i'm off!

well kids, sorry to leave you hanging, but the last few days, as you can imagine, have been a bit crazy. and now it's time to leave. for a good weekend recap, check out anne's post on the king's dominion trip (it will make you laugh). the rest of the pics are here.

i'll be mobile blogging, so stay tuned for road updates!

i can't share the details yet...

but i know there are some of you here on guest accounts, and i don't want to force you to sign up for gmail. ultimately, i think i am going to 'restart' my blogging experience with a blog name that doesn't involve my actual name.

for those that have asked, i am fine...there are no safety issues at hand in the increased security-just professional ones. as such i will hold off on sharing details for a bit.

i'm open to suggestions on a new blog name, but i'd like to get it up before i head out on the road.

once it's up, just use a little discretion in who you share it with, and continue not linking to me. i should also mention that what has happened is not a result of that, but as i am now on the job hunt, and employer's seem to have taken to googling potential employees, i am being extra cautious!

tgif

yesterday was a tough day. the officers' meeting was..tough. then i had to wait an hour and a half for the valet to bring my car. it was a tough day.

rather than expound upon that, i thought i d share something that makes me feel better about yesterday being a tough day.

the below is an email exchange between two colleagues of mine:

CK
Good Morning Family Day Committee,
Everything went smooth, You'll did a great job at organizing this.

I want to really thank the person with the idea of "putting names on the envelope."

That was really helpful to me even though I created my own spreadsheet I didn't have to sort through.

So, Thanks again and I'll see you'll on the roller coaster!

SW
Well, we knew that we needed to make it easy on you, but we give special thanks to Tara for getting them printed with total ticket counts on the front of each envelope. She's always been amazing and it's little things like that that make the difference!

We're just glad it went smoothly for you!

CK
Thanks that was very helpful. Tara, you're always on top of things :)

SW
Isn't she awesome!? :) I'm her own mini fan club.

CK
AWESOME, that's right!...and I'm an official member of the Van Atta Fan Club

just another day at the office

the extra long hours i've been putting in at work recently were alleviated by this little delivery yesterday:



thanks AGAIN to the man from utah...they are in prime position to make all my co-workers jealous;)

so, though i was at work late on thursday, unnecessarily later on friday (the cleaning crew decided to shut my locked door with my keys and the rest of my things inside. since it was 9pm, it took awhile to find someone who could come back and let me in) and again yesterday, i've had a few opportunities to get out.

saturday, i attended lara's mom's memorial service. the funeral is being held tomorrow in utah, but saturday allowed those in va, where she spent the last many years, the opportunity to remember and show support. lara is holding up and i know she's grateful for the well wishes and thoughtful expressions she and her family have received.

on saturday night anne and i had a chance to meet up for a late meal, and sunday, i made a visit to my old singles ward. it was a bit of a surprise to see that so many faces had changed, but the few people i had hoped to say goodbye to were easily found.

monday night saw my final 'regularly scheduled' dinner with justin, and i am taking tonight off:)

the next couple of days will be quite hectic, but i'm looking forward to friday when the pressure should ease ever so slightly.

details for the road trip/move are coming together. on sunday night, i had a chance to talk to laura for the first time. she has graciously agreed to host me for the new orleans portion of the journey, and even though we ever met, our mutual connections, lara, heidi, and oliver, made it feel like we were old friends. i am so excited to finally meet her, and it seems that she will also make a fabulous tour guide. can anyone say palm reading?

once i arrive in in california the schedule remains fairly hectic. about two weeks after arriving, i'll be returning to va for the first event, then heading back to ca for a few days before flying out to utah for a long weekend. then it's back to california for a couple of days, and one more trip to va. whether that will be the final pre-christmas virginia trip remains to be seen. it will be fascinating to watch the future unfold.

i'm not even kidding