Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and is able to spend time with family. We wanted to let everyone know we have selected the recipient of our Thanks & Giving give-away. First I want to thank the clients & friends who took the time to nominate; there were so many different stories of families experiencing very tough times. We knew it was going to be a very hard decision, but I don’t think either Robin or I was prepared for how hard it actually was. Each family had a poignant story, that was heartfelt, and shared by a loving, caring friend or family member. The thing that impressed me most about each nomination is that along with hardship, each family was also described with strength and a willingness to try, try, and try some more. It brought tears to our eyes. Initially Robin and I each read through the nominations separately, and when we came together realized we were unanimous in our decision for the family that has been selected to receive our gift of $2000 in custom photography. We have also decided that the personal situation is not ours to tell, especially on the internet. Instead we have decided to ask the recipient if their story can be shared in the coming weeks. We want to thank Vicki for the selected nomination, and let everyone know she has been contacted as of this morning and is aware her nominated family is the recipient of our give-away.

If anything Thanks & Giving has, as one client pointed out, “(reminded us) of what the upcoming season is supposed to be about.” We hope it has given pause and inspired others to give of their own talents and strengths this year too.

I am off to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade with the girls and make twice baked sweet potatoes. It’s a new recipe I am trying out on the extended family (maybe I can bring the wine next year?). I don’t have a prayer that it will be better than my brothers deep dish pumpkin pie. But we are thankful that he is here with his wife this year! I am thankful to Amy for introducing me to allrecipes.com. I am also thankful to my family and friends for their love and support. And last but not least, I am thankful to Matt at Fitness Together for saying that Thanksgiving is only one day year, so enjoying all the fruits (and pie, turkey, stuffing) it has to offer. I admit I added the pie, turkey and stuffing in my head, but I think that was the essence of the advice. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!