Archive for the ‘lifestyle design’ Category

A Few Notes About Getting What You Want

Wednesday, January 16th, 2013

The past few years have seen me thriving and doing some pretty awesome stuff, as detailed in my 2012 – A Year In Review article. It goes without saying that I’m pretty fortunate, maybe even a bit lucky, especially considering the current economy. Over the past year, both my fiance and I have taken a bit of flack (mostly in good humor) about how much vacation we take, and I’m sure some wonder how we get away with it, considering we’re both highly valued full time employees at our respective jobs.

Well, there are a few things I’ve learned over the past few years (and continually have to remind myself), and these are very important things that have changed me and I believe have enabled me to live my life the way I do and to do all the stuff that I’ve done.

It is very rare to get what you don’t […] Read More…
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2012 – The Year in Review

Saturday, January 12th, 2013
Beach in Isla Mujeres, Mexico

Beach in Isla Mujeres, Mexico

It’s been another fun and busy year, so now that we’re full steam ahead into 2013, it’s time to recap and reflect on 2012. A lot has happened over the past year, and I also managed to have quite a bit of fun.

Reflecting
When I stop and reflect, I’m really thankful for how well I live. Every now and then I get down on myself because there is still so much I want to accomplish and because I have personal goals that have remained unmet, but when I put things into perspective I’ve still got it pretty good.

Even though I’d love to work less and travel more, I managed to keep a pretty good balance between my home and personal life and my work life. I managed to tackle a lot of home improvement projects, while […]

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Some news and a look into the future

Thursday, June 7th, 2012

I have yet to officially mention my recent big news online (except for on my personal Facebook), so here it is: In early April I proposed to my girlfriend of 4+ years, and we are now engaged to be married mid May of 2013! It was something that was a long time coming, and the time was finally right to make it official. Being engaged doesn’t change much in the daily routine for us, but it means that the next year is going to be filled with a lot of planning, preparation, and saving, and needless to say, we are both very excited for the next phase of our lives.

While we both love living in San Diego and really appreciate the comforts of home, we also share a real sense for adventure and living life to the fullest. And though we have the itch for some bigger and […]

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Tis the Season … to be Busy

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

Holy cow, when will time slow down?

And when did it get to be mid December, with less than two weeks to go until Christmas?

I posted my last “update post” in mid September after having a whirlwind end to the summer, and since then I can’t even remember where the time has gone. I’m pretty sure the unaccounted for time can be attributed to being passed either at work, my consulting gig, getting projects done left and right around the house, or to my half marathon training!

It’s a good thing that I don’t go big doing presents and shopping, I don’t think I could handle the holidays if I had to spend them driving around and fighting for parking at the mall.

One new thing of note is that I’ve negotiated some working from home privileges which really works out nicely. Typically I’m home 2-3 days a week, which really adds […]

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What Most Business Owners Don’t Understand (But Should Learn)

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

I’ve been pretty forthcoming here on Idealist Cafe when I’ve talked about my desire to free myself from the corporate world. I have also been fairly open about this in “real life” and even at work when talk to co-workers. I don’t see that there is any harm in letting people know that I have goals and aspirations that are different from the place I am currently in. I don’t think this makes where I am today or the capacity that I work in any less significant or meaningful, it just means that there are other things waiting for me down the line. To me life is an evolution and what may work for us one day may not work the next, and there is not anything wrong with that.

Well, (un)fortunately for me, the other day this information made it to my boss, but was delivered a bit differently than […]

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Time flies when you’re having fun

Friday, September 16th, 2011

It’s been an incredibly busy past month and a half.

Six states, three trips, two weddings. One website to add to my portfolio. Two new consulting gigs. And still working my full time job.

I’m ready for some down time. Unfortunately, I don’t know that I’ll have too much of it. The traveling has been fun but tiring, and the extra working has been sort of fun, sort of stressful, and sort of exciting. I’m working on saving a FYF (F*** You Fund), building a portfolio, and creating work that will enable me to transition away from my full time job and get me closer to living my dream of working when, where, and how I want to work.

It started with my trip to Cleveland, where I rented a car and drove two hours to Pennsylvania for my cousin’s wedding. It was a quick three day trip, I drove too many miles, […]

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No shampoo, no soap, and other craziness

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

A few months ago I first heard the phrase “No Poo”. Don’t worry, it’s probably not what you think. Or maybe it is. No poo is really short for no shampoo. And it seems there really are some people who have stopped using shampoo. And if you keep reading, you will find out that they claim they are better off for it, and also that I am trying to be one of them. Yes, that’s right. On both accounts.

Right away when I heard about the “no poo” movement, the thought of not using shampoo intrigued me. I’ve always wondered, with all our modern conveniences, technologies and products that we use daily, how did people hundreds or thousands of years ago live without them, and why do we need them now? Never mind no cell phones, TVs, or other things that we still (sort of) consider luxuries, but how did people […]

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Why I prefer having few friends

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Ever since I was young I always liked spending time alone, since then I have learned that I definitely enjoy my solitude. I remember years ago when I was trying to describe myself, I would say that I preferred to spend quality time with small groups of close friends rather than in a room full of acquaintances. And that even though I would consider myself shy and quiet, when I would hang out with people I was comfortable with I would turn into a “Chatty Kathy”. Around that time I starting reading about introverts and extroverts, and I couldn’t help but laugh when I felt like I was reading a description of myself.

Over time I’ve worked on being more social, and have tried to learn how open to up to people easier. While I now have many acquaintances, there are still a select few who I would consider good […]

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