Flying Solo: Part Two

This single parent gig is rough. I did it for awhile with Leo after my divorce and found it challenging. But now, with three kids, it’s a whole new level. We’re only two days in and I’m already struggling. I’ll chalk a big portion of that up to my early wake up call.

Around 2:30 a.m. last night I was up with Kate for her nightly nursing and my pumping session. I was back to bed around 3:15 hoping I’d be able to grab a few more hours of sleep before the boys were up. That definitely didn’t happen. Instead I was back up at 4 a.m. with Alex, who decided it was time to start the day.

We watched cartoons (Paw Patrol and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse),crafty_alex ate breakfast and did art projects. Leo worked on his homework, creating a really cool poster all about him,
while Alex was coloring on sheets of construction paper. Even with the fun activities, it became very clear that with three kids, at least one of them was going to be upset and crying about half of the time.

homework_Leo

Thankfully my parents came up to help me mid- morning, so while I had a busy day, at least for a good chunk of it, I wasn’t alone in trying to keep kids entertained and happy.

 

Almost double-digits

No, we didn’t just jump forward in time. Leo’s still five. (Thank goodness!)

The double-digits I’m referring to is my time at jhP. Last week I hit my nine-year anniversary mark, so I’ve officially embarked on the final year of my first decade of employment here.

My jhP nametag.

Yeah, I said first decade. (Nearly 1/3 of my life thus far.) At this rate I can’t really see myself anywhere other than jhP, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I spend a few more decades doing this advertising/marketing thing. It’s fun, so why not?

In lieu of waxing poetic (because let’s face it, I don’t do that well), here are five reasons why jhP is the best fit for me:

having-fun

1. I’m happy here. I know that sounds cliche. But really, I don’t know a whole lot of other people that love their job as much as I love mine. The older I get, the more clear that becomes. I’m incredibly fortunate that I’ve found work that I enjoy doing, people that I enjoy working with and an environment that I like coming to. It really adds to the overall quality of my life.

2. Ability to create my own path. I started at the front desk when I initially came to jhP. (At that point who even knew digital marketing would be a big thing?) With my studio art degree, I knew next to nothing about advertising. Hard work, goals and encouraging mentors (who also happen to be my bosses) allowed me to experience lots of things and grow in the direction that best suited me and my interests. Eight years ago I got into account service. A few years later I focused on social media. Now I’m running the digital marketing department. Boom. I couldn’t have predicted it, but it couldn’t be a better fit.

3. Entrepreneurial spirit. Ever since I was little I’ve known I wanted to own my own business. I just didn’t know what type of business, nor was I sure I was comfortable with the incredible amount of time investment/risk/pressure that brings. Enter jhP. In 2007, I became a shareholder, and suddenly I was able to tap into that spirit withIN an established company – as an INtrapreneur. I have the opportunity to own and help lead a company, but the risk and pressure of that doesn’t fall solely on my shoulders. There’s an entire team of passionate shareholders that work together to guide this ship. And I still get vacations where I can unplug. It doesn’t get much better than that.

4. Incredible flexibility. Throughout the various stages of my life, jhP has been very flexible allowing my work schedule to work with my life. When I was starting my career, I was able to attend all kinds of networking events and professional development meetings/conferences. As I became a mom, I’ve had time to do all the mom things that sometimes happen during the course of the work day. When shit happens, jhP is flexible enough to work with me so I can get things taken care of.

jhP 2013 Holiday Party5. Sweet perks. Royals games. Company lunches/picnics. Holiday parties. Impromptu ice cream breaks. Crazy birthday cards. Group outings. National conferences and trainings. Free soda at work. (Hey, this Dt. Pepsi-drinker appreciates the little things.) Beer :30 on Fridays … Oh yeah, and those grown-up things like bonuses, the 401K match and fully covered health insurance for employees. It’s all good!

What I Like About You

tony-at-royals

Every year as Thanksgiving and Christmas roll around, people step back and really take a good look at the things they are thankful for. Friends, family, a great place to work and good health. These are all things that make my list annually. I must admit, I’ve been very fortunate in those areas. This year, I’m particularly thankful for my husband Tony, and all the little things he does that makes me smile. In honor of that, I’ve decided to share a few of my favorites:

superhero-tonyThe commercial parrot. We really don’t watch a lot of TV. But somehow or another, Tony’s able to recite nearly every commercial we see, no matter how stupid/silly they are. If you think it’s funny to hear James Earl Jones and that other guy say, “Totes McGoats” and “Hottie McHotterson” in the Sprint commercial, you should hear Tony mimic-ing along, or saying it totally out of context later in the day. It’s a guaranteed smile from me, because let’s face it, Tony’s just not a “Totes McGoats” kinda guy.

All-time best bed warmer. Alex started sleeping through the night (for the most part) around the eight-week mark. Which is totally awesome – unless you’re the mom that still has to get up and pump so that chubby monkey has enough milk for daycare. So every night around 3 a.m. I dutifully get out of bed, go to the couch and magically produce milk. All the while, I’m getting cold, as is the spot I had previously occupied in bed. But one night, I came back to find Tony laying in my spot. I nudged him, thinking “what the hell, this is my side of the bed.” He responded by rolling over, asking how my pumping went and telling me he knew I was always cold when I came back to bed, so he was making sure my spot stayed warm. He’s done that several times since. What a keeper!

funny-tonyShe’s like Texas. It’s been more than a year since Tony and I were married, but it was one of the best days of my life. Yeah, the wedding was nice. We all looked sharp. The flowers were pretty. Food tasty. Party fun. Blah. Blah. Typical blah. (Don’t get me wrong, those things really were great, but I wouldn’t say they bring a smile to my face at any given reference.) One of the biggest highlights of that day, was when the DJ played a song Tony had requested for me. I’m not certain if I had ever heard, “She’s Like Texas” by the Josh Abbott Band before that moment, but I fell in love with it. I love the lyrics. I love the way Tony serenaded me as we danced to it that day. And I love how special I always feel when I hear it. I always smile.

By gosh and by golly. Tony is an excellent cook. He likes to cook/bake from scratch, and since we’ve been together, I can credit the overall improvement of my diet to his healthy tendencies. Not only is he able to whip up a tasty meal, he very rarely sticks to a recipe to do it. Instead, he tastes as he goes and throws in a little of this and that. As a recipient of said delicious food-stuffs, I appreciate his attentive taste buds and ingredient tweaks. But as a wife who very rarely cooks (and when does, has to really pay attention to a recipe), I can’t help but smile and shake my head when I attempt to make something Tony’s done in the past. It never fails that I’ll be going along, following the recipe, when I’ll ask about an ingredient. And Tony will be like, “Oh, I didn’t even use that.” Or I’ll ask how much I should use of something, and he’ll say, “Well, until it looks right,” or, “I don’t know, I just by gosh and by golly-ed it.” I suppose it won’t ever matter if I never master the “by gosh and by golly” method as long as Tony doesn’t mind my limited cooking repertoire.

us-at-iowa-weddingPrivate dancer. (No, not like that you dirty birdie.) When Tony and I first started dating, one of my favorite things was to go out dancing with my friends. Begrudgingly, Tony would come along, all the while complaining about how bad he is at dancing. Low and behold the night would go on, my friends would go dance, and Tony always joined us out on the floor. I always had a lot of fun dancing with him, and never really thought he was bad at it. Fast forward a few years, and our fun dancing at the club days are pretty much over. At this point, wedding receptions are the extent of our opportunities to bust a move. But Tony has a fun way of injecting little bursts of dance into his day, just in effort to make me laugh. Whether it’s while he’s walking in front of me at the store, or dancing a jig to a commercial jingle in the front room, or sometimes just shakin’ it to no music at all, Tony’s great at sneaking in a little rhythmic expression and then giving me a quick glance to make sure I saw it.

Reflections of 2012 and a Look at Things to Come

Wedding Day

Generally speaking, 2012 was crazy. But in a great way.

I ran a couple of races, and played (and won) a lot of softball and volleyball games. I planted and harvested my first garden (yum!). And I got my first taste of rock climbing and trail riding on a mountain bike during my adventure trip to Utah.

Tony & I got engaged at the Symphony in the Flint Hills, and we married a few months later. We bought a house and have started some minor renovation projects to really make it feel like home.

I’ve really enjoyed being a mom. Leo’s communication skills have improved significantly and we’ve been able to start having conversations (that I can understand). He’s a pretty funny kid. Watching him begin to understand the world around him and seeing him try things for the first time (t-ball, soccer, board games) has been fun and more rewarding than I had ever imagined.

Work has been great. I love that jhP continues to let me push our clients forward into the digital world, running online campaigns that perform amongst the best in their industries. I’m constantly challenged to stay ahead of the curve and figure out how things work.

Because of the crazy pace that things occurred in 2012, one of my overall goals for 2013 is to slow down a bit. I want to focus on quality experiences, being prepared and doing my best in everything I do – whether that’s being the best mom or shooting my highest score in a 3-D bow shoot.

1. Eat fresh. I’m planning to plant another garden this year, but this time it will be at our house in Carbondale. I’m still working on plans but have high hopes for another solid harvest which will hopefully result in lots of fresh veggies for the dinner table.

2. Get out and bike. If 2012 was the year I ran, 2013’s focus will be more on biking. Last year’s running was pretty harsh on my knees and started to work against my volleyball and softball performance. I’m hoping cycling will give me the cardiovascular benefits of running without the knee pain. Kansas has a lot of great trail systems that I’m hoping to explore in depth.

3. Make a trip to Wilson Lake. I’ve seen lots of photos but haven’t had the opportunity to  check out Wilson for myself. I think a weekend camping adventure with the bike and kayak would be pretty sweet. It would also give me a chance to try out my sleeping bag.

4. Nurture Leo’s interest in activities. Whether its baseball or soccer or balloon volleyball at my house or something new, I want to continue to get Leo involved in playing and help him develop his skills. An active kid is a happy kid, and I know how much influence these types of activities had on me growing up. I want to make sure he has the same opportunity.

5. Fill at least one of my hunting tags. I don’t have a preference which, but I’d really like to shoot a turkey and/or a deer in 2013. I’m going to be getting in a lot of practice with my bow the next couple of months shooting in our basement. Hopefully I’ll be able to put myself into some good situations in the coming hunting seasons where I will have an opportunity to bring home some meat.

My Moab Adventure

In October I had the opportunity to go on my dream vacation, an adventure trip to Moab, Utah. I spent five nights sleeping in a tent and stretching my comfort zone in the Moab desert. Every day I was challenged to do something that terrified me, but at the same time was something that I’d always wanted to try.

Adventure 1: Rappelling

Rappelling in MoabMy first day in Moab included a lot of hiking (almost 10 miles) and rappelling down a couple of 100+ foot drops. I’ve never attempted to rappel before, and in fact am quite scared of heights. But once you’ve hiked two miles into the desert on a (pretty much) unmarked path and a dozen of your closets new friends are waiting on you to rappel down before they can continue on, you pretty much don’t have a choice.

Once you get over the fact that you’re backing yourself off of a cliff, rappelling is pretty fun. You have a lot more control than you’d imagine and walking/hopping down the side of a mountain is pretty cool.

Rappelling near an arch in Moab

Adventure 2: Rock Climbing

Rock Climbing in MoabOur second day of the trip revolved around rock climbing. Not only have I never climbed before, I hadn’t even attempted to do one of those indoor climbing walls. Mainly because of the whole afraid of heights thing, and not being confident that I’d be strong enough to do it. So I spent the first hour or so watching others make their first ascent, studying their technique and strategies. Finally, it was my turn. It didn’t take me too long to realize that not only is rock climbing awesome, I’m not too bad at it.

I took several routes up on the sandstone at Wall Street. They were 5.7 and 5.8 climbs (if I remember correctly).

Big step rock climbing in Moab.
Climbing is certainly a physical challenge, but it’s also a mental game plotting your course on the way up. You are constantly scanning the face of the rock looking for small cracks or riffs, searching for your next hold. Sometimes there’s nothing to hold onto and you have to smear (basically pushing your foot against the rock and leveraging the friction between the sandstone and your rock climbing shoes) to make your next move.

It’s definitely intense!

I really can’t wait to go rock climbing again. I think  it’s something Tony would really enjoy, and I can see us planning future vacations around rock climbing opportunities.


Adventure 3: Mountain Biking

If you go to Moab and you don’t take the opportunity to ride a bike, you didn’t really experience Moab. On our third day, the rented mountain bikes and headed to Dead Horse State Park to spend the day riding the Intrepid Trail System.

I’ve been riding a bike since Kindergarten so it sounds funny, but of all the things planned for the trip, I had the most anxiety about mountain biking. For starters, I hadn’t really spent any quality time on a bike in like fifteen years. And when I was riding on a regular basis, it was through the very flat streets of Lebo – hardly the type of terrain that would catapult me forward over my handlebars and into cactus. Also, it was the first time all week that I wasn’t attached to safety ropes keeping me from totally hurting myself.

Mountain biking in Moab

As it turns out, I was probably right to be anxious about biking. The terrain was crazy. I rode over, up and down rocks (more like small cliffs in some areas) that I would’ve never guessed were possible to take on a bike. And then there was the sand. Once your tires hit it, it was like a suction cup force suddenly brought you to a grinding halt. Fortunately for me I avoided having a catastrophic wreck, but I did wipe out a few times. Turns out I’m not really capable of holding a conversation and riding a trail (at least at challenging points) at the same time.

After I managed to get some space from the rest of the group, I had plenty of room to challenge myself physically and see what I was capable of. Some cussing was involved, and I was slightly violated by my seat once, but overall it was awesome. I can’t wait to buy a mountain bike and start trail riding here in Kansas.

Adventure 4: ATV Riding
The final adventure for the trip was a day of ATV riding through the sand dunes in the back country of Maob. While I enjoyed riding, I really wish we had been able to go faster. I really wanted to be able to get some air on a few of the jumps that we rode over but we had to stay in line so that pretty much ruled out the opportunity to do anything too crazy.

Riding ATVs in Moab



 
Looking Back
I can’t really explain how much I loved this trip and what it meant to me. Not only did I have a chance to do a lot of cool things, I was able to learn a lot about myself in the process. I look forward to more adventures in the future, and look forward to being able to take Tony back to Moab sometime so he can check it out too.

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