Winging it!

May 1st, 2016 Recently I had a conversation with some friends of mine about instincts: "How do you know if you should follow your heart or follow your gut instinct. Is it women's intuition that we need to follow? What is that nagging inside of us that tries to tell us what we already know, but sometimes refuse to listen to?" Of course the conversation made me look at my own life. Here is what I've come up with.   Is it following your heart? Following your gut instinct? Are they the same? I've come to believe that they're not the same. That following your heart and following your gut instinct are two completely different things. The reason I say this is because I've experienced the pull between the two first hand. Ten years ago, I walked away from a relationship I was in. My heart was screaming and crying and having a fit, but my gut told me to walk away. Something inside of me knew it wasn't the right fit for me. In my mind I could list...

TGIF Friday, April 29th, 2016 Here it is Friday again, the start of another weekend. It's amazing how quickly the week passes when you love what you do every day. Tomorrow is Comcast Cares Day, led by the Leadership Prince William Class of 2016! It's going to be a FANTASTIC (and long) day. I'm hoping the rest of my weekend will be spent getting more things done around the house.... if I have the energy. I'd love to hear what everyone else is looking forward to this weekend. MW Copyright 2016

I have finally found the title of my blog. I've changed it a couple of times, as you might have noticed. Here's where my new name came from.... Today at a network meeting, we were talking about icebreakers you can use when you walk into a room full of people you don't know. My comment to the group was that everyone in the room feels the same nervousness that you feel. If you can remember that, you will have much less fear. Someone said to me, I can't believe you feel nervous, you talk to everyone! My response was "I'm winging it!" As soon as I said it, I knew. I stopped and grabbed my phone and texted it to myself. The bottom line is we're all winging it. We don't know what each day is going to bring our way, but we get up and get out there and deal with it. MW Copyright 2016

Sunday, April 24th, 2016 Wow! I survived this past week. That in itself is a miracle. It was an extremely busy week for me with full on networking, Leadership Prince William all day Thursday, and a Spring Vision Retreat all day Friday. At the end of the week, I was finally released by my doctor to exercise again, so first thing Saturday morning, one of my exercise buddies and I were up and out. I spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon, working around the house. We're now getting my son's bedroom ready to be painted and purging a lot of things from the house in my effort to get rid of the clutter. Today we're heading to Maryland to spend time with friends, so I need to get my blog posted before we leave. Today, I wanted to talk about an a pp that  Kerry Thomas, the owner of "Conquer the Chaos LLC" told me about last week. I'll start with my question to her. I have a folder full of papers that have notes from various meetings, as well as spi...

I thought I'd talk about networking for those who are just starting out in their networking journey. And maybe, just maybe, someone who's a pro, will learn something or get a new idea. When you start out on your journey of networking, you're not sure what you're going to find. If you're like me, you're a little intimidated by everyone. They all seem so put together, so confident. It feels like everyone knows everyone else and you don't know anyone! You might sit there thinking "What the heck am I doing here?" But guess what? What you're feeling is 100% normal. And guess what else? We all felt the same way when we started networking. Because I'm one of those people who remembers feeling that way, I make it a point to go out of my way to talk to newbies, show them around, introduce them to others, give them networking advice. It's funny because the very first networking group I ever attended is the one that I'm currently the ...

Organized people are more productive in the workplace and at home. Here's how to tell if you have the traits of an organized person. And don't worry if you don't, you can change your habits and become more organized. I personally have many of the traits, but the ones I don't have are ones I'm working on. Here are 14 traits of organized people by Sarah Klein. Organized People are: Goal Orientated: They tend to look at the big picture. Optimistic: They trust that things will work out. Conscientious: They do things to make life more efficient by thinking ahead. Decision Makers: They make a decision and stick with it. Not always be open to new ideas: Because they tend to stick with the decisions they've made, they will sometimes restrict themselves from being open to new ideas. Able to let go of perfectionism: The only way to get things done is to not worry about everything being perfect. Good at: Capture, Calendar, Contain: Make a list, keep track of ...

Sunday, April 17th, 2017 This past week was a fantastic week all the way around. I had my 2 week dental followup and was told that I am a fast healer! Everything is going well. I was back out networking and seeing my peeps! Everyone is giving me so much support. I am lucky to have such amazing friends. I was also back to working in my office with my fantastic co-workers. On Thursday, I met one of my hero's who was speaking at one of my networking groups. Her name is Kerry Thomas, the owner of "Conquer the Chaos LLC." Her topic was "Getting organized in 2016!" Was that fate or what? I enjoyed meeting and talking to her so much and look forward to seeing her again soon! The main focus was getting your office organized. One important step to this, is knowing your learning style. A big A-HA moment for me, was realizing that not every system, works for everyone. Our brains are all different and therefore we all need to find the systems that work for us. Tha...

7 Random facts about me   I was born in Hawaii and lived there until I was 2. I have a fear of ships. Just looking at one (whether in real life, on tv, in a movie, or in a picture) makes me hyperventilate. I have loved Paris for as long as I can remember. Even as a very little girl I wanted to go there. And when I went, it felt like home. When I was a little girl, I wanted four kids. 2 boys and 2 girls, in that order. That's what I have. For the first 35 years of my life my favorite color was pink, then it became red for about 10 years, now I believe it's blue. I would have never believed it would be blue, but I tend to pick blue for most things. Though, I still love pink and red, blue is my #1.  My favorite style of decor is antique vintage. (think French Farmhouse)  My favorite numbers are 7 and 44.

Sunday, April 10th, 2016 It's April 10th and I haven't posted anything about organization! I've spent the past week working at home, resting and recovering post surgery which certainly made being organized much easier. I brought home everything I'd need the week before last. It certainly is easier to stay organized and keep track of what your doing when you stay in one place, instead of juggling each day of the week in various locations. The systems I've put in place this year are working well for me. The apps, the calendar, the planning. I think one of the most important aspects for me is looking ahead on Sundays to see what my week will bring. Knowing what's coming up this week keeps me on track. It allows me to schedule the time that'll I have in my office according to what needs to get done, whether it's meeting with clients, or working on quotes. My original plan was to do this on Monday mornings, but by then I already have things I need to wo...

Looking at quotes as I work on our FB pages this afternoon. I think sometimes quotes that I need to see, find me regardless of what type of quote I'm looking for. This quote found me today and I think it fits me entirely. Wishing everyone a happy hump-day and reminding you to be a giver ! MW Copyright 2016

This coming Thursday, April 7th from 7-8:30 pm is the  Domestic Abuse Community Forum, sponsored by The time has come.  Please join me, the Prince William Living staff and our partners ACTS at a panel discussion on domestic abuse. Thursday, April 7th, 2016. 7 p.m. Hylton Performing Arts Center Merchant Hall 10900 University Blvd Manassas, Va 20109 Representatives from ACTS, the mental health community, the non-profit community and Prince William County Police will be our speakers. The panel will discuss how domestic abuse happens, why it happens, who it happens to, how you can recognize it and what you can do about it. We ask that you RSVP, however if you are currently in an abusive relationship, you do NOT need to register, just come. Representatives from several non-profit organizations will be on hand with information on receiving help and volunteer opportunities. Do you know what domestic abuse looks like?  Many do not. I...

Sunday, April 3rd, 2016 As my life feels like it's finally coming together, there seem to be forces out there making me face my past. Maybe not face it, but definitely pushing me towards sharing my story and getting involved in helping others who are going through what I went through. I was a battered woman for over 12 years. I dealt with more physical and mental abuse than I could ever describe or would ever want to. I've blocked so much of it out of my mind for so long but everyday something else comes my way that reminds me of it. It all started with a speech I gave at Toastmasters not long ago. I had to talk about myself, and try as I might to write a speech about many other topics, something in my gut told me I had to talk about my past. It wasn't a long speech, and I didn't give great detail. I just talked about the three things that happened that caused me to get out. Next, Crystal Hamilton was shot and killed by her abusive husband. Her story broke my hear...