We were at Buttermilk Falls the other evening (Owen's favorite spot these days) and a woman from the Ithaca Post asked if she could use some photo's of us in her article. It's thanks to Lucy; none of us were too keen on hiking in the actual falls...we'd seen enough people slipping around, but her sense of adventure (which I have to say I am pleased about) wouldn't let up and she talked us into it.
http://theithacapost.com/
A few weeks before Easter I was involved in a Musical Presentation called "Come Unto Christ." I just wanted to remember that I'd been a part of it and thoroughly enjoyed my experience. In the weeks leading up to the presentation we had numerous rehearsals for the choir and a trio I was singing in. These rehearsals took place when I was the most sick during this pregnancy and it was always hard to get myself out the door--a sense of responsibility is the only thing that keeps me getting out during those times. Once I was there and surrounded by dear friends and the beautiful music I always felt uplifted and buoyed up and was glad I had gone.
There were a few weeks where in addition to feeling sick I was having great difficulty sleeping at night. Managing everything was starting to get hard. The song from our trio number was called "Cast Your Burden on The Lord." The lines in the song came to my mind and maybe for the first time in my life I felt truly willing to keep my challenges but let the Lord help me through them. I think usually even though I TRY to be willing to keep the challenge, if I am honest with myself I am half hoping the Lord will kind of just make it disappear.
This day was different. When the words in that song came to my mind it must have penetrated a little deeper because I knew the right thing was not to ask for help to sleep, but to ask for help to continue fulfilling my responsibility's to myself and family with the sleep I did get, and try to be patient with being sick for even more hours of the day. Then I had the impression that I should take note of every time I was able to accomplish something that would have normally been hard for me under the circumstance--like be patient with my two year old :)
Gospel truths are priceless to me. They lead me to the most treasured experiences in my life. I am grateful for the scriptures, the words of prophets, sacred hymns and wonderful people around me who live by them and show me a great example of the joy that comes as you try to do so.
Yes Paul. Just like ear Tubes, babies eventually naturally "fall" out. Ours is still scheduled to fall out sometime mid-September and yes we do know we are having a boy. I guess I could have mentioned that earlier seeing as we found out at my 15 week Ultra Sound. It was pretty clear. Thanks for the little push to get that announcement out! :)
Lucy and I made a paper chain counting down the days that Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) were coming to visit us. However, Lucy thought it was too beautiful to rip the papers off each day so it is still decorating her wall......but they came nonetheless and we had a perfect visit.
A quick trip to the beach in Connecticut
And the hair do she asks for everyday--one braid down the side. (Well she actually asks for a braid down each side....we'll stick with one.)
"Bubble bubble POP! "
My Cousin had to write a report about China and asked if he could send Kurt and I a survey with 18 or so questions. It took a bit of time to fill out, but it really got my wheels turning again about my experience overseas.
One question asked what I missed about living there. Mostly I miss the funny, random, and unexpected things you see EACH day. A horse pulling a cart of watermelons on the busy city street, someone who has a love seat tied up to the back of their bicycle, a women hunched over a two foot straw broom sweeping the snow off the sidewalk, etc.
One thing I really miss is the Pizza Hut salad bar...but not because I like the selection there. I myself don't prefer that type of a salad but I enjoyed watching all the local costumers make their plates . You might see three family members orchestrating the one time through salad bar at Pizza Hut ensuring their salad would reach four feet before returning to their table. I especially got laughing when I did a google search to see if I could find a photo example and came directly to this blog post.....it says it all.
http://sirhoe.blogspot.com/2006/02/how-to-eat-cheap-pizza-hut-salad.html
In case you don't make it that far I'll try to get one good photo
It's a bit of an exaggeration, but it will do!
Kurt was able to take a nine day trip to Europe in conjunction with one of the classes he is taking this semester. The first morning after he'd left Lucy came and climbed into bed with me and happened to look over and see the bathroom door open and said, "The bathroom sure is going to be less stinky this week..." I'll just end the quote there even though she used some specifics. I started laughing and nodded in agreement (sorry Kurt.) We just had to look at the bright side of him being gone for so long.
We are surviving. Some good moments, plenty of overwhelming ones, a few bored, a few lonely, and too many sick moments. I am pregnant!! Yeah! It is great news, but has left me a little out of my element the past few months. On the brighter side of things it has not been as bad as past pregnancy's and I think I am starting to pull out of it. Baby is due middle of Sept.
Maybe more to come soon???
Dear Family,
Lucy had two birthday parties this year, one at home with Mom, Dad and Owen and the other two days later in Utah with her extended family. She requested a lady bug cake again. I think she had spent too much time looking at the photos of her year old birthday where she also had a lady bug cake. Everyone must have gone behind my back and announced that it was to be a princess theme birthday because all of her presents were princess related and she was in heaven! This must be a result of nature and not nurture.
During all this fun Kurt was stuck in Ithaca finishing up his finals, finalizing summer internship plans (with Sun Microsystems in the Bay area) and killing five mice who were taking over our home. I was so glad to be out of town during that and so very glad to not know there were five of those little critters running around while I was there! At the completion of his semester he was awarded a research assistantship with Cornell’s Center for Advanced Research Studies. This is such a blessing for two reasons—it will enhance his education as he works closely with key faculty members and fortune 500 companies and we’ll receive additional funding to lessen our school debt. We initially had reservations about choosing Cornell, knowing the second year of Kurt’s schooling could be extremely expensive. With this assistantship our school debt will be less then any other school he would have attended. Heavenly Father has been mindful of us—we know this and appreciate it.
Christmas in Utah was awesome. It’s the first time in four years since we’ve been back for the holidays and we were ready for it. We are grateful to Val who spent a lot of time and effort getting fancy gingerbread houses set up for Kurt after she heard it was something he wanted to do. In the end Kurt and I spent over 3 hours trying to decorate it and only finished ¼ of it. (POOR DECISION MAKERS!) If you want to finish the project for us, it is probably tucked away in a corner at Val’s. Lucy had hers finished in no time at all and it is very cute. One more example of nature not nurture.
Another Holiday Highlight was going to a cabin for our first Doug and Val Whitaker reunion. The hot tub was a big success, and many of us fell to dares of jumping in the snow, and then back into the hot “stinging” water. Luckily shoveling snow was fun too, not only did Scott, Kurt, Ashlee and others shovel the long driveway, but they shoveled out half of the street leading up to the driveway as well. After many hours on the job we were able to fit all five cars in the driveway and dinner was on the table by 10 p.m. though Doug was not there to enjoy it. He was still on the road close to midnight, his car battling through the last hours of its life. The next day picture Brent in his car with a ham radio (good thing he is so proficient) and Doug being toed in his car with his ham radio, trying to communicate about when to hit the brakes. After a few hours they gave up making it to St. George and left Doug’s broken down car—later to be donated to “Kidney Kars.”
A few days before we were getting ready to head back to Ithaca, Owen turned ONE! We tricked everyone by telling them to come for a game night, and then turned it into Owens birthday party. Ok, not planned but it did happen that way. We also invited Kurt’s brother Ryan and his family to join in the festivities. Owen was awesome--he had his hand in the cake before the plate even hit the table and he didn’t stop. He was MESSY!! He is such a boy and Lucy is such a girl. Blake and Maya (Kurt’s nephew and niece) thought it was hilarious to watch a baby dig in like that and after the cake was taken away Blake mentioned this was the best birthday part he had ever been too. It is a good tradition--thank you to whoever started it! Other Owen highlights would include Owens special drinking habits. The poor kid can’t swallow; he chokes on everything and tries to solve it by just drinking more and more, this creates a sprinkler effect shooting from the two corners of his mouth, drenching himself and anyone on either side of him. This has proven to be a problem in Ithaca’s cold weather. Just yesterday he left a restaurant with shirts and pants soaked through. Owen started walking and mastered the stairs while we were staying with Grandma and Grandpa; he is short and just little so it is fun to watch him toddle around. He tries to sing along with me when I put him to sleep but it comes out as more of a moan, it is a good effort though. He likes to lead the music and as far as dancing goes, he has perfected head banging—even if its hymns. Owen loves to look at books and talks on one of his many phones often throughout the day. He has a toothbrush fetish--he owns at least five, but still always just wants mine. He and Lucy are starting to play together more, and the sound of their laughter brightens my days.
Last but not least, perhaps the most valuable part of our holidays has been the short visits we’ve had with Grandpa Blackham. To see him in good spirits; laughing, smiling, crying and enjoying each moment, our time with him was both insightful and fun. One of the more poignant examples was on Christmas Eve at the Whitakers when Val was giving her gift to grandpa. She had made an ornament and explained that the two jewels in the middle represented Gus and Lulie. They were fused together as one and there were rays of light coming from the jewel representing the light and influence possessed by grandma and grandpa. While I can’t do justice to the message, the bond between father and daughter and between husband and wife was evident in the many tears shed. The spirit was strong and testified of families and Gods purposes. We sure love grandpa and are so grateful for this wonderful family that he has so nobly led over the years.
Dear Family,
Lucy started school recently. School in this case equals 2 hours of painting and dress ups 3 times a week. Lucy has loved it and enjoys wearing different color clothing for different color days. Lucy also made the leap and had her first hair cut since birth, unless you count the time we cut the duck tail at 3 months. She is constantly commenting on how long her hair has gotten since her cut (3 weeks ago.) “Wow mom, my hair is getting so long” (as she tilts her head down as far as she can to make her hair reach down.) “I’m going to have to get a hair cut soon.” Or “Look at her hair, wow she really needs to get her hair cut.”
Lucy has also discovered the show Little Einstein’s and wants to watch it every day. As a result one of Owen’s first and most clearly spoken words is “pat.” Anyone who has watched the show knows they have to pat pat pat their legs to get the rocket moving. Owen chimes right in and can be seen at random times through out the day with a huge smile on his face patting himself saying “pat pat pat.” Owen also says craka (craker), dee (deer), beebee (binky), seesee (Lucy), shhhh (shoe) dada, mama, baby and UH UH! We hear that one a lot but so far it is cute. We’ll ask him, “Owen can I have kisses?” and he will smile his cute flirtatious smile and shake his head “uh uh.” Or “Owen it’s time to change diapers” smile, shake head “uh uh.” Then run for it! He’s cute. And yes he is running these days. He is fastest when he has taken a toy that he knows Lucy wants, or he’s just put a delicious rock in his mouth that he wants to swish around for a bit before I can fish it out. He also has a “safe spot.” When he’s got something he knows he shouldn’t have, he makes a beeline for the computer chair; because of it’s placement near the wall he can use it as a buffer. If I go right, he goes left; if I go left he goes right. I just love watching him sprint for the chair then turn to face his opponent—ME! When he is caught prematurely he throws a horrible fit. What is cute now will not be so cute later! And last but not least I thoroughly enjoy watching Owen dismount from Lucy’s bike. He is pretty good at getting on, but getting off has proven to be more difficult. So when he’s had his fun on the bike he kind of propels himself off—flopping to the floor then get’s up and gets busy again. He is so smooth.
As for me, I started updating our blog from 2 years ago, and we’ll see how that goes. I’m trying it out for the year and then we’ll see what happens after that. We kind of miss calculated our budget a little bit, so this quarter I’ve spent more time and energy trying to be even more frugal and that actually has been fine. No fresh flowers in my house thoughL. We’ve all been sick a lot the past three months--me the least of us four though, that’s taken up a chunk of my time and energy. I’ve started exercising more regularly and a little more intensely; I am thinking about training for something, I don’t know what, but it just sounds fun to be in good shape again, and I did enjoy my trip to Utah for grandpa’s funeral. Only the kids and I made it out. It was wonderful to hear all the stories shared from Grandpa’s life, and the comments made by all the grandchildren about grandpa. Watching home videos at Butch and Phoebe’s was another highlight. I’ve been able to have a few simple conversations with friends not of our faith about my anticipation of being with my grandma and grandpa again and that is always a great experience. It is different looking at the picture I have of G. and G. on our dresser now. I most often feel so happy for them that they made it, and encouraged with the thought that they may be checking in on me from time to time. I don’t know how that works, but I still feel their love in all that they did for us while they were here with us. I’m glad that together we all share the commonality of having Grandma and Grandpa as part of our lives. We love you all!
Kurt, Mel, Lucy and Owen
Dear Family,
It’s been a busy few months. Back In August we were able to host Kent, Jennie, and Family in Mountain View CA. just before finishing up our internship with Sun Microsystems. It was so much fun having them with us for a week. Being the first time Kaden and Coleman had seen the Ocean, their excitement was contagious. I’m not sure how many trips to the beach we made that week but it was enough that Millie was saddle sore from her sandy wet suit. She walked bowlegged for a few days which kept us laughing, when she wasn’t crying. In the middle of their stay, we joined the nelsons and Curtis’s for a fun day at Marine World. Lucy begged to go back multiple times as this was clearly a highlight of her summer. She made it a point to hug every Looney tune character she came across although we had never seen a cartoon with these characters before.
Since our return to Ithaca Mel has been ooohing and aaahing at everything Ithaca has to offer. We really do love this area and are continually impressed at all the activities open to us here, mostly the outdoors. We have been back to our beloved farmers market, we’ve been back multiple times to the Cornell plantations, we’ve hiked around lakes and bridges, and we even ventured out one cold night for a camping trip which resulted in Owen and Dad heading home at Midnight to avoid the freezing temperatures. Mel and Lucy toughed it out alone and best of all, Mel doesn’t want to go camping every weekend anymore. We also took advantage of the plantations and old Cornell architecture to have our first family pictures done. We’ve seen a few of these and are excited to see the rest soon.
In September, we took a little family outing to exotic Buffalo. We had wanted to see some gradeschool/highschool friends who are living there. We toured the Buffalo Bills stadium--He plays for the Buffalo Bills, and then visited with them and their cute girls in their home. They treated us to a "Chicken Finger" Pizza, which Mel LOVED. It was pizza with a white sauce (not red), LETTUCE, tomatoes, secret-sauce chicken fingers and who knows what else on top. Sounds creepy, but it was awesome. Too bad it’s only found in Buffalo. It was so enjoyable visiting with them and learning about their families’ life amidst a career in the NFL. They are an inspiring couple and we’re so glad we made it out there.
Kurt is back to recruiting. This time for a full-time job that will begin next summer. It’s been an interesting experience that is keeping him good and confused. We’re trying to figure out locations, career paths, family needs, and other considerations that must go into the decision making mix. On Kurt’s most recent recruiting trip to Minnesota, the kids and I came along and we all enjoyed a few days with Greg, Amy, and family. It was such a great trip. When Amy picked us up in their new/used 12 passenger van—I new it was going to be amazing. I so enjoyed talking with Amy while the kids played in a perfectly Owen proofed house (that was incredible—I could actually relax a bit). Lucy went to a Burt and Ernie play with Greg, Susanna, and Stuart our first night there, so Amy and I stayed up talking some more. Day by day you could sense Susanna, Stuart and Lucy getting more and more comfortable with each other and enjoying each others company. By Sunday night they were dancing, laughing, running around like a bunch of goofs while we watched “The Music Man” and loving their time together. I even think I heard some fighting over who got to sit by Lucy in the car that day…so the trip was a success. Eli and Owen played well considering their ages and personalities, a few minor struggles were easily taken care of in-between more chatting between Amy and I. In the evenings and weekend when Greg and Kurt were around we stayed up talking and laughing about childhood memories and eating delicious Halloween treats that Amy baked for us. We also made it out on a fun seasonal trip to a local orchard, picked apples, ran through the corn maze and watched goats climbing on a barn roof. Saturday evening some of us went to the Mall of America. It was huge and amazing but it was still a mall. I just don’t love them, so we didn’t stay long. Thanks again Greg and Amy for showing us such a great time. I could absolutely live in Minnesota.
If there was a prize for cutest one year old in a Halloween costume this year….I think Owen might have won it. I honestly would stare at him and watch him walk around our various parties and trick-or-treatings that we did this year and couldn’t get over how cute he was. Maybe I will buy him glasses forever. Thanks to Cami and Jennie for all their work in last summers Harry Potter party, I just put him in the costume that he wouldn’t wear last summer and now he loved it. Owen was Harry Potter!!--cape, lightning scar and those glasses. He kept those dark large glasses on with his little nose poking out under the large rims and his cute serious look on his face. He couldn’t believe people were giving him all that candy. His hand was gripped so tightly to that bucket handle I think his knuckles were turning white, and by the end of Halloween night Owen was saying “treat..treat” at ever door then leaving saying “tank you………so much.” It was really too adorable and everyone was mushing over him. We even had a lady lament that she didn’t have a working camera that night because she had never seen a cuter pair of kids….maybe she was just nice, but I agreed with her. It was too fun; I might just pull out that costume whenever I need a good laugh.
My Grandma and Grandpa started a "gift of love" project for our extended family years ago. It is a chance for us to come together as a large family group and put forth our efforts in a common service activity during the Christmas season. This year my moms youngest sister chose the project and we received our package explaining it all in October. My aunt invited us to read the book "The Ultimate Gift." In the book it refers to a series of gifts such as gratitude, laughter, hard work, friends, giving, problems, etc. We were to choose a couple of gifts and work on related service activities. We've been sharing our experiences on a family list serve. I look forward to my gift of love package each year. I am so grateful for the wonderful family that I have!
We spent the month of November putting a pine cone in a jar every time we felt grateful for something someone had done for us. We had a second jar to fill every time we did a good deed to someone else, encompassing the gift of gratitude and the gift of giving. Lucy LOVED it. Kurt is focusing on the gift of family, making efforts to call his siblings more often. I am working on the gift of learning, by trying to get things organized so I can volunteer as a tutor next semester when Kurt's school load isn't so heavy. We love this extra boost to get us thinking about what really matters and trying to improve areas of our lives that will increase our happiness and potentially bless others as well. It gets us heading in the right direction to honor the birth of the Savior and feel his love for us and any others we get to serve.
This is not just a pose--this love and this bond is real! I feel it with my own siblings and count it one of my greatest blessings. It started way back when.
When Kurt Johnson MILR ’10 was an undergraduate business major at Brigham Young University, he heard about China in nearly every class. Realizing that China had become a powerful force in global commerce, Johnson and his wife made a bold decision.
“When I graduated with my business degree, I didn’t know what I wanted to do; I just knew that going to China and learning Chinese seemed like a smart thing,” says Johnson. “So a month after graduation, my wife and I moved to Beijing. We had no jobs! We just picked up and left.”
Johnson landed on his feet, finding a job in human resources at Beijing United Family Hospital and Clinics. It was a brave and strategic decision, one that exemplifies both his nature and the quality of students in the Master of Industrial and Labor Relations (MILR) degree program at the Cornell ILR School (Industrial and Labor Relations).
Doing Real Work for Real Companies
Johnson leapt into his graduate work as well, supplementing his book learning with a series of real projects for real companies. For an online research techniques course taught by Stuart Basefsky, ILR’s senior reference librarian, Johnson researched the Employee Free Choice Act, at the request of The Gap. He gave the company tips on how to prepare for its possible enactment. “This is a hot topic in HR right now,” says Johnson. “I picked it because I wanted to be a subject matter expert on it.”
For the same class, he also researched whether the phenomenon of baby boomers delaying retirement during the economic downturn will affect the future talent shortage for Archer Daniels Midland Company. In their research, Johnson and his team members found that “the shortage of talent may be on hiatus today, thanks to continued layoffs that feed an already large pool of available talent, but the talent crisis definitely isn’t over.”
Johnson has also found that his Chinese work and language experience are already very helpful for companies. In a course about leadership taught by HR Studies department chair Lee Dyer, he and other student team members worked on a project for Merck about attracting and retaining key talent in China and India.
“It was a meaty, hands-on experience which put me right in front of a company and a real issue,” says Johnson. “From working on this project, I learned more about the global complexities of HR. Although China and India now have massive educated populations, companies doing business there still find it hard to recruit key talent pools. Looking at Merck’s issues showed how difficult some of these human resources challenges are. There’s not necessarily a perfect answer out there. You’re just trying to develop something that’s better.”
Bringing Research to CAHRS Companies
Johnson has also done real world work through his research assistantship with the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS). Each semester, three CAHRS research assistants (RAs) focus on a specific question for all partner companies. In spring 2009, they studied employee engagement, a particularly important factor in companies weathering the recession.
In their report, Keeping the Workforce Engaged During Crisis, Johnson, along with fellow RAs Rex Fitzpatrick and Kelley Joy, discovered that “there was no one size fits all answer in terms of keeping employees engaged,” says Johnson. “Everybody has their own program, and it makes sense, because every company has different needs.”
Helping a Company in Transition
It seems like a lot of experience to pack into the academic year, and it is. But Johnson also spent summer 2009 using his Chinese connections while interning for Sun Microsystems in Ventura, California. The company, currently in a drawn-out acquisition by Oracle, gave him a lot of chances to see how workers in transition need support.
“It wasn’t so much of an intern experience as it was a real employee experience,” he says, because many human resource employees had already been laid off in anticipation of the acquisition.
While at Sun, he prepared documentation for worker layoffs, investigated employee relations complaints, and organized and conducted four focus groups of Sun employees in Beijing, China and St. Petersburg, Russia to survey their communication needs.
He enjoyed in particular the internal process of addressing employee complaints. “It was fun to resolve a case,” says Johnson, “to leave people in a situation where they’re satisfied with the outcome or at least they understand it. Meeting the needs of individuals—it’s human resources’ purpose and the core of business.”
“The thing that I think distinguished Kurt’s performance for me was that because he has had prior experience before going to Cornell he has a level of maturity,” says his internship mentor, Vivienne Nigro, senior human resources director at Sun Microsystems. “In the HR function it is almost impossible to be effective unless you project confidence and have good relationship and influencing skills. Because of Kurt’s level of maturity, he was able to approach vice presidents, directors, and managers equally well.”
“Kurt has distinguished himself as one of the top students in the MILR class of 2010 through both his strong academic performance and thoughtful participation in class discussions,” says Christopher Collins, CAHRS director and associate HR professor. “His international business experience has given him insight into a different business and cultural environment, but also taught him how to make tough decisions and work collaboratively to get tasks completed.”
Nigro, who has hosted previous ILR interns, notes that Johnson is carrying on the ILR high quality tradition. “The Cornell ILR School training is so appropriately focused to the kind of work that HR is doing in more leading-edge companies,” says Nigro.
Caring for People
While Johnson has had plenty of projects at Cornell, he also has had a little time away from the work world to reflect on and develop his philosophy of human resources.
“Ultimately, the purpose of life is to grow and develop as a person, to become better,” says Johnson. “HR’s responsibility is to take that on for people in a company. I want to help people achieve things that they didn’t think they could do. I believe that having happy, productive people is honestly the best way to get business results. I think it’s a win-win situation.”
For Johnson, his Cornell ILR and CAHRS experiences are also a win-win. While receiving a world-class education to further his HR career, he’s also providing real help to CAHRS partners by searching out the latest in HR research to help them survive and thrive. And one lucky CAHRS partner, Citi, will soon be the full-time beneficiary of that experience and education—when Johnson completes his degree next year, he'll begin a job with the company in their two-year HR associate rotation program.
