woohoo!

If I could bottle and sell the energy that my 2 year old had, I'd be rich.  He gets quite excited about things, and I'd have to say, I think he gets that from me.  I live for excitement too, but what I love most about him is that he gets excited about the little things.  Oh I pray that he may always get excited about the little things.  In fact, when he does get excited, he's not afraid to raise his little fist as far up as he can reach it, sometimes both fists even, and lets out a big "woohoo!"  And I pray I never forget these moments when his excitement is so big he lets it out for everyone to hear. 

So this is what I learned from you, my dear little baby boy, Henrik, I'm letting out a giant "woohoo!" with both my fists in the air because Finding Windom's Vice President, Damon Weinandt, has started his new postion as Windom Area Chamber of Commerce President today! 

"WOOHOO!"  I couldn't be happier for Windom right now.

We just keep making finding Windom a little easier every day...congrats Damon, we are lucky to have your energy in the Chamber office and in our community.  Go get 'em!

Happy times,

River City Eatery + World Wide Web = LOVE.

Back in the spring, I had the pleasure of being interviewed for this article by someone who is as passionate about saving "downtown" as I am.  It was a pleasure speaking with her about her work and mine.  I can't tell you how exciting it is to continue making these connections with people, and I am so blessed with River City Eatery and Finding Windom. 

Oh, and local business owners, trust me, the beauty of the world wide web is working for River City Eatery and it can work for you!!!

Please check out the link below to read the article written by Errin Welty,:

http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/main-street-news/story-of-the-week/2012/120821retailtips/key-trends-for-retail-success.html

P.S. Thank you, Errin!

A little bit about Errin taken from the article:

Errin Welty is a market analyst at Vierbicher. She works with public and private sector clients to create market-based solutions to solve economic and planning issues. Errin has significant downtown experience, having been on the staff of downtown organizations in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and Denver, Colorado, and a founding member of Wheat Ridge 2020. She has a lifelong passion for enhancing and preserving downtown’s place in the community. She relocated to Madison, Wisconsin, from Denver, Colorado, where she managed Grubb & Ellis’s research and marketing department.

reflections.

It's not often I get to sit and stare at this mocking cursor, but I just had to make a little time to write a long-over-due post.  The past few weeks have been absolutely nuts at River City Eatery.  I'm so thankful for the success of the business, but it sure does take a toll on one's body and mind. 

Anyway, Sunday was one of those days where I actually got a little time to reflect and what a beautiful day to do it.  Andy, Henrik and I started the afternoon with a walk to the park and the rest of the day was spent finishing a few half done home projects.  As evening started to settle in, so did I.  The windows were open, the inspiring evening summer breeze made the curtains dance, and I was in sweet surrender reflecting at the last two years of Finding Windom.  There have been so many great things that have happened for Windom in the last two years.  Just in the last year, many storefronts around town have received much needed facelifts.  McDonald's did an amazing transformation, as well as Bank Midwest.  The old Lewis Family Drug building on Highway 60 has finally been sold, as well as the old HyVee building.  The new HyVee store did a wonderful job updating the grocery store. Pamida is closing its doors and remodeling to become a Hometown Shopko and the old Bolin Lumber property is now becoming River Valley Fitness.  This stretch of highway has needed some TLC for quite sometime now, and it has finally happened!  The City is putting up some very attractive and much needed "Welcome to Windom" signs, and I see the Chamber of Commerce put up a new awning, the Schramel Law Office put up a beautiful new sign and so did Lampert's Lumber.  The business community is also starting to have an online presence on the world wide web.  And last, but certainly not least, The Windom State Theatre is up and running once again thanks to the hard work and dedication of many determined community members. 

With all these wonderful things happening, it made the beautiful day even more beautiful knowing the community of Windom is seeing some wonderful progress.  I'm hoping this progress continues for many years to come...

Happy times,

A little help from friends.

Tonight we had our monthly finding Windom meeting, and I'm proud to say that Finding Windom donated $500 to the City of Windom to help make our beautiful new "Welcome to Windom" signs happen. I mean, that's what friends do, right? The project is getting underway, and we hope to see these much needed welcoming assets by the end of the year. We are happy that the EDA has made this project a priority this year. This has been something the Finding Windom team has been talking about since it's inception, and not only is it now happening, but Finding Windom, Inc, helped make it happen with our donation. Feeling very good about our contribution to the community and we can't wait to welcome our welcome signs!

my prince and his castle.

After a crazy morning and lunch at River City Eatery, it was time to pick up my now 2 year old son, Henrik from day care.  We usually then go back to the Eatery to have supper together.  Since the weather has been nice, Henrik enjoys sitting at the tables outside in the front to watch the cars go by while he eats. As he was eating his peanut butter sandwich and chips, his little pudgy pointer finger turned toward the Courthouse and he said with a sticky peanut butter grin, "Let's go to the castle, mama."  I couldn't have been more delighted by the invitation.  I've never been invited to a castle before.  He grabbed the 3 chips he had left on his plate and said, "I want to bring my chips with too." "Okay, let's go," I said. We crossed the street together and ran towards the steps after reaching the green.  "I wanna go to the steps," he screams and points again with 2 year old energy while trying to keep his 3 chips safe.  We reached the stairs and sat down.  "Take a picture, mama." He layed his chips down on the cement, sat up and faced me making a little camera with his little fingers. "Cheese, mama, cheese." He took at least 4 or 5 pictures of his mama sitting on the steps of the courthouse, I mean, castle.  Then he sat next to me again.  We watched the cars go by, walkers pass, and pointed out the birds in the sky.  It couldn't have been a better place to sit and enjoy the surroundings.  "Okay," I said, "Mama has to get back to the Eatery to work for a little bit before we go home." "No, let's just stay here mom." Yup, I think that's a great idea, Henrik, let's just stay here, for a long, long time.