The Matrix

It's amazing how emotionally attached you can be to a car. That's what I learned tonight. We posted Chad's car on KSL this morning and sold it tonight. We are extremely grateful for the quick sell, because it's one more thing off the to do list for before we move. I am having bitter sweet feelings though. That's the car that always made me SO giddy to see, sometimes mistakenly when it wasn't the right red matrix (oops!). When I saw that red matrix it meant Chad Hyland was picking me up or coming to see me. Good thing I get to keep the boy who makes me giddy FOR-EV-ER, even though the good 'ole matrix is gone!

Has anyone else felt these bitter-sweet feelings when selling a car?

One Year at Certiport!

I cannot believe that I have been with Certiport for one whole year now! It feels like it was just yesterday I started work here. I remember being so overwhelmed with the terminology (you wouldn't believe how many acronyms are used around here!) and trying so hard to learn everything I could about the company and industry. I wanted to become a valuable contributor as quickly as possible.

I've learned and accomplished a lot throughout the year. Here are a few highlights:

1. I managed registration and oversaw the European students at our annual Global Partner Summit and Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office. This year it was held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Pictured below are all of us who oversaw students. We were happy to have such good translators from UNLV and BYU!

2. I started a bi-weekly webinar series for all Certiport Authorized Partners who are located in 148 countries.

3. I oversaw the development and execution of marketing campaigns such as the IC³ "Achieve a New Standard" and Autodesk "Dare to Create" campaigns. Check out the cool branding of the email headers!

4. I developed marketing kits for all of our Certiport Authorized Partners. In addition to what can be seen in this picture, they were also sent posters, window decals, and other fun marketing materials.

5. I attended tradeshows in Austin, Texas and San Diego, California that were very successful and brought in some great leads. They were also great learning experiences for me to interact with the customers.

I am extremely grateful to be able to continue learning in 2013 and doing the job I love in Minneapolis!

Christmas & Crusin'

We had a GREAT, although unique Christmas. I thought for sure we'd spend our first "married" Christmas decorating our own little tree and putting up lights on our apartment balcony. Instead, I was satisfied with just hanging stockings before we left on a cruise!

It was the craziest/coolest thing to go from snorkeling in Grand Cayman to skiing at Brighton within a matter of days. What an experience! We are so lucky.

Here's a brief recap of our Christmas adventures:

We boarded our cruise ship, The Navigator of the Seas, the week before Christmas in New Orleans. It was pretty windy in New Orleans, as can be seen in the picture.

For 7 days we ate LOTS of yummy food, played Hand and Foot and Acquire, and enjoyed the extremely calm seas and warm weather. I took advantage of the unlimited soft-serve ice cream.

We saw a lot of evening shows--my favorite of which was the "Love and Marriage" game show. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

We had a stop in Jamaica where we snorkeled and climbed Dunn's River Falls. The falls were beautiful and so fun to climb!

We had a stop in Grand Cayman (my favorite) where we snorkeled and played with the sting rays at Sting Ray City. We even got to snorkel near a dolphin that was playing with the propeller on our boat.

Our final stop was in Cozumel. We went shopping and enjoyed some great Mexican Food.

With sad faces we returned to New Orleans. We were able to walk around the city though and look at some cool local art, explore at the aquarium, and experience New Orleans food.

We flew home on the 23rd. That evening we celebrated Cody's birthday and went caroling with all of the Hyland's.

The 24th was spent in Alpine. Chad needed to experience an "Alpine Christmas Eve." We went to the church program, then out to dinner. The snowstorm ruined the rest of the tradition though because no one wanted to put out luminaries in the storm (not that I blame them) and it wasn't safe to go see the "Alpine Griswald's" home all lit up. Bummer! Good thing we have many Christmas Eve's ahead of us...

Christmas Day we were up early to do presents with my family, then we drove to Salt Lake to go skiing with Chad's family at Brighton (Their family Christmas morning tradition--I loved it!). We were back and forth between Salt Lake and Alpine for the rest of the day and we consumed a lot of yummy food.

It was a great Christmas full of memories that I'll cherish forever! It wasn't the traditional first "married" Christmas that I thought we'd have, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

Now on to a great 2013! We wish all of you, our friends and family, the very best in this new year! And, thank you for reading our blog!