About Me

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan.  And guess what they have planned for you?  Not much.”

– Jim Rohn

In Liberia, an extra “oh” is added to the end of every thought – sort of like the West African take on the Canadian “eh.”  When I moved to Liberia a couple years ago, the first thing I noticed was how happy the “oh” always sounded – almost like a verbal silver lining.  Even “I’m trying, oh” (the Liberian equivalent for “I’m really having a tough time right now”) seemed like there was a positive end to the “trying” in sight.

Attorney Me…Post-Africa

I moved back to the U.S. right before the Christmas of 2010, and it seemed like the “trying” stowed-away in my luggage without the “oh.”  This blog is about me- a writer, gone lawyer, gone educator, gone lobbyist, going who-knows-where – as I try to figure out what having it all means to me and put a little of the “Oh” back in my life…

…beginning with a big move to Austin, Texas in the summer of 2012 with my partner in crime, our two mutts, and whatever we can fit in, on, and strapped to the back of a Uhaul truck.  I can have it all.  My all.  And here’s what my all looks like…

• To quote Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney, I’m a lover not a fighter.  I want to be able to give and love and help, which is one of the reasons I love the idea of being a mom as part of my career. 
• Related to that, I enjoy teaching – helping people gain knowledge and understanding – and not just classroom teaching.  Public education, educating legislators, etc.  I truly believe that lack of education is the root of the problems in the U.S., if not the world.
• Collaboration, working as a team – this is where former cheerleader in me comes out and I just want some of that good, old-fashioned team spirit!  I always wanted to create team t-shirts for my previous employer, and am pretty excited about having a pink t-shirt from my current employer that says “women are watching, and we vote.”
• That being said, I also like an amount of autonomy – a space within which I have the freedom to do my own thing.
• I love, love, love to work with creative, organized, fun-loving, and forward-thinking people.  People who would blow the roof off of academic standards, but also can really think outside the box to find solutions.  And people who try to see things from every side, in order to figure out the direction to go in (I have a pretty low tolerance for working with idiots or people who don’t take pride in their work).
• I’ve learned that I like a combination of “office” settings – one where it’s routine enough that you can rely on the people you work with, but also one where working from home or on the road is permissible and effective.  At a prior job, I had a tiny laptop and a smart phone so I really could be connected anywhere and I could get things accomplished even when I was say, driving to Colorado to see my sister, or home sick with the cold from hell.
• I also love being able to travel, both for work and because my work gives me enough time off/flexibility to travel.
• Topically, I am drawn to issues relating to incarceration, conditions of confinement, the United States Constitution, international development, legal writing, and literary theory (particularly deconstructionism and its relationship to both the constitution and the Vedas).
• I really enjoy research and writing, but I also really love balance – a balance between that head work and actually, physically getting out and talking to/working with people.  I need both or I can get a little crazy (if you know me, you’re probably nodding your head right now).
• I need balance between time spent at or on work and time for myself.  I want a family and exercise and a garden and a well-used kitchen…and a great relationship with my partner in crime.
  

  More fun in Liberia

• I like the feeling of security, which has led me to enjoy working for established organizations…or more to the point, working for other people who have all the risk.  If I felt secure in working for myself, then that option would be more of a possibility for me.
• I need to be able to make enough money to pay my bills (Read: Student Loans), have some fun and travel, and actually have saving or retirement.  And I like knowing how much I am regularly taking in, so that I can plug it into my budgeting spreadsheet for planning purposes.
• I want to be seen in my professional (and personal) life as reliable and honest – someone who people can call when they need answers, and who they can trust to just admit it when she doesn’t know…and then she will go help them find what they need.
• I also want to be able to grow and learn.  This is also why I like surrounding myself with smart, creative people and being able to travel to new and (very) different places.

That’s all I want.  Easy peasy, right?  Thanks for stopping by and “joining” me on my adventure 🙂

Disclaimer/Privacy Policy: And, as an attorney, I have to add the legalese – this is my personal blog.  Therefor, the views and opinions expressed here represent my own and not that of my employer(s) – past, present, or future.