For our year in review, a bit of fun and wisdom from each of us.

John Swinconeck

Something I Think Everyone Should See

I’m sharing with you this photo I took of boxes of Gronk Flakes Cereal. Launched in 2012, these frosted cornflakes endorsed by the Patriot’s Rob Gronkowsi appeared at my local Hannaford supermarket during the Pat’s most recent Superbowl victory. I’m not a very big sports fan, but the look of sheer delight on the NFL’s favorite tight end on the box indicates a level of joy that I can only hope to one day achieve. Plus, a portion of Gronk Flakes sales goes to charity.

gronk flakesSomething I Think Everyone Should Read

My choice for reading is kind of unusual: Wikipedia’s On This Day. Click on today’s date and you get brought to a timeline of interesting events. This is great fun for history buffs who wish they hadn’t slept through Introduction to Western Civilization in 11th grade. It’s the most educational time-waster on the web.

Something I Did That I Was Proud Of

After more than a decade of shunning Windows, I’ve learned to embrace Windows 10, and I’ve gotten pretty darn good at it.

Something Someone Else Did That Made Me Proud

My daughter took her first steps recently. She is well on her way to world domination.

What I Am Looking Forward To In 2016

I’m looking forward to the end of the 2016 presidential race.



Kassandra Strout

Something I Think Everyone Should See
This a shot of the view from the beach in front of my parents’ house, on my brother’s birthday this year. It was a good weekend.
kassie_2015
Something I Think Everyone Should Read
“Come Spring” by Ben Ames Williams. It’s the story of how a small town in Midcoast Maine was founded during the American Revolution. There’s family drama, war, and romance (all the good stuff). No matter how long and difficult the winter is, we all hold on to the hope that things will turn around come spring (…get it??)
Something I Did That I Was Proud Of
Besides driving around New England with my skis in my car until May (which I see as some sort of weird accomplishment), I finally bit the bullet and put some of my more personal writing online.
Something Someone Else Did That Made Me Proud
My mom not only ran her first 5k this year, but ran 3 total. Boom!
What I Am Looking Forward To In 2016
Looking forward to in 2016: Running my first ever Boston Marathon in April!



Nicole Ouellette

Something I Think Everyone Should See

Here’s the thing with this photo I took: it’s not very good but there are two things I like about it:

1) it was taken during Derrick and my ‘Bold Coast’ camping trip in eastern Maine this summer which was awesome (and I can’t seem to find any more pictures of this trip at the moment because I ‘organized’ them early this fall so you know what that means) and
2) It shows how much you can improve a picture if you know someone like Jennifer Booher. (Top is before Jennifer, bottom is after and, honestly, a much more accurate view of what it was like that day!)

In 2015, I have become a much more confident phone picture taker in a general way. Now that I know I can tune the photos a bit, I can concentrate on composition a little (or a lot) more. We’re working with Jennifer on an online course to come out in 2016, stay tuned! (Sign up for our email list if you actually want notifications of these sort of things.)

Here's the thing with this photo: it's not very good but 1) it was taken during Derrick and my 'Bold Coast' camping trip in eastern Maine this summer and 2) It shows how much you can improve a picture if you know someone like Jennifer Booher. After her class, I am a much more confident phone picture taker.

Something I Think Everyone Should Read
Habits are a powerful thing and knowing what motivates you is the key to getting yourself unstuck. As someone very into self help and personal reflection, my results really blew my mind and allowed me to be more successful in the latter part of 2015.

Something I Did That I Was Proud Of

I opened a second business, Anchorspace, trying to give my community a beautiful, fun, and productive place to work from. I have made a lot of personal sacrifices to do this (including getting my first ever loan) and while its success is still uncertain, I’ve resolved that regardless of outcome, I am glad I’ve done this.

Something Someone Else Did That Made Me Proud

My mom sold the family business. My brother-in-law was honest enough to say he would prefer sales to management and my mother cared enough to go through a hard year of negotiating and creating a smooth transition to new ownership, preserving jobs in the community including my brother-in-law’s position. This is the smoothest, most upbeat transition I’ve seen and should I ever be in this position with my business, I hope to emulate the grace and wisdom with which my mom handled it.

What I Am Looking Forward To In 2016
Businesswise, I am looking forward to growing the podcast I have with my landlord and creating other more ‘passive’ revenue streams so we can have more fun and help more people at the same time.
Personally, I’m getting rid of 365 things again and keeping a gratitude journal so when this blog post comes around next year, I can have a plethora of things to pick from.



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