On the road

I am off to attend a business conference call The Brand Gap in Portland, OR. I have helped to set this event up and I am so excited to attend.

I will give you all the wonderful details this weekend!

A few more picts

So the first picture is of my new Business card. Vera- I can send you one if you want. I needed to get a card for my conference this week. I am hoping in the next few months to get a better card but this will do for now.

The next picture is of a pair of shoes I have been wanting to buy for over a year. As I get older I hate paying full price for things, so yesterday I found the exact pair of shoes I have been wishing to buy and they were more than half off. I just could not pass it up.

I love these shoes!

Needless to say I am very happy. I also figured out a way to fix my camper boots so they will fit.

I am crying as I write this

Well not really but I got so excited about a pair of Camper boots that I put faith into them. Only to realize that all my years of weightlifting and biking around Wisconsin have left my calf muscles too big for the boots.

I have a business conference this week in Portland and I was so excited to be hanging out in my new boots that were more than half off the retail price. Oh.... Why can't companies make shoes and clothes for people a little bigger than a bean pole?

Besides that not much else is going on. I got some business cards made, I got a couple of new outfits for my conference and I went to an excellent lecture on product development and branding last night. It was given by Jody Turner who is President of Culture of Future an international company. It was a very interesting mix of design ideas from all over the world with a dash of optimism for the corporate future and agenda. There was a Q&A at the end of the lecture and it was the first time in my life that I knew so much about the subjects that I wanted to answer the questions.

Hopefully next week in Portland I will have three days of the same thing I experienced last night. I am very interested to see where this conference takes me.

So far so good

Ok, the job is going well. Of course I am exhausted at night and I feel at times my head is going to explode but what else can you do for your few months on the job?

A few weeks ago I wrote about working with Elaine on a energy healing that changed my life. Well, it is still working. I was asked to be on the board of an organization that I am very interested in. It would also be a great networking experience. I am not sure if I can join, I have to see what happens with this job and my energy level but just the fact that they asked made me feel good.

As some of you know, my last few years have been very hard in terms of life and career. I just could not get anybody to respond to me. Not even temp agencies was to talk with me. This is when I started working with Elaine. She helped me to move some issues aside, to clear up my energy and to look forward. I know she did more than this but since I do not know how she does what she does, I just know it works. So all I can really say is she helped me and whatever she does it works!

I feel like Emily 2006 is turning into one of my best years ever!

It is 8:20 at night and I am sad to report that I am off to bed now.

I promise cowboy pictures and stories this weekend.

Little side notes

Ideo has long been one of my favorite companies. This article in Business Week from a couple of years ago helped me to realize that there is such a thing as creativity in the work place, and some companies are getting paid for work that I love to do in my spare time.

I guess you could say this article changed my life.


In other news, I will be going on vacation starting tomorrow. I will be unable to update my blog since we will be in the back country of Oregon. However, I will take plenty of pictures so I can show you just how far in the middle of no where we went.

I also start my new job on Monday. I am not nervous yet. Especially since yesterday I went to buy a first day outfit and I found a Cashmere sweater and Ralph Lauren Tweed jacket that cost $50.00 all together. I have never bought a cashmere sweater for 15.00 dollars but I have to say at those prices I would wear nothing but cashmere if I could. So far all signs point to yes, this is going to be a great start to my new job.

A long lost friend

Ok, so I have a little time to spare since I am on vacation this week.

So here is the link to my first blog.

The Diary Of Helen Wheels

I first started to blog in 2000. I read a New Yorker article about it and thought I would give it a go. It was wonderful! I loved writing and knowing that there were people in the web world that would read what I had written. I was the first of my friends to blog. Everyone thought it was a nutty thing to do but I knew better than that.

So I have taken a couple of years off from blogging. I started other blogs but never found the energy to continue. I think for awhile I lost my voice. Rereading Helen Wheels I am impressed with my writing. I just remember how lost and alone I felt in the Midwest and how writing in my blog made me feel alive and in touch with myself.

So I hope I can bring back a side of Helen Wheels for this blog. Helen Wheels was my secret side. She was the woman that dreamed big and could speak her mind. She was also very thoughtful and could express herself and not be scared.

I have a feeling after this posting this blog may get a little more personal.

It is true, as I have gotten older I do not feel such pain. That maybe because I am in a relationship my search is not as exciting but to be honest. I am now searching to grow up. I am searching to start my own business and to find work that I love. I am still searching for community, a house to buy and a place where I can be surrounded by loved ones.

I still have Helen Wheels in me, she has just grown up a bit. Gone on her wild days. In place is a greater sense of self worth and a brain truly worth it's weight in gold!

Nap Time

I took a rest today and this is what I saw when I woke up. This is Ahmi. She is my best friend. I found her almost five years ago at Evergreen State College. I thought I would give her to my aunt but that fell through because once I took her home she was mine. She would follow me everywhere I went. Nobody could get her attention if I was in the room. So I kept her. She keeps watch over the house and my two cats and in return I make her own food ( red peppers are her favorite treat) and I take her to the woods a couple of times a month where she can run off leash. I think it is a pretty fair trade!

A meatless lifestyle

Today I am starting a new month long vegetarian diet. Right around when I started this blog I also began to realize that my body wanted to stop eating meat. I am making this diet a month long because I do not want to feel like I can never have organic meat again. I just want to slowly move into this lifestyle. However, I am going on vacation this weekend to a crab feed so Seafood will be ok for awhile.

I have two cats and a dog. I love these animals more than I ever knew I could love a non-speaking mammal. These animals may not use words but I always know what they want. And they are smart, really smart. I then began to realize that all the cows I have ever met were very sweet and gentle. And chickens? Well I have never been won over by a chicken but I also get very grossed out when I drive by a chicken truck on it's way to a slaughter house. And last but not least, pigs. I like pigs, they are smart and make funny noises. Dirty, yes! But sometimes on a hot day the thought of rolling around in mud sounds good to me.

So, needless to say, the little voice in my head has been gently guiding me towards wanting to live a more organic and healthy lifestyle. The guidance has been very kind and soft with me. Reminding me over and over again that I love animals, I love the earth and I want to start taking care of animals and the earth, instead of eating tainted meat and non-organic fruits and veggies which will hurt you over the years.

Today is my first day on this adventure. As I prepare to say goodbye to my two best friends as they are moving to Sweden, I have set up a dinner date for us at the wonderful Vegan restaurant Bamboo Gardens. This is our celebration, goodbye and I can not wait to visit you next year dinner.
And it is a gentle start to a new lifestyle for me.

Taking much needed time

So I must admit that these last few months of not having a job have been stressful. I never lost hope but I often wondered what was going to happen. At one point I just gave the situation to the universe and admitted that I had no idea what to do next. At the same time I started working with Elaine from Clear Reflection Coaching .

After two session I knew my energy was changing. I suddenly understood myself better and I knew more about what I wanted. In one sense I felt like I had suddenly grown up but then on the other hand I also felt like a bunch of negative energy was lifted from me and I could now be what I had always wanted to be.

Two days after my last meeting with Elaine I had a week full of job interviews, all coming in on the same week. I went from not being able to get anyone to call me back and having no leads to suddenly having everyone call me at once.
One week after I started the interview process I had accepted an offer from a place I really wanted to work.

I look back at these events and I am amazed at how the universe had lined everything up for me. While I was looking for work I made sure that I keep a clear mind and I began to mediate more. I also started working on my blocks that were holding me back. I was ready for change and I was doing my part of bring it into my life. This is why I think I was able to get a job so quickly and have it be the one I wanted. Because I was finally ready to do the dirty work in my life so the universe could provide me with love and positive changes.

I now feel more connected with spirit and my life. I feel like I am glowing with happiness and love.

I am also thinking it is time to become a vegetarian and non-sugar eater. We shall see.

Life Coaches Rule

Today I met with two friends from Sweden who started talking about life coaches and how amazed they are that their friends in Sweden are starting to get life coaches.

In the last year I met my first life coaches. They are now friends and I have never been coached by them but I have to admit that I love what they do. They also have amazing energy surrounding them, I always feel like I can do anything when I am with them.

My favorite main stream life coach is Cheryl Richardson.
She has truly influenced me to not only want to change my life but to also take those action steps needed to change my life.

Also, her new book, The unmistakable touch of grace, inspired my latest candle called GRACE.
It is a wonderful candle that brings grace into your life and also helps you to be more aware of the grace that touches all of us.