Monday Motivation

This is the first Monday in oh, about 11 weeks that I've felt motivated for the week ahead. Felt like I had a plan of attack. I think part of it is my delicious strawberry banana smoothie (doesn't it look tasty?), part of it is the sunshine that is streaming through my bedroom windows and part of it is that I'm FINALLY ready to move on and accept the fact that while I don't have a job at Meredith that doesn't mean that my journalism career is over. Just typing that makes me sit up a little straighter.

I'm off to a good start. It's only 8:23 and already I'm showered, dressed, and eating breakfast. That hasn't happened in awhile. Now it's time to start networking and generating assignments.

There is one project that I already have, and I'm super excited about. I'm going to be helping my friend and fellow creative genius Sarah Kay (check out her blog, she's amazing!) create a website! We've purchased a domain name (which I'll reveal at a later date) and my job this week is to figure out how to customize a template in Wordpress. Anyone have any tips? I'll keep you posted on my progress.

And if you think the smoothie looks delicious, you can make it! I promise. All you need is:
1 banana
1 cup strawberries (or any berry)
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
a splash of milk
5 ice cubes
Blend and enjoy!

The Sound of Silence

I'm just digging into the latest issue of Relevant (I can't believe it's the 6th year anniversary!) and love this thought on silence:

"I think the devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements: noise, hurry, crowds...Satan is quite aware of the power of silence." Jim Elliot

It's so easy to go through our days constantly "plugged in" to our computers, ipods, phones, tv, radio. When's the last time you drove somewhere and weren't listening to the radio, returning a phone call, and checking e-mail? I've been trying to drive places in silence at least once a day. It's amazing how much calmer I feel when I get to my destination. (Although as I head on a 10 hour drive to MI tomorrow you can guarantee I'll be listening to music and books on tape to hold my attention :)

Online Tools for Journalists

Let me take you for a ride. A social media ride that is...
(picture courtesy of michicat's flickr)

In the past, my blog has usually been more personal and entertaining, so if you aren't interested in learning about how to connect professionally using social media, skip this post. I will note that I may be blogging about these topics more in the future, unless I decide to start a completely different blog. I haven't decided yet.

I resisted joining Twitter until this weekend. (You can now follow me @andreacooley) I didn't feel the need to keep people updated all all the little ins and outs of my life. But I realized that while some people use Twitter strictly for personal reasons (updating the world on what they are eating for lunch and when they are taking a nap, there are even more people who use the tool to start conversations with people about anything from social media to job searches, to news updates. It's kind of addicting! Chris Snider described it as "social listening" or "finding out what people are saying about a given topic."

Check out Google Trends to see what searches are peeking. Right now the top 3 are: scoot coupe, maia campbell, and facebook worm.

I also learned about a ton of tools that make the time I spend on line more efficient. I set up Google Reader to pull content from news sites and blogs I visit into one place.

The attitude of journalists today, whether you're marketing a product, telling a story, or looking for information is changing. Instead of being stagnant and expecting sources to come to you, we need to seek them out online. This may mean striking up a conversation on Twitter with someone, starting a group on Facebook, or recommending a coworker on LinkedIn.

I'm realizing even more how important my "web presence" is. When someone googles "Andrea Cooley" I want them to find me and to have a good first impression.

I don't know that I will ever upload video or host a live-chat on my blog, but now I know how too. Ask me if you want more information.

Adam refuses to join Facebook, but he is all about his LinkedIn profile. I think I'm starting to understand its importance, especially as I'm trying to find a job. It is my online resume and a snapshot of my professional life...

I realize this is getting long, but here are some final thoughts:
What is the purpose of my blog? What do I want its focus to be? Whether I realize it or not, it is a platform for me to expound on and build a following. What is my expertise?

And finally, in the words of Mike Sansone "Google is your new resume and your URL is your business card."

Social Media

I have spent the day at a social-media seminar at Drake University. I am overflowing with tweets, posts, alerts, readers, feeds, etc.

I am networking and discovering new blogs such as: catch-26
svanaartsen
andydrish.com

Let me process all this and come back tomorrow.

Thaw

Drip Drop.
Drip Drop.
Snow piles melt
Run down the walk
To the street,
Slow and sure.
Drip Drop.
Rays of sun
Burn through the mound out back.
Once white and pure
Now a brown mess.
Drip Drop
Drip Drop.
The snow is gone
But there is no green grass.
And then,
Just when you think spring has sprung.
A flake falls.
So white and clean.
Then two flakes, then three
They add up
Slow at first
Then fast
Coat the dirt, the sand and grime
So white and pure
Cold and bright
What a sight

magazine lover

Hypothetically speaking, if you see a cart sitting in the parking garage of the public library with magazines on it and nobody is there to claim them is it stealing if you take one of them home with you? Especially if it has a cover like this? Seriously, who can resist cupcakes? I'll be honest. I flipped through this issue at Barnes and Noble recently and wasn't willing to fork over $5 for it (and I wonder why the magazine industry is floundering these days). The real kicker is that this is a magazine that I subscribed to at work, so normally I would have a copy to enjoy myself and not have to mooch off B&N, but those days are gone for now. So when I saw an innocent copy sitting out I grabbed it...

Writing

I don't feel like a writer these days. But even as I type that I wonder what a writer really is. Do you have to be published to be a writer? Do you have to write every day? Do people have to know that you write? And even though I can answer yes to each of these questions, there is still a part of me doesn't always feel like a writer. A voice in my head says I'm not creative like so and so. I don't have a blog that I post to frequently enough, or that very many people read, etc, etc. (Can you see what a personal critic I am of myself?)

I started leading another creative writing workshop at the Mitchelville Women's Prison last week and one of the first things I said to the women is "A writer is someone who writes." I guess I should listen to what I say and take it to heart.

When I was an editor I wrote. It was part of my job description, and I got paid to do it. But even before I was an editor I was a writer. I think I have always been a writer. It's something that is a part of me as much as my curly hair, love of dark chocolate, and love of the sun and a good book.

I have been doing some writing during this time of transition, looking for jobs, whatever you want to call it. Most of it has been personal journaling, but I've also done some writing for an online magazine, veritasmag.com. I forget that I'm always writing, whether I realize it or not. Maybe it's just typing e-mails or writing a cover letter, but it's still writing. I'm expressing myself through words on the page. In my mind I think I tend to elevate the title of writer as something or someone that I can't possibly achieve. That's when I need the little voice in my head to gently remind me that "A writer is someone who writes." And at the end of the day, regardless of what the words say, I can always find something to write about.

I just discovered ted.com. The first talk I listened to was Elizabeth Gilbert's talk about Genius. I enjoyed her book, Eat, Pray, Love and loved what she had to say about the creative genius. If you have 19 minutes, it's definitely worth checking out. Hopefully now I will take a little over the pressure off myself and let myself write.

This is my first experience with ted.com, but I'm fascinated. I guess it's been around for 25 years, so I have a lot of catching up to do! TED stands for: technology, entertainment, and design. Each year there is a conference with 50 speakers who have 18 minutes each to talk about their passion in these areas. Past speakers have included Al Gore, Bill Gates, and Bono.

Winter Comforts

I'll be the first to say that I was more than happy to turn the calendar page on January to February. Does anyone else think that having 31 days of January is just a little too brutal? Obviously the past month has been particularly rough in my world besides the cold, snow, and ice, but today it's in the 40s and sunny. The sky is blue and water is trickling down the side of our building, pooling on the sidewalks, racing toward storm drains.

There are a few comforts that I've found during these long, dreary days and most of them revolve around food or drink of some sort. There's the obvious homemade chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese and tomato soup. But if you're looking for a tasty, warm drink, consider spiking your hot chocolate with coconut rum. As Lynn would say it's the only way they drink hot cocoa in the islands. And don't forget chili and cornbread. I think I could make this every single week and Adam wouldn't complain. And of course he loves the leftovers it promises. I am always up for a good tuna noodle casserole (sometimes I cheat and make it from the box) but Adam prefers my tuna salad sandwiches, so that's where our fish quota came from today. What are your best winter comfort foods?

On a more random note, I was doing my weekly shopping at Hy-Vee yesterday. And you know how you kind of zone out when you're shopping. You have each aisle memorized and turn on auto-pilot and go. Well, maybe it's just my favorite Hy-Vee in Windsor Heights, but they've reorganized! Nothing drastic, but the tuna is definitely one aisle over, the cereal and granola bar aisle looks different (I haven't figured out what it is yet) and the juice and soda are now in the same aisle. A very helpful man, with a smile of course, asked if I was finding everything OK and informed me that they were updating their stock, getting rid of things that didn't sell and bringing in 600 new items! We'll see what's new next week. But for now I have to pay closer attention.

Also, I finally finished reading Anna Karenina! It is quite the accomplishment and I realized I'm not quite ready to put it back on the shelf. It's been sitting around for over a month and I think the coffee table will look naked without it. So I'll leave her out a few more days. But now I'm ready for some fluffy chic lit and mindless beach reads as I head to Florida to visit family this weekend and soak up some sun.

Bird By Bird

"Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."

E.L. Doctorow

I'm reading Bird By Bird, by Anne Lamott and even though I'm not writing a novel, I'm not really writing anything specific at the moment, this quote rang true for me and I think for anyone who's ever spent any time writing.

You've Got Mail

A friend recommended You've Got Mail as a good movie to watch while I'm in this time of transition, grieving one job and starting to look for another. It's one of my favorites. I've been thinking about watching it all week and this afternoon was the perfect chance to curl up on the couch and enjoy some classic Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan chemistry.

Before I've always watched the movie as a romantic comedy, which it is, but it's also about losing something you love. A part of your life. One part, toward the end, really stuck out to me. Meg Ryan's character Kathleen has closed her children's bookstore and is home sick. Her nemesis Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), owner of Fox Books Superstore, that put her out of business, comes over to see how she's doing. He says something along the lines of "It wasn't personal, it was business" and she says, "but it was personal." And she talks about how anything worth doing becomes personal. Her store was about more than the books, it was about the people. As much as I hate to admit it, my job was personal. I found fulfillment in it. I loved the people that I worked with and the readers. I was proud of the product we produced. And while the world will survive without another pretty decorating magazine, there will be a void where Country Home used to live.

There's another scene in the movie, when Kathleen announces that she will be closing the store and one of her employees says "Closing the store is the brave thing to do. Daring to imagine that you could have a different life. You feel like a failure now, but you're not. You are marching into the unknown armed with nothing..." At the moment I have no idea what my brave unknown is. And I hate not knowing. But I'm trying to be patient. I know God has a plan for me, a vision for my life. Right now I want it to be something in magazines or publishing, or something that is creative and has to do with writing and editing. At least that's what I'm still holding onto at the moment. We'll see what this week brings.

I was at Barnes and Noble yesterday and couldn't resist looking at magazines. I may have brought boxes and boxes of magazines home, but I always have to see what's new, which includes the latest issue of Country Living, our one-time competitor. Adam was surprised to see me flipping through it, but some habits die hard. And I had to see what they were doing. I honestly don't think their product is any better than ours, for some reason they seem to be able to sell ads, but that's the way of life. And while there is a part of me that wants them to die too (there, I said it), another part of me hopes that one of us survives this economy.

what i'm thinking these days

Thanks to everyone for your kind words and prayers since my unfortunate news Thursday that Country Home magazine was closed and the entire staff was let go. I'm definitely still processing the whole thing, but here are some of my initial thoughts:

I honestly don’t know what the next step is. Working for home magazines was never my dream, but as I was going through the boxes of magazines I brought home from work I realize that it’s what I know. Not that I can’t learn something new, but they are so familiar to me. I know how to source product and write clever captions and tell readers what’s great about a washing machine. I read a press release and think of how it could fit in the magazine. Everything goes back to the reader, right? It’s how I’m programmed. Surely someone needs these skills. I don’t want to lose them. I live and breathe magazines (just look at the stacks in our second bedroom).

In the last year at Country Home I learned so much. I learned about fabric and furniture and how to pitch a story. We were all finally figuring out the system and now it’s over. There were things I loved like getting packages and in the mail and flipping through catalogs and magazines because it was research and reading design blogs and finding that unexpected product that made the story something special. I get sad when I think of the stories that I was working on for upcoming issues that won’t see the light of day. We were going to photograph Prairie Style on Tuesday and I even brought in my copies of Little House on the Prairie for inspiration. I always had something random sitting in my office whether it was fabric or wallpaper or a blender and I loved it when people would stop by to see what new treasure I had. My workspace was always a mess. Papers, folders, piles everywhere so that no work surface was visible, but I loved it. I had layers of inspiration pinned to the walls and post its and to-do lists usually found their way to the top of the pile.

When all is said and done I really liked getting ready every morning, making my lunch and my to-go mug of coffee and going to sit in a cubicle all day. It’s sad, but that was part of my identity. I found at least some of my worth in my job and now it’s over. I know a new adventure waits around the corner, that God has something planned that is far better than anything I could imagine, but I can't see it yet and I like to know what's coming up. I'll keep you posted...

ponderings

At 25 I feel like (hope) I'm past the worst of the twentysomething growing pains. I remember those first months after graduation feeling completely out of my league in this grown up world. I don't necessarily have things figured out yet, but I'm definitely more comfortable with who I am.

I was reading from Donald Miller's Through Painted Deserts last night—it's one of those books that I keep by the bed and read in snippets before I fall asleep—and I liked this passage:

"It's interesting how you sometimes have to leave home before you can ask difficult questions, how the questions never come up in the room you grew up in, in the town in which you were born. It's funny how you can't ask difficult questions in a familiar place, how you have to stand back a few feet and see things in a new way before you realize nothing that is happening to you is normal."

If you know me, you know I love to ask questions. But if you know me, you also know that I can be really good at avoiding the most obvious questions of myself. I guess this makes me wonder what in my life I should be questioning right now...

more books!

My mom got me a book embosser for Christmas so tonight I sat in front of my bookshelves and stamped my name (from the library of Andrea Marie Cooley) into all of my books. It made me realize all the books I have that I need to read and I also noticed that almost half the books on my shelves are my moms. Every time I go home she has another book waiting for me to read, so I dutifully bring it home and put it on the shelf to be read. I bring home books for her to read and ones that I've finished, but I always seem to bring home more than I return. I don't think she misses them though.

Today she let me bring home our Little House on the Prairie series with strict orders that they must be returned. The yellow covers with water-color pictures and inside the simple black-and-white illustrations bring back so many memories. My mom read Kyle and I each of those books aloud many nights. That's one thing I'm looking forward to doing with my kids some day. I'm taking them to work tomorrow because I'm working on a story about Prairie style and Laura Ingles Wilder has come up in several meetings. I don't know if we'll photograph some of them or not, but I thought they would be fun to bring in.

I finished reading Mrs. Mike tonight, on loan from my sister. It was a touching romance about a city girl moving to the wilderness of Northwest Canada and falling in love. Now I have decided that it's time to tackle Anna Karenina. All 817 pages of it. I'll let you know how it goes. But I figure we're heading into the depths of winter, what better time to start an epic novel?

I'm heading back to work tomorrow for one day after a 9 day break. I think I'm ready to go back, but it has been wonderful to be home and back in Cedar Rapids for so long. Adam and I were in CR for New Year's at Nate and Sarah's. Oh how we wish we lived closer to them. It was so great to see old friends, enjoy wine, and play games until toasting 2009 at midnight.

books, books, books!

I always have a list of books that I want to read ranging from the latest chick lit to more inspired classics and award winning tales. Last year I started keeping track of the books I've read and I love looking over the list to see what stories I've enjoyed. When I look back at a year of books I can usually remember what time of year it was when I read something. Last winter I enjoyed Sophie's Choice by William Styron, a story of 3 young people in New York in the 1950s. I read The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory in February when I went to Orlando for work (I remember lugging around that fat hardcover and reading on the plane and in the hotel). This summer, I turned to Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert, the first non-fiction book that I've read in a long time.

Right now I'm reading Hurry Down Sunshine, by Michael Greenberg for my book club. It's a book that I wouldn't have chosen to read on my own, a father's recounting of the summer when his 15 year old daughter became bipolar. It's a topic that hits close to home and I didn't know if I wanted to spend my free time dwelling on it, but I've been sucked in by his recounting and can't wait to hear what the girls in my group think about it.

Last night I looked up a list of books that have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. I was curious to see what books I'd already read and found that I've only read a few and have a lot more to add to my list including:
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (my mom gave me this for my birthday a few years ago and I still haven't read it even after Kyle has raved about it. This needs to be toward the top of the list)
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

Side note: As I was looking at the list there are several years when no prize was awarded. I wonder if that means there weren't any books written that year that deserved the award or if they just got lazy. Any one know?

Once (twice)

I just finished watching the movie Once, twice. I was watching it while Adam was out shopping and he came back during the last scene. I wanted him to see the scene at the beginning where the two people play together for the first time in the music store. (If you haven't seen the movie you've probably heard this song, it won best song at the Oscar's last year) So we watched that part and ended up watching the whole thing over again! It's not a very long movie, but I usually don't watch a movie twice, and definitely not in one sitting. It's one of those movies where nothing really happens. There's no big action or even any real drama, it's just about people's lives. That's what I loved. It's such a simple movie about two strangers coming together and recording an album. She plays piano, he plays guitar. They both have lost love and rediscover it through the music. They get a second chance. The movie captures carefree moments that I long for in life. Walking on the beach, laughing with friends, just living. I'm sappy and sentimental and start thinking about how it compares to my life. I can't wait to head home for Christmas and see the girls next weekend!

So, if you haven't seen Once, and like music and simple movies, check it out. Let me know what you think.

Christmas memories

Adam and I went to the Nutcracker (neither of us had seen it before) this afternoon with friends Brad and Kelsey. It was put on by a local ballet with 6 professional dancers. It was in a beautiful old theater and we sat in the balcony so we had a great view of the stage with were close to the beautifully painted ceiling. I loved getting dressed up (and Adam was a good sport and even wore his red tie that matched my shirt). I also loved the music and the dancing. Maybe this will become a Christmas tradition.

After the show we came back to our place for a late dinner. Crock pot roasts are just so easy and tasty! We got really fancy and got out our good china. To finish out the date we drove around looking at Christmas lights and singing along to the radio—it even started snowing. This is my favorite kind of Christmas celebration, spending time with people. My love language is quality time and it really does translate into all my relationships. We exchanged small gifts which are always fun, but the time together laughing and talking is what really counts. Call me cheesy, but Adam and I are so thankful for our couple friends. We just love having people to do things with!

Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for:
a 4 day weekend with family
sitting on my parent's couch watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade—and seeing Karen dancing in it!
drinking 3 cups of coffee in the morning
going for a brisk walk in the woods with Mom and Toby
eating 3 kinds of potatoes, turkey, rolls, stuffing, etc and drinking good wine, eating one more roll and then eating pie and drinking some more wine
chocolate gingerbread (my first ever Martha recipe is a success!)
afternoon sunshine
warm and cozy socks and sweaters
sleeping late, cuddled up with Adam
we have THREE people looking at our condo next week!
catching up with old friends
playing monopoly jr with Adam's little brothers
beating Adam in ping pong
a job to go back to on Monday
a God who loves me just as I am

Cooley update

I got off work at 3 this afternoon to go to our house inspection (but it's not 'til 3:45, so I have 20 stolen minutes to sit and enjoy the afternoon. I feel like a kid who skipped class and snuck home for a nap). I stopped at Zanzibar's (best latte's in Des Moines) and I love seeing all the people there just relaxing on a rainy afternoon (and I'm secretly envious that I can't join them more often). It's been one of those weeks that is in no hurry to get done with. Work isn't super busy, which is nice for a change, but I'm ready for it to be Friday tomorrow.

And yes, a house inspection means that we are in the process of buying our first house! Our condo was the perfect introduction to homeownership, but we're ready to have a yard, a front porch, and a little more room to have people over. We have our place on the market, and have signed a purchase agreement contingent on the sale of our place. So keep your fingers crossed and pray for a buyer!

In other news, we had a very uneventful summer, we didn't have any vacations, but just kind of enjoyed the things to love in Des Moines all summer and had visitors. Then Sept hit and things got crazy. I got the bug to find a house in August and by Sept our search was full force. I was constantly checking Iowarealty.com and we were going to open houses on the weekend. We limited our search to the neighborhood we're in now. We love how close we are to downtown, the neighborhoods are mature and have beautiful trees, and the houses are full of character. We found THE house in Sept. It was on one of my favorite streets/neighborhoods in Des Moines to run on and the garden editor for Country Home used to live there so the landscaping is topnotch. The wood floors, open floorplan, sunny eat-in nook in the kitchen, deck and screened front porch wooed us. It was for sale by owner, so we got approved for a loan (literally 2 weeks before the economic crisis) and made an offer. The owners weren't really interested in working with us. I was more emotionally attached to the house than Adam, but we decided if they didn't come down on the price we would walk away and start looking for houses again in the spring.

So we went on vacation a much-needed to Colorado and tried to forget about the house. Then the first week of October we got a call from the owners and they were willing to meet us in the middle. Since then we did a few updates in our condo, put it on the market (forsalebyowner.com) and signed a purchase agreement. So farm we haven't had much interest in our condo, but we're hopeful. So if you know anyone looking for a great place close to downtown Des Moines, send them our way.

In the last month we also broke down and got a second car. We were a one-car family for a little over a year and I feel a little guilty that we had to go back to two, but it was time. Adam's doing a lot more driving around Iowa for work and it's harder and harder to have just one car—when it's nice out I can walk home, but in the winter that isn't always an option, and if/when we move that won't be possible.

I'll try to keep this updated with what's going on with us selling our place and the new house. Pray for a buyer!



Colorado is GORGEOUS the end of September all the aspens were blooming!

J-School Reunion

I graduated from Drake, and I love the Bulldogs (that's me sitting on a bulldog outside Olmsted), but if someone asked why I went to Drake I will always say it was for the journalism school. There was a J-School reunion this weekend and even though I'm only 3 years out of school and serve on an alumni committee, I was still proud to go back for a panel on the changing media and learn about the future of the school. I loved my time there. It prepared me in so many ways for the what I'm doing today, what I'm passionate about, but there's something more than the learning that draws me back. It's the people, the professors like Prijatel and Renkoski who invested in our ideas and taught us how to create magazines and write and be informed journalists. It's the classmates who I spent countless hours with dreaming up a magazine and filling its pages with stories and people. I take it for granted that I still get to do that today.

Walking in Des Moines

I walked home from work today. I actually wore my winter coat for the first time this morning, but it was sunny this afternoon and I figured it may be one of the last times I can walk home. After daylight savings this weekend it will be getting dark a little after 5 and if we move (like we're hoping too) I won't be close enough to walk home anymore. So I headed west on Grand under the glowing trees, walking through the crackling leaves and enjoyed some quiet time. Sometimes when I walk home I use the time to make a phone call. I love catching up with a friend or talking to my mom about the day, but instead of multitasking I let myself just walk and think and pray. It was kind of nice for a change. Something I should probably do more often. But I'm such a good multitasker (Ask Adam. It drives him crazy when I fold the clothes, talk on the phone and have the TV on in the background) Sometimes it's OK to do more than one thing at once. Like when I finally take time to iron and watch TV to distract myself from the task. Or listening to NPR in the morning on the way to work. But there aren't many times in the week when I do nothing. It goes against my nature. So if (and hopefully when) we move into this adorable house on Kingman Blvd. I will miss my walks to work. Even if I give Adam a hard time that I have to walk and he can't pick me up. So today, I enjoyed the walk. Now Adam's working late so I'm camped out on the couch, finishing Beneath the Marble Sky (my first bookclub book) and waiting to take banana bread out of the oven. Life is good.