Lessons from Work

1. I LOVE working with people.

When I first started working as a deathly shy 17 year old, my job terrified me because I had to spend so much time interacting with strangers. Every year that's gotten better and better. But this year was the first time it really hit that not only am I not afraid of that anymore... interacting with the public is actually my favorite part of my job! I like helping people. I think I've actually gotten pretty good at it.

That is some food for thought. Up till now, my career plan has focused on working with internet companies/publishing companies in my field, because writing is another passion of mine and that way I can be a writer in my field. Also, I'm a big believer in the power of the internet. I feel like online marriage and family education online has the potential to reach a greater (or at least different) audience than traditional family education. It's beginning to look like the majority of marriage and relationship education (MRE) is going to be disseminated through the internet, and I definitely want to be a part of that revolution!

But... if that's ALL I do, I won't be directly interacting with the public. I think I will miss that. That means maybe I need to reconsider my job options a little bit. There are jobs out there that would let me write and teach in a classroom too. Maybe I need to pursue that.

2. I can rock a pair of high heels ALL DAY LONG.

Let's be clear: I am no stranger to high heels. I've worn them to Church every Sunday since I was a kid, and of course for things like presentations at school. But I've never had to wear them for a super extended period, until this summer. The first week or so, I'd come home with throbbing feet. But I kept it up, and you know what? High heels don't even hurt anymore! I can wear them for ten hours at a stretch and not feel a thing. I've conquered the world of high heels! Somehow, that makes me feel like more of a woman.

Scribblers Alumni

Once upon a time in high school, I founded a creative writing club called Scribblers. All of my best friends helped me run it (we were the Council of the Elders), even the ones who didn't like to write. The club was a BLAST. A lot of my favorite high school memories center around that club.

Anyway, today I found out that TWO of the (former) little freshmen members are now pursuing serious careers in creative writing. One is looking into getting his MFA at the University of Montana, and one is working on sending in his first novel for publication. That made me really proud, to hear of Scribblers Alumni out pursuing writing for real.

Which reminds me... one of these days I really should finish that book I've been working on since I was 11. It's time!

Renaissance Festival

Today Joey convinced me to go to my very first Renaissance festival! :)  I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but we had a blast!

I got to eat a pork chop with my bare hands!

We watched a joust! (The good guys won).

We posed with a knight!

We got to be royalty!

I got an awesome flower garland! (Thanks to Joey for being patient while I spent a million years deciding what to get for my Renaissance souvenir. :)

We posed with a water wheel!

I played with baby dragons (freshly hatched!)

We made wishes!

And we admired the renaissance wildlife.

All in all, I had a wonderful time! :) Thanks Joey! Hopefully we can go again next year.

Breckenridge!!!!

How the heck is July almost over and I have yet to post a blog entry??? I was being so good about that in June.

This last weekend my family and I went up to Breckenridge for a few days. Obviously, not to ski. They have a fun park out there that you can visit in the summer.

We rode on the ski lifts!

We stood at the top of the mountains and admired the view!

We rode the Alpine Slides!

We got to try out a roller coaster that went on the mountain! Which, coincidentally, was the best roller coaster in the world for me. You go in individual cars, with brake and speed controls... so when you get scared, you can slow down! Course, my sisters were usually the ones driving, so I couldn't slow down... But it was still great!

We also spent a lot of time hanging out at the pool and the hot tub in our hotel.

It was awesome and I'm glad we got to go!