It's Beginning to Look A LOT Like Christmas!

Well I guess our wishes of a white Christmas were answered in a BIG way. We got anywhere between 20-30 inches of snow in the Denver area. At our house in Denver we had 26" that fell and drifts that were 4' high.

Our house has a giant growth.


I wonder if they get this much snow at the real North Pole?


The one time a year you use the snow blower is definitely worth it.


Jess and Heather were pretty amped up for their first ever ATV sled ride.


Chrissy's new car is unrecognizable.


Mom is an ATV pro.


If you look closely you can see me, Chrissy and Sarah.


That was a wild ride, Sarah had more snow IN her clothes than she did ON her clothes.


Sarah and Chrissy pulled Jess and Heather.


They had fun!



We wish everybody a very Merry Christmas, and hope that you didn't have to shovel too much snow.

I know what I want to be when I grow up!

At one point it was a paramedic, than an astronaut and later a game warden (glad I didn't choose that one.) But for as long as I can remember I always knew that I wanted to own my own business. I have grown up my whole life around a great businessman, my dad. He took a desire to do something better and built it into the best sprinkler system company around. I have always had that influence, and it has given me a great appreciation for what it takes to be successful as an entrepreneur, and a business owner. Over the last few months my business IQ has gone way up, I have become extremely excited about owning my own business; and I believe that I can finally answer the age old question "what do you want to be when you grow up?"

The answer to that question is an entrepreneur, a business owner, an investor, a wedding photographer and more. I have found something that I am passionate about, and more importantly an avenue with which I can use my talents. I enjoy the aspects of business, I love managing and teaching people, I love trying to be creative, and I enjoy trying to come up with better ways of doing things. Every time I have been an employee, I spend a large amount of time pondering how I would do things differently. I try and observe everything, what my boss does that I like, what he or she does that I dislike; how they interact with the employees, and others around them. I have gained invaluable experience and knowledge from every job that I have ever had.

I want to be able to put my time and effort into growing my own business, and making my own money; instead of trying to find a job, a paycheck, or someone who will hire me. Ideally, I will never work for anyone else again, realistically that may change, but using that idea as motivation will allow me to succeed. There are so many things that I want to do in my life, and I am beginning to realize that to accomplish those goals I need to own my own businesses, I need to be in control of my life. In the end I believe that is the most important point, control. I want to be in control of my money, my businesses, my talents, and my life.

Attended a Wedding

This past weekend Jessica and I attended a wedding in Steamboat Springs; it was my second or third, or once-removed cousin or something like that. I wasn't the photographer, but I did take some pictures, which was helpful. But what was more helpful was just to sit back and watch everything happen. Since I expect to be the "official" photographer at the next few weddings I attend, it was helpful to kind of observe. The wedding itself was a bit unusual, seeing that the ceremony was outdoors in Steamboat Springs in the winter. What that means is there were 50 well dressed people, in 6 inches of snow, in 8 degree temperatures. Luckily the ceremony only lasted about 20 minutes, the reception was very nice, and I got to meet some famlily members that I had never met before. I also heard the standard "the last time I saw you, you were just a baby," line more than a few times. Overall it was helpful to sit back and watch a wedding, it reminded that the actual day will be stressful, but it also reinforced how much I enjoy weddings, and how excited I am to be a wedding photographer.

Kenneth Cole, A Killer Whale, and How They Relate To Me

One of my new favorite TV shows is the Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on CNBC, it is basically an interview show, with very interesting guests. Many of his guests are entrepreneurs and business owners. He has recently had a lot of people on who took a small idea and turned it into a huge business. For example he had the guy who started Vitamin Water, and the guy who started Sam Adams, and the CEO of Chick-fil-a. A few nights ago he had Kenneth Cole on, he of the high-end expensive shoes, who started with an idea; and turned it into a billion dollar company.

So during the commercials I was flipping around and CNN was interviewing one of the biologists at Sea World. Recently a trainer was attacked by a killer whale so they were talking to the biologist about killer whales, their life cycle, habits, etc.

I was flipping back and forth for a few minutes, and realized I am more interested in learning about killer whales and how the environmental changes are effecting them, than I am in learning about very expensive men's shoes. But I didn't want to watch the poorly dressed, and extremely boring scientist. I wanted to watch the charismatic and well spoken businessman.

It got me thinking about many things, first I can see why people don't take as much of an interest in the environment as they should. Many of the "spokespeople" for environmental issues are either boring scientists or very liberal "environmentalists." Both of these types of people turn me off, they are either uninteresting, or tend to be "holier-than-thou." Of course I am making extremely broad generalizations, but in my experience these tend to hold up. I think this is why Al Gore is trying to have more of a personality, and doing a pretty good job.

So how do they relate? Basically a well spoken, engaging, intelligent person will be able to sell you on just about anything, or at least keep you interested longer. It's not that people don't care about the environment, it's just that the "environment" doesn't have a great spokesperson.

As far as business goes, it reminded me of the importance of always putting my best foot forward. Whenever I meet with a potential client, or whenever I meet with anyone who can potentially help me, I need to present myself as someone who is organized, but also someone who is engaging and charismatic. I need to listen to the other person, and take a GENUINE interest in them as a person. By doing this, and being sincere, and having a passion for my work, I know that I will be successful. While I don't consider my a salesman in the typical way, I am always going to be selling myself and my business. And the best salespeople are the ones who are friendly, engaging and seem to relate to you on more of a personal level. All skills that I think I possess, but that I must always be consciously working improving.