Everyday on a Bike // Week 1

The weather in Denver has been spectacular - the perfect get-on-your-bike-before-it-snows-again kind of weather. Although my bike rides never topped 2 miles, I was able to ride 5 out of 7 days this week. Not bad. And, on the days I missed out, others contributed their pictures (including Bobbie of Run.Bobbie.Run who rode in Iowa in sub-freezing temps!).

What's fascinating to me about these photos and this project is how close I stay to home - because I can. We picked the perfect walkable/bikeable community for a reason!

For example, on various days, I rode to the dentist and dry cleaners, to pick Lila up from daycare, to taste wine at our local wine purveyor and to lunch with the family.

Don't forget, if you post a photo on Instagram with the tag #everydayonabike this month, you'll be entered to win a $10 Starbucks gift card. For an additional entry, leave a comment on this post about why you ride in the winter. Check out the great photos from the week. You can find me on Instagram @sarastruckman.

Struckman Consulting // One Year In

Today marks one year since I officially embarked on my own as an independent consultant with nonprofits as Struckman Consulting. I signed my first contract with the Global Down Syndrome Foundation. It was scary - I didn't know how long that contract would last and I didn't have any additional clients lined up. The good news is, I finished my contract with GDSF after about five months and managed to sign a long-term client. Since then, I've signed another long-term client and two short-term clients. Somehow things have worked out and I've been able to pay myself every month (a very good thing). I'm also learning as I go. Although I haven't necessarily been strategic in my actions, I'd like to record my successes and failures as reminders for years to come.

Successes

• Network, network, network. I attended several networking functions throughout the year and met some really great people. I've even been able to refer some of the people I met to paid gigs of their own. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Chit chat and small talk don't always come easy for me, so these activities challenged me - in such a good way.
• Give back. I took on one pro bono client this year. Working with the Denver VOICE has been so rewarding. I love the mission and the people are fantastic. Not only that, but the contacts I've made by working with the VOICE are priceless.
• Sell, sell, sell. Word of mouth is the most successful way to get new clients. Hence networking and volunteering. I pass my card out whenever I get a chance and try to meet with new and old contacts at least twice a month. I also printed holiday post cards to send to many of my contacts this year. I received great feedback on them - an inexpensive, yet powerful way to keep my name out there. Although I don't think it's necessary to have a website, I'm glad I designed one for the business. It's certainly easier to point people to my website than to lug around a bunch of writing samples.

I'm so happy with much of how I conducted business in 2012, but there's always room for improvement.

Try and Try Again

• Manage time wisely. Time management has always been a weakness of mine. I tend to thrive on deadlines, so when there's not a hard-and-fast date for a project, I wait until there is one. This has led to some late nights. I can definitely improve on last minute rushes by preparing in advance. I also need to resist tidying the house up and other time wasters while working at home.
• Keep good books. The small details - entering expenses and tracking trends - are also a weakness. It's not that I can't do them, it's that I leave them until last minute. I also don't have a good system to track these things outside of Excel and I can't justify buying a program - yet. On the same note, I tend to pay taxes at the very last minute as well. That's something I'm definitely planning on working out in the year to come.
• Cut unnecessary expenses. Although I know that networking expenses are an important part of doing business, I'm going to try to stick to meetings over coffee rather than meetings over lunch. 

The perks of working for myself and at home are limitless. Here are the highlights:

The Perks

• I can run during the day, which makes winter-time running possible. This is the first winter I've really been able to keep up on running and the flexible schedule is to thank.
• I purposely schedule meetings within a five-mile radius of my house so that I can ride my bike. I can't remember a week when I didn't ride my bike to a meeting.
• Sick days with the kids aren't so stressful because Nate and I don't have to juggle days off any more. Similarly, we don't have to piece together daycare when school is out and daycare is closed.
• Most importantly, I can spend more quality time with my kids. 
• My schedule is flexible so that I can accept adjuct teaching opportunities when they pop up.

Although I never planned for my professional life to look like this, I feel like it's balanced and rewarding - just what I need at this point in my life. Happy one-year anniversary to Struckman Consulting. Here's to many more!

Winter Running

I was all but ready to give up running a few months ago. My legs were sore and my motivation was low. Then November rolled around and the days were gorgeous. I figured I better get out and run because I never know when the weather will take a turn. I ran or walked every day that month. December proved to be pretty similar - out of character warm, dry weather. So, I kept running. I also increased my "base" run from 3 miles to 4 miles. In all of my running life, 3 miles have been the absolute minimum I will run. Lately, I haven't run anything less than 4 miles.

In late December the weather did turn. But, I just kept at it. Turns out that dressing appropriately helps with winter running. And it turns out that keeping active over the winter months helps with extra pounds over the holidays (shocking, I know). It's been very helpful to run without any particular goal. I'm not registered for any races. My only goal is to keep running. And so far it's working.

Back at It and Out of the Groove

Today marks the end of the holiday vacation. Both kids are back in daycare and I have a long list of items I need to tackle. In less than two weeks, I have fallen way out of the groove. We didn't leave the house until 8 this morning, I nearly forgot Lila's lunch AND tuition for the month. It's going to be rough getting back into the groove - especially considering that I have more hours to bill  this month and I start teaching again next week. And, I'm going to try to do it all without increasing hours at daycare. I may have to budge a bit on that.

The good news is that I was able to hop on the bike briefly yesterday. Benny had a play date, so I bundled the kids up and rode about a mile to drop him off. I've never ridden in temps below 40 degrees, so yesterday's 30-degree ride was a bit brisker than I'm used to. I need to learn how to dress for winter riding.

Don't forget, if you take a ride this month, be sure to capture it, upload it to Instagram and tag it #everydayonabike. You can find me @sarastruckman. If you post a picture in January, your name will be entered into a drawing for a $10 Starbucks gift card. For an additional entry, comment on this post about why you ride in the winter.

2013

This year has a strange ring to it. It's almost like I can't quite believe that another year has passed, that my kids continue to get older and more amazing, that I can't count the grey hairs on my head any more because there are too many.

New Years doesn't quite mean the same thing to me like it did way back in my 20s. Then it was a time for new beginnings and new experiences. Now, it's a time to reflect on how happy I am with my life. Each year truly seems to get better and better, so I have few expectations for 2013 - aside from being mostly great.

I took a few big steps in 2012 that seem to be paying back. I'm quickly approaching my one-year anniversary as an independent nonprofit consultant and adjunct professor. My decision to change things up professionally has been an overwhelmingly positive one and I look forward to another year in these roles.

In terms of this space, the blog, I still can't quite pinpoint the number one purpose for posting regularly. I do love that it forces me to remember things about the kids and our lives together. I also love that it's a space for me to write regularly and capture some of the day-to-day things that I would surely otherwise forget. In the past year, however, it has become a bit more than that. I have "met" some amazing women through this blog and I finally understand what people are talking about when they refer to the "blog community."

With that, I'm excited (and a little nervous) for my newest experiment: Everyday on a Bike Challenge. Check the original post for more information about the challenge.

Essentially, I want to collect pictures of people (myself included) before, during or after a bike ride for every day in 2013. I started riding my bike more in 2012 and I'm kind of in love with bike commuting. Let's share that love via Instagram! (Find me @sarastruckman.) Watch for regular updates in 2013!

So, happy, happy new year! Here's hoping that life just keeps moving along an upward trajectory!