San Diego - We're Here

Mel and I arrived in beautiful San Diego two days ago for her conference with the Murdock Trust. Yesterday was 70 and sunny today was 65 and sunny not a cloud in the sky! It has been fabulous and we are staying at the Hilton by Sea World. We spend most of yesterday walking around Coronado and hanging out with my brother Jake. Today Melissa had to present her research and I have been chillin in the sun working on some school work and relaxing.

Wish you all were here =)

Love,

Nathan and Mel

Blue Ocean Strategy

It is not everyday that I feel compelled to make a book recommendation, especially from my course work at school. The current book I am reading was just so good I had to pass this one along. For all of you business lovers or entrepreneurs at heart - you will absolutely eat this book up. I read it in two days from cover to cover because the author is just so insightful on the topic of marketing and creating new market space within this realm.

The premise of the book is that the bulk of industries in the world fight head to head for market share and do nothing to differentiate themselves from their competitors. The author calls this a red ocean. Already developed, already full of companies competing, products are similar, and services vary little. The book talks about how to create your own market space and make the competition irrelevant. Stop looking at the competition and start listening to your end users, substitute users, related users, similar industries, and outside of the box tactics. The blue ocean is when you create the market and the competition becomes irrelevant. I don't want to ruin the book for you, but I will say that it is one that we all should read. Innovate, recreate, and read this book for some inspiration on how to get outside the box in business today.

http://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/

Enjoy,

Nathan

Christmas Photos

I know that Christmas is over and it has been a couple of weeks now since we have been home, but I am just getting to posting these pictures up on our blog. Here they are in colorful form and when I get more time I will go in and give captions as there are lot's of pictures here.

Hope you enjoy them. With Love,

Nathan and Mel

SEE PICTURES (click here)

Christmas Vacation

Melissa and I were out of town for 11 days on a Christmas extravaganza that included a trip to Lake of the Woods, Medford, and a hotel on Bear Creek. We left Portland on Friday night the 21rst and set sail to my good high school friend KC Walsh's cabin. Kc's family has owned a cabin up at Lake of the Woods for over 20 years now and it is always special to break away and visit. Lake of the Woods is a small lake about an hour from Medford and 45 minutes from Klamath Falls. It sits at 4,000 elevation so this time of year it is always covered in snow and this year was no exception.

On our way to Lake of the Woods from Portland we stopped at GI Joes to pick up some chains. I dropped Mel off to get some groceries and I went across the street to pick up the chains. When all was said and done we hopped on HWY 140 and were off. Needless to say I had spaced getting GAS!!! About 20 miles into the drive I looked at the gas gauge and noticed it was below the empty line in our truck. Here we are in the middle of nowhere 4 feet of snow on the ground and we're almost out of gas. SWEET! Mel and I said a little prayer and Tommy the Toyota pushed right along. By God's grace we coasted into the cabin on fumes and KC reminded me there was a gas station about 10 miles from the lake. This was the beginning of our adventure.

We stayed at the Lake for two days and then headed back to Medford to meet up with the Sackett Family. The crew included Aunt Dorothy, Uncle Glen, Tre Dog (my cousin who is an amazing chef), Grandma June, Dad, Mom, and their two mutts Murphy and Chin Li. It was a full house for Christmas Eve and we really enjoyed catching up with everyone. Even though Glen and Dorothy live in Vancouver we don't see them much and it was nice to chat with the Sackett's. Melissa worked on her knitting and I was able to read my book and hang with my cousin Tre. It was a relaxing couple of days and the food was excellent as always. The Sackett's never miss a meal and the food is always gourmet as Glen and Tre own a restaurant in Camas - (Prune Hill Bakery).

Christmas day came, and my brother Jake and his wife Jana flew up from San Diego. The influx of people caused us to grab a hotel that was very nice about 10 miles away from the family farm. The hotel was just built and I think we were the first ones to sleep in the beds and take a shower. The accommodations were very nice - pool, jacuzzi, work out facility, flat screen TVs, and very comfy beds.

Christmas came and went very fast and next thing we knew our Cousin's Tod and Tracy were rolling up the driveway with their family Josh and Nick. It just so happened that Josh and Nick receive dirt bikes for Christmas and wanted uncle Jake and Nate to show them how to ride these bikes. (poor Nate he really hates having to ride dirt bikes :) j/k) The parents have 5 acres in Griffin Creek and lots of space to run around for the cousins. Most nights they would ride until dark and you would have to pull them off of the bikes just to get them to stop and come in to eat. (a/k.a we would have to pull Nate off the bikes - :) )

Melissa here - a highlight for me was spending time with the Sackett ( and Ulery ) women - they are truly an amazing bunch. They taught me a thing or two about cooking, primping ( we got our nails done), playing poker, and the finer art of negotiating with the Sackett men. I especially loved spending time with Kathy, Nathan's mom, wow - I got lucky with a mother-in-law from heaven.

All in all our time spent in Southern Oregon was a great balance between activities, eating, and relaxing. We really enjoyed our visit and time we were able to spend with friends and family and it was hard to say good bye when we left on the 31st. I will attach some of my favorite pictures in another post as there are so many that were wonderful.

Melissa Has a New Phone

Hey Everybody -

Melissa has a new phone - but lost the numbers with the old one. Please call her or email her your phone number so she can update those in her phone!

Cheers,

Nathan and Melissa