Take a look at our August newsletter!
AUGUST 2025
Why Change Is Worth the Discomfort MORE THAN A MOVE
It doesn’t matter if you’re moving to a new city, switching offices for your workplace, or dropping the kids off at college, there’s something exciting about moving. As I write this month’s newsletter, we’re preparing for a big move! We are taking over the entire 14th floor of our building. This floor was the C-suite for Lincoln Income Life Insurance Company when Wright Tower opened in the ’60s. It has sculptures coming down from the ceiling, built-in desks like you would see on “Mad Men,” and more space to assist our clients. I even hired an interior designer to help with color choices and furniture locations. We’ll be moving into this space on Aug. 1, so be sure to stop by if you’re in the area!
Moving also allows us to reflect and recognize life lessons that will benefit us for years. For example, most of us will never move on a whim. It takes extensive planning and strategy to ensure everything goes smoothly. Life is the same way! Making bold decisions is okay, but you must plan for them, or they can quickly turn disastrous. If you decide to quit your job without any forethought or planning, you could struggle to find a new workplace, experience financial trouble, and face setbacks with your mental health. We don’t have any guarantees in life, but advanced planning minimizes our risk when making bold decisions. A skill you may pick up during the early stages of moving is efficient decluttering. Whether you’re staging your home for showings or just need to pack everything up to get to your new space, you must declutter. When we think about decluttering, we usually imagine picking up knick- knacks and misplaced items around the house, but it also applies to habits, relationships, mental clutter, and more. One thing that I struggled with for years was electronic clutter. How many of us have inboxes that exceed 1,000 emails? It’s more common than you may think, but if we decluttered and unsubscribed from emails, we could stay more organized and keep on top of it. Decluttering can free up our creativity while allowing us to think clearly and grow. Growth happens every time we hit a life milestone, and we reach plenty throughout our lives, from entering college and getting married to divorces and downsizing. Some of these events may catch us by surprise, but most can be managed through strategic planning and embracing growth and change.
“We should all want to be on a growth plan, but you won’t
always rise to the occasion unless you experience some discomfort, which can be scary.”
As I prepare for this transition, I realize how much change we experience whenever we have to move, regardless of the specifics. Anyone who has moved homes knows how daunting it can be to relocate to a new city and insert yourself into the community. But it’s these situations that let us experience incredible growth. We should all want to be on a growth plan, but you won’t always rise to the occasion unless you experience some discomfort, which can be scary. However, pushing through allows us to expand, improve, and move on from our wrecks, divorces, or other bad experiences.
WWW.EMERYLAWOFFICE.COM | 1
HOW 1800S PIONEERS TURNED TREE STUMPS INTO COZY HOMES Frontier Ingenuity at Its Finest
Imagine wandering through a dense, misty forest when you spot a cozy little home carved into the base of a towering tree stump. It sounds like something straight out of a fairytale, but in the rugged 1800s, it was everyday reality for some of America’s earliest settlers on the West Coast. Back then, before the lumber industry toppled millions of ancient giants, the forests were filled with trees so massive their trunks could measure 20 feet across or more. Once felled (a task so intense it could take a month), these colossal stumps were too big, stubborn, and abundant to remove easily. Rather than blowing them up (though some tried with dynamite), the pioneers did what pioneers do best: They got scrappy. They turned the stumps into homes, post offices, barns, and even dance floors! One of the most legendary stump homes was the Lennstrom Stump House in Edgecomb, Washington. Crafted from a cedar stump 22 feet wide, it sheltered three adults and three children, proving that creativity could turn leftover lumber into a home. Though the original Lennstrom house met its end in 1946, you can still marvel at an 18-foot stump house today at the Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Museum nearby.
dance hall and hotel. Guests waltzed under twinkling candlelight and cedar boughs strung high above the forest floor. As one 1850s newspaper gushed, it was “romantic and beautiful beyond description” ( although the ladies did wish the stump-turned-dance floor had a little more bounce )!
The Lennstrom House ca. 1901
In a time when luxury was a warm fire and a sturdy roof (or stump) over your head, these quirky homes captured the best of pioneer spirit: grit, resourcefulness, and a little bit of magic.
Next time you pass an ancient stump on a hike, imagine what stories it might hold. In the right hands and with a bit of imagination, it might have been the coziest home on the frontier!
But stump houses weren’t just for surviving; they were for celebrating, too. In Calaveras, California, settlers turned a massive hollowed-out tree into a grand
FAMILY COMES IN ALL FORMS Let’s Celebrate the Connection and the Fun!
August is Family Fun Month, which provides a great opportunity to spend quality time with your loved ones participating in your favorite activities. It’s important to remember that all of our families look different. Not everyone has the same core nuclear family of parents and two children; your family could consist of you and your spouse, a house full of pets, or just you and your kids. Regardless of your family make-up, take the time this month to enjoy your experiences together and do something fun!
fortunate to have extended family nearby who provide an incredible support system as well. We love to spend time together playing games! Hide and seek, card games, board games, video games, sports — really anything. We love competition, but having fun together is the best pastime.” Andrea Whittam: “My husband and I are empty nesters. We have two wonderful daughters: one married with a delightful 2-year-old grandson, and our other daughter is unmarried. Family time is incredibly important to us, and we cherish every moment we can spend with them. One of our favorite ways to create lasting family memories is out on Taylorsville Lake with our pontoon boat. When our children are busy, we enjoy our hobbies at home. We love tending to our koi ponds and
spending quality time with our three beloved fur children — Daphne, Daisy, and Frankie!”
Dianne Larson: “I’m a single parent who is all about family. I enjoy attending my grandchildren’s events and spending time with my family in Massachusetts. I fly back twice a year to be with family: once in the summer to attend graduation or a vacation in Maine with family and friends, and again at Christmas.” Claudia Cruz Perez: “My family is structured by my girlfriend and our dog. We love taking Coco to parks and rivers where he can run, swim, and get closer to his wild nature. When it’s ‘just the two of us,’ we love to take a walk by Waterfront Park, cross the Big Four Bridge, and finish the day by eating pizza and drinking beers at Parlour at Jeffersonville, Indiana.”
Here’s a glimpse into our team’s favorite ways to spend time with their loved ones.
Jaymar Bonet: “Our family is a close-knit, single-parent household made up of myself, my 4-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. We are
2 | call or text (502) 771-1LAW (1529)
WWW.EMERYLAWOFFICE.COM
At the end of every summer, many young adults experience an incredible opportunity for change and growth when they head off to college. The next few years will be full of discovery as they learn more about the world around them, topics of interest, and themselves. The college experience also comes with numerous challenges, like maintaining your social life and good grades. As you prepare your child for their classes and the first night in the dorm, we wanted to provide additional moving advice to help make this transition happen flawlessly! Embrace the Challenge If you start college expecting everything to be easy, you’re setting yourself up for failure. You might excel in some areas while having difficulty in others, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Lean into every challenge, as it will help you grow exponentially. You’ll have to stay up late some nights in the library, push yourself to the limits to keep up with all your responsibilities, and leave your comfort zone to make new friends. It may feel like you’re leaping into the unknown, but that’s a big piece of the college experience. Own Your Space Whether moving into a dorm or an apartment, your new living space will be your sanctuary where you can study, mingle with friends, and relax at night. This space should bring you peace and comfort. Decorate it with things that bring you joy, but be careful of placing anything that could become distracting. Be intentional with your living space! Explore the Area Most people only spend a few hours on their chosen college campus before deciding on a school. That’s not enough time to become familiar with the area and know where everything is. After you move in, consider walking around campus and the surrounding area to get the lay of the land. If you know what buildings and rooms your classes will take place in, consider visiting them before the fall semester officially begins. This will help ease any feelings of stress and anxiety! Tips for a Strong Start at College NEW ROOM, NEW ROUTINE, NEW YOU
Have a Laugh!
SUMMER CHICKPEA SALAD
Ingredients •
2 (15-oz) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed 4 green onions, thinly sliced 2 ears grilled corn, kernels cut from the cob 1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered 3 tbsp chopped fresh basil 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
• • • • • •
1/4 tsp salt
• •
1/4 tsp pepper 3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
•
1 1/2 tbsp honey
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed 1 lime, zested and juiced
• •
•
Directions 1. In a large bowl, combine chickpeas, onions, corn, tomatoes, basil, and chives. 2. Toss well with salt and pepper and set aside. 3. In a small saucepan over low heat, add oil, vinegar, honey, garlic, lime juice, and zest. 4. Whisk until the mixture is warm and garlic begins sizzling. 5. Pour over the chickpea mixture and toss well to coat. 6. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
call or text (502) 771-1LAW (1529)
WWW.EMERYLAWOFFICE.COM | 3
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
¿Hablas Español? Escanee el código QR para leer el contenido del boletín de este mes en Español.
6100 Dutchmans Ln., Ste. 601 • Louisville, KY 40205
WWW.EMERYLAWOFFICE.COM
INSIDE
EVERY MOVE IS A CHANCE TO REBUILD WITH INTENTION 1 THE WILD HISTORY OF THE WILD WEST’S STUMP HOUSES HOW OUR TEAM DOES FAMILY FUN 2
THE COLLEGE TRANSITION
SUMMER CHICKPEA SALAD 3
AGAINST ALL ODDS, A RANCH DOG BRINGS A LOST TODDLER HOME 4
Desert Hero RANCHER’S DOG RESCUES TODDLER LOST IN THE DESERT
A tiny desert town along Route 66 in Arizona is home to a new hero — a big, shaggy ranch dog who rescued a toddler lost in the desert this past April.
a mile from his ranch, with Buford’s paw prints beside them. “That’s what he does,” Dunton said of Buford. “He loves kids. I can imagine he wouldn’t leave him when he found him.” Dunton’s discovery of the little boy ended an anxious 16-hour search by more than 40 search-and-rescue volunteers, sheriff’s deputies, and state public-safety officers. Wearing only a tank top and pajama pants, Boden had wandered away at about 5 p.m. into rugged desert terrain, where two mountain lions were spotted later that night. Boden’s frantic parents had reported his absence to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
Two-year-old Boden Allen was missing from his Seligman, Arizona, home for 16 hours when a 6-year-old Anatolian Pyrenees named Buford appeared in his master’s driveway with the child at his side — 7 miles from Boden’s home. Buford’s owner, Scotty Dunton, had heard about the child’s disappearance. “I noticed my dog was sitting by the entrance (to his ranch),” he said, “and the little kid’s standing there with my dog!”
He calmed the child, who was unharmed except for a few scrapes and nicks, and gave him water and food while calling authorities. Dunton was overjoyed. “I was ecstatic that he was okay and that my dog found him,” he said.
Dunton says he wasn’t surprised by Buford’s protective behavior. “He is a guardian dog. He patrols all night and keeps coyotes away,” he says. The Anatolian Pyrenees is a crossbreed, a combination of a Great Pyrenees and an Anatolian shepherd, known for its intelligence, gentleness, and protective nature.
Dunton asked Boden if he had been walking all night, and the child told him no, he had been lying under a tree. “Did my dog find you?” Dunton asked Boden.
In appreciation for their neighborhood hero, Buford’s admirers piled chew toys, bones, and other gifts on Dunton’s doorstep for days after the rescue.
He wasn’t surprised when the child said yes. Dunton traced the little boy’s tracks more than
4 | WWW.EMERYLAWOFFICE.COM
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator