Blogging

I have managed to neglect my blog for a while now. It got to the point where I was so far gone, that I felt it would have been very hard to catch up! As I was looking around on the site to figure a way to put my blog on "hold" I became a little sad and reminiscent of what I had already written.


So here it goes, a re-cap of the last month and a half!

The event that is the most blog worthy is the Century (100) mile bike ride that Scott and my Mom participated in on August 16th. They had been training with Team in Training, a wonderful foundation that raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation. After eight or so hours they both finished, and with great spirits I might add!

(I am not sure about the underling!)

See you can see him finishing, I was the proudest wife ever! I am waiting for pictures of my mom but as soon as I get them, I will be sure to post some of her too!

The summer finished out very well, a few weekend trips were had. We went to Banning to visit the McKimmey's, we went to Havasu to hang with my family and we did a lot of relaxing. It was very nice

Now that fall is upon us, I am so tempted to get out my fall decorations; pumpkins and such. Oh, that brings me to a new topic! I am hesitant to get out more decorations because we are working with the greatest realtor in Huntington Beach, to buy our first home! We are so excited. We have been out and about looking and getting a feel for the different neighborhoods. Luckily, Scott and I agree on the type/style of house that we like, it is just a matter of finding it at the right price. I have to be patient (something that does not come naturally) and the perfect home will come to us! I will keep the blog updated with our home ventures!

I promise that I will not neglect my blog ever again!

Welcome back readers!

One week down...

I am officially an employee of The Resort at Pelican Hill! I completed my first week and I absolutely love it. It is a far cry from Meadowlark, I mean I actually have to dress up EVERYDAY! I am required to wear a jacket always, I can have it off when I am sitting at my desk. Sweater sets are acceptable at the offices that I am working at now but come November I have to wear a jacket/suit and collared shirt everyday. Oh, did I mention nylons. Ok, I understand that the Irvine Company is super strict and Conservative but come on, knee-highs with pants? So when I wear pants, you betcha I have knee-highs on! Super sexy! Other than the new wardrobe that I bought, (I got a great brown skirt suit at JC Penny today for $38, and grey jacket for $8. I love bargains, I have a hard time buying anything full price) everything business wise is pretty much the same. I will be doing basically the same tasks but in a much higher caliber. To give you an idea of the kind of money spent on events, the food and beverage minimums for weddings are $60K, with a facility rental of an additional $7K. Crazy!!! I am really blessed to have the opportunity to work for such a great resort from the beginning.

Keep me posted if you see any suits on sale!

My going away party

On Friday my worked threw me a wonderful party at My Place in Huntington Beach. We ate plenty of wonderful food, drank lots of drinks and had a really great time. I wonder when it is going to kick in that I have a new job!!!

My GM-Ryan

Kari-Banquet Captain Melinda and Sara-Melinda is the best cafe server, Sara is her daughter

Pam-The Greatest Director, I will definitely miss her!

Brad-A great banquet server

Brandon and Erik-Pro Shop greats! Hans-Superintendent

Sarah-She has worked at Meadowlark for 26 years, talk about a walking history book!

The beautiful flowers that my work had sent to me. I also got a very generous gift certificate to my favorite department store...Kohl's!

The beautiful flowers that Scott had sent to my work.

And oh so appropriate, a lunch pail from Pam

The end is nearing

I was really not sure how today was going to pan out. I knew that all upper management was going to be off property leaving me the great opportunity to do nothing on my second to last day of work. I am pending that “time of the month” so my emotions have been running rampant. My day started with me totally disregarding our dress code and wearing jeans, a Meadowlark Polo and converse. Really so wonderful, its to bad that I have to start wearing suits everyday come Monday! Being that today was my second to last day, there was no celebration, no horary for Jessica, just normal, day to day golf club activity. The morning was great, spending time with some of my favorite employees and having fun. At about noon, I left work for a while to get the picture that my stepmom and brother made framed so that I could give it to Pamela tomorrow as a thank you gift. While at Aaron Brothers I enjoyed picking out the frame and matting for this beautiful picture. As this point I was starting to feel the flood of emotions, but I managed to keep the tears back as I had to decide which color for the matting, green or tan! When I got back to work I headed to the kitchen to make my last tuna sandwich: sourdough toast, Swiss cheese and tuna. The perfect sandwich that only tastes good when I make it. As I was making the great meal I realized that this was the last time that I would hang with the kitchen guys laughing together even with the language barrier. After my great lunch I headed back to my desk to kill some time before the day was over. I have turned into a “blog stalker” I mean, kind of scary! I just really enjoy reading what is going on in other people’s lives. I came across a blog that was super emotional, I won’t go into details but there was a death in this family and it was really sad. I managed to bawl my eyes out about a family I don’t even know from Nashville. Once the water works started, I could not stop them. My all time favorite cook from the kitchen came to my office to say bye because he was not going to be at work tomorrow. I tried to keep my composure but as soon as I saw him walk out of the building I absolutely lost it. I am really going to miss my “Meadowlark Family”. I worked at the restaurant for eight years and I don’t even remember feeling this sad on my last days. I am not sure if I am scared, nervous, relieved or excited. Well actually, I think I am a delicate mix of all those emotions. I know that my new job is absolutely perfect for me and that I am meant to be there, but it is just a little hard to leave what I already have.

Tomorrow is my last day. I have every intention of having a great time with everyone and getting absolutely no work done. Well I now that I won’t have any work to do, but hopefully Pamela can tie up some loose ends before we head out to a “good riddance” party for me! I will take my camera so I will be sure to post pictures of all my co-workers as well as my party.

Viva Pilates Studio and Avo Bravo

As many of you know, I attend a pilates class three times a week at a studio by our house. I really love it. I have two different instructors and I love them both each for their different teaching styles. On Monday and Wednesday I take class from Kathryn who is just a wonderful woman. She is so passionate about her studio and her teaching. My class is so supportive of every student that attends; it is almost like a little family. When I got the new job, they all said that deserved a celebration. Nevertheless, we all went to Avo Bravo, a bizarre little Mediterranean restaurant in an unassuming strip mall in Huntington Beach next to a Mexican market and a “day old” Wonder Bread store. To my surprise they totally soiled me and paid my way! We had a great dinner, great wine and even better conversation. I am so blessed to be involved with something that has helped me build some great relationships.

For those of you interested, Viva Pilates Studio is located in the Huntington Harbor Mall off Algonquin. The atmosphere is great, and the instructors are even better.

The Resort at Pelican Hill

So today, Scott and I spent the day in South Orange County. We started at the Irvine Spectrum to get me some new work clothes, man I love that place. H&M is great for nice work clothes for less. I got two suits, two shirts and a sweater for way less than one would spend at a higher end store. I am stoked. It also helps when Scott is on the phone and not paying attention to what I was grabbing! After shopping we went to visit my new work. The Resort is not finished yet, but it sure is going to be beautiful. I feel so privileged to get the opportunity to work at such a high end resort. I used to want to work at a sports venue like the Staples Center or Angel’s Stadium and it was because I loved the high energy and excitement. When I was on the property today I got the same sense that I get when I am at the sports venues. I will start working at the property in a few weeks, but my office will not be complete until the end of November. I really can’t wait! I will keep you all posted on the cool things I see and the awesome people that I meet!

Yellowstone 2008

So back in November Scott’s family decided that we needed a family reunion. Soon thereafter we collectively chose to go to the Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park just outside of Jackson, Wyoming. We got left on Friday night and drove straight through to Las Vegas and stayed at the Stratosphere. We don’t need to do that again! When we woke up, we had a great breakfast and got back on the road up to Salt Lake City.

Scott keeping himself occupied while I was driving!

When we got into Salt Lake City we went a great seafood restaurant, always fun to eat with the family.
Jen, Maggie, Me, Scott, Micah and Charlie

We walked the city to see the Morman Temple, Tabernacle and all the other "goings on" in Salt Lake.

When we got to camp we did a lot of haning out, drinking, telling jokes and just having a good time.

Scott, Micah and Jen got a few good rides in while we were there. The 7000+ elevation sure helps the training.

We went kayaking one day on the Jackson Lake. The water was no warmer than 50 degrees, but that did not stop Scott and others from swimming. The snow capped mountains behind him are absolutely amazing. We did try to canoe when we were there, FYI don't do it!

On the lake, so wonderful.

All the cousins relaxing in the middle of the lake.

We did a few hikes/nature walks while we were there. I love this picture because of the mountains in the backgroud, kind of dark but you get the picture.

On Wednesday we went into Jackson to go river rafting. We had a great time. I was terrified when we started, but by the end I didn't want it to be over. We didn't get any pictures because we are kind of occupied while on the boat, but I am sure that we looked just like any other group of white water rafters that you have seen! After rafting, we stayed in Jackson for the evening for dinner and a good walk around the neat town. We ate at the Silver Dollar Grill, so delicous. I had a buffalo burger, yea a buffalo! It was fun to have a gourmet meal and some great service while we were roughing it in the mountains!

After dinner we walked around and got some ice cream. We all congregated in the town square and hung out until it was time to get back to camp. The all natural ice cream was delicious.

The six of us went into Yellowstone one evening to see the eruption of the Old Faithful Geyser. It really was pretty amazing to see all the natural hot pools and hot springs. The colors and smells were really neat. We are stitting on the benches waiting for the geyser. We bet on what time it was going to erupt so it helped pass the time while we were waiting. Oh yeah, and Scott thought that it would be fun to yell "it's going to blow" a few times before it acutally did to get a rise out of the hundreds of people waiting. Leave it to him to think it was funny and "cry wolf" and get people excited!

On the last day, we hiked in the Lamar Valley. It was very beautiful. Aside from the mosquitoes and horse flys that bit like crazy it really was very nice. We climbed to the top of a small plateau and had views to all of the entire valley. This is a pic of the two of us on top.

Notice the cool gloves that I am wearing! My hands hurt from gripping the wheel for so long! Nevertheless, we drove 16 hours straigt to make it home in one day! Remind us not to do that again!

We had a great time and are so happy that we got to experiene Mother Nature at her finest.

Next time, we are going somewhere tropical!