St. Louis

Last night I flew right past a thunder storm. Watching the entire horizon be lit up by monstrous flashes and fierce looking bolts. The flashing lights on the tips of the wings illuminated big rain drops and the ride got a little bumpy…I must truly be my father’s daughter because it was absolutely incredible.

So far St. Louis has been a little humid, very warm, and lots of fun.

And going back to incredible things, I got to do two incredibly notable things today:

1. See the Gateway Arch!

It was absolutely wonderful to finally see one of those landmarks that marks your country as being driven, tough, and successful. I am finding myself becoming more and more like my mom, in wanting to read every plaque and sign in every museum I enter.

2. Catch up with my very dearest friend Chelsea.
Going from seeing her every day to not for almost a month is really tough! I will have to stop being a baby about having to get up early for work so we can re-kindle our Monday-night-bachelorette tradition. Always perfected by cheesy potatoes or pumpkin bread from her mom. I'll get a complete fix this weekend though when Andrew and I go with Chelsea and a bunch of friends to her dad's condos in Palm Springs.

The adventures never end!

Travel Adventures

Time at work is just flying by as I am sitting on a plane to St. Louis, Missouri headed to my third trade show with Future Concepts working with their customer relations management. For Future Concepts this involves a lot of traveling, trade shows, networking, and demos. The first trip I went on was to Washington DC for a couple of days before school ended. The trip itself was less than two full days, the show was slow, and I almost missed my connection on the flight home due to a delayed flight out of the JFK airport in DC but I made it safely. The beginning of this week began bright and early with a trip to San Diego for a show there. My CEO (Wayne) and I drove our “Technology Advanced Command and Control Vehicle” down to the Hilton Bayfront in San Diego and spent the next few days making over 50 potentially strong contacts! I was informed this was a far from normal experience but I’m hoping I’ll find similar successes elsewhere. The next step of course being the most important: following up.

I learned quite a bit on the San Diego trip. Things like Wayne is very observant, easy to travel with, and never stops thinking about the next step for our company! I felt a lot more comfortable with the product after this trip and really enjoyed exploring a bit of the Gas Lamp district in San Diego.

This final trip for the month has already been full of adventure! Apparently Wayne has horrible luck traveling because we got to the Ontario airport in plenty of time for our 7:30am flight (yes, I was up at 5am on a Saturday) only to discover that our plane was three hours late and we would miss our connection AND all other flights with United were completely booked. After some investigation we re-scheduled our whole day to fly out at 3pm and end up in St. Louis at midnight instead of 4pm. This was ok with me, seeing as how it meant I got to go home and get back in bed for a few more hours!

Tomorrow holds a few hours of set up, an evening reception and the whole rest of the day to enjoy the weekend and do a little sight seeing. I plan to eat somewhere along the Mississippi River and go up in the famous arch representing the “Gateway to the West”.
My first impressions of traveling for work have been enjoyable. Wayne is a “work first, play later” kind of guy so although the trips are always a lot of work, we have managed to squeeze in a little fun and a few cocktails. I still haven’t been able to get rid of the feeling of having forgotten something after I pack, and I always miss Andrew while I am gone but I haven’t died of separation anxiety yet.

Surrounded by Support

Support can come in a number of ways but the heart of the matter is having someone hold you up and helping you bear your burdens. This weekend my boyfriend and I flew into San Francisco to visit my family and enjoy a joint celebration of my cousin’s birthday and my college graduation. As I was enjoying the atmosphere of a BBQ that only comes in a family environment I soaked in every second of being around the people who came.

There were relatives from in town, out of town, long-time family friends and of course, my wonderful man, Andrew. I was thinking on the flight home, that we caught by the skin of our teeth (that’s an expression, right?) about all of the support each of the people at that BBQ had been to me over the years. Now being a home-schooled college graduate I have only just begun to realize the full impact that people can have over your life. So looking out at the crowd of faces I have known almost my whole life while opening “Congrats Grad” type cards I felt the desire to attempt to explain to each person how they had touched my life. But how do you take 22 years of blessing and communicate it over a short conversation? It was the people who loved me, encouraged me, and supported me that got me a college diploma and not the class attendance that has produced this final result.

And of course the lessons have not ended. The most recent lesson being from my Uncle Dale, reminding me that to have a blog necessitates writing in the blog. So Uncle Dale, this one is for you. ☺

Carrie and I enjoying each other's company. Happy birthday my dear! You are the definition of a loving and supportive cousin!

Sweet Stuff

I am halfway through my first full-time work week! HOORAY! So far it has been wonderful, busy, interesting, exciting, and overwhelming almost simultaneously. Today was particularly enjoyable but I would contribute that largely to the slice of leftover cheesecake I enjoyed this afternoon on a break. Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. Or something delicious like that. Then to top it off I concluded the evening by enjoying some peach "dump" cake my girlfriend Ashley and I made! Yeah, that run this afternoon is officially nullified.

Don't judge me, you know you want to share in the sweetness! Here I'll make it easy for you...

PEACH DUMP CAKE
1 box Pillsbury yellow cake
1 lg. can (or 2 16 oz. cans) sliced peaches & juice
1 stick thinly sliced butter
9 x 12 inch baking pan
Pour in peaches and juice. (we then added cinnamon and brown sugar over the peaches. I would highly recommend this sweet addition) Sprinkle cake mix over top to cover entirely. Evenly lay sliced butter over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, serve warm in bowls with either scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

And on a healthier note, I found a great looking smoothie recipe today from Mr. Dan Cathy, the CEO of Chic-Fil-A. If you have a chance to make one before me, tell me how it is!

DAN CATHY'S 32oz SMOOTHIE
6oz Pineapple Juice
1 Cup Blueberries
1 Cup Sliced Strawberries
2 Cups red grapes
1 Banana
1/3 Cup Honey
Blend well and enjoy!

But it is too late to be thinking about food. I would like to fall asleep and think about how blessed I am to have girls like Ashley in my life where we can be talking about shopping one minute, and predestination the next. Of all things, right?

The End of All Things

I am officially a graduate and the time leading up to and surrounding graduation was filled with family, beloved friends, and all sorts of adventures. Instead of rambling on about all of them I will simply let you see into a few of the moments I will forever hold dear.

Pirate faces in Disneyland.

The love of my Grandma.

The Torrey graduation dance. Where you run in a circle and shout with joy as loud as you can. We set the record for the number of chum doing it simultaneously.

My dear friend Chelsea, and complete survival kit for senior year.

The first family camping trip since I moved away to Biola. All as a birthday gift to mom! Location: Yosemite

Those are just a few of the great things the last week or so have contained but for now I must focus on the first day of work tomorrow! The main question, of course, being what to wear...