Applicant #24: Jessica Myers

Jessica Myers is a mom from Shoreline.

My video application:

A bit about me:

My name is Jessica Myers and I live in beautiful Shoreline, Washington with my husband and son. I hopped in a car after graduating from Cornell College and headed West to Seattle without knowing anyone. And fifteen years later I have a full and fabulous life!

For paid employment in the Seattle area I have done the following; private investigation, statistical research, bartending, and ultimately- construction- for over a decade. Girl painter, girl Foreman, girl Superintendent- what fun! When the recession came we had ourselves a little “inauguration day surprise” and ultimately named him Vincent.

I currently work from home in various part-time capacities including working for a local company as a product designer, occasional website design, making found-object mosaics as a long-time hobby, and am currently launching a new seeded-paper product line. Of course the majority of that work has been while the kid is sleeping, so it is with great excitement that, since he turned two this week, he will be starting daycare a couple days a week to allow me to focus on my many endeavors!

My blog post:

With the kiddo doubling his age this week it has given me a chance to reflect on the rollercoaster that has brought me to my “Best year ever” (as I write all these darn hand-made thank-you notes.)

Those pregnant months where you plan plan plan and endlessly discuss your own childhood in an attempt to isolate those variables that will make your family structure perfect. The first months with the classic “insane-from-sleep-deprivation” outlook mediated by the “read every parenting book in print” response in an attempt to care for your infant perfectly. And guess what- those first few months were TOUGH for me. I wanted to have control over something. I wanted to run away to work and not be responsible for the life of a new-born human. I wanted to be more than a nurse-maid. I desperately wanted a shower. And a drink.

And then my husband was laid off with the baby only months old. “Not part of the game plan” the voice in my head screamed “Not fair”. We became a tighter team. Had to. Grew up. Manned-up. Took turns making the tough choices and being the grown-up. Cut the non-essentials. Remembered what was important…We had our health and our beautiful family of three. And our exponentially increasing circle of friends. Dinner parties, birthday parties, holiday gatherings- geeze you have a kid and you can’t escape it- other parents, younger couples, doting elders. No time for anxiety when you are meeting interesting people! Suddenly work was being sent my way that I could do during naptimes from home. My husband started his IT business. We had time to finish the labor intensive DIY projects that had been on hold since the kid was born.

There was a pretty financially lean year in there, yes. We won’t be retiring anytime soon. And don’t get me started on the house prices tanking. But right now we both work from home, we get to take walks in the sunshine with our boy and have picnics. Not commuting full-time has opened up hours of lost time for us and allowed me to re-focus on my creative outlets- producing a new line of seeded paper objects as well as doing product design for a local company.

While we don’t really have control over the circumstances that life sends our way, we do have control over the choices we make in response. We have the capacity to deal constructively instead of being paralyzed with inaction. Our children allow us the opportunity to step outside of ourselves and create an environment anew and I thank my son for allowing me the chance to put my most light-hearted foot forward (most mornings). At 6 AM. Even when he is cuddling slugs before I’ve had my coffee!

Jessica