Sunday, June 30, 2013

Partying in D.C.

One of my favorite things about the Safe Kids conference was that there was a lot of fun after working all day.

For the 25th anniversary party we had the hotel club, Pose, up on the 18th floor all to ourselves for cocktails and meeting new people.  There was a pasta bar, a chocolate fountain a specialty drink called the safe-tini. I met some crazy/fun ladies that still wanted to go party after the party, but I was done for the night. I wish I would've gotten a picture of myself after I was ready, but all I have is this one of me getting ready. 

View from the club's balcony

Safe-tini
I was going for big poofy hair

Friday night there was BBQ on the pier and a DJ that had everyone up and dancing, even the President/CEO. It was comforting to see so many people letting loose and having a drink. 




Dancing at the BBQ got me and my new Arizona friends in the mood to go out. We went to The Park, which is supposed to be the best club in D.C. I don't go to clubs outside of the Ogden/Clearfield area so my expectations of this place were way off. I'm used to a club that has couches, space to hang out with friends, and a dance floor for dancing with all your girlfriends. It was nothing like that, chairs were only for VIP and you couldn't walk through without 10 guys all up on you. My favorite part was seeing all the cute outfits and shoes people were wearing. I was very underdressed, again I am used to Utah clubs. 


On the cab ride home from The Park we saw a car on fire on the side of the interstate. 




Father's Day & Zak's Birthday

I'm a little behind on getting this one up, but I couldn't skip a post about this day because I have some great photos that I want be able to reminisce about some day. We spent the afternoon visiting with my in-laws then ended off the evening at Zak's birthday party. 

New motorcycle boots

Trying on his new boots

Sunglasses

Father & Son

Picking Cherries

Jose trying to ride a Unicycle(long video)


Love, love family dinners with the regular crew. This time it was at Randy's house for Zak's 8th birthday. 



My dad and Sophie

Grama


Madison



I didn't get my dad anything this father's day because spending time with him is better than any gift. I love that man. 


Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Ingrown

I went to get a pedicure that end up taking two hours, because they were busy. I think they wanted me to feel like they were attending to me so they let me soak my feet, then the guy proceeded to pick at my toes for awhile. At one point he yanked on my toenail and it hurt. He pulled out a chunk a nail that he said was an ingrown. First of all it wasn’t hurting like an ingrown and second I didn’t ask him to remove it. I was a little upset about it, but moved on.

The following day my toe was throbbing and started looking infected. Since I’m working in a new area I had to find a new doctor closer to my area. I made an appointment and went in, the nurse listened to my story and said okay I’ll get the kit ready for the procedure. Whoaaa hold on lady. I told her there was no way I was going to get my nail cut because, no offense, that looks so ugly. She said, “I’ll still set up just in case the doctor changes your mind.” Excuse me, my body, my choice. That made me so nervous that  my high pulse concerned the doctor. I assured him I’m just an accelerated person and I’m either really excited or nervous. I started feeling desperate tears coming on, because what if that was my only option and I had to have an ugly toe. Vain I know. Anyway I really appreciated the doctor looking at it and understanding that I was worried. He said it just looked a little infected, but he didn’t think he needed to cut anything out. Thank God! He gave me an antibiotic to take four times a day for ten days. I feel better already. 


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Count Down to Washington D.C.

In one week I'll be on my way to Washington D.C. for the Safe Kids Worldwide Childhood Injury Prevention Conference.  I am not very patriotic, but just knowing I'll be in the same area as President Obama and in a place that holds so much of America's history has me excited. I've scheduled my flight home one day after the conference so I have additional time to explore. Never did I imagine I'd be making it back to the east coast so soon. 

Here's how it went down. I got a call last week from Jann, the injury prevention coordinator who introduced me to the world of child passenger safety. She mentioned the conference and said I should try to go because I would learn a ton that would benefit me in my career. I took the idea to my boss and before I could finish pitching the idea she was on the phone trying to get it approved. It came down to her saying that she is pleased with my work and expects me to stick around for awhile.

Leave me a comment with suggestions of what I should see and do while in D.C. 


Monday, June 10, 2013

Motorcycle Diaries

I finally registered the new motorcycle. I’m a little embarrassed to admit some of the stupid moves I made last Friday, but I’m human so here goes. I was at a stop light, at a really busy intersection in Clinton and when the light turned green I killed the engine and almost dropped my bike. Super embarrassing, but I’m glad I was able to hold it up and not cause a big traffic mess. Second, my co-workers wanted to see her so we went out and when I started it up I wasn’t on it and didn’t check if it was in neutral. It wasn’t! I could’ve taken off, but I was holding the brake so it only jerked enough to scare us all. I was pretty disappointed in myself by the end of the day and dreaded riding home in traffic. I took HWY 89 home and it all worked out.

Saturday evening we rode to the movies. The night ride home was my favorite. It’s nice riding without any pressure to be somewhere, just riding for fun. I like being able to follow my husband, he gives me confidence, because I want to be his badass wife on her own bike.

I want to get all of the practice I can so I rode to work this morning. I decided to be daring and take the freeway because even though I'm scared to go fast I feel safer on there than passing through a million intersection. When I was getting ready to go this morning I saw two criminal looking men walking down the street in my direction. I’m not usually scared of people, but I got a panicky feeling. I was just going to hurry , put my helmet on and take off before they could approach me. I also had time to quickly think about what if they came up to me in a threatening way, how would I beat them up? I turned my back to them and while I was putting my helmet on one of them grabbed me by the lonjas (love handles). It scared the shit out of me, but it turns out it was only my brother.  

Here's a picture of the shoe collection under my desk. Boots because I rode my motorcycle, heels because I'm a professional, and Vans because I'm in and out of cars installing car seats and carrying other random heavy things. 


Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Arriba Latinas in the Pride Parade

This past weekend was the pride festival in Salt Lake City. I've always wanted to go and this year I finally did. My fellow co-founders and I marched in the pride parade to show our support and get the word out about Arriba Latinas. I had a lot of fun in the parade, the rest of the festival was okay. There were way too many people, I felt anxious having to navigate around everyone. 






Vegetarian Hot Dog=No Bueno
Why is this light post not centered?


This weekend is our Arriba Latinas mentor training and info session. If you're in the area and interested in becoming a mentor for high school aged Latinas you should check it out. 

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Jenny's Graduation Party

I'm so proud of my friend Jenny who completed her masters in mental health counseling. We're lucky to have someone as amazing as her in our group. 


Jenny

Sam & Jenny


Miriam

Chelsea & Ana

Miriam, Jenny, Ana, Chelsea, & Me