Camping in my house

People who play Texas Hold 'Em poker know this phrase: All you need is a chip and a chair.

Essentially this is what people who are winning are saying to the people who are losing, to supposedly give them hope... or to keep them at the table so the rest of their small chip stack can be extricated from said loser. And, I suppose, this is true. If you are really good at poker, you could take that chip and leverage it into many chips after several winning hands. However, this is difficult and probably a myth. I have no evidence that a person who merely had one chip has ever won the World Series of Poker. And the chair part, well, that's obvious: One must be seated at the table in order to be dealt any cards. A chip and a chair.

In Abode Guthrie these days, it's two lawn chairs, a bar stool and a cardboard box. That's our version of 'a chip and a chair' when it comes to living these days. The movers removed the last of our furniture from our house yesterday at 4 p.m., leaving us with the items we plan to store with/give to Rodney's family in Illinois (pictures, Marble the dog, the Explorer, liquid items that cannot be packed, etc.), and the luggage we plan to take with us on the planes.

Once our chairs and sofa were loaded in to the moving truck at around 11 a.m., Rodney and I wandered around the house, trying to find ways to get comfortable. I opted for the air mattress for a short while, but that just wasn't conducive to laptop usage. Rodney sat on the floor, but after awhile the butt ache required him to abandon this position. Eventually, when we were trying to straighten out our travel arrangements the government gave us (this is a whole other story that I may get in to some other time), Rodney and I used the guest bathroom as our office. He was seated on the toilet lid, writing notes on a paper pad balanced on the sink, and I was perched on the edge of the bathtub. Truly, this was the best we could do with the non-furniture we had on hand. But this would not do for TV watching, breakfast eating or laptop using. A trip to Wal-mart was needed!

Rodney modeling our new furniture

At Wal-mart, we acquired a bar stool and two lawn chairs (to also be used at the family barbecue in Illinois on the 4th of July). Little did I know, but these items, coupled with a cardboard box I found in the garage, and the air mattress we already owned, were all we would need to survive camping in our home for the next 4.5 days.

Yes, I called it camping. I am a woman who appreciates the comforts the 21st century has afforded me. Like a pillow top mattress. An easy chair. A vacuum cleaner. I am not being afforded those comforts at this time, so, therefore, I am camping. Every campsite should have running water, electricity and internet access, as far as I am concerned, so those features available in my home at this time are considered standard.

It's amazing how truly adaptable and creative humans can be. I say humans collectively because Rodney and I are not extraordinary and I have seen much more creative uses for items on the internet. Simply Google search images for "creative uses with duct tape" for a sampling.

In the mere 18 hours since we acquired our new survival gear, we have found countless uses for these items, some of them illustrated below:

Replacement bar stool/office chair

Night stand

End table and coffee table/ottoman

Entertainment center and easy chairs

So, I think we will manage to survive the next few days of living in Pensacola, thanks to our new furniture. Well, those and the local restaurants. Don't even get me started with what Rodney had planned for cooking. Let's just say it included the use of aluminum foil, a brick and a lighter. I nixed that PDQ. That just sounded way too 'campy' to me.

Leadership: It all stems from selfless vs. selfish

If there is anything I have learned as I traipse through my adulthood is that not everyone is an effective leader. In fact, I think I have learned what not to do from most of my managers. There are a few shining beacons, but, for the most part, it seems like leaders in corporate America are selected in one of three ways:

1) They have been there forever, they follow orders well and the natural progression is to promote them
2) They know a decision-maker within the organization and are, therefore, hired and/or promoted, skills notwithstanding
3) They still know the right people, and they are great at what they currently do, but the jury is still out as to whether or not they are truly leaders

I have also learned that you don't need to have a title to be a leader (there is actually a book by that title out there that explains this, and it has some great ideas, but, when I read it, I found it to be an attempt to assuage your anger about not getting promoted or paid for your leadership skills, but I digress...). People naturally gravitate toward people who have a good head on their shoulders, are engaged in bettering the company, organization or group as a whole, and genuinely care for the members of the team. Sure, I spent an entire semester in grad school studying leadership, and the emerging concept of followership, but this article posted to Facebook today by a fellow military wife and career-woman friend of mine sums it up quite nicely. Lessons from the Military: Your Risk is my Risk, Too in the Harvard Business Review basically says that leaders need to have some skin in the game. They need to be selfless, not selfish. There's a whole book on that, too: Jim Collins' Good to Great. In it he talks about truly great leaders who exemplify what he calls Level 5 Leadership. To sum it up in one statement: These leaders are selfless, not selfish. The keep their heads down and do what they can to make the company and/or their subordinates shine. They inspire the team to reach for the stars. You won't find hundreds of articles about them in Newsweek, Time, or the business sections of the national newspapers. They are too busy creating something great with great people.

And this is not just applicable to leaders in the military or corporate America. When was the last time you were on a project team? Maybe it was for work. Maybe it was for your kids' school's PTA. Maybe it was a scrapbooking page swap. Whatever it might have been, there is generally a leader, even unofficially. It's the host, the one who did the project last year or someone who just seems to have a good head on their shoulders. Chances are there wasn't just a leader, but a great leader, if the project, task force or swap went smoothly and it was a great experience. Think about what that leader did that you may not have been aware of. Did you feel like a valued member of the team? Were your strengths utilized? Was the mission accomplished on time and within budget? Now compare that to a team experience you would never want to repeat? What was different?

Now think about the last time you were in charge. Even if the last time was you being in charge of your own children, the question remains the same: Were you selfless or selfish?

I agree... women can't have it all... yet

I am sitting here on my one remaining couch as two large, good-natured black men listen to country music on an iPhone and pack up my household goods bound for Japan, whistling as they work. The two movers did an assessment of the house and came to the conclusion that they should start on the kitchen and the scraproom, since those two rooms appear to have the most stuff in them. I am not-so-secretly proud that my scraproom rivals my (husband’s) kitchen in its contents. And this is after I sold about a third of its contents. Anything worth doing is worth doing right…

And this leads me in to the purpose of my blog post. This morning, I took a quick trip to Sonic (one of the places I am deeply going to miss once I am in Japan) for a breakfast burrito and Route 44 unsweet iced tea. While I drove, l listened to NPR. On the Diane Rehms show, a handful of guests were talking with the host about a new article published in The Atlantic magazine, titled “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All.” It takes about 30 minutes to read the article in its entirety, but I had the time, so I did. And I have to say, I agree with so much of what the author and college professor Anne-Marie Slaughter wrote. She also gave me hope that I can still have a successful career once my kids are grown and my husband retires from the military. That anything I choose to do, I can still do it well.

Military wives and mothers were not discussed specifically in the article. With less than 1 percent of the American populace serving in the military, and not all of them sharing their home with a female spouse, this would be a small fraction of the women facing the work-life balance struggle. Adding the challenges military spouses face when it comes to that balance would have added another 20 minutes of reading to the article and is truly unnecessary to get Slaughter’s message across.

Slaughter offered several suggestions on how American society needs to change so that women, even men, could have it all. Among them were school schedules that match work schedules (she correctly argues that the current school year was designed to meet the needs of an agrarian society that no longer exists), the extended use of technology to reduce the amount of travel and face-to-face meetings required for work, and employers’ understanding of research that has shown that employees who pull consistent “all-nighters” or 60-hour work weeks are actually less effective or productive than those who have regular work hours and good time management skills. I actually experienced a spark of pride when Slaughter said my home state of California has it right: They take leisure as seriously as they take work, and still manage to be the hotbed of innovation in many industries. My primarily California upbringing by two native Californians must have played a key part in making it possible for me to balance family, two jobs and graduate school while on a lean budget these past two years. Land of Fruits and Nuts, maybe, but it sounds as though we may not be the crazy ones after all.

But why should America change? What’s the value? Because it’s smarter and more efficient. It will make us more competitive in a global market where we are losing ground. Employees will be happier, families stronger, and kids will be better off. And both women and men will be valued for their talents and abilities, rather than how many hours they toil at their desks. Who toils at a desk anymore, anyway? As mentioned before, I am sitting on my lone couch, tapping away on my laptop while the strained sounds of country music try to break through the screeches of packing tape being unrolled and applied to cardboard boxes. Thank God I worked in a newsroom for five years and can block out just about anything.

But the most encouraging part of the whole article for me? This line Slaughter wrote: “Women who have children in their late 20s can expect to immerse themselves completely in their careers in their late 40s, with plenty of time still to rise to the top in their late 50s and early 60s.” That single sentence lifted a weight from my shoulders. Since I graduated from college I have fought hard to establish a career despite my husband’s deployments, frequent moves and the births of two sons. I have screamed, cried, thrown things at walls in my frustration to not live up to my 18-year-old self’s expectations of where I should be on the career ladder. I wanted it all but realized I couldn’t. There weren’t enough hours in the day or enough anti-bacterial wipes in the world to keep my kids from getting sick occasionally (and usually on a day that I had an important meeting and my husband could not break from work.) This article makes me realize something that I hadn’t before: that my not being able to “have it all” may be through no fault of my own. A very small portion of American women do, and, as Slaughter pointed out, they are self-employed, rich and/or have 24-hour nannies.

I did not fail. I’m actually still in the race – it’s not over yet and I still have a chance to win. Some people would say that this is part of the journey. I don’t have patience for a journey. It’s a race, okay? My incredibly competitive nature isn’t sure who I am running against – probably my own high expectations – but while some readers are outraged at Slaughter’s ideas and revelations, I find that they have brought me peace of mind. I can pace myself now. I’m not behind the eight ball. I’m actually running on schedule. I still have time to do the things I choose to do “right.”

So, I once again find myself in a period of change where I have to change zip codes, career paths and expectations yet again, due to a military move. The good news is that I will be 39 when my husband is scheduled to retire from the Marine Corps, and 47 when my youngest graduates high school. Just in time to immerse myself in my career, whatever that might be at the time. In the past 12 years since I married my very supportive spouse, I have also learned how to be more flexible, which saves me from unnecessary stress and frustration and my walls from damage. And hopefully, by slowing down a bit, finding a reasonable pace, I’ll be able to continue on my career path and still find time to use the scrapbooking stuff the packers have packed.

Two weeks until departure...

My degree came in the mail this week. So, it is official... I hold a Master of Arts degree in Strategic Communication & Leadership from the University of West Florida. Here is a photo of me holding it:

What this means is that I no longer have classes, homework or papers to write… or so I thought.
Upon my graduation in May, the Communication Arts Department at UWF offered me a position as an adjunct instructor, teaching courses online. This is wonderful for me because I would like to pursue a career as a college professor (however, I need a Ph.D. to do that, so it will be awhile) and I needed a job I could do from Japan. Since I have a background in journalism, I will be editing student stories for the weekly school newspaper, The Voyager, and teach a class in Global Communication. Very appropriate, if you ask me, since I will be studying some global communication of my own as I acclimate!

However, it is the department’s policy that all online instructors take two 5-week online courses about teaching online courses before they start teaching the online courses. They are offered in June, July and the Fall. Fall is too late for me, since I am teaching in the Fall. Since I am not sure how or when I will get Internet access in Japan, I could not take these classes in July. We leave Pensacola July 2 and, after visiting family and friends, should be arriving in Japan mid-month. Taking classes and being successful in them would have been a huge challenge for me.

So, that left the month of June for me to take the two classes. So I am taking two classes, complete with homework and papers to write. Now, ordinarily, this would have caused little stress. I have proven I can balance working full time with three graduate classes. But now I have an entire household to move halfway around the world and all of the calamity that entails. So, when the instructor emailed everyone the fourth of the five weeks, and said that half the class had dropped out because they were too busy, I wanted a list of those people so I knew who I did NOT want to take on a deserted island with me. But I digress…

As those of you who know me might remember, my children usually spend the summers with each set of grandparents (California and Illinois) and those said grandparents decide how and when to switch the kids from one state to the other. This year, with the move, will be different. Please note: Having kids around when you are moving is not recommended. They get bored, anxious, and inadvertently add stress to the already stressful situation. So they were sent off to Rodney’s family in Illinois for the month of June, but we still had to take a weekend to get them halfway there, to Memphis, where Rodney’s aunt and grandparents met us to take them the rest of the way. And just a side note: Rodney’s father is in hospice care at home with a malignant brain tumor and not doing well. It’s a heartbreaking situation. However, Rodney’s mother, sister and the rest of the family wanted the kids to visit and they are making it work. I am grateful to have the time I need to devote to the move, the kids are having fun (they just went to their first Cardinals baseball game!) and Rodney’s family gets to enjoy them.

Since the kids left for Illinois, Rodney and I have been very much focused on getting packed and ready for the move to Japan. While it has been a weeks-long process, everything is moving faster now that we are only two weeks out, and seems to be happening all at once. The house is 90 percent organized and in different piles: Storage (with a storage company), advanced shipment (about 1,000 pounds of stuff to camp out in a home once we get one - we should get this in Japan by August 1), personal property shipment (the main shipment that could take months to get to us) and the stuff we are taking with us on the planes in suitcases and backpacks.

There was also a fifth pile, the garage sale pile, which has since been sold or donated. We had a garage sale Friday and Saturday morning. We did pretty well, making almost $1,600. We still have some of the furniture items left that we are trying to sell on Craigslist, but I’m not too worried about it. Our house has also rented to a Coast Guard couple with two boys who fell in love with the dinosaur mural my sister-in-law, Jill, on the kids’ playroom wall, so that is another thing I am not worried about. My last day working for the credit union, for which I now work three days a week, is this Friday, June 22. It will be sad to leave, but it’s time to move on. I feel like a made a positive impact there and that is the most anyone can hope for.

Now, what I am worried about:

My car: I am trying to sell my beloved car, which has had only three people inquire. The 103K miles seems to be turning people off. I have truly loved my 2007 Explorer Limited, and would not be selling it if we were not moving. It’s priced below its Kelley Blue Book value, but still no bites. Unfortunately, we still owe money on the car, so there is a limit to how low I can go, but I don't want a car payment for a car half a world away either.

Best case scenario: Someone buys it. Worst case scenario: We take it to Illinois, park it with the family and keep paying on it until it sells. Yuck.

My dog: We still don't have a plan for our 14-year-old geriatric boxer dog, Marble, who I have had in my family since she was 6 weeks old. It tears my heart to pieces. I feel as though there are no good options. As bad as it sounds, I had hoped she would pass away from natural causes – most boxers don’t live much past 10 years old. Here's a photo I took in the kitchen on Friday of her waiting for a cookie:

As you can see, she is stubbornly hanging on to her (sort of) decent health. She has arthritis in her back legs, may have suffered a stroke last year that causes her head to tilt to the side, has hardly any teeth left and is deaf, but she still want to play with Rodney every night and eats like a horse. If she was suffering, I could justify putting her to sleep. But putting her to sleep simply because we are moving? Not acceptable. But I also have a selfish wish: My two boxers who died here in Pensacola have all been cremated and buried in Illinois. I have kept their collars. I want to do the same for Marble. If someone is kind enough to adopt her, would I still be able ask for her ashes and collar? I am in tears as I write this because, again, I don’t find any of these options to be good ones.

My preparedness: Rodney is constantly telling me that I shouldn’t stress out about the things I cannot control. My mother tells me I am lucky and things always fall on my lap. I believe I fall in to a different category: Living by a philosophy of crossing my t’s and dotting my i’s and being as prepared as possible. This means working hard, not procrastinating, worrying a lot about the aspects of a situation I can control, and being ready for whatever opportunities or challenges life throws at me.

And I have tried very hard to do that for my family these past six months. But I am living outside the United States for the first time, a world away from family and friends (with the exception of Rodney and the boys, of course!). I will make new friends, and I know I am flexible and adaptable – any dedicated military wife is. But am I taking the right things? Do I have the right items on the right shipments? While the items I store be safe? Will the items I ship to Japan be safe. Where do I put my scrapbooks and heirlooms? What can I pack and get through customs? Will I maintain my sanity?


These are the things that keep me up at night. Rodney keeps telling me it will all work out as it should. I suppose that should be comforting but it hasn’t been yet. I’m more of a doer than a thinker, and waiting for things to work themselves out take patience. And any patience I have is a learned behavior, taking a lot of energy to manage. But maybe it will. So many things already have. Maybe everything will work out. Only time will tell.

Counting in Japanese

Konnichiwa!

In an effort to master some basics of the language before we move there this summer, my boys (ages 9 and 5) and I are learning Japanese. I am using Rosetta Stone, but think it may be a bit challenging for the kids, so I am teaching them some basics through YouTube videos I am finding. Thanks to the Japanese Society (an organization based out of New York) we are counting in Japanese now. It's actually a pretty simple system. Here is the link to the 5 minute video that has you counting from 1-100. Seriously, we caught on pretty fast! We thought you'd like to give it a try, too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOUqVC4XkOY&feature=plcp&context=C32fddeeUDOEgsToPDskLOARDoVE-uQHkkEch3nOt-

Siyonara!

Konnichiwa!

Scrappy pal Emily shared this on my Facebook page... somehow Basic Grey (one of my favorite manufacturers!) knew I was moving to Japan this summer... and came out with the perfect line to scrapbook my adventures with: Konnichiwa (which means 'hello'). Guess I'll have to stock up on some of it!

Next stop: Japan

Please note: If you are a military family planning to PCS to Iwakuni soon, scroll down to the bottom of this post for some additional posts you may find helpful. (posted Feb. 18, 2014)

Cherry blossom path in Iwakuni.

Documents provided by the military to prepare us for a move overseas, as well as Rosetta Stone for Japanese.

My husband Rodney received orders - to MCAS Iwakuni in Japan! Click on the link the some info about it. We report in July, after being stationed in Pensacola, Florida for 4 years. Iwakuni base is the only Marine Corps base located on mainland Japan. The rest are all located on the island of Okinawa, which is where Rodney was stationed in 2003-2004 while Will and I lived with Rodney's parents in Illinois.

Iwakuni Castle

Map of Japan - note how close we are to Gina's homeland of Korea!

Kintai Bridge in Iwakuni

Arial version of MCAS Iwakuni in 2004. That sandbar-looking area in the bottom left corner is now a new runway.

Rodney is absolutely thrilled to be going back, he loved it there and can't wait to share it with the rest of us. The kids are more excited than I thought they would be. Will wants to see the Pokemon museum in Tokyo and Xan just wanted to make sure that he didn't have to learn Japanese before he went to school there. I am sure we will all have moments of sadness when we leave, but I think we all have the mindset that this will be an adventure! We have gotten Rosetta Stone for Japanese, levels 1-3, so, hopefully, we will have picked up enough Japanese to get ourselves from America to base. As we get more info, we'll let you know. Right now we are busy trying to figure out what to do with our house (sell or rent?) and our cars (must sell, but how and when?).

Meanwhile, I am still working part time for the credit union's marketing department, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and we are launching a new campaign for 2012: The Pen Air Patrol. Click the link to see what my CU life has revolved around for the past 5 months. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I am still teaching two sections of speech, or Basic Communication Skills, for the University of West Florida. I am a lot less nervous this semester and have adjusted the class slightly to better ensure the students actually read the assigned chapters ahead of time. It seems to be working so far.

I am also scheduled to graduate with my master's degree in Strategic Communication and Leadership May 5, provided I finish the three classes I am registered for now. One is a traditional class, meeting in Thursday nights, and we are studying how the media portrays alternative medicine. Since I know very little about this subject, I should learn quite a bit. The second class is new for the school. It is a sort of advertising agency for the different schools and departments within the university, to help them promote the speakers and events they host on campus. I am not sure what I will be doing with that yet, but will hopefully find out next week. And, finally, I will have a capstone project, something I work on individually as the all-encompassing final project. I am not sure what I am going to be doing, but I have some ideas. Hopefully one of them will be approved by the department.

I have no idea how much time I will be able to spend creating, but I surprise myself sometimes, so you never know when you might see something scrappy here. ;)

If you are moving to MCAS Iwakuni from the States, here are some additional posts you may find helpful:

About all the construction happening on MCAS Iwakuni through 2017
Commissary information (prior to the new one to be built in 2015)
My experience with house hunting (on base) 
My first night in Iwakuni
Some of my first observations about the base

Also, on the right-hand side of this blog are other websites that will be helpful to you. Also, if you haven't already, join the Iwakuni Classifieds and Information group on Facebook. While their is sometimes asinine drama on there, there is also a lot of helpful info and resources. If you are on a computer (not a phone or tablet) there is a search function on the top right of the page so you can search key words.

 These are 8x8 albums with acrylic covers that I made for a friend. She gave them to her family for Christmas. They are each a different theme that she selected to match the families' personalities. It was great to have some time in my scrap studio again, and these got me back in to the scrap swing of things for the gifts I made my family.

Paper clip Angel

Will brought this home from school. I thought it was really clever and cute - a perfect kids' project!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Addition of Cheyenne

My niece, who is nearly 18 months old, finally made her presence known on my college-ish mixed media mural on my dining room wall. Of course, it wasn't her fault she came late to the party, it was mine. Grad school has monopolized a lot of my time in the past year! Plus, my sister-in-law breast fed her for awhile, and since everyone on the wall is eating or drinking, it may have led to some somewhat awkward photos!

This is simply a 6 x 6 layout slid into an acrylic PageFrame and hung on a thumbtack stuck in the covered corkboard I created months ago.

This was a clearanced shadow box I got for a steal - because it was without the glass it came with. I am just a huge fan of this Vita Bella line Little Yellow Bicycle came out with in 2008. I think I bought everything in the line during the CKU Provo bus tour that August. All of my favorite colors in one in classic, beautiful designs.

Canvas, frames and flea market finds - oh my!

Make paper boxes in minutes

If the video isn't showing up for you, you can check it out using this link to YouTube.

This was a fast and easy solution for custom boxes that I learned at me LSS, Scraphappy here in Pensacola. All you need are two sheets of 12 x 12 paper and a paper trimmer!

My Leadership Philosophy

My definition of leadership


Leadership defines a role an individual chooses to accept, whether it is leading alone or with others, as a job title or in a single situation. A leader must look out for each team member, provide the team with the tools necessary to be successful and provide guidance towards a common goal.

What I expect from myself

I am honest and transparent. I will give team members as much information as I can so they can do their jobs to the best of their abilities. I will not expect more from the team than I expect from myself. I have high expectations, but not unreasonable ones. I will be approachable. I will be tough, yet empathetic when it is warranted. I will provide feedback and direction when needed. I will be a sounding board. I will be a devil’s advocate and attempt to provide different perspectives so the team can make the best decisions possible. I will create an environment of empowerment, yet, if it is necessary to move the team forward, I will not be afraid to make a final decision.

I learned much from Jim Collin’s book, Good to Great: I will strive to be a Level 5 leader. I will recruit talent even if I am not sure what they will do once they join the team. I will invite the right people on to the bus and seat them in the right seats. I will not be motivated by fear. Goals should inherently motivate, but I will provide the team with the tools, compensation and security it needs so it can focus on being great. I will put the best people in the best areas for growth opportunity. I will listen more, talk less and ask questions.

I will guide, not direct. I welcome questions, feedback and constructive criticism. I will help us all pursue joy. As famed college basketball coach John Wooden suggests, I will love each team member the same. Like professor Dr. Athena du Pre’ said, if I must let someone go, it will be done out of love for them… their happiness matters, too. I will not allow others to do my “dirty work” for me. I will have the courage to address the issue myself. I will be loyal to the team and its members. I will forgive others for honest mistakes. I will also forgive myself for honest mistakes. Like Southwest Airlines, I will fire customers who do not treat team members with respect. I will provide authentic, genuine leadership and create an environment people want to be in. As exemplified by Dr. du Pre’, I will do what is necessary to have refreshed, healthy and invigorated team members so the team is creative, effective and efficient.

What I expect from team members

I expect team members to be honest, transparent and loyal. Deadlines are not to be missed. I expect them to communicate with me. If you don’t know or aren’t sure about something, don’t pretend you do. You will eventually look like a disingenuous liar. Simply say that you don’t know, but will find out quickly. I will expect the best the team has to offer, and then try to stretch the team a step higher. I expect team members to grasp and use their empowerment for the good of the group and organization. To quote the unofficial Google motto, “Don’t be evil.” I require the team members to be respectful, honest and to hold each other to high standards.

Be brave. I expect team members to have integrity and to be accountable for their actions, choices and words. If you commit to something, anything, see it through. I don’t want to have to tell team members what to do or remind them repeatedly to do it. I do not like to micromanage. I want there to be an agreed upon consensus and each team member to take responsibility for their part in the plan. Yet, don’t be afraid to ask questions to gain better understanding. And, paraphrasing Randy Pausch in his last lecture, don’t let the brick walls stop you – those walls just show you how badly you want something. Do not be complacent and do not complain. If you have the tools to fix the problem, do it. If you don’t have the tools, ask for them. Follow up and follow through with everything you do. Embrace constructive criticism. If no one cared, or thought you were capable of achieving their expectations, no one would say anything to you.

Personal
idiosyncrasies

I do not like to waste time or resources. I am impatient... but I am working on it. I love a good discussion and am competitive by nature. I like to win. But also see the benefits of a true dialogue and realize there is an appropriate time for each.

Non-negotiables

I will not tolerate cheating, lying or team members’ disrespect to themselves or others. I do not accept excuses. Habitual tardiness or absences show a lack of respect and commitment to the team and are not acceptable. Ignorance is not bliss, it is inexcusable.

Tyler Durden's 8 Rules of Innovation

A friend of mine introduced this link to me today and it absolutely resonated! I am not a huge fan of the move "Fight Club," but I thought the author's use of the parallels to get his point across was great. I have no idea who Tyler Durden is (LOL), but I like what he has to say about the rules of innovation! Be fearless!

Giving Etsy a try...

I have set up an Etsy account and one of the three items I have uploaded is this Steampunk Debutante wall decor:

I would greatly appreciate it if you would browse the store and offer suggestions!

A little John Deere here...

My friend Raeanne "commissioned" a piece for me to create for her to give to her sister-in-law as a gift for her new baby's room. The room is John Deere themed and Rae gave me a multi-photo frame to "Jessica-tize," as she put it. Here it is, before, after and on the wall:

Whoops! Forgot to give the low down on Guthrie Gallery Night!

I just realized I never blogged about Guthrie Gallery Night! Both events went very well and it seemed like everyone had a great time. Some wer looking for inspiration, some were looking for gifts, others were just wanting an evening (or afternoon!) out of the house!

It was so much fun to be able to show off the pieces I have created for my family and answer questions about them. Everyone who attended seemed to have their own personal favorites, so I can't say which one was hands-down the most popular.

Here are some photos from the event:

Akiko and Shiho won the raffle prizes on Saturday.

Melissa loved winning the door prize on Thursday.

Actually, Melissa was thrilled to win the door prize on Thursday!



The baby boy "Zoo Baby" collection was a big hit.



My friend Kanoko added to my mantle display - she gave me the pretty green bottle, third from the left.



The "Steampunk Debutante" Collection was my favorite to work with. This is a three-frame wall hanging.

The left frame up close.

This clock cabinet is one of my favorites.

I have been asked if I will do another Guthrie Gallery Night before Christmas. I think I might, coupled with a some kind of class, which has been requested by a number of people. Could be fun, maybe a weekend in November. But, we'll have to see how my crazy fall semester pans out first (see previous post for details)!

Some of the things that are still left I plan to put on an Etsy site or something, so I'll be sure to announce that here and on Facebook. But a huge thank you to everyone who came out and were so supportive (even if they weren't totally sure what to expect!).

Summer's over....

So, my summer is officially over. My summer classes have ended and I got the As I wanted. I never would have thought I would have gotten all As in graduate school, based off of my 3.4 high school and 3.1 college GPAs, but this field of study really does resonate with me. I think it’s a good fit… and nary a calculus or biology class in the bunch!


I didn’t get to the beach once this summer, but I did get to clean most of the house and see some bands and movies with the spouse. Oh, and I am pretty much caught up on my sleep, I think. Which is a good thing, because this fall promises to be challenging!

I fly out tomorrow to pick up the kids from my parents’ house in California. I’ll stay about 6 days to visit with family and friends before coming back. The same day I get back, my in-laws will be arriving in town, to help me out with life while the spouse is off playing softball for 10 days, representing his squadron of Marines. Why the Marine Corps has this annual event the week school starts for many kids around the country, I have no idea. Why not earlier in the summer so families can go? Or at least not have to worry about start of school flurry of activity that wreaks havoc on many households. But the Corps has never really tried to be convenient for family. No need to start now.

Will and Xan start school on the 22nd. Will will be going into 4th grade, and Xan will be starting Kindergarten. I will be starting my fourth (and hopefully, send-to-last) semester as a Strategic Communication and Leadership graduate student at the University of West Florida. Plus, I will be dropping back to part time status as a marketer Pen Air FCU so that I can pursue a new adventure: Teaching at UWF. I will be a graduate teaching assistant (GTA), teaching two public speaking courses on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I have always wanted to try my hand at teaching at the collegiate level, and I now have my chance. It’s is going to be a very busy semester for me and I am trying to create a schedule a routine so that I have as little stress as possible – ha! Life always manages to throw a wrench (or ten) in to the plans I make, so flexibility will be a much-needed commodity.

Plus, I am doing some freelance copywriting and scrapbooking on the side. Keeping busy is a way of life for me. I'll post pictures of my latest scrappy projects soon!

Guthrie Gallery Night preparations

So, I am finishing up some projects that I have had either had concepted or started so I can showcse them next week at the two Guthrie Gallery Night next week (scroll down a couple of posts for info), and I wanted to give you sneak peek. You can also follow me on Facebook...

"Heirloom" collection

"Lemonade" collection

"Animal Crackers" collection

Yes, I may be a feminist, but I still like men...

Ok, so follow my logic here: Recently, while in graduate school, I learned that feminists are not what society has created them to be. They do not hate men. They do not think they are better than men. They simply believe they are equal to men. Wow. Imagine that. Equal to the XY chromosome? Oh, the horrors! Yet, this is an identity I identify with. ;) I am different from a man, but together, we bring equally valuable perspectives to whatever discussion is at hand.

Seriously, though, in my reflections, I realize that I come from a long line of true feminists. Not females who think they are better than their male counterparts, not the "man-haters" pop culture likes to pigeonhole in to the definition of "lesbian," or those who were "wronged" by men and, therefore, despise them. But examples of true feminists who believe women can work and live along side the males as equals in the world. Nothing more. Nothing less.

On my paternal side, my grandmother was the first female U.S. Navy Dispersing Officer. She was not enlisted in the Navy, merely hired by them, but, in short, she was the first female to pay the bills for the installation. The keeper of the money. In fact, she was the only one who knew the combination to the safe at the Naval base in China Lake, CA, in the 1960's. A lot of responsibility... and it was even a much bigger part of the U.S. Navy than it is now, with a lot of testing and engineering that done near Ridgecrest, CA. And, yet, someone realized Grandma Barbara was the best person for the job. Amazing. I did not appreciate what she had accomplished for my gender until after she had passed away, but better late than never. Three cheers to my Grandma Barbara. Way to make the most of the opportunities you had!

Yet, the grandmother on my maternal side was no slouch. Unexpectedly, my grandfather passed away of a heart attack when my mother was just over a year old. That left my grandmother alone with a daughter to raise. Now, my Grandma Ginia was close to her parents, but she did not rely on them entirely for financial support, or just quickly marry another man for the sake of acquiring a head of household to support her and my mom. Grandma Ginia worked for a living, for an insurance company, when most uneducated women stayed home with their children. Now, my grandma did have an associates degree, which she earned before she met my grandfather, and such things were rare for women in America at that time. However, in the 1950's, World War II had ended and women were being replaced in the workplace by men who returned from war. Yet, Grandma managed to find and maintain her position as a integral part of the insurance agency she worked for for nearly 20 years. And despite her mother working for a living, my mother turned out to be a productive member of society, earning her associates degree, and nearly a bachelor's degree, before meeting my father and changing her priorities.

So, here I am, two generations later, and I am the first member (not just female member!) of either side of the family to work toward a post-graduate degree. Technically, I am more educated than my husband, as I have a bachelor's degree, and he does not. However, his training as an air traffic controller is quite extensive, and earns him an abundance of college credit. With my bachelor's degree and 18 credits toward my master's degree, I merely strive to be equal to him in the eyes of society. My IQ is slightly higher, but my common sense skills are lacking slightly in comparison to his. I'd say we are pretty equal right now, in our respective areas of expertise, yet his compensation is triple mine. Why? According to Time Magazine, women make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns - when comparing the same skills, dedication and availability. Yet, no one can truly point out the reason for this. Women tend to not ask for raises, and tend to attribute accomplishments to the "team," according to a recent book I read authored by "Morning Joe" TV co-host Mika Brzenzinski. Men are more forthcoming with their personal accomplishments. Women are much more less likely to say say "no" to ridiculous requests, and tend to take more time off to have children.... pick your excuse. But should gender really matter when it comes down to who is the best person for that particular job?

The women in my family have more than proven themselves. I just hope to follow in the footsteps they have already left behind, and then spread those prints a bit farther down the path toward equality. My mother-in-law, a retired elementary school teacher of 30-plus years, recently told me, "It is still a man's world." She is probably right. However, I prefer to fight the good fight and hope than I am valued for the skills and experience I bring to the table, not the combination of chromosomes I have in my body. But the part that bothered me the most is that she brought it up now that she is retired, when gender biases aren't encountered each day in the workplace and should matter less. Was she trying to warn me? Motivate me? Seriously, people, I just want to be equal. Why is that such a problem?

Gallery Night at the Guthrie's...

The window celebrating Rodney's and my 10th anniversary.

 I don’t really consider myself an artist. Not like a painter or sculptor or that guy who creates chalk drawings that look like canyons in the sidewalk. But some of my friends seem to disagree. Especially my friend and co-worker Crystal, who is an artist herself, as well as a graphic designer. She's been harping on me about having a Gallery Night at my house to share my home decor and scrapbooks with the good people of Pensacola. And then she got some other friends and co-workers to chime in. After months of internal debate, and a heart-to-heart with the spouse (who was skeptical, but did not outright laugh), I have decided to swallow my apprehension and host a Gallery Night at my house. Well, actually two.

The Guthrie Gallery Night will be from 7-9 p.m. Thursday, July 28 and 2-4 p.m. Saturday, July 30 at my house. Bring family, friends, whomever you would like. Email me if you need directions: jessicaguthrie at hotmail. 

Feel free to come and imbibe on some refreshments as you enjoy the décor items and flip through the albums. Also, I have a number of albums and other projects that I have created that are looking for a good home (including the house album and "create" wordart below! Scroll down a few posts to see more). So, if you are looking for a unique hand-made gift for a bride, baby, or birthday, you might find the perfect gift for sale.



I will also be having a free raffle at each Gallery Night, giving away some of the albums. I hope you can stop by!

Wooden wordart with easel.

Clear acrylic house album.

"Live, Laugh, Love, Play" is in my dining room.

The "Love" quadrant of the "Live, Laugh, Love, Play" piece.

Worked on a couple of projects in between school assignments...

Somehow I seem to manage to find snippets of time in between my studies, work, and family to escape into my scrap room. I think it's my way of relaxing and allowing the creative side of my brain to work. After a couple of years of practically ignoring my scrap room, it feels to be able to go back into it and create some cool things for myself, family and friends. Here are some of the things I have done recently.

This first project, I guess you could say was "commissioned." My friend and co-worker, Brad, asked me to create something for his wife, Christy, who graduated with a degree in elementary education this weekend. I went to one of my favorite flea markets and found this framed bulletin board. I think refinished it, added a metal sheet under the top alphabet paper and then used chalkboard vinyl in the center so it was truly for for a teacher. Brad also gave me some pictures from her last day of student teaching, so I added those, which I mounted to acrylic panels, stamped with flourish designed for a softer, yet layered look. There is even a little canvas pocket, filled with sticks of chalk. Brad loved it and I hope Christy does, too!

Last weekend, Scraphappy in Pensacola had a guest instructor, Lynn Warner, teaching classes. I took one on Friday night, in which Lynn walked us through several different flower-making techniques. I can;t remember the last time I took a scrap class, so, in the middle of a crazy end-of-the-semester two weeks of final project, I figured I needed to "waste" some time being creative. So glad I did! It was just the break I needed and I came away with some really great ideas, all on the tags below, one of which I used today.

This is a rolled paper flower for my son Will's teacher for the first day of teacher Appreciation Week tomorrow. He's supposed to bring a flower. I figured this one would last longer than a "real" flower and then Will wrote a sweet note to his teacher about how much he had enjoyed being in her class this year. To make a flower like this, simply tear out (yea, tear... it does not have to be perfectly round!) a circle and then tear it in a spiral from the outside in, so the spiral is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide leaving a small, roundish center. Then take the outside end of the spiral and start curling it tightly toward the center. Once it is completely rolled up, let it go, and twist it to the bottom of the flower is resting on the roundish center. put some glue or glue dots to hold the flower in place. Then set the flower right side up on the table in front of you and then push down hard on it wit your hand. That creates the crushed rose look.