2012 = One Epic Ride!

2012... The year the world was supposed to end... I rode this year, like it was my last.  2013's got some big shoes to fill... I'm ready for the task!

It was a year of personal change for me... maybe it was turning 35, or just the experiences that found me and changed me.  Maybe I just wanted to do something different.

I started 2012 at 202 lbs... the heaviest I've ever weighed...  I started feeling run down, slower.  I had enough.   I made a major change in my diet.  Stopped eating fast food, fried food, soft drinks, and cut down on sweets... It wasn't so hard to make the changes... Now, I don't even miss it, don't want it, and prefer my fruits and veggies over Big Macs and salty french fries.  The result: dropped down to the lowest I've weighed since high school:  175.  (178 after Christmas, haha)

Started reading books.  Now I can't quit and prefer reading over watching TV and video games.  I've read more books in the past 6 months than my entire life.  I've got a lot of catching up to do.  Reading nearly a book a week.  My favorites this year:  The Dog Stars, Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and books about WWII.  Follow me on GoodReads

Got to visit New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.

Celebrated 10 years married to my wife.  As in all relationships, there are the ups and downs, but she has made everything worth it along the way.  Plus, get to see my three kids grow and learn new stuff everyday.

Rebuilt a car... my 1979 MGB.  It runs ok, still lots of work to go.  I can at least drive it to work.

Discovered myself... a new self.



So what's next?  2013's gonna have to get busy to catch up to '12.

• I lost 25+ pounds because of diet, however didn't do any exercise.  So I'm going to step it up a notch and sweat a little.
• Learn to play guitar.  This one has been one of those to-do's that I never get to... 
• Write more.  Not a book, (yet) but back to this blog.  I enjoy writing, but just haven't made it a priority.
• Try to knock off one more item of my bucket list.

Happy New Year to you!  Make it your mission to do something different in 2013...You have 365 new days ...go for it!!

Memo...

It's fun to dig through old emails... I ran across this today.  A memo I sent to my staff when I changed the name of the station back in 2007.  Enjoy!

3/11/07

Mike, Laura, and Nikki,  (the on air staff)
Hope you had a great weekend!  Tomorrow, we'll be back in action and
dropping "Country 105.5 is now 1055 The Wolf" and going straight into
using only "1055 The Wolf!".

Honestly, I was expecting a fair amount of emails saying "What the
heck?,"  But it seems only a few of our really passionate listeners
are despondent to the change.  Not to worry, like most who do not
accept change graciously at first, do eventually come around.  Because
we will still be super serving our listeners to their expectations the
same way we did as Country 105.5.

It's important to stay focused on what you do best, and that's being a
great performer on the radio.  Don't let the politics of the radio
station, a small handful of listener emails, or a name change bog you
down.

Here's some perspective...The name, Country 105.5, as popular as the
physical radio station is, is a very generic name for the product we
serve.  We've known this for years and was a very easy attacking point
if we were to have direct competition, (which we will soon.)  We don't
want to be the walmart cola, when we can be Coca-Cola.   I can't tell
you how many times at the drive-thru getting a burger and asking for a
coke and the guy on the other end asking "what kind of coke?"   When
we go make a copy, we're making the copy on a Zerox machine even
though it may be on a Ricoh.  Or even better, when the noun Zerox
becomes a verb.  How many times have you "googled" something.  The
Wolf is about creating a country music brand here in FWB and achieving
those same concepts as Coke, Xerox, Google...

The brand "The Wolf" will be known for country music, being patriotic,
being a part of the community....  Everything that the Country 105.5
brand was will be what The Wolf will stand for now.  It's important
that we continue to be these things to our listeners and tell our
listeners that too!

When you get on the air Monday, work your magic like always.  Be proud
of 105-5 The Wolf as you were with Country 105.5.  Bottom line is we
will continue to achieve great success because of you, your
personality, and your hard work, not because we changed our name.

See you in the morning!
-Todd

Todd Nixon, 
105-5 The Wolf
Ft. Walton Beach, FL

Make It Count

Drive it like you stole it, and make it count.  I love the premise of this video:  Being asked to make a video from Nike, then taking the cash and doing something else with it.  Cool video about having one shot and making it count... my favorite quote from this video is from Marilyn Monroe.

When You Wish Upon...

The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated... Instead of explaining my absence, which would be just a boring diatribe of how I work too much, I'm just going to jump back into it.  :)  Welcome back!

Being so close to Orlando, it was only a matter of time that we spend some significant time with the world famous mouse at Disney World.  So, we hopped in the Nixon minivan and made our pilgrimage to the land of Mickey Mouse.  All the kids loved it, of course.  I think I loved it more watching their happy faces after riding Space Mountain, Going on a race track at 65 MPH, or seeing Holli's amazement watching the fireworks show at Cinderella's Castle at Magic Kingdom.  Our little two year old, Kyli, is a pretty big fan of anything Disney.  Her favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so this was heaven!  Mickey Mouse was everywhere, and she gladly pointed that out everytime she saw the 'ears.'  She got to meet all of her favorites, and wasn't scared at all of giant mice, dogs, or ducks.