SLIDER

office real estate

2.18.2011

...I'm not talking about the address of your office building or what zip code it's in or how many storeys your building has...I'm talking about prime real estate - the location of your cube/office within the building.

Offices (or in my case cubes) are considered status symbols in the working world. It is incredibly obvious where someone falls on the totem pole based on the location, size and positioning of their office.The building that I work in is, well how should we put this, discreet. You wouldn't really know that this building housed information about some pretty famous people. Once inside, you can immediately tell "who's who" based on their offices. I work one floor up from our main area and it's pretty quiet in the "penthouse" which is how we affectionately refer to this quarantined area of the office. Considering I'm a total nube, I have a pretty awesome cube. I have lots of desk space, two computer screens, two file drawers, a plant, a comfy chair, and a good half wall to tack stuff on. But other than that, it's a pretty standard cube.

There is a vacant office in the penthouse where my original mentor used to sit. Now that she's been promoted, we've been staring at that dark void for a few months now. But today, one of my team members got a "real estate promotion" and got to move in there. He used to sit in the cube behind me which is a bit nicer than mine because it has a HUGE window and some more space. It's great that he can be in that office now because the space feels a little more filled up.

So here is where I come into all of this. We have a Bloomberg Terminal up here as well, that sits at a desk around the corner from me. I'm constantly pacing back and forth to the Bloomberg all day - basically, it's like my second desk. My cube used to house the Bloomberg until I got hired. My hope is that I will get to move into the window cube and receive my first "real estate promotion" and that the Bloomberg will be moved back to my cube, which would make it much closer to me.

It's funny how your position title and salary can remain the same, and yet getting a "real estate promotion" can feel just as good.
my cube







running bug

running bug

2.15.2011

I've never been much of gym-goer, never really into exercise or yoga classes, ect. I've always been active through sports, rollerblading, bike riding but the idea of "hitting the gym" was never something I could get on board with. Now that I live in a climate that permits outside activities for pretty much 12 months of the year, I've been trying to get bitten by the "running bug". This has nothing to do with losing weight - but purely feeling the need to be in better shape.

Confession: I can barely run a 10 minute mile without feeling like I'm going to die. This is NOT a good sign for my heart.

My Nike Free+ Running shoes have that chip in them that tracks my distance and time which I love. I never really know how far I'm going. It also calculates your mile time and calories burned. I can then submit my run to my profile online and track how many runs I'm going on, distances, best times, ect. I can even map out my own runs so that I can calculate distances.

So all these snazzy things should be enough to get me outside running everyday right? No, wrong, it takes a WHOLE lot of willpower, a great new workout playlist and a cute running top to get my butt out the door. This is so lame, I know, but I just can't seem to get bit by the bug! I think it would be so much easier if I was trying to lost 5 pounds because I would have a measurable goal. I'm just trying to get myself in shape which isn't very measurable. Well I guess it is, if I can run a mile a little faster each time, then I guess I'm getting more in shape.

vacation.

vacation.

2.13.2011

One of the policies at my office is that each employee must take 5 consecutive days off each year as part of our risk management policy. Basically, it's a pretty sweet deal because I don't feel totally guilty about wanting to go on vacation and using up PTO to do that. I mean, these 5 days, still come out of PTO but we HAVE to use them, so it somehow makes it better.

So what am I going to do with these 5 days you might ask? Well, I've thought of a few things. Each one a little different with DRASTICALLY different prices.
Here is the breakdown:
1. Go on a mission trip to Zambia, Africa with HPUMC. I would need to take about 7-8 days off work. All costs of the trip itself are covered except airfare....which just happens to be about $2000. Ouch. The trip could be totally random people but it would be an awesome experience and I've REALLY wanted to go to Africa. Side note: we would have bucket showers and pit latrines. Am I really ready for that??
2. Go on a mission trip to Costa Rica with HPUMC. This trip would either be with a large group of adults OR I could go as a leader for the youth trip. This would be a little less remote and the project sounds a little more appealing. The Africa trip is with Habitat for Humanity which is a little intense. The plus side of this trip is that if I go with the youth then HPUMC might pay for it, which would mean a free vacation.

The thing about these mission trips is that I need to decide if I'm trying to go on a mission for myself or to be selfless. If I go with the youth, the trip is about the kids. I'm not really going to be fully invested in the mission because I'm responsible for giving the kids a great trip.

3. Go on a vacation. Price: unlimited. This is risky because my friends don't necessarily get to take a week off of work so I have no clue who I would go with?!

4. Go home, see family. My sister's birthday is in June and she turns 21 so it would be fun to celebrate with her. I also don't really know when I would see my family besides at the holidays. But going home could be relatively boring. I would probably just read like 7 books and go to the beach.

Any and all other ideas are welcomed. Someone suggested looking into mission trips at other churches which could be a good idea as well, but as I am now a member at HPUMC, I want to try to be involved there.

2.07.2011


I pray for the willingness to remember that I am a child of God, a divine soul in human form, and that my most basic and urgent life-task is to accept, know, love and nurture myself. As I accept myself, I am accepting God's will. As I know and love myself, I am knowing and loving God. As I nurture myself I am acting on God's guidance. I pray for the willingness to let go of my arrogant self-criticism, and to praise God by humbly accepting and caring for myself.




~Taken from "An Opening" Prayer Blog Written By Elizabeth Mosley
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