What was I thinkin?

Journella's New Follow Feature

Many months ago I decided to start working on a second phase for our Journella.com program. The first phase we worked on the "private/personal" journal features (My Journella). The second phase was to add a "public" sharing side to Journella.com (The Journella.com Story Board.)

There is always a lot to do and it is always a tough decision where to focus our time. For the past month, a lot of our time has been focused on our latest addition, a "FOLLOW" feature and a "RECENT ACTIVITY" feature.

FOLLOW is a Story Board feature that allows me to view only the stories from authors I've chosen. It is easy to follow an author - just click on their name, highlighted in blue - under their story.

Once I have chosen authors to follow, I can exclusively view their stories by clicking on "Stories I Follow" (see image below - note the "Stories I Follow" is highlighted in blue and only the Mosaic Moments Design Team Members Stories are in the view.)

But what if I want to view a single author?

To view a single author's stories all I have to do is click on that author's profile image under the story. (See image below - notice all stories shown are by Beth Glass.)

Recent Activity Feature - this feature is located in my "personal/Private" view (MY JOURNELLA tab.) It lets me know if something new has been added to the Story Boards by one of the authors I follow. It also tells me recent things I've done (like collected items from facebook) and if one of the authors I follow cheers a story it lets me know so I can go and read the stories they "like."

NOTE: See Recent Activity below your current profile image in the right column (see image below - note the MY JOURNELLA tab is highlighted.)

I recognize there are issues that come up for users who are "brave enough" to try programs in their early (Beta) phase. We love to hear your thoughts, frustrations (we can't fix something if we don't know it isn't working), as well as things you are enjoying.

We are working ever day to make improvements and fix bug/issues as soon as we find them.

Thank you for participation and for your patience,

 

Quick Menu

A few weeks ago we added a new addition to our Journella site. Our new "Quick Menu" is a simple way to navigate to the commonly used areas on the Journella Site.

If you have any questions or any suggestions regarding Journella I'd love to hear from you. Contact me at [email protected]

How far back?

I got into my Journella account this morning and started reading some old posts, many were from facebook. I started clicking back in time, into 2010, and then 2009 and there were many facebook icons showing on each month. That got me curious. How far back was Journella able to save my facebook updates?

I finally found my first saved facebook up date. It was in August 2008 and on my birthday no less!

What a lovely surprise, to find this birthday wish from a friend, saved forever in my Journella account! Have you saved your facebook updates in Journella? I'd love to hear what your oldest facebook status update is.

 

Happy Memory Making!

Facebook as a Memory Tool

I haven't been home much during the month of September; but, I still managed to get a lot of entries into my Journella™ Account. :)

Since I started organizing my memories in Journella™, I have so many more details for my scrapbook pages!

You could say I have been using facebook, in combination with Journella™, as a Memory Tool. Facebook? Tool? you ask... Yes, you read that correctly. While I am away I send posts to facebook via my cell phone. (see examples below)

Then, when I am home, the status updates I sent to facebook work for me as journal prompts. The date and time I sent the updates to facebook are automatically saved. When I have a few minutes, I can take time to add additional details or photos I need to create "fuller" journal entries.

 Be sure to go to www.journella.com and register for this FREE on-line resource.

Happy Scrappin,

 

Journella Update: Sharing

Journella.com is preparing to launch our Beta Phase 2 - the sharing phase. Each story shared will be displayed on our "excerpt view" pages with a title, the date shared or a Memory Date, and the first few lines of the story. Here is a little sneak peek at a portion of excerpt view:

Once we launch phase 2 you will be able to select stories, from your own journal entries, that you would like to share with others. You will also be able to notify your facebook friends when you share a new story simply by clicking the "like" button with the facebook icon.

Friends who read your stories will be able to leave feedback via "cheers" buttons:

We are hoping to "go live" with our story boards sometime in the coming week.

I hope you will consider joining our cheer squad,

I have a Great Job!

You know you have a great job when even though you are having the time of your life (on vacation) you also can't wait to get back to work!

Kevin and I went to NYC to celebrate our 25th anniversary. One of our favorite perks of being "Scrapbook Roadies" is the hotel points we build up. We decided our 25th anniversary was a good time to "blow" a lot of those points. We stayed in a room with a fabulous view in Times Square. (My photo printer died. I have a new one on order; so, I"ll share some pages later.)

The trip was wonderful - we had a fabulous time in the city and loved every minute of it. But, I have to admit, coming home was exciting too. The morning after we got home we had a conference call with one of our Journella team members. He needed some clarifications for our coming soon "phase two" Journella. I was so excited to finally be talking about it and hearing the details being worked out. We are getting close!

I said I'd leave a hint here and there. (I am so bad at keeping secrets!) Here is a little peek at a new button that's coming soon on the Journella website.

I will have to leave additional details up to your imagination, for now; but, I think this is a pretty big hint. :)

We all have a story to share. As memory keepers/scrapbookers we are experts at preserving our memories. Wouldn't it be nice to be the inspiration that encourages others to do the same?

My holiday memory preservation secrets: take lots of pictures, text my memories to facebook, and save them for when I need them on Journella.com.

Hope you have a Fabulous 4th of July weekend!

 

 

You didn't think we were done did you?

A few weeks ago the Journella team "opened the doors" to Journella.com so our favorite memory keepers (that's you) could get a peek into our first phase. I hope those of you who have joined us are enjoying the benefits of features such as collecting your facebook status, categorizing your memories, etc. (If you see any quirks, please do not feed them! and if you have a minute to spare, please let us know where you saw them.)

I've been enjoying phase 1- especially seeing all the journal items "pop up" on my calendar. I told my daughter that the little icons on month view are sort of like "reward stickers." (I love seeing my progress via icons all organized by date!)

In addition to chasing down quirks, we continue to add features to Journella Beta - our latest is the ability to sign in using facebook credentials. A great feature for those of us who have a hard time remembering multiple user names and passwords.

And, because the Journella team is not one to let a few quirks get in our way, Journella Phase 2 is underway. I'd love to tell you all about it because I really love to SHARE and I think you love to SHARE too. That is what scrapbooking memories is all about right? SHARING with others, inspiring others, creating a lasting impression...

I wish I could SHARE with you now, but phase 2 is still a secret. I'll see what I can do to leave a few hints along the way and I'll SHARE the big news as soon as I can. :)

Memory Don't Fail Me Now!

As memory preservation experts, scrapbookers are at the top of the "memory" game. We take a lot of pictures, we journal about the photos (preserving the dates, location, names, etc.) and we bind them into albums. There is just one more important question left to answer...

Is there a photograph for everything we want to remember?

A few years ago I received a box from a friend. The box was filled with letters I'd written to her. Many of the letters were written while I was a teenager. Because of her thought to save my letters, I was able to open an amazing treasure - a view into memories forgotten - my personal history!

No matter how much we plead, "Memory don't fail me now!" Our memories will fade.

Once upon a time, the solution to memory loss, was the preservation of handwritten documents. Our parents and grandparents saved letters, documents, and journals. These items retained a portion of their personal history.

Times have changed.

  Digital forms of communication have taken the place of handwritten notes. We e-mail, we text, we post updates to friends on social sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Digital communication is great. It is fast. It is convenient. But, what happens when we hit "delete"? Are these new paperless communications turning us into the "lost" generation? What will we do in 20 years when we want to remember conversations with our friends about how we got that job, or how it felt to fall in love? or how cute our kids (grand kids) were when...

Doesn't there need to be a memory solution for this new digital world?

Welcome Journella.com

 

Journella.com is dedicated to the preservation of your personal history. In addition to keeping a well organized journal, Journella™ currently offers the ability to save and organize your Facebook updates, Twitter updates, and RSS feeds (personal blogs.)

Journella™ is in it's first Beta phase and in a process of continued development. During the coming months, and years, Journella™ will continually add features to make memory preservation even more convenient.

You can register for an account on our Beta site. (This is a FREE service.) Go to Journella.com and start saving & organizing your memories today!

 

Thank you for your support!

Journella™ Designer and Team Member

Filling & Filtering

I've been a little obsessed with Journella™ lately, which means I haven't been posting much in the way of Mosaic Moments™ scrapbook pages. When it comes to organizing I am a bit of an addict. Once I get started on an organizing project it is difficult to make myself stop.

I've been trying to pace myself in my Journella™. The first thing I did after registering was connect to my facebook and twitter accounts and collect everything I could from them. Then I added my RSS feeds (which only go back about 5-6 posts.) So, to get the remainder of my personal blog posts into my Journella™ I have been copying one post at a time (5 or 6 posts per session) and saving into Journella™ with the Memory Date added - the day I originally wrote the item.

This is what my May calendar currently looks like (above).

If I filter to show only stuff I've written about Cole, I'll see this:

May be you can see why I am a little addicted. :)

 

I've been busy

I don't have classes scheduled for the month of May, which means I tried to cram everything else I needed to do into May; So, I am busier than ever!

I have been looking for bugs and testing stuff and writing, and reading, and testing, and chatting with the programmers, and looking for more bugs...

Kevin got our home page slides fixed tonight. That was exciting. So I'll share - I can't make it a slide show; but, I can show you some screens.

Slide 1

Slide 2 - Wouldn't you agree?

Slide 3 - Everyone has a favorite aunt, or uncle...

There are more (slides 4, 5 & 6) but, I don't want to spoil the surprise. (and Kevin says it is time to go to bed!) So, I'll let you see the rest on our web page.

Just a few more days!

 

 

Spyglass Part 3

I have to write a note of appreciation for our programmers. They have been working like crazy over the past couple of weeks to help us get ready for our Beta launch. There are always "bugs" in programming and we have all been working weekends, late nights, and early mornings to get as many fixed as possible before the big - soft- debut.

One of the exciting "fixes" from this morning is shown in the image below - another "spy" into Journella™. :)

What have you been sharing with friends on facebook? How might those bits of information be helpful to your scrapbook creating process? If you knew that you were saving everything you wrote on facebook, would it encourage you to share more?

Happy Scrappin!

Spyglass Part 2

Are you ready for another peek?

This is another little portion, of another view, you might see on the Coming Soon Journella™ website.

Do you feel like you are getting things pieced together?"

On it's way!

While I'm creating scrapbook pages, I often wish I could remember more details about the event, the location, etc.

It is wonderful to have a new digital camera that assigns a date to each photo I take; however, I have many older (pre-digital camera) photos where the dates were not automatically recorded.

And, even with my new camera, many of the details I wish I could remember are just beyond my recollection. That is where my journals help out.

During the past several years, as my days have become busier, I find less and less time to write in personal journals. Some of the time I previously spent writing in Journals has been reallocated to writing blogs and facebook updates.

I began wishing there was a quick and easy way to combine my writing efforts. I needed a place where I could collect the things I've written on facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. and integrate them with my personal journal. Then, I could organize all of my thoughts and memories by subject as well as by date.

So, a need inspired a solution, as it often does, and I began a new adventure that I hope you will enjoy as much as I have.

I've been wanting to share - and though we are not ready for a full reveal, I'd like to offer just a little peek.

 

 

If you were looking through a spyglass, this is a little of one view you might see on our "coming soon" Journella™ website.

My hope is you'll want to see more. :)

to be continued...

Ready to Burst!

You know how you feel when you are trying to accomplish something and it is a lot harder than you expected it to be and then it FINALLY comes together? That is how I feel today.

We've been working on this "mystery project" and it has taken much longer than we expected and it has been much more complicated than we expected. There have been many road blocks along the way. We've had to change our expectations and make a lot of compromises.The one thing that hasn't changed is my determination to get it done.

This week we've had a lot to worry about. We had some critical functions that just weren't working. We'd send in a "bug report" to the programmers. They would send back a "okay it's fixed" notice. We'd test it and we still couldn't get it to work. We'd send back another bug report...

Sure, I had confidence that they would make it work sooner or later; but, with so much time and money on the line, we needed sooner!

Yesterday morning I got the BEST. NEWS. EVER. when I opened a new - "We've got it figured out this time" notice and when I tested - IT REALLY WORKED!

Just a few more of these "critical" issues to iron out and we will be ready to launch our first Beta Phase.

This is a Seriously Exciting Day!

PS - The illustration above is a friend of our Educational Mascot, Ella. Isn't she cute?

 

Back on Board!

This has been a great week. Tuesday morning started our official climb back behind the wheel of the Mystery Machine. We found a great mechanic who understands the love and care the Mystery Machine needs in order to make the journey ahead of us. I am smiling!

.

Sometimes...you have to pull on the hiking boots!

Remember when I said, "We called a tow truck?"

We waited and we waited, and then we waited a little more (okay - for probably two weeks we waited.) That tow truck just never showed up! Unbelievable right? Yeah, that is what I thought.

Sometimes you have to say "when" and be glad that you own a pair of hiking boots (and a bottle of water.) You need water when you are going on a really LONG hike.

Oh sure, The Mystery Machine may be having engine trouble; but, it is "a fabulous machine" and well worth a hike to the next service station. (I tell myself this as I endure the LONG LONG HOURS of work we've been putting in to find a good mechanic and get "our beloved Mystery Machine" back up and running.)

Don't let my previous statement (about enduring the long long hours) be confused with complaining. I am not complaining at all, nope not me. Because, even though we've had some big set backs, and even though I am totally dying to see this project launch... and it is killing me that I am STILL not to a point that I can "leak" a really juicy hint at what I've been up to... AND I really wish it were going to be available SOONER instead of later... because Even though we have been staying up until midnight and getting up at 6 AM and I really have to say it - "writing and proof reading REALLY LONG documents" is not generally my idea of fun - all that having been said...

I AM LOVING THIS!

Why? because I am VERY grateful for the support I've had and I know that every set back experienced has been an amazing learning opporutniy that gets us closer to bringing this vision to life.

...and if you could see it, you would think the document we've been slaving over is the most beautifully written and formatted document! (I can't take credit for that  - there are a couple of "mystery men" to whom I owe all the credit.)

So, don't expect anything in the next few weeks, and may be not in the next couple of months. But, the Mystery Machine hasn't been abandoned, at least not by it's devoted team.

 

I'll keep you updated. :)

 

Tow Truck for the Mystery Machine

Are you wondering what's happening with my "Secret Project"?

It has been almost a year since "official" work began. We've had a few bumps in the road, a flat tire here and there, and now the Mystery Machine seems to be having some engine trouble.

No worries - we've called a tow truck. It should be here any day to get us back on the road again. :)

If you have ever seen the movie "Money Pit" with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long you will know what I mean when I say it will be done in "two weeks!"

Yeah, we've missed a lot of deadlines. I suspect we will miss a few more; but, I keep planning - knowing that one day (may be I should say one month) soon we will be making our big launch announcement.

In the mean time - I've got plenty of scrappin to do. :)

Moving Along

A few weeks ago we set a projected finish date (October 22) and I was so excited to be getting so close; but, last week, the programmers informed me they are going to need another two weeks. Honestly, I kind of figured it would come to this. Does anything ever move along according to schedule?

Not a problem, because I know that I have plenty to do while I'm waiting. One of my recent tasks has been directing the creation of a new friend. I needed a "personality" for my new project. A character that is cute, endearing, fun and will help present certain messages about my new project.

Earlier in the project process you might remember that I considered using an elephant as our "mascot." (I put that idea away for various reasons.)

I was having a difficult time deciding what the "replacement" character should be. I think I considered everything from monsters to mice. Nothing seemed to make sense. Then, while consulting with my sister-in-law, she suggested an owl. "OMGosh!" I thought. She hit it right on the nose beak - an owl was exactly the character I'd been searching for!

Working on the owl has been a wonderful collaboration (my vision - being tackled by a cartoonist). Some of the first sketches didn't turn out exactly the way I envisioned. He looked a little too old, not fresh and fun. I suggested we try making the eyes a bit bigger and well... that didn't exactly improve the look.

I wondered if I'd ever be able to convey what I was looking for; but, I wasn't ready to give up. I went on line and started looking at pictures of owls. There are so many really cute owls but I was immediately attracted to the sweet face of this Saw whet owl (pictured below). I like the rounded head (no pointy tufts like the horned owls.) I also like the subtle heart shape on the forehead.

So, the adorable little Saw-whet owl became the inspiration for our final sketch. Here is a first peek at my new friend:

 
I hope when you get to know him you'll love him as much as I do. :)

Waiting is Hard

I received some fabulous news from the programmer. He told me he could have the coding (for my mystery project) finished by the end of October! The excitement had me all worked up - making to do lists and plans for the big reveal. Then Kevin reminded me to consider all the cliches: bumps in the road, don't put your cart before the horse...

One cliche says something like... "a watched pot never boils." I guess that is someone's way of saying "keep busy and before you know it, it will be time to pour noodles into the water."

Waiting is hard. Waiting can make 24 hours can seem like a week!

Sometimes I need a new perspective to make waiting easier; so, I am making a list of times in my life when it felt really hard to wait:

• The 24 days before Christmas - especially when I was 6-9 years old. The anticipation was almost too much to bear! :)
• 365 days until the next Birthday -  especially year 16 (I really wanted that license to drive.)
• 3 years of trying to get pregnant - month after month of disappointment was really hard.
• 9 months waiting to not be pregnant anymore. (I was sick all 9 months but the last month -feeling totally huge- was the hardest.)

The next several weeks should be a piece of cake compared to that!

If you are anxiously waiting with me, make your own list of times when it felt really hard to wait. Add a few additional thoughts/memories and a photo or two and you'll have a great page for your scrapbook. :)

Mystery Solved? - not yet.

Though I am totally dying to show and tell, the mystery must continue...

...and someone forgot to mention that this process would require a career change - from designer to sleuth!

Actually, there is a lot of stuff about this process that has surprised me. For example, after we finished the "bazillion page" document that details how the program will work, I thought the next step would be programming.

I was wrong. The next step was building a program prototype - all in HTML code!

When someone creates a prototype that includes pretty much everything in a "bazillion page" document, it can take awhile to work through all the details. Once 'all the details' have been included, it is time to start that new career.

What does a "program sleuth" do? A lot of clicking!

As I clicked, I made lists of all the stuff that was missing. I sent the list to the coders and they'd go back into the code and add the missing stuff. While they were busy with that, I'd continue to go through the prototype and find MORE stuff that was missing! I'd send another list. This cycle continues over and over again.

I wondered if I'd ever stop finding stuff that was missing or needed to be altered in some way.

a few weeks later...

We, the coders and I, hope we finally have it all. They are ready to "freeze" the prototype and move on. The pressure is on. I need to put on my super sleuth hat and go through the prototype one last time before I approve the "freeze."

I sit down with project team members. I begin explaining the prototype to them and guess what?

Yes, that's right. I discover there is more missing stuff.

At this point there is only one thing I am sure of... My sleuthing career is not over and, being a newbie, something is probably going to be forgotten or overlooked.

I wouldn't want anyone to think I am complaining - this has been mind boggling, frustrating, and very educational - but, mostly it has been fun!

(confession: I exaggerated when I said, "a bazillion pages.")

...Got the T-Shirt

Sometimes I look for T-Shirts while I am on vacation. Something to say "I was there" after I return home.

A T-shirt is a great way to show off  your participation. I mean, if you worked really hard to prepare for a marathon you really should have a t-shirt that brags about your accomplishment for you, right?

I've been enjoying "The Mystery Machine" marathon for awhile now. I've been thinking may be I need a t-shirt? It could display a list of "milestones" on the back. May be I could get pictures of the programming team. May be it would look something like this:

Scooby t-shirt at Zazzle.com.

Okay well, may be not; but, when we are done with this mystery project I think the team members are all going to deserve a t-shirt!

all gassed up!

The Mystery Machine has been on the go this week. It seemed we were standing on the side of the road with an empty gas tank for awhile; but, on Monday, we began a series of 7:00 AM conference calls to discuss the details in a critical document.

I've been excited about the progress we are making and I was very happy this morning to see that we are down to our last 10 pages. I hope to get through them tomorrow and be ready for the next phase of the project. 

As we discuss the project features, we come across things we want to change, things we want to add now, and things we are exploring for future versions. It is disappointing when a feature I really want is placed in the "not now" pile; but, good to know it can always be revisited in the future. 

One of the things I have most enjoyed about the Mosaic Moments system over the years is how simple it is to create a scrapbook page or work of art that looks anything but simple. Because I hope to capture the same sense of "simple" in this new project, each detail is being carefully considered. The goal, to be simply-amazing. :)

Acronyms

During the past three weeks the "mystery machine" has been driving slowly. I was warned the tech industry is paved over rocky ground.  There is so much road to cover and we've had a couple of flat tires (both literally and figuratively!) along the way; but, I am happy to be on this path - pot holes and all.

One of the project challenges has been learning a new language. I am not sure how well I am doing. Techies use a lot of acronyms and words that haven't made it into Webster's dictionary yet. It is a challenge to keep it all straight. One minute we are talking about API's and the next SMS. I don't know what they stand for; but, at least I know what they refer to. I've been doing a lot of research - trying to understand the colloquialisms of the tech world. Maybe, by the end of this process, I won't need an interpreter anymore.

Wish me luck! :)

Small World

Last Friday I was sitting at my desk waiting for a scheduled call (about my secret project) from one of our overseas collaborators. Instead I received a message from one of her co-workers letting me know she had been delayed.

A little over an hour later I received a message from 'S'. She had finally made it home. She had a flat tire on her way and though she was properly equipped, with a jack and a spare tire, she didn't know how to change it.

I empathized with her - explaining, "I wouldn't know how to change a tire either." I was glad she found someone to help and got home safely.

All of the above "chatting" was done via Skype.

I love technology! Isn't it wonderful to live in a world that allows us to "meet" and talk to people on the other side of the globe? (for free!)

scrapped logo sketch

Most of the communications with my cross continental collaborators have been a series of questions and answers. The questions were generally focused on defining the project. Recently, I received a request for something different - a logo.

I hadn't settled on a "final logo" at that point. I'd been working on some ideas and narrowing the prospects. Clearly, it was time to make a decision. You'll have to wait to see what we decided on, but I'll share an early concept sketch (that went into the "scrap pile".)

Playing on the concept of "memory," I had an idea to create an elephant with a string tied around the trunk (like a string tied around a finger.) I thought it would be fun if the elephant could "dress" according to the time/season - but, would always feature a red ear and red string.

 

.

Halfway around the World

The progression of "my secret project" has added exotic curiosities to my life.

It has been exciting, for example, to converse with someone who is halfway around the world. Though I am a frequent traveler, I have not been a "brave" traveler. Not that I don't want to be; but, so far, the opportunity hasn't presented itself. I've never been more than a couple hours distance beyond U.S. borders and I didn't even need a passport at the time.

Me, and my "passport free" self, wonder... what it would be like to go to this exotic place - 10 time zones away? Though our communications have been strictly e-mail so far. I am enjoying this connection that allows me to imagine... someday I'll be there in person.

The Mystery Machine

I've been working on a secret project. I have been so excited about it and I really wish I could tell you about it - but I can't, at least not yet.

It all began last summer while Kevin and I were driving in our little Honda Civic. (It seems most of our best ideas come while we're driving.) We were discussing the desire for a "new direction." We'd been trying to get a new product worked out; but, it was progressing very slowly - too slowly. As each "progress goal" came and went - with very little progress being made, I became a little more frustrated. I began losing interest in continuing with the product; however, I didn't have a "replacement idea" to focus on. So, I continued to consider solutions to make it work.

Neither Kevin or I were expecting this seemingly unimportant conversation to be a catalyst for change. It wasn't the first time we'd had "this" discussion. However, after expressing my disenchantment with the fore-mentioned product progression, Kevin said something that sparked a wild fire in my brain. I began rambling with excitement and within minutes I had a complete visual solution staged in my head.

I scribbled the main idea onto a napkin I found in the car. I wasn't going to let this idea slip away. I couldn't wait to get started sketching my plan on paper. Previously discussed projects were left in a cloud of dust behind us. I was immediately driven to make this new vision a reality. I got on that freeway ramp and I was gonna keep on drivin' until I reached my destination.

Over the next few months I began sketching and making "feature" lists knowing there is only one thing you can be sure of when creating a new product or starting a new business... There are going to be challenges.

Looking back, my first challenge was getting Kevin to take "the journey" with me. It should have been easy, after all, it was his idea that created the spark that launched this rocket. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to convince Kevin. He couldn't see the "vision" in my head and he didn't immediately understand my overwhelming enthusiasm for his "off the cuff" suggestion. Why did I suddenly want to focus all of my energy on this?

I spent numerous hours discussing the amazing possibilities - trying to convince Kevin this was what he wanted too. However, while I envisioned a grand design, he focused on the challenges. We needed additional talent to pull this project together. I didn't exactly know where to begin, but, I was determined; so, I began a search. It didn't take long before I realized I was placing a "tall order" and it was going to take a few miracles to turn this dream into a reality.

Thankfully, I believe in miracles.

In November of 2009 I shared my "vision" with someone I trusted to keep it confidential. I was pleased when she seemed as excited about it as I was. That evening she asked me to share my plan with her husband. After my explanation, and some obvious excitement from him, I was surprised when she said she wanted to join my adventure.

Over the next few months a partnership developed and the puzzle that I had been struggling to put together began falling into place. Sometimes it pays off to stop and pick up a pair of "hitch hikers." :)

Though I can't discuss "the project" yet, I'd love to share this experience with you. So, if your up for a ride, hop into my "Mystery Machine" and I'll let you in on some of the fun stuff we are experiencing during the months before "the big reveal."