One of the reasons I love my job is the fact it’s expected that we spend time in the community.

In other words, get out from behind the desk, go to events, go to games, go out and be present in the community. Make sure people can put a face to your name.

And I’ve never been one who likes to sit still or spend eight hours in one spot so that meshes well with my personality.

My philosophy from the time I helped start this paper nearly six years ago was to give people stories to read that they wouldn’t find anywhere else.

And for those stories that regional media outlets might pick up I always strive to find a different approach to it and make the most of my deeper knowledge of the community.

On occasion people ask me if this is a full time, 40 hour a week job.

I try not to be offended by that but, yes, it very much is and at times more than that due to the standards we try to meet.

While some may not see the value of a weekly paper or not view it as at the same level as a daily, I think we offer something you won’t get anywhere else, and looking at what the folks at daily papers have to do and the response they get from the same people I deal with I think I have the better end of the bargain.

I manage my time so that I can be out at all kinds of things and it has allowed me to develop some amazing relationships which humble me completely.

The greatest example comes in the spring during high school fastpitch. I’ve gotten to know the coaches and players at Tahoma and Kentlake quite well.

Some of the players have found me on Facebook.

When I show up at a game, the kids see me coming and shout my name in greeting, making me feel like Norm from the ‘80s sitcom “Cheers.”

They let me come in the dug out. I get their observations about their opponent, about what they’re doing well and what they could improve on, I get to be in on the jokes and camaraderie.

One coach told me he considered me a part of the team.

A parent told me that I’m like family.

And all this time I just thought I was doing my job.

For me, the highlight of the year was when Hayley Beckstrom and Jordan Walley, juniors on Tahoma’s fastpitch squad asked me to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on May 5 in a game against Kentlake. It was their senior night.

Tahoma has six seniors. I’ve covered this group for three seasons now, since they were sophomores, since before some of them had their drivers licenses.

I have shot thousands of photos of these girls over the past three seasons.

During my introduction, the announcer said I made the kids feel like local celebrities.

I have always felt that high school athletes, whether their team goes winless or undefeated, deserve as much coverage as we can give them in the paper.

I know how hard they work, how much time and effort they put in on and off the field, that many of them don’t just play for their schools but for select clubs.

So, while I was just doing my job according to my guiding philosophies of community journalism, I was unintentionally having a much larger impact on the lives of kids I would never have known otherwise.

In early April, Emily Miller, a senior co-captain for Tahoma, told me she felt like their games wouldn’t even matter if I weren’t there covering them.

And that’s why I do my job. Because their games do matter. And that’s the same reason I work as hard as I do.

None of this is meant to be some self-aggrandizing pat on the back.

I feel utterly blessed to have had the opportunity to spend three seasons covering Tahoma fastpitch.

That’s why I’m going to do something I wouldn’t normally do: drive 270 miles to cover them at state (Kentlake, too, whom I covered at state last year) in Spokane this weekend.

But, that’s why I love my job. It is expected that we are out covering what’s going on in the community even if it’s going on hundreds of miles away.

This is why I do what I do. I get to go places, meet people, take pictures and write about all of it. There are few things I love more.

After that I’ll be on vacation for a week.

Then I’ve got a full calendar: ribbon cutting for the roundabout in Maple Valley, opening day of the Maple Valley Farmers Market, high school graduations, and so much more.

Can’t wait to see you out and about this summer. If you don’t know me, I’ll be the woman with the camera around her neck, a notepad in hand and occasionally a toddler in tow.

Man, I sure do love my job.