2023 Year in Review

This is always a fun one to write to capture the year in review too!

2023 had a lot going on – here are some of the highlights and lowlights and everything in between in no particular order

Zandra and Ilyah’s wedding celebration

Sam’s 16 trip to England

Outerbanks for 3 weeks for working remotely

Zach and Rachael in France for 6 weeks

Josh tree planting in Alberta

LCS Mastermind presentation in Dallas

Loss of Rachael’s brother

Sam’s graduation

Lots of Netflix, prime and Apple TV

Advanced Training in Nervous System Resilience was born (3 launches!)

Canadian wildfires

Collingwood for a week

Zach wrote his MCAT

Sam started Carleton

Guest on Jody Moore’s podcast and 20 others

Took a ton of courses

Read a ton of books

Mexico trip

Gabe multiple internships

Lots of walks

Business Minded Mastermind in California Feb and June

Visit to Utah and San Fran in Feb

Reggie first time leaving the country

Many dinners out

Lots of classes, exams and papers for kids

Zach published a research paper

Zandra got a job teaching

Josh moved into new house

Decluttered the house (looks like it needs it again!)

Rob’s new toy Fiat

Everyone home for Christmas this year (first time since 2018)

Lots of podcasts recorded (52)

Lots of podcasts listened to!

Lots of FaceTime calls

Rob’s 2023 Christmas Poem

Although this blog runs a little sparse these days, there are a few “must captures”.

Rob’s Christmas poem is one for sure:

Christmas 2023 

It all started clear another CDF year

It started with one of our New Yorker crew celebrating a birthday 

Shortly after we had Josh celebrating too

In Ottawa and studying in the capital city

He finished year one sitting pretty 

Soon he’d be in his new student house without dispute

Warding off any ill repute

Sam graduated the last to complete

He was through the gauntlet of high school so neat 

Planning began for Sam’s somewhat late 16 trip

London, Liverpool and Manchester’s factory hip

Immersed in the Brit pop hatchery young and tenda

We saw the Hacienda where there had been many a benda

We stood where Bowie became Ziggy in a back alley stoop

We covered the best of every Brit pop group 

Strawberry fields and the Cavern Club

We even enjoyed some good pub grub 

Pics outside the Salford Lads club like a group of grifters

We even met the purveyor of the famous Sifters

Heading to the warmth of summer birthdays coming fast – Leah, Zandra, Ilyah and Rachael too

My goodness they’re so many to name we are an expanding crew 

Then celebrations for Gabe, Sam and Zach 

Soon they would all 

to Fulton be back

Josh replenishing the planet with trees all around

Forest fires avoided and new money found

Sam at Kops spinning a disc or two

I think he even managed to sell a few!

Zach and Rachael oversees in France

Studying and learning, nothing left to chance.

They let him play with some patient’s ticker

Getting some medical experience couldn’t be sicker 

Then it was Zandra and Ilyah’s upcoming nuptials 

Songs and some dance school house rule

We all enjoyed meeting added family members to the pool

A magical night filled with speeches and delight

Zandra a bride illuminated the night!

A wedding and night to set their future bright 

However with the ups come the down

And we held each other and fell to the ground

We would hold on to all we could

With heavenly angels we all stood

Changed we all are

Love and support near and far

Then it was time for the last to be university bound

It was Ottawa that would solidify out Canadian education ground

And Gabe and Shannon a mock trial room makes the defence look like gumps

Our New Yorkers another year closer to real court room triumphs 

Celebrations and student transportation complete, it was Leah’s chance to be on stage!

Not surprising and to everyone’s delight, Leah and her talk were all the rage!

Leah showed them all the nervous system flop

She left the conference flying on top!

With a major launch and a business on a rocket 

Leah got a lot of extra change in her pocket 🙂

Then we were off to the Outer Banks 

To the ocean waves and sand to say thanks

We worked and slumbered in a sandbar rental

Reggie on the beach harvest moon sentimental 

And on return we planned a birthday surprise

A pair of tickets that all across the country would prize

Sarah and Swift to Toronto will go

To the world’s biggest concert show!

To Mexico to close out on our trips

We even left some pretty good tips

Slightly tanned and and feeling a lot betta

Rob got a nice Orange BARCHETTA

But not to distract, back to the Christmas cheer we want to hear 

For this let’s be perfectly clear

We are thankful for all we have and are blessed

It’s time for old St Nick to rest

Lots of love and not a flake of snow 

But regardless let’s just go! 

Merry Christmas to all

Let’s start this festive ball!

SPEAKING AT THE LCS MASTERMIND 2023

In September I had the opportunity of a life time!

Back in June when I went to California to spend 3 days with my Business Minded Mastermind group (the third time we met) with Jody Moore, Jody had asked me if I was going to the Life Coach School (LCS) Mastermind in Dallas. I said I was, and she said she wanted to nominate me to speak!

I was excited, but didn’t think that it would happen. Getting on that stage is a pretty big deal.

I was already over the moon that Jody was taking my new Advanced Training in Nervous System Resilience (a program I created when she challenged us all to 10X our businesses and our business ideas) , and then she had me on her popular podcast, Better than Happy. (In Life Coach School world, Jody Moore is a pretty big deal too – so pretty much everything can be considered opportunities of a lifetime).

A few weeks later I got an email from LCS asking if I would speak…

At the beginning of September I flew to Dallas to present!

It was a 20 minute speech all about the nervous system and had to be completely memorized – so needless to say I practiced a lot.

I was super super super nervous (or was it excited?!?!? Both really). But, since it was all about the nervous system, I had a few strategies that I could use lol.

My slides were all ready to go using some of these guys that I had made for me:

The night before we had a dress rehearsal – and I have to say seeing the room, the back stage, the sound check had me bit freaked out.

Luckily I had some of my Business Minded Besties that I was rooming with and they kept me calm and regulated and pumped up too!

I woke them up super early to go for a walk to get some of my nervous energy out!

Then we headed down:

I was the 3rd speaker on the first morning. This was the setting. Brooke Castillo (owner of LCS spoke first – sporting the same blue I was wearing :))

Then it was show time. My talk was entitled ” A Quick Guide to Your Nervous System”. People took photos and sent them to me (video clips too!)

Once I got on the stage – it all flowed. I felt worse at the dress rehearsal! I got some great feedback too so that was awesome! Many people were watching virtual too and I made sure to screen shot the messages texts I got to put in my file of fabulous:))

It was fun to connect with people – I got to meet some people who were in the first round of my Advanced Training in Nervous System Resilience and then a few people who joined my September cohort (as well as many other people!). We also had some great meals and hang out time!


The next day was another day of talks. It was fun to see my name on the big screen when they thanked the speakers. And I swear the top is super cute and I didn’t look like a massive marshmallow despite what all the photos look like lol.

Overall, it was an incredible experience and I am very grateful!

Zandra & Ilyah’s wedding celebration

It is a been a beat – time certainly flies – it has been over two months since Zandra’s wedding celebration! We recently got the photos from the photographer and since I use this blog to capture the memories I wanted to make sure I post a ton of photos.

I’ll divide them in separate posts to keep it manageable!

The night before the celebration, we had a family dinner at an Italian restaurant on the Danforth.

The next morning the guys went to help with some setup. Zandra and her friends were getting ready at a hotel where they had spent the night. I got ready with Shannon and Rachael and then we made our way to the hotel to meet up with Zandra and head to the reception.

Rachael drove us all to the venue…