Teamwork

In life we are on many different teams, not necessarily sports teams, or other competitive teams, but groups of people who work together with goals and achievements in mind.  I have been very fortunate to be on many great teams, and will soon be joining another awesome team.
    Today I was offered a formal job offer from Chikaming Open Lands.  While I pretty much verbally accepted this position on Monday, today I was given a formal proposal/job description on my new position as Assistant Land Protection Specialist!  I could not be more happy to have a salaried job in my field of study with benefits only 4 months after graduating.  I am also thrilled to become part of an amazing team, one that I will work with every day and push forward a mission we all are passionate about.   My co-workers, board members, and committee members have all proven to be a varied yet knowledgeable and kind team. They see the major benefits from investing in a young college graduate like me to make me a valuable asset to this team.  I truly believe that I can help this organization forward the mission and get through the transition period while achieving our over arching environmental goal of preserving and protecting open spaces.
      However, I could never have made it to this team without the help, love and support of the teams I have been apart of in the past, friends, class mates, colleagues, club members, other co-workers and especially my family.  These other numerous teams have helped push me to join this team, so I am appreciative of the other teams whom I may not be as close to but who definitely influenced me and worked with each other to achieve our goals.  I hope other members of current and past teams feel like our teamwork has accomplished as much as I do right now!
   Even the bad teams, what hasn't worked, or when you had a sour team mate or ten, teaches you something. and even though bad teams may be miserable, there is still the will to push past them and keep the end goals in mind.  
  So this day, I celebrate successful teams, because without all the people we have worked with in our lives, no one would be where they are now.
  I know i still have many teams to join, but this is a landmark in any person's life: their first salaried with benefits job!
and now that I'm all optimistic and happy.... its time to start looking for a place to live in a VERY rural area....
BLAH

A much needed long weekend at HIGGINS LAKE this weekend, I'm sooo excited to be with family and friends to celebrate this.


Here is the sock I just finished! now I need to make one to match it!

Cheese with my Whine

Wow!  I don't even remember my last post... talk about busy! So much going on, half of it I can't post on here but definitely some of life's curve balls.   Work has been crazy, lots of meetings and trying to get on track after the transition to the new Executive Director.  Sometimes I feel like my head is spinning and my brain is going to explode, for example, we had a meeting with our lawyer last Friday.  The discussions about the legal documents needed to make an easement happen are fascinating, but man was that a DENSE hour and a half!  Talking about clauses for the different easements and the purchase agreements and the difference between a Right of First Offer and a Right of First Refusal.  After this meeting, I thought my head was going to fall off from obtaining so much information.
Sometimes we have so many meetings I feel like I'm not getting much accomplished, but I know the importance of meeting with the people I'm working with via e-mail.  Its just hard to complete long documents when you are constantly in meetings obtaining new information, so I'll save those documents for quieter days.
On top of all the work with the 4 current easements and one preserve, we have had 3 people call in who saw the article in the newspaper about the new Executive Director and are interested in preserving there land!  This is great news, but things are getting a little crazy, which is also a good thing!
    My back is getting better, after several chiro appointments, and desiring a massage just about every day, I'm down to the bruise only being present when i sit with poor posture and some upper back tension that causes occasional headaches.  I'm trying to get back into Yoga to help strengthen my back into a less tense and maybe a little toned area.  I'm scared I'm not doing my positions right though... Need to save up for a class.
Speaking of saving up, my car, well my parents car that I am using for the time being, is seriously about to crap on me.  I shelled out over $300 for ONE ball bearing, I still have to save up $400 for the rear left one and however much it costs to get my brake AND rotors changed out....I'm trying to take each one a month at a time but that makes it impossible for me to save up for the Ford Fiesta I think I will buy in the spring.
  Yes this blog wasn't very mentally enthralling but like I said, work has been draining me.  Many important meetings and our benefit is coming up soon!  If anyone is interested, I would love to have some of my people supporting our efforts to protect land in this area.  Our benefit is in a barn with locally made hors d'eouvres, beer and wine.  yes local beer and wine!  Here is more information and the means to RSVP!!
http://chikamingopenlands.org/news/2011fundraiser
 We also have some very cool raffle prizes!
So that's all my selling points for this week.  When I'm feeling more inspired I'll try and get something more engaging up and a little less whinny.  I know we are all suffering in this bad economy, and the last thing people need to hear is about another struggling, poor college grad, but just know that I am being optimistic as much as I can and am also going to work on my good karma in hopes that it circles around.  Keep your chins up, something good has got to happen to soon!  Its all about the attitude!
Oh! I forgot to shout out about my Chicago trip to visit my great friend Drew!  Here is a picture of us at dinner at aja, a great restaurant!  we also went to a John Legend after party for Lolla at the Underground night club! I will be back soon for another great weekend!

Take care and look forward, not backward!

Liability

Well, these last few weeks, as many people would put it, have made me stronger.  Not only personally, but even work which is usually going great has been testing me.
Last week I was out testing the little streams that flow into Lake Michigan in Lakeside when I slipped down the Smith's wooden stairs and landed right on my butt three times... I also slammed my shoulder blade area of my back into the edge of the theirs three times, knocking the wind out of me and pretty severely bruising my tailbone and screwing up my back.  This was last Thursday.  Today is Wednesday and it is still bugging me after 2 trips to my amazing and generous chiropractor.  It was hard to walk for the first few days, sitting still was not possible and I could barely dress myself for bending over caused the worst pain.  Luckily now I can move around almost like I used to but in the morning and at night my booty still hurts and when I move my arms my upper back is even tighter than it was before...
  Tuesday Emily, from The Nature Conservancy came to conduct site visits of the property's that TNC transferred to us.  Out on the beautiful Grand Beach Marsh, I stepped on a bee hive underground and was swarmed by bees and luckily only stung by two, which today are itching and swollen.
 Luckily stings do not bug me that much, but i really feel like my threshold is being tested by something.  I normally am a fairly careful and cautious person, but I must have bad karma or something (yes I believe in karma... what goes around comes around...) so I guess some things I've done int he recent past might be catching up to me, but hopefully it doesn't result in my fabulous job thinking I'm too much of a liability...
  Last weekend at Higgins was fabulous!  It was sad that i was there for Mark Morley's service, but I'm glad i got to honor his life in a way he would appreciate, by sailing on Higgins Lake.  Going up there is so refreshing for me, I am truly grateful to have that place that has been the only consistent place in my life and added stability to my world.  No wonder I don't want to leave Michigan,  I have my own vacation resort with all the friends and family I could ever want here, why would I move away from that?  I feel like being even 4 hours away from it is too far... who wants to hire me in Petoskey or Traverse City?
New director started this week so I'm getting to know him and seeing our work dynamic.  Also made a friend who I'm getting beer with at the local brewery tomorrow!  I'm excited!!! It will be nice to have someone here and he has already proven to be a good guy (even though he graduated from MSU...) and hopefully a good friend while I am in the area.
This is a panorama I took of an easement we are working on!  I'm excited to be the official great panorama taker!  I'm working hard on this property too!
I'll keep up the writing if you keep up the reading!
take care!