Small Town Independence Day

We spent 4th of July at my Dad's on the Oregon/Idaho border. It was HOT! But as always, we had fun. The kids rode the four wheeler and we all were in the small town of Greenleaf Idaho's parade. There was a lighting storm that came through and it started a wildfire only 4 miles from us. Nate spotted the fire on the hillside when it had just started, and it ended up spreading to 44,000 acres. We were thankful that the Snake River was between us and the fire, so we were safe. It's always great to spend time with Dad and Marsha, and I'm glad the kids get to make memories.

Sand Castle Contest 2013

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We participated for the 4th year in a row, in the Sand Castle contest at Birch Bay. We had a blast! Our team won 2nd place in the Team/Family division with our Treasure Island.  Nate made his own creation and Lily and Emma made their own also. What a beautiful, fun day! 

Peer Pressure

Sometimes peer pressure is a good thing.

We have been trying to get Lily to ride her bike for the last two years, and she flat out refuses. She used to ride it with training wheels, but once we took them off, she got scared. She fell over a couple times and just decided it wasn't worth it.

I'm not a big bike rider myself, but it's nice to have the kids ride while I run the trail, or when we go to the park. Lily can't ride her scooter on the gravel path, so most trips to the park were walking. We could get there faster if she just would ride her bike! I even bribed her with a new bike helmet if she would ride her bike.

So this week Lily had a bike safety course at school. She's done it before, but this year, her friends were all really excited and all talked about riding bikes to school. Little miss social bug did not want to miss out. So she jumped on her bike and practiced. It only took a few minutes and she had gained confidence and was off. So she got to ride her bike to school with her friends. And after school, she rode her bike to her friend's house, as I ran behind.......far behind.

So peer pressure worked for good this week. And it looks like I owe Lily a new helmet.

15 years!

Yesterday Dan and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary. Well....he ended up getting called to work, so there was no celebration together. I was bummed. I had my hair done yesterday morning and was ready to get dressed up and go to a nice dinner. My besties felt sorry for me (and will take any excuse to call an emergency girls night) and took me out for margaritas. We laughed and told stories from my wedding day and recreated a picture from that day. I am so blessed to have these loyal ladies in my life. Oh, and blessed to be able to be Mrs. Snow for the last 15 years. Honey, you still owe me a night out!

Marty and Tiff to Africa

My brother Marty and his wife Tiff are going on a mission trip to Africa this summer. Tiff went on this trip two years ago and left part of her heart there. She's taking Marty back and they are going with a group from Christ the King Community church.
While they are gone, I will be helping take care of their 4 kids. My kids are super excited and this Auntie is already started collecting ideas on fun things to do.
Follow their journey to Africa on their facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/MartyTiffToAfrica
I am also helping them raise money for this trip. I am doing fundraisers with Scentsy, Velata and Grace Adele. If you go to each of my sites,(just click on sidebar) and click on Africa Mission Trip Fundraiser, then shop, my commissions from your purchase will go towards their trip.
Not everyone can travel around the world and help others, but by supporting this fundraiser, you are helping those who have a heart to serve. Thank you!

The Happy Dance

I always do a little happy dance when my Scentsy team grows. I tried to get my kids in on this little tradition, but they gave me funny looks. Finally one day Nate told me that when my team hit 100 consultants, he and Lily would do a happy dance. Challenge accepted! I posted a picture with me holding a sign telling them Nate's promise, on my team's facebook page. My team got excited and we started to grow. A few weeks ago we finally hit 100, and here is their happy dance! (Note, they get their dancing skills from their father).

May Birthdays

May is always crazy here, and we are only 9 days in. Dan and Lily both have birthdays at the beginning of the month, so we celebrated both of them with family and friends. I lost count of how many people we had, but let's just say there was always someone doing the potty dance outside the one bathroom we have.
We totally lucked out and had a beautiful day, almost 80 degrees! Goodness, that's a rarity in the summer, let alone in May! So we pulled out the small pool and sprinkler and let the "kids" play. You can tell from the pictures who the biggest kid is!

Do the Unexpected

You hear the words, random acts of kindness so much, that it has really lost it's meaning. What's sad is that it's rare you even see these acts. It's so rare that people are surprised when they happen.
The other day I offered to take a cart back to the store for an elderly woman. She gave me a shocked look, and then a thank you. It bothered me that she was so shocked that someone would do something nice for her. Are we all that jaded?
So here's my challenge. Do the unexpected. Do something nice that will shock someone. Could be big or small. Help the woman stranded on the side of the road. Offer to pay for someone's coffee. Volunteer your time, babysit for a friend. I dare you!

Spring Soccer

Here we go, another start of Spring soccer. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it's never an easy start to the season. We are lucky if we don't have standing water on the field. Yesterday's weather was bi-polar, sun, wind, hail, snow and rain. I mentally had to prepare myself for today, knowing the weather could do anything.
We headed out the door with full winter gear, even though the sun was shining bright. My checklist included, hand and toe warmers, hats, gloves, umbrella, blanket, lawn chair, hot coffee and a charged camera.

Good news was it turned out to be a beautiful day, and a great start to the season. Lily's team won, and she played hard. She is a fast runner and can find that extra gear when needed to outrun the other team. Hopefully this great start will continued throughout the season. Just in case....my checklist is staying in the car!

Eva

Do you have a name for your car? Mine is called Eva. She is talking Ford Edge, so the kids and I decided that she needed a name, and came up with Eva. When Eva talks, we talk back. Her favorite thing to say is, 'Please say a command". Sometimes she gets the command wrong, and we have to tell her to cancel.
 We laugh when she says some people's names funny. My nickname for my sister in law is Zoebird, and that's what I have as her contact info on my phone. So when I ask Eva to call Zoebird, Eva says,"Calling ZoAbird".
The other day Eva made a funny noise when I hit the brakes, and Lily commented from the backseat, "Eva farted!". Yep, Eva is a member of our family!

Scentsy Sale!

Scentsy's 10% off sale is going on now, and these fall/winter scents are going away!! Great time to stock up on your favorites. hollysnow.scentsy.us

Thankfulness Challenge

I know everyone posts what they are thankful for in November. But truth is we need to be thankful all year round. And on top of that, we need to tell others that we are thankful for them. It's been on my heart to reach out to others this year and tell them how thankful I am for what they do and who they are. So many times I think about it, but never say it. It only takes a couple minutes to write a note, or type and email. But I have found that the recipients appreciate the kind words immensely. So that's the challenge, let's all tell others that we are thankful for them. I will start with a few, but the possibilities are endless. Teachers, Principles, family, friends, mail carrier, youth leaders, pastors, bus drivers, co-workers........

4 Year Scentiversary!

Four years ago tomorrow, I changed my life. I had no idea what I was doing! I fell in love with my Scentsy warmer and scents, and figured I might as well purchase them from myself. I knew they would be good gifts, and that everyone else would love them as much as I did. And I was right.
I started actually selling the products, without feeling like a salesperson. I was just sharing my love of the products. Then I started recruiting. Why not help others share the love too? My team started to grow. I saw how this business didn't feel like business. It was fun! How could a "job" be fun?
My first light bulb moment came at my first Scentsy event, World Tour. I caught the Scentsy Spirit. I set goals, and reached Director that year. I started traveling to Conventions in the Summer (new cities I had never been to!) and Spring Sprints.
My next big light bulb moment came at Boot Camp for Directors. I realized my "why" and found focus. I worked on me physically, so that I had more to give my family and my team. I made friendships with other Directors that week and appreciate their support and encouragement.
Then the Scentsy Family expanded with more things I love, chocolate and purses. Goodness, this girl is in heaven!
And just last month, my hubby and I went to Cancun for Leadership Retreat. That trip was amazing, and 5 years ago I would never have imagined us being on a trip like that. I see my future with Scentsy Family, and it's bright!
What started as a love of the products has gained me friendships, traveling adventures and a renewed faith in myself. I'm not just a "Mom" anymore, I am a business owner leading a growing team.
I call the Scentsy Family the fun bus. It's full of fun people, traveling to fun places and will eventually take me to my final destination (my goals).
I am truly thankful for my Scentsy journey so far. What a blessing it has been to me. And the best is yet to come!

Toy Room is now a Den!

We are finally done with the remodel! What we used to call the toy room is now renamed the den. Here's one more before picture.

And after scraping the popcorn ceiling, painting the ceiling, pulling out carpet, pulling down paneling, fixing some walls, new lighting, new paint, new floor, new wainscoting, new trim, new outlets, new TV and a new rug....here's the finished room!

We are loving it, and I'm thrilled with how my "vision" came to life!!

Toy Room Makeover

When we moved into our house 9 1/2 years ago, my Aunt Joni, cousin Joell and sister Amy did an amazing thing for us. In the days before we moved in, they stripped the wall paper in what would be the toy room, and gave it a fresh coat of paint. Now, this wasn't any ordinary wall paper. It was a nature scene. No joke. In fact, this is Amy and Joell in front of it. I have this picture framed and on the wall that it was taken. I will forever be grateful for the act of kindness they showed me in a very challenging time!





I heard it was a pain to peel off, piece by piece. Here's more before and after photos.

 Today we start over again. The ugly carpet that was never tacked down is gone. The ugly paneling on the other walls will be gone. The popcorn ceiling will be gone.  New lighting, new flooring, new paint.....new, new, new!! Can't wait to show you the next after photos!

Oh Christmas Tree...

We found the perfect Christmas tree this year. We went to my favorite U Cut tree farm, Noon Rd Trees on Thanskgiving weekend. We had to get the tree early, because Dan was heading back to work, and wouldn't be around until after Christmas. It was a beautiful turkish fir, and we loved it.
The tree held up beautifully, hardly losing any needles. I was shocked at how good it looked, even after Christmas.
Dan finally got home, just days before we went to Cancun, so we finally celebrated Christmas with his family last Sunday. We finally took the tree down on Tuesday....that's a long time for a cut tree. The funny thing is that this tree lost less needles than my fake tree last year!
So during this time of enjoying our wonderful tree,  I had been experiencing a red rash under my eyes. I thought it was from a new eye cream, but it wasn't going away weeks later. When we went to Cancun, the rash disappeared, then came back as soon as we got home. I was convinced it was the dry air at home.....until we took the tree down. The rash went away with the tree.

So now we will have to decide if a beautiful, wonderful, perfect cut tree will be in our future again.

Hola, Y'all!

Dan and I had an amazing time in Cancun this week for Scentsy's Leadership retreat. The Moon Palace resort was amazingly beautiful. The food was fantastic, and we met some awesome friends. I was thrilled that Dan met other Scentsy husbands and we got a peak into our future of him being full time Scentsy hubby. Most of the couples we hung out with were southern, and combine that with trying to speak a little Spanish, I almost caught myself saying, "Hola, y'all".
A couple of my favorite things.....the food! We had dinner with two couples at the Brazilian steakhouse. What fun!! And the food was fabulous! The next night we had dinner with a fun couple at the Japanese restaurant. My dear sweet friend Jami had trouble with the chopsticks and asked for a fork. The waiter brought her "American chopsticks" as he called the fork. At little funny to be eating Japanese in Mexico! And we would never have had that dinner if the wheel on the golf cart hadn't fallen off, leading us to run into Jami and Shaun! Our first night at the resort, we tried one of the buffets, and Dan got a serving of chili's and onions. Not thinking they were very hot, he popped a whole chili in his mouth and swallowed it before realizing how hot it was. The faces he made had me in stitches for hours!!
We were very entertained by the local wildlife. Dan chased racoons down the hall one night, trying to get picture. You could hear screams as he chased it towards other people. Hilarious moments. Our last day we saw dozens of iguanas around the resort, big and small. We laughed at young Russian guy who was trying to touch one. You didn't need to speak his language to understand that his girlfriend was freaking out, telling him not to!
The training was very educational and helpful. Both Dan and I were trying to take notes as fast as we could. I'm looking forward to reading over those notes and using them in my business. Our guest speaker was Bob Burg, co author of a great book, The Go Giver. He was a wonderful speaker and I really enjoyed listening to him.
The weather was perfect, 82, humid with a strong breeze. I was never too hot, in fact, the AC was too cold for me and most of the time I turned it off in our room and just opened the door.

It was my birthday while on the trip, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my special day! Leadership will be at the same time, same place next year, and I can't wait!! I feel like I did after a perfect week at camp with my friends, and I will look forward all year to seeing them again!

2012 Scentsy Family

2012 ROCKED for the Scentsy Family. With the launch of two new brands, Velata and Grace Adele, the opportunity is bigger and better than ever. For my business, my team has grown to 87 and representing 18 states. I love this company and the people who are in it. What a blessing it has been to me, giving me new friends, travel, and control of my own business. Want to join the fun? Join my team and let's rock 2013!!

Jingle Bell Run

A year ago I started running. My goal was to run the Jingle Bell Run that benefits the Arthritis Foundation. For the last few years, I have walked this 5K fun run/walk with my Mom and my kids, while the men in the family run it. I had been wanting to run it for years, but never did. I set my 2012 goals, and the Jingle Bell Run was at the top of the list. Knowing I needed a short term goal to keep me on track, my step-dad suggested a 5K run in February. And then another in May. I found a local run in July, and then my siblings and I did a relay in September. This all lead up to the Jingle Bell Run. The week of the run I came down with a cold, and the morning of the run, it was only 38 degrees. Both things slowed me down, but didn't stop me from running.

My brother Marty ran with me and was very patient with my slow pace. I do have to say that I owned the small hills! And at the end, he pushed me to run it in. I ended up with a 35 minute flat time. Not my best, but I met my goal! Next year's goal is to run it under 32 minutes.

I have my 2013 goals set, and my brother and I have been challenged to run a 10k......oh boy!!