Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Celebration Of Paul & Melissa As One

We were thrilled to get to help celebrate the union of friends, Melissa & Paul. These two are inspiring in how they live life, and share their passions together; such as running, photography, and their love of the outdoors, for some. Their ceremony was a private moment up in the mountains, with only their kids & parents, and the preacher. I loved the thought of the peacefulness of it all, and the fact Melissa didn't once ever seem stressed about any of the planning. Why do we always make SUCH a big deal & not just keep it simple sometimes? This seemed to fit them perfectly! And I don't take it personally that I couldn't be there, since I still got to be part of the fabulous party after! :} 
Lissa telling us about the magical day
Paul, the proud husband
Elise, Schelleigh & Dan comfort his daughter from her fall on the treadmill. Ouch! :(
Everyone enjoying the party! (and the punch!! :})
Despite the fight for no "wedding traditions" allowed, they still had to at least cut the cake!
Which then became a room of laughter with their silliness


She thought she was home free without the cake shoved in her face; but, he came back with more :}

Grandma Cheryl serves it up to the new official step sisters (and you'd think they were all blood related as they look a lot a like. The funny thing though is they are all blondies, and Melissa & Paul are dark haired!)
Grandpa Tom accidentally got his fingers stuck in the frosting during the removing of the top layer :}
Sweet Lil Ri-Ri...how pretty she, and her sisters, looked! (they just never stopped long enough to pose for me! :}

Brenna, the big sister. I think Paul's in trouble with all this estrogen! He's way out-numbered in this house!! :}
Good to see Cheryl & Tom again after officially moving for good to St. George
So, this was funny. The guys dared Dylan into eating this small little pepper (and after grabbing a handful, we reminded him he won't want more than 1 :})
Ohhhhhh, I think he's felling the burn now! :}
"Help, my mouth is on fire!!" :}
Well, that was sure a busy; but, fun filled day! This pretty much says it all. Just glad we could make it to all the fun activities of the day, even a little bit of time with your friends & loved ones, is better than no time!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Reunions Continue

I think by now, you all know how much I value our friendships & love any chances to get together with them whenever possible. This time it was another group of friends from back in the school days, some I have not since since! Amy currently lives in California, while Jen is in Colorado. Amy so kindly put together a gathering for anyone who could join. And of course we had a great time catching up again! :}

From Top To Bottom, Left to Right: Stephanie (Stewart Stack), Sandra Kidd, myself, Jennifer Faber, Angella Goddard, Melissa (Workman) Smith, JulieAnn (Carter) Winward, Trapper Turner & Amy Smith
And glad I'm getting more time Sandra & Talin, since she's moved back
JulieAnn & Kent
Melissa & Shane
Shane, you can't claim EVERYONE as yours! :}
It's always fun getting our kids together too. Melissa's Clayton was excited to tell me about his new birthday present, the DS, as it was "SO AWESOME!!' :}
I love how kids can keep themselves entertained!
It's a work of art in the making! "Don't touch!!" (YES MA'AM!)
You know if our boys are there, there's probably a football being thrown!
Stephanie's Mia being her cute self
And her son, Peter...he's such a sweet little guy!:}
Amy & Scott
Amy's cute Mom, Charlee, who was taking good care of us. She even had a fun project for the kids where they got to make their own ghost. Kaley loved that! :}
The stacking of cups continue
Cute girls :}
Thanks again Amy, and Jen, for including us in your time here back to Utah! :}

Monday, October 11, 2010

A few reasons why I love my job...

How many people can say they love their job? Well, I finally can say that. Sure it has it's rough days & demanding parts to it, what job doesn't? But, since their #1 core value is "Putting People First", and they have proven it in the short time I've been here, I am happy I am here. This was my first priority in looking for a new career after taking some time off to be a "Stay at home Mom" (ha ha, that's funny...I think I was home less than ever during those years!). Yes, I did have my Jazzercise (and of course I love that too!!), and did end up working part time in an office for a while too. But, as far as being back in the corporate world, it was important that I looked for a place that wasn't just "another place to work". I started here, Comphealth, back in April. My job involves finding housing for our physicians who take on temporary assignments around the country. Sure it was/is tough to be back full time with all my kids (and my own) activities; but, do what you've got to do, right? For one thing, we are in a beautiful building with a gorgeous view of our mountains (literally across the street) on one side, and of the whole city on the other side. Can't beat that! But, probably the main reason I love it, also has much to do with my manager/team. I'm really not trying to sound like some brown noser..I have no reason to. I honestly mean this. My boss, Tracy, is hilarious & a great listener! She will back you up like her own child if needed! Her motto is "Work Hard, Play Harder". She, and the team, are all a bunch of practical jokers, which always makes work fun & interesting! Some people wonder how we get any work done; but, we really do (work hard, play hard! :}) . I thought it would be fun to show some pictures of miscellaneous events/jokes since I've been here and you'll see what I'm talking about....

First I want to show what was an inspirational day. One of our fellow co-workers, Kerri (who happens to be one of Tracy's good friends), is unfortunately bouting another round of breast cancer, and sadly was told recently there's nothing else they could do. And she still insists on coming to work when she can..that's impressive. But, when the news hit they decided we all should show our support. Now, when I say the CEO & VP's plan these things, it is truly them being involved & right in the action (like a BBQ or summer hot dog party where they are the ones cooking & serving even!). That alone says something! They got much of the office to wear pink, had pink balloons everywhere, made scrapbook pages for everyone to sign & give their well wishes, set up a video room for those who wanted to leave her a message, got together a pot luck & threw a big party for her. She is defiantly not being sent away thinking no one cares!  Here are some photos of that day: 








It's great to be working with some of my old Principal Pals from back in the day, like Vicki here! (There's a few who transfered over as Comphealth used to be in the same building years back)








Tracy thought it would be fun if we (she manages 2 teams, us and payroll..we're basically like 1 big team really) have our quarterly activity be "Office Olympics". Now that was certainly a fun day at the office!  Here's each of the teams:
Girls Just Want to Have Fun


Cobra Kai's


The Terrific Ninja Team


Charlie's, or shall we say, Tracy's, Angels :}
Cute Rita has the giggles!

Tracy had to go fluff her hair & make it the full 80th thing! :}

The flag ceremony


First event.....Hit the bullseye with the sharpy

Lindsey's adorable kids who got to come & watch the fun  (and each get a blue ring pop! :})
The Relay Event






Tina breaking up in tears over taking the Gold! (ha ha :})




And we present an award to our Judge, Amy, for doing a great job (and playing along!)
Our other team activity was an afternoon at Boondocks, where we got to bring our families if we wanted.














This is called "Being a sore loser because Mom beat them on the tracks!" :}
Hey said I cheated, whatever...just accept it! :}






Some of these practical jokes I've been talking about have been some doozies! Like when Marcus finally decided to take a couple days of vacation (apparently he hasn't done this in a while), we thought why not saran wrap his cubical & fill it with paper (since we were in the process of moving everything to electronic files...might as well make use of the unneeded paper & shred we had! :})
Everything is acknowledged around here...even when Andrew found out his 1st child was going to be a girl! (and that was an old box of crummy flowers Tracy had, which makes it all the nicer! :}) 
Sometimes you come to work with random things on your desk. (like Tracy's old flowers there or the head of a pinata, maybe someone else's balloons...)  
Sometimes the boys have to have notes put on them to give them their reminders!  
Another great one was when Eric recently got married & was gone on his Honeymoon, we thought we'd build a house out of his cubical to welcome him home (and again, great use of files we don't need anymore! :}). It was a great project for Jon, the new guy, to get him involved in team activities!   











We thought we'd have a baby shower for them too since we're sure that will be next! :}





WELCOME HOME EWIC!! :}
And since Tracy gives it out a lot, only fair to get her back when we can, right? Like when Andrew filled her chair with water, or when we turned her desk into a library the other day (with books donated for the United Way book drive)


If you take a day off, you never know what you may come back to! You'll just always know you're loved & missed! :} (This was the balloons around the office from the United Way Ballon-gram event. Fortunately the rest of the office was willing to help by donating their balloons! :})   

Another fun week was Employee Appreciation Week where they had activities going all week. This included getting to hear a wonderful motivational speaker, Mike Schlappi; lunch & treats; Wii competitions; and more. The best part of this week was the dunk tank for all the big wigs to get a turn in (and since a few extra managers got to be voted in...lucky Tracy got the pleasure as well! :}) 



Even Cinco De Mayo gave us a reason to have some fun. Who else has piƱatas in their office? Never mind the computer screens right there! :}


You always have a friend at work! :}






Yea, I love my job! Never a dull moment there for sure!! :}