What a business trip to Atlanta looks like

My business trip was so much fun!!! mostly because I finally got to be a real businesswomen. You dont really feel like a business women when you wear jeans and a t-shirt to work everyday, but that has its own perks.

This is what my business trip looked like:

Wednesday:
7am- wake up and pack
7:45- rush out the door
8- stuck in traffic
9- frantically trying to park my car with the airport under tons of construction
9:15- getting on the shuttle jittery that I am going to miss my flight
9:25- get to my gate, they were late to start boarding so everything is good
10- Purchase the internet to work on the plane.
12 internet has been going in and out for the next 2 hours... fun.
1:30/3:30 local- arrive in Atlanta, send some emails before waiting for my ride
4-9- hang out with my bestie Xan in Atlanta
9- meet my colleague, she gives me homework
10- takes me a half hour to open the docs (tired?) review data.
10:30- plan to go to bed... but its only 8:30 in Utah.
Stay up till 1:30- mistake!

Thursday
7:45- Wake up begrudgingly
8-4 meetings
4:30- head to the airport with 5 other ladies at the meeting
5-7:30 wait at the airport to board my flight, bored.
9- layover in Denver
11:40 make it to Salt Lake
Midnight- fill up my car because I forgot to beforehand
1- make it home, finally
1:30 sleep.

Its a good thing I got to come in late today or I would be dead tired. It was such a quick trip, but so fun. I loved seeing Xan and going to this cool rotating restraunt for dessert, and feeling like we were going to get mugged. I also really enjoyed the meetings, except at about 2 I was falling asleep. haha

Me, on a business trip! cool.

I am currently writing this post from 39,000 feet in the air. Cool huh? the internet has been going in and out, but the fact that I can even have internet on a plane is pretty incredible.

I am on my way to Atlanta, GA for my first ever business trip. AHhh. I feel like an adult. Although probably just discounted that with my screaming. I cant really talk about the project other than its been a dream of mine to work on something like this, so thats cool.

I also get a free trip, which is always a good idea. Flight, hotel, transportation, etc. One of my best friends also lives in Atlanta, so I get to see her! Which is the best part. She is picking me up from the airport tonight. I dont have anywhere to be, so I get to hang out with her. I think we are going to a ferris wheel, then to some dinner and dessert. Classic girls date hahaha.

I will be sad to be away from Travis for 2 days, but at least we can talk and text. 2 days is the longest we've been apart since we got married. We've done a night before but it was usually less than 24 hours when he was on a scout campout.

It still feels weird having a real job and being a real adult, but this kind of cements it for me. My company feels good enough about me to represent the company thousands of miles away. Plus I hit my 6 month mark in 2 weeks, and I am still loving my job. My team lead says 6 months is the mark where you can really say that!

So I guess I have finally made it ;)

Thanksgiving week

I took a little break from blogging the last week. I had a lot of work to get finished before my 2 days off and just didn't have the time to invest, it happens.

We had an amazing Thanksgiving week. I needed those days off after how stressful the last month has been around here at work.

The break started with a brisk half marathon. My mom was supposed to run it with me and Travis, but she bailed last minute. The half was refreshing and I loved all of the treats at the end (pumpkin pie, hot chocolate, dinner rolls, etc). It was so fun! and we had perfect weather. More about the half soon.

Next we headed up to Bountiful for Thanksgiving dinner. It was my first Holiday not spent with my side of the family, sacrifices. But it was fun to spend it with Travis' family. We had it at Travis' unlcles house which was sweet. It had like 5 floors and an indoor basketball court. A lot of PIG was played before dinner. Dinner was delightful and lots of football watching commenced in the theatre room afterwards.

The next day we spent with my family for pizza, football and games. I think we played 5 hours of Scum. haha a family favorite. It was so fun to be with everyone especially since I couldn't be with them on the actual holiday.

On Saturday I went to yoga, and my hamstrings hated me afterwards. Apparently half soreness and yoga don't go good together. We then set up our christmas tree that our gracious landlords let us borrow. I am so happy with how it all turned out! :)

Saturday night we went out to dinner for my little sisters 16th birthday at our favorite Chinese place of all time, Fongs. Then we headed to salt lake for the Celebration of Christ Christmas concert. Seriously the best way to kick off the holiday season. David Archuleta was as good as I remember him from that one time freshman year when all of my roommates and I travelled to colorado for his concert!

I loved being with my family. Christmas season is just magical!!

Miles this week: 18

Miles this year: 281

Merry Christmas

I was able to make our Christmas cards in October because Shutterfly gave me a deal and my sister had just taken these cute photos of us! I am excited to send them out to family and friends. I can't wait to share my christmas decor and our Thanksgiving recap. It was a wonderful break!

Thankful 13

Seeing as I am running a half marathon tomorrow I thought the title Thankful 13 was appropriate.

I could probably make a list a mile long, but I just wanted to outline the 13 things I am most thankful for right now. There is so much in my life to be grateful for!

1. My faith and Savior
I couldn't do anything without the Sacrifice the Savior made for me. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and my knowledge of his plan.

2. My incredibly loving and patient husband
This guy is awesome. I don't know what I would do without him, he makes me life so much more fun and interesting.

3. My amazing family that I get to live so close to
While I don't love living in Utah, I do love being close to my family. Being the oldest you don't always get to see your siblings grow up like I have been able to. My mom is also one of my best friends!

4. A healthy body (so I can do things like run and yoga)
I feel so blessed to be so healthy and able to do everything I love because of it.

5. Friends
My friends are amazing, and I have had a lot of opportunities to make new ones lately.

6. My incredibly fun and challenging job
In case you're new here, I LOVE MY JOB! its the best place to work and I love what I do!

7. Holidays
I love the holidays, especially christmas. The spirit of giving, treats, movies, family etc. Mmmmm Cant get enough!

8. Heaters
I honestly don't know what I would do without heaters. I am ALWAYS cold. I can't imagine living in a time before heaters.

9. Food
I LOVE food. I love cooking it, eating it, and sharing it. I am one of those people that is always thinking about the next meal.

10. Dessert
Chocolate chip cookies and hot cocoa are my favorite.

11. Comfy Sweaters
I have been living in the 4 sweaters I own. I am obsessed with Jcrew factory sweaters lately. They are comfy, cozy, and fun!

12. Books
While I have been not such an avid reader the past month or two, reading is one of my favorite things in the world. I don't understand people who don't like to read. They are straight up crazy.

13. Kisses
I love kisses. Especially kissing my hot husband!

What's on my Christmas list

Last night I went Christmas Decoration shopping with my friend Hailey and got some really cute things :) I can't wait for christmas!!! I am still working out my tree and such so I will post those later, but for now I want to start with whats currently on my Christmas list!

1. Salt Lake Taylor Swift 1989 world tour tickets
2. Fossil Sydney Satchel
3. Hunter Boots
4. Pretty new Keds
5. Albionfit gear
6. The Shine project courage shirt
7. Some new skirts/dresses
8. Happy Mail

I'll post even more on my Pinterest board as Christmas gets closer!

Pictured below in no particular order:

 

Dreams do come true!

I've noticed in my life that a lot of things happen with me having faith that everything is going to work out and later in the game I figure out why things happened the way the did.

When I interviewed for my current job I was pretty skeptical of leaving my field and trying something new. I wanted to get out of Utah and explore a fun city like New York, Boston, or DC. Its turned out to be a great move, and an even greater one after last week.

Every Thursday we have a company meeting and all of the new employees introduce themselves. One lady got up and talked about a huge project she was working on that had to do with my exact background in public health. I immediately got excited. I emailed her after the meeting telling her about my public health background and just asking if I could chat about the project with her.

Later that day she emailed me back ASKING IF I WANTED TO CONSULT ON THE PROJECT. She basically told me I was the perfect candidate to help build out the project, and attend briefings with her on a quarterly basis. I Was shocked, stunned and ecstatic.

I am officially on the project working directly with her to build the project and will be going with her on a business trip in a couple weeks. I am so grateful and happy to have the experience of applying my new job skills while still pulling from the skill set I gained in college.

I can't tell you how perfect this opportunity is for me. I am still amazed its all happening. I can't talk about the projects specifics or even who its with, but its something that makes me feel like this is the reason I came to work for Qualtrics.

I never really know where my choices are going to take me, but when I look back on my experience I am in awe of how they have worked out. Prayers are answered and Heavenly Father wants us to succeed and be happy. I know I could never be where I am today without his help.

AHHH!!!!

Sometimes we can't think of what to do on the weekends.

Up until about three weeks ago, our weekends were jam packed. And I mean JAM PACKED. We had a place to be almost every minute of the day.

The last couple weeks have slowed down as the holidays are approaching and we can't do anything outside anymore (winter is the worst). This weekend we had a really hard time coming up with things to do.

Friday we went to station 22 for dinner. YUM. We made some cinnamon almonds and played monopoly when we got home. I melted the cinnamon almonds and it was a draw. haha Exciting I know.

Saturday we woke up and I went running with my mom while Travis caught up on sports. My mom and I went to lunch after and I brought some home to Travis so he didn't feel quite as left out. Afterwords we spent like an hour deciding what we wanted to do. We settled on thrift shopping for outfits for our upcoming 20's themed christmas party.

We ended up with some christmas treasures :) We were invited to the 5th annual pie night hosted by our landlords Aka the people who live above us. They made 26 pies and there were easily 75-100 people that came during the night! Then we ate some pizza and finished the BYU game.

The next couple months are going to be crazy at work with our busiest time of the year and some new awesome responsibilities, but I am excited. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the best holidays of the year. We have so many things planned I can't wait!!

Miles this week: 15

Miles this year: 263