On Doing Nothing...

"You're always so busy!"

"If you keep busy, time will fly by!"

"It's so great that you're able to stay busy while Mike's gone."

Busy, busy, busy. 

My (and others') philosophy for the last three months has been "Keep busy and this will all be over soon." But you know what? Six months is six months. Whether you fill every second with activities or if you sit and stare at the wall each weekend. It's always six months. I'm a scientist. I understand this concept in my head, but my heart tried to believe something else. And in this process, I wore myself out.

• Starting Crossfit
• Running a 10K
• Volunteering for a fashion show, a science festival, a robotics competition
• Hosting a brunch
• Hosting a girls' night
• Planning a girls' weekend
• Biking 30 miles
• Biking 50 miles
• Working a garage sale fundraiser
• Taking an online class
• Taking a classroom class
• Review this
• Attend that
• Work on those

It's all been SO fun, but I'm pooped! Over the past week, I've come to the conclusion that I do want to just spend some time by myself working on my stuff. Fun stuff. I was going to try to make fewer commitments so I could focus on myself. (Right after I e-mail Ellie to see if she wants to go to this health festival with me on Sunday....DOH!) 

This morning I volunteered for the Girls Inc. "Girls Rock It into the Future" science festival. After enjoying my free pizza today, I walked to my car and suddenly I was scared. The free time I'd been longing for all week suddenly stared me in the face. My mind raced: "I should go shopping." "No, I need to get things done at home." "No I should relax and watch shows on Netflix." "No, I'll just feel like I'm wasting my time!" Fortunately, I hit the ground running when I got home. Staple the screen on the patio so Pants can go outside? Check. Sweep the patio so it doesn't look like it's been abandoned for a decade? Check. Sweep? Empty the dishwasher? Make a juice? Check. Check. Check! I was feeling pretty good about my afternoon "off!" I'm sure the anxiety that stems from Wichita State playing in the Final Four fueled my cleaning extravaganza, but it's so nice to be able to enjoy a clean home!

Since I'm naturally drawn to new experiences, it's going to take practice not signing up for every event, class and opportunity that crosses my path. I do have some fun things planned over the coming months,  and I know more fun things will pop up, but hopefully I can save some time for myself...so I can just "do nothing." :)

Hello, 2013! (Part I)

[Insert joke about how long it's been since I've posted.]

[Insert sincere apology for my absence and heartfelt promise to write more.]

It's 2013! Time for a fresh start! It's certainly a time for big changes here at the Holtz household! Here's a run down of the last 3 months (over this two part series). Hang on to your hat, it's been a wild ride!

December
I told you I traded in the Runner, but we also traded in Mike's truck for a 2013 Prius 4, straight off the boat from Japan!

The Prius!!

It sort of looks like a spaceship inside and I think it can fly, I just haven't found the button yet....

It's been a really great car and it's already very clear we're saving a lot on gas! It's our only car, but there were only a couple weeks where we had to share it before Mike left for training in New Jersey, but we'll get to that later...

So our first road trip with the Prius was to Louisiana for Christmas! It did really well and we enjoyed having Sirius radio and Pandora on the way! In Louisiana, we got to spend time with Mike's mom and sister as well as our nephew and niece, Landyn and CJ.

Now kids, Uncle Mike is not a jungle gym!

While we were there, a line of storms rolled through Christmas day. To be safe, we brought Mike's mom to our hotel room where we all hung out, took naps and watched TV. When the storms got there, we went outside to watch (of course). Nothing terrible where we were, but I do believe there were some tornadoes further east that day.

Took a picture of this classic SLC (scary-looking cloud) from our hotel parking lot.

After a few days in Louisiana, we drove back home, did some laundry, pet the cat and then boarded a plane to Wichita early the next morning. While in Wichita, we caught up with friends and relatives and in between socializing, we worked on a puzzle that Mike and I got my dad for Christmas.

I think these two were more in to the puzzle than I was, but we all worked on it!

For New Year's Eve, we had some friends over. Sadly, due to widespread illness, our party was a bit smaller than we'd planned for, but it was still and enjoyable evening with Ryan Seacrest, Apples to Apples and some bubbly!

Steve shows off his winnings from Apples to Apples. 

January
On Saturday, January 5th, Mike left for Fort Dix in New Jersey where he would attend a month-long Army training course before his deployment to Afghanistan. I dropped him off at the airport with a tearful goodbye and hopes that it would work out for me to go visit him on the East Coast before he left.

The next day, Sunday, I was the volunteer coordinator for the American Meteorological Society's Weatherfest, associated with their annual meeting in Austin. I was worried that we wouldn't have enough help, but everything went very smoothly and I had a great time. I got to meet several new weather friends as well as meet up with old friends! I also handed off my work computer to a now-former co-worker. My employer had run out of grant money to pay for my position, so they had to let me go. I knew it was time to move on, but I certainly enjoyed my two years working from home. So....

On Monday I started my brand new job with Rackspace, the Open Cloud Company! I've known about Rackspace ever since we found out we were moving to San Antonio. If you Google "Best places to work, San Antonio" Rackspace is one of the first companies you'll see! I was so excited to get hired on as a Content Strategist. Basically, I'm a technical writer as well as an admin for a Knowledge Management System. It seems like a strange jump, but I was doing a lot of technical writing with the National Weather Service, so this is a very natural move for me.

So Rackspace is known for it's company culture, much like Google. There are vendors or food trucks for breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon-Fri. You do have to purchase your own food (we're not that much like Google), but you can choose from things like Freebirds and Rudy's as well as other local restaurants that bring in food! Also, when other Rackers (Rackspace employees) ask where my desk is, I tell them I'm near the slide. Yes, that's right, the slide.

They're also really big on t-shirts. I'm averaging about 1 t-shirt per week!

My first Rackspace t-shirt!

So Rackspace is more than just food trucks, t-shirts and slides. As you can see from their Core Values, they're a great company both for customers and employees. I have a one-on-one meeting with my supervisor every week and I'm on the cycling team and the running team. I'm even looking into joining RaxFit (free CrossFit for Rackers!).

Stay tuned for Part II....

The 2012 Military Spouse Career Summit

The day after the Texas Conference for Women, I hopped on a plane bound for Washington, DC. I was headed to the National Military Spouse Network's Military Spouse Career Summit. I was very excited to meet with other military spouses who were interested in staying in the workforce despite PCSes and deployments. I was eager to here what the speakers had to share with us. Big thanks to Alaina Fitzner at Dwelling Moments Photography for sharing her beautiful professional photos with the attendees!

Shortly after I got in to DC, I attended the networking event that kicked off the Summit. I met some other military spouses and it was great to hear what others were doing. There was also a panel of spouses who shared their stories, which was very inspiring.

A Social Media Manager, Attorney, and retired Colonel.

The keynote speaker was Craig Newmark of Craigslist. It was interesting to hear how Craigslist got started. He basically started out emailing his friends a list of events around the San Francisco area. As it turns out, Craig does a lot of philanthropy work and there's a special place in his heart for military families. We were grateful for his support and making himself available to us.

Craig Newmark tells us what he's doing for military families and asks for our help.

After Craig's talk, we split up to go to our chosen breakout sessions. I attended "Goal Setting with the Military Spouse Coach" which was led by Krista Wells, the Military Spouse Coach. She gave some great goal-setting tips. My favorite was "write down your goal every day." Writing down the same goal each day keeps it at the front of your mind, helping you make decisions and take actions to help you reach your goal!

Krista Wells, the Military Spouse Coach, gives tips on goal setting.

Our lunch keynote speaker was Dr. Janet Breslin-Smith. She talked about how she was a professor at the National War College when she met her husband and how they dealt with PCSes throughout their marriage. One message that resonated with me is that we, as humans, have longer lives and we have more time to do what we want. Also, we don't have to do it all perfectly all the time. :)

Dr. Breslin-Smith talks about her experience as a college professor and a military spouse.

The Summit was very tech-friendly and I took lots of pictures and tweeted a lot throughout the day.

Alaina caught me snapping a pic!

It was a really great group and I made some awesome contacts while I was there. I can't wait to get more involved with this group of spouses and attend future conferences!

Attendees and speakers of the 2012 Military Spouse Career Summit.

I think I'll go to Boston...

So life changing things have happened over the past few months. I haven't written about it for several reasons, none of which include "I was busy" because I just wasn't.

Over the summer, Mike found out he will be deployed for six months starting in early 2013. We've done this once before, five years ago when we were living in Oklahoma and had been dating less than a year. It was hard, but ultimately showed each of us that we were ready to commit to one another. We know the routine: I can get a pass to see him off at the gate at the airport (as well as greet him at the gate when he returns), large flat rate boxes from the post office are $2 less for APO/FPO addresses, and he's got a code for free 15 min phone calls.

Another interesting bit of information we got over the summer was that the pool of funds to pay for my employment have dried up and, to make a long, complicated story short, my contract will be ending shortly after Mike deploys.


Many of you know that we'll be moving to Boston next year. Mike was offered a job at Hascom AFB. This is a really great opportunity for him so he accepted and his "Report No Later Than" date is next October. So obviously that is very far away, but Mike and I are planners who thrive on change so we immediately started researching neighborhoods, walk scores, grocery stores, public transportation, etc.

So with all this new information, we've been strategizing the best way to move to Boston. I've been looking at jobs, but it's just too early to start applying. The Air Force won't move us to Boston without orders which will come in June of 2013 at the earliest. We'd like to get the house on the market soon while Mike's here to fix odds and ends and just in case it sits unsold for months. However, we put in an offer for this house before a sign went up in the yard, so I'm thinking it'll go pretty quickly!

Last week we took a quick trip to Boston to visit friends and check out the city as neither of us had been there.

Mike's friend Jen and her hubby, Mike, were our hosts for the weekend. We attended their wedding in Albuquerque last April. They live in a cute little apartment in the Fenway area and yes, it's right next to Fenway where the Red Sox play!

On Saturday, Jen drove us around a few different neighborhoods to get a feel for each one. I knew there were a lot of universities in Boston, but the sheer number of students is mind boggling. It's like living in one huge, urban college town!

On Sunday, we took a Duck Tour around the city. We had a funny driver named "Airtime" (he was a motorcycle stuntman, too, I guess). It was a great way to see the city and learn a bit of history.

Jen, Mike and Mike waiting to board the Duck!

These folks were dressed up as Revolutionary War soldiers and
I believe they would tell people about Boston history

I got to drive the Duck on the water!

On Monday, Mike and I had planned to go on a long run, but we opted to walk around some of the neighborhoods near Jen and Mike's place. We learned an awful lot about the area just be wandering around for three hours!

It was a quick trip, but now we can at least say we've been there and explored the city a bit! I do feel more confident when looking for a place to live, now!

These Happy Days are Yours and Mine: Reconnecting with my passion

Back in June I found out that the Lackland Performing Arts Group (on Lackland AFB, where Mike is stationed) was going to be holding auditions for "Happy Days: A New Musical." I had been meaning to attend meetings for the group for about 6 months, but just hadn't done it. A brush with being on stage in April reminded me how much I enjoyed performing so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get back in the game.

I reminded myself that this was just a hobby and if I got a chorus part that would be fantastic and if they didn't choose me for any part I would just be happy that I tried. I dutifully prepared my selection, "If I Were a Bell" from Guys and Dolls, a song I had performed on stage as Sarah some 10 years before. I downloaded the instrumental music and recorded myself singing on my iPhone camera (wow, technology has come a long way since I did this stuff!).

When I arrived for the audition, I saw several copied scripts. Women's roles included "Pinky" (Fonzie's girl), "Joanie", "Lori Beth" (Richie's girl), "Marion" or a Pinkette (Pinky's posse). I chose to read for "Lori Beth" and "Marion" (hey, I'm not in high school anymore and there will probably be a long of young 'uns doing this!). I didn't feel like a "Pinky" and "Joanie" felt like too big of a role at this point.

I stepped into the audition and gave them my CD. I began singing and all three directors started writing vigorously. They stopped my music after the first verse. They asked who I'd like to read for and when I told them they said "Go grab the script for Pinky, look it over and come back in." In the end, I was selected to play the part of Pinky!

Over the next 3 months I diligently attended rehearsals (with a 3-week break during my trip to Oklahoma). I was always excited to go to rehearsals and when I was there time went fast. I came home energized and chatty. I was full of stories of who did what that was funny and what song we worked on that night. It was great to be back.

A couple weeks before the first performance things got real. We had costumes and we were working with complete sets and props. This was going to be great!

Act I, Scene 4 at Arnold's

Pinky, Fonzie, Chachi, and Joanie

The performances were great. Nothing went terribly wrong in any of the 4 shows. We had great crowds that were very supportive.

The Pink is in Town!

"What I Dreamed Last Night" with Joanie and Marion

Elvis and James Dean remind The Fonz to keep his collar turned up

Final Bows!

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to participate in this production. I'm also blessed that over 20 people came to see me play Pinky.

Dad and me

Mom and me

Terry and me

Mike even came to 3 of the 4 performances!

Wah wah wah!

And, of course, after the last performance we had a rockin' cast party! Our pianist, Miss Gina, had us over to her beautiful house for some yummy food and karaoke!

LeVon and Ben

Becky

Fosco and Eric singing "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"

Laura and Kendra watch from the sidelines!