By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Marketing Guy This year, as you gathered with family, did you get serious about your family history? As you kicked back the eggnog and knocked back the ubiquitous holiday treats (my lord, my office is bombarded!), did you take this precious time to gather stories? Did you sit with your brothers and more
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Houstory Herd: Looking Ahead Edition
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HoustoryHerd: NoMoreStuff Edition
By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Marketing Guy A few years ago, my family recognized that gift-giving during the holidays was really becoming more of a burden than a pleasure. This was a pretty big shift, because my side of the family is not small. In addition to my parents, I have five brothers, two sister-in-laws, three nieces more
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Houstory Herd: ‘Mourning’ Edition
By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Marketing Guy Guess what? You, me, and we are all going to die. In case you didn’t know: There is one finish line for everyone, and we are all going to cross it. We don’t know when or how, but it’s going to happen. There, I said it. Dying. Death. Dead. For some more
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The Houstory Herd: ‘Seeking Family Heirloom Stories’ Edition
By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Marketing Guy Do you know of someone who owns a family heirloom with an interesting story? As you know, family heirlooms can take many different shapes and sizes, and monetary value often plays little or no role in the item’s designation as a family keepsake. If you were to take even five more
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The Houstory Herd – August 2014
By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Marketing Guy You know you are getting old when you start referring to folks as “young people.” (Actually, you might achieve that designation when you start writing, “folks” in blog posts, too.) Well, I guess I’m getting kind of old because today I’m going to write a little bit about young people more
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‘The Vista House’ – A jewel on the Columbia River
By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Marketing Guy I wasn’t necessarily planning on writing a blog entry this week, but I was inspired to when I saw “The Vista House” on a recent trip to Central Washington. I had to share what I saw. They call this octagonal structure a “house” in the loosest sense more
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The Houstory Hearth Herd – July 2014
By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Marketing Guy I’m curious: Were you born before 1946? In other words, are you a “pre-Baby Boomer?” During the past few years, there have been an array of reports that have attempted to grasp how much wealth pre-baby boomers — those born before 1946 — are going to pass down to their kids and grandkids. more
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The Houstory Hearth Herd – June 2014
By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Marketing Guy As a kid, I remember we’d often go to my grandparent’s house on Lopez Island in Washington state. It was a magical place. Sometimes, to save money, we’d leave our car and go on foot. When we arrived at the ferry landing after an hourlong ferry ride from the mainland, more
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Bald and Bold: Just who are the Houstory brothers?
By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Marketing Guy I don’t know about you, but I like to know who I’m doing business with whenever I have the opportunity. I try to choose companies that align with my values (although it now seems like there are only a handful of companies in the world, doesn’t it?) A proven track more
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The Houstory Hearth Herd – May 2014
By Dan Hiestand, Houstory Marketing Guy When my father-in-law recently passed away, it took a considerable amount of time to sort through his online accounts. His Facebook page had to be closed, e-mail correspondence had to be attended to and online passwords had to be changed. According to Sue Doerfler of The Arizona Republic, these were, more