A little over a year ago, my husband Steve and I started on a journey to empower families around the nation to get ahead of life before it happens. We debuted Life Goes on Roadmap™ and quickly discovered that we could meet a real need among families to get their acts together before life hits a bump in the road.
Then, we started hearing from families around the nation about the bumps in the road they were facing. The urgency to start living more NOW became crystal clear for us.
Every day, someone in our world is touched by one of the Big D’s — disease, diagnosis, divorce, disability, diminished mental capacity, disaster, or death — without warning.
Lives are changed in an instant, and it isn’t always “happily ever after.”
Sometimes, it’s grief, loss, or a whole new way of living that wasn’t on anyone’s bucket list.
Last October, our home was burglarized while we were speaking and exhibiting at a financial planning conference 3,000 miles away.
Coming home to that was hard. It sure made “home” feel like a place we didn’t want to be.
It’s one thing to anticipate challenging times by getting ahead of life before it happens.
It’s another to be wading in the drama, trauma and chaos of all of that and FEELING what it’s like to be dis-empowered, disappointed, dismayed, and so many other negative emotions.
A home burglary is a violation of your personal safety, and it’s hard to get over that.
I think that incident caused us both to start thinking about where we want to live, how we want to live, and what really matters to us.
The stories we have been hearing from families around the nation about how their lives turned on a dime gave us even more of a wake up call.
We came to a powerful revelation and renewed conviction to walk our talk.
- It’s time to put more life in our years instead of years in our life.
- It’s time to start a new adventure and plan many epic adventures still to come.
- It’s time to simplify and right size our lives so we can be at choice to say YES to travel, experiences, and enjoy more discretion to love the life we live today.
If there is one thing we know for sure it is that tomorrow is not promised.
We don’t want to be people who find excuses not to live their dreams, realize their potential, and make their best impact through good work, commerce, or service.
We are action takers who take 100% responsibility for our lives.
There is a popular commercial on TV about enjoying 18 summers with your kids.
Maybe you’ve seen it.
Our son is almost 22 years old. He is just about launched.
That’s why the next 18 years are all about enjoying life together before we run into health challenges or other obstacles that can change the quality of our life and perhaps not for the better.
All this is to say that we are still going to be leading our work with Life Goes on Roadmap™. We’re on a mission to touch and transform one million lives with our powerful toolkit that guides them to get ahead of life before it hits a bump in the road.
Steve is still going to lead his team of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals to serve their clients to make the most of their money and their lives.
Our work is purposeful and important.
It plays is a HUGE part of what brings us fulfillment, satisfaction, and rewards.
The big change is that we are moving down the road north about 90 miles from Bellevue, WA to Bellingham, WA.
Bellingham is a coastal city in Washington State, near the Canadian border. It’s a port for ferries to Alaska. East is Mount Baker, a huge snow-capped volcano with ski runs. In the city center, the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention contains hands-on science exhibits. The Whatcom Museum showcases art, nature and regional history across 3 sites, including the Lightcatcher building with its curving, translucent wall.
This city overlooking the Puget Sound is known for being artsy, outdoorsy, and innovative. That’s translated into job opportunities at companies ranging from high tech and green energy startups to craft breweries. Bellingham has more than 100 miles of shoreline, perfect for sea kayakers, and is just a ferry ride from San Juan Island.
We’ll live the ‘less is more’ lifestyle as we simplify and right size our lives.
We’ll enjoy more discretion to enjoy life.
We’ll create a whole new life full of Saying YES to exploring what might be on our bucket list and working that list, starting right now.
We purchased our Bellevue, WA home in 2008 during a rocky time in the economy. We’ve worked hard to pay the mortgage, maintain the home, and make memories here as we raised our family.
It’s time to shift focus to love where we live and experience life even more.
We bought a travel journal full of blank pages. We’re working on a list of adventures to take to fill it with memories that can last a lifetime.
What a grand adventure this will be.
Fortunately, my work can be accomplished with a laptop and a high speed internet connection.
Steve has been inviting clients to meet via Zoom video and other methods, thanks to the power of technology, and clients are very receptive.
We’ll continue to make our impact from our new home (and Steve’s new office outside of the home) and welcome opportunities to speak, lead workshops, and serve our clients in the best ways possible.
Steve will commute to Bellevue or Seattle one day a week to meet face to face with clients.
We’ll simply be working our magic from a new zip code that is 90 minutes north of here, starting on or about May 20, 2019.
Crazy, random things happen to all of us that cause us to re-think what we do, why we do it, who we do it with, and where we live.
There is opportunity to be found in every challenge in life if you look hard enough to find the blessing.
Our new journey of discovery and contribution from our new home in a new town is just about to begin.
We have many more epic adventures to experience and celebrate and much more to offer to those we serve. We hope to inspire others to make similar plans because you never know what tomorrow might bring.
The time to make it all happen is right now.