7 Years with HRC

I was hired by Healthy Relationships California on July 12, 2012.

That means I've been with my company for seven years!! That's longer than I was at BYU for both degrees. I remember when I first joined the company, it seemed like everyone else had been there for years and years. I felt like such a newbie.... which I was, of course.

Over the past 7 years, I've learned so much from my time with HRC. I'd like to think I'm a lot more professional than the new grad they decided they could train up. :) I've been part of a Healthy Marriage grant, a Responsible Fatherhood grant, and a contract for psychosocial education courses in the San Diego County jails. I've written up research reports and government reports. I've written for blogs and newsletters, and who can forget the years I spent responsible for updating the Facebook and Twitter pages every morning? I've learned to negotiate with workbook companies and keep track of inventories. I've updated our websites and monitored our incoming traffic. And I've worked with so many inspirational, talented people. All of this while working from home and almost never in an office setting!

Sometimes I've ventured outside my home. I've had business trips to California, first bimonthly and now more like biannually (which has worked out nice, now that I have a little family I hate to leave behind). I've gone to government conferences in DC (last time with a tour of national monuments with my bosses) and an excellent National Association of Relationship and Marriage Education conference in Anaheim (with an evening trip to Disneyland with my coworkers). I've met some of my heroes from my grad school studies, because my bosses seem to know everyone in the field.

I'm so grateful for my time with this company. When I was little and you asked me what I'd be when I grew up, I didn't foresee a career in family research. But it is such a good fit for me. I'm glad life has worked out the way it has.

Ralph

I just got word that my coworker Ralph Jones passed away today.

He was one of the pioneers of the Relationship Education movement, someone who'd been involved since the very beginning. Ralph was 94 and still working for our company. He seemed like the Energizer Bunny. Sometimes his health caught up with him, as it always does for someone his age, but... he always bounced back. Nothing could stop him.

Ralph was the sort of person who always had a kind word for everyone. When I was a new employee fresh out of school, he was a great mentor to me who helped me feel comfortable and appreciated in my new position. In some ways I thought of him as an adopted grandparent.

I will really miss him. The news hasn't quite sunk in yet. Since I telecommute from home, I don't see Ralph very often in person. I'm very grateful that I had the chance to go to San Diego last month for a staff meeting... I knew there was a chance it was the last time I would see him but I didn't really think it would be!

It's hard to keep up my workday knowing that Ralph has passed away. It feels disrespectful to go with business as usual, and doing work related things just makes me think about him even more. But--I also feel like the best thing I can to now to support his wife, Patty (my boss) is to carry on with our company affairs while she takes some time to recover from her loss.

Please keep Patty and all of Ralph's family in your prayers!

Week of Craziness

I think it's funny I had these grand plans to relive my Europe trip here in my blog, and I only got as far as describing the plane ride over. >< Haha, well, expect more to come out in bits and pieces now and then. There have been times I haven't let myself journal/blog about more recent things until I got caught up in writing about past stuff I wanted to record.... but when I do that, the list of things I need to write just gets longer and longer and I fall so far behind that it becomes impossible to catch up. So, this time I'll just keep blogging as usual, and every once in a while when the mood strikes me, I'll write about Europe. :)

This last week was crazy busy for me. I woke up at 3 am on Monday to head out on a business trip to Jacksonville, Florida. Unfortunately I was flying Delta, and their systems went down worldwide. I made my first flight okay, but I got stuck in Atlanta for 7 hours. They tried to switch me to another flight going out the next morning, but instead I canceled the second leg of the flight and took a Southwest plane the rest of the way.

The conference lasted for 4 days. It was great connecting with my coworkers--both members of Senior Staff were there, and I got to meet Kevin, a BYU Professor we've hired as a Local Evaluator, in person for the first time. It's always good to meet other grantees too, and I met our Federal Project Specialist in person too.

It was kind of funny--at each table during the conference, they provided Play-doh, crayons, and pipe cleaners for us to play with to help us stay focused. I had a lot of fun with those things--sometime when I'm in charge of a conference, I will copy them.

I came home on Thursday night, arriving home at midnight.

At 3 pm the next day, I headed to the church to set up for the One in Christ YSA Conference, my committee's biggest event of the year. I was there until about midnight that night--we had dinner (Brazilian, in honor of the Olympics--we tied that in to our unity theme because they are about international unity!), a wonderful fireside, and a dance. The fireside was presented by Brother and Sister Chatelain, the new seminary teacher and his wife. When they were married about a year, Brother Chatelain had an accident that has left him as a quadriplegic ever since. He was very open in talking about what a challenge that was and still is. Although his life hasn't played out as he hoped, he sees the Lord's hand in it, and it's still good and worthwhile. He shared some of the lessons he's learned from the experience. It was wonderful, and I think it helped all of us put our own problems into perspective.

The next day I was up at 6:30 to get ready and head over to the Evergreen cemetery in town. We did a BillionGraves service project--taking pictures of tombstones for their website, for later transcription, so people around the world can find their family members who are buried there. We had a decent turnout--30-40 people for that part--and I think we did over 2,000 names, although most of the pictures we submitted are still being processed, so I'm not sure. After that, we headed to a nearby park for a picnic lunch. Then back to the church for 3 hours of workshops, an awesome closing fireside by President Brock and Sister Brock of the temple presidency, another dinner, and international unity games (because Olympics is copyrighted. :) We had a better turnout for that part.

I think people had fun. I know of a couple that hadn't been to YSA stuff before who appeared at the YSA wards on Sunday. Another guy mentioned to me that before the YSA conference, he felt like he didn't know anyone, but afterwards, he felt like he'd met everyone. :) I think we did get some unity going and some new friendships formed. I'm calling it a success. And I'm a little relieved it's off my back until next year. ;)

Anyway, so that's what I've been up to of late. It made it hard to find time to blog. :) One of these days, though, I do want to go through all my Europe pictures and try to recapture that experience.

Survived

Guys, I think we've survived this grant app (knock on wood!) Everything is written, it's all been edited. My boss has it in a PDF format, and tomorrow she's going to formally submit it.

On Monday I will go back to my regular work responsibilities (I have some catching up to do in that department) and my regular social life.

I'm both relieved and a little sad, strangely. Working on a grant app teaches me a lot about myself, believe it or not... about my abilities, about how much I've grown in my company since I was hired as a brand new, painfully shy graduate. And... there is something nice about losing yourself in one focus for a few weeks. All the other stresses in life melt away because you just don't have time to deal with them right now. Now it will be back to real life and all the problems that come attached with that.

Weird, huh? But mostly I'm just glad that it's done. I think we did a great job. I'm hopefully we'll hear good news this fall.

Granting

Remember around this time last summer, when I was stressed out of my mind working on a grant application?

Guess what I'm up to right now? :) My company has decided to apply for another grant, and we didn't find the grant announcement until there were only 3 weeks left to put things together. Last go around, there were 3 people on the grant writing team, but one of those three is on vacation in Asia, so it's just me and my boss, working hard to crank out this app. The first draft is due by next Friday.

I'm making good progress, I think. I'm only responsible for writing 30 pages (my boss is writing 80!!), and so far I have 10. The first day or two I was really stressed out. But now, I'm doing much better. It helps that the future of our company isn't dependent on this grant... It would really help us to get another grant, but we won't go under without it. It probably helps too that this isn't my first rodeo!

Actually, in some ways grant writing has been helpful, because every night when I'm done, I've given myself permission to just crash instead of running off to YSA activities or working on the long list of non-work responsibilities we adults have to deal with. I watched Zootopia twice in the last two days, guys. And on Tuesday I went to see Captain America: Civil War.

Last night was really great, because I got to spend time with my family like old times. Back in the day, when we were all kids, we spent most of our free time hanging out together. Usually we were more interested in being together than in going off with our friends (introverts unite!). Now, though, we're all adults with busy callings and jobs and social lives, and it's rare that we spend an evening together.

Last night, we just sat together for a few hours after dinner, talking, making exciting plans for when Jason and Kristie get back (we'll see if they come to fruition!). Eventually we put Zootopia on and watched that. It was incredibly relaxing. I probably need to make spending time with my family a bigger priority.

All's Well that Ends Well

So, we finally got word on our grants. Sad news first--we didn't get the Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education grant that we've relied on as our main source of income for the last several years. But the good news--we did get the New Pathways for Fathers and Families grant, devoted to promoting responsible fatherhood. It's not for as much money as the other grant, so we're having to cut back a lot, but Healthy Relationship California is going to keep on keeping on!!

Because our funding level has dropped, we've all experienced a pay cut and a cut in hours. But I'll still be making enough to get by, and I may even pick up a part-time job to make up the difference. One way or another, it will all be okay.

Beating My Head Against the Wall

STILL. NOTHING. AHHHH!!!

I think this is the last day in the 72 hour period for our Representative to contact us with the news. The Administration for Children and Families promised to send electronic notifications after that, by Monday at the latest. Assuming those go out on time... I'll be put out of my misery by Tuesday.

I really, really hope those emails go out on time. Or that our Representative reaches out. My boss called his office and one of his aides has been trying to figure things out for a couple days with no luck.

Despite all this, I've mostly managed to stay upbeat this week. But I'm very very ready for the suspense to end. In case you couldn't tell. :)

The Latest (Still not sure yet...)

Well... the latest news is that all grantees' Congressional Representatives have been contacted. They have 72 hours in which to call the grantees and give them the good news. After the 72 hours are over, the Administration of Children and Families will send out electronic notifications of grant awards no later than the 5th.

So... at least there's some news! A few grantees have heard from their Representatives already. We haven't, but I'm still very hopeful. I'm crossing my fingers we'll hear more soon!

Still Nothing....

...and we still can't find any signs that anyone else has heard anything yet, either!

NOW I'm starting to freak out a little.... I mean, it's close of business on the east coast in 15 minutes, and today is our last day of funding from our current grant! And the new funding is supposed to start tomorrow!! So, they have to tell people if they got it, right?

Is it possible other organizations have been contacted and we just haven't heard about it? Surely at least one person funded would have put it up on Facebook or on their website or something?

If we don't hear back today... do I even have work tomorrow?

Somehow it will be okay, but I sure hope we hear something sooner rather than later!

No News...

isn't always good news, I guess.

I wish I had an update to share, but the reason none of you have heard one is... there isn't one yet. We haven't heard anything from anyone. I assume the call usually comes from Washington, and it's long after close of business there. Not sure what to think exactly. Our Federal Project Officer told us all grantees picked would be contacted by today, and all those who didn't get the grant would hear by October 30 why they didn't get it.

So... it's possible we didn't hear anything because we didn't get it.

It's also possible that they are running a bit late with the grant announcements, and we'll still hear tomorrow. I guess last round of grants, our company was notified by a call from someone in a congressman's office. Congressmen are busy... maybe they just haven't had a chance to call yet.

Our current grant ends tomorrow, and the new one starts on 9/30... so if we don't hear by tomorrow night, we'll know for sure that we didn't get it.

But, I woke up this morning feeling deeply at peace, and mostly I've been able to hang on to that today. I still think somehow things will be okay. I'll keep you posted on how things go tomorrow... or maybe even today, who knows? It's after business hours in Washington, but not in California for a while yet.

And.... now it is after business hours in California. Still no word. But my boss has talked to several other applicants today. As far as she knows, no one has heard anything yet. That's comforting. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

THE Day

Well, it's official.

On September 28, we get word on whether or not our company will be funded for the next five years. If we are, then no worries for 5 years! If not... then I'll be out of work by the morning of the 30th.

I've managed to stay remarkably calm about all this, but now that I'm potentially a week away from unemployment, I'm freaking out a little. I think I'm mostly optimistic though... We worked hard on that grant app, and we have a great track record as a grantee. I hope we continue to get funding.

If not... well, that's part of why I've moved back home. At least I won't have to worry about rent while I'm applying for other jobs.

Chilling in the Airport

First of all, can I just say I'm sorry for severely neglecting my blog this fall? I was doing pretty good during this summer!

I woke up at 3 am this morning to catch a 3:30 shuttle to the airport. I think I could have caught a later one (but the company didn't want to let me). My flight isn't until 7:10. When I got here it was a little before 5. I was literally the only person in the entire Southwest section of the terminal. It was CREEPY. But on the bright side, for the first time ever I could hear the volume for the kids' TV (I guess the room is too loud normally? Or maybe they cranked the volume up today, not sure).

My Youtube Debut :)

My first foray into Graphic Design

Infographic authored by Healthy Relationships California. To view the original post, see the original Do Marriage Classes Work?.

NARME!!!

So I am in the airport waiting to head back to Utah after an amazing week at NARME (National Association of Relationship and Marriage Education... conference... yeah). Dr. Hawkins has been trying to get me to go for years, but as a grad student I just didn't have the money for it, and it was usually far away.

I LOVED it!!! Everyone there was so nice, and so united in the cause to save families. Many people were very open in sharing that they felt called by God to this work. That's how I feel, too. It was like meeting the other members of God's army called to fight for the family.

I hope I get to go back in the future.

My coworkers are all amazing people. I don't get to see them very often in person--usually just once every two months, but it had been four months this time. Our meetings are typically one day, so spending four days with all of them was a new experience, and a very positive one. We are all friends at HRC (and also professionals, of course). I enjoyed spending time with everyone.

All the girls on the Comm Team even got to go to Disneyland together last night! We had a blast! They are Disneyland pros--they knew the best places to go and the best ways to avoid the lines. It wasn't very crowded, so we went on all the big rides (except the Matterhorn, Big Thunder Mountain, and the Haunted Mansion were all closed :( ). I will say Disneyland is different as an adult. I still had fun, but it wasn't quite as magical as I remembered... and it seemed a lot smaller, too. Still, I'd love to go back for a full day sometime! And I want to take my kids there someday. I watched all the cute little families running around--I think Disneyland is a lot more fun with kids.

Anyway, looks like my plane's here! Catch y'all later. :)

Lost at Disneyland

So, I am in Anaheim this week for a conference for the National Association of Relationship and Marriage Education.  Today, though, I had my in person staff meeting with my company. It started at 9. I knew I would probably be a bit late, because I was taking the 8:30 shuttle out of LAX. I rode the Disneyland Resort Express. My coworker said to get off at Disneyland, and it would only be a 2 block walk to the hotel where our meeting is held.

Well, my shuttle driver got a little confused when I said I wanted to go to the Disneyland Resort… probably because I had my suitcase with me. He dropped me at the Disneyland Hotel…. I didn't realize this was a bad thing until he was gone. I googled on my phone how to walk to my meeting, since I couldn't see the building anywhere. And…. Google maps informed me I had a 1.4 mile walk ahead of me… about 30 minutes.

Crud. I got off the shuttle at the wrong place!

I called my coworker Lucy in a panic. She was a sweetheart and drove over to pick me up. In the meantime, I wandered about Downtown Disney dragging my suitcase, attempting to find where she wanted to meet me. (I couldn't find it. My sense of direction is terrible.)

You should have seen the looks people were giving me. :)

The whole irony of the thing was amusing to me. Of all places to be lost in the entire world, I managed to get lost at Disneyland.

My life is awesome. :) ...Except for the part where I got to my meeting an hour and a half late. Fortunately everyone was very understanding (it helped that two of my coworkers' flight got canceled, and they literally showed up exactly when I did!)

(I cut off the camera too fast at the end because people were looking at me funny for talking to myself... That sign says "Downtown Disney".) :)

Living the Dream

My cousin Natalie always "It will all work out." My parents always say that when you look back in life, you'll see that things did work out. I think I'm finally getting old enough that I can really start to have that experience. :)

If you asked me a year ago where I wanted to be now (you know, in the midst of my quarter-life crisis as I tried to figure out what to do after grad school), I would have told you that I really wanted to stay in Provo. I wanted to stay at BYU, I wasn't ready to give that up. But at the same time, I wanted to be done with school. I wanted to get a job doing research. If I could have picked any topic to focus on, I would pick marriage education, like what I'd studied in my program, but I realized I would be lucky to even get to research a family topic. I didn't even think there was anyway I could use my writing skills in the relationship education arena, besides an occasional post in the blog I made for my family life education class.

But here I am. Living in Provo, working my absolute dream job, researching marriage education and also having the chance to write for a marriage ed blog (and even run social media on the topic!). It occurred to me yesterday that I really am living out my dreams right now. I could not have designed a more perfect situation for myself, and I am so grateful that God guided me to this position. Looking back, I don't think it was a coincidence that I was nudged away from family therapy and onto the marriage education pathway. I don't think it was a coincidence things lined up so that I learned how much I loved research and self-directed methods of education.

Things really did work out. They always do, eventually. I need to remember this in the other areas of my life, too.

Hired!!!

Yesterday I was hired for my first official post-grad job! I will be working as a researcher/writer for Healthy Relationships California. HRC is "a non-profit organization that provides skills-based Relationship Education programs; conducts Relationship Education facilitator trainings; and creates innovative public awareness campaigns and marketing materials to increase the general public’s consciousness about Relationship Education." HRC is one of the biggest relationship education companies in the nation (if not the biggest!). I will be assisting with research studies (mainly program evaluation-figuring out which programs work the best and for who), as well as doing some writing for them (research briefs, blog posts, and press releases, I think). Initially I am hired on a temporary part-time basis, but if they like me they will keep me on (and Patty Howell, the vice president/soon to be president, says she thinks they will probably keep me. :)

I am very happy! I don't think I could have designed a better job for myself. I get to do my two favorite things (writing and research) on my favorite topic (marriage and relationship education). :)

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.