Dana Burland

So you know how we're doing home construction ( intro , part 1 )? We've got some updates! From the outside not much is new from the views here . Thought you might want to see some interior before and durings though: Great Room Taken from just about the same spot, the corner of what used to be the end of the house. All that deck is enclosed!  This backward view might help. Both photos above are taken from near that skinny white window in the corner of the house: Family Room Peep that new couch. :) Part of it is unbuilt still as it won't fit in here but will fit in the new addition. The plywood temporary wall really goes well with the room, don't you think? That plywood has been huge in keeping the construction sectioned off and impacting our day-to-day very little. Check out this view peep behind the plywood: Kitchen Fra ming around the peninsula has come down, as have the pendant lights. This peninsula will be rotated 90 ° to become an island. We'll get a new counte...

I’m a mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and a people leader at work. These roles have given me experience managing people–all these roles make me BETTER at managing people. If it’s birthday party expectations of a 7-year-old, who-will-bring-what for Thanksgiving dinner or rallying a work team to launch a new customer support website–I’m actually solidly OK, borderline good at this! Here are the 5 pillars I follow: Care Actually You have to ACTUALLY care about people. You can’t fake care, care between 8am-5pm, or care in context. If you don’t care, it will show. If you do, you’ll be rewarded with benefits: first, genuine human connection; second, success in guiding and influencing. To care you have to trust. Trust a family member will show up as a support person at an important doctor appointment. Trust your team will do their job without micromanagement. Giving others room to succeed (or fail!) without your fingerprints all over it shows you trust and care for them. Clear an...

I might have raced a mile last… in high school? And I don’t recall ever racing others (with care) around a track. When I run I’m more frequently a 5K girly. Last night track racing a mile, though? I flew! C and I both ran in the Magic of the Mile event. They had several kids events. C raced, and won!! the 6 & under 200 meters. He’s a sprinter, with a fantastic kick at the end that JUST powered him past another kid at the finish line. I’m even more proud that he was apprehensive and wasn't sure he wanted to race until a moment before the start. AMAZING! I signed up for the women’s 7:15-7:59 mile heat. This was my best guess at my finish time having never raced this before. A track mile reminds me of swimming the 200m free so much. It’s an endurance, controlled sprint–not an all out sprint and not a cruise control effort either. I was really proud of my race–started strong, maintained, maintained, and was able to kick a bit at the finish. I crossed third in my heat at 7:03...