Gordon Family Fundraiser! November 15 - Cold Stone Creamery

My new friend Meagan Gordon needs your help!  She needs you to eat ice cream! :)

They are having an awesome fundraiser at Cold Stone Creamery in Starkville on November 15 from 5-8 pm.  Read all about it here!

What a simple way you can help bring home their son Max from Ethiopia!

Like Manna from Heaven

On Monday, August 15, 2011, we had a division meeting at work.  For the record, it was not a good meeting, and we had an email alerting us to another meeting after the division meeting.  That meeting was also not a good one.  However, right slap in the middle of those two bad meetings, something amazing happened.

My co-coordinator got up, and to my complete bafflement, started talking about me.  She finally mentioned the adoption, and that's when I started to catch a clue.

Apparently a covert operation had been going on for two months.  The masterminds, THS and HS, remembered me talking about our "Pennies and Prayers" fundraiser for Elliott's adoption and organized a similar collection from the division.  O.M.G.  Check out that collection of containers.

 

 

I was so very overwhelmed and humbled by this show of love and support.  Boy did I cry.  Then my favorite work girls took charge and decided we would have a massive rolling effort during lunches.  Check out all my wonderful helpers!

All sorted by denomination!

After the first day rolling

How blessed am I?  VERY.  And how appreciative I am to be a testament of God's timing.  You see, the very next thing that was due was the I800A and the accompanying $720 payment (plus $170 for more fingerprints). 

Dirty penny fingers - well worth it!

One month later, the last of the rolling...nearly $100 worth of pennies alone!  

It was so heavy that the MSU Cheer Coach was called in for the carry!

And now for the grand total, which surpassed the USCIS payment...

$748.25

But my God shall supply all your need

according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 

-- Philippians 4:19


I will never be able to fully express my thankfulness to my coworkers.
 

The Lost Art of Letter Writing

This little story is a great example of just how confusing the international adoption process can be.

Our state agency requested 5 references.  We chose two of my friends (since childhood), two of Doug's friends (also since childhood), and my coworker (we spend 40 hours a week together, it gives a professional perspective, she's a good writer...).  After each of them received reference "forms" containing 5 short essay questions, we finally received one packet (of many) from the international agency.  They require 3 reference LETTERS, and one needs to be Elliott's teacher due to his age.  Cue an email frenzy between myself and RH at the state agency.  When the dust settled, we decided on the following:

• 2 references would continue with the form
• 3 references would scrap the form and do the letter in order to meet the dossier requirements
• Switched out my coworker for Elliott's teacher
• In the end, we would still be meeting the 5 references total required by the state agency

So, several weeks later, here we are with 1 form returned, and as of today 2 letters returned. One of each still to go.

Welcome to an international adoption; isn't this fun stuff?! :)

Who Wants a Piece of the Pie?

I had a realization a few weeks ago that I share info about my life in segments that I divvy out between my confidants. 

I wonder what a therapist would say about that?

Houston: Epilogue

Thanks to Holly for sending these pics from our adventures!

 Love me some Michelle!

 

 

 

 

Have I mentioned lately how truly blessed I am
to have these fabulous ladies in my life?

Houston Day 4: The Wrap Up

Monday arrived with packing and getting ready.  My overindulgence from those cupcakes the night before was so great that I couldn't even partake of the muffins Erica had bought for us.  We just hung around, enjoying the last few hours together before heading off to another Michelle diamond-in-the-rough find.  She has a knack for picking really good restaurants...that are in icky strip malls.  Yummy Texas BBQ!

Leaving our Holly was sad, but we know that it is almost time for her to come home to MS.  Have I mentioned how incredibly proud of her we are?  Moving to a new (HUGE!) city by herself, living, driving...amazing.  Holly, believe the necklace - it is your time to shine! 

And after being chased all around Houston by Presidents Day sales - mattresses, everywhere! - I was excited to see when I got home that our (crappy) tax refund had gone up a smidge more.  Just enough to shut Doug up and get a new mattress in the next month. 

When I get pictures from the others (AHEM), I'll post them in an epilogue. 

As for now, signing off on our "Everything is Bigger in Texas" super fun weekend!

Houston Day 3: Sunday, Sunday

I was awoken on Sunday morning to the sound of Michelle leaving without me to workout.  Her defense when she returned was that I could have gotten ready and come on down.  Funny, that never occurred to me.

We headed to Hungrys Cafe for brunch.  I love the idea of brunch.  It's so Sex and the City-esque.  Super yummy food and mimosas.  After going back to get ready for the day (backwards much?), we headed to Erica's other homeland - Target.  I also love Target; I mean, what's not to love?  I finally made my first non-food purchases of the trip!  After that we headed over to Central Market, which is like a Whole Foods on steroids.  And let me just say it was obvious we weren't from around there.  I wish we had a recording of our excited finds: "A whole wall of potatoes!"  "Look at all the mushroom varieties!"  "Would you look at that meat counter!"  It was such a revelation of exactly how bad our supermarket situations are around here.  Oh, and did I mention all the yummy samples? ;)

Endive...it's like a small lettuce and celery had a baby.

I'll give you 3 guesses as to what we did next....that's right, more shopping.  This time off to the Galleria, where I continued my boring purchases at Borders.  I find my purchases so funny in retrospect.  See, I have this firm philosophy about eating out in new cities.  There is no frequenting chains or anything like you can get around here.  I truly believe in going to local restaurants and enjoying new things and experiences.  Yet in shopping, I'm that girl who wants to eat at Olive Garden in Times Square (or Chipotle - jk, Erica!).  Oh well, I think after 31 years of having a non-existent clothes shopping budget it's just too much to break habit.  Moving on.

We were struggling with a dinner location when we happened to pull into the parking lot of a strip mall containing Kata Robata.  Thinking it was both sushi and hibachi, Erica voted we go on in.  I think she ultimately regretted that decision.  In reality it was a tapas-style sushi restaurant.  Much Googling of menu items later, Erica ended up with this delicious lobster mac & cheese:

 

Meanwhile, Michelle and I decided to partake of a beverage since the restaurant features a "Mixology Team" - a 5-member team?!? - and it's a good thing because Doug called being stupid about having to (for once) handle homework.  Thank you, Cucumber High, for your deliciousness in the face of ridiculousness.

This was the 2nd leg of my adventurous eating journey as this time we had carpaccio. Unfortunately all those tiny servings left us a bit unsatisfied, but it was nothing that a cupcake shop couldn't fix!

We headed back to the apartment and laughed our hineys off at Sinbad's comedy show. Is there anything better than hanging out with best friends?  Maybe hanging out with best friends, laughing, and eating cupcakes. :)

Houston Day 2: Curly Hair in a Straight-Hair World

I began Saturday completely out of character: I tagged along with Michelle to workout and then resisted the amazing Randazzo king cake in lieu of a 90-calorie granola bar. (No worries, I consumed my fair share of that wonderful cake during the rest of the weekend.)  Then we headed to Erica's homeland: Sephora.  Y-A-W-N.  But I was a good sport; no complaining here.  After what seemed like eternity, we headed to eat Mexican food for lunch.  Sorry, Meal-Finding-Wonder-Girl, but that food was no better than what I eat in Point City.  At least it was cheap!

Holly took us on a driving tour of the amazing Houston medical conglomerate.  We kept our eyes peeled for a Jen sighting (from The Little Couple), but no dice.  We also saw the rehab facility where Gabby Giffords is being treated.  So sad; hoping her road to recovery is an amazing one!

Next up, more shopping.  All I remember is that by the time we were done my legs were very tired.  When we returned to the apartment, I laid out on the floor in the corpse pose forever.  Luckily our nighttime activity, previously a surprise, was a paint-your-own-palette class at Pinot's Palette (and a birthday present to Erica and me!).  I was very nervous because I'm not known to be the most creative or crafty girl.  However, open a bottle of wine and give me step-by-step instructions, and away we go!

Getting started:

 

Type A instruction follower:

[I made sure and left my mark on the apron - right on the boob.]

First 4 done:

Check out Michelle in the background being very contemplative:

The entire class, with me not even a tiny bit visible:

My final product!

After three hours, I was all, "Feed me, Seymour!"  We headed to Little Bigs, also co-owned by Caswell.  However, let the record show that it was not me who made this suggestion.  :)  It was muy delicioso!

That night, on the comfort of the sofa bed, Holly and I indulged in a walk down memory lane with the best giggle fest I've had in a long time.  It fed my soul.

Houston Day 1: My Date with Destiny

We've been unofficially planning our trip to Houston ever since Holly went there in July.  So when I fell in "love" with Chef Bryan Caswell on The Next Iron Chef, I made my desire to eat at Reef known early on.  Now prepare yourself because you are going to have contact embarrassment from this story. 

[P.S. Erica says he looks like Doug, to which I replied, "A big Doug!" So it's ok that I'm mesmerized with him since he reminds me of Doug, right? ;)]

Anyhoo, Erica, Michelle and I flew without incident into Houston Friday evening.  After sprucing up at Holly's, Reef was our first stop on the Houston fun train.  I had been talking big talk for weeks about how I would be inquiring if the Chef was there and that his biggest fan had arrived.  In reality, I acted like a complete moron.  The restaurant has an open kitchen, so I spotted him on the way to our table.  I can't be completely sure, but I think I did a little dance while "whispering" I SEE HIM! I SEE HIM!  I'm so cool.  Then I sat staring directly into the kitchen all night.  I watched his every move.  I'm pretty sure I didn't hold up my end of that night's conversation. 

In news other than I-am-obsessed-with-Caswell, I did keep my promise to myself to try ceviche on this trip - AMAZING! 

But back to the important stuff.  At one point HE CAME OUT OF THE KITCHEN!  And he visited two big groups.  Erica, the great friend that she is, kept trying to come up with plans that involved me getting within 20 feet of him.  But I was completely freaked out with the reality of him!  I snapped these terrible pics on my phone while he was visiting said tables.  See that giant in the orange hat?  Sigh...

We are actually closer to him than these pictures indicate.  So close, and yet, so far away. 

Meanwhile, for those not losing their minds over the chef, Holly and Erica were treated to the most disgusting make-out display ever.  Seriously, those people should be ashamed! 

Houston Bound

About to head to Houston, TX, for a fun-filled girls' weekend!  Pictures to come!

The Game of Life

Once upon a time, on a cattle farm not so far away, a little girl received her very first Barbie doll: Business Barbie.

I loved Business Barbie.  I played office all the time.  In fact, when I was 8 I received an actual typewriter for Christmas.  Not some toy one purchased from Sears, an actual (manual) typewriter that my mom purchased secondhand from an office supply store.  Not a big-box store, the old fashioned kind of office supply store on Main St.  But I digress.

Unfortunately for me, Business Barbie did not come with a "check the box" career guide.  And I feel her success at her generic business job may have led me astray.  See, in old fashioned therapy you are supposed to blame everything on your parents.  So I can blame them for not buying me Doctor Barbie, or I can blame Business Barbie.  I feel blaming Business Barbie may be healthier.  And this approach ensures I don't get cut out of the will.

Anyhoo, after years of playing generic office and being told by society that making good grades would get me far in life, the cruel, harsh world declared, "It's time to pick a major for college!"  Um, what?  I'm 18 years old and you want me to decide WHAT I WANT TO BE WHEN I GROW UP?!?...What I want to do FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE?!?  I actually remember being in the Bryan Public Library and looking at some book and frantically trying to pick a career that a "smart girl" should.  Even in my memory, my fear and panic are palpable.  I don't know why they paid the guidance counselor at our college-preparatory school, but they weren't paying him to help us career plan that is for sure.  So, since my friends had chosen "smart" fields, I picked Engineering...it seemed like the thing the Salutatorian should do.  After all, they had the medical fields covered.  In a terrible succession of events, I ended up in Biological Engineering my first semester at MSU.  I just shuddered at the memory.  And having left high school with the highest average in calculus did not shield me from a bad professor and the subsequent withdrawal from college calculus.  I had failed.  The smart girl had gone to college and failed.  I hated the major, and I had no idea where to turn.

Luckily, in my second semester, I took a computer class through the Ag Ed department.  The professor told me about a brand new degree program - in case you don't realize it, that would appeal to a Type A student.  Here I am floundering around unsure of a career path, and he is telling me I could be the FIRST PERSON to enroll in this new major.  And since it was in agriculture, I knew I would have a greater chance of increased scholarships because of my dad being in the same field.  [As a side note, that strategy literally paid off to the tune of $5500 in agriculture-specific scholarships on top of my ACT scholarship money and the MTAG money.]  I met a fantastic friend in this major, Patrick, and we took most of the rest of our classes together.  In turn, I ended up getting him a student job on campus.  Like all my friends, he figured out what he wanted to do and is very successful today.  I miss him terribly.

For awhile there I (at least thought) knew what I wanted to do.  I was working on a minor in public relations and wanted to work a PR job in the agricultural field.  But instead of seeking an applicable internship, I made a game changing move: I stayed at MSU and did my internship.  You know that fork in the road?  That was it for me.  I even realized it then.

I was already working in hell by this time and was quite successful as as student worker.  Right around the time I graduated with my bachelor's degree, a full-time professional job came open there.  And since I had no idea how to parlay my 3.97 GPA into a job I wanted, I took the job I was offered.  I turned down a graduate assistantship in another department because the full-time salary was security.  And what I wanted most was to have a baby.  So I stayed.  Smack!  Second fork in the road.

So next it was expected that I would work on my master's degree.  The thing was, I was even more unsure about which field to pursue a master's in...that is, anymore.  I had previously dreamed, and it may have been just a pie-in-the-sky dream, to go to the University of FL and get a master's degree in Ag Communication.  That would have carried right along with my agriculture PR job dream.  But I got pressure from Doug and his family to stay.  And I wasn't brave enough to go.

So I stayed.  And I will never forget the day my best friend signed her first offer letter.  She literally was going to make 3x what I was making, to the penny.  And I knew I had chosen the wrong card from the deck.

So I picked a master's in educational technology, and I hated and resented nearly every minute of it.  What I wanted was to have a baby and that couldn't happen.  I wanted to know exactly what I wanted to do like my friends did, but I was clueless.  At least the degree was paid for.  It took me three years to complete it, and it was like pulling teeth the entire time.  When I was done, I got the standard $1000/year raise.  And all I could think was that was in no way compensation for three years of my life.

For a short while I had a little spark of passion in me to work in the educational technology field.  I considered a couple of options in theory, one being in distance education.  But sometime around the end of my degree, my supervisor announced plans to retire...

What I didn't mention earlier was that I had been approached at work about being groomed to take over for that individual a year or two earlier.  But when it came time, I completely panicked.  There were things she did that she had never shared with me, and suddenly all I could think is, "This is not what I want to do.  And now it's too late."  Keep in mind I was only in my mid-20s, and yet I felt like I had passed the point of no return.  We ended up coming to an agreement to split the position, and I took the half I wanted.  Trip!  The third fork.  Suddenly I was making $11,000 more.  And yet compared to someone living in Jackson and working in private industry, this amount was pretty much a starting salary.

The new position sped up my unhappiness.  But soon our personal happiness would come.  What I didn't count on was hating my job even more once Elliott came along.  Leaving him was hard enough, but leaving him to go to a job I now hated?  Wow, talk about causing you to rethink your priorities in life.  I had been job searching on campus for quite awhile, but it was hard to find jobs that my degrees and skill sets lined up with on paper.  I knew that my skills were analogous and marketable, but I couldn't find jobs that matched up.

The thing I loved about my job was dealing with our partners all over the southern region and the nation.  Every year during my evaluation I would declare that the "customer service" part of my job was what I relished.  And I was stinking good at it.  But dang, what am I?  A glorified call center operator with two degrees?

In 2007 a former co-worker and friend contacted me to come to Jackson and interview with a big name PR agency there.  He said I got the call because the primary client was an ag client.  HOLD THE PHONES.  Five years later, here was proof that my 22-year-old self knew what I wanted.  Validation!  But my 27-year-old self wasn't convinced that I could go back, and once again I wasn't brave enough to relocate.  For just a little while, I let myself believe I could do it.  In the end, I really believed that the 2007 Emily just didn't fit into that round hole.  I had become a square peg somewhere along the way.

That opportunity did not prove to be fruitless, though.  Not long after, I found the listing for my current job.  I made the interview list out of nearly 30 applicants.  When they called me for the interview, I went and bought a new suit.  I intended to do this interview 100%.  Balls out.  And I had never considered myself a good interviewee.  But this time, I walked in there with a new confidence.  Being offered a job at that level in Jackson, I suddenly had a little sparkle back.  Watch out, MSU, I can leave if I want to.  I can do this job.  And they have since told me that I knocked their socks off that Friday morning at 8 am.  And suddenly, I was working in distance education, validation that my master's degree was not for naught.  And that "customer service" stuff I had been so good at in my former job?  Now I am working with students all over the country and the world.  So those years in hell weren't all negative.

You know what it cost me, though?  It cost me a $7000 pay cut to make that move.  Just today someone used me as an example of how being brave enough to take the loss meant all the difference in the world to my mental and emotional stability.  And it is so true.  But I still struggle with the perception that I am not successful.  I struggle because I didn't check the box for a clearly-defined career.  I struggle because academia doesn't pay well.  I struggle that my title is Coordinator, and that I still live in WP and work at MSU.  And I struggle in the shadows of my friends.

Next up, I draw the black-balled card...

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 10

Oopsies, I mixed up days 9 & 10!  Whatevs!

Day 10: A picture of your friends 

It saddens me that this is the only pic on this computer that I could find of my three BFFs. 

I apologize for the uninspired commentary and lameness of this post.

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 8

Day 8: A place you've traveled to

Yes, I realize it says "A" place you've traveled to.  But I'm going to mention more than one.  It's my blog, dang it! ;)

I don't consider myself that well-traveled, but when I stop and make a list I'm actually doing pretty well.  As a child, as I've mentioned numerous times, we went to PCB, FL every year for vacation.  In addition to that, I visited my aunt in Austin when I was a mere 2, and I visited Virginia with my grandmother and cousins when I was in the 4th grade.  That was probably the extent of my traveling until I went to Mexico for spring break senior year.  We love to tell those stories!  When Doug and I got married, we honeymooned in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  Then two years later I started traveling with my job.  For a long time I kept a list:

• Orlando x2
• Charleston (Hollar, Holly!) x2
• Nashville x2
• Omaha
• Atlanta x too many to count
• New Orleans x3
• Little Rock
• San Antonio x2
• Biloxi x2
• Dallas
• Tampa
• Memphis
• West Monroe, LA*
• Baltimore
• Logan, UT
• Chicago 
• Lexington

My favorite place we went was Logan, UT, which is near Salt Lake City.  It was so different from here, and I was with a really fun group that trip.

Of course, then we made the most important trip of our life in May 2006 to Guatemala City.  That was right after my West Monroe trip, so that makes WM seem better in hindsight.  What a trip.  Story still to come about that part of the adoption journey.

In December 2006, I went to NYC for the first time.  I do so love it.  My first two trips there (out of three) were amazing.  It's a dead tie on which was better.

Hey, where did this elephant come from?

Chair Apparent

My mom and dad gave Elliott a teeny-tiny recliner for his 3rd birthday (2008).

Boy has it been a hit...

 

 

 

 

Seriously, everyone loves this chair.

50 pound weight limit my booty! ;)

The "You Are Awesome" Awards

Holly - Passed her national dermatology boards!

Michelle - Helping to clean up the Gulf Coast of oil!

Erica - Survived taking her baby to big school!

There are many, many reasons why these ladies are awesome!

This is simply this week. :)