A few years ago, I spent two days speaking and teaching frisbee to students at West Dover School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. One situation in particular that stands out comes from a grade 2/3 class. I had all of the kids partner…
Although the film received its share of negative criticism and reviews, unless you’ve lost someone close to you, you can’t possibly understand what it’s like. And even if you have, you can’t because loss and grieving is different for everyone.…
I first got into commercial moving service 11 years ago and after working for 18 months, I got busy with school. Aside from school, I also got busy with frisbee and digital media. However, about a year ago, I came back…
For many of us, it’s easy to create a to-do list and before we know it, that list becomes overwhelming. It makes us feel good to think all of the things that we want to do, but the trouble is…
I had heard a lot about this movie and was fortunate to go see it this afternoon with some of my family, through my sister’s work. Find out more about Wonder on Wikipedia. The basic premise of the movie is…
This quote is more relevant than ever especially for Americans who are unhappy with Donald Trump officially being sworn in as President today. I don’t really have an opinion on the whole matter. Why? Because all of the data that…
I recently stumbled upon The Barkley Marathons on Netflix. I absolutely love documentaries and the more quirky, weird and underground the better. I especially love documentaries about a group of passionate people because I find that no matter what their…
I first started writing this post when Pokemon Go was released in the summer. I saw the immediate impact it had on some friends and how incredibly distracting it was. As the weeks went by and more and more people…
Found on Facebook. Author unknown. “In our family, we have a special way of transitioning the kids from receiving from Santa, to becoming a Santa. This way, the Santa construct is not a lie that gets discovered, but an unfolding…
Years ago when I was working for SMART Technologies, I noticed something strange during my second week of work as Social Media Specialist that would transform my perception, cause me to look at things from more than one angle and…
I hadn’t heard of Arrival until earlier today when my friend asked if I wanted to go see a movie. I quickly checked out the description and it sounded good. I like not reading reviews or watching trailers before watching…
I first heard the Macklemore Tiny Desk Concert on NPR about 3 years ago and to this day it has remained one of my favourite music sessions. The lyrics, the music, the setting and the quality are all incredible. I…
If you are like most people, then you sweat the small stuff that you cannot control. Small stuff that other people do which may or may not have anything to do with you. But you let it affect your day.…
[youtube][/youtube] An unlikely friendship develops between a wealthy quadriplegic and his caretaker, who was just released from prison. This movie is in french and is on Netflix, with subtitles. You’ll notice it for the first 5-10 minutes but once the…
Disillusioned with the tedium of his existence, psychiatrist Hector (Simon Pegg) confesses to his girlfriend (Rosamund Pike) that he feels he is a fraud for dispensing recommendations to patients who never seem to improve or get any happier. He considers…
by Dr. Kent M. Keith People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true…
This presentation was created for the Calgary Social Media Breakfast #60 on Friday, January 23, 2015 at Peloton Cycling. Thank you Donna for sponsoring and Martine for hosting! It’s about revising your social media plan for 2015. The plan isn’t…
If you’ve never failed, then you’ve never taken a risk. You’ve never had a dream and put your heart and soul into achieving that dream. The opposite of failure is success. We cannot succeed with failure. We learn from failing.…
On May 17, 2001, the worst thing that could have happened, happened in the lives of me and my family. My mom died. For about the next 10 years, I was in so much pain and I was so scared…
Not often do I watch a movie that makes me feel sometimes opposite emotions but after watching Interstellar, I can say that it made me cry, laugh, be confused, be inspired, be hopeful and be amazed. Interstellar is easily one…
This year compared to any other in my life has seen me on the road more than ever. From January 1 – October 1, I was home for a total of about 5 weeks. It was hard being away from…
I first heard about the movie “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” just through some online ads and short teasers on Youtube but I always skipped over them. Then during a flight from Chicago to Calgary in May, I happened…
Why is love like karate? If you look at how the ranking system works in karate, there are different colours of obis (which is like a belt) which represents the level one has achieved. While many schools have their own unique…
Beautiful. Sad. Real. Haunting. Inspiring. Tragic. The moral of the movie… Happiness [is] only real when shared.
The pictures sum it up pretty well. Next time you’re at a party, impress your friends with some of these odd facts. Enjoy! And also make sure to check the best kids birthday parties near Gardena at
Challenge conventional thinking and don’t buy into marketing. Dairy farmers want us to buy more milk so all of their commercials will be about convincing us that dairy milk is good for us. Running shoe companies want to sell more…
There are 2 approaches to dating – physical and emotional. There are many ways to meet people today but you can categorize them in 2 ways – online and in real life. The problem with meeting someone online is that…
As the title suggest, you [probably] tie your shoes wrong. What do I mean by that? There’s more than one to tie your shoes? Well, yes in fact there is. Instead of going one way around the bunny ear you…
On my way to compete in the 2013 WFDF World Overall Flying Disc Championships, I had a 6 hour layover in Amsterdam so I decided to take the train downtown and do some exploring. Now, I’m the type of guy…
My biggest pet peeve with marketing is when companies make ridiculous claims or take something that’s real and use it to their advantage to sell a product. The most recent case of this comes from a commercial for the 2014…
I’ve shared the famous speech by Steve Jobs from Stanford’s 2005 Commencement several times and I share it again today because today of all days it seems particularly fitting. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept…
Growing up in small town New Brunswick, I listened to a lot of music that I thought I’d never get to see live. AC/DC, Metallica, Tom Petty, Queen to name a few. My ultimate wish was to see Queen live…
I think this famous quote, from the movie Into the Wild, is missing the point. The point of living. Which, to me, is to find and create meaning. I believe that a life of meaning is a life fulfilled. Life…
Once you have developed a clarity of self, you can start building the life you want. Clarity of self doesn’t have to be fully developed however, since even a bit of clarity about who you are and what you want…
This quote, one of many great ones from the movie Rudy, stands out in my mind because to me it defines what life is all about. Having a dream to be somebody, to do something or to go somewhere. What…
As I mentioned in my 3-Day Detox Results post, I decided to extend the detox to 12 days. After another 3 days, so having done the detox for 6 days, and also doing some workout and relaxing time like massages…
As a kid, I grew up listening to my dad’s record collection, buying cassette tapes from Colombia House (11 cd’s for the price of 1) and recording songs off the radio onto cassettes. I still listen to many of these…
I mentioned in my post yesterday that I was going to extend the detox to 10 days (probably 12 since it’s easier to do the detox in groups of 3 days). What I really like about this detox is that…
About halfway through day 2 of the Hungry for Change 3 Day Guided Detox, I decided to extend it to 10 days (they say that you can extend to 7 or 10 days if you’d like). I decided to do…
What was great about the first day of the detox is that I felt noticeably more clear headed. Eating when you’re hungry and eating clean food made for a great Friday. All of the meals were delicious, I felt great…
It’s neat how the universe gives you signs when you’re on the right path. Wednesday night I got an email from the Hungry for Change website about a 3 Day Guided Detox. I initially subscribed to their newsletter after watching…
There are a handful of professors who stand out from university but most notable were my 2 philosophy professors. My professors very good business men and he invests on a lot of things, including btc investing. According to him, Like…
How many times have you had this happen to you? You write one of your friends a message on facebook. You don’t hear back from them. A week, two weeks, three weeks go by and no reply. Then one day,…
This video contains clips of Will Smith from interviews he’s done sharing his advice on life, happiness and learning. What is one piece of advice you’d like to share? Mind would be: find something that you are passionate in and…
My favourite scene in my favourite movie, Rudy, comes just after Rudy quits the football team before the last practice of his senior year at the University of Notre Dame. One of his mentors, a groundskeeper who helped him out…
The title of this post, which are the last 2 lines from my favourite poem, Invictus, is what guides my life. I have all the control in my life to do what I want and whatever happens to me is…
I have a hard time quieting my mind sometimes. I spend a lot of time on my own and without it, I don’t feel balanced. Trying to find peace within myself is something I’ve been working on for a long…
The benefit about having XM radio in my car is that I can listen to a variety of music genres very easily and it also means that I get to hear a lot of songs that I normally would never…
Be giving of yourself to the person you are with. What you give to them, you will get back. If you give love, you will get love back. If you give hate, you will get hate back. Step out of…
The good thing about telling the truth is that you don’t have to think and can just tell it like it is. The bad thing about telling the truth is that you don’t have to think and can sometimes say…
Davy Whippet and I did it! Almost 18 years to the day that Mark Molnar and Cheyenne Whippet set the Distance to Canine Catch World Record at 390 feet, Davy Whippet and I broke that record with a catch at…
There are many people who aren’t doing what they love, aren’t going after their dreams and are living a life of fear. Why is that? I think there are many reasons but one of the reasons that comes up over…
Over the past few years, I’ve grown to truly discover what makes me happy and have been setting goals and chasing dreams all related to disc sports. However, along the way, I’ve had realizations related to my passion, some of…
The gift of disappointment is to bring us into reality so we don’t get stuck in the realm of how things might have been. Whenever we do something in life with an expectation of how we’d like it to turn…
Have you heard of “The Demise of Guys“? If you haven’t, you should check out the website. It makes sense, it’s clear to me by talking to my friends and hearing what is going on in our society. We are…
From playing sports my entire life, I know a thing or two about competing. I’ve met a lot of people over the years who were good and I’ve met a lot who weren’t so good. But I always find it…
Today marks exactly 7 years since I moved to Calgary from Halifax. Today is also my sister’s 27th birthday. My mom’s favourite number was, you guessed it, 7. In honour of my mom, I’d like to share 7 things I’ve…
My friend Crystal recently added an interesting post to her blog titled “Questions we should be asking”. It’s a very personal thing to answer questions about yourself and to look internally and be honest with yourself can be difficult. I…
Before playing on the Calgary men’s ultimate frisbee team, Invictus, I had never heard of this poem. But when I first read it, the last 2 lines stood out in my mind and to this day, remain my personal mantra:…
Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.…
Some would say there’s a fine line between passion and obsession. First of all, what is the difference? I found a great explanation that I will use here to frame the rest of this post. Passion – when people admire…
So whatever you do…do it well. Don’t get pulled in so many directions that you don’t have time to focus on any one area. Know what matters to you. Give it your proper attention. Know what your goals are. Work…
In honour of the holiday season, give your family (and friends) a hug. Enjoy the time you have with them – you never know when you might not have them around again. Be safe. Be healthy. And be thankful. Merry…
Last week I flew to Beijing, China to attempt a new Guinness World Record – “most targets hit in one minute with a flying disc (frisbee)“. Guinness set a minimum requirement of 20 targets hit and although I was close…
I’ve been struggling the past few days with the concept of following your passion. In the pursuit, you will gain so much in return but the journey will also be very lonely since you will be doing much of it…
Too many times people worry about the future. If I do *something*, how will that affect the future. Well, we cannot predict the future. We can only do what makes us happy in the present and believe that it will…
What a simple thought. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be difficult. If you want to be happy, be. It really can be that easy. Do what you love. Love what you do. And just be.
I’ve been on the internet for about 15 years. 11 years as a website designer. 8 years doing social media marketing. A lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same. Imagine this. You’re in a room with one…
I wanted to share with you 3 great quotes on fear. We’ve all been there. I’m there right now with certain elements of my life. I was there last night and ended up having a nightmare based on that fear.…
The theme of a lot of my posts have been about choosing a path based on what you love doing. If you love sports, then surround yourself with sports people, play sports, watch sports, etc. The time you put in…
I need to rant for a second. I’m so tired of all the charities/foundations that are being created. There seems to be a run/fundraiser every weekend and with the report from the CBC that the Canadian Cancer Society spent more…
One of my favourite quotes is from George Bernard Shaw: “You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’” This is a huge theme of my life – dreaming. My…
Tonight was the 3rd Monday Night Supper Club I’ve attended in Calgary and they really do keep getting better. I say that because it’s all about the people. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing – if…
If I’ve learned anything through all of my different experiences in life, it’s very simply this: just be yourself. No matter what we choose to do, who we choose to be with or how we choose to spend 0ur time,…
Monday was already sort of pre planned based on the soccer game being suspended from the night before but I also had a few things to do so it was more laid back than some of the other days. The…
I will be flying back to Canada on Monday after having spent 10 days in Queretaro and truly one of the most incredible experiences of my life. However, there’s been a lot to absorb so I’ve been asking myself what…
When I woke up Saturday, I had no idea what an amazing day I would have. I’m staying with Victor and his family – so his parents, him and his 2 brothers and their bird who sings a lot. I…
I love to write and I’m so excited to be in Queretaro, Mexico coaching + playing with Malaki UFC (Ultimate Frisbee Club) so I will be blogging about my trip. There will be lots of randomness – I’m very aware…
Today I leave for Mexico. Specifically, Queretaro. But I’ll be flying into Mexico City. I’ve known for a while that Mexico City was huge population wise and it has always impressed me how big it is. I’ve always been fascinated…
Trying to grow up is hurting, you know. You make mistakes. You try to learn from them, and when you don’t, it hurts even more. ~ Aretha Franklin It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts. Learning from…
In honour of father’s day, I wanted to say a few things about my Dad. How much I appreciate everything that he is to me. How lucky I am for him to be my Dad. How I wish I lived…
I’ve watched a lot movies…and only a few times have I watched a movie that was surprisingly really good. The last time I can really remembering it happening, I had downloaded Slumdog Millionaire just before it was released in theatres.…
For 2 years I’ve run a website called Ultimate Rob (www.ultimaterob.com). In that time, I’ve published roughly 50 articles and posted more than 60 videos. My goal when I started the website was for it to be the go to…
You know the feeling when you think you’re on the right path but there’s a nagging feeling that there is something not quite right? And then after some soul searching, you figure out what it is? Perhaps it came about…
I’m reading Michael Pollan’s amazing book “In Defense of Food” and literally every page I’m learning something new about our food system, the history of public policies and why many people are more confused about food and nutrition than ever…
This post is inspired by one of my favourite quotes, by Marianne Williamson: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that…
Remember when you were a kid and you woke up on Christmas day? The feeling you had. The excitement you felt. How you could hardly wait to open your gifts. What makes you feel like that now? Does someone? Do…
Moving forward is all about getting to know yourself and knowing what you need to make yourself happy. I’ve met a lot of people who don’t have a passion and don’t have dreams. For whatever reason they let others dictate…
You know when you get to a point that you know you need to make some changes in your life? But it’s difficult because change can be scary. And unknown. But you’ve been here before. And as scary as it…
I was given a challenge. Well no, more a request. It first was born in a joking complaint. To which I called her out and told her if she gave me a topic to write about, that I would indeed.…
My grandma is awesome. And she’s a great cook. Her dressing has made it into Canadian Living magazine and I’ve been lucky enough to have it at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for most of my life. I guess technically it’s…
In life, we can either question what we’re told or we can choose to believe what we’re told. It many cases, it takes less effort to believe what we’re told but then we’re not really living our own life. The…
For those who know me well, you know what happened to my family on May 17, 2001. We lost our sister, our wife, our daughter, our friend, my mom, Debbie McLeod. Tomorrow it will have been 10 years since she…
I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that…
I’ve always been told I was positive and optimistic. I believe that people are inherently good. There was some doubts in myself based on some past experiences. Doubts about love. Doubts about my future. But there was a moment a…
How many times has a friend said that to you? If you’ve ever been through a tough time, I’m sure you’ve heard it a lot. Or if you’ve had friends going through a tough time, I’m sure you’ve said it…
I watched an episode of Penn & Teller’s Bullshit tonight on Old People and some of the opinions of the people on the show really angered me. There was a bunch of young people complaining about old people. Seriously? They…
Some of the business books and cds I’ve been listening to lately have reinforced some great points and one of them which really stands out is the idea of how we tend to not spend time on something which will…
You know when you’re watching a random movie and all of a sudden a great quote pops out? You totally didn’t expect the movie to drop such great words of wisdom? Well I’ve had that happen a few times and…
Something that is tough living so far away from home (roughly 4,500 km actually) is that I don’t really get home much and usually have to make a decision between going home in the summer (better weather and cheaper flights)…
One of my favourite quotes. What it means to me: There are things that you can do really well. There are things that you cannot do very well. Focus on those things that you can do really well and make…
Not in terms of money…but in terms of life. Take this quote: The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream So I ask you…what’s your wealth like?
I watched The Rookie a few weeks ago; a movie starring Dennis Quaid. In it, Dennis plays the role of a teacher who chose a career and a family over baseball. However, years later he has another shot at playing…
Compromise isn’t a bad thing. Although it can be, the type of compromise I’m talking about is healthy compromise. First of all, what does compromise mean? According to Merriam Webster online, the definition which I find applicable is something intermediate…
How do you know if you’re doing the right things in order to be happy? How do you know if you’re doing the right job? How do you know if you have the right friends? How do you know if…
To be or not to be…that is the question. When it comes to volunteering and helping others, it most certainly is. I strongly believe that there are 2 types of people who volunteer – those who truly want to give…
Everyone I know listens to music and loves at least one genre. There are also many people who hate certain types of music (some examples of people I know are country and heavy metal haters). But that doesn’t mean that…
How much clutter do you have in your life? I’m not just talking about possessions. What about your friends? How many of them suck the energy from you? Friends can either give you energy or take energy away from you.…
How often in life have you had a project on the go and another one came along that seemed more appealing? How often have you met someone who seemed totally awesome and then you met someone else who seemed even…
So I have an issue with the problem of charities, causes and companies who make a difference yet their success depends on their ability to market. If you’ve read Freakonomics, you can get a bit of a sense for what I’m…
Sweet potato fries. Tri-ominos. Good friends. Cute puppies. Good music. Ultimate frisbee. Water. More good friends.
Seriously. Every Wednesday at the Joyce on 4th in Calgary. There are other places too (all owned by the same group of owners). But what a fantastic idea. 1 cent ribs. And then of course they make all their money off…
Parking is, to put it lightly, annoying. Think about what parking is. Your car is sitting on the ground. Yet you have to pay for it to sit on the ground. Maybe you could have like a time share system.…
When you want to do something, whether it’s apply for a job, try out for a sports team or set a goal, who do you listen to? Do you let your friends tell you what you can or cannot do? Do you let your parents? Your…
Do you know what I mean? Like when you eat ice cream while having a beer? Some think it’s strange. I think it makes perfect sense. Eating good things together can only equal goodness. Well, in theory right? Here are…
You hear a lot of talk about how it’s our life and our decisions and that we have the power to make whichever decisions we want; good or bad. So why is it many people feel like their life is…
On Tuesday school starts again at the U of C. I’m back in 4 classes each semester and will finally be getting my degree after having started almost 10 years ago. It’s been an interesting 9 years and here are…
I’ve read a few articles now which deal with this issue. The first was from Reader’s Digest and an interview with President Obama. They were asking him a lot of religious questions and one in particular, they asked him about abortion. He…
I’ve been meaning to blog about this happening for a while now. Some of you know what happened; most don’t. I figured I should write a bit about what happened since the majority of us in our lifetime will never…
I’d like to introduce this post with an excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr’s speech titled “Love Your Enemies” on November 17, 1957. Now, I’m aware of the fact that some people will not like you, not because of something…
The Ham Butt Problem (taken from: ): Woman’s making a ham for the big family dinner. She goes to cut the butt off the ham and throw it away, and she looks at this piece of ham and she’s like,…
I’m flying home to visit my family tomorrow night. I haven’t seen them all in 2.5 years. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long and it makes me sad. I’ve put so many other things ahead of taking trips…
It’s an exciting thought. But it can also be scary. The only security you have is knowing that you control your own destiny. Not having the regular 8-5 with benefits and a regular paycheque takes a little getting used to.…
Lately my topics of choice are about having a passion, doing what you love and not settling. And I will touch on the second topic again here. What is stopping you from doing what you love? 1. Fear of failing?…
We all know someone like this. You say how you read that something wasn’t great – but they say that the person who wrote that is an idiot. You say how you’re loving a song by a band – and…
Read some thoughts about it: If we can acquire proteins, vitamins and other important nutrients that are grinding stomach needs then i think there’s no need to eat and poop at all. We will even save a lot of money…
So for those who know me…and even those who don’t…I love ultimate frisbee. The best part about ultimate being the frisbee. And the fact that when you throw the frisbee it can do some amazing things. When I throw a…
So part of my job is to try and anticipate what is the future of social media and the internet. This is a difficult thing. There are many smart people all trying to make their best guess as to the future…
Everyone has favourite place which they like to be. Could be Elbow Falls in Calgary. Or a beach in Hawaii. Or a hill that looks over the city. Point is, people have a spot they enjoy going. It makes them…
Why do people make things more complicated than they have to be? When someone is giving a presentation, why do they waste time explaining a whole bunch of stuff you don’t really need to know. In order to have relevant…
Seriously. Why do you butter your toast a certain way? Why do you dry yourself off after a shower a certain way? Why do you organize your books a certain way? And why do you do your job a certain…
Are we paid to sit in a chair, do our work and be there for 8 hours? Some will say yes. I say no. You’re being paid to produce results. To get things done. If you’re a salesman, you’re being…
When you’re in a rush, would you stop to help someone else out? When you’re stuck in traffic late for work, would you stop and help someone change a flat tire? When you’re late for an appointment and someone gets…
What is it that causes us to commit to something? And what is it that causes us to actually follow through and accomplish that which we committed to do? I always find it interesting when people talk a big game.…
Do you ever get down and it seems to perpetuate and you wonder what’s going on with you, and then other people start to notice as well? Does it happen to correspond with a lack of exercise/eating properly? Funny how…
Do you ever get down and it seems to perpetuate and you wonder what’s going on with you, and then other people start to notice as well? Does it happen to correspond with a lack of exercise/eating properly? Funny how…
So many of my posts have an ultimate theme to them. That’s no coincidence. I love the sport. I love everything about it. When I train, I train so I can be a better player. It’s nice how they go…
So many of my posts have an ultimate theme to them. That’s no coincidence. I love the sport. I love everything about it. When I train, I train so I can be a better player. It’s nice how they go…
I watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, for the 2nd time, tonight. And wow. Although I knew the story line and what to expect, it still moved me. There are many levels to this movie and many things I could…
1. I have many passions but for the past 8 years, it’s been ultimate Frisbee. I frequently dream about playing ultimate. Whenever I see a green field, I think “Wow, that would be a great field to play on.” 2.…
When you feel overwhelmed by life, how do you relax and take time for yourself? Some people read a book. Some drink some wine. Others exercise. Some listen to music. And some meditate. But, what do you do to find…
A lot can be said for doing what you love. I’ve written about it before. And many people before me have as well. But what it comes down to is doing what makes you happy. Many of the things that…
Did you ever read the Hardy Boys? Tom Swift? Nancy Drew? I miss reading those books. When I was a kid, I would sit and read for hours and hours. My favourite thing to do as a kid was play…
So you know those famous last words… Me: You don’t have to do X because Y won’t happen? T: If Y will happen to anyone, it’ll be me. And then Y happens. And you feel like a total schmuck? Long story short…do X because if…
“Don’t let someone become a priority in your life when you are just an option in theirs.” Wow, I saw this quote on someone’s status on Facebook last week and it struck a huge chord. Why spend so much time…
Today was the 2nd day of training at SMART. It was also the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. So promptly at 10am, we took a break and went down to the cafeteria and…
I curse you warm weather and melty snow for making mine and my friend’s lives so annoying. Why won’t you just disappear altogether so we don’t constantly get stuck trying to park on the streets where we live? Why can’t…
So the University of Calgary just this year stopped accepting credit card payments and instead are only accepting cash, cheque, debit card, or money order. This was done with the goal of using the credit card fees saved by the…
Roz invited a bunch of us to her condo (see house) in Invermere, BC this weekend. Her plan was to go for about a week and go skiing/boarding/blading at Panorama a few times at least. Sterling and I headed down…
very Christmas Eve, I am brought back to being home and being so excited for Christmas. Growing up my family was never rich, but my parents always seemed to get me something that I really wanted. My mom and dad…