June 2017 was a month of back-to-back
work trips. It started with a four day trip to Chicago for a CCHC meeting
followed by a week in Dallas and a week in Moreno Valley, CA for a brand new
job with PEGUS Research.
June 6, 2017--My hotel, The Kimpton Grey in Chicago.
Rooftop dinner with my team.
Presence Health--the gorgeous building where we held our meeting. I took this photo June 8 during the architecture tour by boat.
June 16, 2017--the gorgeous building where I completed my first PEGUS Research study in Dallas.
June 19, 2017--pretty clouds flying into Moreno Valley. The first of many months when I would visit three different states for work in under 30 days.
The first week in July (including the
4th of July), we received a last minute invite to our favorite Bear Lake cabin
with the Nestels. Heidi and her kids could only be there for two-days, so it
was mostly a week for my kids and me to enjoy having the cabin all to
ourselves. My brother and his family even joined us for the last two days. It
was everything we love about Bear Lake -- swimming, seeing millions of stars at
night, s'mores over the campfire, famous shakes, trips to the Chocolate Bear
for chocolate dipped raspberries ... and lots of time to chill out next to that
gorgeous aqua colored water.
I was really impressed that Isaac built
the campfires all by himself this year, a skill he learned in his Wilderness
Survival class at DaVinci Distance--the public school/homeschool program we participate in. One night, when Isaac and I were
laying under the stars together, he started talking about what if we disappear
into oblivion when we die? It was a deep conversation. I love that boy's mind.
I don't want to forget the "raft" Katie, Isaac and Anna made out
of a giant piece of plywood they found drifting in the lake. They had hours of
fun paddling that thing around. And, I don't want to forget the lovely dinner we had on the patio at a Mexican restaurant on our way out of town -- Sophie's choice.
The next week, I traveled to St. Louis
for a PEGUS study. I stayed in a hotel right downtown near the arch and the
Cardinal's Stadium. The cool thing about my office was that it was right next
to the stadium and the people who work there full-time have floor to ceiling
windows in their offices with a view of the field so they can watch the games.
There was a really great BBQ restaurant--Sugarfire--right by my hotel too.
July 11, 2017--Doesn't this elevator in my hotel remind you of the Tower of Terror?
Another cute hotel room. St. Louis for PEGUS Research July 2017.
The week after I worked in St. Louis, the kids and I
headed back to Bear Lake for Brian's family reunion. One of Brian's sisters
found a great place in Paris, Idaho that accommodated our whole enormous
extended family. There was one huge house that had tons of beds, a big kitchen,
and room for enough tables to seat us all at mealtimes. There was also a nice yard
where the kids had fun with water balloon fights. Some of the
families (including my kids and me) stayed in one of the private apartments
across the street. Just before I left to head up to the reunion, one of my
friends asked if I would take her daughter, Zoe and I figured, "Why
not?" That was nice because she is a great kid and a good friend to both
Katie and Isaac (she is Isaac's age), so they enjoyed getting to play with her
at their favorite lake.
The first day we arrived, we joined
everyone for a tour of Minnetonka Cave. The cave dripped water on us and the
tour guide said they were "cave kisses." Ian posted on Instagram that
he had his "first kiss in Paris," hahahaha. That night, after dinner with the extended family and a water balloon fight, we had retreated to our private abode where we had opened every window, but it was so sweltering hot and not the slightest breeze. I will always
remember playing apples to apples with the kids and having so much fun despite
the stifling heat that permeated the whole place, our faces flushed and our bodies damp with sweat, and then finally, sometime
after 10:00pm feeling the slightest drop in the temperature and being so
happy about it. Then, we went outside to see the million stars we are use to
seeing at Bear Lake -- but SAD for us that since we were on a main road in
Paris, Idaho instead of the more remote cabin where we normally stay. We could hardly
see any more stars than we see at home in Ogden! But, then we saw bats flying
around and the it distracted the kids from their disappointment.
The next day, the whole extended family
went to North Beach and my kids had the greatest time ever playing in the sand
and swamping grandpa's canoes over and over for hours. It was a wonderful,
wonderful day! I would have liked to have more days like that, but alas,
it was the only one.
June 20, 2017--Another great trip to Bear Lake! Look at Ian's muscles. My kids are so strong.
A beautiful day and night at the lake. Look at the storm rolling in at this picture at sunset. Busy by day, had the beach to ourselves at night!
During the day, the kids swamped grandpa's canoes for hours and it never got old.
We drove off just as it began to downpour!
Paris Ice Caves.
That evening, after dinner, I took my
kids back to North Beach and we had the whole place to ourselves! It was such a
different feeling than the crowded beach of the day with portable shade tents in a line as far as the eye could see. It was just us and that calm beautiful lake and it was
truly one of the best nights of my whole life. We watched the most gorgeous
sunset and left the beach just as a famous Bear Lake storm rolled in. On our
way back to Paris, Idaho, with the rain pelting the van and lightning strikes piercing the sky, there was a public announcement about a severe storm
warning that added to our excitement. Back at our little apartment, we watched a
beautiful lightning storm that had the added effect of cooling things down a little bit.
On the final day, we joined the extended
family for our first ever drive to the Paris Ice Cave. It's a pretty small cave
that I guess has ice all year round. My kids loved it. Then, they wanted to go
back to the lake to play. The rest of the family drove to a glacier lake higher
up in the mountains and we went to North Beach just the kids and I. It was
actually a lovely time and we were all sad to leave that evening so I tried to make everyone
feel better by getting dinner and shakes at Zip's on our way out of town along with a stop for treats at the Chocolate Bear. Good times and so lucky that
we got to go to Bear Lake TWICE in one summer!
July 31, 2017--this guy and his dad headed off to Scout Camp at Camp Loll.
Fun with friends at Waffle Luv -- visiting Sophie at her summer job.
In August, a wonderful thing happened. I
signed up for a PEGUS job and got assigned to work in NYC! My office was right
downtown on 5th Avenue and I reserved a hotel a few blocks away that was so
close to Times Square, I could actually see the lights from my balcony. What a
dream come true! Knowing in advance that all of my work trips consist of me
working my guts out all day long and into the evening until I go home and
barely get enough sleep to wake up and do it all again the next day, I decided
to take the opportunity to fly in two days early so I could take
advantage of being in NYC and get to see some of the sites!
I arrived in the wee hours of the
morning on a Sunday after taking a red eye. Adrenaline kicked in and I
had the most wonderful day. I will just copy my Facebook posts here so I don't
have to re-type everything.
My day started with a red eye to New
York. I was questioning my choice while unable to get one minute of sleep. But
when we landed at JFK, the adrenaline kicked in and it still hasn't left. On
the flight, I promised myself I would never fly red eye again, but right now, I
say--Worth it! Leading up to this trip, I could not discipline myself to plan
an itinerary. Every time I considered my options, I wanted to do ALL of them
(including seeing ALL the Broadway shows). I wanted to do everything and I
could not lock myself into anything. Touched down at 5:30am and walked off the
place to a beautiful sunrise. Dropped off my bags at the hotel and grabbed a
map and studied it and studied it until the concierge gently told me to put it away.
"It's best to just get lost in New York," he said. So that is what I
did. I wandered all day and let the awesomeness of this city wash over me. I
found the office where I will work this week at 500 Fifth Avenue. Love the Art
Deco. Wound up in Times Square which was strangely silent and empty on a Sunday
morning. Walked all over the theater district for hours. Sat down to people
watch when I got tired. Headed to Central Park and basked in the greenery. Saw
a matinee of The Waitress that moved me to my core. Took an Uber to a funky
massage place in ChinaTown where they did an amazing job putting my aching back
and feet together again. Ate salt and pepper squid for dinner and finally
checked into my hotel at 9:45pm only to discover I have a beautiful room on the
19th floor with a balcony and a view of Times Square (written August 6, 2017).
After two amazing days in NYC, I fully
expected to work my guts out and go home. But, PEGUS was having a terrible time
filling my schedule resulting in 4 hour breaks in the middle of my workday to
site see and by the end of the week, I wrapped up the project at noon on
Friday, a full day and a half early, and had until Sunday afternoon to do
whatever I wanted. My entry on August 12:
My plan was to speed-see NYC Sunday and
Monday and work Tuesday-Saturday and fly home Sunday but a Surprise gift came
to me when the project wrapped up early leaving me with oodles of time on my
hands in NYC. Took a walk for 40-blocks in the rain, past Central Park, on my
way to The Met. Saw more Broadway shows (1989 and A Doll's House 2). Got lost
wandering the streets so many times and never failed to come across something
amazing. My office was next door to the NYC Public Library. Discovered what a
gorgeous building that is. Happened upon a farmer's market and bought a giant
fresh raspberry lemonade to help me keep walking. Visited the 9-11 memorial,
which is so pretty. Visited the 9-11 Museum, which made me so sad and after
only an hour I had to leave. I wandered to the water's edge where I watched the
sun setting and the lights on the buildings begin to twinkle with the Statue of
Liberty in my sight. More walks. More magic. Too many beautiful buildings and
beautiful meals to document. Discovered lots of people come to NYC alone and
struck up fun conversations. Laughed my head off on Kramer's Reality Bus Tour
today and ate lobster bisque from the original Soup Man (aka Soup Nazi). Stood
in line at TKTS and asked for the best seat they had to Kinky Boots. The guy
said he had a "front and center orchestra seat," so I bought it and
now I am looking at the ticket and I think it really is on the FRONT ROW. The
pros of vacationing alone: getting to do anything you want to all the time.
It's been awhile since I've had that feeling.
What a truly blessed week that I will
never forget. What a magical city. What an unexpected gift. By the way, while
the front row may not be the best seat in the house, it was truly a unique
experience and I would take a front row seat again. Pretty cool.
August 6, 2017--touched down at JFK just as the sun was rising.
My office for the week was at 500 5th Avenue, right next door to the NYC Public Library.
NYC Public Library.
Side view of my office building (from the vantage point of standing in front of the library)
Beautiful art deco inside the office at 500 5th Avenue.
I love Times Square.
Checked into my room to discover I had this charming balcony! That glow down the street is Times Square!!
Central Park in the rain.
The Met.
9/11 Memorial.
Grand Central Station.
Inside the beautiful NYC Public Library.
A quiet evening by the water with a view of the Statue of Liberty.
Watching the light change as the sun set and the lights began to twinkle.
Soup for lunch on the Seinfeld Kramer Reality Bus Tour.
I flew back home late August 13 and woke
up the next day in full swing of celebrating Isaac's birthday. I loaded up a
bunch of his friends and we played all day at a trampoline park.
Happy Birthday my blue-eyed boy!
My kids are
growing up! Sophie is 16, Ian will be 15 in two weeks, Isaac is 12 and Katie is
8. I guess their growing up is the reason I can do all of this travel now. That is nice.
August 21, 2017--I let Sophie and Ian miss their first day of school so we could all watch the eclipse together. Very cool experience!
Right after NYC and Isaac's birthday, it
was back to school with everyone. Sophie is having a wonderful year as a junior
at DaVinci. She recently landed a part in the ensemble of Fairly Potter -- a
Christmas parody at a local community theater. Ian is having a great year
as a 9th grader at Mount Ogden Junior High. He takes three of his core classes
online this year and that is working out really well. He is a busy, busy kid
participating in the Marching Band at Ogden High School. He travels to St.
George for state competition this week and then his schedule will calm down.
But, not too much since he is signing up for the winter version of marching
band.
I am having the most blessed year with Katie and Isaac attending the DaVinci Distance (public
school/homeschool) program. On Tuesdays, they go to a cooking class, art class
and wilderness survival class at the school in the morning. Then, I pick them
up and drive them to a Karate class, swimming class and gymnastics class in
Clearfield. They get to do all of these things with their cousin Anna who they
adore. On Wednesdays, they go to a full day of core classes at the school. I
could not love their teachers more than I do. Their classes are small. The
activities are hands-on. It is really the best program I can imagine. I don't
have all the right words to express how much I love it.
The other three days of the week, when they are not at school, I homeschool them
in language arts, spelling, vocabulary, math . . . sometimes we mix in a little
history and science. We get to go to a lot of field trips on Fridays. Last week
we took a hayride at a pumpkin patch. This week it's scales and tails. We also
got to go to the amazing Natural History Museum at the University of Utah. I
could not be happier with the way things have worked out for all four of my
kids when it comes to their school experience this year.
Chillin' at the pool on one of the last days of summer (I never have less than six kids with me wherever I go--haha!)
After the crush of getting everyone back
to school, we joined my extended family for a delightful week on the
Oregon Coast the first week of September. My parents have been going to Happy
Camp in Netarts, a coastal city near Tillamook, for the past 10 years or so.
They always go the first week of September and they always go with their friends
or my aunts and uncles. This year, they rented an oversized beach house and
invited their children and grand children. What a treat it was!
Pretty sunset at my house.
Multnomah Falls the day before it burned in a major forest fire.
Our gorgeous beach house.
Crab for dinner every night.
So much fun playing at the beach every day.
Sadly, Brian was too busy to join us for
this family reunion too, so I bravely loaded up the kids for the 15-hour drive.
I say bravely, because I am not a good long distance driver. I get so sleepy!
Even in the daytime, it just lulls me right to sleep. Luckily, my sister ended
up being my co-driver.
September 6, 2017--Happy 48th Birthday to Brian! We missed getting to spend the day with him (we were in Oregon), but we got him these sweet headphones.
The first day we made it to Pendleton,
Oregon where we stayed the night and drove the rest of the way to the beach
house the next day. It was so ideal. We had a second-floor balcony that
looked right out at the ocean and we could walk to the beach just a few steps
away. It was so close, we could even send the little kids out to play by
themselves. The beach house was so comfortable and we even had a hot tub. What
an unforgettable week we had relaxing there and taking in the beauty. My
dad caught the most crabs he's ever caught. Crab for dinner every night! And,
excursions to the Tillamook factory for ice-cream when we felt like it too.
On the way there, we passed a crazy fire
that had just started the day before and by the time we had been there a few
days it had spread (Eagle Mountain Fire) and burned so much of the beautiful
Northwest landscape including the area around Multnomah Falls where we had
stopped to site see on our way in. The fire was so huge by the time we went
home that we had to take a detour road through Washington.
Sophie talked
us into stopping in Portland for some Staccato Gelato. Not sure why that was so
important to her, but it was pretty tasty. On the way home we stayed a night in
Boise, Idaho and, funny thing, we looked out the window and saw this wide
straight river thing running right past our window. In the dark the kids swore
it was a moat as if we were in a castle. But, in the morning I found out it was
an extremely full irrigation ditch.
Staccato Gelato. I don't know why. But, why not?
We had a couple of weeks at home getting
caught up on everything after the kids missed a week of school for our vacation
and then I was on the road again. This time it was for a PEGUS study in
Chicago. I can't believe my luck with the amazing cities I have travelled to!
It was suppose to be for seven days, which seemed long enough. But, the Houston,
TX site was shut down due to Hurricane Harvey, so they asked me to work extra
days in Chicago to help make up for that and it stretched my time to nine-days.
My office was located right on the
Magnificent Mile and so was my beautiful hotel (The Omni). My colleague, Patti,
has booked several events at The Omni and she pulled some strings to ensure I
had an amazing room on the 25th floor. The staff even delivered the cutest
platter of food to my room my first night in town. It was an incredible week! I
worked long hours and did manage to have one day off near the end. On that day,
I took a long walk, admired the gorgeous landscaping of the city, spent some
time by the river and relaxed. I also visited a beach on Lake Michigan one
evening that was only about a mile from my hotel, right in the heart of
the city--a beach! I worked 80-hours for PEGUS that week and also worked a lot of hours
for CCHC during any downtime I had (downtime in the office mostly--in between
interviews they let us do whatever we want...I think most people read and look
at social media but I usually try to do CCHC work--haha!).
Chicago, PEGUS Research study, September 2017--My beautiful room at the Omni and a little treat waiting for me my first night.
Katie sent Claire the pink penguin with me. Claire taking in the view from my office.
Did you know there is a nice sandy beach in the middle of Downtown Chicago?
Throwing in these photos of Brian and the kids for fun.
I can't complain about this blessed
week. I got so much accomplished and I worked under the best conditions
imaginable. But, I will say that something happened to me that week and I think
it is called burn-out. I finally got the feeling that after so many months of
being on the road whether it was for work or with the family for play, I just
wanted to go home and take a deep breath and relax for a moment.
But, relax is not what I did. I got home
just a few days before my next trip -- to Dallas for a cybersecurity meeting
with CCHC (during the first week of October). The days leading up to that trip were filled with work and stress
and the day before I left, my colleague informed me that she was not going to
go. This left me with mixed emotions because I was kind of excited to do
everything on-site on my own, but it definitely upped the stress level even
more and didn't give me a lot of time to adjust my thinking to taking the lead.
I took a picture of this rainbow framing CHRISTUS Health as we drove by to get a lay of the land the night before the meeting.
Needless to say, when I returned home
from Dallas I was super excited to put my suitcases away and imagined they
would remain in storage for at least a few months since I wasn't planning on
any more travel until at least January. I was so excited to return to
"normal life" for a minute when the weight of the fact that the Ram Run
5K fundraiser was right around the corner. So, with lots of anxiety (I
am the junior high PTA president and Brian is the race director), I got to work
making sure that would happen as scheduled. And, right smack in the middle of
those last minute preparations, CCHC sprung a surprise work trip to Seattle, WA
on me!
Seattle is one of my favorite cities,
and I'm not going to lie because the group dinner on the water next to Pike's
Market at a swanky oyster house was delightful. But, it wasn't too much fun
changing my mental state and throwing everything together for my third business trip in less than 30-days at the last possible minute. I also had a ton of
mom-guilt because I had to leave over my kids' fall break. In the end, it was
fine, but ... Wowza.
The view from the meeting room in Seattle--
Totally random order of photos to follow. We love to watch the deer hanging out in our backyard.
Here is a true story: I woke up at 3:00am Mountain Time after working more than 80-hours over nine-days in Chicago to catch an early flight home to take Katie and Isaac to their Karate and Gymnastics classes ... The next week, after the meeting in Dallas, I drove straight home, loaded them into the car in less than 5-minutes and took them to Isaac's haircut appointment (haircut pictured below). I am learning this is a very bad way to re-enter my life after a business trip. Some transitional time is needed.
The Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City is just sooooooo COOL!
Took this photo on a drive with a friend by Pineview Reservoir to see the fall leaves.
I am so proud of Ian's dedication to Marching Band this year. Lots of hours and the band was awesome!
Here we are at the pumpkin patch because in between burning the midnight oil at work, I'm really just trying to DO IT ALL.
I took this picture at the Scales and Tails fieldtrip. I about fell off my chair when the guy pulled this thing out of a box!
Ahhh ... the Ram Run. Four years we've done this now. When it was over, all I felt was tired. So, so tired. I hope I will remember not to sign up to do this next year. Haha! We won't have kids at Mount Ogden Junior High anymore, so I think we are off the hook? We'll see. As tired as I was, I still sucked it up and took these two to their fall festival before I broke down into a zombie state for the rest of the day.
Katie and Isaac petting a giant snake at Scales and Tails.
I am so in love with this new ritual in which Isaac will spontaneously build a fire and invite all the neighborhood kids over. I love it so much!
Picnic in the front yard during homeschool on a nice fall day.
Halloween costumes -- so proud of the intricate details of Sophie's. She put this costume together all by herself!
Let's just say that when I came back
from Seattle, Katie, my 8-year-old, was wearing exactly what she had on the
night I left. I don't even know who to hold accountable for that? I mean, she
is 8. How has she not yet learned to put on new clothes every day by now? Is it her? Is it me? But,
you would also think that Brian or Sophie or Ian might have noticed this. It is
a metaphor for the way things have deteriorated from my first work trip when
Brian worked from home to make sure the kids were taken care of to the present
in which they are pretty much left 100% to fend for themselves while he works
all sorts of hours that stretch beyond bedtime. He learned pretty quickly that it is impossible to put in an 8-hour workday from the home office.
I came back from Seattle knowing we had
one week until the Ram Run (October 24) and all that week I told myself that I would finally
rest once that was over. One day, out of the blue, I wasn't even feeling stressed
on a conscious level, and I suddenly had what I'm guessing was an anxiety
attack. But, it felt like a heart attack. The only reason I didn't go to the
hospital was because, despite Brian and I both working these insane hours, we
don't have access to affordable health insurance. Plus I was pretty sure, like
80% sure it wasn't a heart attack. And, if it had been, I probably would have
died right then and there rather than pay out of pocket that high of medical
bills. So, I was 80% sure I wasn't having a heart attack, but at one point
the feeling got so intense that I was scared I might lose consciousness. So,
I thought, I'd better call someone to come be with me just in case it really
was a heart attack or I did lose consciousness. But, I was too afraid to call
anyone because I figured they would make me go to the hospital. So, I pretty
much just gritted my teeth and walked it off after a couple of hours and took my kids to the pumpkin
patch despite still not being able to lift my arms past a certain height or
move my body very well due to the extreme residual tightness in my chest that continued as we chilled together on the hayride.
I made it to race day. When it finally wrapped up instead of feeling the stress from all the
fundraising, planning and worry lifted and replaced by a warm fuzzy feeling of
doing good for my community and my kids' school, all I felt was tired. Like so
tired on every level. So tired that when I finally stopped running my kids
around to their fall festivals and play practices and friends' houses for several hours after the race--when I finally stopped all the running and sat down, I found that I couldn't do anything. My visiting
teacher texted and asked if she could come over and I could not imagine
mustering the energy it would take to sit and have a conversation with visiting
teachers in that moment. Which, if you think about it, is about the easiest
thing possible, but which illustrates how utterly wasted I was.
I needed a break about a month before that moment, and I still hadn't gotten it. So despite having a really, really blessed life and
about the most blessed year ever, I was left hoping I could get some rest and
refill my tank a little because I felt completely on empty.
So happy I finally took the time to sit
down and write this painfully long post to record all that has been going on in
our lives. I wrote this on Halloween! Yay! But, it wouldn't publish for some reason so I saved it for later. Sophie had an amazing pirate costume that
she paid for and designed herself. Isaac had an amazing army costume that was authentic and purchased from a military surplus store. Katie wanted to be
Wonder Woman and I bought her that costume. But, she changed her mind and wanted to be cat woman (her costume from last year). I couldn't find that costume
anywhere and she was a good sport about wearing Isaac's military
costume from last year instead. Ian wore the same shirt from the past three years that has a zombie face
and animated eyes when he put his phone inside a hidden pocket behind the
face. But, I didn't get a picture of him because he went straight from school to band practice to a party with his fun, teenager friends. Good times. Love these kids. Love my life and I'm sure I will feel better
when my house is clean again and I've had some rest. (That last sentence did come true).
Katie, Isaac and Anna made these turkey shirts in their art class.
Katie and Anna had fun playing with bubbles in the shower after their swim lesson.
Sophie had her adenoids removed
Katie made this angry face at a tavern in Green River.
We saw the most beautiful sky on our drive through Mexican Hat to Monument Valley.
We had this view from our hotel room in Monument Valley.
This beautiful balcony begged me to do some yoga in the sun and I did.
This guy ran his 41st marathon in Monument Valley.
This is my view right now from the hotel lobby.
