Nike Fuel Band @SXSW

Life is a sport. Make it count!
I almost never blog about work maybe because it is not anywhere near as interesting or important as the daily happenings with my kids and our adventures. But this week it is blog worthy. I went to Austin for the 2nd time for SXSW the largest digital, music and film conference in the world. Nike showed up BIG this year and I got the privilege to be apart of it.

For over 2 years I have been working on a secret staffing project for Nike. The talent fueling project for a new department called Digital Sport. I saw the opportunity back when I was in a different position to partner with what I saw as being a big future move for Nike. The move into the digital wearable space. I use Nike+ when I run and love it. Digital Sport was about creating new products enhanced by digital technology to motivate people to be more active. Not just because they looked good in their Nike gear but because they had more data on their physical activity and they can compete with friends. I won't bore you anymore but about 2 months ago that cat was out of the bag and the Fuel Band was launched. The secret is out and it is HOT. And I get to say, I helped staff the team that did it.

 At the Fuel Station in Austin, Nike sold a limited number of the Fuel Bands and it was so fun to see consumers excited to get moving and be challenged.

 Me and my boss. Love her.

Us with a new Nike friend who hooked us up with the goods.

Inside the Fuel Station the mood was cool. 
People said it was like an Apple store x black lights + music.

At night they hosted parties and concerts where your VIP ticket in was the Fuel Band on your wrist. This photo is Tanja and I (the recruiters) hanging out with the big wigs. 

Nike had a nearly block long screen that changed from all difference displays. The screen was heat or motion activate so you can see the green from where people are walking by it. Way cool!

The band lights up when you want to show you total Fuel points earned from the day. It also gives you steps, calories and the time. The theme is red means inactive and green is active and you've met your daily goal.

Check out this Inside Story on the Fuel Band for more info.

At the end of the event, Nike lit up a 25 story building with red to green to show the Fuel Band wearers activity from the event. Honestly, it was GO big or go home.

I must say, I love my job. I also love that our secret is out and being so well recieved. My working from home situation and still getting to partner with such brilliant teams is a complete blessing and I can't wait to see the whole new Nike+ product line come out on the market. Even though most days are fairly uneventful, this past week was one for the books. #makeitcount

Big News

We are not pregnant again…We are moving to Houston, Texas! This move has been a long time coming for the few who have known about Mike's job search.  Mike's twin brother lives there and he has been on a mission to find a new job for almost 2 years. After several local positions not panning out for the past couple years of searching Mike was getting pretty discouraged. A couple month ago he broadened his search to explore jobs in Houston again. He cold called a company VP off the website and left a compelling message about why he was interested in working for their company. A week went by and the man called him back. He stood in our garage and talked to his guy for a hour about the commercial real estate market. At the end of the call the man said if Mike would be in Houston for a family visit soon he would love to meet Mike. The next day he bought a ticket to Houston. I won't bore you with all the details but basically after 2 months of interviewing, they created a position for Mike! He has accepted that position with a regional bank doing commercial mortgage lending on Monday.

  

We have lots of blessings and prayers associated with this news:

Praises!

1) I am 99% sure that Nike will let me keep my job and work remotely!

2) We have enrolled both kids in a Christian School that offers pre-preschool for Jack and Amelie through a Mothers Day Out program. I am a little nervous but am sure they will like it fine since is just 9-2 each day. It is definitely time for Jack, he loves playing and learning with other kids and I feel he has out grown the stay at home babysitting situation that has worked SOOO well for us for the past (almost) year. Amelie is super social and I am confident she will love the interaction. 

3) We found a lovely home in Houston and just got accepted on our lease there today!

4) We have a wonderful trip coming soon to celebrate my birthday and are looking forward to a somewhat leisurely road trip to Houston.

Prayers!

1) We need to least our house in Portland ASAP! Right now we are attempting to do this on our own. Before the offer we had a great family lined up but they bailed and in the past week the inquires are low.

2) The Move! We are starting to pack up (it is really sad) and are having a moving sale this weekend. I am really trying to get excited and fired up for the move but it is really hard.

3) Mike's job in Portland has been very stressful and now with the news of him leaving it has made for an uncomfortable situation there.

Thanks for praying and celebrating with us as we share this news with you.

On Monday, we took the kids to a nearby family friendly Japanese restaurant to celebrate.

 Jack and Amelie both enjoy edamame.  One of the sushi chefs brought over an orange carved into the shape of a bear with a belly full of pieces of the orange for the kids.

We go out so rarely to eat that it is such an adventure.

Just a sweet little update on this kids: Jack's new favorite thing is all of his animals and dinosaurs.  Dad calls him the animal king, and in response he says, "no daddy, you're the lion king".  Of course, since Jack is so interested in the animals, Amelie wants to play with the animals as well which has presented a great challenge to Jack to learn how to share.  Amelie is just as sweet as can be.  She is just 13 months old and she gives hugs, too sweet.  We think that she says, "Jack-Jack, Dada, Mama, and go-go".

Our little family will soon depart on a new adventure and it will be a very busy month of September. On the 10th we leave for a trip to St Thomas to celebrate my 30th birthday. On the 24th we are having a birthday/departure party and absolutely everyone will be invited to join. We will be in packing and moving mode after that. We will leave by October 1st for a road trip to Houston. Certainly there are lots of posts with updates and photos to come. We are so sad to leave all our dear family and friends in Portland but really excited about our new adventure and all that God has in store for us.

XOXO
Jen

Turning a corner

Sharing my heart.

I must share what is on my heart. Not knowing all of my readers personally I am going to share something deeply personal. I am broken, a sinner, depraved. I am not just realizing it but being reminded of it more lately. I have been living in fear. Fear, you say? Yes, fear of the world, fear of what people think of me, fear of disappointing. The last 3 months have been very difficult for me. I am not sure exactly why. When I went back to work in November with 2 kids under 2 and a laundry list of do to's with my life professionally I think my worlds collided. My expectations vs. the reality of my life to date is at odds. 

I had coffee with one of my only friends, who is a working mom. She isn't just working for a paycheck but is career minded. She told me that after realizing what it was going to take to get to where she wanted to go professionally she would have to sacrifice…a lot. She was fairly certain that after seeing what it was going to take she did not want it quiet that badly anymore.

Turning a corner.

Normally moving in a new direction is hard. It requires us to change. My husband has been trying to "move on" from his current job for years now. It just hasn't happened yet. I ask God why and pray that he would deliver him to a new challenge. Lately I have been praying that for myself too. Asking God for new direction and a "new challenge" - relating to work. * It's not like I need more challenges. But I have realized that I am striving. Not resting in Christ but discontent. I am asking God for help in turning a corner with this. I don't want to strive but to rest. To do what is in front of me…well and for His glory. 

Life is short. I know it in my heart but sometimes not in my head. I need to stop. Enjoy each minute. Stop being so busy all the time and realize the gifts God has given me now. To do otherwise, is foolish. 

Moving Forward.

I know I will not change overnight. But I want to change. My focus needs a refocus. My life needs to hit the pause button. Blogging has been really hard for me lately. Maybe a waste of time? I started blogging and sharing the photo journal of our lives to be in touch with family. I don't even know if those I blog for, visit. But I plan to be more genuine in the future with the hopes that it will bless you. I need encouragement  in my quest. I don't let my guard down much at all. Because I "live in fear". But in moving forward I will not cling to this fear anymore but share, love and be generous. 

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

The bane and the beauty

This is a crazy story. I have to share. When we moved into our neighborhood 2 years ago there were very few kids. And never would anything like THIS…have happened. Over the past 9 months several houses have sold and new neighbors have moved in. They all seem to have kids. These kids play right in the intersection between where our house meets the adjacent street (we are on the end of the street), the place I call the "T". They ride their ghost rider bikes, trikes and little skateboards at the "T". The kids are all between 4-10 years old – pretty little. Our driveway is “the best driveway in the neighborhood” as the little kids have told me because “it has the biggest ‘slope’ and is the best for gaining speed and riding into the "T". (meanwhile, rarely do parents watch there kids or watch for cars that might come speeding around the corner into the "T" and smash their kids into a thousand pieces!!!) I digress…

So, The Bane is the kids. I can almost handle the thought that one day, one will get hit when a parent is not around. (Did I say that?) The Beauty is my wonderful peonies that grow to be around 3 feet tall and produce the most beautiful big pink flowers every June. This year the bush that sits down near the street (and unfortunately near the "T") had grown bigger than ever before. The buds, before they bloomed where huge. Tempting? I guess. Especially, if you want to have a grenade war with peonies. YOU SEE WHERE THINGS ARE GOING!

Last Saturday, when we conveniently weren’t around there was a party in The "T". Sidewalk chalk (better known in our neighborhood as “middle of the street chalk”), popsicle sticks and many of peony buds where left as proof of the party. They must have picked the peony buds off and launched them at each other for a few minutes before they got caught. When I saw this I was FURIOUS! But what could I do. I could not prove who did what.

SO – when my mom was over the next day she put a little sign on the peonies that said “DON”T PICK”. But I said, “Mom, these kids don’t all read”. And the sign was gone a few days later. SO – I went out and cut the peonies off and made the huge bouquet. At least now I will be able to enjoy them without the worry that they will get terrorized by the neighborhood hoodlums.

This feeds my fire about wanting to be a good “watchful” parent but fearing the possibility…of wild hoodlums in my house some day. (BIG SMILE) Also addressed in my new blog Watching for Shooting Stars.

At the end of the summer, I am moving that peony bush!


"The T"

LIFE IS OVERWHEMLING FOR WOMEN IN THEIR 20’S!

So, I posted a little quiz, innocently, about “what Jen wants to be when she grows up”. Kinda funny honestly, because ALL of them were right. Well, maybe except the mini race car driver (I’m already that). I don’t know who voted but it was interesting to see what my readers think I want to do. More people thought I wanted to be a career therapist (really what I meant is career coach). A couple thought a mom. By the way, a vintner is a wine maker (my dad just planted an vineyard so this is also true). But that’s been what’s on my mind lately. The balance women look to find between the MANY things that we feel pulled to be.

When I was in my first counseling class (back in 07) I remember a younger gal saying to me during one of the discussions, how she felt that the demands on young women in our culture (in their 20’s) is SO stressful.

In your 20’s you are expected to graduate from college and decide “what you want to do with your life”, get a good job, work hard and work your way up so you aren’t making peanuts as an entry level female (average $30K), then while you’re doing all the WORK things you must find a man. (As some of us know, this is not a small task), especially as Christian women. Because there is the expectation that we will find some “wonderful” Godly man who will lead our home and be committed to us FOREVER. (so we pray for one to show up) Meanwhile, we are participating in church to get exposure to good guys (but they are often to shy to pursue us). We date online, go to parties, and try to host parties to attract outgoing men. Once we find the ONE, we marry and then will struggled to find a common ground in our marriages between, life, love, passion, sex, house work, oh and our JOB that we are still trying to achieve at. Obviously, some of us drop the work notion and start having kids, others continue working, some also do both. I think I also forgotten to mention that we still want to have friends and good relationships with our families; we are buying houses, establishing our finances. Then there's working out and relationship with God! Ahh...

LIFE IS OVERWHEMLING FOR WOMEN IN THEIR 20’S!

Have I said too much? (I laugh :) It might sound like I am overwhelmed with this. I am NOT. I am actually just repeating much of what that 20 something years old girl said in my class. But it has to do with what I am thinking about lately. LIFE is different for all of us. 6 of my closest blogging friends are pregnant right now. It really cool. I am thinking about babies. My close friend just had her 1st. I am in love. My husband is spending $20K this year on his dream. I am excited. I obviously am career driven. But I gave up on school last year because I could not justify a Masters at this point in my life. My job is contract. I struggle with my career (I won’t go into this now for the sake of word count).

A couple of points that I’ve come to.

1) Experience Rules. What do I mean? Well, the experience we get in our 20’s is SO valuable. We should share it. If there are moms who are rockstar moms, they have valuable info to share. Those who are traveling the world have incredible exciting and valuable advice and stories to share. Those who are brazening the career world have advice worth sharing, and they should.

2) There is Power in Community.That’s a main reason why I love blogging, my personal life and thoughts. I feel that I’ve shared. I feel that I’ve been heard. I grow. As I writer, a person and a blogging friend. We need more sharing of hearts, minds, thoughts and feelings.

3) Everyone's Valuable. Me, you and the sister out there who is dealing with something totally different. We can encourage, even when we are not in the same situation. COMMENTS (known as Thoughts on my blog) are HUGE. Leave them, share yourself.

4) There is value in transparency. Life for Christians is not a competition. I’ve found some beautiful posts on some NEW blogs I’ve been reading. I don’t know these people, personally, but I am learning from their authenticity. The brilliant thing is that few of them are actually born again. But, life has brought challenges their way that they are willing to share. When they do, all who read are blessed.

Be challenged. Be blessed.
And stop looking for typos in my posts.
(big smile)

Hey blog readers! Still interested in "What’s on your list?" What's your next adventure or dream for yourself? Little, big or in between.

That you must follow your desire, not your fear! "To take risk is to accept a challenge not to act foolishly or carelessly." You know, since Mike and I decided to elope 3 ½ years ago I knew that life would most likely bring the challenge of swimming upstream. If you swim upstream often or even once and awhile, you know it’s tough. People going the other direction look at you funny, like “you fool” go with the flow already. But I want to challenge you, don’t go with the flow. Don’t take the path everyone else is on, because it looks safe or easier. Take the higher road.

Let me tell you about some of the friends in my life. 1st, I have the friends who go with the flow all the time. I love them dearly. But they are board, wondering if “this is how life is suppose to be”. No one really talked to us Good Shepherd girls about what life was about or what it would be like to be a wife or a mother or a Christian woman in the world. Or maybe they did and I wasn’t paying attention. No, damn it. They didn’t! Many of these friends are outwardly happy but on the inside or when they open up and really TALK TO ME, they are troubled. And I am not apologizing for pointing this out. This is me, a lot of the time. Saying to myself, is this the life I want? It is up to me!

The 2nd example of friends in my life are the “adventurous” ones. With kids or without, married or not, working in corporate America or on the mission field. These women don’t fall into this adventurous category because they live aboard (which is amazing and adds to their against the flow attitude) but because they have passion for life. (By the way, about 1/3 of my closest friends live aboard right now, oh, I’m jealous)

So, let me tell you about ENJOYING THE RIDE. The essence is about living life in every moment, to the fullest. One of the benefits is that it’s FUN. It’s a challenge to discover something new, awaken your senses and try something for its own pleasurable sake. Whew! Sounds great. YES!

I’ve read that “The best learning and growth happens just beyond our comfort zones”. The reward of taking these risks in addition to a FULLER LIFE is that you're likely to feel more accepted, responsible, trustworthy and capable. Some examples of enjoying the ride: trying a new sport like rock climbing, diving or sailing, go skinny dipping, break out of your normal style and wear something different or get a totally new hair style, talk more to strangers at the grocery store, plan a trip to a new place, take a class about something you know nothing about, sewing, a foreign language or massage. I don’t know? What’s on your list?

Me? I want to read more. I want to become a better writer and communicator. I want to visit Brazil, Chili and Beijing. I want to overcome my fear of having children, not babies, BIG KIDS.
My Bigger picture. I want to move to Amsterdam or somewhere in Central Europe for a few years. I want to be a counselor and be able to help people succeed and get over their challenges. I want to open a business with Mike, probably food related. I want a big family. I want a VERY full life.

The beautiful thing about this is what everyone is different; sky diving for someone might be equivalent to someone else’s adventure in trying out a new cool restaurant. And I’d love to hear about what on your list?

Some of my inspiration includes: the movie “Martian Child” with John Cusak, the book “Fresh Brewed Life” and “Tuesday’s with Morrie”, the vineyard “Purple Cow” and this months “Body + Soul”, magazine.

And by the way, I plan to write about "what's on my mind" a little more often.

A High Maintenance Christian

The other day I realized that I am a high maintenance Christian. I constantly need encouragement, reassurance and direction. I am always looking for signs that I am on God’s path and not straying onto something my personal desires have invented. And I am not talking about every once in a while. I am saying I have a daily need for direction, conformation and encouragement.

Furthermore, I struggle with simple things in life like church attendance, who to send donations to and what constitutes appropriate viewing material on television.

So not only do I require constant attention, I also require constant corrections. I think this makes me a high maintenance Christian.

Every mother will tell you that some children need a lot of attention and encouragement, while others need very little. Only recently I have discovered I am the former and not the latter.

God wants us to be dependant on Him in our pursuits and life, but I wonder if I cross the line from a needy-child to a child with special needs. And if so is this a bad thing, or just a natural state of Christianity? After all, aren’t we all special and need special things to keep us moving in the right direction?

Psalms 62:7-8, My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him for God is our refuge.

Another interesting thought.

I find it worthy of note how we are instructed to
'boldly' approach the throne of God, yet we are also
instructed to 'humbly' approach the throne of God.
Which is it? IT'S BOTH!

I know Christians who never question their actions or
behaviors, they have somehow received salvation but no
change takes place in their behavior.

Jesus says that we must pick up our cross 'daily' and
follow Him. Which, to me involves a desire to grow in
Him and walk uprightly before Him. Walking uprightly
before Him requires daily maintenance. I believe that
God wants us to stay alert and be on guard for attacks
from the enemy, BUT....we have the Holy Spirit
dwelling within us who will "check" us if we start to
go off track. Ask Him for clarity and discernment and
He will give it to you.

And finally, remember who you are in Him, your His
Son, a co-heir with Christ, you have awesome authority
and favor resting on you! You are redeemed by the
Blood of Jesus! You are His treasured possession! You
are the apple of His eye! His thoughts for you
outnumber the sand on the seashore!
He chose you to be His very own!