Day 30 of Gratitude - My Wife's Family

31 Days of Gratitude - In an attempt to publicly express my gratitude for the people that have impacted me in some way in 2015, I'm setting out to write one post a day sharing what I appreciate about them or what moment that marked me. Some of these people I know well, some I've only met, and some I'm just getting to know. There is no ranking to these posts and they aren't meant to put anyone on a pedestal. They, like you and I, are imperfect people with their own flaws, some you may have experienced. Despite those flaws, I believe we all need to have our positive characteristics called into light and celebrated. This is that attempt. 

I've been fortunate to marry into a wonderful family. The Brate's are some of the kindest, warmest, and loving people I know and I'm grateful for that. I couldn't have asked for a better family to be forever connected to that wasn't my own, and eight married years in, they are my own. 

Dave & Connie - You've done such a wonderful job raising your daughters and creating an environment where they could grow up and learn what it means to love others well. I'm grateful for all the ways you continue to care for them and incorporate Austin and I into your families as your sons. You're grace, generosity, welcoming spirits, and genuine interest in our daily lives is welcomed and appreciated. I'm grateful for all the character traits I've seen you both demonstrate over the years that have impacted me and marked me as ones I need to emulate as a husband, father, and a neighbor trying to love others well. I truly hope that Michelle and I can do with our kids half as well as you've done with your own. I'm looking forward to the many years ahead and the life we'll get to do together. 

Austin & Linda - Thank you for welcoming me into the family all those years ago and making an effort to get to know me as a person and not just a guy dating your sister. Your kindness and genuine interest welcomed me to the family and continue to make me feel like I'm a part of it. I'm grateful for sibling in-laws that are also friends. Whether I show it well when we're together or not, I do appreciate all the times we get to spend together and to see our kids grow up closely as cousins. 

As I reflect on the past year, the times we've spent together, and the fact that our family is loved deeply by you all, I can't help but be grateful. 

Day 29 of Gratitude - Lily Fenoglio

31 Days of Gratitude - In an attempt to publicly express my gratitude for the people that have impacted me in some way in 2015, I'm setting out to write one post a day sharing what I appreciate about them or what moment that marked me. Some of these people I know well, some I've only met, and some I'm just getting to know. There is no ranking to these posts and they aren't meant to put anyone on a pedestal. They, like you and I, are imperfect people with their own flaws, some you may have experienced. Despite those flaws, I believe we all need to have our positive characteristics called into light and celebrated. This is that attempt. 

Coming from an advertising agency background where resources and creativity flowed widely to a no-budget nonprofit organization has continued to be one of my greatest frustrations at NL. I'm constantly dreaming up ideas on how to better position NL in the community from a marketing, branding, and communication perspective. It matters greatly to our growth and success, and I'm always feeling limited in what I can do. However, I've been capable of doing a ton of great stuff because so many people have invested their time pro-bono or at a significant discount over the years to help us. There are many I'm grateful for when I think about it. 

At this time last year, creative work for our website, Team NL, and a whole host of other NL projects was backing up. It was going to be too costly and the timeline too short to hire it all out, so I had the idea of hiring a design intern, which I had never done before. It turned out to be one of the great decisions of 2015 because of Lily Fenoglio. We had some other great candidates, but I connected to Lily because of her natural ability, desire to work and learn, and something in her spirit that I  knew connected to the position we were in at NL at the time. Lily was the perfect fit and she did a ton of great stuff for us. 

I'm grateful for Lily far beyond all the "work" she did for us, which was great. I appreciated how she wanted to jump right in on design projects as well as a volunteer on projects. Her creativity was a breathe of fresh air every day in the office and the fact that she was accomplishing everything I wanted to be working relieved some of the tension I have with feeling constantly under-resourced in the communication realm of NL. Lily ended up interning for us for a solid 5-months of time and became a part of our team. We were sad to see her head to Ashville, NC in May, but knew it was the adventure she needed as a person. 

Since then, Lily has run her first half-marathon on behalf of Team NL and raised some dollars for us, which helped fund a roof. She's an advocate for our work and will always be a member of our NL team. Thank you, Lily, for being exactly what NL and I needed in 2015. Like everyone else you've impacted in FW, we wish you were still around, but are glad to see you doing well in NC. 

Day 28 of Gratitude - Fortezza Coffee

31 Days of Gratitude - In an attempt to publicly express my gratitude for the people that have impacted me in some way in 2015, I'm setting out to write one post a day sharing what I appreciate about them or what moment that marked me. Some of these people I know well, some I've only met, and some I'm just getting to know. There is no ranking to these posts and they aren't meant to put anyone on a pedestal. They, like you and I, are imperfect people with their own flaws, some you may have experienced. Despite those flaws, I believe we all need to have our positive characteristics called into light and celebrated. This is that attempt. 

I've spend so much time, and money, at Fortezza this year and I've not regretted it at all. When I started at NL, we had no office and I did all my work out of Starbucks and a home office I built. As NL matured and grew, we got an office space, but I can't stand spending more than a few hours in there every day. I need a coffee shop environment where there is a buzz of people, great coffee, and some social & relational interactions with people. 

Starbucks served that purpose for a lot of years for me, but when Fortezza opened, it changed it all. This local coffee shop is unlike any other local coffee shop in my opinion and one of the main drivers of that for me is their actual coffee, not their ability to make espresso drinks. I'm not sure what it is, but so many other local coffee shops I go to, the regular black coffee is an after thought shoved on the counter in an air pot. I just don't want to go pay a premium for a cup of coffee that's not good because I don't drink lattes all that often. Fortezza cares as much about their coffee as they do an espresso drink, which isn't really about coffee for me, it's about the attention to their craft and their business. It's the care towards the lowest transaction cost as much as it is to the highest transaction. I like spending money at places that care about the small things as much as they care about the big things. 

Beyond the goods, the people are great and it's what makes any "3rd place" hangout for folks. It's refreshing to come to places several times a week and know the people working there while being welcomed back every day as I take up my spot at the front window. 

Fortezza, I'm grateful for your entrepreneurial spirit, warm atmosphere, commitment to the small things, and gracious spirits. I hope I've been as good of a customer as you have been a host. Thanks for making a great cup of coffee that ruins about any other cup of coffee for me. Mission Accomplished. 

Day 27 of Gratitude - Mark Miller

31 Days of Gratitude - In an attempt to publicly express my gratitude for the people that have impacted me in some way in 2015, I'm setting out to write one post a day sharing what I appreciate about them or what moment that marked me. Some of these people I know well, some I've only met, and some I'm just getting to know. There is no ranking to these posts and they aren't meant to put anyone on a pedestal. They, like you and I, are imperfect people with their own flaws, some you may have experienced. Despite those flaws, I believe we all need to have our positive characteristics called into light and celebrated. This is that attempt. 

Mark Miller has blessed me tremendously over the past year and a half as we've gotten to know each other and as he's chosen to get behind the efforts at Team NeighborLink. I would say that his influence and commitment to building a healthy and fun cycling community has been one of the biggest reasons we've had such success in the past year at Team NL. Mark is a natural leader and influencer. Mark is the kind of guy that is committed to his goals and invites people to join him, and communities need guys like Mark, which is why I'm so grateful for him this year. 

I've talked before about not really being much of an athlete and I'm definitely not competitive in traditional ways. Winning doesn't drive me, but having a great experience while getting better does. Mark is driven far more by competition than me and knows how to be successful, but he's learned from years of competing that there has to be more to it if you're going to stay engaged and want to do. So, these days he's as competitive as ever but not at the expense of making sure it's still fun to do and that it includes others. That spirit resonates with Team NL, his friend circle, and a lot of our athletes, which is why I'm grateful for his leadership within the Team. 

I'm grateful for Mark's generous spirit when it comes to including others, sharing his wealth of knowledge in cycling and beyond, and his willingness to represent a cause that really has nothing to do with cycling, but does have everything about loving others well. Something I see him do a lot of. He's a mentor to many, whether he calls it that or not. Mark has married an equally engaging and welcoming wife, Laura, who I see do the same thing. 

Mark, thanks for your continued support this year. It's meant a lot to me and I've appreciated your energy and desire to get others involved at NL. I look forward to 2016 and many more adventures together. I really want to do more 1-day trips regionally with the crew. 

Day 26 of Gratitude - Josh Shanklin

31 Days of Gratitude - In an attempt to publicly express my gratitude for the people that have impacted me in some way in 2015, I'm setting out to write one post a day sharing what I appreciate about them or what moment that marked me. Some of these people I know well, some I've only met, and some I'm just getting to know. There is no ranking to these posts and they aren't meant to put anyone on a pedestal. They, like you and I, are imperfect people with their own flaws, some you may have experienced. Despite those flaws, I believe we all need to have our positive characteristics called into light and celebrated. This is that attempt. 

I would have never guessed that one of my best friends would have been made after we bought a house in a neighborhood we knew little about, and he'd live on my street just a few doors down. Michelle and I met Josh and his family before we even bought our house and got to know each other as we started renovating our place before moving in. Since then, our families have become good friends. They've since moved away, but our relationship continues to grow and deepen just like lifelong friends do. We're still pretty bitter about them leaving our street, but we love that they follow the Spirit-led promptings towards life-giving opportunities even if it means making challenging decisions to leave those they love behind. 

I'm grateful for friendship that can still grow and develop despite distance. I appreciate how much Josh and I can relate with one another, which creates a relationship that's transparent and gives space for asking big questions and challenging assumptions. I appreciate the dreamer nature of Josh and how he leads and teaches others from that spirit. I love how he and his wife parent their daughters and have included them in everything. They're daughters are loved well and it shows in the character their daughters have developed so far. 

Most of all, I'm grateful for Josh's friendship and care of that. I'm always looking forward to our next conversation, hangout, or text conversation that usually includes razzing each other about something. Thanks for being a friend, Josh! Now, GO HOME. (Inside joke of when our daughter was about 2 and could yell at Josh to go home as he'd leave our house to walk home.)