* Jedd Thoughts

A Season To Grow Strong Roots

Every year I write a birthday post reflecting on something I’ve learned in the past year about myself (and thoughts about getting older). It’s a great way to see where I’ve been, who I am today, and hopefully reflects the person I am working on becoming.  


Celebrating a birthday is hard this year.

In general, I’ve never been one to make a big fuss about birthdays, but recently I’ve seen them as a great way to reflect and give thanks for all the experiences I’ve had and thanks for all the people I’ve met that brought me to where I am today.

As you know, 2020 isn’t the year we all thought it would be and these days, it doesn’t feel appropriate to celebrate. But I still have hope that things will get better and that there are many reasons to “be thankful” (as my Dad would often say) amidst the uncertainty and challenges we all face. Continue reading “A Season To Grow Strong Roots”

* Jedd Thoughts

7 Important Things I’ve Learned This Past Year

Every year (except last year – lol) I write a birthday post reflecting on something I’ve learned in the past year about myself (and thoughts about getting older). It’s a great way to see where I’ve been, who I am today, and hopefully reflects the person I am working on becoming.  


As I was thinking about what to write for this year’s post I realized that there were a lot of good nuggets and truth that I wanted to remember from year #35.

In no particular order:

1) Getting more sleep — well I put this first because Continue reading “7 Important Things I’ve Learned This Past Year”

* Jedd Thoughts, Intentional Living

7 Things I’ve Learned in 7 Years of Marriage (updated)

Ten years ago today Michelle and I stood before family and friends and committed to being life partners. It’s hard to believe how much time has passed and yet, there’s always a newness in our relationship as we keep working on being better individuals, and working through challenges to grow closer and stronger as a couple.

3 years ago I wrote this post and upon revisiting it, a lot of the things I wrote still hold true. But to mark this anniversary I also wanted to add 3 new things I’ve learned from our 10 years of marriage. Here’s the original post with some new thoughts: Continue reading “7 Things I’ve Learned in 7 Years of Marriage (updated)”

* Jedd Thoughts

You Have a Purpose and You are Loved

Time is strange. As a child, 5 minutes in timeout felt like eternity. Our wedding, now almost 10 years past doesn’t feel that long ago. And then there’s the instances where a major event happens in your life and all you can think about what life was like before and after that event. Such is the case with saying goodbye to my father last year. I think of life in terms of all the time that we shared together when he was with us and now, the time without him.

Just about a year ago we gathered with our dear friends and family to say goodbye and thank you. Somedays it feels like a lifetime ago. Other days it feels like just yesterday that he was here. I had an opportunity to give the “thanks” on behalf of our family. In the midst of all the things that were going on at the time, I didn’t think to save what I wrote and I threw away the only copy of my words. Or so I thought. 

I was going to write my annual birthday post and low and behold I had actually copied my speech to share here (insert my tears here). Now it really felt like it was yesterday that I was talking with my Dad.

We try our best to keep his legacy alive each day and I tried my best to share what I thought he would want others to know — that you have a purpose and you are loved:

Continue reading “You Have a Purpose and You are Loved”

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Intentional Living

What Matters Most

Every year I write a birthday post reflecting on something I’ve learned in the past year about myself (and thoughts about getting older). It’s a great way to see where I’ve been, who I am today, and hopefully reflects the person I am working on becoming.  


I want to ask you a question: what core values drive the major decisions you make for your life?

In other words, what are the things you value the most? Do you know? Have you ever asked yourself this question? If you do know what matters the most to you, do you live your life in such a way that reflects these values?

This is the foundation to Continue reading “What Matters Most”

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, challenges, Intentional Living

2016 Annual Review Part 1: How Well Did The Year of Productivity Go?

For the last three years, Michelle and I have done a practice called an Annual Review. It’s an opportunity to intentionally reflect on the past year and think of the things that went well, things that didn’t go so well, and to take all that information and start planning for the upcoming year and beyond. We highly recommend this activity as an individual, as a couple, and even as a family. Don’t know how to start one? Check out this awesome free workbook from our friends at Live Your Legend and example posts from the Art of Non-Conformity


At the beginning of this year I made a pronouncement to make this the “year of productivity”. I even wrote a post explaining my plan here.

I was going to:

  • Learn Spanish (mind)
  • Get ripped and in-shape (body)
  • Grow in my faith (spirit)

How did I do? Well… Continue reading “2016 Annual Review Part 1: How Well Did The Year of Productivity Go?”

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Intentional Living

To the First Cohort of the Wayfinding Academy…

There’s a good chance that when you read this post, 15 new students will have just finished their very first class at the Wayfinding Academy. It’s an incredible story of how a former college professor (and great friend of ours) put together a team to create a college from scratch that combats many of the current issues in higher education.

The main focus of the Wayfinding Academy is to help students discover and better understand who they are (based on their passions, skills, and interests), how they can serve our world, and determine what next steps they’ll need to live the life they want for themselves — not what others are saying they should do. Continue reading “To the First Cohort of the Wayfinding Academy…”

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, challenges, Intentional Living

Whole 30 Challenge Review

Every year Michelle and I have tried to do some sort of food fast, and this year we decided to try the Whole 30 challenge. You can read about why we decided to do this challenge here. 

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We really like this practice of doing challenges as it helps us learn how to be more intentional, disciplined, and most importantly, become more aware of our own behaviors that we typically wouldn’t think much about. For this specific challenge we are focusing on what we eat.


Whole Foods for 30 Whole Days

We did it. Mission accomplished.

For 30 days, we intentionally avoided eating sugar, dairy, beans, rice, grains, gluten and other food that could potentially cause inflammation. We followed all of the Whole 30 rules. By doing so, we turned down offers of pizza and dessert, as well as many of our other favorite things to eat. Overall, it wasn’t that bad.

In fact…we both learned a lot*. Continue reading “Whole 30 Challenge Review”

* Jedd Thoughts, Intentional Living

The Thief of Joy: Comparison

Every year I write a birthday post reflecting on something I’ve learned in the past year about myself (and thoughts about getting older). It’s a great way to see where I’ve been, who I am today, and hopefully reflects the person I am working towards becoming.  


This one’s for you. Who? You.

It’s also for me. I’m writing this post for myself. I’m hoping that when I’m 66 and maybe 99, I’ll somehow come back to this post and remember the greatest lesson I’ve learned so far this past year: Continue reading “The Thief of Joy: Comparison”

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Intentional Living

Whole 30: A Challenge to Eat Whole Foods For 30 Days – Join Us

Every year Michelle and I have tried to do some sort of fast (you can read about our last one here). We really like this practice as it helps us learn how to be more intentional, disciplined, and most importantly, become more aware of our own behaviors that we typically wouldn’t think much about. For this specific challenge we are focusing on what we eat.

doing-the-w30-fb-cover-660x244

Continue reading “Whole 30: A Challenge to Eat Whole Foods For 30 Days – Join Us”