I recently attended a leadership conference for my company. We got to spend a week in the beautiful mountains in Estes Park, Colorado surrounded by a community of extraordinary people who are up to big things and really making a difference in the world. We spent the week going deep… we had amazing training sessions, intimate sharing circles, and lots of socializing time. I came away with a whole new awareness about what it is that REALLY lights me up about the business I’m in. What I learned is that the thing that excites me the most and has me jumping out of bed every morning is that I get to empower women to be positive role models for their children by teaching them that they don’t have to grow up and get good grades just to go to work for someone else. We get to teach our children that they have a choice, and the way that we get to do that is by leading by example. I LOVE that about being an entrepreneur. I love that my children are learning about life by watching me. And I love that they get that they can follow in my footsteps if they so choose. I left the training and went Continue reading →
Abundance For Moms
Are your self-imposed ‘limits’ running the show?
Today was painful. But it was worth it. Today I learned something on an experiencial level that I’ve ‘known’ for years intellectually. Today I actually got it. I’m currently participating in a Crossfit training class that I go to about 3 times/week. It’s definitely one of the most intense workouts I’ve ever tried (and I’ve tried pretty much everything). The workout that happens during the second half of the class is always different, and always REALLY challenging. We’re usually being timed, and everybody’s keeping an eye on each other and cheering each other on. During the workout today, I reached a point where I didn’t think I could do one more repetition. I was completely out of breath, weak, and just totally exhausted. I thought I was going to just fall on my face, literally. My coach was yelling at me, “Keep going, Amy! Keep going!” I didn’t think I could. I was trying to jump back and forth over a bar that was approx 20 inches off the ground and I didn’t think I could actually do one more… I literally didn’t have enough energy to jump high enough to make it over. Continue reading →
Set goals effectively, and reach them!
For the last 5 years, since my first daughter was born, I’ve been trying to get back into the shape I was in before having kids (unsuccessfully).
.Media Lead: for Baby & Toddler Magazine
Do you know how to boost children’s academic skills for kindergarten? If so, here’s a chance for you to be quoted in a national parenting magazine. Here are the details: How To Boost Children’s Academic Skills For Kindergarten Submitted By: Alexa Sherman Title: Freelance Writer Media Outlet: Baby and Toddler Magazine Deadline: Fri, May 21, 2010 – 09:00 AM Pacific Standard Time For a national parenting magazine, I’m looking for parents of Continue reading →
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I had an amazing conversation with my 5-year-old daughter last night. We were driving through Boulder at about 9:00pm (much later than she’s typically up at night), and there was still quite a bit of traffic and the town was hopping. Olivia, my 5-year-old, asked, “What are all of these people doing up so late?”. I told her that Boulder is a college town and that there are lots of students who stay up late to study, etc. She asked, “What’s studying?” (Gotta love kids :) ) 
I told her about college and how people can study Continue reading →
Remaining calm in the face of…. a broken face?
Just a few days ago, I was reconnecting w/ a friend that I hadn’t spoken to in a few months. He was asking me how my 10-day silent retreat went and what I got out of it.
I was telling him how one of the biggest things I got was how I had been living in fear (w/out knowing it) about my children and that something might happen to them. (See my recent post entitled “Are You Attached To Your Children? Could You Live Without Them?”).
I told him that since the retreat, I have been so much more laid back, peaceful, and at ease when it comes to my kids… so much less uptight and way more willing to just let them be kids without being unbearingly overprotective.
Then I was put to the test…
The very next day after telling him this (which was the day before yesterday), Ava (my 2-year-old) fell and her face was immediately covered in blood. Her lip was bleeding badly and I spent about 15 minutes holding towels over it until I was able to get the bleeding under control. I then laid her down to change her diaper and as she opened her mouth (she was still crying) I noticed she had a tooth missing and a big gaping hole in the top of her mouth (it was the tooth next to the very front teeth).
I rushed her in to an emergency pediatric dentist and upon examining her and taking some x-rays, he could see that the tooth had actually been pushed all the way up into her gums, to the point where you can’t even see it. The front tooth next to it had been pushed up as well, not all the way, but it’s definitely much smaller now than the other front tooth.
Patience, patience, patience…
He explained to me that there’s nothing we can do at this point, except wait it out… he said sometimes the tooth will come back down on it’s own in a situation like this, and if not we will talk about options as far as removing it (do we put her under, or not… both terrible options in my opinion). He said we may have to wait 2-4 months!
In the meantime, Ava’s face has swelled up terribly (kind of like when someone has their wisdom teeth pulled) and is now bruising as well (she has a black eye, etc). It’s extremely painful for me to look at her… I can actually FEEL her pain… and it breaks my heart to see her like this. She’s still in a lot of pain as well, which is the hardest part.
It’s almost as if the Universe heard me say that I was peaceful in regard to my kids now and decided to test me, to throw me a real curve ball to see how peaceful I could remain in the face of it.
Wow.
Well I definitely have stayed unrecognizably calm through all of this… although I have an ongoing sick feeling in my stomach and I’m just yearning for my little girl to feel better again. Her sister (who’s 5) has been crying about it a lot as well… wishing her sister didn’t have to suffer like this.
I keep asking myself, “What’s the lesson in this?”
And I’ve learned a lot actually.
I know things are happening exactly as they’re supposed to (because they always do) and that ‘it’s all good’. And I know that there’s something for me to gain from this experience.
It’s a great opportunity to practice the art of remaining peaceful in the face of whatever life throws at us…
And it’s certainly a great reminder about how much in control we are NOT.
I’ve also been practicing gratitude (it could always be worse, Continue reading →
Join In on the Mother’s Day Photo Contest from Mothercraft
My friend and fellow mompreneur extraordinaire Carley Knobloch from MotherCraft is hosting a photo contest in celebration of moms for Mother’s Day. Here are the details… Win a Kodak Camera & Photo Stationary from Mothercraft! Mothercraft would LOVE to see your photos and get to know the mama behind the Facebook status updates! So in celebration of Mother’s Continue reading →
Moms Empowering Moms on the Radio
Last week, I had the honor of being interviewed by Sharon Silver on her radio show, Getting to the Heart of the Matter… a phenomenal show that focuses on mom entrepreneurs. If you missed the live broadcast, you can listen to a recorded version of it here. The date of the show was April 8, 2010 and I was the first guest (the first 28 minutes w/ a commercial break in the middle). Listen to the interview to get to know me better and to learn a TON about Moms Empowering Moms (how it all started, what we’re up to, etc). Enjoy! Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments… and feel free to pass this along to anyone else who might be interested in listening. -Amy
Media Lead: Chicken Soup For The Soul needs submissions from moms!
Would you like to be a published author for a best-selling book series? Chicken Soup For The Soul is looking for submissions from moms about a variety of different topics. All of the details for submission are below (this is a great opportunity for some great publicity!). Chicken Soup for the Soul: New Moms Becoming a new mom is the most amazing experience. Continue reading →
Are you attached to your children? Could you live without them?
I know that this post may cause a bit of irritation and/or controversy, but I just learned a SERIOUSLY valuable lesson in regard to my attachment to my kids and felt the need to share it. I recently returned from being at a silent meditation retreat for 10 days. This retreat and technique (called Vipassana) is something that is used to let go of cravings and attachments we have in our lives, which basically all cause us misery to some degree or another. I did the retreat previously 8 years ago, while I was backpacking in New Zealand… back before I had children or a business to worry about while I was away. During the retreat, you cannot read, write, listen to music, play music, exercise, or make eye contact w/ anyone. You don’t have access to a phone or a computer and can’t check messages or email. Your basically just left alone with your thoughts… 
8 years ago when I did the retreat, the ‘being unplugged’ piece wasn’t an issue for me because I, once again, didn’t have kids to worry about or a business to be responsible for. It was still extremely intense for me back then, and took me Continue reading →
