Little Brother's Graduation

So my little brother is all grown up, he Graduated from my own Alma Mater Lawrence Technological University (LTU). He graduated top of his class with lots of honors with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. Congrats Little Bro.

2 Years Ago...

I married my best friend. Today was just one of those regular work days, to make it a little more special we took a short trip downtown mt clemens to have dinner and take a short walk. I brought my camera along and got a couple shots of the family.

Oh yeah and 2 year anniversary is cotton, Tony is so cute!



a famous self portrait LOL

Then we came back home for a glass of wine - riesling - yumm

a walk with Caleb

went for a walk today after work. just wanted to share a picture :)

I am so happy the weather is nice again, Caleb loves being outside!

More Gardening

So we're still working on our Garden out back, this weekend was so nice so we got up early both days to get some serious work done. A couple weeks ago Tony pulled up the grass to make room for our raised bed, I wasn't able to get a picture because the rain came soon after he finished. Here it is. We have some serious clay in our yard hence the reason for the raised beds.

So earlier yesterday when Tony was working on other chores for our rental unit, I decided to put some old paver stones to work, I created a little flower bed in the backyard. A few years ago we transplanted a rose bush from the front yard to the back so its the first thing in the flower bed. I also planted some bulbs and some various seeds, we'll watch it throughout the summer to see what grows!!



So today we started piling in the dirt. And went to the farm greenhouse to buy some seedling plants to go with the seeds we also planted.

here's the list of what we planted:
From Seedling Plants:
3 Tomato plants
4 Broccoli plants
4 Basil plants
2 Green Onions
2 White Onions
8 Red Leaf Lettuce
8 Green Leaf Lettuce
8 Romaine Lettuce
8 Slicing Cucumbers
4 Pickling Cucumbers
1 Oregano
1 Cilantro
And from Seeds:
Carrots
Soy Beans



And finally a couple pictures of my little man!

My boy...

so my last couple posts have been pretty wordy, I just wanted to post a picture of me and Caleb. Isn't he the cutest!!

Learning more about myself...

Ok so I already posted a couple times about the Leadership Class I took last week, but I have a couple more evaluations that I haven't shared yet.

I already told you about the MBTI (Meyers-Briggs) that I am an ENTJ. Well we actually took the MBTI Step II test which goes a little more into the different facets. So here's the breakdown for anyone who cares. I think it super helpful in getting to know each other, I wish I knew this about all my friends and loved ones.

I will first list the MBTI step one category, then under that the 2 different describing words on each side of the spectrum.


E - I am high on the overall 'E' scales
Extraversion vs Introversion
Initiating vs Recieving: I am very much an Initiator.
Expressive vs Contained: I am very much expressive.
Gregarious vs Intimate: I am in the midzone for gregarious.
Active vs Reflective: I am very much active
Enthusiastic vs Quiet: I am enthusiastic more than quiet.

N - I am mid to high on the 'N' side (iNtuition)
Sensing vs Intuition
Concrete vs Abstract: I am very much abstract
Realistic vs Imaginative: midzone for imaginative
Practical vs Conceptual: very conceptual
Experiential vs Theoretical: theoretical
Traditional vs Original: original

T - I am more mid range to low range for 'T' (Thinking)
Thinking vs Feeling
Logical vs Empathetic: I am Logical
Reasonable vs Compassional: midzone for reasonable
Questioning vs Accommodating: I am out-of-preference and accomodating.
Critical vs Accepting: I am WAY out-of-preference and Accepting.
Tough vs Tender: I am a zero so I could go either way.

J- I fall mostly on the Judging range except for one category.
Judging vs Perceiving
Systematic vs Casual: Systematic
Planful vs Open-Ended: Very Planful
Early-Starting vs Pressure-Prompted: High Midzone for Early Starting
Scheduled vs Spontaneous: I am a zero so I could go either way.
Methodical vs Emergent: I am out of preference and Emergent

So yeah that's a little more in depth for they Meyers-Briggs - fun stuff.
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Next evaluation was the TKI Profile (Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument). Basically it tests your conflict resolving methods that you most use and have preference for using. The 5 different ways to handle conflict is Avoiding, Accommodating, Compromising, Competing, and Collaborating. All are good and proper ways to handle conflict if done in the right circumstances. And you should be able to utilize all of them.

Here are my numbers: The percentage was the percentile from a representative sample that scored the same as or lower than me.

Avoiding - 65%
Compromising - 58%
Competing - 57%
Collaborating - 41%
Accommodating - 30%

So basically I'm pretty well rounded when it comes to handling conflict. I probably avoid more conflicts than I should and I should try to be more accommodating.
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And Finally the Change Style Indicator - this shows your preferences about change. The three categories are: Conserver, Originator, and Pragmatist.

Conservers prefer current circumstances over the unknown.
Originators prefer a faster and more radical approach to change.
Pragmatists prefer to explore the existing paradigm in an open and objective manner.

The scale is 0-66 in both ways, I scored a 32 on the Originator side. A pragmatist is between 13 on the Originator side to a 13 on the Conserver side.

It was funny to see in the room when we lined up according to the scale I was the furthest on the Originator Side, right next to me were the other younger people in the class, so I kind of wonder if this changes with age and position. I definitely agree though the "N" in me is always looking for new ideas to solve every day problems and I am definitely one to try a new change without much probing.
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If you made it this far - THANKS! I hope you had fun learning a little bit more about me. I have another week of this training in May, and I will get results back from a 360 evaluation of me. I am still looking for more people to answer some questions about me so if you want to fill out an evaulation on me let me know! It is all anonymous, but it will definitely help me grow!

Awesome Seminar & Cool New Toy

Last night I attended a great seminar on Photographing Toddlers all the way up to Teens, called Tots2Teens by Sandy Puc. Sandy (or Sam) talked a lot about the business, and ways to pose and control (i.e. read bribe) toddlers into taking pictures. I can't wait to try it out on Caleb, that was the real reason I went to see if I could get any tips to getting better pictures of him.

She was a really good instructor, and an awesome photographer. I can't wait till next years Seminar on Families!

Oh yeah so a couple days ago I came home and there was a package from amazon and a very sneaky husband waiting for me. So he got me this awesome new toy, Wacom Intuos Pen Tablet, its an awesome tool for professional photographers, artists and the like. It makes painting, selecting, erasing, and touchy things in Photoshop SOOO much easier to do. Love It!

Leadership Class Day 2

So today, among other things, we went over our results for the FIRO-B test. (Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior ) Basically talks about your tendencies for interpersonal relationships. So the parameters are "inclusion" "control" and "affection". They ask a series of questions that will determine what you express to others and what you want from others.

So I actually left my results at work but I pretty much remember my numbers. the scale is 0-9 for each of the boxes across and down. For inclusion my numbers were pretty high (7 & 8), obviously showing how I'm extroverted and want to be around people. I want to be with people, talk to people. If I'm not included in something, that's okay cause I'll just include you anyway! LOL

My numbers for Control were not to surprising. Control isn't what you think of it, it is more of how much info you give to people to do a task (or how much info you want from people to do that task). My number for giving people info was a 7, being an ENTJ I have high expectations of myself and others so I tend to give a lot of info and direction. The number for what kind of control / info I want from others was a 2 or 3, basically my i'N'novation side wants to figure out the problem, maybe do it a new or innovative way.

My numbers for Affection, were pretty consistant with my other tendancies, I don't tend to give a whole lot of affection out, and I don't really want a ton of affection back (but I do want some), I think my numbers were a 3 and 5.

The FIRO-B test can be dependant on your situation when you take it, it can change depending on your current mindset, but for some people it doesn't change much.

Can't wait to see what my next results are!!

Leadership Class

So this week, and a second week in May, I am in this Leadership class called "Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness." Its part of my developmental assignment. Anyway today was the first day of the class. Before this week we had to do numerous self assessments online. Basically a bunch of surveys asking the same questions in different ways. It was a pain in the butt, but I'm so glad we did that. They are pretty pricey evaluations but tell you sooo much about yourself and your professional and personal 'preferences' and traits.

Today we went over our "MBTI Indicators" These are Preferences that you tend to, not really charateristics per say. Anyway, it really tells you a lot about yourself and what you tend to like.

So I am: ENTJ - which stands for Extraversion, iNtuition, Thinking, Judging. I got a bunch of pages about the preference and what it means so I'll just share a little bit of it. This is all quoted from, Otto Kroeger Associates, "Type Talk at Work", 1992/1988.
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ENTJ's are Life's Natural Leaders

For the ENTJ, all life unfolds through confrontation, arguing, and engaging with one another in the name of learning.

The special combination of preferences gives this type the right mixture of basic leadership qualities: enthusiasm, vision, objectivity, and accountability. So natural are these qualities that it is almost difficult for an ENTJ not to step in and take charge.

An ENTJ might listen to another's tale of woe with genuine empathy, then moments later say something totally unrelated and seemingly uncaring; it's not that the ENTJ doesn't care, it's just that having gotten the problem out and "solved" it is time to move on.

ENTJs pride themselves on their independance.

ENTJs biggest drawbacks are their arrogance, their impatience, and their insensitivity. Their objectivity and love for the abstract provides them with a healthy amount of intellectual competence; they usually do well in academic pursuits.

They make excellent teachers, CEOs, and strategists. Their inquisitiveness makes them natural scientists, lawyers, and journalists.

[ENTJ] learn by challenging any authority or source.
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I just think its amazing, it really explains a lot of things about me that people may not understand. Of course not everything is spot on (There were pages and pages of info, I just picked the parts that really stood out to me - actually that was my 'homework' tonight). I agree with the negatives as well as what I perceive to be positives (but maybe others would see as negatives).

I really see that this class will help me in my professional life as well as my personal life. I have a few more assessments and when I get them maybe I'll share.

Lazy Sunday... not

So today we started building our Garden, phase 1 - build a raised bed box. We decided to go with a Cedar box, something about other wood leaching chemicals into the veggies, I don't know Tony did the research. So we built our box 8'x4'x1'.

Here's the before:

Here's the after: (I think this is where we are going to put it, the house will block the wind but it still gets 8 hours of sun a day)


Caleb was quite surprised by the new addition to the yard:


And Tony finally let me take a picture of him.


Then we had dinner and played a little Wii Fit with the Lathrops, it was a good Sunday!