2017 goals

Another one that has been sitting in my drafts for months! I absolutely love setting goals, and a new year always feels like the right time to sit down and assess how the last year went and where we want the next year to go.

This year I had 5 categories of goals that I documented for my own personal growth as well as some business goals.

Personal: 

Quality time- 
1. Stop watching tv every night after work, find new activities to do during the week together
2. Only work Monday and Wednesday nights and don't let it seep into every other night of the week
3. Invite people over for dinner!

Health- 
1. Start getting ready for be around 9:45 every night so I can get to sleep earlier
2. Formally exercise 3 times a week

Spiritual-
1. Read my scriptures every night
2. Attend the temple at least once a month

Financial- 
1. Get the full match on Travis' 401k add 5% to my 401K
2. Save at least 1/4 of our post tax income

Emotional- 
1. Read 52 books this year or one book a week
2. Take more pictures
3. Take one trip a month (even if its something small like a weekend getaway to St. George)

Monthly trip ideas:
January- Jackson Hole
February- St. George & California
March- Iceland
April- London
May- ?
June- San Fransisco
July- Caribbean or Thailand
August- California?
September- Washington DC?
October- ?
November- ?
December- ?

Business goals:

1. Grow instagram to 10,000+ followers this year
2. Be able to pay our mortgage with my profits each month
3. Find new ways to express my creativity through my business (photoshoots, marketing, etc)

Telling people about my goals and having them in a place where I can regularly be reminded of them is the best way I have found to stay accountable! I have them printed on my nightstand so I can see them daily! What are your 2017 goals?

Shop Stevie Rep!

I have decided to become a rep for Shop Stevie! I absolutely love their clothes and think you will too!

Travis and I decided together that this was a pretty low risk way for us to take a chance and try our hand at running a business. I've always wanted to try owning my own business and this is the first opportunity that has felt right for us. 

One of the things that got me really excited to get involved with Shop Stevie is that they are NOT running as a multi level marketing company. If someone wanted to sign up as a rep there is not a way for them to be under me or down the line from me. I would not make money from someone I helped to sign up as a rep, so I will never pressure someone into starting this up themselves. This is seriously one of the major things that sold me. I also have no quotas, recurring minimum inventory purchases, etc. this will give me the freedom to run this business in the best way i see fit and allow it to grow naturally and not out of force. 

First and foremost this is a hobby, something that we will learn and grow from and can work on together. I will never pressure someone to buy something, host a pop up shop, etc. I just don't see the point in alienating friends and family to help my business grow.  

This side business will be in addition to my current job at Qualtrics. I plan on doing Shop Stevie around my schedule at Qualtrics to answer questions, fullfill orders, and help my customers find clothes they love! So expect early morning, lunchtime and evening replies :) 

I launch as a rep 8/29. With my website and inventory going up hopefully by 8/30. Let me know if you have any questions! Thank you so much for your love and support!

Follow along to get updates on inventory, giveaways (we have an Instagram giveaway starting 8/29), sales, etc
Instagram: @iess.stevierep
Facebook page: jess.stevierep

Website: jess.stevierep.com

Steven Tyler Concert

Last week, my company was hosting its annual users conference! This year the concert was Steven Tyler. 

Now I am not gonna lie, I was super disappointed when they announced Stephan Tyler as the entertainment, last years Journey concert was just so fun! But I was in for a surprise. We invited Travis’ best friend from high school and his fiancé, and had a blast!  Not only did Steven Tylers rendition of “I don’t want to miss a thing” sound as good or better than the recorded version from his days with Aerosmith, but he was so fun to watch! 

This guy is in his late sixties and literally running around the stage for 2.5 hours. I don’t know how he does it! He was making faces at the camera, had his tasseled microphone and was walking around in basically a pirate shirt jack sparrow style all night. 

Thanks Qualtrics for another fun experience! 

Qualtrics Christmas Party 2015

Despite the fact that we have had multiple Christmas parties I still can't believe Christmas is next week. The Qualtrics Christmas party was last weekend, and it was fun, honestly last years party was a lot more my style but in regular Qualtrics style it was over the top. This years theme was casino royale.

We ate lots of random finger foods, the steak rice bowls being my favorite,  drank Italian sodas, and danced our hearts away. My favorite part was definitely the dancing!

Only 3 work days next week and then I am off for a week and a half. Hallelujiah.

Where did November go?

The last couple months have been BUSY to say the least. Keeping up with my life and mostly work has been my main priority so blogging has taken a hit. The last couple months have completely flown by, its the end of November, WHAT??? 

When things get crazy or stressful or bad at work I typically don’t write about it, and that feels like a mistake. I want to chronicle the good and the stressful in my life to look back on and remember when things change. 

This month a project I was working on went bad because scope was unidentified and the client needed everything done yesterday. I made some good and some bad decisions. I may have barked at my co-workers and especially my husband more than normal, but I got through it and the client is really happy. I also realized that while the project was/is stressful it was interesting and complicated and required a lot of problem solving. 

I am realizing more and more how much I value time away from work, as much as I do love my job, I need time to myself, with my husband, and with my friends and family. I am so grateful for the wonderful people in my life who are always there for me, even if I need to complain for an hour. 

This next week I am only working 2 days, which means time to rejuvenate, hang with family, and celebrate the holidays. I cannot wait.

Here are some of the goings on as of late:

This is the most we've ever gotten into Halloween. We like Divergent if you couldn't tell, plus easy costume. Dauntless. 

Put our Christmas lights up before it got too cold. Don't worry this is the first and last time they've been on since we put them up. We are big believers in celebrating thanksgiving before Christmas. 

Breakfast in bed thanks to my sweetie. I've been sick for 2 weeks. BLECK. So much laying around doing nothing and not getting enough sleep because of my nasty cough. Hopefully better soon. 

November Goals

October has been quite the month. Mostly full of work. I can't believe how quickly it passed. Im pretty sure the guy who sits next to me at work is getting sick of hearing me say holy crap is it already 4pm. Oh my gosh is it already thursday. Sad as it is, its been my whole life the last couple weeks.

I am not even going to reference my october goals cuz I definitely didn't hit them. In november I want to prioritize and slow down.

November goals:
1. Plan work for the holidays, don't let it take over, I need work life balance.
2. Have more intentional conversations, without my phone in hand checking email.
3. Make my faith, husband, and family a priority over my job.
4. Overall- relax, it will all work out.
5. Christmas shop! And set up decorations AFTER thanksgiving.

You probably see a theme here.... haha here's to making the most of it and stressing less.

Atlanta Business trip

A couple times a year (so far once a year, but probably more in the future) I travel to Atlanta for a quarterly meeting with the project manager in my organization. I get to work with my dream organization, the CDC, on a project I could only have ever dreamed of working on as a wee little undergrad public health student. 

Like seriously I get to work on the biggest anti-tobacco Ad campaign in the world. The gold standard of ad campaigns in public health. Its a public health dream come true. 

After 4 hours of presentations from all of the contractors on the project, I was starting to feel a little useless, and trying to remember a reason of why I even get invited to these things. Then the production company showed a video recapping the last 5 years of the project (I might have teared up). They also passed out a poster with everyones names who in the last 5 years contributed to this campaign, and my name was on it. 

I realized in that moment that I take a lot for granted. Especially the opportunities I have been afforded working at Qualtrics. I was overwhelmed in that moment with my good fortune. I get to work with clients and on projects I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have the expertise and experience to work on. I’ve learned new skills and met a lot of really really cool people through this job. I have also gotten to work in Public health in a way I feel is meaningful and has the real potential to save lives. 

A little over a year ago when I received my offer from Qualtrics after just graduating with my MPH I took a leap of faith that this could really begin my career path and put me on the kind of the trajectory I could be excited about. It was completely the right decision and I am so glad I took that leap (although at the time I was quite nervous). 

I always want to remember the little feelings of gratitude and appreciation and feeling of contribution I felt in that moment in Atlanta. Sometimes I get caught up in the day to day, my levels of stress, my sometimes inability to have a work life balance and remember that the work I do helps people, In the case of this project, it saves lives, and that is pretty cool.  

Anytime I get to come to Atlanta I also get to hang out with my Amazing friend Xan. She moved out there over a year ago and I don’t think we have gone more than 2 days since then (thanks groups texts) without talking.But lets be honest, texting and hanging out in person are way different. I was so glad she and her new husband Matt (whom I had never met) agreed to pick me up from the airport! 

We toured the beautiful Piedmont park, which is right in the middle of the city, We walked and talked and got rained on and just enjoyed the beauty of the cityscape against the greenery. Then we went for a real southern meal at Mary Mac’s tea room where I tried my first collard greens, ate some cornbread and stuffed my face with fried chicken and mashed potatoes (lets not talk about how I might have eaten a huge sandwich 2 hours before and ordered a full pizza that night when I got to my hotel, I like food okay?) 

The trip was only like 36 hours but it was a good one! 

Summer partying all night long

Qualtrics parties dont disappoint. The summer party caters a lot more towards families, but they are still fun for the rest of us too.

Qualtrics had a ferris wheel, spinny throw up ride (my name for it), tons of bounce houses, live bands throughout the night, a petting zoo, face painting, shaved ice, cotton candy, Fireworks, swag, catering by Goodwood BBQ and so much more.

We ate, hung out with our friends and watched the pretty incredible fireworks show!

San Diego weekend getaway

A couple weeks ago (the weekend after we got back from the Philippines) Qualtrics sent my team +spouses on a little retreat to San Diego. Have I mentioned I work for the BEST company ever?

We got to stay in little bungalow suites with our own private beach, got some meals with the team, and $150 to spend on whatever! I mean, what else could you ask for? We spent our days recovering, relaxing, going to the temple, playing tennis, eating and falling in love with carne asada fries, using Uber like bosses, trying out interesting bikes, and steaming in the hot tub.