Top 10 reasons why I love Reno, NV

OM [one moment] meet up - week #26




Yep, that's right! The contract has been signed, the ink is dry. We are moving to Reno, Nevada.  When?  Sometime around the 1st of July.  I've been waiting for this moment for 13 1/2 years.  It is surreal, exciting, scary, and bittersweet.  C will finally be finished with residency and we anticipate that this will be our final move.  It will be the first time in all these years, that he/we may have a "normal" family routine with weekends free and evenings together. We might be able to attend a BBQ as a family or a school meeting together.  No more 90+ hours a week of work for him.  No more indentured servitude.

Much like landing in Rhode Island almost 7 years ago, Reno was not on my radar.  I've been to Las Vegas once and now Reno twice (both times relative to the interview).  But great things happen when we least expect it.  I'm sure I'll be sharing much about our move in the coming months: how will this affect my business, how will the kids transition, house selling/buying, saying goodbye to good friends, etc.  But today, in this moment, I want to tell you the top 10 reasons I love Reno:

10.  It's sunny 300+ days a year.  Having spent most of my life in and around Chicago, and the last 7 years here in Rhode Island, I'm tired of the dreary gray winter months of January through March.

9.  There's no humidity.  See the above comment about having lived in the Midwest and East Coast, both very humid in summer months.

8.  There are no bugs!  Yep, no no seeums, no mosquitos, no ticks, no fleas...NO BUGS!  Maybe the occasional lizard, bear, and coyote but I can live with those.





7.  Lake Tahoe (30 minutes from Reno) and year round outdoor living for the boys:  skiing (snow and water), boating, hiking, mountain climbing, biking, etc.

6.  It's 3.5 hours from San Francisco (my favorite US city) by car and less than one hour by plane.

5.  Lake Tahoe

4.  My tweeter friend Angie (@modernpaper and Jumping Jack Designs) lives there.

3.  C found a wonderful practice there with great people who are family oriented.

2.  The boys really like it and are excited about the move.

1.  It's the end of a long journey and the beginning of a new adventure for our family.

There you have it...a really big moment for us!  It feels great to be able to share this news with all of you.

How was your week?  Did you have a moment jump out at you?  Did you celebrate something or quietly do something for yourself?  Please Share!

OM is a weekly meet up that promotes living in the moment.  Whether funny, sad, ridiculous, or banal, looking for these moments can promote balance in our lives.

Share in the blog comments here, on your own blog (and link back below)  or on my Facebook fan  page. If you are on Twitter,  I've started a hash tag - #omMeetup so  that we can converse if we'd like. We'd love to hear your moment this week!

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Drastic change in my day - OM [one moment] meet up #25

My original moment this week has been abruptly changed due to a sick 9 year old.  My new moment is being able to snuggle and baby my little baby.  I hate to see him hurt but always cherish these moments when he welcomes hugs and lots of attention from me.

Have a fantastic weekend!

OM is a weekly meet up that promotes living in the moment.  Whether funny, sad, ridiculous, or banal, looking for these moments can promote balance in our lives.

Share in the blog comments here, on your own blog (and link back below)  or on my Facebook fan  page. If you are on Twitter,  I've started a hash tag - #omMeetup so  that we can converse if we'd like. We'd love to hear your moment this week!

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OM [one moment] meet up - week #4 - punch buggy yellow, no punch backs!

Square Bug - San Francisco, originally uploaded by Count Rushmore.

This week's OM meetup is brought to you by the Volkswagen Beetle.

Driving to the store one morning, after dropping E off at school, I saw a Volkswagen Beetle coming toward me. I immediately thought, "Punch buggy blue, no punch backs."

For those of you familiar with this game, you won't think I'm too crazy. If you are unfamiliar, here are some rules to the game (and you may still think I'm crazy). My kids and I play this all the time. If we see a VW Bug, we shout those words and gently (most of the time) punch each other in the arm. We've even added the terms "classic and convertible" to our rules. When I was a kid, I think we referred to it as "slug bug."

So, my moment this week stems from habit, kids games, and the smile I got when I realized I "punch bugged" myself.

What was your 'one moment' this week? Share in the blog comments here, on your own blog (and link back below) or on my Facebook fan page. If you are on Twitter, I've started a hash tag - #ommeetup.  We'd love to hear your moment this week!

To learn more about this weekly post, OM [one moment] meetup, please see the original post here.

OM [one moment] meet up - week #2

OM [one moment] meet up is a weekly gathering of shared moments that make each of us pause and connect with life.  learn more here and join us!


I'm excited that so many of you want to participate in this meet up.  I appreciate your comments and have enjoyed reading your moments and feeling your enthusiasm.  Thank you!

In anticipation of this first official One Moment meet up (I know many of us started last week), I've found myself searching all week for special "moments." This is a great thing, right?!  It doesn't at all surprise me, that my moment came yesterday morning while dropping E (my 8yr old) off at school. Many of my moments are revealed through him as I've posted in the past.

As E left the car and headed to the school door, he approached a classmate and greeted him with a pat on the back. His friend, in turn, did the same to him. That was it. Nothing more. Just a pat and then they both ran in to the school.

[source]

To see such young kids perform this warm gesture was moving. It immediately reminded me of the importance of acknowledging our friends, family, other people with even a small gesture of saying, "hey, what's up, buddy?" 

So what was your moment this week?
Share your moment by leaving a comment, post on your own blog (and link back below), or visit my Facebook fan page to comment there. 

Organizing a meet up :: OM [one moment] :: wanna join?

It is so easy to get caught up in our own world and lose sight of little moments and things along the way. We are all so busy with family, work, school, worries, life. Every day activities become routine:

Get up, get out of bed, get kids off to school, shower, work (email/blog/tweet), walk dog, work some more (orders/shipping/designing), kids come home, run kids to activities (music/sports), dinner, kid's bedtime, work some more, my bedtime.

wash, rinse, repeat!

Personally, I've been trying to take note when something catches my eye for the first time. It may be a thought, a product, a sound that causes me to pause. It's that one moment that shakes me out of my routine fog and makes me smile, wonder, breath. I've somewhat referred to these moments in past posts here, such as dropping E off at school. But recently, I've made it a point to actively look for these little moments. 

Walking Sophie the other day, my newest life routine, I realized that I hadn't noticed some things very close to my own home.

I began to notice my neighbor's beautiful doors, cute porches, yellow fire hydrants (and where each is located). I've lived in this neighborhood for 6ish years. I'm just now noticing these things?!

[Note: I may have to look into my fire hydrant obsession.]

I thought I'd organize a meet up so that we could share and encourage each other to pause in our individual lives. After all, it's these little moments that get us through the day and connect us with others.

Just look for one moment in your day, week, or even month. If you have a blog, share it with your readers and link back here [an added SEO bonus is that we will be sharing links]. If you are on Facebook, I'll start a discussion page and you can share there here. I'll create a group on Flickr so you can share there, too. Or simply leave a comment.

I'll be adding more info, links, and an OM banner to this post before the first meet up next Friday.

[update 4.10.10] Below is a button you can use in your post to redirect your readers to this post for further information.  Simply copy the coding in the box and place it in your blog post or sidebar.




<a href="http://www.alamodestuffblog.com/2010/04/organizing-meet-up-om-one-moment-wanna.html" target="_blank"><img alt="om [one moment] meet up" src="http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx125/alamodestuff/OM_alamodemeetupbutton.jpg" border="0" /></a>
Your moment can be a thought, something funny, any product (so long as it's not gratuitous self promotion), a picture, etc. My goal is to prompt you with a post every Friday (if you are posting on a blog, you don't have to post exclusively on Fridays, just link back whenever you post).

We can encourage each other to stop and smell the flowers!

What do you think?   Will you join me?

[update] Below is what will appear at the end of each OM meet up post (every Friday). If you are a blogger and want to link back, you simply add your name and link to that Friday's post. Your link will be added to the list.  If you are excited about this meet up, you don't have to wait 'til next Friday. Share one moment now and link below!  Let's get this party started!