Goodbye, NED

I can't wait to tell my future kiddos about the year I traveled the world as a yo-yo professional. It has been a unique and blessed journey, full of great experiences traveling and meeting neat people.  Above the cool adventures in England, Australia, Canada, and across the U.S., though, I'm most glad for the awesome kids I got to meet. I will miss them ever so much.

This guy was growing out his hair so that he could donate it in behalf of his friend who had lost a battle against cancer the year before. He told me that a champion has to encourage the people around him so that they won't give up on their dreams.

I can't tell you how many kids gave me awesome, insightful ideas about being a champion. This job made me love kids.

But...I'm glad to be moving on to the next chapter of my life. 

As President Monson says, the future is as bright as my faith. I've got a lot of faith that this next year will be amazing, difficult, and precious. Of course, I'll take what NED taught me to help me accomplish my goals in 2013: Never Give Up! Encourage Others! Do Your Best!

Workin' in Carolina

I drive past neat Carolina scenes on my way to work, different routes every day through the rural parts of NC. Here are a few pictures I managed to snap.

Traveling to York

I have a fantastic job; I get to act silly with kids in order to inspire them to set goals and be champions. And I get to do this all over the world. My company sent me on a tour to York, UK for two weeks and it was great! Getting there took a little longer than anticipated. A delayed flight caused me to miss a connecting flight and I ended up spending the first day of work at a hotel in Chicago. I had some good books to read, so it was alright.  

Once I arrived in Heathrow, I took a small, final flight to the Manchester airport. The British Airline was so accommodating; they brought me a warmed baguette with sausage and tomato chutney, a welcome comfort-snack after too many hours of traveling!

Although a bit tired, I arrived in Manchester just fine. My bags, however, did not. My two 70 lb. bags were still back in London. With all of my show materials.

So, with a little improvisation and a quick hand, I drew a NED and made some rough substitutes for the next day: 

Even without a mic and all the bells and whistles, it was a great first show in the UK. The kids were so charming!

I only had to do one show with the makeshift stuff; a colleague came to my rescue that afternoon and lent me all of his gear (he didn't have a show at that time). And my bags arrived at the hotel that evening.

The rest of the trip was successful as far as work goes. I loved having kids tell me my American accent was cool, and loved it even more when they showed me they could talk in an American accent, too. 

Driving from school to school, I had the chance to see the beautiful, rural countryside of Yorkshire, from Grantham to Sheffield and Doncaster, up through Hull, out to Grimsby and even Bridlington and Driffield. 

I'm so grateful for this amazing opportunity! I can't wait to show you some of the places I visited. But first, I just want you to know how truly blessed and happy I feel to be experiencing these kinds of adventures! Heavenly Father has blessed me with a job I love that takes me to places I've had on my bucket list since I was a kid. He truly knows each of us personally, and will pour more blessings upon us than we can receive when we strive to follow His will. Even (rather, especially) when we fall short, His generosity and mercy abounds. My overarching thought throughout my time in the UK was of the love God has for each of us, the beautiful places He has created, and the thousands of years of history people have lived and loved under His watch. 

"Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen."

~Alma 26:37

New York baby.

Ah, Times Square! Neon lights! Being proposed to on the corner of 42nd street!

I love New York, particularly Broadway.

I saw Death of a Salesman and Anything Goes.

Sutton Foster was classy, beautiful and pickin' hilarious. LOVED the big tap numbers.

New York pizza, inside and away from the biting cold wind.

Ouch. I got a $115 parking ticket.

My first time driving in the Big Apple.

Mostly successful, except for the morning I parked too close to a fire hydrant (a fire hydrant that was painted gray, and hidden behind other metal city contraptions!)

Oh, well. Cut your losses. Pay the ticket.

Then go buy another Broadway ticket! Or go shopping!

Old School

90 years ago, Tryon School was built for K-12 kids in a little town outside of Bessemer City.

The land was donated by the people in this picture.

Today, it is an elementary school.

I did a show for them in a cool, old-style gym.

They have some pieces of their history on the walls.

I think this motto is awesome.

Old jerseys framed on the gym wall.

Can you imagine the fun times the high school kids

had here, years and years ago?!

Bomb dot com

My job totally rocks.
Not only am I finished around 3:00 in the afternoon, when we're back at the office, we take the time to do research online, like watching cool videos and sharing stories about people changing the world with cool ideas. (ps. You totally have to check out THE COLOR RUN!! It's like the color festival, but during a 5k...someone shared this with me and I cannot wait to do it!)
Today, we spent a while watching OKGO! music videos, including two of my all time favorites. These are classic, one-shot videos of brilliance. In fact, their creativity couldn't be contained in just one video; they had to make a second video for the same song. I love these {enjoy}:

p.s. love the broken pianos and television sets in the backgrounds (you can tell they had to run through this multiple times to get it right and in a good shot)

Confidence

This is one of our trainers at work, Tim,

reenacting his crushing blow to a clay

flower pot with a hammer.

{Applicable Emperor's New Groove quote:

"And I'll smash it with a hammer!!!!"}

Tim started the morning by having us sit at the table, close and cozy. He explained that we had been hired because we had some characteristics that were perfect for the job.

Then he placed the clay pot on the table.

I was fully anticipating some handfuls of soil and fertilizer with a chummy analogy about the training process adding to what we were already bringing to the table, me+company=plant/flower growing, etc.

Instead, he pulled a hammer out of nowhere

and clobbered the pot.

Remember, he just told me that the pot represented me.

He expounded upon what we understood through the surprising but brilliant object lesson:

sometimes, when you learn something new, you might feel like no one wants what you have to offer and you're never going to get it right. You might feel like you're getting shot down

and that no one understand you.

He explained that we were hired because we have what they want, but now they're molding us to be exactly what the company produces. Using what we have is super important, but it may feel like we're falling short. And when someone points out how they want you to change the work you're doing--especially when it's work that you're putting your heart and personal effort into--

that can be disheartening. 

So, what are we taking home from this?

1. I have a cool boss

2. Yeah, it sucks when someone corrects you,

 but we get that it's to help us succeed.

3. YOU are still the important, essential aspect in this equation,

and it is up to YOU to remember that.

Can you give me a personal example, Jess?

Yes, yes I can.

I was feeling all self-doubty and down on myself.

Because I let some of the comments at work make me

second-guess my capacity to do this job.

I lost confidence, and felt like I couldn't please anyone.

I felt like I was under a microscope all day at the office,

 and I couldn't wait to get back to my hotel room

 just so I could take a break from being scutinized.

Then, one night, I told myself, "Jess, to hell with them. You know they're just trying to help. But either way, whether they like your work or not, you are the one doing the job you were hired to do. So you are the one who gets to decide how you're going to do it."

The next day, I tried to put my heart back into my work and do my best.

But I got a few corrections from Tim and I faltered again.

So I said, "Tim, I feel like I'm failing a test everytime we work through this. I know I can do this. But I'm afraid to try because everything I do initiates four people's opinions and feedback. I know the feedback is meant to be productive, and it would be except that I shut down when I think I'm failing, and I'm interpreting the feedback as 'Hey, you're not doing that right.' I'm not asking you to change what you're doing. I'm just telling you what I'm thinking, because I'm going to stop thinking that, right now. And I need you to know, that I'm just going to do this the way I would do it."

He said, "Oh yeah. It's not a test at all. And you're doing great..." He basically told me what I knew: that I was right on course. Him telling me this did not give me my confidence.

Me telling him that I knew I could do it gave me my confidence.

I had the best day at work following that conversation,

 because I finally clicked into that magical place where you believe in yourself

and you allow yourself to do work without trying to please everyone.

Ironically, everyone is so happy

 because you're doing better work.

It's hard to remember that YOU know what YOU are doing.

Getting better, trying new things, being brave

these things sometimes make us feel like

someone is beating the crap out of us with a hammer.

Yeah, growing and becoming more than we are hurts.

But we can't forget that WE are still the essence of this experience.

Because of who we are right now, becoming better is a possibility. It doesn't mean that who we are isn't good. It means that who we are is so amazing that we're ready to become more.

And brilliantly, the way life works, everything we've become and experienced up until today has been preparing us for the things we're attempting now.

If you feel like you aren't cutting it,

remember that doubting yourself will halt your ability

to be yourself

and use the very talents and special skills that got you to this challenge in the first place.

You can do anything

if you believe that you can do anything.

Another day in the office

A good portion of my work this week involved

balloon art.

This is a crown that represents Brain Fireworks.

When you love learning and you work hard to

accomplish your goals, you'll have those "aHa!" moments

when everything clicks inside your brain.

Those are called brain fireworks.

Or, as Demetri said in the last assembly I performed at,

"Your mind explodes with learning!"

You have to make a really awesome crown for one lucky winner

each time you do a show.

So taking the time to practice is important.

And fun...

This is Nedina.

She stands in as the prize winner when we practice.

She's very chic and awesome.

Attack of the balloons.

Awesome scary face, no?

Andrew, my partner in crime and co-beingtrainedforthisnewjob-friend,

is afraid of balloons popping.

So we make him blow up all the balloons.

And then we stick them to the ceiling

and to everything else.

My job is so totally super cool

for a TON of reasons,

including the BALLOONS!

Other fun things I'm getting paid to do:

1. Practice making laser beam sound effects

2. Talk in funny voices, dialects, or just sing everything you say all day

3. Practice yoyo tricks anytime, anyplace

4. Color, with crayons

5. Talk into a microphone, and practice microphone techniques for enhancing sound effects

6. Travel around the beautiful cities in the Seattle area

7. Visit with kids and make them feel like heroes

8. Do research for the show...like watching Sponge Bob Square Pants, over and over again.

Honor

Dave Curtis {SBU Manager}, Me, Greg Black {my employee who is also in the National Guard}, Kim Watts {ESGR rep}

A wonderful thing happened today! The greatest surprise! 

I work as a supervisor, one of my employees, Greg,  is in the National Guard, he's a great guy.

Today, I see Greg carrying a framed certificate, accompanied by an official-looking man in a tweed suit jacket, loitering around the other supervisors' desks. I think, Aww, Greg must have been recognized for his service! I'm a little bummed that they seem to be coordinating a small awards ceremony with the other sups, but whatever--I'll at least tag along and see him be recognized.

Some people are gathered. My boss' boss included.

Imagine my surprise when GREG starts giving a speech, instead of the other guy.

He nominated me for an award, and wrote an essay, and it was given to me, because of what he said about me as an employer.

It says, "Office of the Secretary of Defense and Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve recognize Jessica Montgomery as a Patriotic Employer for contributing to National Security and Protecting Liberty and Freedom by supporting employee participation in America's National guard and Reserve Force."

I feel so incredibly honored. This may be the most meaningful recognition I've ever received.

The greatest honor of all is that Greg took the time to do this for me. I don't feel that I've done anything special to help him be able to participate in the guard. I suddenly feel like I should have been doing much, much more! I do honor and respect him so much for sacrificing to serve our country. His wife and children are so sweet and wonderful, too; I think very highly of their family.

I can't wait to show this to my dad. He taught me to love American history and to be aware of what the country is doing as a whole, what our rights are, and to participate as an active citizen. He is going to be so proud! I feel like this honor reflects upon all that he taught me, and actually honors and respects him.

Another manager here, Clint Grace (also my former boss), told me that this award isn't given frequently. "It's quite prestigous and really, a big deal," he said.

Jimmie doughnuts

I made fresh homemade doughnuts in the office for my team.

I made the dough the night before. Key ingredients: sour cream AND buttermilk. Oh yeah.

I brought my little FryDaddy right into the conference room and soon the warm, delicious smell of fried goodness was wafting through the office.

Did I mention the frosting varieties included not only cinammon-sugar and creamy chocolate, but also a CREAM CHEESE GLAZE? Oohhhh yeah.

"I bet your team adores you," P said to me once.

I bet they do...who could resist these?