Thank you guys so much for your hard work! These past couple weeks have been stressful, fun and nerve-wracking, but I wouldn't want to go through it with anybody else. Keep working hard, team - we are in the home stretch!

Here is a pic of how being caught up and ready for the holidays makes me feel! (Also, it's my favorite team!)

Happy Hump Day, Crusaders!

Nowadays, it seems we are driven to celebrate and share virtually everything. When we have kids, we have a party celebrating their graduation from preschool and then kindergarten and then again from elementary school and then again from middle school and so on...Having two daughters, I always felt bad for the boys that had to come up with these elaborate routines for asking them to school dances, each one more complex than the other. When everything is considered that important, I wonder what is truly important.

My grandparents were married for over 60 years. They rarely left each other's side and they were truly best friends. People often asked me what their secret was and they always expected it to be some grand thing. I'll tell you the secret. It was a lifetime of simple things. Every morning, my grandpa would wake up early and go downstairs and wash my grandma's car. He knew that she loved to leave every day in a clean car and I'm sure it reminded her of him while she was driving. That was how they started each day and when they were together they were always near each other and often holding hands. Simple.

And yes, that car is the same one you all see my drive up in every day. It was my grandpa's before he passed and then my grandma's and then my dad's and my daughter drove it until the engine starting having trouble. I rebuilt that engine and even though I should probably sell it, I just love driving away in the morning in it. It reminds me of a simpler time and how important it is to pay attention to the simple things, as they are probably what builds to become the great things like my grandparent's marriage or this incredible company that we all work for.

This week I had the good fortune of attending the PGA Annual Conference.  It included the opportunity to play golf with some of the PGA Professionals.  I used to play when I was younger, but over the years I have played less and less and now only play maybe 2-3 times a year.  Obviously, my game is not quite up to par (pun 100% intended :) ).  After the first few holes, the two pros in my group started to give me some advice. I told them we were all just out here having a good time and I didn't want them to feel like they had to work, but they insisted.

It was obvious that they had a deep love of the game and have spent their careers perfecting their craft.  While you can't ever truly master something like golf it is one of those endeavors where the journey is the actual goal.  After implementing some of their techniques the ball was flying all over the place.  I thought I was going backwards but they kept saying it didn't matter because my swing was improving and that was the most important part.  In essence if you focus on the details and get those right the result will eventually come.  By the end of the round, my shots were starting to get more on line and the swing felt much better.

I finished the day with a deep appreciation for those that have chosen to dedicate their lives to a single purpose like this and also for those that take such pleasure out of teaching others.  The lesson learned for me was that just like them we need to continue to focus on the excellence of the details in our craft.  Getting everything just right for our clients in every detail and the end result will take care of itself.