Hi everyone! I am not the world’s most accomplished reader, but this past year I have started to read more and more and am really enjoying myself. Recently my wife shared a book with me that is really changing my life. The name of the book is “THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER” by Dave Ramsey.

I actually read this book in 2 days, and that is saying a lot! Now, let me also tell you that this book is a very easy read and the font is right up my alley.

Here is what the book looks like:

Total Money Makeover

I’m going to leave you with one more author that I absolutely love reading, Jon Gordon! More about his books soon…

Yes, it is true! I really did win $12,000 ROVIA BUCKS! What the heck is a ROVIA BUCK you might ask? Well, I’m about to tell you…

I am a member of an amazing travel company called WorldVentures. They launched in December 2005 and I have been a member since May 2008. Since joining my wife & I have been on 5 of the companies DreamTrips and saved over $2500 dollars on those vacations. They have been some of the best vacations in our lives BTW. I just decided I might type like I text…shorthand. We’ll see…

So I’m in California on Sept 1st and I get a call from my friend and business partner, Dave Baird (co-founder of z57.com). He was like “Buddy, have you looked in your back office today?” I had not because we had been super busy talking about vacations for the last 3 days and hadn’t stopped to check it. Dave then said “Well, I’m reading here that they just announced the 3 winners of the ENDLESS GETAWAYS PROMOTION and Buddy Buck won the Grand Prize!”

Now, let me just tell you right now… I have never won anything in my life. I have to be honest right now. I knew what the promotion was all about, but I couldn’t quite remember what the Grand Prize was. When Dave started to tell me what it was I couldn’t believe it. I must have said “SHUT UP, NO WAY” like 5 times. I hustled over to the computer and read it with my own eyes and here is what it looked like…

Endless Getaways Promotion

At this point I’m starting to think it just might be true…lol. I told Dave I had to go and call corporate to make sure. The girl I spoke with on the phone was asking me if I was excited and if I could believe it… obviously I couldn’t and I told her that. It actually sounded like she won too just because she was the one talking to me about the results. I felt like I had just won the lottery!

After Heather verified it was for real, I hung up the phone and called my wife, Eve. Oh my gosh…what a fun call to make that was! She could hardly believe it either. She might of said “SHUT UPPP” a few times as well…lol. We had just been trying to work out the details of a vacation to South Africa this December and what a blessing this news was! After talking to Eve for 10 minutes or so saying the same things “Can you really believe that we won!?” We ended our conversation and then some of the “CONGRATS” calls started coming in from my friends that had read the news in the back office as well. How exciting!!!

Buddy & Eve - DreamTrip in Nuevo Vallarta 2010

So here’s the deal… my wife & I won $12,000 ROVIA BUCKS to spend on anything that has to do with travel. Think of 1 ROVIA BUCK like 1 real dollar. It’s like having $12,000 in monopoly money to spend on travel anywhere we choose!

Click on the picture to see it for yourself! $1,000 ROVIA BUCKS already deposited into my account.

Rovia Bucks Summary

I have to spend $1,000 every month FOR A YEAR on vacation or we lose it…that’s the “catch” HAHA! I LOVE THAT “CATCH”! A few of my friends kindly offered that if we can’t use them all in a given month that they would “help us out” and spend them for us. Yeaaaa…. I don’t think that will be a problem.

I will be documenting how we spend our $12,000 ROVIA BUCKS throughout the next 12 months. So thanks for being a part of the journey. It’s going to be quite a ride!

CLICK HERE to follow me on facebook or CLICK HERE to follow me on twitter

THANKS AGAIN WORLDVENTURES!!!

Some of my friends went to Daniel’s Broiler in Bellevue this past week and had an amazing meal. We reserved “THE BOARD ROOM” which is located in the back corner of the restaurant and is very private. There is also a minimum amount that your group will need to spend so get your specific questions answered when making your reservation.

The view was amazing and the filet mignon was even better! It was trimmed with broccoli & asparagus and of course I had to order it “oscar style” (asparagus, crab, & bearnaise sauce). It was an amazing 16 ounce bone-in filet.

filet mignon "oscar style"

Filet mignon is French for “cute fillet” or “dainty fillet”. I have always wondered where the actual filet cut came from and now I know…and you will too.

filet mignon

There is one other steakhouse that I would be doing you a huge disservice if I didn’t mention it, and that is The WOLF LODGE INN in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Talk about a place where you are supposed to eat a steak. The Wolf Lodge cooks over an open flame just like back in the old days. It’s a definite “bucket list” experience!

Checkout their menu. You can't go wrong!

My wife & I just got back from a 5-day, 4-night DreamTrip to the Marival Residences World & Spa.  This was our 2nd time staying at this particular resort in Nuevo Vallarta.  Nuevo Vallarta is the “NEW” Puerto Vallarta.  You actually fly into PVR (airport code).

Through DreamTrips (DTs) we only paid $489 per person which included:  1600 square foot room, all you can eat gourmet food, unlimited drinks (including top shelf alcohol), 24-hour a day room service, zip-lining, dolphin & sea lion encounter, unlimited golf (3 top courses to choose from), and shuttle transportation to and from the resort!

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

This time around we upgraded to the Penthouse so we could have our own private plunge pool (see picture).  The upgrade we did direct through the resort and paid an extra $133 per night.  I HIGHLY recommend getting the Penthouse.  It made for such a better experience and was well worth the money.  Next time we would go through our DT Host and pay the lessor price.  We decided to do that after the DT was already closed out.

It is also a great idea to coordinate your flight times with checkout coming home.  Our checkout was at noon and our shuttle didn’t leave until 3pm.  The resort was great because we just hung out near the pool and ordered drinks and lunch even past our checkout time and just relaxed that last day.

We had just an incredible time relaxing and then having the ability to go up to the sky bar or to the main pool and hang with a lot of our friends that were also on the trip.  We love using DTs because we get the best of both worlds…  High-end wholesale vacations and can be on the same vacation with our great friends.

On this particular DT there were 48 of us that volunteered one of our vacation days to go help out EntreAmigos.  It is a great non-profit that our friend Zita arranged us to be a part of.  We brought lots of school supplies for the kids and we all walked down the street together to the local elementary school and worked for about 4+ hours.  We did various things like pulling weeds, moving concrete, making composte piles, raking leaves, painting, and whatever else they asked of us.  We are calling these “Voluntourism” trips or as my friend Jeff “Stu” Stewart named them “DreamMissions”!  The idea is “Giving back while on vacation.”  We love this idea!  There was a video created from our 1st DreamMission trip to Nuevo Vallarta ~ click here to check it out!

Click Here to see how to join us on our next DreamTrip!

To Download, Right Click and “Save As”

Right Click and "Save As" to Download

This video was created by WorldVentures & Byron Schrag for new Reps. This is the 1st video that a new Rep should watch immediately after getting started. It is a simple and to the point. After watching it…take action!

Robert Kiyosaki is best known for his “Rich Dad Poor Dad” series of motivational books. Listen as he explains why our business model is the best in business today.