Maui Day 1 - Slideshow

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We Have Arrived...

Yes folks it is official we are on vacation!! (Although a few of Matthew's friends have forgotten that fact as he received 3 phone calls from the guys about Monday Night "Guys Night"). We arrived in Maui last night about 5:00 p.m. after a very long plane ride. The flight was very full, but luckily the layout of the plane allowed Matt and I to have a row to ourselves. We had a 2 hour lay-over in Honolulu and took a 21 minutes flight to Maui! The only disappointed is that we did not receive any lei's when we stepped off either plane! (It's a myth...something they do for the movies!)

Our first stop was Costco to stock up on food supplies....however it was Sunday and Costco closes early...thus we had 20 minutes to run around and get everything we needed! Craziness!! The drive to the resort took about 45 minutes and it was dark when we arrived. I will say that the long day was worth it as we drove into the circular drive and stepped out of the car we were greeted with a gorgeous view! The whole reception area is outside. The resort is absolutely gorgeous!

This morning we went to an orientation breakfast. The concierge staff gives a brief presentation on some of the activities that one can do while visiting the island of Maui. After breakfast, I decided I really wanted to spend the day relaxing by the pool. Matthew wanted to check out the disk golf course (yes he dragged his whole bag of disks - 15 of them.) We left the room and headed to the elevator. As we were waiting for the elevator, Matthew realized he had forgot the disks in the room! (those darn disks...) Anyway my morning was spent by the pool: reading, listening to music and people watching. Matthew went to the course, which he learned is not very developed and only had a few baskets. Plus the wind was pretty bad and he eventually gave up....the bonus...he found 3 more disks!

Not too bad for a first day! We will drive to Hana tomorrow...stay tune for pictures!

I am List person

I am a crazy, detailed oriented, list person. My husband calls it anal! I make lists for all kinds of things. "To Do" lists, grocery list, Wal-mart list, and travel/vacation lists. As some of you know we are getting ready to go on vacation to Maui so I began working on my lists about 3 weeks ago. (Yes I said lists as in multiple) My first list is for the items that we still need to buy to go to Maui like sunscreen, batteries, travel size toiletries, etc. My second list contains all the kitchen items we need to take with us because we are staying in a condo with a full kitchen. (Our friends advised us to take some things with us so we didn't have to buy them in Maui.) Like paper plates, plasticware, paper towels and spices. My third list is for first aid/medications to take, again so we don't have to buy it in Maui. My fourth list is for our activities to take like books, camera, games, computer and dvd's. With my final list being of course my clothes. These lists do not include what needs to still happen at home while we are gone, like cleaning, paying bills, doing laundry, etc. The only thing I can say is that when I write a list I actually use it and I cross things off and the list is then thrown away.

However the same can't always be said about my dad! You thought I was crazy about lists, you haven't seen anything yet! This man has lists like you wouldn't believe, again organized by project. Millions of lists that are on little 3 X 5 cards, some can end up in a notebook, but mostly it is the 3x5 card. They are all over the house. Anyway, it seems when we go home to visit, I keep seeing the same list on the counter and not much has been accomplished on it! Hmmm! Maybe it is just my imagination, as we only get home about 2 -3 times a year but it sure seems strange to see the same list over and over again. The other thing that is funny about the way by dad works his list is he can't simply mark through the item. He has to create a grid of sorts when he marks through his items. Everything is so neat and tidy! Sometimes he writes something on the list that he has already done just so he can mark it off the list after the fact! Talk about...well you know what I mean!

In the end the list is what keeps us from forgetting the important things! (if you remembered at the beginning to write it down). Gotta love the lists.

Reconnections...

A few weeks ago I blogged about being a victim of Facebook. Well, I will admit that are some great benefits to being part of the Facebook world...the reconnections with old friends! I have had the opportunity to reconnect with some friends from all aspects of life: high school, youth group, college, church, etc.


One of those reconnections was a complete surprise to me and I find that I am completely blessed with the opportunity to start a new chapter with her. We haven't seen each other in about 4 years, basically since her wedding and my wedding shower. I can honestly say that our friendship was on the rocks. Both of us were pretty selfish (yeah, I know...hard to believe about me) and were not mature enough to weather the storm that cast our friendship on the rocks. As we made plans to meet for dinner that eventually led to a coffee date due to scheduling conflicts, I found myself getting nervous about seeing her again.


All was well, within 10 minutes of being together, it was truly like old times. We both had some great stories to tell that had both of us laughing. We also both had some challenges and trials in which we both tried not to cry. I can see that we both a done a lot of growing up in the past few years. I guess getting married and having a child can do that to some of us! We have been able to move forward and it is amazing to see what God has done with both of our lives. I really enjoyed our morning and look forward to many other outings!

Thanks Rebecca is was great to see you and I cherish this gift from God to start the next chapter in our friendship!

A Day of Scrapping

Yesterday I had the joy of spending the entire day Scrapbooking with one of my girlfriends and met some new friends all while doing it! We had quite a bit of fun (even if it was loud and I didn't know the other ladies very well) and I was able to accomplish a lot in those hours! While I spent the day scrapping, Matthew was kicking it with men and children of the ladies who were at the Scrapbooking Day! However I believe some of the men got lost along the way as only one other man showed up! Oh well. As I understand it great fun was had by all and everyone got a little freaky with the "Sun In" and mouthwash...

The two albums I worked on were our engagement photos and our recent visit to the Getty Museum. Here is a sneak peak:

Do's and Don'ts for Dallas

Since I have now had the opportunity to visit the great city of Dallas three times and each trip has been a little different I decided I would compile a list of those things to do and not to do while in Dallas!! Keeping in mind this is only my opinion!

DO's

• Fly into Dallas-Love Field Airport (check in 10 minutes, security 10 minutes, wait for plane 10 minutes)


• Shop at the Galleria or outlet mall.


• Visit the JFK Memorial and Museum


• Take a trusty GPS


• Stay at the Embassy Suites on Northwest Highway or Hilton Garden Inn off I-35


• Eat at Pappadeaux's Seafood Kitchen


• Eat at Pappas Brother's Steak House


• Drive through Highland Park area of Dallas as it has some very beautiful homes.


• Pay someone $10 to change your flat for you!


• Do go to Sonics during their Happy Hour for a Cherry Limeade (as like Starbucks, there is one on every corner!)


• Eat dinner at Texas de Brazil

DON'Ts

• Fly into Dallas-Ft.Worth Airport - it has the tendency to close down after the smallest of rain storms


• Don't shop at the 24-hr Wal-mart with a clothes snob!


• Don't stand on the spot that JFK was shot as it is a major freeway on ramp!


• Don't rely on the cheap GPS you brought with you as it will most likely have you running around in circles!


• Don't stay at the Holiday Inn down the street from the airport


• Don't eat at Taco Cabana


• Don't eat at Pappas Bros BBQ.


• Never let the engineers from Associated Air pick the steakhouse to eat at as you will run up a very expensive food/bar bill.


• Don't drive around the neighborhoods of downtown as they are very scary!


• Never believe that AAA will show up in 60 minutes to fix a flat.


• Don't eat at Texas de Brazil if you have had a big lunch!

Footloose and Fancy Free!

Okay so maybe not those words exactly. This week marked my first solo business trip in my new role as Regional Sales Manager and all I can say is I want my partner back!!!

Sunday I flew out of John Wayne airport at an ungodly hour - a time when most people are still sleeping before they have to get up and go to church! My flights were both uneventful and I arrived at my destination (Dallas, Texas) without any hitches. I picked up my rental car, checked into my hotel and settled in. The hotel that I am staying at, is 1/2 mile from the airport and the main customer that I will be visiting while in Dallas. So, after unpacking my clothes and taking a bit of a cat nap (to overcome the exhaustion of being up so early) I proceed to head into the city for a bite to eat! Alas, this was not to be the case and upon arriving at my rental car I discovered I had a flat tire! What! Now how did that happen? Again, I remind you, that I had driven the car maybe a mile total. The 1/2 mile to the hotel and around it a couple of times before I parked! There was no way I could have caused this tire to go flat in 1.5 hours and only driving it for a mile. So I called Hertz and asked for Roadside Assistance, where I proceeded to tell the service lady my troubles. Nevermind, that I had to keep repeating myself and ask her to repeat herself because we seemed to have a bad connection or she was not connected to her headset properly. (Not sure which it was and it explains a lot further down) She managed to tell me that someone would be there within 60 minutes. She also mention that they usually arrive sooner than that but she has to quote 60 minutes. Also, during our conversation she informed me that Hertz considers a flat tire as damage and thus I would be responsible to pay for it! EXCUSE ME!! How can I be responsible for a flat tire when I had only driven the car a mile? I also told her that this car would not do for the week rental as I would be traveling out of the state and I would need a replacement. She said, "not a problem, I will call your rental location and request an exchange rental and while you are there you will need to file a incident report on your flat tire. " I re-iterated how could I be held responsible for a flat tire on the car when clearly there was something wrong with it prior to my picking it up in the first place....

So 60 minutes comes and goes...I receive a call from the driver telling me he is on the way and he needs to verify my location! (Nevermind, that I gave my location to the Hertz service lady 3 times) So I repeat the address of the hotel and where the car is parked. 15 minutes later I get a call from AAA dispatch telling me the driver is having a hard time finding me. By that time I had reached my boiling point and the gal at AAA got an ear full! The conversation went something like this: "How hard is it to get to the Holiday Inn down the street from the airport?"; " Airport? Which airport she asks me." "Dallas-Love Field, I am 1/2 mile away from the airport and the Hertz rental center. I have now given this information 5 times to you people....can someone please explain to me why this is so difficult?" " Well you haven't given me this information 5 times and if you don't stop yelling at me I won't send anyone!" " Oh yes you will because Hertz confirmed someone would be within in 60 minutes and your 15 minutes late!" Yet again, I reconfirmed my address and the location of the parked car!

I couldn't believe how hard it was to get a darn tire changed! For all of the time I had spent waiting I could have paid someone $10 to do it for me and drive it back to Hertz (which again is 1/2 mile away!) The driver finally arrived 15 minutes later and I was soon on my way to Hertz where I received the best customer service ever! I spoke with the manager about what had happened and he apologized profusely! He told me he never received any calls from Roadside Assistance about my problem and would have actually sent someone from his office to fix the flat instead! In the end, I received an exchange rental (upgraded) for 50% less that what I was originally going to pay and he made a note on my account about the flat tire not being my fault! I also received a $50 dollar voucher that can be used on my next rental with them! How cool is that! I am so glad things turned out the way they did, because I will be, honest I was prepared to fight dirty!

See, in the past when we have traveled, my partner took care of all these details! I simply had to show up to the airport with my luggage and we were good to go! Not to mention when I travel with my partner there is generally good conversations and much laughter between us so the trip goes faster! This time was much different and not for the better either! This time I actually had to plan, things like the trip budget, customer visits etc. Then I get the trip and budget (hotel, car and air fare) and cash advance approved. ( I also find that I talk to myself a lot!! Hee! Hee!)
I have a whole week of this... Good Lord help me now!

Life is a Rollercoaster

Okay not really, because I don't care for them much. However, I do firmly believe that we are definitely not in control of our life and every once in a while I get a gentle (sometimes hard) reminder of that fact. A few weeks ago my husband and I had a crisis arise. It was in fact, a big one! Matthew came home one night tell me a story about rumors floating around his office about a possible sell of his office. As some of you know, Matthew is an office administrator/receptionist for a corporate branch of Coldwell Banker. He has actually been working for them about 7 1/2 years the first 2 as an licensed agent the remaining time as office staff. Well, eventually the rumor proved to be true. An affiliate/franchisee had sent a proposal to the corporate offices about purchasing the Yorba Linda office. It apparently caught the right person's attention because next thing you know there were a series of meetings and phone calls about the purchase. In the end, the sell of the office fell threw; however, this didn't stop the powers that be from deciding to close the office all together. As you can imagine, Matthew and I waited on pins and needles ever so patiently (NOT!) to see what was to become of Matthew. Several of the agents began looking elsewhere, speculating and creating additional chaos that it did not help Matthew and I in our nerves. The President of Coldwell Banker, finally scheduled a meeting at Matthew's office to discuss with the staff and agents what had transpired over the previous week and what the final outcome was to be. In this case, the office was in fact still closing and the agents were being given the opportunity to transfer to the Tustin office along with Joe and his staff. Yeah! We were going to be okay, Matthew would still have a job and would transfer to the Tustin office. Actually this was good news for us in that it would be closer to our home and we could take advantage of carpooling a few days a week to save some money! The other good thing is that Matthew would be able to move forward with some of his real estate plans that were finally falling into place with a couple of the agents in the office. All in all we were pretty happy and knew that we had dodged a major bullet! We even celebrated at our friend's on the 4th (albeit a bit too much maybe...) but we were very content.



Fast forward to yesterday...



It would appear that my husband will actually not be transferring to Tustin as we believed and is in fact without a job as of the 18th of July! Apparently the individual at the Tustin office who holds the same position as Matthew has seniority and therefore is going to retain her job! Imagine my shock, surprise, hurt and confusion! What the heck just happened?? How could this happen? The President of Coldwell Banker firmly told the agents a couple of weeks before that Joe and his staff would be taken care of and would transfer to Tustin?? I don't believe there is ever a time that one can be prepared for this type of situation. And I will be honest that I was more prepared for it two weeks ago and I was yesterday! The HR gal was nice enough to mention to Matthew that he was eligible to apply for 3 openings in the corporate office but there was not a guarantee he would be hired! Again I say WHAT! I know that he will at least pursue them but at this stage we are not putting all of our eggs in one basket and will be looking at all options. He does have an interview for one of the openings on Friday morning and it is the best option of the 3 so we hope it will work out but won't know for sure at least for a few more days!


I will be honest, this is a very scary time for us. The prospect of not having the second income for awhile it a bit more daunting than I can handle right now! So your prayers are welcome! Job leads are also welcome! As is Money! Matthew's first reaction has been to sell everything we can on Craigslist. I told him to wait! It also doesn't help the fact that we just planned a Hawaiian trip that we can't cancel because we won't get our money back.

In the end, I know that this is totally in God's hands and he will provide; it is just hard to give up that control! But as I said we really aren't in control now are we!!

Handsfree and a Smartphone

This weekend I finally broke down and got a handsfree device. It was the most expensive device I have ever purchased! See the thing is on July 1st a new law comes into effect in California. All drivers must have a handsfree device in use for their cell phones while driving. Not a problem, I actually agree with the law, the problem is I also really like my phone and in order to go handsfree with a comfortable device actually means a new phone as well. I had tried several hands free devices in the past (wired, since my phone wasn't blue tooth) however I never found one that was comfortable and would work well with my phone. So I have put it off forever.

Well with the recent increase in my travels, I have been getting pressure from my boss about the need for a Blackberry. He believes that all the managers and sales/engineering people should have one. I am not opposed to the idea, just the execution. The thing is the company wants everyone to be under one carrier, with the same plan and same device. Unfortunately, the carrier is not my current cell phone provider. Thus I am stuck with either giving in or carry two phones and honestly who wants to do that? The problem is, not everyone is going to agree on one device, as I believe your cell phone is a personal choice and is selected with that in mind. The tool that is best for me, may not be best for someone else. I also don't like being told that having the phone is a perk only to be told in the same breath that I would be monitored for my personal use. I am sorry? Excuse me, but my cell phone IS my phone. It is the one I use the most. In fact, the only one in our house that uses the land line is me when I talk to my parents. We talk with everyone else on our cell phones.

Anyway so Thursday night, Matthew and I went to Sprint to look at phones. I spent an hour in the store looking at every Nextel and Smartphone they had. I narrowed it down to 3, but in the end wasn't 100% sure. After talking with a couple of people on Friday about their smartphones, Matthew and I went back to Sprint on Friday night. We decided on the Mogul. For two reasons: Matthew liked it and it was the best smartphone they had. (After playing with both the Treo and Blackberry neither of which I liked). In the end, we figured that if my company forces me to get a Blackberry as well as move to Verizon then Matthew can use the Mogul. The down-side to the Mogul, is no more direct-connect/walkie talkie feature. This was a hard feature to give up as this is what really drew Matthew and I to go with Nextel 9 years ago. However Nextel phones just don't have the smartphone features that I believe will be needed for our jobs. Guess we shall see!

I also got a Bluetooth headset and now look like I should be a crew member on Stargate or some other sci-fi show. At least I am not the only one!

A Victim of Facebook

Okay so this last week I fell victim to Facebook. Have you heard of it? If not, beware! If so, then you all can sympathize with me. I had actually been warned about Facebook by a couple of my friends a few months ago. In fact, it was my husband who actually found out about it while I was visiting my mom back March and made a pact with my friends not to tell me anything about it. That was until I saw one of those friends a few weeks later who told me the whole story, as well as about Facebook. No big deal, I was strong and I had already decided that I really wasn't interested in joining, seeing as I am really not into the "myspace thing" anyway. Also, as many of you can see, I have had a difficult time keeping up with my blog lately; thus didn't need another time consuming activity! So fast forward to a week ago, I received an email from a dear friend of mine announcing a new family album. I thought...cool...I can see pictures of the new baby boy they are fostering as well as new pictures of their daughter. The only catch...I had to join Facebook to see it!! What?? Here I had tried to stay away from it and like a bad penny it turned up again! So I signed up and within 5 days I have 30 new friends, 10 applications, and umpteen million gifts....bottom line, I'm addicted. Every night I have raced home to see what new friends looked me up or have confirmed me as a friend; read emails from old friends and played some fun games. It is just Craziness!! Pure craziness! I will say that it has been really fun re-connecting with some of my old college friends! (some I haven't seen in 12 years). So for those of you who haven't joined yet, beware! Enter at your own risk, on the other hand in small doses it may not be so addicting. Ultimately that will be up to you!!