Monday, January 26, 2015

Adventures

This semester: so far, so good.

I'm really enjoying my classes and I'm pleased that they haven't gotten too out of hand... yet.

I decided I was gonna treat myself this semester by taking swimming and cycling. I don't regret it per se, but I do feel panicked and anguished and frustrated every day that I have to go to my swim class. I think this is round 4 of trying to get comfortable with swimming and I'm still waiting for it to stop being terrible. I know it sounds like I hate it, but I kind of love it too. Aside from almost drowning twice a week, it's a fun break in my schedule to get moving.

This semester I started an internship with a company called Needle doing event planning with their marketing team, and it has been such a blessing in my life. I really respect what the company stands for and aims to accomplish, and everyone I work with is such a joy to be around and learn from. I got pretty lucky.

My first week with Needle, I went to New York to help them with a social media game for a trade show. I didn't get to do too much sightseeing, but here are some snippets from the trip.

Booth setup.



Me, Carol-Lyn, and Ron about to enjoy some gooooooood steak

The restaurant was so fancy it had cloth towels in the bathroom.

Times Square

Carol-Lyn took good care of me after I spent 7 hours on the trade show floor in heels... bad choice.

This is Sherri, a brand advocate for Overstock.com and probably the sweetest person I've ever met.
My favorite thing about New York was the people. I didn't meet a single person there I didn't like. I liked the extremely enthusiastic bellman at our hotel who always had cookies and an answer for everything. I liked the Uber drivers with their passionate preferences in transportation service. I liked the waiter at Quality Meats with his charisma and impeccably trimmed beard who, at this fancy New York restaurant, probably makes a higher salary than I ever will. I liked the guy on the phone at the pizza place who could barely speak English. I liked the ladies who orchestrated our Conga line, with their big smiles and even bigger personalities. I liked the accents and the diversity and the energy. It was good feels.


One other thing about New York... It was Tyler's and my first time apart from each other since we've been married, and it was pretty tragic. If there was one thing we took away from the experience, it was that Ty and I needed to get out more. We needed an adventure. So we got a Groupon for a cheap hotel in Springdale and we booked a Martin Luther King Jr. Day trip to Zion National Park. It was awesome! Not too crowded, a bit warmer than Provo, and we got into the park free since it was a National holiday! I don't think it could've worked out better if we had planned it... which we didn't. We hiked Angel's Landing and it was gorgeous. Nature does a body good :)






















Now we just gotta make it to Presidents' Day. Wish us luck! 

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Christmas in Prescott

Road trip. Check.

Taco Don's. Check.



Bill's Pizza. Check.



Waffles n' More. Check.

Skyping Kyle. Check.



Desserts. Check.

And I got my cat fix.



Our Winter break in Prescott was everything we hoped it would be and more. 

We got into the Christmas spirit by going caroling with the family, the missionaries, and some members from the ward. We baked lots of treats to give away (and to eat ourselves.. shhh).



We spent Christmas Eve with the cousins, and it wouldn't be Christmas Eve without a nativity, right? As the youngest couple present, we were elected Mary and Joseph. The best was watching everyone try to fit into costumes intended for primary children.




For Christmas, Santa brought me a light and some curtains for our living room, a Macbook Pro to replace my struggling Dell, and a new (to us) Honda Accord to replace our junky Jetta.

Tyler got some things he wanted... and some things he didn't want so much.


The day after Christmas, we went up to Tyler's uncle's cabin to find some snow for sledding.

This is our friend, Aaron. He came home with us for Christmas. Does he look lovable or what?
Unfortunately the hills were not ideal for sledding. So we shot Tyler's dad's .358 instead.

I drew a target on a Dunkin' Donuts box (in a moving car... don't make fun of it). This was Tyler's first shot. Pretty impressive, no?
New Years was eventful.


[Insert lengthy paragraph about allllllllll the cool stuff I did this year here.]

Mostly, the best part of being home for Christmas was taking a break from schoolwork to hang out with family and friends. We were well fed and well loved and it was just the boost we needed to rejuvenate us for another busy semester. My last semester of school ever.

Bring it on Winter 2015.