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!