Congratulations to Autumn and James! May you continue to grow together and enjoy sharing your lives with one another!
We got to go to New Jersey for our friends' wedding a couple of weekends ago and it was wonderful. The ceremony was beautiful, the reception was a blast, and I had an amazing time. I more thoroughly appreciate all of the effort that goes into a wedding, especially when I see friends going through a lot of the same struggles I went through. It is a great feeling to see it all come together.
In addition to celebrating, we spent time in Pennsylvania visiting family and family friends. I immensely enjoyed hearing Mom Mom's stories and I loved relaxing (and often eating) with Cheryl and Jabbour (thank you again!). Although I felt like all I did was eat over the course of the week, that made it feel more like home. I was very excited that I got to truly meet family friends when we visited. The first time we met, I had a horrible migraine, which meant I got to say 'hi' and 'goodnight.' We really are connected to some great people. And I was extremely excited to enter the wonderful Josh Early candy store, scratch that, candy paradise. Yum yum!
19 October 2010
Coming to term with high expectations
I am part of Toastmasters, the group that helps people practice public speaking. I also became the secretary (with strong encouragement). Given an officer's position in the club and given how involved everyone seemed to be when I first joined, I had extremely high expectations. I assumed most everyone was always invested in the club, always striving to be better and help all members achieve their goals.
Today I discovered people have competing priorities, and a volunteer/club usually comes out being a lower priority. The officers of the club met today to discuss various club business (upcoming events, meeting certain goals, etc.). One of the topics of conversation was the increasingly lax participation by various members. People have been canceling at the last minute when scheduled to give a speech or failing to show up at all. It has been becoming frustrating to see. When myself and another member brought this up, the long-standing officers commented the participation rate ebbs and flows - in other words, that's the way it is.
I am still trying to come to terms with that. It's not so much about the club itself because I understand this is voluntary; it's about the fact that everyone around the table is settling. That's the way it is, so why attempt to change it. That's the way it's always been, so why try to make it better.
The reason I'm becoming frustrated is because that's what I see all the time at work. People have stopped making suggestions for improvements, they have become silent workers because they have been shot down so many times. What's the point in getting shot down again? Why try when they know the answer going into it? I'm most frustrated because I see myself heading down that path, and it scares me. I don't want to settle. I want to like what I do, and I don't know if I do anymore. I realize I've only been working there for over three years and I keep hearing that I should be happy I have a job, and I am happy I'm receiving a paycheck. I'm not happy that I'm letting myself be dragged down because I'm no longer passionate about what I'm doing. I continuously see the majority of people in my work environment thinking the work I'm doing really isn't that important. If they don't see value in it, why should I continue to do it?
I really miss being challenged. I miss being excited about the project I'm working on. I rarely have projects anymore. I work on budgets. I work on software. I lack an overall direction.
So what am I doing about it? I'm going to talk to my boss about it. She might not be able to help, but at least she'll listen and maybe be able to throw an exciting project my way. In the meantime, I'm going to try to stay sane and not lose my mind to boredom.
Today I discovered people have competing priorities, and a volunteer/club usually comes out being a lower priority. The officers of the club met today to discuss various club business (upcoming events, meeting certain goals, etc.). One of the topics of conversation was the increasingly lax participation by various members. People have been canceling at the last minute when scheduled to give a speech or failing to show up at all. It has been becoming frustrating to see. When myself and another member brought this up, the long-standing officers commented the participation rate ebbs and flows - in other words, that's the way it is.
I am still trying to come to terms with that. It's not so much about the club itself because I understand this is voluntary; it's about the fact that everyone around the table is settling. That's the way it is, so why attempt to change it. That's the way it's always been, so why try to make it better.
The reason I'm becoming frustrated is because that's what I see all the time at work. People have stopped making suggestions for improvements, they have become silent workers because they have been shot down so many times. What's the point in getting shot down again? Why try when they know the answer going into it? I'm most frustrated because I see myself heading down that path, and it scares me. I don't want to settle. I want to like what I do, and I don't know if I do anymore. I realize I've only been working there for over three years and I keep hearing that I should be happy I have a job, and I am happy I'm receiving a paycheck. I'm not happy that I'm letting myself be dragged down because I'm no longer passionate about what I'm doing. I continuously see the majority of people in my work environment thinking the work I'm doing really isn't that important. If they don't see value in it, why should I continue to do it?
I really miss being challenged. I miss being excited about the project I'm working on. I rarely have projects anymore. I work on budgets. I work on software. I lack an overall direction.
So what am I doing about it? I'm going to talk to my boss about it. She might not be able to help, but at least she'll listen and maybe be able to throw an exciting project my way. In the meantime, I'm going to try to stay sane and not lose my mind to boredom.
06 October 2010
The Gift of Flight
For our wedding, Chris's parents gave Chris and I the gift of flight...for one hour. It's not like a video game power-up - it was a gift certificate for a one-hour helicopter ride with Minnesota Helicopters. I just about died with happiness when we opened it.
For those who are unaware, I toyed around with the idea of becoming a helicopter pilot. I have never taken any lessons because of the cost, but I thought about joining the military to pay for flight school.
Chris and I cashed in the certificate last Saturday on a gloriously clear afternoon. We chose to start shortly before dusk (we wanted to blind the pilot for at least part of the trip). I was lucky enough to get the front seat :) We circled downtown Minneapolis, flew over our house, around downtown St. Paul, and finally followed the St. Croix. It was unbelievably incredible, especially seeing how large the mansions on Summit look even from 800 feet up and how flooded the river still it.
Chris brought up his camera for some fun shots, although I will only be posting one today:
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