By now most of you should know that I got my Christmas wish. After almost seven years of dating Dave, he finally asked me to marry him. And it was perfect.
Dave had asked me a for a while to go to dinner with him in Ann Arbor once I was back from my trip with my parents to Hawaii for our first of the month celebration. I figured something may be up but then when we were in Hawaii my parents gave me the talk about why Dave and I weren't married, and when we would get married. I figured that meant Dave didn't ask them, which meant that I wasn't getting engaged. But Dave was smarter than that. He knew if he asked me parents before our trip they would give away the surprise.
So we got back on Sunday and Dave apparently tried to call my sister to get me out of the house so he could talk to my parents before we went to dinner. However, my sister was asleep since we didn't' get as much sleep as we should have on the plane and didn't answer his numerous calls. Finally, Dave gave up on calling and just came over to my house unannounced an hour early. Of course I wasn't ready to go yet (I thought I had an hour to get dressed). While I was getting ready he tried to talk to my dad. However, my dad was asleep, but Dave woke him up and asked for his permission to marry me while I was getting ready (he only had about 10 minutes as I was trying to be fast). My dad, still waking up, mumbled something like "that would be nice", and then called my mom who was out shopping. My mom came home and almost ruined the surprise. When my dad told her to come home right away because Dave was over she knew what was up and bought a cake to celebrate, not realizing Dave hadn't asked me yet. My dad stashed the cake in the laundry room and my parents sent us on our way to Ann Arbor.
The whole car ride to Ann Arbor Dave talked about waiting till he was 30 to get married and how we couldn't get married because what would we do with our kitchen items (with logic like that how could one argue)? So I'm sitting in the car trying not to be disappointed because I thought my proposal would never come.
We go to dinner at the Earle, one of our favorite restaurant. The meal was perfect. Dave got the duck, which tasted awesome, and I got the whitefish, which was good (but not as good as the duck). We split a bottle of wine and had a great time! Dave was really adamant about going for a walk on the diag even though it was freezing outside. I figured since it was so important to him I would go, especially since we had no idea when we would be back on campus again.
We drove by the diag, parked and walked to the center (not a short walk in the cold). As we stood close to the "M" Dave asked me how long we had been dating (a tradition on the first of the month). I said we had been dating 80 months, and he asked what percentage of a lifetime that was. After I said a little less than 10% Dave said "I want to spend the rest with you", got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. It was a perfect evening, and I could not have asked for a better Christmas.
We think our wedding will be August 2008, which means a lot of planning in a short time. Plus I know have motivation to lose the additional weight I have gained from mono and more to get to my goal before August. It is really exciting to have things fall into place, and I can't even convey how happy I am to have the perfect Christmas this year :-)
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Hawaii
I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Mine was wonderful, but more about that later. Before Christmas, I went to Hawaii with my parents. It was awesome, a great time. We left on a Saturday afternoon and I never realized just how far away Hawaii is. It was a really long flight. We arrived late Saturday night Hawaii time. We were staying in Kona, on the big island. Our hotel room was awesome. My mom rented what i believe are timeshares for some people. We were essentially staying in a two bedroom apartment. Below are some pictures from our apartment.
It was great to have a kitchen where we could cook meals
We spent Sunday going to an information session about Hawaii, just looking around, and going for a run. The area around our hotel was awesome and my sister and I ran almost every day. It was easy to get motivated to run with such a wonderful view.
On Monday we took a trip to Volcano National Park. It was about a two hour drive, and along the way we saw the black sand beach which was pretty cool as well. It was super windy at the black sand beach though. Volcano National Park was really neat, but we couldn't see any active volcanoes as there were none in the park at the time.
My family and me outside of a crater at Volcano National Park
A picture outside the museum at Volcano National Park, it was a great view and the picture doesn't quite do it justice.
The black sand beach. It was so windy it was difficult to get good pictures.
On Tuesday we went to the coffee plantations and then on a snorkeling excursion. We went to Captain Cooks Monument and snorkeled around there. It was a gorgeous view, but we haven't gotten the pictures developed from that camera yet (we used an underwater camera). It is so cool in Hawaii to have the mix of tropical paradise, rich history and volcanoes.
On Wednesday we just hung around the apartment, went into the city, went out for lunch and just took a relaxed day, which was nice since we were getting tired with our busy days.
Thursday we went to the Macadamia Nut farm, then to Hapuna beach, which was absolutely gorgeous, and then we went on an airplane ride of the island. It was so cool. We got to see lava flowing, we got to see the awesome waterfall, mountain and valley regions that you can't see by foot since it is all private land. It was a good perspective on the island overall.
Us with our captain outside the airplane
The gorgeous view from the balcony of our apartment
It was great to have a kitchen where we could cook mealsWe spent Sunday going to an information session about Hawaii, just looking around, and going for a run. The area around our hotel was awesome and my sister and I ran almost every day. It was easy to get motivated to run with such a wonderful view.
On Monday we took a trip to Volcano National Park. It was about a two hour drive, and along the way we saw the black sand beach which was pretty cool as well. It was super windy at the black sand beach though. Volcano National Park was really neat, but we couldn't see any active volcanoes as there were none in the park at the time.
My family and me outside of a crater at Volcano National Park
A picture outside the museum at Volcano National Park, it was a great view and the picture doesn't quite do it justice.
The black sand beach. It was so windy it was difficult to get good pictures.On Tuesday we went to the coffee plantations and then on a snorkeling excursion. We went to Captain Cooks Monument and snorkeled around there. It was a gorgeous view, but we haven't gotten the pictures developed from that camera yet (we used an underwater camera). It is so cool in Hawaii to have the mix of tropical paradise, rich history and volcanoes.
On Wednesday we just hung around the apartment, went into the city, went out for lunch and just took a relaxed day, which was nice since we were getting tired with our busy days.
Thursday we went to the Macadamia Nut farm, then to Hapuna beach, which was absolutely gorgeous, and then we went on an airplane ride of the island. It was so cool. We got to see lava flowing, we got to see the awesome waterfall, mountain and valley regions that you can't see by foot since it is all private land. It was a good perspective on the island overall.
My sister and I at Hapuna beach
Us with our captain outside the airplaneOn Friday we decided we would just spend the day at the beach and then go to a Luau. We tried to go to a different beach first and the views were gorgeous, but it was super crowded and we decided we liked Hapuna best so we drove back to Hapuna. The Luau was a lot of fun, a ton of food, and some great ocean views. The show at the end was pretty cool as well.
The first beach we tried to go to. It was so pretty but really small and a lot of rocks.
The Luau, we had a wonderful view right on the ocean.
The Luau dancers.
The first beach we tried to go to. It was so pretty but really small and a lot of rocks.
Another view of Hapuna Beach
The Luau, we had a wonderful view right on the ocean.
The Luau dancers.
On Saturday we just packed up, went for a run, and enjoyed some of the ocean views from our apartment as we had to leave at noon for the airport. It was a long trip home, we didn't arrive until 10AM on Sunday, but it was definitely worth it. After being to a ton of tropical islands, Hawaii has to be one of my favorites. I love the mix of views, and all the things there are to see there. The rest of the holidays have been great as well, but I will post about those later!
Saturday, December 08, 2007
I hate decisions
So the time has almost come for me to make a decision. Of course the time has also come for me to study ops strategy for my final Monday, but that is secondary (I am a master of avoidance).
I'm not going to put in company names, just in case, but now i have the question of who do i work for? The company I worked for this summer, the company that will let me fly around the world, or the company I worked for before school? I would say the company before school is pretty much out, seeing as the jobs they are offering would be a major step down. So then we have the summer job versus the other one. How do I decide?
The money is probably equal for both once I consider bonuses (higher at the summer job) and free travel. I originally thought the potential for advancement was higher at the summer job, but things are changing there. They used to represent this great arbitrage opportunity. This company that was a great Fortune 500 company but only had 5-10 top tier MBA grads in their marketing organization, and really values a top tier MBA education (justified or not). They couldn't get the top grads because of the location and the non "sexy" quality of their business. But if I started there this year I would be in a starting class of 12, probably 6 of which would be Kellogg grads. Minneapolis is getting a lot of attention as a good place to live (if you want to talk about great marketing, the Minneapolis Travelers Association, or whatever it is called, has done an awesome job), and the "sexy" marketing jobs are harder to get now as companies aren't really hiring. So I no longer have my great advancement opportunity. I would have to deal with all the politics in order to advance, and I hate company politics. But I would have a great class of people to start with too and the people there are awesome. After dealing with a lot of marketing people and recruiting at a lot of marketing organizations, I will say that the marketing people at my summer employer are probably some of the best. They are real people, they aren't conceited, fake, and superficial like most other marketing organizations. They are mostly intelligent, real people, which is awesome. I would work in St Paul, and it would be nice to work in a city. Unfortunately, I would also be working on B to B cleaning supplies. Not very exciting.
And then there is the other opportunity. I would work in an industry that I personally find fascinating. I would get the chance to fly all over the world for free. If I wanted to go to Amsterdam for a weekend I would find an open flight and go. I don't know if i have talked about this in this blog but one of my major goals is to travel more (and Joplin, Cedar Rapids and Grand Rapids doesn't count). This job would make that possible. Plus the job is more exciting. the people seem nice, and the marketing role at this company plays more to my skills. I think I would still advance okay in the company, which is also important to me. The job isn't nearly as stable, but i figure I am an interviewing pro by now and i have contacts all over the Twin Cities. How can I beat that?
And then there is my long time employer. I'm not sure what to do about them. I'm pretty sure i wasn't going to get the marketing job with them to start. And if I went into ops or R&D i wouldn't ever. But I really do love the company. The people are awesome and the product is something I am passionate about. But the job would be a major reduction in position, and not the role i want. Plus the company isn't really known for its open attitude towards cross functional moves (even though it claims it is all for it that is a lie).
I think overall I am leaning towards the employer I have never worked for. The travel benefits are awesome, the compensation is fair (after some negotiation), and the work life balance seems good most of the time. The risk is high, but I am young, without a family. This would be the time to take a risk. It's somewhat scary, but I think this could be an exciting opportunity. Hopefully it all works out, we will see.
To anyone who has read my rambling this far, I don't know whether to be impressed with your stamina or saddened by the time you have wasted reading this ;-)
I'm not going to put in company names, just in case, but now i have the question of who do i work for? The company I worked for this summer, the company that will let me fly around the world, or the company I worked for before school? I would say the company before school is pretty much out, seeing as the jobs they are offering would be a major step down. So then we have the summer job versus the other one. How do I decide?
The money is probably equal for both once I consider bonuses (higher at the summer job) and free travel. I originally thought the potential for advancement was higher at the summer job, but things are changing there. They used to represent this great arbitrage opportunity. This company that was a great Fortune 500 company but only had 5-10 top tier MBA grads in their marketing organization, and really values a top tier MBA education (justified or not). They couldn't get the top grads because of the location and the non "sexy" quality of their business. But if I started there this year I would be in a starting class of 12, probably 6 of which would be Kellogg grads. Minneapolis is getting a lot of attention as a good place to live (if you want to talk about great marketing, the Minneapolis Travelers Association, or whatever it is called, has done an awesome job), and the "sexy" marketing jobs are harder to get now as companies aren't really hiring. So I no longer have my great advancement opportunity. I would have to deal with all the politics in order to advance, and I hate company politics. But I would have a great class of people to start with too and the people there are awesome. After dealing with a lot of marketing people and recruiting at a lot of marketing organizations, I will say that the marketing people at my summer employer are probably some of the best. They are real people, they aren't conceited, fake, and superficial like most other marketing organizations. They are mostly intelligent, real people, which is awesome. I would work in St Paul, and it would be nice to work in a city. Unfortunately, I would also be working on B to B cleaning supplies. Not very exciting.
And then there is the other opportunity. I would work in an industry that I personally find fascinating. I would get the chance to fly all over the world for free. If I wanted to go to Amsterdam for a weekend I would find an open flight and go. I don't know if i have talked about this in this blog but one of my major goals is to travel more (and Joplin, Cedar Rapids and Grand Rapids doesn't count). This job would make that possible. Plus the job is more exciting. the people seem nice, and the marketing role at this company plays more to my skills. I think I would still advance okay in the company, which is also important to me. The job isn't nearly as stable, but i figure I am an interviewing pro by now and i have contacts all over the Twin Cities. How can I beat that?
And then there is my long time employer. I'm not sure what to do about them. I'm pretty sure i wasn't going to get the marketing job with them to start. And if I went into ops or R&D i wouldn't ever. But I really do love the company. The people are awesome and the product is something I am passionate about. But the job would be a major reduction in position, and not the role i want. Plus the company isn't really known for its open attitude towards cross functional moves (even though it claims it is all for it that is a lie).
I think overall I am leaning towards the employer I have never worked for. The travel benefits are awesome, the compensation is fair (after some negotiation), and the work life balance seems good most of the time. The risk is high, but I am young, without a family. This would be the time to take a risk. It's somewhat scary, but I think this could be an exciting opportunity. Hopefully it all works out, we will see.
To anyone who has read my rambling this far, I don't know whether to be impressed with your stamina or saddened by the time you have wasted reading this ;-)
Thursday, December 06, 2007
One month later...
And things are pretty much the same. I'm still waiting to hear from companies, still feeling sick, although this time it is a cold. Oh well, at least the quarter is almost done.
I've spent a lot of this past month in a plane and not a lot in class. But the recruiting is done, and I'm just waiting to hear back. All I have left to do now for this quarter is a final in ops strat (which means i need to learn ops strat) and a final group marketing plan for marketing strat. It will feel good to be done.
I also have been doing some fun stuff in the past weeks. I went to a friend's wedding in Michigan in early November. The wedding was a lot of fun. Him and his wife are Greek and there was a live band and plenty of Greek dancing. Dave and I learned to Greek dance, which was exciting.
Speaking of Dave, we took a holiday over Thanksgiving and went to Jamaica. It was a great trip, we spent a lot of time on the beach, got to try out a few restaurants in Jamaica and felt very relaxed coming back. Unfortunately we took no pictures. After that we spent Thanksgiving day and weekend in Michigan. It was great to see everyone but it was a really hectic trip.
I spent last weekend in Minnesota as I was there on a recruiting trip. It snowed a lot and i got to go to poker and make a few dinners so it was a fun time overall. I will be back in Minnesota from Jan 2-6 before school starts up here.
It is kind of exciting to think that in a little over a week the quarter will be done, I'll be on a trip to Hawaii with the parents. and I will have decided where I will be next year. I'm excited but also overwhelmed by all that needs to be done...
I've spent a lot of this past month in a plane and not a lot in class. But the recruiting is done, and I'm just waiting to hear back. All I have left to do now for this quarter is a final in ops strat (which means i need to learn ops strat) and a final group marketing plan for marketing strat. It will feel good to be done.
I also have been doing some fun stuff in the past weeks. I went to a friend's wedding in Michigan in early November. The wedding was a lot of fun. Him and his wife are Greek and there was a live band and plenty of Greek dancing. Dave and I learned to Greek dance, which was exciting.
Speaking of Dave, we took a holiday over Thanksgiving and went to Jamaica. It was a great trip, we spent a lot of time on the beach, got to try out a few restaurants in Jamaica and felt very relaxed coming back. Unfortunately we took no pictures. After that we spent Thanksgiving day and weekend in Michigan. It was great to see everyone but it was a really hectic trip.
I spent last weekend in Minnesota as I was there on a recruiting trip. It snowed a lot and i got to go to poker and make a few dinners so it was a fun time overall. I will be back in Minnesota from Jan 2-6 before school starts up here.
It is kind of exciting to think that in a little over a week the quarter will be done, I'll be on a trip to Hawaii with the parents. and I will have decided where I will be next year. I'm excited but also overwhelmed by all that needs to be done...
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