Olympus High School Class of 2000 Alumni Website

I’m not what you would call a “yes” person. I really like being at home and doing my thing, so I lean towards saying “no” to going out and getting involved in extra stuff and doing things that I probably ought to be doing. I’m kind of adventurous, but really I just like to stick to the stuff I know. And, unlike many of my friends, I have no problem using the phrases “Sorry, but I’m swamped and can’t help” or “Not this time, but try me again later.”

But I’m definitely having a “yes” kind of month.

It all started with my new year’s resolutions and wanting to change up my life a bit. Although I’m a pretty happy camper in my little situation, I felt like I was starting to mentally (and physically) atrophy a bit from just sitting around the house doing my thing. So, I decided 2010 was a good year to take on some new challenges. I decided to run a half-marathon, get more involved in the community, and pick up some extra freelance work instead of spending so much time searching for a 9-5 job. It was time to break out of my rut and push myself into new situtations

Fast forward five weeks:

My quest for new situations has been successful…maybe even a little too successful. I went to that blogging conference and joined the ranks of people who treat blogging like a job and, as a result, the Disney Wedding Blog has exploded. I have seven times the traffic that I did a month ago and therefore I have seven times the emails to answer, spotlights to run, and posts to plan out. I’m also getting contacted right and left by vendors who want to talk to me about giveaways and additional programs, which is great for the site but a little overwhelming for the Carly. I even have a couple of different multimedia projects going on that will make the blog even bigger. It’s great, but it’s all happened really fast and I haven’t quite caught my balance yet…

I also opened the door to some freelance work and got hit with so much stuff all at once that it looks like I’ll be making more in the next six months than I made last year working my 9-5. This is completely amazing, but I haven’t quite gotten used to the idea of being my own boss and setting schedules and doing all the things I’m going to have to do to make this work. I think I’ve got it under control, but my desk just looks like a giant haystack of post-it notes right now…

Finally, a big “yes” went from “yes, I’ll fly out to help you with some costumes” to “yes, now that I’m here I can do these as well” to “yes, I can act as a consultant for the whole show” to “yes, I’ll fly back out, handle the costumes for a cast of 94, and stay until opening night.” So, even though I got back to Utah yesterday, I’m headed back to California in the next couple of days and I’ll be elbows deep in Beauty and the Beast until the end of the month. It completely sucks that I’ll be away from Kyle for so long, but I think I’ll have a pretty good time while I’m out there and I’ll be able to see my family more than I usually do.

All of these “yes” moments have led to good things, but now I’m in a place where I wake up and spend my day trying to wrap my brain around a million radically different projects. I’m out of my comfort zone (to say the least!) and I haven’t been bored in a really, really long time. I just hope I’m not taking on too many things at once…

Oh, and check back tomorrow for a “yes” that you don’t want to miss!

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Just Say Yes

The new year has brought us a lot of good changes. We’re both eating better, working out, and we seem to be getting more done these days. The long haul of law school and taking the bar and wedding planning and moving out here really took it’s toll on us for a while there and I don’t think either of us realized it until we started waking up every morning without something to panic about.

Next month will make six months of living here in Utah and we’re just now starting to really settle in to the idea that we live here. Kyle loves his job, which makes life a lot easier for me, and living with my family has been really nice (if a bit unconventional). Being relaxed and content like this means that we’ve also been spending more quality time together and also getting back into things that we liked to do on our own, before we started dating. It’s really, really nice.

Of course, the job hunt looms over me, but in the last month or two I started to do some odd bits of writing and freelance work just to make ends meet. I love to do that kind of stuff, but usually I feel like writing and photography and spending time online is self-indulgent and I could be putting my time to better use. Of course, I now have a lot more time on my hands these days, so I finally gave in and started “wasting” a couple of hours a day just being creative. When opportunities came to do a little bit of creative work, I took them, but didn’t really take them seriously. I mean, nobody really does this writing and social media stuff for a living.

Well, weird stuff started happening. For one, I started bringing in income again, which was a pretty nice feeling. Two, I started rushing through chores and errands because I wanted to maximize the time I let myself sit down and write. I made bargains with myself, like “Ok, if you do an hour of treadmill, you can do two hours on the computer” and “if you get dinner on the stove by five, you have a half hour to do social media while it’s simmering”. And every time someone offered to pay me, I just sort of laughed because why would someone pay me to do this thing I have to actively stop myself from doing most of the time?

But I’m an attorney and a mediator. I have two degrees and a mountain of student loan debt that I took on in order to get them. I’m not a writer. I’m not an author. I’m not an expert on anything. Those jobs are reserved for amazingly talented and creative people who live in lofts full of exposed brick and natural lighting. They go to conferences and people wait in line for hours to shake their hands. It’s like they’re on a different planet.

So I kept writing and being grateful that anyone was willing to give me anything, until Kyle finally asked me why I was still spending so much time looking for jobs and posting resumes. He figured that since writing was making me so happy, I should just put all of my energy into it. I pointed out that I’m pretty much nobody and everyone that says out loud “I want to be a writer” is suffering from delusions of grandeur. And then Kyle asked me, “What would you do if this was your business? If writing was your job and someone was willing to pay you to sit in this room every day and write?”

I thought about it and said, “Well, I would treat it like I used to treat my last job. I’d make notes and have a detailed calendar and I’d break up my day into different parts so that I knew when to be creative and when to answer phone calls and email. I’d get presentation paper and brainstorm all of my ideas in different colors and then I would hang those papers up on the wall to help me focus on my goals and objectives. And I would get up every morning to make sure that I wasn’t late to work and I would work until four or five, even if I felt like stopping, because there would always be just a little bit more that I could do.”

His response? Yesterday, Kyle went out and got spent $70 on a calendar, post-it presentation paper, and a big pack of Mr. Sketch scented markers because he knows how much I love them. I protested the cost and the ridiculousness of me putting any more time into all of this, but he looked me in the eye and said, “This is what you’re supposed to do. That’s why it makes you so happy. So make it your job and we’ll make it work somehow. And if you want to do something else later, it will be your choice and not something you had to do because it was practical and correct. We’ll cross that road when we get there.”

His confidence in me makes me lightheaded. I just wish I could pull some of it out of him and swallow it so I had a little myself…

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Behind Every Great Woman

yes, 2010 I have been waiting for you!

So glad you made it!

I’m not going to lie, 2009 was a hard, hard year. Like my friend Jess I am glad 2009 is over. I can look forward to a new year, and only go up from here. I know I haven’t been updating my blog and that is why, i’ve written dozens of posts, but just haven’t been feeling it. I read others and am always inspired, but never feel like I have much to offer, like I said, I just haven’t been feeling it. And that is ok! I plan to be better, that’s all I can do! Be better, at alot of things! So here’s to 2010, and to being well, better, at alot of things…right? Here are a few things that are helping me with my resolution of being better. (for lack of better words, pun intended family, that’s a greg andrew for ya, ha ha!)

“The Best is yet to Be…”

Already in 2010 I’ve been inspired, here’s why . I found this great blog post here, (thanks Erica!) and it definitely caught my eye. You need to read the article, it is just amazing. So perfect. So what I needed to help my new year start. It’s going to be an amazing year and I am excited for it! Even since I have started writing this post (2 days ago) my new found inspiration has been put to the test. I imagined my new year to start perfectly without any bumps, i’ve been quickly reminded this is not how it works, and that is okay!As it says in the article, “Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the “high priest of good things to come” I know, amazing isn’t it! Well I am putting it to the test! Faith without works is dead, right? Well, I am going to be try, and be better, and unlike Lot’s wife, I’m so not looking back! I know I won’t be perfect, and I’ll need to be reminded regularly, but if there’s a will there’s a way.

To finish off I’ve found my motto, I would love this below (found here) to hang in my office and remind me everyday!

Join me in the crusade! Ha Ha
Thanks for letting me preach for a minute
Hopefully being better applies to my blog too! Stay tuned!

Hope you are all having a great New 2010!

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Ahhhhhh…. I've been waiting for you!

There’s a definite aura of cynicism that surrounds new year’s resolutions. Making new year’s resolutions has become synonymous with buying lottery tickets…it’s not like it doesn’t pay off for some people, but most of us just end up kicking ourselves for being so foolish.

I’m going to go out on a limb this year and make some resolutions, however. I’m going out on a very public limb, in fact, by posting them here and asking to be held accountable. Even sillier, I actually believe that I’ll be able to accomplish these things before ’11…and I’m not ashamed to admit it! This is a year of great things for me…

My list is short, but ambitious:

1. Run a half-marathon or finish a run equivalent to race length.
2. Shake my book loose from the bonds of nitpicky self-editing and let it be published.
3. End 2010 completely free of credit card debt.

As I mentioned, it’s a short list. Just a few things that I’d like to accomplish. One for my health, one for my mind, and one for my finances. If you’re wondering where the one for my husband is, they’re actually all for my husband. I could add “become a better wife”, but that would just mean taking confident steps towards improving myself so I can be a stronger supporter of Team Kyle.

In truth, there are lots of things that I want from this year that didn’t end up on this list. I’m looking for change these days (as some of you may have noticed if you’re visiting my blog vs. reading my blogfeed). Surprisingly, this time I’m not looking for change because my life needs saving or fixing. In fact, I can honestly say that I’m happier and more relaxed than I’ve been in a long time…maybe ever? Instead, I’m looking for change that will keep pushing me on this happy path…events to entrench me in a healthy relationship with everyone (including myself).

I’m excited. It’s going to be a good year.

Read more here:
The First Post of 2010

Wow it has really been months since I have updated this blog, to tell you the truth I “quit” blogging. Well I guess I am back! There has been so much going on I haven’t really had the time to write it all down.

Where do we start?

How about with her….

Olivia the love of my life! She is so beautiful and so amazing! She brings us so much joy! She is now 8 1/2 months old! I can’t even believe it has been that long since she was born! She is so big and strong, Matt is convinced she will be walking in 2 months haha we will see. She is so close to crawling and just wants to pull herself up to stand on everything! She is a little wild child, she has such a good personality. When she is happy boy is she happy but when she is mad stand back cause she will take the roof off with her cry! She makes me laugh so much, tonight we were sitting in the bathroom while Khami was brushing her teeth. Livi was giggling, I thought she was laughing at me singing Christmas songs but no she was laughing at Khami brushing her teeth and spitting in the sink. So then Khami brushes and spits more to get her to laugh more, Olivia is now bent over giggling so hard! She loves Khami so much, whenever she gets home from Chris’s house on Sundays she is SOOO excited to see her Kam!!

So as for Khami–Yes she lives with us! How long? Well we don’t know right now, we are just trying to do what is best for Khami at this point. We will see what the new year holds for us!

Matt is still working out in Ogden with MWH, long drive he enjoys his job out there.

Me-I have been really busy with the girls, the house, the Matt and the Geekyness. I am creating a lot of things right now and really enjoying it! I love that my Mom has her own vinyl business now, makes it really nice for the Geek. My family is also submitting a tree for Festival of the trees in honor of Kobe. Everyone should go to Festival of the trees, all the proceeds go to Primary Children’s Medical center.

Well I think that is it for now!

Here she is

our other little stinker

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How did this happen?