A New J.O.B.

Hello!

It's been so hard to be consistent with blogging this year.  My hope is that 2014 is very normal and we get into a stable routine in our lives.  That way I will be able to make time for blogging, working out, and other hobbies I have neglected in 2013.

The reason for my leave of absence is because right after my last post, I started interviewing for a new job!  That's right…I'm going back to work!  So every spare moment that is not consumed by Waverly or my daily life has been spent prepping for interviews, traveling for interviews, and having phone interviews.  Then after I got the job, every spare moment has been spent looking for childcare, thinking and talking about childcare, completing all my hiring tasks for my new job, and preparing for Christmas.  Last year Christmas was crazy too because we had just moved to Alexandria…I look forward to a calm Christmas season next year.

So back to the new job.  I'm head back into the beer business and will be working for the 3rd largest craft brewery in the US, New Belgium Brewing.  The 1st being Boston Beer (Sam Adams) and the 2nd being Sierra Nevada.  If you are interested in the entire list of the top 50 craft breweries, click here.  New Belgium is a huge brand out west since they were started in Fort Collins, CO in 1991, but just recently expanded to the East Coast in the past year and a half.  North Carolina, then Virginia...they are now in every southern state as well as Maryland and Delaware.  When they open a new brewery in Asheville, NC they will then have the brewing capacity to produce beer for the Northeastern States and will open PA and north.  While at Sam Adams I was fortunate enough never to have to deal with them as a competitor, because I left DC before they arrived.  The East Coast manager is excited to have me on board so I can provide information and help them open up the New Jersey and NYC markets in 2015.  Once nationwide, New Belgium will continue to grow and be a huge brand.  All the employees are excited about the future given that the company is 100% employee owned.

me in Fort Collins where it was 5 degrees!

New Belgium Brewery

the brewery is really pretty which sounds weird, but it's true.

sour beers in the making!

whoa that's a lot of beer.

bottling and packaging lines!

this was very loud. I wore ear plugs.

SO my job...is Area Manager of Virginia.  The whole beautiful state :)  I will get my urban kick by going up to Northern Virginia and my country kick by heading to places like Blacksburg!  I will manage all the state distributors for our brand as well as a sales team of 5 "Beer Rangers" - quite a title, huh?!  I have met them all and they are all pretty awesome.  Everyone has been SO SO welcoming and warm to me and they act so excited to have me on the team.  To be honest I'm a little humbled and hope I can live up to their expectations!  It's an incredible company with some kickass people.  It's a VERY laid back culture.  To paint a picture, most of the people at the office/brewery bike to work and wear outdoor gear.  The VP of Sales interviewed me in jeans, hiking boots, and a beanie.  Although Sam Adams was business casual, it was very Type A, fast paced, and intense at times.  So this is a change for me and I'm getting used to the pace and being part of the "New Belgium Family"...the internet is called the "Mothernet"!  Everyone has been awesome to me and I feel pretty lucky that I landed this gig.  I'm excited that I will be able to wear jeans and my new company Patagonia gear during my entire 2 week training sessions in Colorado!  Oh and I guess I should mention that the beer is equally as awesome.  Fat Tire is the main brand, but there are so many great beers they make that I am just now trying for the first time.  Look for Snapshot in February - new Hefeweizen!

My choice to go back to work was a very tough one.  I thought about it a lot and did a lot of gut checks toward the end of the summer.  This could be a completely separate blog post, but being a working mom and CHOOSING to make that my path took some serious thought.  I couldn't have been luckier to have the past year and a half home with Waverly and count my lucky stars that I was able to do that.  I try not to think about my next children and not being able to do that with them.  However, I missed my career.  That's basically it.  It's not that I didn't love being a stay at home mom...I did.  Even at my wits end (because being a stay at home mom is 1 million times harder than working), Waverly would wake up from a nap and I would cuddle and kiss her to death.  Yet I want both...I want to be a full time mom and a full time professional.  I'm sure part time would be completely ideal, but that's not really my profession.  It's seriously the hardest balance that women today face.  There is so much guilt and anxiety involved in not being the person to take care of your kids all the time. Then there's the selfish thoughts of wanting to have a career.  You can tell yourself that there's no reason to feel these feelings, but it doesn't make them disappear.  Every working mom has this difficult reality to face and it seems to be something only women feel, not men.  But in the end, I want to have a career in the future and worked hard to get myself to where I was when I left Boston Beer.  I also want to set an example for my children and be able to provide things for them that we wouldn't be able to without my job.  I think I have made the right choice, but only time will tell.

words will never explain how my heart explodes during moments like this

I was ready for a change from my last job and welcomed the break, but I did love it and wished for something similar in the future.  Somehow God answered me and delivered...it couldn't be more similar, it's uncanny.  I wished for all these things:  working from home when I'm not out in meetings or working with my team, managing a team, sales, awesome company culture, flexibility, great people, not too much travel, a quality product, and of course (let's be honest) a salary to make it worth it.  I got them all.  I feel blessed.  Not to mention I get to drink beer at lunch and it's more than appropriate and I get to see all the awesome bars and restaurants across VA.  What's better?

Now this doesn't mean it's all fun and games...it's a bigger job than my last one in scope.  But not in business volume (YET!).  Managing 5 people and 8 distributors is no joke.  But I think I can do it and still be the mom I want to be given all the positive things mentioned above.  My dad said, "you know, you're going to have to give 100% to your job" to which I replied, "oh yea Dad, 110% to my job, 110% to Waverly, 110% to Nick, that's how it's done, right?"  This was a comical exchange and we both chuckled while I felt immediately stressed. haha.

After accepting the position, Nick and I dove headfirst into the childcare search.  My parents are awesome grandparents and agreed to watch her 2 days a week which I love and am so grateful for.  So we needed part time care from someone else.  We weighed all the options, in home care, nanny, and a daycare center.  I didn't have much luck finding any in home daycares, but toured daycares and interview nannies.  We found two options for each that we liked, but it took me forever to decide.  I want Waverly to have a lot of attention, but want socialization.  I also will be working from home some, so that would affect the nanny dynamic.  I also needed a flexible schedule and backup care for when my parents go out of town, etc.  In the end daycare seemed to fit all our needs.

We transitioned slowly into daycare and Waverly had her first full day last week.  She cried when I left which prompted me to cry all morning.  I called mid day and they said she was doing well, but when I picked her up she was crying.  She didn't nap very long and something set her off...it wasn't what I was expecting.  I wish I had expected the worst...because I was thinking all positive and thought "she probably had a great day and will be so excited to see me!", so I set myself up.  Stupid positive thinking.  So we need to get adjusted and tweak a few things. I do believe she's getting good care though and I need to give it some time.  Nick said, "it can only go up from here!"...well I freakin hope so.  I am honestly not looking forward to January and February and knew that this would happen.  It's going to be an adjustment for childcare, I travel to CO for two weeks, it's cold outside, the holidays are over ,and it's cold and flu season. Wah, Wah, Wahhhh.  Somehow we will all survive and if it's not working, we will re-evaluate and make a change.  In between it may be rough.

haha....what a great fake cry, look at that lip!

Thanks to all my family and friends who have reached out and asked how it's going. It means a lot to have support and people to talk/cry to.

This was an epically long post, but there was a lot to tell and I didn't want to hold back.  Next blog post will have lots of pictures from our holiday season!  Thanksgiving AND Christmas in Richmond were awesome.  Now go buy some New Belgium beer! :)

Love from Richmond!

Stanley Market, The Peak, and more.

Our last day together in Hong Kong turned out to be a surprise.  We were supposed to have more time together, however our time was cut short, so we managed to squeeze everything we could into those 24 hours. 

We started the day on the beloved Big Bus and headed out to Stanley Market.  The craziest part of this trip was the bus ride.  We were on the second story of the double decker bus which was open.  It was crazy windy and we were going up and down these massive hills at pretty high speeds.  No lie, Sarah and I were both hit in the face with tree branches - that is how close we were to the side of the road.  It was insane, but also super fun!  Stanley Market is an open air market full of little shops on the beach on the other side of Hong Kong Island.  It is such a drastic difference from the city of Hong Kong – I felt like I was in another city altogether.  It is a picturesque town with amazing views of the water.  I would love to go back again and spend more time in this area.

From Stanley Market we went on a boat tour to see the Jumbo Floating Restaurant.  We didn't go inside the restaurant, but it was neat to see the outside.  After that, Matt and I got the most questionable foot massages of our lives (note to self: avoid basement massage parlors) and then headed to dinner.  We picked an authentic Chinese restaurant recommended by the hotel.  It was such a unique experience.  I swear we had at least five waiters for our table.  Literally every time I took a sip of water, my glass would be refilled.  Also, when Matt ordered the famous crispy chicken, he got the ENTIRE chicken (head, claws, all of it).  It was awesome seeing his reaction.  We ended the night at the light show at Victoria Harbor and a trip up to Victoria’s Peak by tram. 

Even though Matt had to leave early, we had the best time together.  It has been so much fun discovering new parts of the world together and we have the Navy to thank for these opportunities :)  I need to make sure to remember that the next time I’m frustrated with life in the military (which will probably be soon!)

I spent the day after Matt left with friends that were also visiting Hong Kong.  We went back up to the Peak (unfortunately it was so foggy that we couldn’t see a thing) and had tea at the Peninsula.    

All in all, I loved Hong Kong.  I would absolutely go back and would recommend it for the next time you are in Asia (after you visit us, of course).

Here are pictures from our last days in Hong Kong (some of these pictures are from Sarah).

Not exactly beach weather.

This should give you an idea of the wind.

I love this picture b/c it shows the older boats with the new buildings.

Overlooking Hong Kong.

More crazy wind.

Not exactly the same view as the night before.

Tea at the Peninsula.

Discovering Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong we really played tourists.  By that I mean that we caved and bought a two-day pass to the Big Bus.  This was at the recommendation of my dad who had been to Hong Kong years ago and still remembered the bus tours.  And funnily enough when we told Matt’s parents that we did the tour, his mom remembered doing a bus tour when she was in Hong Kong.  Clearly it is a popular way to see the area.  We bought our tickets with Sarah and Justin and all of us agreed that this was money very well spent.  For two days we traveled around the entire island while listening to the history of certain places.  We could jump on and off whenever we wanted and pick up another bus.  They have the Big Bus company in other cities around the world and I would definitely recommend trying it out.

On our second day we learned more about the history of HK Island and drove around the various parts.  The thing that stuck out to me most was the sheer amount of people (most of them women).  I have never seen so many people in my entire life and this is coming from someone who has been on a train in Tokyo during rush hour.  There were people everywhere – under bridges, lining the hallways of the train walkways, parks – it seemed that everywhere that a person could fit, three were there.  When I was telling someone about this who had traveled to Hong Kong before, they told me that Sunday was the only day off for domestic workers.  The workers don’t have anywhere else to meet so they meet on the streets to socialize.  I learned that most of the women were from Indonesia and the Philippines and although in some cases these women are treated fairly, in others they are not and it is a form of indentured servitude.  Obviously, I need to do more research, but this made a lasting impression on me and is what I remember most about Hong Kong.

Here are pictures from our second day (some are from the bus, so please excuse the blurriness).

A long overdue phone call.

I have been a bad blogger.  I’m not even sure how it got to be this long.  The blog became like a friend that I hadn’t talked to in a month.  I wanted to text and share something funny, but that wouldn’t be right because we hadn’t caught up yet.  This kind of catching up required a 2-hour phone call, not just a short text filled with emoticons.  So this is my two-hour conversation with you. - I’m sorry that it took me so long to call!

So what have I been up to since I last blogged.  Let’s see – Halloween.  My Halloween included singing the ABC song to Japanese children outside a bar, a costumed salsa club, a Russian belly dancer, a terrifying cab ride, and a little karaoke.  I promise there is a great story that goes along with those details, but that is going to require a lot more time and should probably only be told while sharing a drink. 

Next up was Hong Kong.  I was able to meet up with Matt in Hong Kong for a few days.  I’ll be honest, I didn’t have high expectations for Hong Kong, but I loved it.  It was such a fun city with so much to discover and I’m so happy that I could do that with Matt.  More details on our trip later.

Then there was Thanksgiving.  Since Matt was still deployed, I had my Thanksgiving with other spouses in our squadron.  This was my first Thanksgiving without Matt or family, so I was worried that it would be hard, but being around such a great group of people definitely made it easier. This same group has been the group that has helped me with the whole deployment, so I was happy to be able to spend such a special holiday with them.

Next up was my Japanese Thanksgiving.  Oh, you didn’t think they celebrated Thanksgiving here in Japan?!  Well, some people do and I enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie with them.  Plus, my students gave an incredible performance for all of their families and friends.

Finally (and the best of all), Matt came home!  Since he has been home, we have been using the time to decorate for the holidays (wait, I did most of that before he came home b/c I just couldn’t wait).  We have also been using the time to start watching Game of Thrones.  Don’t ask me why it took so long to get on that train!  It has been so awesome to have him home and to know that he will be here for a while this time!

So for pictures, I think that I will start with Hong Kong.  Our first full day of Hong Kong was mostly spent walking around Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.  We went to Ladies' Market, walked through the famous Peninsula Hotel, took the Star Ferry from Kowloon to HK Island, ate at a restaurant where I’m still not sure what I ordered or ate, got foot massages, and finished the night with friends over dinner and drinks.

Here are some pictures from our first day in Hong Kong.

Ladies' Market - I bought three pairs of socks here.  I only wanted one, but was talked into three.  I'm sure that I got the better end of that bargain;) 

I know pho isn't Chinese food, but I still liked the picture.

That's right - I do heart Hong Kong!

Aboard the Star Ferry.

I hope that this picture gives you an idea of how incredibly busy Kowloon is - definitely have to be paying attention at all times when crossing the streets!