What we love about winter...

This video is from last season. We did a little hiking... and needed a break to rest. Trent didn't want to take a break... so he occupied himself doing other things.

New Job

Tomorrow, I will begin my new job. I'm extremely excited for it as I've been looking forward to starting over the past month. I'll be working in the "Client Retention & Growth Group". I'm looking forward to helping construct the overall vision and direction of the group. It is a very needed element the company. I believe the formation of this group will help facilitate increased client satisfaction and provide many opportunities to grow our current client base.

A long time ago, my grandpa told me if you work hard... focusing on your responsibilities... while not letting the "politics" of a situation affect you, you will always be recognized and rewarded for your efforts. I've tried to apply his advice and it has paid dividends for me. While I will likely miss certain elements of working in finance (mostly the people I worked so closely with), I'm looking forward to growing my own abilities and working in a more "client facing" department. I'll have opportunities to dabble in all sorts of different organizations (sales, marketing, client services, product management, etc). Tomorrow is day one... of many many more days to come.

Jamaica!!!

I just returned from an "all girls" cruise adventure. I went with my mom, Grandma, two of my mom's sisters (Colleen and Juanita), my grandma's sister (Linda) and her daughter (Michelle). We had all sorts of fun adventures on the cruise.

I will likely post more on our trip later but to start off, I wanted to highlight Jamaica. We loved Jamaica. Grandma & Aunt Linda wanted to shop in Jamaica and Michelle wanted to work on her tan. The rest of us wanted to see a little of the culture. We hired a "tour guide", Jeff, to drive us around and tell us about his country.

While there may have been a little skepticism about getting in a complete strangers car in a foreign place... especially when some people associate "dangerous" with it... Jeff was incredible and definitely a highlight of the trip.

Jeff drove us all over... to the jungle,
to the beach, he drove us through a small city, we saw the falls (with some nice "Rasta" guys),
we ate jerk,

and then we shopped. The people were very laid back and kind. Jeff's favorite thing to say (from my viewpoint b/c he said it in nearly every sentence) was "I understand... no problem mon". Jeff is 62 years old and has never left Jamaica. He said that people come from all over the world to Jamaica and tell him how beautiful it is... so what reason does he have to leave? Jamaica has some of the most beautiful horticulture I've ever seen. Crazy flowers were growing everywhere.

The weather was fantastic and by the end of the day, I felt like I could live there.