Saturday, June 26, 2010

Farewell Sweet Treats

So as most of my friends and family know, June 9th was my last day working at the bakery. For many reasons the work environment was no longer good and healthy for me. I made the decision to leave and go back to school and pursue a Masters degree in mathematics.

Me on my last Sunday - bittersweet

Sunday May 30 was the last Sunday I worked. Sunday's were my favorite day of the week. It was a calm relaxed day where everyone worked together as a team. In order to thank my fabulous Sunday group I decided to provide breakfast and snacks.

Breakfast and snack treats for my wonderful Sunday group :-)

It was a fun day with many of my friends and their families stopping by to see me off. I spent my lunch chatting with Kerri, Mira, Suzannah, Rachel, Warren and baby Aerik. After lunch Marissa and Megan from college stopped by. It was such an enjoyable day and if every day at work had been that enjoyable I probably would not have quit.

Regardless of how I felt at times during the day, I knew that leaving was the best thing for me. My last day of work did not feel any different than every day I worked. I continued to help customers, answer phones and do any work that needed to be done. I left the bakery with the same work ethic as when I started.

I did end my time at the bakery by giving hugs to my fellow employees, even some that I did not get along with so well. Lynn bought me flowers that were waiting for me when I clocked out. I left feeling complete. I was not sad or anything like that, I was simply content that I was making the right decision and moving on with my life.

The day at work was followed by dinner with Kerri, Rachel, Maggie, Suzie and their significant others. It was a treat to celebrate my last day with the people that made my work experience so wonderful.

Buca di Beppo with all of my favorite IOTC countergirls

As cliche as it may be, I am now onto another chapter in my life. I learned a lot from working at the bakery and I am now ready to move on to bigger and better things. I cannot guarantee that going back to school will go exactly as I planned. Let's be honest, it probably will not go as planned, but I am excited to see where life takes me.

Here's to hoping that everything works out and that my scenic route through life takes me through some beautiful places and on fun adventures. I am so excited for the future :-D

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

5 years of dating, 1 year of engagement, 1 fabulous weekend

Needless to say I am a little behind on blogging, but better late than never. About 2 1/2 weeks ago Kevin and I had the pleasure of going to Lake Tahoe for Doug and Laura's wedding. We made the decision early on to make the weekend into an extended vacation to celebrate being engaged for 1 year and dating for 5 years. It was an easy way to celebrate everything at once.

View from our hotel room :-)

We both took Friday June 5th off of work and made it a leisurely drive to North Lake Tahoe. The drive lead us through Sacramento and our state capital has the benefit of having Chick-fil-a. So Kevin and stopped there for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed the food we had not had since college. We finished the drive through slightly raining weather and made it to the Cal Neva Resort early Friday afternoon. We settled into our hotel room and then ventured out to explore the lake.

We headed clockwise around the lake and stopped at a beautiful vista point. We continued driving and it was getting close to dinner so we ended up driving to South Lake Tahoe for dinner. We ate some awesome pizza, got some ice cream for dessert (watermelon sherbet for Kevin) and then headed back to the hotel. The adventure continued when a raccoon tried to follow us into the hotel, but the manager kept the curious little creature outside.


Just as we arrived at the hotel Doug called Kevin and we headed back out to hang out with all of the college friends with a crazy double game of beer pong. The tables crossed adding extra challenge. After a fun evening we went to sleep to re-energize for the wedding.

Day 2 commenced and we continued exploring. We drove around searching for a place for lunch and stopped at Steamer's. They had a beautiful back patio with a view of the lake. We ate delicious sandwiches and then walked down the beach to step foot in the beautiful lake. The day was quickly fleeting so we headed back to the hotel to change in time for the wedding.

View from lunch - just feet away from the beach

All dressed up, we headed over to the church. The ceremony was simple, yet beautiful and followed by a super fun reception. The reception ended, but the fun times did not. Everyone relocated to the hotel lobby and played pool and foosball. Kevin enjoyed the rest of the evening, while I headed off to bed after an exhausting day.

Dressed up for the wedding - too bad you can't see the lake behind us

Sunday was the day most people were heading home so we went out to breakfast at The Log Cabin with Kevin, Robert and Rob and their respective significant others. After breakfast we said our goodbyes and Kevin and I headed off to Reno.

The drive was only about an hour which was nice and along the way we stopped on the side of the road and played in the snow. We couldn't say no, especially since the snow was only a couple feet away from us.

Me with my little snowball on the side of the road :-)

We made it to Reno and gambled a little, went to the water driving range and overall had a relaxing fun day. We headed back to Tahoe and after a short nap, Kevin went out to get dinner. We ate in the hotel room and watched a Star Trek movie. It was definitely a good end to a fun day.

Kevin golfing at the water driving range - he really wanted the free soda

Monday brought day 4 of our vacation and the time to head home. We started the drive home and of course stopped at chick-fil-a again. We enjoyed the time together and celebrated our 1 year engagement anniversary by relaxing and enjoying the time.

Saying goodbye to our hotel as we headed home

It was a fabulous vacation and great to see old friends. Here's to hoping that every day can be as fun and relaxing as the time in Tahoe was. :-)