Tuesday, November 24, 2009

#Tweetsgiving-What Am I Thankful For?

There really is not a short answer for that question, but I'll break it down into three categories; Family, Business, and Life in General.

Family:
2009 started with the scary news that my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancers are not a new thing to my family, so I am thankful that my Mom is as strong as she is, and that the cancer was caught in very early stages and that radiation was the only treatment that was needed. This incident brought my entire family closer. I am closer now to my Mom than ever, and see how great she is even more than I ever have.

My children, except for a few bouts with the flu, are otherwise healthy and thriving. I am thankful that they continue to do well in school and remain role models for their peers.

Business:
This year has been the biggest year for Squish yet. We moved into our first office after working out of a home office for 4 years. Doors have opened, through networking, that have put us in front of people and companies that have the ability to change and improve everything that we have done in the past. This has been the year that we have learned the most about our business from either mistakes that we have made in the past or just from learning from our peers.

I am thankful for Doc Weesner, Becki Shafer, Barbara Weaver-Smith, Duke Brown and Jennifer Quigley, Robert Glidden, Chad Whaley, Susie Wood and Dan McMichael, Randy Zentz, Jeff Jones Sr and Jeff Jones Sr, Jon Bright, MT and Phil Ray, Doug Karr, Amy Foris, Dan Hill, Jeff Pipkin, Kari Mann, Tom Hirons, and all that have referred business to Squish. I appreciate you.

I am thankful that I was able to be a part of great fund raising, food collection, and awareness events such as the Tyson Foods Hunger Relief , The Susan G Komen Race for the Cure, Indy Zoobilation, The Indianapolis International Film Festival, Salvation Army's Homelessness Bites Apple Fest, Mooresville Kiwanis Taste of Mooresville, Ike & Jonesy's Matt Miller Benefit, United Way of Central Indiana's Live United Give United commercial, and various other efforts around Indy.

I was also nominated for my first two awards ever! NOWIB's Indianapolis Woman to Watch and Blog Indiana's BLINDY Social Media Superstar!


Life in General:

Aside from my children and family, I am so thankful to be in my third year of dating my boyfriend, George. Being my business partner and my boyfriend, we've been through a lot together. The best thing about him is that he helps me see the good in me, helps me to focus on the big picture, and to continue to be better no matter what. The best thing about us is that we are an awesome team. He gives the five dollar answer, I give the five cent answer. He thinks deeply, I bring all those deep thoughts together into one short answer. It just works.

I'm thankful for my health. I'm thankful that I've not had any major home repairs that have needed to be done. I'm thankful that I can still learn and that I can still teach. I'm thankful for my car that runs even after I drown it in water this deep:


There is a lot more to list. I'm hoping that this blog post helps with the fund raising efforts in Tanzania to help with the building of the orphanage, library, school, cafeteria, classrooms, and entrepreneurs. Everyone should have a life to be thankful for. You can donate now if you would like, by visiting Epic Change.

More about Tweetsgiving
Tweetvite to Tweetsgiving

Other Indy folks that are participating in Tweetsgiving are:
Scott Wise
Angie Six
Robby Slaughter
Nila Nealy
Lindsay Manfredi
Michael Reynolds
Jon Speer
Pamela Reilly
Nancy Myrland
Kenan Farrell
Douglas Karr
Amy Stark

#tweetsgiving (#indytweetsgiving) is a fundraiser of a 5013c us Nonprofit, Epic Change. http://tweetsgiving.epicchange.org/. The schedule for this year is for November 24-26, a 48 hour event created by US nonprofit Epic Change. There are two simple ways to participate: on twitter tag what you are thankful for with #tweetsgiving. The attempt is to get #tweetsgiving to be a trending topic, and thus -- encourage participation and exposure. Last year, Epic Change with only a #hashtag and accepting donations online in a 48 hour period, raised over $10,000 for a school in Tanzania. Tweetsgiving 2009 will go partly to create a dormitory/orphanage, library, school, cafeteria and additional classrooms are needed in partnership with Kamptoni in Tanzania. The other portion will go towards funded future change makers and social entrepreneurs in less fortunate conditions. The second way to participate is to donate. Donations can be made online, or in cash form on Tuesday at the #indytweetup at Scotty's downtown.

Simple answer: raise money for less fortunate entrepreneurs, giving everyone a voice.

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5 comments:

Coxymoney said...

You have an awful lot to be thankful for Nicki as we all do! That was very well broken down and God bless you for hardwork! It often goes unnoticed but let me give you a bit of *shine* and let you know that I notice. Thank you for helping out with #indytweetup #indytweetsgiving #tweetsgiving! God bless you, your family and those less fortunate than both you and I!

Angie @ Just Like The Number said...

I'm participating in #tweetsgiving as well. I've really enjoyed looking at everyone's posts and seeing what they're thankful for. I really like how you divided yours up into different categories of your life. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Nicki Laycoax said...

Ryan and Angie,

I appreciate both of your comments. I wish you both a great holiday with your loved ones!

Nicki

Nila said...

Hi Nicki! I appreciate your post. And, I really appreciate the help you gave me this year in raising 2,000 books in 2 weeks for Indianapolis children. You were a huge part of helping me reach my goal. Happy Thanksgiving!

Nicki Laycoax said...

Nila,

I am so happy you were able to reach your goal. It was my pleasure to help you out!

I hope you all have a great holiday season!

Nicki