Lyons Leadership

I have to tell you about my friend Sophie. She is the most amazing and courageous person that I have ever met. She has overcome so much in her short lifetime and is one of the smartest and most beautiful people that I have ever met. I met her when I went to visit my mom when she was in a home for alcohol rehab.

Sophie was only fifteen years old at the time and I did not know very much about kids addiction at that time. We ended up talking the night that my mom was so sick and never actually came out to see me. Sophie befriended me as she said I looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

I was scared of her to begin with, but as I got to know her, I was amazed at her story and the courage she had to get the help she needed. She went on to get a college education and she now helps other kids that were in the same situation as her. She is truly my hero.

The first time I knew that I had to lose weight was when I went to a sexy lingerie store and realized that there was nothing in there that would fit me.  There were some really nice articles in there and I really wished that I could buy them. I knew that at one point in my life that they would have looked great on me.

I could not even fit into any of the bras that they were selling. It was a reality check for me and I joined a gym that very same afternoon. I got serious about everything that I put in my mouth and I was eating better than I ever had in my life.

When I made a conscious effort to lose weight and get healthy, it became my passion. It was amazing to see the results and, though it took many months, I got to the perfect weight and I decided that I would never let myself get into that situation ever again.

I know it is late, but I still am not tired enough to go to bed.  Sure, I might not think that in a couple of hours once my kids wake up, but until then, I get some piece and quiet.  I thought that it would be the perfect time to list some things for sale online.

I have some old furniture that I want to get rid of before the new furniture gets in next Wednesday.  So, I have snapped some pictures and made a free classified ad with them in it.  I am asking next to nothing, so I won’t hold my breath as to how much money I get for them.

Next, I took some pictures of the couple of used motorcycles that I own.  I have had no luck selling them in town, so hopefully, things go better online for me.  It is taking me a little longer for the motorcycles because I am trying to find links to their spec sheets on the manufacturers sites.

I have a couple more things to list, but they will have to wait until morning - I think I have done enough for one night.

I went to a farm auction with my dad a few weeks ago. I normally find these very dull, but I go with him just to make him happy. I think it is good for him to have someone to watch out for him and I do enjoy spending the time with him.

This particular auction was different than the usual ones. They were getting rid of things that actually interested me. I bought a big box of kid’s costumes, including a George Jetson costume that I knew would be perfect for my husband.

I also got a box full of picture frames and a box full of quilts. I did try to bid on a few other things, but stop bidding when they got too high for my tastes. I was glad to be able to get some bargains, but in the end the most valuable thing is the great conversations I get to have with dad.

As some of my best friends know, I have had a yacht by the name of Queen for the past five years.  It has always been a dream for me to have a yacht and go sailing, so when I had the opportunity, I took it.

Now, it hasn’t been without it’s challenges, but once summer hits, if you are looking for me, I am out on the water.  Just this week, I went to see if she made it through the winter in the yacht storage unit - and thankfully she was okay.

I was worried because last year at a different yacht storage facility, there were a number of break-ins and damage done to many of the yachts in the yacht storage units.  But the winter went without any problems - which gave me a sigh of relief.

I am hoping to take it out of storage in the next week or two for the first sail of the year - I can’t wait.

Ever since I was a young child growing up in Spain, I had dreamed of one day living and working in America.  I knew, that one thing I needed to do before I went was to get a better grasp of the English language.  I did not want to go on the little amount that I knew.

I decided that the best thing to do would be to go learn English in Britain.  I figured I’d have a better chance at getting a good job and a good education if I could speak the language when I got there.  I did not want to spend the first year or two of my life in America just learning the language.

I went to a study English UK school and as I was a quick learner, I had a very good grasp of the language in only six months.  When I did finally move to America many people commented that I had very good English, especially when they found out that I had just learned it.

I have finally got around to figuring out how my portfolio did over the last month.  Usually, I keep track of it on a daily basis, but for whatever reason, I slipped up this time.  The month was a little busier for me and I didn’t have time to punch in the numbers into my spreadsheet.

But now that the month is almost over, I have taken the time to figure out the results from my stock picks from the past month.  I am happy to say that I am up quite a bit for the month, which definitely puts a big smile on my face.

I tried a new stock research service this month in an attempt to get some insight into stocks and industries that I have never invested in before.  The reports that they have provided me have allowed me to broaden my investments and increase my return on investment.  It has been definitely worth the money in terms of the return that I have had on my stocks.

But there are still a couple of days left in the month - if things keep going the way they have, it might be my best month yet - I can’t wait to see the final results!

I was really surprised when my best friend met and decided to marry a man from Australia.  Not only was she going to marry a man from Australia, she was going to get married in Australia.  I was excited, as this meant I was appointed to take an overseas trip.

I decided to go and visit her six months before the wedding so that I could help her with preparations.  I gathered a list of catering services in Sydney and we went to talk to some of these people in order to narrow it down.  We got a lot done in a few short weeks that I was there.

I went back for the wedding and she said that she could not have done it without me.  It was lovely and I actually thanked her husband for being born in Australia so that I could get this once-in-a-lifetime chance to be part of an Australian wedding.

I have worked at many places where they have a staff appreciation day.  The idea is that the company celebrates the achievements of their employees and recognizes the value that they bring to their organization.

I have been to many of these events and some of them have been great, while others sucked.  I can think of many employers that just rewarded us with food, such as sandwiches, and though it was nice to have a free meal, it didn’t get me too excited.

Perhaps the best staff appreciation day that I have ever experienced was one where our employer hired some fire performers to put on a show for us.  It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and it was something that I had never seen up to that point.  Not only was I excited, but I actually appreciated the thought that our boss put into the event.

When I first started my first website, I thought that I would do everything.  My plan was to create the site, write the content, and do all the marketing all by myself.  It couldn’t be hard right?

Well, I was in for a surprise.

I didn’t realize that it was going to be so time intensive.  I spend so much time designing the site and then creating the content, that I was tired.  When it came down to the point where I was supposed to be marketing the site, I felt really frustrated because I had no idea of where to start.

After trying one of those search engine optimizer software packages, it was clear to me that I needed to get someone to do it for me - it was just not working out.  Searching online, I was able to find a company that gave me an SEO quote, and I contracted them to do the marketing for me.

The result turned out that my site did really well, and I reduced my stress at the same time - which worked out perfectly.