Sometimes our lives seem to be moving at 1000 miles per hour, which makes time fly past with little room for reflection. However, there are other times where an event is such a game-changer that it acts as an anchor point for many memories. These may be positive events like births, marriage, or other celebrations. At other times they may not be positive, but are equally memorable.

This past year has given me several “anchor points” for memories of my life. (Some of these are becoming cloudier with age.) These last 365 days have taken me on a wild ride.

It all started as a pretty typical year, but then I received a call and an invitation.

The White House invited me to be a guest to the President’s State of the Union Address. From the minute I said, “yes”, my life changed. I was thrust into the media’s spotlight, handling dozens of local and national interviews. I met the President, First Lady and several Members of Congress. I resigned from a company that I had founded a year earlier. I restructured TrendyMinds, landed new accounts, hired several new team members and doubled in size.  And as of this past Friday, I became a father by finalizing the adoption of Andrew, a 7 year-old boy who came from Tacoma, Washington. (I saved the best part for last!)

Yes, the year has flown by. It wasn’t until this morning that another phone call made me pause. It was from a reporter from ABC News Radio. He was doing a follow-up post on a few of us chosen to attend last year’s speech. While these types of stories are pretty typical, this one made me stop to think about how my life was impacted.

As the questions came about how my life and my company had changed during the past year, I was reminded of how very fortunate I am. I feel extremely blessed to be able to continue to grow TrendyMinds and am thankful for the everyday opportunities that I am given, as well as those that happen once in a lifetime.