I Want Success For You!

Has it really been a year?

It's hard to believe that it was a year ago this week that Mason made his national television debut on The Steve Harvey Show. It was a fun excursion for Dave and Mason as I was on my own adventure with Lisa Anderson in NYC. It's amazing to me that we get to live this life, yes, I work hard for it, I earn it to be sure, but I also know that I have people on my team who root for me, help me when I need a hand, and encourage me to go for it when I'm not so sure of myself. I look around and see bullies in the world, not just middle school kids, but full grown adults, and I think to myself, how awful do you have to feel about yourself to pick on others, and even worse, adults who bully children? When Mason is struggling with middle school drama, I remind him that it doesn't end with middle school, or high school, or college, or the workplace, or, or, or... The fact of the matter is that there always will be people in this world that not only find joy in hurting others but thrive on chaos and pain. It's sad but true. I advise him to do his best to eliminate these kinds of people from his life and when he can't, he's best off to not engage in the drama. Be forthright, honest, & practice the golden rule and things should work out just fine. Who was I talking to, him or me?

With that said, let me tell you I want to see you succeed. Not just reach the goal, reach far beyond what you can even imagine is possible. You see, it's not you OR me, it's you AND me, there is more than enough for all of us.

Enough of what you ask? Enough jobs, enough opportunities, enough open doors, enough leading roles, enough first places, enough abundance, enough prosperity, enough money, enough friends, enough party invites, enough love. It is not necessary to tear down those around you who are seeing success, stand up and cheer for them! Maybe if you stand up for them, you can stay on your feet and take the action you need to see what you want to come to fruition. If you do, I'm already standing and taking action, but I will cheer for you, I will cheer as loud as I can and say, "I'm so glad you are making this happen for yourself, how can I help you?" I will be there for you, lifting you up so you can do the same for someone else. What a wonderful world this would be if more people could see the good. I see the good, I see you. 

Happy Anniversary Month

Happy Anniversary Month David Partak! Who could have predicted that for all the fun things and experiences I've won on the radio through the years, the most fun would be you (Circa 1996)? As we approach 15 years married (15 years?!), we laughed earlier this week when we should have been sleeping, we laughed so hard we both cried. The next morning when the alarm went off, we were still giggling through sleepy eyes. There have been a few bumps in the road over the years, but nothing worth talking about. Our union has been easy as far as the marriage gauges go, wouldn't you agree? Way more laughter than tears, and even some of those tears have come with belly laughs. I am grateful every day for you, our marriage, our family, our life, and I'm the first one to say, "I won the lottery when I won this guys heart." 

November 9th is the day (our actual anniversary) and wouldn’t you know it, we have a wonderful gift coming this week. Mason will be appearing on the Steve Harvey Show! Yes! In early October while I was in NYC on a girls trip, Dave and Mason were in Chicago taping the segment. Check your local listings, it will be on NBC. For us, it’s on at 2 PM on channel 3. If you miss it, don’t worry, I will record it and create the segment for his social media channels. Follow on Facebook, that’s where you will see all the updates first. He’s also on Instagram, twitter, and of course at MasonPartak.com. 

I’m celebrating our anniversary month on Facebook and I was going to write something every day, but you all see how crazy our life gets and there just don't seem to be enough hours in each day. This was my post to Dave today:

Today you are not home, not that that is unusual, we know what it means to be separated all too well. People ask if it's hard being apart and the answer is no. We are independent adults, we have separate interests, and in fact, I think our time apart enhances our marriage. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I want to do another 18 month deployment, but a week here, two weeks there, those are just opportunities to miss each other. When we are apart, we not only get to have experiences outside of our family life, we get to appreciate each other a little more. When I was in NY, I had many thoughts about wanting to come back to the east coast with you, wanting to show something to Mason...and coming home is always wonderful. To come home to each other, the boys, our smells, our kitchen, our bed & pillows, it just all feels good. We have stories to share, new things to talk about (Have a Zib Zoob day!), and it just shines a different light on things. I love that we have trust, and we can travel and know the one keeping the home fires burning is doing it with love and the anticipation of the happy homecoming.

I'll leave this post with the memory of your return from an Annual Training or an Arkansas trip (I think). You did everything you could to get home earlier than planned after being gone for 2+ weeks. It was dusk and you walked through the door, took me in your arms and kissed me. You poured a shot of tequila, took my hand and lead me to the kitchen table where you sat down, pulled me on to your lap and drank the shot. You then went on to serenade me with a new Alan Jackson song that had something to do with being happy to be home, your beautiful girl on your lap, and a shot of tequila. Do you remember that? It was in the Aeolia house and it was the corniest, best kind of "I love you" ever! 15 years later you still sing to me, we still dance in the kitchen (not often enough!), and you still drink tequila. I hear new research says it's a probiotic. Laughing! I love you Flower, for as crabby as you can be sometimes, you are equally schmoopy, and show me you love me in ways that no one else could.

*This is clearly not the photo from that memory, there isn't one, but this image shows the love and joy we still feel all these years later. This was in Mexico in 2002