Chicago 2015

Why not make it three posts in one day?

Chicago!
I got to go back for work again - a training - and it was just as lovely as the first time!

SLC.

I know I talk a lot about loving my job and I hope that never changes no matter where I work. It is weeks like this that remind me how blessed I am to be doing something that I love and believe in and that it also affords me the opportunity to get to do some really amazing things. It is almost funny how we talk about giving girls amazing memories/life experiences/"firsts" when in reality, sometimes we are getting the benefit of all the same things. I've been in Salt Lake City for the last 5 days for the Girl Scout National Convention. I went to the last one back in 2011 (it only happens every 3 years) in Houston, Texas, and this one was in Utah. I'll be passing to torch to someone else for the next convention in 2017 so this might have been my last one for a while.

We took 10 high school aged girls to participate in the Girl Scout Leadership Institute (GSLI) as a part of convention plus we had 2 girl delegates to represent our council. I am always thrilled that we have girls who are still interested in the Movement when they are in high school and it was a great trip. My co-chaperone - MPT - is always a riot to travel with and we get along just fabulously. We missed doing any sightseeing back in Texas so we weren't going to make the same mistake this time and got permission to stay an extra day. We filled that day with a trip over the mountains to Park City for a ride up the ski lift and then a trip over to Antelope State Park (in the Great Salt Lake) to check out the views - and free roaming buffalo!

I've never been to this part of the country before - flying over mountains, farmlands, the Rockies covered in snow, and deserts to arrive here. It was incredible. The scenery was amazing, the weather was perfect, and I am so thankful for the experience. So, ready for some pictures?

The Rockies.

Somewhere west of the Rockies. 

Salt flats around the Great Sale Lake.

MPT and myself with the outgoing National Board President, Connie Lindsey.

The Temple in Temple Square. The building to the right is the administration building that also hosts the twice annual LDS conference. Pics of that later but it is the building that we got a tour of on Saturday.

We pretty much missed the fall leaf changes over there but there were a few beautiful trees in downtown. 

This is the organ in the assembly hall for the LDS church. Might look familiar if you've seen any of their choir or Christmas specials. The auditorium seats 21,000 people. It was shockingly huge.

A view of the temple and city skyline from the roof of the administration building. 

Utah State Capital Building.

Our group with the giant trefoil.  It was a little sunny that morning so we're all a bit squinty.

Headed up the chairlift in Park City. I said on FB that I throat punched my fear of heights and it truly feels like I did. I won't be going skiing anytime soon but that thing was much higher off the ground than I thought it might be!

View coming back into the resort.

Don't think I'll ever need these folks.

The Great Salt Lake from Antelope State Park. 

A herd of roaming buffalo on the island at the state park. 

The views from here were unreal. 

It was an amazing trip full of memories and firsts and laughter. I always wish that my guy had been able to travel with me but I am even more happy to get home to him. I rolled in about 12:45am this morning and crashed, happy to be in my own bed. Back to the real world tomorrow so doing lots of laundry today. :)

Static.

Always apologies for the silence on my end. Life has been busy - isn't it always - and I just haven't found time to write. I've still been sewing some...a few new things on the Etsy site and enjoying some sweet time at home in the evenings with my guy. I'm so thankful that he's been on first shift since about June. I'd forgotten in the 18 months prior what having a life, eating dinner together, and seeing each other's face in the daylight actually looked like. It is lovely and sweet.

Things are busy at work, gearing up for a new year of fun. I'll be with a group of our girls all day Saturday for a team building and training session prior to our National Convention in October. The 12 of us - 2 adults and 10 teenagers - are headed to Salt Lake City, Utah for 5 days in addition to our council's national delegates and some executive staff. Convention is always loads of exhausting fun. Its been a while since I've flown anywhere and almost exactly 3 years since I've had to fly while keeping my eyes on a pile of teenagers so it should be interesting/stressful/hilarious/educational.

I'm also looking forward to a fun craft weekend in Asheville with my sweet friend Dani + more lovely ladies. I've been pinning ideas to Pinterest like a mad woman and already plotting what craft supplies to take (all of them?). I'm super excited to get away for a weekend and just hang out. However, my good friend K is in the have-a-baby zone about that time so we'll see if the best laid plans include a trip back to Knoxville for a baby welcoming.

Chad and I have been talking to the pastor at our church about starting a college-aged small group for the folks from Covenant College who go to our little place on the mountain. Everyone seems to be on board and this Sunday is the last of 3 meetings at the church to see who is interested. There are about 6 girls who have been coming regularly so we are excited about getting it off the ground. It means we are committed to being there every Sunday night but I think the consistency will be good for everyone. Pray for us will you? This was, frankly, my idea first and Chad and I have prayed a lot about it before we jumped. I am a little nervous about being the role model, confidant, and friend to this group - I know how much grace I have been given and I want others to see that in me too.

My life is full and I am more aware than ever of the good parts and the time spent with people who mean the most to me. Maybe that is why words don't make their way here as often.

SCUBA - days 4 and 5 (pictures!)

Day 4: We finally got to dive in the ocean. I brought all my SCUBA gear with me and had completely convinced myself to dive with the girls. It was a shallow dive - 25 or 30 feet to the artificial reef - which is my favorite kind of diving. I gear up and swam about 100 yards out with the girls and located a large quantity of jellyfish with my un-wetsuited body. The girls had on wetsuits and were mostly covered and this protected; I was not. Knowing myself, I decided that I would probably not enjoy a dive while being stung by jellyfish and decided to swim my gear back. A letdown for me but the girls powered through and had a really good dive. I only got stung 4 or 5 times on my legs before I could get out and the girls just had a few on their lower legs as well. Now they know it isn't unbearable and they can tolerate it enough to dive!

We also went into Okaloosa Island to play at the beach and then dinner and shopping in Destin. Loads of fun this day - the girls and chaperones were both exhausted!

Day 5 (technically 6): a long drive home. When I finally arrived back in Chattanooga, I'd been traveling 12 hours thanks to a last minute trip back to the dive shop for the girls to sign paperwork. Pretty sure I slept another 12 hours that night. :)

Spring water selfie.

Me and one of my awesome team mates, MPT.

We already knew how cold the water was at this point...just trying to convince ourselves to make the plunge.

Some of our girls in the springs...

Sunlight in the springs...

Scuba day 2 and 3.

For mom...ita gonna be short .
yesterday was pool day and the girls did great
Today we dove in the coldest water I have ever been in. It was ridiculously cold. Painfully so. But it was an absolutely gorgeous day.
Love
Paula

SCUBA day 1

Blogging from the road folks. Left poor Chad behind to hold down the fort while I came to Florida with one if my team mates and 4 teenage girls so they could learn to SCUBA dive. Spent most if the day in the car today and I am thankful to finally be here. We are staying at a Boy Scout camp that is our Plan B due to some weather damage at the Girl Scout camp we were going to stay at. Rustic is a good way to describe the accommodations and the cleanliness of the dining hall left a lot to be desired. Thankfully I am traveling with MPT who is a good sport regardless of the circumstances...well, with the exception of the spider she just located in her bed. Sigh. Looking forward to a day at the pool tomorrow.

Its that time again.

I am mid process for writing my second departmental budget. This is one of the most challenging, exhausting, and stressful things that I do in my role as a supervisor/team leader. I am not great with math and trying to predict the future is also not my strongest suit. I want to make decisions that won't hinder the work we want to do over the next year but I also want to be a good steward of our financial resources. Making decisions in July that you have to live with until September of the following year is hard! However, it is rewarding. I am learning new skills that can transfer to other areas of my life. I am letting my team take pieces of it this year so they learn how to put a budget together as well. I am a big believer in building a team that learns a lot of aspects of a job, including how to do mine in case I'm not here one day.


In addition, I'm leaving for another 3 days at camp tomorrow. I need to be spending the day working on a budget that is due the end of next week but 3 days outside, away from my computer is probably just what I needed. Our second and last big event for the summer and we can start planning for fall. Yay!

Finished.

All 3 of my team's big spring events are finished. It is such a relief to have those not hang over our heads any more and to be able to spend some time focusing on other things. I left for Knoxville around noon on Saturday, spent a couple hours driving there, about 3 hours doing flower arrangements and corsages for all our honorees (50 arrangements and 50 corsages!), spent the night at camp (convinced that the staff cabin might be haunted) then had our event on Sunday at 1pm.

Rant: 12 girls that did not RSVP for this event came anyway. So that's 12 girls that we did not plan for...plus mom, dad, grandparents, siblings, etc. It adds to the event food...space...seating...not to mention that we don't have that many extra flower arrangements,  certificates,  corsages, etc. We always make extras - this year we had 7 extras - but you just can plan if folks don't RSVP. We had to scramble to make up arrangements from other decor like flowers from the registration tablem. It was nuts but we made it...Is RSVP'ing a lost art?? 

Our event ended at 3...we cleaned up and broke down decor and hauled ourselves downtown to work a second event for our top cookie sellers which lasted until 6:30. I rolled into home about 8pm. Another long weekend but glad it was all a success. I get this Saturday off then I will go work with a troop of older girls on the last Saturday of the month then I don't have to work another weekend until our big camp event in mid-june. Yay!  I am super thankful for an awesome team that consistently pulls of fantastic events no matter how stressful it is along the way!

Weekends aren't for resting.

At least, that is what I am currently experiencing.
I worked the last two weekends and went to Columbus this weekend. I am so glad that I was able to go see my parents. I definitely don't see them enough and I am thrilled that I was able to spend some time with them. I got to eat at some of my favorite Columbus places, see some of my favorite people (Mom! Dad! Jess!), and sleep in on Saturday for a little while. So maybe that counts as resting and seeing the people you care the most about is better than relaxing anyway.


A long week ahead this week. We've officially entered my busiest/most stressful season. Between big events that my team is responsible for, helping with big events that other teams are responsible for, writing annual plans for our next fiscal year, reporting out for the current fiscal year, and then creating a budget based on something that has never existed before - basically don't expect me to blog again until the end of July. :) Send all of your good thoughts my way.

Still sliding downhill....

I hope I am still sliding down the hill of super busy back into the land of just sort of busy.
Our project team presents to the Board of Directors this week (bring on the nerves!) and then we will be presenting to out entire staff next week. I am excited about potentially wrapping up parts of this project though I know many of them will carry on through the summer as we set the next round of strategic plans and budgets.


My To Do list for today is long....13 items that I hope to mark off in preparation for another long week. This weekend was lovely - lots of time at home and running errands that were abandoned other days this week in exchange for sleep or family time....the least of while is a giant pile of laundry that needs to be folded and put away.


On to it!

Never slow.

I thought that my job might slow down during some time during the year - and while I haven't actually been in this particular position for a full year - it doesn't seem like it will ever be slow.

So, that being said - I've been busy...again...more? yeah.
I took one day off this week, trying to burn some vacation time before I lose it at the end of the year but I feel like I have been playing catch up all week. Busy day of meetings on Monday, day off on Tuesday (which was vegging out perfection with my sick-with-a-cold guy), spent the entire day yesterday touring venues for a spring event, meetings all day today. I don't want to make myself sound too exciting with all the meetings - more like we are just in this season of trying to plan, make decisions for the future, and get ahead of the ball (which isn't the norm!). We are looking at events for next spring and summer - living in the land of 2014 and 2015 because we need that long to get it right!

Today was a big day...if you recall, this summer I attended the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in DC and has the privilege of presenting a session at that conference. Well, I'm applying to present two different sessions this coming year in Atlanta. The proposals are due tomorrow and I've been working on mine for a couple of weeks now. I started getting so nervous about sending it in that I just forced myself to do a final review and send it in today before I left work. I didn't want it hanging over my head tomorrow too and I don't think I could improve it any more. So, fingers crossed that they will accept it and want me (and a team mate) to present next summer!

I have another surprise project hanging over my head for tomorrow - our CEO asked me to come spend the day with the Board on Monday and chat with them about my team. They want to take a more hands on approach with our older girls programming and I'd be glad to have the input so bring it on. I'm a little nervous that I need to pull the info together by Monday but most of it is in my head so I just have to get it on paper! That'll be my project for tomorrow...so, goodnight!

Overwhelmed.

Sorry it has been so quiet around here. After my last trip to Knoxville, I have been barely treading water with work - super long days and the responsibility to write a budget for a department that has never existed before (by a girl who has never written a work budget before!) I know it isn't supposed to be that hard but since I am NOT very good with math and I have a deep desire to "get it right" and do a good job, this work has been particularly stressful and overwhelming. I think I am slowly learning how to swim and I should be able to submit my budget this Friday - a full week before it is due. My goal is to NOT have it breathing down my neck this weekend when Chad is off work and we can spent lots of time together.

I DID however, make giant leaps on the master bathroom project this past weekend. I sanded the drywall mud that we put on there last week and then - I tell no lies - scraped all the popcorn texture off the ceiling. I promise it isn't as bad as it sounds. It is very easy - just time consuming and super messy. I had popcorn in places I don't care to mention (Ok, I will - just for funsies - my bra!). I'm excited to literally have a blank slate for our bathroom to create something beautiful and simple! Chad did more mudding today so I can sand again tomorrow night and we can start the process of potentially getting things ready to tile this weekend!! Everything is picked out - just not purchased. Saving up a storm and we are about ready to bite the bullet!

I'll try to be better about updates (fingers are NOT crossed behind my back). :)

More Travel - Richmond

This one will be short because I am running on MUCH less sleep that I had hoped for so I'm doing the best I can.

My summer of travel is about half over, I would estimate. I spent this weekend in Richmond, VA (I know, I should have just stayed in DC from last week!) at an event that their local GS council was hosting. It was a leadership event for 11th and 12th graders on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University and this was the inaugural event. It actually went really well - there were a few glitches but that is to be expected with an event this size for the first time around. I am proud of how their staff put together a great event for these girls; even more, it was exciting to be with staff from another council that are just as passionate about older girl programming as my team and I are currently!

Left home at 6:45 Friday morning, picked up our van at the office, drove to Knoxville and picked up one staff member, drove to Johnson City and picked up another staff member, then another 5 hours to Richmond. A total of almost 19 hours in the car this weekend and about 10 hours of sleep total leaves me exhausted and looking forward to a few nights of good sleep.

Home for half a day tomorrow (here for a total of 19 hours) - long enough to wash clothes and pack again and I will leave for Columbus (for another 3.5 hours of driving). Honestly, I am super excited about seeing my parents, a trip with them (+my bff!!) but I miss my guy. I drove across town to have dinner with him tonight on his dinner break but I will haul it back to Chattanooga by next weekend to spend 2 uninterrupted days with him!

Camp - Trip #1

I left for camp yesterday morning at 6:45am. I was trying to NOT get involved in Knoxville traffic and arrive at camp at a decent hour to actually be helpful throughout the day. I got there just after 9am which was making pretty good time and immediately jumped in to hanging out with some great girls. I spent the day learning the ropes of camp since I haven't ever actually spent the night (or even a day!) at this particular resident camp; it is always super fun to see what camp traditions get carried over/through the years and are exactly like I remember them. And then those that...aren't. :)

My goal in being there was to get some feedback from our middle school aged girls about what activities and events they really love and might like to do over the course of the next few years. I didn't get as much feedback as I would have liked to get but it was good to also see what things they enjoy the most about camp and think about how we can tie those things into the larger program ideas.

I stayed up far too late last night doing "stealth van" with the leadership staff...while they do their nightly rounds to make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be, they bring along a box of snacks for the staff. The staff has to "stealthily" approach the vehicle, sneak their snacks, and sneak back. It is fun for them and let's us see that everyone is in the unit they are supposed to be in....fantastic idea. However, our late night stealth mobile and this morning's 6am to chaperone a horseback riding field trip have left me with a seriously sore rear end and a desperate desire to go to bed early. (full disclosure: I had to pull off the highway halfway home and take a 15 minute nap for my safety and that of other drivers. You're welcome. I think I really am turning into my mother.)

Another load of laundry, a day at the office tomorrow, and then leaving at 7am on Friday morning to drive to Richmond, VA. I will be glad to arrive in Columbus next Monday night and be finished driving for a few days.

NCVS 2013 - Day #4

Sorry for the delay but I was EXHAUSTED when I got home and I completely forgot to blog until now. If you want a much more detailed account of our travels (and other hilarity in general), read mom's blog.

We got up early on Saturday morning knowing that we had a long day ahead of us and lots of stuff we still wanted to see. I delivered my laptop back to my travelling friend so she could drive it home instead of me having to drag it through multiple trains and airports. Mom and I used our multi-day metro passes (which we totally got our money's worth on! I highly recommend!) to get out to the Eastern Market which is normally just food items all week but on the weekends get the lovely addition of craft vendors. I have a newly loved habit of taking home a small piece of art to hang in my home (remember last year's Bean painting?) so we purchased a neat little watercolor of the Capitol building since political science is kinda my thing. We then purchased tickets to do the "hop on, hop off" tourist bus where we proceeded to see as many monuments as possible, find a loved one in Arlington, and I proceeded to get sunburned. Lovely and unexpected. Oh well. It was a beautiful and warm day and I dearly enjoyed my mom's company.

When we wrapped up our touristy stuff, we headed back to my friend K's house to get our stuff by way of a bus since they were doing work on the trains so I thought it was a little amusing that this is how I got home that night: bus to train station, train to end of the line, taxi to airport, plane to Atlanta, Groome shuttle to Chattanooga, then my sweet guy picked me up. So yeah, travelling is exhausting.

I did a little laundry and hung out with my guy on Sunday then worked on Monday. Next post - camp.

Weekend doesn't equal no work.

One of the downers about Chad's job is that he has to work every other weekend. It is consistent so we can plan a few weekends out but knowing you are going to be stuck working every other one is such a downer; not that work is bad! We are thankful that we both have paying jobs that we feel fulfilled in doing. But knowing that we aren't going to get to spend that might time together is really the downside to all of it. I think we have both handled it well but on weekends like this one, it seems to just get to me a little more...

We got up yesterday and both worked out - he with a friend and bikes at the battlefield and me with a friend at the YMCA. I am glad we went but looking back, it just means more time away from each other when the time together is scarce. We came home and pretty much did chores until he had to leave for work - and I spend the rest of the afternoon doing the same. (Literally - all the laundry is done, grocery shopping done, lunches and dinners made for most of the week, kitchen cleaned, car cleaned out, sheets washed/changed, etc.) It was a long day that didn't end until midnight for me and then I got a text from my guy that he would have to stay at work all night and work a double shift. Ugh. Thus is life but sometimes it stinks. We had plans to hang out a few minutes together this morning before I have to leave town for Knoxville.

I'm not complaining - well maybe a little - but we are so very thankful for work and paychecks that it is hard to NOT be. I just wish our schedules were a little more synced so we could spend more time together. So, that being said, Chad just needs a little more time where he is to become vested in the retirement system. He can then start looking for work at other hospitals that might have a better schedule. Please say a prayer that something divinely designed will come along. :)

Work goodness.

I have spent a majority of this week making contacts at other councils to see what they are doing to retain teen girls in their programs. I know that there are some things that won't translate to our council for a number of reasons - we have a lot of rural areas, we cover a fairly large geographical area compared to the councils surrounding us, etc. - but I also know that there are some councils that are really "getting it right" and I want to learn from them. So, I have had a couple of really great hour long phone calls with some ladies from a variety of councils near us and they have some really cool ideas for events and activities that they are currently using for older girls. One is so awesome that I am going to try to head up to VA to see the weekend event in action to see if it is something we can replicate in our council.

It was such a pleasure to talk to ladies who are so passionate, excited, and driven to make sure that girls have the best GS experience possible. And that these girls stay in the program long enough to get the full benefits of our programming at the older grade levels. I absolutely love my job and on days like this when I can connect with other people who do something similar and love it just as much...well, that is icing on a very tasty cake.

Travel.

Since one of the pieces of my new job is supervising a position that coordinates events and travel for teen girls, I am going to get to take advantage of some fun, new experiences. Since I think it would be unfair - potentially even inappropriate - for me to "claim" the paid chaperone position for all of our upcoming travel experiences, I will have to choose the ones that I am most interested in and just pay for my own way. For example, we are taking a trip to the Grand Canyon next spring and I signed on to chaperone! I am super excited! The Grand Canyon is one of the things on my bucket list and it is obviously on my mom's too because she signed on to be another chaperone for the trip. We will spend about 5 days out west - one full day rafting the entire canyon (35 miles! it is the only company that has motorized rafts so they can do the entire length of the canyon which normally takes 5 or so days on a human/paddle powered raft), they will airlift us out of the canyon to the rim for some good views, we will spend one day horseback riding, another one hiking, etc. It is basically an entirely outdoor trip and is going to be a crazy awesome experience. I can't wait to travel with these girls!

As Girl Scouts, we are also members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts - a worldwide sisterhood. This WAGGGS group has world centers in England, India, Mexico, and Switzerland, and a new mobile center in Africa (it changes countries). This past New Year, our council took a trip to the center in Mexico and we are planning a 2015 trip to Switzerland. My goal for teen travel is to get to all of the world centers in the next 5-6 years or so and then repeat the process. I might not sign on for Switzerland but I will definitely be signing on to chaperone India whenever that happens.

Have I mentioned how much I love my job? I think I was made for this. I know it is long hours and I probably commit too much to it (heart, emotion, weekends, nights, time away from my guy, etc.) but I can truly say that I love what I do. And I totally believe in the Girl Scout experience for girls - teaching them leadership skills - life skills - that will guide them no matter where they go.

Honored.

Today was a really cool day. This morning was our council's Annual Meeting. This is the event that I planned last year as it was a bigger blowout party for our 100th Anniversary. This year, we brought the event back to our three regional areas and held it over out video conferencing system so it would be easier for our members to get to/not as far to travel for most people. Generally, this is just a business meeting with our CEO's annual report and some discussion. This year, a couple of our Board members were being honored with adult awards - nominated by their peers - so our CEO wanted to give them out at this event instead of our other awards events. I am actually the staff liaison for this awards committee so I knew we had a few folks that could receive awards at this event; it is special to receive an award in front of your peers so it was a great time to hand them out.

At the end of the meeting, our CEO gave out the awards and much to my surprise, I received one as well. I know it seems strange since I am basically just "doing my job" but the award I received is a national level award, meaning that it has to be nominated by one of my peers, approved by our awards committee, and then approved by our Board of Directors. I received the Appreciation Pin - which is a GSUSA award and can be worn on your official uniform (doesn't sound like a big deal but it pretty much is!). It is for service in one geographic area of our council, above and beyond expectations. I am very honored; I know what other volunteers and staff have also received this award and I am among dedicated and loyal Girl Scouts. It feels so incredibly good to know that my hard work, long hours, off hour phone calls and emails, and attitude have shown someone (nominators are kept confidential) that I am worthy of this award. I am so honored.

NCVS

I don't know if you recall my trip last summer to Chicago for the National Conference on Volunteerism and Service but this summer the same conference is taking place in Washington, DC. They move the location every year so it is fun to see - the last day of the conference - where it is going to be the following year. Our GS council has had some budget cuts this year - like everyone, I suppose, especially non-profits who depend on others for their income - so we weren't going to be able to send any staff to the conference this year. One of my co-workers and I devised a plan that we would submit a proposal to teach a session at the conference, knowing that if we got accepted, they would pay our registration fee (which, even at early bird rates, is $500). Much to our surprise and excitement, we were accepted! We were asked to join forced with some great ladies from out west (who work for AmeriCorps Vista programs) because our sessions are similiar in nature.

Our session is built on the idea of the Girl Scout Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards - knowing that we can teach girls to engage in meaningful, sustainanable community service projects. And knowing that this training isn't limited to females - that all  youth can be taught to love community service and to begin a lifetime of service by starting young. We will be a part of the youth track of the conference and we are crazy excited!