Lifestyle, Travel & Owning Your Own Business

A benefit of owning your own (home-based business ) is the flexibility it provides. If you’re in a business that offers multiple streams of income and is one you can set to "auto-pilot" at times, you can have a lifestyle that some only dream about. If travel is one of your favorite past times you can even be making money while seeing some sites.
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Making a Living while Making a Life

I’m diverting just a bit this morning from posting more information about Carbon Copy Pro, because I came across a great article on the site of The Wealthy Blogger . I connected with this, as it reminds us to take a breath and regenerate….

A quote from the article…..
….."From experience, I can attest to the importance of making it a regular habit to set aside at least 24 hours each and every week to personal relaxation away from work. You might get more done at first if you don’t take this break - but in the long run, you will find yourself in a rut, discouraged, and possibly even having forgotten how to enjoy life! Is that what you are working for? In the long run, you’ll likely achieve more when you take regular breaks from your work and learn to work hard and then play hard.

If you don’t take regular breaks, you may end up forgetting what it is exactly you are working for. You may lose sight of your major values. Of course, taking too many breaks when you can’t afford it or should be working can have similar effects as well.

When you start out working towards goal achievement, you likely will spend long hard hours at your work. Sacrificing leisure time especially at the beginning will likely be a requirement in order to achieve any goal that you have set for yourself. Giving up a few hours in the evening of TV in order to move yourself ahead will probably be a sacrifice you will need to make if you want to achieve goals in the future of being financially independent and doing many of the activities you’re watching others do while you watch TV."

To read the complete article, please click here ….. it will be worth your while.

Also, please leave a comment on how you like to regenerate and refresh your spirit.

Until next time, J.
"Take control of your destiny or someone else will"

A Welcomed Weekend

This was what I call a "welcomed weekend". As much as I like to travel, sight see, and socialize, it’s nice sometimes to stay home. Of course that doesn’t mean it entails doing "nothing", but gives us a chance to catch up on yard work, errands, and those miscellaneous details of everyday life.

This time of year we have birds galore in our yard. Although this picture does not do it justice there are about 20 small finches in the tree along with a couple of larger birds. Fun to watch!

The best part of this weekend though, was our "welcoming" one of our sons’ home. He has been studying abroad in Seville, Spain for the last 5 months. (Our daughter was in Italy last year studying and has her stories too!) He is majoring in International Marketing , and of all our kids he probably has the most entrepreneurial spirit. He’s started 3 business ventures from home since he was a sophomore in high school. Not that any of them kept his interest more than 4 months, but he made money , which gave him the "itch" - I think he’ll continue. He found there are always ways to build your business on a budget…. view here for some ideas.

The opportunities he and his generation have are only limited by one’s imagination. With the Internet and global business environment , these kids have no excuse not to find something they love "to do". The stories and pictures he has been sharing with us of his experiences, were probably more valuable to him than the book learning while he was gone. Traveling to various cities and countries each weekend, gave him a glimpse into other cultures, traditions, and business styles. It wouldn’t surprise me if he decides to take some additional time to travel again after graduating college next year. He will have time before deciding where he wants to "land" for awhile….

He’ll be fun to watch as my bets are on him creating his wealth from a home based business or getting involved in a small business to grow. He marches to his own "beat", and if he does get a j.o.b., it will be temporary to meet a specific goal. I’m looking forward to witnessing his journey over the years.

Until next time, J.
"Take control of your destiny or someone else will"

Another California Weekend

This past weekend we hosted our annual "Lake County" ride and BBQ. A group of us have been riding (Harley’s) together for many years and this particular ride we’ve now done for 10.

We began the trek on Saturday from Danville, Ca, and rode into the wine country, through almond orchards, and around Lake Berryessa. It was a bit hazy this year, but still great weather for a ride. We then ended the day back at our placed for a BBQ. There were 18 of us this year…. a great group and lots of fun!

Here’s a shot of the Lake (a big water skiing destination) and again, just like last week the picture was taken from the back of the bike…

We ended our weekend by seeing our close friend, Laurie DeSeguirant, perform with a Big Band paying a tribute to Old Blue Eyes. It was called Simply Sinatra and Laurie sang and performed brilliantly. The band backing him were Jim Franz, Jan Nichols, Gordon Rowley, Bob Scott, John Nichols, and Dave Tidball. They have performed with greats such as Tom Jones, The Drifters, Liberace, Michael Jackson, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra himself, and many others.

A good weekend and now regenerated again, to roll right into a productive week!

Until next time - J.

"Take control of your destiny or someone else will"

Going California Coastal

GOING CALIFORNIA COASTAL

It was weekend’s like this past one that I feel so blessed to live in California. Within a few hours of either direction (from SF Bay Area) we can be in a variety of micro-climates and terrains. I had to pinch myself all weekend as we took off on one of our Harley excursions for the weekend with a couple of friends. We started out on Friday morning, making our way through some traffic (although could’ve been worse!), and went up to Healdsburg for lunch. This is an area that is one of the “gateways” to the wine country. Imagine rows and rows of grape plants with their leaves just popping out. The sky was blue and the weather about 80 degrees. Perfect day for a bike ride!

After lunch we cut over to the coast for our evening destination at Sea Ranch. A community which started in the 70’s and all homes are positioned with ocean views. During the ride over the mountain range to get there we drove through some breathtaking vistas. Starting with rolling hills of green starting to turn golden. The wildflowers are all in bloom this time of year and every so often at a turn we could breath a sweet smell of flowers. The Bay Leaf trees are bursting and we would smell those as well. The air was what we call “soft” this weekend, meaning there were just light puffs going across you instead of nagging hard blowing wind. (Yes, we’ve ridden in that too!) You’d never be able to experience some of these things from a car! This time of year all of the trees and shrubs are pushing out their new foliage and they’ve not had a summer season of dust on them yet. The various shades of greens and shadowing make for a fabulous tapestry.

Saturday we headed up north further along Hwy 1 to the town of Mendocino. The sky was so blue, not a bit of fog, making the water look as turquoise as you’d see in Hawaii - although not near as warm! It’s one reason I prefer our coast in the Spring and Fall - the weather seems much calmer then. We had a terrific lunch on the deck of a small restaurant, sitting in the sun and overlooking the beaches. We then headed back to Sea Ranch for the evening - and what a treat we had - we saw a couple of whales “blowing their spouts” from the living room window!

Here’s a picture of the coastline we were on for a few days….. not a bad shot since it was taken from the back of a Harley going about 60mph!

On our return trip home Sunday, we took a different route via Russian River and through the Redwoods. If you’ve never seen a redwood grove, try to do it sometime. The road is lined with lush ferns and other shade loving plants. When the sun filters through these giant trees onto the greens it’s an incredibly peaceful sight. We then visited a very unusual nursery/greenhouse which you can checkout at www.californiacarnivores.com. It reminded me of something out of The Little Shop of Horrors! All of these plants eat bugs, some of them can grow large enough to eat small rodents - yikes! You’ve probably heard of Venus Fly Trap, they have those and many others. You’ve just gotta love Spring and getting outside to do things!

Here’s a picture of one of the “carnivores” but really doesn’t do it justice. Check out their website!

Until next time, J.
“Take control of your destiny or someone else will”

Mexico One of Our Favorite Cruise Destinations

Mexico is one of our favorite destinations (and close for us), so we usually take an annual trip for 1 or 2 weeks and stay at one place. We thought it would be fun to try something else for a change though, so my husband and I went on a cruise last October.

I can hardly believe how affordable "cruising" can be. Some carriers practically pay you to sail away with them!

The cruise we took left Long Beach, Ca (near L.A.) went to Cabo San Lucas, then Mazatlan, then Puerto Vallarta and back. We were gone for 7 nights and it was only $650 each! Remember, that includes lodging, entertainment, and all the meals you could possibly want.

I’m still amazed at how these companies can afford to do this. Even when considering the ship is full and they make up the cost on "volume", the overhead has got to be astronomical. MMMmmm… guess that one’s not my problem though.

When we travel we do like to experience the flora and fauna specific to an area, and those of you who know Mexico are probably familiar with Iquana’s. I’ve attached a photo of my holding one…..you can see that I’m not particularly comfortable with this big lizard, but I can say I’ve held one now!