Trophies2Go Blog

“The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth.”Dan Rather

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." Henry Adams.

Most of us can remember a specific teacher who believed in us, pushed us, or lead us. Really, where would we be without them?  Teachers help us move in the right directions, explore new worlds in a safe environment and introduce us to what our future might look like.  When we are young, they are so special to us and we often form very strong bonds with them.  When we are older we appreciate how amazing they are.  So giving of their time, attention and knowledge for not quite enough in return.  In college we hold them in such high esteem, they are the experts.  We often look back and for the first time realize how much an elementary or high school teacher taught us.  And when we have children of our own, we trust them to do the same for those we hold most dear.

We show appreciation to our teachers in many ways.  At the elementary school that my kids attended, we had a luncheon for them every year the week before school started.  We volunteered in the classroom helping with the kids or cutting out snowmen shapes or making copies of assignments so the teachers wouldn't have to stay after school.  At holiday time, many of the kids will bring in small gifts of appreciation (including Starbucks gift cards).

We celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week the first full week of May.  This normally includes a different activity each day of the week.  One day the kids bring flowers from their gardens or make paper flowers.  One day they write personal notes.  The next might be a breakfast or lunch.  Parents are organized to bring in the food and serve the teachers.  Lattes are brought in one morning and sometimes we even offer free chair massages.  It's all crammed in one week, but they feel pampered that week.

We can do more though, throughout the year.  Encourage your kids to verbally thank their teachers often.  A teacher's highest reward is being appreciated by his or her students.  They, like all of us, need to know that what they are doing is meaningful to someone else.  That they make a difference.  I'm sure they know that they make a difference 'in general'.  But to be told 'Thank You' for a specific act of assistance really brightens their day.

I asked my middle school age daughter to help me brainstorm some great gift ideas for teachers to help them feel appreciated.  I was thinking tickets to a concert or play.  She said it would be best to make something personal for them.  A card, a picture, something to put on their desk or hang on the classroom wall.  Something that shows that you spent time thinking about all they do for you and you wanted to do something for them in return.  Smart girl.

When my daughter left elementary school, she felt nudged to do something for her principal.  (I'm pretty sure they met in his office on her first day of kindergarten, so they had quite a history.)  So she made a card, drew a lovely picture of herself for him, and from her heart wrote about how much she appreciated all he had done for her over the years.  I could tell he liked it.  Later that day when he saw me, he went to get the card out of his office and sat down with me so we could read it together.  It was obvious it touched him.

How can you thank a teacher today?  How can you tell them you appreciate all they do?  Spend some time thinking about this with your kids, then do it.  You'll be happy you did!

Nominate your favorite teacher!

Here are some ways we, here at Issaquah Trophy & Awards, like to recognize our local teachers.

Macaroni Kid Teacher of the Month.  Recognizing the dedication of teachers in the Snoqualmie Valley, Issaquah and Sammamish areas.  You can nominate your teacher here.   http://snoqualmievalley.macaronikid.com/article/366871/teacher-of-the-month-nominate-a-teacher-today

Star 101.5 Teacher of the Week.  Honors outstanding teachers for their hard work.http://www.star1015.com/contestsevents?contest=6831

Have fun recognizing the teachers that are so important in your family's life.

Blessings, Anne

Issaquah Trophy & Awards has selected the Jim Mora Count On Me Family Foundation as it's 4th quarter Awards for a Cause recipient.

This foundation was created to support children in need, primarily in three target areas:  children from low socio-economic backgrounds, mentally and/or physically challenged children and children at risk.

The Foundation affords young individuals the opportunity to realize their potential and achieve their dreams by supporting charities and children’s organizations.  For more information on Jim Mora Count On Me Family Foundation, visit www.countonmefoundation.org and make sure to check out their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/JimMoracountonmefoundation.

We have selected a variety of football, soccer and corporate awards as products that will benefit the foundation. Purchase any of these awards during the 4th quarter of 2012 and we will donate a portion to the the Jim Mora Count On Me Family Foundation.

The recipient for the 3rd quarter of 2012 was Susan G. Komen, 3-Day.

Blessings, Anne

Hey Team Moms-

Are you tired of bringing the same old granola bars and juice boxes for your kids to eat after their sports games?  Are you looking for new snack ideas that are healthy, delicious AND easy to pack to practice and games?  Below are some ideas of snack foods that will get you out of the rut!

These girls are tired from all that play! They need water and a nutritious snack to refuel!

Before buying snack for the entire team, there's a couple of things you need to know.  First, be sure to check for allergies before deciding on which snacks to bring.  Also, check for any other food restrictions, such as vegetarians, etc.  Second, you want to minimize germs, so give a quirt of hand sanitizer to each player before handing out snack.

During The Game

If you're giving out a snack during half-time or another break, you want to make sure the food is easy to digest.  Choose something mild so that the kids don’t get a stomach ache once they're up and moving again.  Fruit is always a safe choice, along with water.

After The Game

The main goal is to help the child recover and rehydrate from exercise.  I’m not a nutritionist, so if you have questions, please consult a doctor.

Food To Avoid:

Caffeine sodas.  They act like a diuretic, further dehydrating the body.

High sugar snacks, such as candy bars, cookies, donuts, cupcakes, etc.  They spike blood sugar, followed by a steep drop in blood sugar, which can cause fatigue.  These foods also lack antioxidants, which help protect the body after exercise.

Junk food, like potato chips, etc.  Serving these after exercise is not modeling a healthy lifestyle.

Foods to Consider:

All of the snacks mentioned below are finger foods, and do not require utensils to eat.  They can be packaged individually for the entire team.  I have snacks arranged by category, but of course you can combine foods from different categories if you want.  I also have some suggestions of things that go along with the food by the side.

Vegetables

Baby carrots, Red bell pepper slices, Celery sticks, Cherry tomatoes, Cucumber slices, Sweet Potato chips (these are cooked), Great to serve raw veggies with salsa, hummus or ranch dip.

Fruits

Apple Slices - can go with almond butter or peanut butter, Applesauce, Bananas  - can go with animal crackers, in sandwiches with peanut or almond butter, Blueberries, Clementine tangerines, Grapes, Melon cubes, Oranges – can go with mild cheese (like Bonnie Bell), Pears, Raspberries, Watermelon

Fruits, especially berries, and be mixed together in small plastic bags for a nutritious snack high in antioxidants.  Another idea is to make fruit kabobs, with 3 different pieces of fruit on a skewer.

Dried Fruits and Nuts

Raisins, Dried Cranberries, Almonds, Cashews, Trail Mix (low salt), Plain Popcorn, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin seeds, Soy nuts

A fun idea:  Have each player bring their favorite dried fruit, nut, popcorn or whole grain cereal to the game.  Mix them all together to make a ‘team trail mix’.  Divide out the resulting mixture among the kids!

Dairy

Cheese cubes, Cheese sticks, Cheese slices cut into shapes using a cookie cutter, Yogurt sticks, Frozen Yogurt, Hard Boiled Eggs

Whole Grains

Healthy Muffins – zucchini, carrot, pumpkin, banana, Corn bread, Cereal Bars (watch for sugar though), Whole grain cereals in baggies -  Cheerios, granola, Whole grain crackers with fruit spread or nut butters, Bagels – with peanut butter, cream cheese, almond butter, Oatmeal cookies (low fat, low sugar recipe with dried fruit)

Other

Tortilla chips with bean dip and salsa, Tofu cubes, Tofu dogs, Mini rice cakes with peanut butter, Turkey cubes

Cold Stuff

Frozen Yogurt, Frozen Fruit Bars, Frozen Grapes

Drinks

Water (the best to rehydrate hot, sweaty kids), 100% fruit juice (can be high in sugar, but better than soda), Soymilk, Chocolate Milk, Sports Drinks (only after 1 full hour of exercise)

Other sources for Healthy Snacks

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Center for Science in the Public Interest

I hope this helps you choose some healthy and easy snacks for your kids on game day.  By choosing healthy foods, you are setting a great example of wellness for your child!

Cheers!
Jessica

Every October, the city of Issaquah celebrates the return of the Salmon to our hatchery by hosting the Issaquah Salmon Days Festival. It’s a weekend full of fun, food, games, music, art and community pride. This year the Issaquah Chamber hosted a Splash Mob for the month leading up to Salmon Days.  Participants visited businesses to find decorated salmon.  I decided to learn more about my city by 'Splash Mobbing'.  My daughter went with me for most of the visits which made it even better.

Overall, I learned that there are some very creative people in Issaquah.  The salmon were decorated in many ways, from disco ball (Issaquah Family Chiropractic) to no decoration at all (you know who you are.)

Here are my favorite things that I learned:

Someone at Fischer Meats is a big Seahawks Fan.  If you like football and like to tailgate, you need to try their burger patties with the bacon already in.  Oh my!

I wish the Issaquah Coffee Company existed when my kids were young.  They have an awesome play area where your little ones can hang while you relax and enjoy a great cup of coffee.

The State Farm, Tom Sessions, office has some very friendly staff.  I enjoyed talking with them.

There are some really amazing stores in Gilman Village.  My daughter and I had fun walking around there to see Lucky You, Clean Scapes, Issaquah Coffee Company and Palettes and Pairings.

It smells heavenly when you walk into Mint Salon and Spa.

When visiting Adventure Kids, my 11 year old wanted to stay behind to play. That looks like a fun place.   They also now have Sunday hours.

My vote for coolest salmon decoration goes to Pogacha.  Did you know that they have All Night Happy Hour in the bar on Thursday nights. They also have some really fun entertainment scheduled.

Splash Mob Salmon at Pogacha--My Favorite

At Illuminate Contracting, they offer bathroom remodeling as part of their general contracting.

Sterling Bank is the largest community bank in the Pacific Northwest.

Hot Yoga Experience has an October Sauna Challenge.  Check it out!

At Museum Quality Framing I found some great ideas for my son's senior pictures.

The best part of participating in the Splash Mob is that I went into some establishments I might not have tried before.  I know, that's the point.  Next time, I hope there are more participating businesses on the plateau.  I need to learn that area better.

Enjoy Salmon Days Issaquah!

www.salmondays.org

Blessings, Anne

I have noticed that my purchasing strategies have changed over the last several years.  Maybe yours have too.  Not necessarily what I purchase, but how.  I've always believed in the power of a good review (or a bad one).  Bad reviews can be like wildfire...spreading and causing damage before you even know they exist.  But if someone goes out of their way to tell me about a good experience they had, I want to see for myself what it's all about.  The fact that all this is done so publicly now on the Internet and social media makes it even more powerful.

Online reviews help me shop faster and smarter.

Here's what I see:

1)  I spend time researching a product or service online before I engage with a company who can provide that product or service.  I'm sure you do this too.  It helps me to have a better conversation with the provider.  And it helps me to decide that I am, in fact, talking with the right/best provider.

2)  I say I spend time researching, but in reality, I don't have the time to do the research thoroughly.  So I depend on the opinions of others.  This alone isn't new. What's new is that I depend on the opinions of strangers.  If you've checked on those cool little gold stars on a product review then you are helping me with my research.  Thank you.  If I see more than one option for what I'm looking for, and they are very similar, I'm going with the one with more stars.  Pretty simple.

3)  I find that I am more likely to read the comments and reviews first.  Then if those sound pretty good I'll go back and read the detailed product descriptions.  As an example, I like to read, but I don't like to pick out my next book.  I use my friends on Goodreads or Facebook to tell me what to read next.  If they've read it and given it a good review, then I'll probably like it to.  And if others have checked that they thought the review was 'helpful' then even better.

4)  On the other hand, if I find something that looks good but I don't see any comments or reviews entered for it, I will probably just keep looking.

5)  I love the social aspect of shopping online.  I see my friends putting a question out to all their Social Media friends.  Something like, 'I'm looking for a new roof.  Are you happy with your roof company?'  Again, this isn't new.  We have always asked our friends for suggestions like this.  The difference is that now you can have 5 answers in just a few minutes without even picking up the phone.

So, after thinking about all this I decided to re-read some of the comments we have received and share them with you.  We send an email to all our customers a few weeks after their order to give them a chance to review our products and our service.  Here's a few of my recent favorites:

This trophy turned out fabulous! The online ordering process was easy and the delivery time was fast! Trophy looks great!!! Very pleased and will be definitely use Trophies2Go in the future!

I have been ordering this trophy for several years as the prize in a competition. Each year the winners are so impressed by the beauty and quality of the trophy, as am I. Excellent service!

I have purchased awards related to my work several times from Trophies2Go. I am always pleased, but this glass award exceeded my expectations. It is very beautiful.

I was surprised and very pleased with the ease of online ordering and quick turnaround time of both responses and shipping of finished product which turned out to be a well-crafted and beautiful parting gift for a well-respected fellow professional from all of us…Arrived intact, well insulated, and in excellent condition sooner than expected!

These reviews would make me more interested in the products.  How about you?  Bottom line, keep the reviews coming.  Thanks for helping me shop!!

Blessings,

Anne