my right eye has developed a twitch

I'm susppicious there's a correlation with the 70-hour work weeks of busy season numero dos. (Numero dos for the year, that is. Although I did judt finish my second career busy season as well.) Heavens.

life is full of difficult decisions

At work they hace these "Encore Awards" to recognize people who they feel have worked extra hard on a certain project. This busy season I was the in-charge on several jobs, a responsibility usually reserved for your third year. It was such a great experience and I cannot believe how much I learned, and how amazing my coworkers were in helping me get through it.

An additional bonus of this great experience was an encore award. I've received these before at the $20 level, and get to log into the online system and pick out either a gift card or other gift. It's really fun and they have all kinds of stuff. This time, however, I have more cash money to work with.
I can get a $200 AmEx card, which is the jumping off point for evaluating the coolness of my other options. My fav choices are listed below:

I definitely need a new bike (I haven't had one since college). This bike is pink, which is awesome. I'd have to get my dad's opinion before making this choice, because I have no basis for evaluating a bike beyond its color. A quick google search revealed this baby to retail around $190, which would not be maximizing my prize. But, I would have a pink mountain bike, just in time for spring.

There is also a variety of meat packages from Omaha steaks. Several cuts of beef, lobster tails, and crab legs. So delicious, and so tempting. I could save them for a special occasion dinner party, or simply treat myself to a series of delicious meals. I did not google a price for these.

I've been wanting a medium sized suitcase, and this multiple piece collection could certainly meet all of my traveling needs. I did not google a price for these.

A navigation unit would solve many of my life's difficulties. Many. This one is a handheld one, but hopefully there'd be a way to plug it into my car so it didn't run on batteries. A quick google search revealed this baby to retail around $160.

Sigh. I've been plotting my slow and steady collection of Le Creuset cookware for my kitchen for years. I want the spring green ones to match my Kitchenaid. A quick google search revealed this baby to retail around $270. Definitely a steal for my level of prize money. Isn't it beautiful? This is a definite contender for my new gift.

Lastly, I'm not really a watch person. But it would be a great thing for any career woman to have. I've been loving all the white watched I've been seeing, and this Michael Kors one is lovely. A quick google search revealed this baby to retail around $220-250.

What would YOU choose if you had this excruciatingly difficult in front of you? Anyone who says something about getting the cash card, using it to buy groceries, and throwing extra cash money into savings, is no longer my friend. :)

it's a vuarney day

There's nothing quite like a day of spring skiing. Especially considering the 8ft+ dump on Snowbird last week, and 14inches ealier this week. It was super sunny and the perfect opportunity for me to wear the Vuarneys I snagged from my parents (I can't believe they still had them from their college days). Luckily my mom and dad both had a pair, so Kirst and I didn't have to fight over them.
Lots and lots of bodies on the tram. With Daniel making a face, the usual.

It was so fun to get to spend the day with Emily. Hopefully she didn't mind waiting for me to finish each run too much. :)

Seriously though, what does it take to get this kid to take a normal photo??

The view from the top is seriously amazing.

I had an amazing day, with only one tragic event: I forgot to wear sunscreen.

You guys, the grossness of this photo does not do justice to the real grossness of my situation. I know I burn easily and I know the sun is so much worse reflecting off the snow, yet somehow I didn't manage to slather on any spf before heading out. After three days of recovery (pictured) my face is still bright red, peeling, itchy, and aching. I am in so much pain. Two days ago my face was swollen and blistered everywhere. I feel really bad for Brian and Andrew who had to eat lunch with me looking that sick. I have been on a steady dose of aloe, benadryl, and advil. I can't wait to show up to work tomorrow looking this ridiculous. I just want the pain to end soon. :(

beautiful girls, all over the world, i could be chasin'

I had to do an inventory observation in Fremont, CA the other week. I had to be there early Monday morning, which required me to fly out Sunday night. That particular SUnday was Easter, so I was less than thrilled. Until I realized I'd be close to Whitney and could visit her! It was so great to see Whit and Nate, and I highly recommend a visit to anyone as they live in such a fun place right in San Fran.
Here we are with our Easter baskets. Nate was such a good sport to take our photos and hide eggs for us. He filled the eggs with love, and in true single girl fashion, I thought chocolate would have tasted better. :) We baked many delicious things and spent the entire day in our pajamas; sometimes it's comforting to realize that no matter how many things have changed since college, some things never will.

After a fabulous dinner party with some of their good friends, we stopped for a quick photo in front of the golden gate bridge. It was the perfect end to my whirlwind San Francisco weekend visit.

I was then able to take a week off work between busy season one and busy season two (I will be disappearing again tomorrow for another month-- oh the joys). I got to see Amy and her super cute daughter Emi. She's getting so big and has so much personality! Plus, they'll be moving to the northwest next month, so I'm hoping it will mean more frequent visits.

Kirst, Linds, and I went to The Chocolate in Orem. Darling and delicious-- two of my favorite things. The threee of us never run 0ut of things to talk about, maybe because we don't mind rehashing some of our fav subjects again and again. Oh the things we've experienced together since middle school.

All in all I had a lovely week off, although not as heavy on sleep as I would have liked. I had to stop taking photos after this night as I got a terrible sunburn (post to come) so I don't have photos of everything I did and everyone I saw. Oh well, next time.

sometimes it's the little things

This was definitely the highlight of my afternoon.
The highlight of my morning was waking up and realizing it was Thursday. I spent all of yesterday thinking it was Tuesday. Seriously all day. Who needs Wednesdays anyways?

The highlight of my evening will be a dead tie between this, this, this, and this.

charge hours, what?

When you end the week with fewer chargeable hours than you need by Monday, the responsible thing to do is get your few more needed hours of work done first thing Saturday before you play. But sometimes, it is sunny and 65 degrees in early March, and it makes much more sense to play first, while the sun is out, and fit that work in later. Busy season means nothing to me when the weather is unusually nice. :)

Di, Christina, Jess (not pictured) and I enjoyed the SE Artwalk. Many artists opened their homes and many galleries opened their doors all over southeast Portland to display their local art. It's hard to say whether I enjoyed the art, the walk through cute neighborhoods, or the company the most!

Here we are waiting at a crosswalk for a cookie and limonata break.
I don't care where you live, there is no way you have as many beautiful trees, flowers, and shrubs currently surrounding you as we do in Portland. No way. I think this Magnolia builds my case beautifully.

lovely times in seattle

Working in Seattle for two weeks allowed me to spend some badly needed quality time with Jamie! I do not get to see her nearly enough, considering the mere 3 hour drive between us. Jamie is so cute and fun and we had so many good times together in Provo. She was seriously THE reason I survived the accounting program at BYU!

We decided our dinner needed a substantial amount of greens. Here is Jamie prepping the asparagus.
I'm working on the roasted broccoli-- I'm totally obsessed. It was so nice to get a chance to cook at home after my many weeks of traveling.
All so we could justify eating cupcakes and ice cream for dinner! Dinner for winners right here. I can't remember the name of the cupcake shop, but it was darling and they were seriously delicious. Somewhere in the Queen Anne area of Seattle-- ask Jamie about it. :)
Are you as impressed as I am at the damage we did?? So delicious.