Podcast anyone?

Yes?
Okay, check it out here at:
http://authentictimes.podomatic.com/

My new Inspired Almost-Weekly podcast is based on my newsletter email, Inspired Almost-Daily, and let's face it, I might miss a week here and there!

There are so many new ideas swimming around...

The children's book website is coming soon! Hopefully about a 3 or 4 days from now we will have an announcement. Though the book will not be published until Mid September.

My older son is turning 10 soon and we have family coming into town, so the goal is to finish as much as we can, and then Yahoo! Have some fun with our Medieval Frolic and Feast!

The transition is almost complete with my husband and I. He is still working a few days a week, which will turn into 1 or 2. I work 5 to 6 days, which will turn into 4 or 5.

I love working, having clients, editing the magazine and then that feeling that I forgot all about. The feeling of the weekend! I work extremely hard all week, publish, finish with my clients, and Friday comes! I always feeling like dancing down the street with my family, and then after we dance, I feel like taking a well deserved nap! We always have fun together and the kids are starting to look forward to Fridays with me. The questions, "When are you going to stop working every single day?" and "I want YOU to make my breakfast." are rarely asked.

Charlie has been cooking meals, doing some shopping, taking the kids to their lessons, and the new one is making playdates!!! He is such an amazing guy! He is so excited to be the homeschooling parent. So many ideas is swimming around....

So there it is, all of us happy, well and enjoying this fun part of our transition... near the end!

Smiles,
Rain

Coaching Website is UP!

Yahoo!
My coaching website is UP!
You can see it here:

Inspirational Life Coaching with Rain

Thank you Scott, my brother for all your amazing work to pull this together!
Thank you Debbie, for all your amazing artwork!
Thank you Dinea, for your amazing photos! (there is still one more to come...)
Thank you Charlie, Chas and Hugh for all your patience.

I am so grateful, and excited about it!

Please let me know your honest feedback...
I always am looking for clarity, errors, or anything else you would like to see different.

Moving forward, I am going to be learning about Podcasting in the coming weeks.

smiles,
Rain

Moving Right Along

I haven't written in a couple of weeks as I have been writing so much with my website and another 45 day blogging challenge, the thought of writing here, seemed a bit over the top.

AuthenticTimes.com is doing great and we are now over the 100 subscriber mark! (106) to be exact! I am so grateful that other women are loving it as much as I am and have been sharing their artwork, stories, recipes and tips. I am so grateful for everyone who has stepped in to make it the success that it is!

My inspirational life coaching site is almost finished! I will let you know when it is, and I can't tell you what wonderful work it is. I have been working with an artist, who submitted her work to AuthenticTimes.com, to create an amazing vision for it. She is also a client, and was so excited to share how she saw my energy and business. Her name is Debbie Weber and she is amazing!

My children's book is also coming to a close. We have a printer ready and are finishing up the last half. It is amazing how much you grow as you create something like this. My illustrator has changed and developed our characters so well. I am thrilled at their life-like qualities and excited about what she has dreamed up. They are so friendly and warm. I really think the kids will love these characters!

So for now, I am busy working towards many goals at once. My husband is taking over more and more of the household tasks, shopping, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the kids. The kids are surprisingly happy. I guess they are at the right age to be independent most of the time. Our lives have never been so intensely busy and so happy at the same time. I guess we are doing the right thing!

Saying Yes to a Sunset

It amazes me how beautiful life can be. Thursday has become a busy publishing day and usually I am up early in the morning working until late at night. I work on editing, finding photos that work with articles, correcting any bugs, and trying to see if there is anything missing. I don't seem to see much of the world outside on Thursdays, which is okay for me, since it is only one day and I love working on my ezine. Yesterday, in the middle of everything, my husband decided it would be wonderful if we watched the sunset at the cliffs. My first reaction was, "Have fun! I am not even close to being done." but when I took a second look inside my heart, I realized that I didn't want to miss out on being together as a family, a walk, and the sunset.

I quickly changed my answer, and soon we were all walking out the door. The night was just lovely. It may be very hot this time of year for a lot of people, but where we live, it has been in the 70's and it is very windy living out here on the cliffs. It felt somewhere around 60 degrees with the wind and we were all wearing our fleece. The air was crisp and the streets were quiet. We all felt so much joy as we all raced to catch a glimpse of the sunset. The boys, of course, won the race!

Usually, it feels to me like the sun sets quicker than I can appreciate all the beauty, but tonight, for some reason, it was slowly easing its way down the sky. It was as though it didn't want the day to end. I could understand the resistance. It was a beautiful day and I was there giggling with my beautiful family. I didn't want it to end either. We waited for quite awhile until at last, the last drop of fiery light dropped behind the sea. We were much quieter as we walked home. Happy, relaxed and tired.

I knew I was going to have to finish my work for the night and I did happily until midnight. Sometimes it is so easy to miss out on amazing opportunities spending time with those we love, because we can always find some excuse why you can't that sounds real. "I have to work. I can't find the time right now. We can do it again another time." The only problem is, as life goes on, and time moves faster, we miss out on the intention we had to enjoy our lives. Each time we say, "next time" we lose the opportunity to be in the now, to enjoy what is right here in front of us, and the fact is, it may just not be available when you finally decide that you can finally take the time to spend with those you love the most.

I am so grateful for the gift of saying yes!

A Holiday After Week Two!

Hooray for the holiday! What a gift to get a holiday after only 2 weeks of a new business. I am sure that is highly unusual. Though... I am ready for it. While getting used to the very bugged system I have to publish my online magazine through, it was just not easy this week. I am so thrilled to be able to relax and write what feels good and fun.

Our family has a tradition to spend this holiday with old friends. We spend the night, have a BBQ, let the kids play until all hours, watch the same firework show we have seen for the past 11 years, and chase off to catch the ferry before the end of the night. This year, we have decided to stay an extra night. When my family asked for the extra night, I didn't protest. I am ready to continue to play and stay on holiday!

Starting a business, no matter what you decide to do, and how easy you hope it will be, is extremely time consuming. There are so many aspects to think about when you and your husband are the sole employees. You wear so many hats, you have to really know what to do and how to do it. However, when starting a business, more times than not you actually have no idea what you are doing. You are usually winging it! Okay, okay, I am usually winging it... When you have no idea what will work and what doesn't, life couldn't be more entertaining (for lack of a more colorful word.) The most effective way to get a job done, is well beyond your newbie grasp. It is the serious learning curve that makes what could be a 1 day job, into a 3 day job. So when it takes 5 days, you have to laugh and realize that one day you will look back and say, "Ah, those were the good ol' days!" And even if you don't say that, you will at least look back.

For now, I am not as overly tired as before, not as caffeinatedly (yes that is a word, regardless of what the spell check says) excited as before, just really happy to be working on this new business that brings me insight, fun and plenty of neuron connections.

Most of all today, I am just thrilled to be on holiday.

Happy 4th!

smiles,
Rain

Success in One Week!

Okay, maybe it didn't always feel that way. The first few days, I was flooded with new members, positive feedback and action. It was exciting and great! Of course after a few days, it began to slow down.... way down. This didn't feel good after the incredible high I had been on for the last 3 weeks. So the two days before our second launch, I was intermittently taken into a world of doubt and fear. It was time to decide how I was going to react to this new business. Was I only going to allow my happiness, because business was good? What did it mean to my life's purpose when it wasn't? Why did I decide to create this business anyway?

Soul searching became parts of days 4 and 5. The answer was loud and clear. Authentic Times was created for what I wanted to see on the internet. It was created for honest voices, without looking at advertisements, and it was created to inspire my spirit, that YES you can do things in this world that are about community and creativity and learning without corporate funding. Basically, it was created because it was my dream. I am realizing that my dream doesn't need approval from the world, it's just my dream. Realizing your dream IS success. When I really let that sink in, it allowed me to appreciate even more all the beautiful gifts I had already received through emails from other women and excitement in their writing. Every email and member was a bonus to my dream. The icing on the cake, you know, the cinnamon on the latte. Having others connect with my dream, is just an incredible blessing.

That when the perfection of the slow down hit me! The slow down allowed me to clarify my intentions, it allowed me to rest (yes, sleep!), let go of the coffee (again), begin to exercise, meditate and best of all find time to connect with my children and husband, family and friends.

Gratitude Journal: I am grateful for how much beautiful success one person can have in just one week!

Yahoo! Launch Day!

Wow! We finally made it to the Summer Solstice and our AuthenticTimes.com Launch Day!

What a amazing collaboration from my husband, the Programmer Extraordinaire, my brother, the Amazing Layout and Graphic Arteest, my sister and good friends (you know who you are!), also known as the Profound Support Team, as well as the many women I have met, spoken and emailed with, who shared their ideas and wisdom to create a phenomenal site!

Thank you ALL!!!!

I have spent the last week on coffee (which is already back on my quit list), working most days from 6am-11pm, wondering where the boys (7 & 9) are, communicating passionately with my sweet dearest husband, and feeling the wild exciting ride. This is blazing your trail, ladies, and I highly recommend it! Building this website has been so much fun, and I have learned so much, I know, no matter what happens, this is the journey I wanted to be on.

I hope you will all check it out, and see what my caffeine brain, fuzzy eyes, and wild dreams has helped to create!

One Week and the Lessons Keep Coming!

I look at my calendar and realize AuthenticTimes.com Launch Date is only one week away!
Do we have everything in place?

Yes, in fact, we have been ready for the past few days. We are just sipping margaritas in the sun, while the Summer Solstice comes to remind us to launch our perfect site!

Now for the real, or should I say, authentic answer. We are so far from being close, that we are working into the night and morning, every day. Excitement is high. Joy is coming in giant spurts.

On top of that my sweet 6 year old boy is turning 7 tomorrow and in my SAHM fashion, I couldn't resist, but to throw a huge birthday extravaganza! Too much on my plate? That is a great question, and the answer feels too big. It just isn't easy letting go of the ideas I had when I was a SAHM that a birthday party was huge deal. The fact is, I have always loved throwing parties. It meant planning and creating and gathering friends. I suppose that is what I have been doing with this website.

All working mothers must ask the question, how do you change your rhythm and find 5 extra hours in a day? My husband is doing a phenomenal job trying to take over some of the work I used to do. However, when my younger son got hurt yesterday, I was in trouble by both of my sons for letting my husband try to comfort him without me. My older son, came downstairs about 4 or 5 minutes later and announced, "Where were you? He needs you!" When I came up, my husband gave me a look that said, What else could I have done? "You are doing a great job," I try to encourage him, "it's just that this has been my job for the last 10 years."

Choosing to unschool/homeschool is something that is a way of life to us, and yet, we haven't found that time in the last week or two to help with projects. I already have told the kids that, except for the birthday party, expect mom to be really busy the next week. They already cook for themselves, and yesterday they cleaned the house, I suppose they will figure out how to find ways to move forward with their projects, without our help for another week.

This is going to be an adjustment for all of us, now that mommy is working.

I am less than 50 emails away from my launching goal of 100 women subscribers to start the Magazine with. I am still looking for more writers, recipes, and artists to fill the pages with other creative voices. (This might be a hint for you!) I am also trying to get the word out there about our launch date in creative ways.

My graphics are still being entered and functions are not all ready for action. Launching in one week? NO PROBLEM! I feel like those guys who, when remodeling our home, would look into my eyes of hope and tell me, no problem, we will get it done. Of course, that never actually happened. Not once. Have I become one of those guys?

So I breathe, I open myself up to the universe and say, I am here and ready to work. Show me what and where, and I will work. I will do my best to remember to kiss my kids and husband, sleep, exercise, drink water, and have moments of silence. I have always done what others have told me what I am supposed to, and now something has shifted. I am the one who is supposed to know the what and where. I am the head contractor of this building site. I am supposed to have the answers and make final decisions. Yet, I still call my girlfriends for advice and help and last minute ideas. I wish I had a big company. I would just call a meeting of staff to brainstorm these final decisions. But I don't, and it really comes down to me. What do I want? What is the creative force inside of me wanting to create? And the wisdom comes down as, if you knew you could not fail, what would you love to do right now?

It is up to the confidence in my choices again.

Having Fun on the Path to Launch!

Wow! Time is growing short. So much fun to be had, also known as, so many "to dos" on my list. I am visualizing my spirit in the midst of a whole ball of excitement and fun! After all, why not? Going to visit the city hall to sign up for a license? FUN! Working on the "how to submit an article" page for the site? FUN!

Sometimes, when our list of things to do begin to pile up, we start to feel it getting heavy on our minds. We tell ourselves, "I HAVE to get this done!" "This NEEDS to be done as soon as possible!" We become our own parent, boss or teacher who is putting pressure on the result, instead of remembering that we were the ones who actually wanted what we are doing! We forget we put ourselves on this path. How does this happen? How do we keep our focus on the fun of the journey, and not the results?

Every week, I pull out my giant white board that is divided into categories and write down the items that I want to accomplish in each category for the week. The key word here is "want." If I am tired or stressed, when I look at those same items I was excited about Monday morning, I start to tell myself they are "have tos" and "must dos" and my excitement wanes. My fix for this is to focus on self care and remember how much fun I am having. The excitement of starting a business can be overwhelming. Yes, there is a small amount of fear in there, but the excitement supersedes that in the beginning and you just keep moving forward with jumps and success dances and high fives. Everything is new and fun and you are so thrilled to be in the middle of it. This sometimes takes a toll on your energy as you stay up late to finish projects, or wake up early to start new ones. Forgetting to sleep, eat and take breaks is becoming commonplace. Here is a list to keep the fun in creating our business.

Step one: Focus on Self Care:
Pick a rising time and a bed time range. Stick to it and get some sleep.
Buy your favorite healthy foods. Then schedule in prep time on your calendar to actually prepare them.
Meditate, breathe, and take time for silence and being present. Let your gratitude shine.
Exercise daily. This is crucial for mental health and good ideas!
Plan fun time outside of your business. Schedule in a break every few days to focus on other things you enjoy in life and remember your business is not you, just a part of you.

Step two: Remember, It's fun!
Keep a journal with you (or start a blog) and write down all your best moments, to reread from time to time.
Make sure you talk to your support system when you have forgotten the fun!
Make a finish line for goals each week and plan celebrations with friends or family when you pass the finish line.
Put up all your accomplishments (such as your business cards, banners, incorporation seal) on the walls of the house, like when you were a child, to acknowledge your success.
Laugh a lot!

So off I go, into the world of fun, marking tasks off the list, crossing finish lines, and having a blast doing it!

A Little More of Me, A Little More of You!

It has been an interesting week in my trail-blazing. We got our business license, which was a piece of cake, and I continued to blaze...

The partnership for the clothing line fell through, because they were not truly excited about my vision, which disappointed me, and began a cord of doubting questions to other parts of my work. My mind chatter was saying, if that didn't work, what else was I doing that might fail as well? For about a day, off and on, I wondered if my ideas, my creations were what the world wanted to see. This led to wanting to redesign the website, as I heard the voices of ego tell me, it was just too feminine and not hip and cool, like some of the other websites out there.

People will say things to you about being "too (fill in the blank)" throughout your life. Lines I have heard in my life are, I am too naive, too open, too over-excited, too simplistic, too trusting, too emotional, too controlling, too worried, too sensitive, too weird, too out of touch, too idealistic, too girly, too analyzing, too honest, and too wordy (are you thinking that now?). Of course there is a list of more negative ones, but why go there? What I have come to realize over the past couple of days is that, yes, I am all of those things to some extent, and isn't that what makes this world so fabulous? Everyone has their own lists, creating new ways to see the world, making it a whole lot more fun and interesting. Joyously, there are also enough people on this planet whose list is going to match up with your list, which reminds you that you are not alone.

Who decided there is only one right way to do things?

What I know is true is there are enough successful people out there who said I am just going to be myself, and it worked! My website and children's book are based on my preferences and my experiences. If I can't let that energy flow, it won't be creatively fun, and that won't fit the vision for my life. Yes, my website is girly, and yet, whenever I look at it, I just love it! It is me all over the place. Swirly and girly with fancy font and blues and purples with flowers and happy thoughts. It always brings a smile to my face. Yet, I have had some well-meaning, differing opinions from friends.

There have been some who have told me that I should leave the "beautifully" out of our tag line, but how could it be my website, without that? I live for beauty. Not the kind you see in a magazine, but colors, and nature and friend's smiles, and the kind of beauty when someone looks you in the eyes and you can see their joy. Some have said they don't like the word "community" to represent online groups. But to me, this could be an amazing community. It is a perfect gathering space for women going through the powerful change in our lives, to come and hang out and connect, exchange ideas and support each other. Some have said they don't think I should mention age ranges. I really thought about this and it might change, actually. I do see how common it is for women 30 to 50 to ask themselves dynamic questions and watch their power emerge. Some have said "blissfully" is over-used. I say it hasn't been used enough. Some have said "authentic" is cliche', and other's have said it should only be used for describing food. The word authentic rang so beautifully to me, that it is the one word mission statement for my life .

I have welcomed the ideas and help that has been generously shared with me, as I really value new perspectives that keep the juices flowing. Many ideas have helped me shift my thoughts and I have grown because of them, while others I have had to let go. I keep coming back to the same conclusion. I want to see these projects as creations born from my ideas and passions, while sculpted along by the passions of others who want to see them become successful. And the bottom line is they may be successful and they may fail, but I am the only one who will fail if I don't allow my ideas to stay true to what I want to see. Those failing beliefs are: 1. There is only one way to make it right and 2. I don't have enough knowing to do it right. That was when I realized the amazing gift of the partnership dissolving. I learned that it is worth the failure to try it once with your own creative inspiration.

This is our world. We can be the creators of what we see before us. Right or wrong, good or bad, I have decided to put a little more of me into the design of my world. I encourage you to try it out, if you haven't already, and put a little more of you out there, too.