a guest post from jenny… founder of LobotoME and former owner…

hello friends! i've missed my blog and all of you :)

I thought i'd post a quick update on life post lobotome…

For the first time in 3 years we were able to take an extended family trip during the holidays (this has always been LobotoME's busiest time of year (as Jill just experienced) so I always spent thanksgiving thru christmas at our local post office instead of some tropical location). My husband & I really wanted to "test" the waters with a longer international trip with the kids (now age 3 & 7) so we spent almost a month in a lovely little surfing town in Mexico. It was all we hoped it would be and then some but now we are back in holiday & new year planning mode.

We achieved many of our goals & aspirations for 2012 - selling LobotoME, launching a new race series, listing our rental properties on the market and turning over some of the property management aspects in the meantime, attempting to sell our airstream (getting close); simplifying our schedules, commitments and life (always a work in progress); getting rid of things that we no longer found to be useful, beautiful or treasured in our home (again always a work in process especially post holidays); getting more involved in the kids school (educating our youth has got to be the most important thing on everyone's to do list); etc.

The spending hiatus goal was reignited when we were in Mexico…seeing how little the locals have and how happy they are for the food on their tables made me appreciate what we have even more. There was a wonderful local named Mannie who sold homemade fruit popsicles every day on the beach for 10 pesos (about 79 cents)..we got to know him a little bit as my kids loved his popsicles. He was telling us about how his 12 year old daughter didn't want to go to school the other day because she had a big hole in her shoe and she was embarrassed and he told her he'd work extra hard that week (he busts his butt daily) to earn enough extra to get her a new pair of shoes. Anyway, he said that God was looking out for him because the very next day there was a wedding on the beach and the bride's family treated the entire wedding to ice cold fruit popsicles and he sold out within an hour. He took an earlier bus home, bought a new pair of shoes for his daughter and left them under the pillow for her that night while she was sleeping. He wasn't trying to get our sympathy or money, in fact, he wouldn't even take the extra pesos we tried to slip him daily, he wasn't ashamed...he was grateful and happy. I want to be more like him. Grateful and happy for the simple things. I want to create more than I consume.

Having said that there are still many more things we want to do in 2012 & beyond. I don't have big things on this list like publish a book (not a clue what I'd write about), travel the world (someday), build forty schools in Africa (someday) or compete in a fitness competition (never ever). Sometimes its good to just be happy with where I'm at and know that all is well with my soul. I give you my 12 for 2012.

1) A year long spending hiatus - we have way more than enough clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, toys, books, etc. If something is needed, only buy it second hand. Spend mindfully on things needed and continue to put money towards local & organic produce; traveling and paying off our mortgage early. Buying only things that are made sustainably and will last. Not buying crap that I'm going to end up putting in a box for the thrift store within 6 months.
2) Family trip to Florida & Dominican Republic.
3) 10 year anniversary trip, just the two of us.
4) A successful (and safe) 2012 Event production season.
5) Pay off remaining business debt. Kill it.
6) Sell one of our rental properties even if its at a financial loss in order to have emotional gain.
7) Sell the airstream (use this money to build up our emergency fund). Still no time to use the adorable thing.
8) Go on a week long raft trip with the kids this summer. Feeling the pull & call of the river.
9) Re-paint living room & bedroom walls in house. They need it. Badly. And I've been putting it off for years.
10) Get fit. I know this is a little ambiguous - but really push my body harder than it has been pushed in years. Having 2 young kids is no longer a valid excuse. I want to kick a little ass this year. I just started Crossfit classes so that may be the ticket.
11) Run a marathon. I don't know why this always appears on my list but it always does and I'm not a huge running fan. I've done triathlons and adventure races but never a bloody marathon. But I'm not getting any younger so there on the list it goes.
12) But mostly I want to focus on being a fun & present wife & mother, to make time for the people in our lives we adore and take good, solid care of myself - not just when I'm sick or run down but on a daily basis. Last January's breast cancer scare was a wake up call and I need to continue to focus on caring for myself.

Wishing you and your families a healthy & happy 2012!