Inside Your Wealth - November/December

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A Note from Marilyn and Ora 

Welcome Winter and the Holiday Season!

As we welcome the final month of 2019, we wish you all the Happiness and Abundance of the Holiday Season to you, your family and friends.  As we “deck out” our houses, offices, cars and even our pets, with holiday lights, ornaments and cute clothing, let’s carve out a little bit of time to reflect on 2019 and how the year has progressed for each of us. 

Our team at The Diamond Group, has learned to stay in the moment, taking care of our wonderful clients and our projects; and yet we will take time to enjoy this Holiday Season and all that it means to each of us. 

We are deeply grateful for the collaboration and connections we have with our clients and colleagues. 

Enjoy your Holiday Season and take time just for you! We will talk and connect soon in the New Year! 

Best Wishes for a Happy and Very Abundant New Year!  

Marilyn and Ora

Giving Great Gifts 

Some people have a gift when it comes to gifts. Whether it’s a birthday, wedding, baby shower, Christmas, Hanukah, or some other occasion, they always seem to find just the right thing for each person. If you’re not an insightful gift giver, here is an idea which may help. This present is not easy to create. It will take time, thought, and patience, but it’s likely the people who receive it will treasure it. Best of all, you can add to it each year. 

So, what is this great idea? It’s a recipe book; an updated and highly personalized cookbook. You may decide to write recipes on cards, like your mother or grandmother did, because there is something wonderful about seeing a recipe in the handwriting of a person you loved who is no longer around. You may decide to document the recipes electronically so they can be printed, laminated, and kept in a notebook. You may decide to deliver your gift on a portable hard drive or flash drive so recipes can be pulled up on a kitchen computer or tablet. 

No matter what form the gift takes, you’ll be providing a slice of your family’s history or the history of a friendship to the people who receive your gift. You may decide to create a drinks recipe book for your best girlfriends, a family recipe book for your children, a tailgating recipe book for your sports-minded friends, or a baby food recipe book for a pregnant friend, daughter, or daughter-in-law. The possibilities are endless. 

There are a variety of ways to make your recipe book more meaningful. You may want to include: 

• Stories: Was this recipe someone’s favorite? Why was it liked (or disliked)? Was it always served on a specific holiday? Was it part of a memorable kitchen disaster? Did it evolve through the generations? Was it always served in a particular dish?
• Pictures: Include pictures of family or friends. Scan photos of your children when they were young (enlist the help of someone who knows how to use a scanner, if necessary.) You may want to have pictures of someone cooking the dish.
• Explanations: Cooking is at risk of becoming a lost art. Include valuable information such as which recipes are good for entertaining, which are gluten-free, and so on. You can include this in the table of contents or on the recipe.
• Information: Remember to include tables of equivalent measures, ingredient substitutes, cuts of meat, and other essential cooking data.

The possibilities for your recipe book are endless. If you’re seeking additional inspiration, go online and google some more ideas.

Holiday Stuff It 

The Cold Facts About a Warm Winter Drink

Stuffing has been a popular culinary treatment for a long time. A kitchen anthology that dates back to the Roman Empire included stuffing recipes for chicken, rabbit, pork, and dormouse! 

Here is a great recipe for stuffed pork chops:

Stuffed Pork Chops

1/2 pound Andouille sausage (casings removed)

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 teaspoons Cajun seasoning, divided

2 cups French bread cubes

1/2 cup chicken broth

6 pork loin chops, two inches thick, bone in, center cut

2 tablespoons paprika

2 teaspoons pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

Fresh thyme as garnish 

Preheat oven to 350°. Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until sausage crumbles and is no longer pink.  

Remove sausage and drain on paper towels, reserving drippings in the skillet. Sauté onion, celery, green bell pepper, and garlic in the skillet until tender.  Remove from heat. Stir in sausage and add 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning. Put bread cubes and chicken broth in a large bowl. Add the sausage mixture. 

Cut a lengthwise slit in one side of each pork chop to form a pocket. Do not cut through to the opposite side. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the outside and rub it on the inside of each chop. Spoon the sausage mixture into each pocket. Stir the paprika, pepper, and remaining Cajun seasoning together and rub on the chops. 

Heat olive oil in a fry pan. Cook pork chops over medium-high heat until golden on the outside. Put the seared chops in an oiled baking dish and bake them in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. 

What Do You Know About Chinese New Year?¹

 Why are firecrackers set off during Chinese New Year?

1. 1. To scare away monsters
   2. To wake the gods
   3. To provide light
   4. To thrill family members

2. What should you not do on Chinese New Year?
   1. Leave the house
   2. Eat fish
   3. Sweep the house
   4. Speak the names of the dead

 What color should you wear for good luck?

3. 1. Yellow
   2. Red
   3. White
   4. Black 

4. What fruit is traditionally distributed?
   1. Pineapple
   2. Tangerines
   3. Papaya
   4. Dragon fruit

1. A – To scare away monsters
2. C – Sweep the house (you may sweep away your fortune)
3. B – Red: wards off evil spirits (children receive red envelopes of money)
4. B – Tangerines

The Best of What’s New

If you’re a fan of the television series Parks and Recreation, you may have witnessed the scene in which Park Commissioner Ron Swanson makes wedding rings from a wall sconce and says, “Any moron with a crucible, an acetylene torch, and a cast iron waffle maker could have done the same. The whole thing only took me about 20 minutes.”² 

It’s a pretty fair bet all the inventions recognized by Popular Science during its 8^th Annual Inventions Awards took more than 20 minutes to create. On the list were a way to regulate old boiler systems with new technology, a means of charging electronic devices while hiking, and a personal electric airplane that lands vertically. Other award recipients were:³ 

• A powerful robotic exoskeleton. An affordable (about $2,000) device that augments the strength of patients who are trying to recover from debilitating injuries.
• A collapsible bike helmet. Let’s face it, bike helmets are essential but they’re also inconvenient. What do you do when you’ve reached your destination? This helmet folds up for storage in a pack or briefcase.
• A pocket-sized way to seal wounds. Stopping blood loss saves lives in war zones. This polycarbonate syringe slides into a wound and deposits dozens of pill-sized sponges that swell to help clot blood and fight infection. 

If you would like to learn more about any of these amazing inventions, visit Popsci.com.                                                  

Our passions can fuel our ride down the Yellow Brick Road! 

Sometimes in life we forget what is in our hearts; what makes us tick and smile. Strive to keep that bright light alive inside you. Pursue a career or work that brings out the best YOU.  Invest time, energy, in a field of study or work that intrigues you and keeps you coming back for more. Marry your purpose with your passions to reach your desired destination.

Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion.

Oprah Winfrey

Find something you are passionate about and stay tremendously interested in it.

Julia Child

Savvy Women —  

Transitions An Opportunity For Growth 

We all have had life changing transitions whether personal, career, health or relationships among many others. Each one of these is an opportunity for growth and a life event that may cause you to feel unexpected emotions.

For example, retirement for men and women, may cause one  to feel a loss of identity and self- value. 

One day you were the person in charge, being compensated nicely, and the next week, you are Mr. or Mrs. “Retired in Place”, drawing Social Security and perhaps a pension. 

 (The financial conversation is a whole other topic…). Or you decide to leave a long standing love relationship and the    transition to being on your own socially caused you to feel undervalued and of course  under loved. This is where small actions can lead you to your next success. Focusing on what makes you happy and productive is a good way to take small steps to complete a transition. 

How many of us have made big changes in our lives and have questioned ourselves day in and day out? We can share many more life transitions and decisions that we all make to move away or “forward” as we say in our wealth management practice. The words we use when talking to ourselves matter, and words like moving ahead; moving  forward; are supportive of our internal decisions. 

Take time to take good care of you when you are in a life transition. Healthy habits will help you to make healthy decisions daily. A successful transition usually does not happen in a few days, and sometime may take months, which we all know can be very challenging. 

There is a saying we use, that “What we appreciate, Appreciates!  Meaning that when we focus on a goal, a positive  outcome, we usually will experience that result over time.  

Positive intention is one foundational technique for success. Equally important is having a support system of family,friends and colleagues that you can trust and share your feelings and ideas with when you are making a life transition. Moving through a life transition without a strong support system is challenging. Even if there is only one person that you can lean on, ask for        support and guidance or just an ear that will listen. 

As we process our emotions, one at a time,  we can move forward much more quickly. 

Remember, transitions and change can produce positive growth in your life. Be open to the change, and life will open up for you. 

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