Gratitude

Fourteen years ago today, the world was forever changed by the attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center. So many innocent men and women lost their lives, both those who went to work that day and those responded to the crisis. I will always have the utmost respect for those brave individuals.

On this September 11, I am again grateful. Yesterday my aunt and uncle were evacuated from their home on Pine Bark Drive off Jesus Maria Road in Calaveras County. Today, we heard they have likely lost their home.

It could have been much worse. They hadn’t planned on leaving.

Usually, the cooler weather at night abates the flames. And their home was on the downhill side of the fire, which usually makes for slower progression. The thought they could safely wait out the night.

An official came to the door and told them they had 30 minutes to get their things and flee. Annie was able to rescue her two cats, irreplaceable family photo albums, and an Indian rug from Arizona. She left all the lights on and the doors unlocked as they drove away. In the distance, the sound of propane tanks exploding sounded like bombs. As they passed the fire station, Annie noticed they too were packing up and pulling out.

While losses won’t be confirmed until the Damage Assessment teams can safely begin evaluations of damaged and destroyed structures, it’s not looking good. CalFire is updating maps of the affected zones and a significant area around their home appears to have been engulfed. The insurance company has already contacted her and is sending an initial compensation payment.

Mom and I performed our own reconnaissance, independently we both attempted to call their home phone which rang and rang and rang before disconnecting.

I can’t help thinking that if the fire safety personnel hadn’t gone door-to-door, Carina and I might have gotten a very different update from mom today. There are families who won’t be as lucky as ours. One of Anne and John’s good friends decided not to evacuate and his fate is unknown.

Tonight, I am overcome with gratitude for the many firefighters, police, and military service people who put their lives on the line against the many threats we face. It is because of them that so many of us can live our lives, safely going to work, the grocery store, and even to bed at night. I cannot help feeling incredibly thankful that Anne and John are safe in Modesto. They will hug their grandchildren, snuggle their kitties, and see the sunrise tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Galles

This Thanksgiving we spent the day with our dear friends, the Colbys.  Dan and Sam decided they wanted to deep fry a turkey for the first time so Sam bought a deep fryer and both a turkey and a duck.  We had decided we were going to have spaghetti and meatballs - and apparently duck - for dinner, so Sam and Dan made a traditional Thanksgiving lunch for us all.  

It was totally delicious! Especially Dan's amazing cranberry sauce.  Seriously, it put all previous cranberries to shame.

Even more amazing than the fried turkey was the duck - I think we were all pretty impressed with how that turned out.  And the cranberry deliciousness went extremely well with that, too.  

All in all, it was really nice to spend our first Thanksgiving as "the Galles" with Dan and Tina, who were with us the first time we hosted Thanksgiving at our apartment during Sam's last year of med school. It felt like coming full circle. And now, we both have our little dogs - Hunter and Lando.  It was really, really nice. 

Massage

I am a sucker for a good massage.

Sam used to rub my shoulders for me when we first started dating, and my dad used to rub my back before bed during water polo season when I was tight and uncomfortable.

It wasn't until college and really after graduation when I moved to Orange County that I grew to appreciate a really great massage.  And we had massages at least once a week while we were in Southeast Asia three years ago.

Since I took my high pressure, high stress agency job, I have been meaning to book myself a massage... but like all the stuff I do for myself (ahem, blogging, the gym, etc.) I seem never to be able to find the time to make an appointment.

So I finally called up my former masseuse and was disappointed to hear that he's got a great gig working on the NASCAR circuit.  He did refer me to a colleague and I'm going to see her on Saturday.  I cannot wait.

Even Sam said earlier this week that my shoulders are off-center because I am holding so much tension in my upper body.  He must have taken pity on me because he did rub my shoulders a little bit for me that night.

I just want to be able to relax and actually feel my stress melt out of my body.

Hopefully after Saturday I'll be able to sleep better and feel more like working out!

Agency Living

I started 2014 with a new job - exciting times, for sure.  But also trying.

This week I worked an 11+ hour day on Monday, a 10+ hour day on Tuesday, and a 9+ hour day today.  I have been trying to keep to a healthy eating schedule (which has been interesting because I am so busy I rarely eat an actual meal at midday) and get to the gym (which has been less than successful) in what little free time I have.   

Last night, I was working on a blog post for my professional blog and I started nodding off around 9:30 sitting on the couch with my laptop.  I'm not joking.  I told Sam, I am incredibly honored to have been hired by this very prestigious agency but at the same time, I am suffering the loss of my personal life and have no work-life balance whatsoever.  Which is probably doubly difficult because in my last job I had the hang of everything, was working from home three days a week and had a very healthy personal life - I know, I was really spoiled.  One thing I do know, I am NOT going to let this get in the way of my health and fitness goals.  I let work consume me when I started at my last company and my eating habits went completely out the window... not so this time around!

Truth be told, it was a rough couple of days from Thursday afternoon to Tuesday morning working on a huge project for a HUGE client with an incredibly tight deadline.  I was wondering if I made a HUGE mistake on Monday night and was so worried that I'm not cut out of this that quitting actually entered my mind.  Talk about craziness!  Everything looked much better by Tuesday morning when I reassured myself that worst case scenario meant I would lose [another] job but more likely than not, the project would end and life would get back to normal.  Luckily, I was right.  

Tonight I am feeling simultaneously very proud and very overwhelmed.  The agency principle came to me today after reviewing my social media posts for our luxury jewelry designer and diamond client and told me they were fantastic... she asked me how much my other team members had revised my first draft and I said they each made one or two changes, which she was very pleased to hear.  She brought a jewelry magazine and several fashion sections from our local newspapers that she wanted me to read and come up with pitches for.  She also said I need to start looking at the big fashion and jewelry magazines on a regular basis so that I get accustomed to the industry's style of writing and colloquial terms.   

It all sounds like a lot of work, especially when I have marketing and SEO books lined up on my nook that I haven't gotten time to read yet.  I suppose this is what I'll start doing for fun... reading magazines when I get home from work.  C'est la vie.  I guess it's better than watching lots of TV but it takes a lot more brainpower too, and (as with all new jobs) I am completely mentally exhausted by the time I get home.  The last thing I want to do is work on "homework" and yet there are some seriously important things I need to read, chiefly all the bios and pitches we've done for the diamond client because I am going to be pitching him to a couple of publications this week.  

Pitching... eek!  As with everything in this job, I am diving right into the deep end and learning to swim on the fly.

Letting Go

It's hard to let go of something you put so much of yourself into.  I had so many things I was working on, so many things that I wanted to accomplish in the next year.

I had so much dedication and loyalty to my company, my coworkers and my goals.  I was so determined to make it successful.

And it is incredibly disappointing to walk away from all of that.  It feels so much like failure.

My wonderful family and amazing future husband have been very positive and have done their very best to remind me that I'm a very talented young woman and I have been successful and will continue to be successful regardless of whether my former employer can see what he's missing.

My vendors have been incredibly supportive as well.  I waited until last night when they started calling me, and then this morning I reached out to the vendors who hadn't already been in touch.  Everyone was equally as shocked as me.  They gave me rave reviews on my LinkedIn page, which I am incredibly grateful for.  I a

I went into the office yesterday to turn in the rest of the hardware I'd had in my home office and it was so bittersweet.

On one hand, I know that the people I built relationships with at work were really sad to see me go.  They were very supportive and wished me the best.  It was very nice to hear that my vendors have been giving my coworkers and boss nothing but positive feedback about working with me and that I am a very talented and creative individual who they enjoyed and appreciated immensely.

That does make me feel very warm and fuzzy inside.

And my vendors have started canvassing their own networks to see if there is any freelance or consulting business for me in addition to in-house full-time positions.

I realize Thanksgiving isn't until next week, but this whole experience is reminding me how lucky I am to have the support system that I have.

Ignoring the Skeptics

I recently read a blog by Seth Godin called Proving the skeptics wrong and it really struck a chord with me.

Lately I have been feeling like no matter how hard I try, it isn't good enough for some of the people in my life... two in particular and one especially.  

I really let it get to me when I hear nasty things that have been fabricated about me.  I grew up in a family where we called each other out on our bullshit and sitting idly by while people blatantly make things up to manipulate other people.  Have some accountability people!

It makes me doubt my self worth and question who and what I am.  It causes me to question whether or not I am worthy of these people's approval or respect.  Ultimately, it makes me so disappointed in the actions of this person and I spend so much of my precious time dwelling on the whole mess far more than I should be and than is healthy for me.

I need to stop.  Like Seth says, "Instead of working so hard to prove the skeptics wrong, it makes a lot more sense to delight the true believers."  I need to surround myself with the people who fill my life with love and happiness.  I need to stop bending over backward for the people who couldn't care less and focus my energy on the people who appreciate the things I do.

SoulPancake: My Last Days

Many people have heard of Zach Sobiech who tragically died on May 20, 2013 just days after he turned 18.  I saw Zach's video on a Facebook post and I was really touched.  I was so touched I went to the SoulPancake YouTube Channel to watch more of the series.  Here are the incredibly inspirational young people who are featured.

Next time I am complaining about something in my life I am going to return to this post and remind myself that things could be worse.  And that there are some really wonderful people who are going through some really horrible, tough times who are incredibly positive and thankful for the time they have.  I wish these folks weren't going through these experiences, but I am so impressed by their amazing attitudes and I think SoulPancake and these wonderful individuals and families for sharing their lives with us.

Thanks, Mom!

I am blessed to have one of the greatest mothers I have met- and I know some pretty amazing moms.  My mom has always been a great role model for me. She taught me to be kind, patient, and understanding.  She taught me the importance of empathy and being mindful of how others feel.  I learned the real meaning of compassion as I watched her take impeccable care of her aging parents as they succumbed to cancer and dementia.  She taught me the importance of thinking before speaking, making good first impressions and standing up for my beliefs.  She instilled in me good values and morals and she taught me to cherish family and appreciate home-cooked meals.

Above all things, Mom taught me to love unconditionally.  Yes, Dad gets credit too.

My mom has done a wonderful job of letting me grow up over the years.  She has watched me make mistakes and helped me learn from them.  She has accepted my tattoos, piercings and major life decisions with unwavering support.

Meeting Dwight Clark in Feb '13

I have not always made great decisions (boy does it concern me to put that in writing!)  but my mom has always been there to help me out when the house of cards came crashing down or to congratulate me when everything worked out the way I hoped it would.

She has encouraged me to think for myself, prioritize my goals and chase my dreams.

I have a wonderful mother.

I also have a great cast of supporting mothers who have helped her out along the way- some she's know and some she hasn't.

To my Aunts (Lori, Annie & Kathy): Thank you for being part of my whacky family.  I know we're not perfect, but let's face it, we embrace our dysfunction and roll with it.  I am lucky to have you in my life and I appreciate the motherly advice you've given me when I have come to you instead of Mom.

To Denise VanKuiken: Big Props to you NeeCee!  You are one of the strongest moms I know and I am incredibly lucky to consider you my surrogate mother.  I think of you often and wish we lived closer so that I could spend more time with you.

To Sue Celniker: Thank you for Sam.  You raised a wonderful, handsome young man and I am forever grateful for all of your hard work and energy.  You have also shown me what it is to successfully juggle motherhood and an thriving career.  Thank you for supporting me and encouraging me as I have stumbled along my career path.

To Janie Rutman, Debbie Grant & Monica Nageotte: Thank you so much for making me feel as though I have a mom here in Southern California.  It has been a pleasure spending holidays and afternoons with you ladies these past several years and I appreciate being made to feel as though I'm part of your family.

To my mom-friends: Thank you for paving the way for me!  I enjoy seeing you with your little rascals and seeing your struggles.  You are showing me the real world of parenting and have helped me understand my own mother better.

Thank you all for helping me be the young woman I am today- I love you all! xo

In the SuperDome in New Orleans for our first Super Bowl (Feb '13)