Dave and Laura just had a beautiful wedding! Check out some of the pics and wish them the best!

Google Reader anyone?

It may be a bit early but Nik and I did some Christmas decorating this weekend. We got our first Christmas tree and decorated the house up a bit. Thanks to everyone that gave us Christmas ornaments for the tree. Here are some pics.

Here are some pics from Halloween. We carved a pumpkin and little Kobe dressed up as a chicken!

I had the opportunity to listen to an excellent speaker last week that had some great insight on what makes a leader. Here are nine steps that help to make a good leader.

Be A Leader

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
2. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
4. Ask question instead of giving direct orders.
5. Let the other person save face.
6. Praise the slightest improvement. Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

We also talked about having balance in your life and identified eight areas that most people invest their time into (career, personal finances, family, community, education, leisure, spiritual, and health). Are you putting too much time into some areas at the expense of neglecting others?

I also come away with some good quotes.

• Worry = Stewing without Doing
• "God gave you two ears but only one mouth for a reason"
• What’s more contagious than enthusiasm? Lack of it.

And finally, we talked about the key steps in problem solving

1. Identify a Problem
2. Find the Cause
3. Explore Possible Solutions
4. Pick and Implement the Best Solution

I just came across a great app that is by far the easiest and cleanest way to download videos from Youtube. The bonus is that this app also lets you download the new higher quality videos as well (as long as a HQ version is available). Check it out.

http://www.download.com/High-Quality-Youtube-Downloader/3000-2071_4-10895060.html

The other day Kobe escaped from his gate/cage thing, so I set up a camera to see how he did it.