To My Omahomies

It's weekends like this past weekend that make me truly love Omaha. Sure looking back on things I partied way too hard and did far too little homework, but you only live once right? And ultimately, it is less about the partying and more about the having an incredibly fun time with great friends anyway.

When I was first asked to move to Nebraska I jumped at the opportunity; I thought, "Why not?" Then after my first January trip to Omaha the reality of moving to a completely new place without knowing a soul set in. Of course I was nervous, but I looked at it as an opportunity to do all the things I wanted to do in Portland but never did because I had a solid group of friends and got busy. I would challenge myself to meet new people and get involved with new organizations. And at the end of the day if I was the girl, sitting at the bar by myself for six months, so be it.

Luckily for me, a Friday plea for happy hour at the office lead to meeting the Omahomies. The Omahomies is a solid group of twenty and *now thirty* something, career driven, successful, fun, fashionable, outgoing, smart, talented women. There are women from Nebraska, some from other states, some have left and come back and some have left (and are leaving) recently to explore new opportunities in life. They took me in as one of their own, with open arms and made me feel like I had been part of the group for years. We have shared a lot of laughter, some tears, some drama and lots of love over the last two years. Beyond the support and friendship these women have given me I have learned so much invaluable knowledge from watching them succeed and struggle *with grace* with all that life throws at them. I am a better person today because of their love and friendship. 'Thank you' just doesn't seem like enough.

So enough with the sap! What did we do this weekend?! I know you are probably not as excited as it as I am. Anyway, we celebrated a 30th birthday and fought cancer all in one weekend & let me tell you, it was exhausting! On Friday night we all got glammed up to celebrate the birth of the one & only Sarah Skarka! In an emptyish loft turned night club complete with DJ and 300 cans of Miller Highlife we danced the night away just above the Old Market.
On Saturday, a few of us drug our hung over selves out of bed in order to fight a good cause. Now some people get up way too early to run for a cure, some bike for a cure, some sleep in for a cure...in Omaha, we drink for a cure. 12 people, 5 bars, 20 pitchers of beer and several shots later & I think we made a valiant effort in the constant battle against cancer. It was a ton of fun and we raised approximately $13,000 in it's first year. If your city has a Crawl for Cancer I highly recommend getting involved. When I was in Thailand a Buddhist palm reader told me I was very lucky in friends...and boy was he right. I have been incredibly blessed to find so many wonderful women both in Omaha and around the country to call my friends.

What is Your Why?

For those of you who haven't talked to me in let's say the last five minutes, you may not know I am in my last term of my MBA program at Creighton University. *Needless to say I am a little excited to graduate in a week, but more on that later.* I have had the pleasure of taking some incredible (and some not so incredible) classes at Creighton & have learned more than I could have possibly expected to learn about leadership, management, marketing, technology, ethics and most importantly myself. My favorite class was this last term, called Personal Leadership Development. It was taught or more so lead by Dr. Roger Fransecky, who happens to be not only one of the most accomplished men I have met, but also the most humble. It was a real pleasure experiencing the journey I did with him as the leader. The class challenged us to have courageous conversations and look deep within ourselves to find our True North. It was a difficult class the pushed a lot of us, including myself, to the edge of our personal walls and into pure self-discovery. I have had many experiences in life that have taught me about myself, but never have I seen the big picture this way. I will forever be changed by this experience at Creighton.

I clearly was not the only one in my class who felt this transformation from our conversations as we started a book club to keep the dialogue going. In our first meeting we had a conversation about purpose and our "why" for life. I didn't have an answer. I walked away feeling very disappointed and lost for I didn't feel I knew my purpose. So, I have been thinking about it quite a bit. I have decided that my "whys" are to strive to bring people joy, to learn as much as possible from my experiences and to be a better person each & everyday. Beyond that I don't have a plan. I can't tell you what I want to be doing with my life in five years or ten. I don't know where I want to be living or what job I will have. I just hope that I am happy and that those around me are happy too.

The best part of my revelation about not having a plan is that I am OK with it. I started thinking about how living life a little uncharted has opened incredible doors for me. I never planned on working for Yahoo! or moving to Manila or to Nebraska or start school at Creighton, it just happened and I am truly thankful it did. I know now that you only get out of life what you put into it, so I know these amazing adventures didn't happen just because...maybe there was some luck involved. I also know that in order to learn as much as possible I have to be completely open to new experiences. As things start to fall into place and I start to set more concrete goals, career paths, etc. I will strive to stay a little unplanned, let life happen and enjoy the ride.


What is your "why" for life?
What has brought you joy today?