in the future.

Super Bowl MVP

Their are times in our life where we have the chance to meet famous people. Sometimes we meet people before they become famous.

This past weekend, the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl. Their quarterback, Joe Flacco, was named the Most Valuable Player of the game. 

While watching parts of the game I started to think about the day I met Joe Flacco.

I was returning home from a speaking job and had to change flights in Houston. I got on my plane for Phoenix. The plane was packed with people heading to Arizona from Houston. I had just boarded the plane and was looking for my seat. You can imagine how happy I was when I found my "middle" seat towards the back of the plane. As each passenger walked past the empty seat to my left, I kept praying I'd be able to move into it. I wanted more leg room.

Just before the door of the plane closed a tall man who looked like a basketball player walked aboard the plane and headed directly for the seat to my left. He sat down and squeezed himself into the seat. He had to be at least 6 feet 6 inches tall. I jokingly asked, "Do you have enough leg room?" He looked at me with a smile. I told him the planes aren't built for tall guys.

To my right was another tall gentlemen who told me that he was six foot 4inches tall. We pretty much had a basketball team in our row. None of us had any legroom. When the plane took off, the flight attendant came on the overhead and made the announcement, "It is safe to recline your seats." That's when the man infront of us reclined his seat all the way back into the legs of the man to my left.

We were all too uncomfortable to sleep, so we started a conversation. I had to ask the obvious question, "do you play basketball?" The man to my left said no, I play college football. I asked, "What college do you play for?" He responded, "The University of Delaware." Being a big football fan, I asked "Are  you Joe Flacco?" He said yes. That's when I told him I had just read an article about him in the USA Today.  We spent the next two hours talking about football and the Philadelphia area, because we both grew up there. He was headed to the Super Bowl to compete in some competitions and get ready for the draft. He wasn't quite sure when he would be drafted or what team he would go to. During our conversation the gentleman to my right joined in. Turned out he was a cameraman traveling to Phoenix to work the Super Bowl.

When the flight landed, I wished Joe good luck and told him that his agent needs to work on getting him better seats the next time he flies. He said the same to me. I never asked him for an autograph or photo. As I got to the airport exit, I saw people lined up, hoping to get autographs of celebrities and pro-athletes getting off the planes. I just smiled, because I knew I got something better, a two hour experience.

Fast forward five years...There are news reports that Joe Flacco was just named the MVP of the Super Bowl and was not in line to potentially sign a contract for $20 million a year. The same guy I sat next to on a plane from Houston to Phoenix.

Coming Soon!

This weeks posts will be delayed as Kelly and I await the birth of our first child. We are waiting patiently in our hospital room for our little guy to arrive!

Be on the look out for more posts and pictures next week!

Unexpected Baby Gift

On Saturday, Kelly and I went out for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. Kelly and I were talking about how dinner would be one of our last dinners as a couple. Our little boy is a few days away from joining us. Once he's born, we'll be asking for a table for three versus a table for two.

Kelly and I were seated and we ordered one of our favorites off the menu. There we two ladies enjoying dinner at the table next to us. The server came over to ask, "would you like dessert tonight?"

Kelly and I looked at the ladies and said, "dessert sounds good." The ladies responded with, "I'm sure you're little one would like that." The ladies asked Kelly when the baby was due and went back to enjoying their dinner and dessert.

Their dessert of macaroons and ice cream looked really good. I suggested to Kelly that we order the same as a treat to ourselves.

When we finished our meal, we were all ready to order our dessert when a cake and ice cream appeared. The manager told us the dessert was from the two ladies who sat next to us.  We thought that was really nice until we heard, "Dessert and dinner are on Mary." Mary was one of the two ladies, told the manager that dinner and dessert was her baby gift to us.

I was able to talk to Mary's friend before she left the restaurant. I gave her a note to share with Mary. I said, "Thank you from Kelly and Frank."

That was just the start of a good night for me and Kelly. Before we left the restaurant we asked the manager to call us next time Mary visits.

Mary's act of kindness put us in a great mood the rest of the night. We were kind to every person we met the rest of the night.

New Year New Look

Jim Rohn said "You are the average of the five people you spend most of your time with"

I feel the quote means, "You are a reflection of the people you surround yourself with."

 

If you surround your with positive people. You will be a positive person. If you're around negative people, you'll probably be in a negative mood most of the time or have negative experiences.

 

I'm a positive person and the person I spend the most time with is my wife. That's her in the picture above. We don't always agree on everything, but there are a lot of things we do agree on. To be honest, Kelly says a lot of smart things that I don't agree with right away, but after I think about it, I let her know she's right.

 

I'm a reflection of her encouragement, ideas and drive. As I type this blog, we're not so patiently waiting for the birth of our first child. We're going to be the people he's around the most. We want him to be a reflection of us. We have to be the role models. We have to practice what we preach and project the behaviors we want him to display.

 

Kelly made a comment to me last year that some of my advertising didn't reflect who I was. She told me that my speaking partner Rodger and I are very energetic and positive people. She said we have colorful personalities and speeches. Then she asked the question..."Why is your advertising in Black?" It was a great question. The color black can be seen something negative, not colorful, and just lack personality. We changed our promotional items to red and instantly people started talking about how fun our materials were!

2013 is going to be a positive year for me and my family. My blog needs to reflect that. This blog was black and very lifeless. That needed to change. So, with Kelly's thumbs up, I changed the layout and color of the blog tonight.

I looked up the color red on the internet. Here's what I found.

Put some red in your life when you want:

• increased enthusiasm and interest
• more energy
• action and confidence to go after your dreams
• protection from fears and anxieties

The words above are great examples of what I want this blog to exude. I want this blog to be a reflection of me and the people I surround myself with. I love being around enthusiastic people with interesting stories. I love people of energy, action and confidence. I love listening to people who live their dreams. I'm really inspired by people who don't let their fears and anxieties prevent them from making their dreams happen.

 

I'll be blogging a lot this year. I'll be adding a lot of red to my life and sharing my life with you!

 

Have a great week! 

Sister Page

I'm actually running two blogs now. This blog (Fresh From the Kitchen) is my personal blog. I also have the blog "The BAD BAD Apples" to expose people to the BAD BAD Apples philosophy I started with my good friend Rodger Campbell.

We encourage you (people) to grow in creative ways. The blog is a way for us to help people grow personally and professionally. Be sure to check it out! Click the link below to check it out!

The BAD BAD Apples Blog

Inspiration

I was talking to my mom this weekend. And one of the things she she said to me was, "Don't forget to post a blog this week." That was inspiring to know my mom enjoys reading my blogs. She tells me they inspire her.  I'm going to thank her for her inspiration by posting 2 blogs this week!

Inspiration can come at unexpected times from unexpected sources.

Tonight I was inspired by a young lady. Her mom is a former student of mine and a friend. Rosanna posted a story on my Facebook page that is giving me the energy to stay up late to post this blog and work hard on making things happen in 2013.

Here is the story from Rosanna

Alexia's statement today. Mom there have been 3 important men in our lives that I looked up to and always joked they could be my dad. Frank Kitchen, Isaac Jams and Daniel Langfellow the carpet man. 

Me, what made those men impact you so much in a positive way? 

Alexia, they were funny, helpful, genuinely showed their personality, treated me with respect, showed value in hard work, never hurt or questioned me, supported me, each taught me something and made you laugh too. Thanks to my good friends for being 3 of the 5 positive men in her life! I wish there were more. 

All I can say is wow! I met the little girl when she was 3 and now she's a teenager. Never forget the impact you can have on peoples lives. You're action can inspire people and those people can inspire you!

2013....The year of "I will..."

Welcome to 2013!

Another year! Another new start for many of us! The chance to wipe the slate clean and start anew. The opportunity to push the restart button.

Did you remember playing a game or video game, you make the wrong move and lose or you see the words "Game Over"? Then it happens again. Before it happens again, you push the restart button or say "lets start over." You do this, so you don't experience failure again. That's life for many of us. Life is one big learning opportunity with the chance to start over and try again. The new year is  your restart button, but the key is to learn from your mistakes, change your thinking and apply what you've learned.

Do you remember saying, "this won't happen again!" You tell yourself, "I will........"

This is what you need to do with your life. Make a new start.

My biggest new start this year will be fatherhood. I will be a father! But the question is, what kind of father will I be? I can talk about being a good father, but that's just talk.

I will be a good father! Just those changes of words makes all the difference in the world. When we say we will do something, our mental state changes. When we say we want to do something, thing could happen or they may not. But when you say they will happen, the likely hood of what you said happening will.

I'm  good at setting goals, but what I want to do is achieve my goals. This year, I will be sitting down with my wife and writing down all of the things I WILL DO in 2013. Not what I'm thinking about doing or would like to do, but what I WILL DO!

This little change in attitude will make of the difference in this being the year I in-vision 2013 being versus the year I hope 2013 to be. I don't want to hit the restart button in 2014 saying, time to try again. 2014 will be a whole new game.


I had set the goal to type 100 blogs in 2012 and I didn't hit it. This year I will post 52 Blogs. That's one a week. This will be an achievement I WILL succeed at. Why? Because 2013 is the year of  "I WILL!"


Happy New Year!
Frank

Radio Interview

I recently got a chance to sit down and do an interview with my friend and former student Jane Hash. She host's a online radio show to support and advocate for people with disabilities. She's got a great personality and her shows definitely aren't boring.

Click on the link below to listen!

http://hashitoutwithjane.podomatic.com/entry/2012-09-30T19_11_24-07_00

Frank and Dakota....Fundraisers

I have a special relationship with my friend Dakota. His dream is to be a professional motivational speaker and a college graduate. He's currently working on both.

Dakota has Down Syndrome, but he and his family don't allow let that slow him down. After you meet him, you'll feel like you need to do more with your life.

I first met Dakota while working at the Phoenix Zoo. After a few conversations, I learned about his speaking dreams. He asked me to be his speech coach. I agreed and the rest is history. I've watched him speak infront of 1,000 people without flinching.

I've also had the opportunity to speak with Dakota several times. One of the speeches we've done together is speaking for Special Olympics Arizona. Last year we were asked to speak during the "Ask" portion of the program. We asked people to make donations. Last year we raised $80,000.

This year we were invited back to do the "Ask" again. I recently received an e-mail from the planning committee. After speaking at this Breakfast with Champions, Dakota and I help raise over $100,000 in on site donations!

The money will go to support sports and activities for over 13,000 Special Olympics Athletes in the state of Arizona! Amazing!

Enjoy some of the pictures from the event.

Enjoy some of the pictures from the event.

New Job!

Everyone has watched the news and always here stories about people looking for work. People who are qualified to work but aren't given an opportunity to work. People just giving up.

I know how all of those people feel. Five years ago, I moved to Arizona to start a new life with my wife. I was going to be a full-time speaker, travel the world, run my mouth for a living and live the good life.

Then the economy crashed and people weren't looking for speakers or trainers. People were watching their money. I continued to speak as others left the business. The only problem was...the pay is very inconsistent. I worked several part-time jobs in the attempt to make ends meet. Some people asked, why part-time jobs? They were the only ones that would hire me.

I really don't know why I was never offered a "real job" over the last five years, it just didn't happen. I would go out and speak. Post fun blogs posts and give a "positive" face on Facebook. In reality, life was tough. Bills couldn't be paid and I was tired of watching tv reports talking about what people need to do to get work.

I learned that the people who would help me would be the people who truly care about me. I also learned that I would have to be honest with the people who cared about me. How do you do that?

I stopped living a lie and sent an e-mail out to all the people I knew cared about me. I left them know that I needed work. I sent them a copy of my resume. I asked for their help. Instead of spending all of my time contacting people I didn't know and didn't care about me, I contacted the people who do.

Next thing you know, family and friends started sharing ideas with me. Some were good, some didn't work, but I had options. Speaking work started coming in too!

I know have a new job. The job? I work at an Auction House. I'm an Account Manager and a Recruiter for an Auction School. The company is called Auction Systems and located in Phoenix, Arizona. What do I do? You can read the flyer I designed above, or I can describe it to you this way.

I find stuff for Auctioneers to sell and I find people to sell the stuff that needs to be auctioned. My jobs is a cross between the show Pawn Stars and American Pickers. Some of the things I've seen come to auction are amazing. Great stories I'll share in future Blogs.

I'm enjoying this "job" because the company took the time to see what I could really do. It helps that my new boss (Kara) told me about the company too. I'm being allowed to use all of my skills and talents. I was even able to speak a little bit during one of the auction school classes.

I even get to sneak in a few speeches and shows too. Did you happen to check out my "Ride" at the top?

 If any of you reading this want to learn how more about the Auction Business, contact me! I can let you know how to make money by auctioning items, running auctions or how to save money by buying at auctions.

I definitely have to thank GOD for placing me in the right situation after 5 years of searching for a job. I 'm in the right spot doing something I really enjoy.

I hope everyone reading this can find something they enjoy too!

It's a Boy!

On September 4th I got the best Birthday Gift ever! I went to the doctors office with Kelly for the sonogram that would let us know if our baby was healthy, growing and the sex.

It was amazing to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Then the utra sound technician let us know that everything looked good and strong. Then it happened...."HE" showed off his "STUFF!"

Our baby decided it was time to show off exactly who he was! We are going to be the parents of a bouncing baby boy!

The rest of the the check-up had our son showing off several time his boyness!

2013 is going to be an Amazing year when our first child is born in around the end of January.

What a great birthday. Time with my wife and learning we're going to be parents of a healthy baby boy.

Movie to see

With Kelly and I expecting the first addition to our family, certain movies and tv shows have more meaning.

I recently flew to the east coast for a speaking job. The movie played during the flight was "What to expect when you're not expecting." The movie is loosely based on the popular pregnancy book that my wife has me has me consistently renewing at the library.

The movie is about several couples living in Atlanta, Georgia and their adventures as parents and expecting parents.

The movie may not have been popular in theaters, but everyone I know who is a parent and is an expecting parent have loved the movie. I liked it so much, I had to rent it again to watch with Kelly.

You'll laugh a lot through the movie. One of the reasons I liked it so much, is I can relate to several of the scenes in the movie. The being dejected about not getting married. Friends being scared of children. House hunting. Wondering if you'll be a good parent. The truth about what women go through being pregnant.

The next time you're looking for something to rent, I suggest you give this flick a try.

Leave it to Mom!

My mom is in town visiting and one of her first comments to me...."I haven't seen any blog posts lately."

I started this blog to keep my family up-to-date on what's going on in my life.

I guess it looks like nothing has been happening.

The truth! Lots have been happening! Time to blow up the blog!