Hood Canal Round 2

This past weekend we went to the Hood Canal for round two. There was a total of 14 of us, and it was a fun laid back weekend. This visit, we stayed at Mollie's cabin and believe it or not there were enough beds, a hideaway bed, and air mattresses for us all. I was still feeling incredibly under the weather, but thankfully I was feeling like my normal self on Saturday. Overall, we ate, and ate, and ate, but the delicious food was well worth the calories :) So, we all took a long along the Canal and enjoyed the sun.

The dogs were in heaven, and I think Willis got more attention this weekend than he has had in his life. Plus, how can you not love Willey when he is so laid back and will take some good loving every now and then. I envision him being the "cool" kid if he was human, ha! He even survived a slight attack from Mollie's daschund, Sammie, and walked away with a chunk of missing hair. I think I may have a few new friends to ask a favor to dog sit when we leave town ... get ready for the phone call girls!

Thanks for letting us crash your place Moll ~ it was great fun!

Tomorrow, I leave for Chelan with Shelby, Jamie, Carly, and Jenny DB for a weekend in Chelan (eastern Washington). We are going to celebrate Shelby's birthday and have some fun at the local Tsillan winery, which is our favorite!! Then, I get back Saturday evening and head to NY early Sunday morning. Training here I come .....

Happy Birthday All Around

To my precious, precious, Granny Gayle!  Happy Birthday .... on your very special day.  From your birthday lunch with your fifteen girlfriends, to your neighborhood block party tonight, I hope you day was filled with happiness and love.  You deserve a day to get all the recognition and attention.

You are such an amazing woman that I strive to be like on a daily basis.  It is now a Smith ritual when I am in a grumpy mood for Gabe to say, "Are you acting like Granny Gayle right now?!"  It is more for Gabe to prove a point that I am not acting like you and should be!!

Next, Gaylen and Ginna's Birthday ..... have I ever told you how jealous I am that you had that same birthday as Granny Gayle :)  There, I finally admitted it.

Happy Happy Birthday to my beautiful twin cousins.  You girls mean the world to me, and I am so thankful to have grown up so close to you two.  Love you girls and wish we lived closer to spend more time together.

Happy Birthday Sister!

I didn't get a chance to update on the blog for my sister-in-law's birthday yesterday, but I wanted to be sure to make a special post for her!  Arrie is such an amazing person, and we are so thankful she joined our family a couple years ago.  My day isn't complete without all of her funny stories, updates, and long talks from across the country.  

LOVE

Bargain Flats and Wedding Dress Shopping

When Mollie and I went shopping last week, I found these great Nine West flats from Marshalls ..... who would have thought! We were looking for some nic-nacs for the house, and I walked by the shoe section in search for some inexpensive work shoes (since they tend to get demolished during my workday quite quickly in the famous rainy Seattle conditions). I passed these flats and instantly loved them ... you can never have too many pairs of black shoes, right?! They were the only pair on the rack, not tagged, were my exact size, and one of the most comfortable pairs of shoes ever! That's when I made my way to ask an associate how much they were, and the lady tried to help me find another pair with a price tag. Luckily, she couldn't find anything that looked remotely similar, so she grabbed another pair of random flats and said they'd be $15! Wooohoo ~ What a steal of a price for leather flats that are absolutely perfect. It was just meant to be or maybe someone walked in with these shoes on their feet and left without them, ha!

I wore my new flats to reassure Katie that she picked the most perfect wedding dress for her destination wedding!

I so badly wish I could post a picture of Katie in her beautiful dress with the Pfizer girls, but this one will have to do for now .....

Mollie, Me, Katie, and Leigh Ann at Belltown Bride

Book Club

I have gone to multiple different book clubs, but this is the first one where we actually discuss the book. Normally, it is a great excuse to get a group of girls together for a night of good food and catching up, and it didn't even matter if you read the book.  But, Becca runs the show and makes it quite official with her list of questions to get the discussion going, which I love! We just finished reading the book 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult, and it was a hit for most of us.  It's definitely a quick read that helps us relate with what a kid goes through who is picked on all his life.

Now we're moving on to a less somber book and reading The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I can't wait to finish all my new product/drug modules (or as Ginna would like me to refer to them as "packets"), so I can move on to reading more enjoyable books in bed.

Unfortunately, I will miss next Book Club since I will be in New York for work.  So, someone in the group will have to take a picture of everyone using the 10-sec timer since I won't be there ..... DG's, they are big shoes to fill!

Valentines with friends at the Canal

Gabe and I went to the Hood Canal to celebrate Valentines with our friends.  We played Skipbo, hung out in the hot tub, and like always created crazy fun memories ~ Wink, wink!!!!  It was a quick 24 hour trip filled with fun times with Mollie, Jason, Katie, and Bryan.  

Thanks for a fun weekend girls, and boys for dealing with us!  By the way, Katie, I just realized you deleted MOST of my pictures from the night.  You are queen of deleting, even more than me ....

Huge Mistake on Idol

Come back to Texas

My sweet brother sent me this morning ....  I think it is self explanatory!

"Is this your way of telling us you are FINALLY moving back???? YAYAYAYA!!!!!!!!!  WoooooooooT!  Awesome.  Come back to Texas, its just not the same since you went away, before you lose your accent, and forget all about the Lone Star State ... Plus the Mexican food is not the same north of here anyway.  Blue Bell wants you back, NASA wants you back, Willie Nelson wants you back, And the Bush Twins want you back!!"

Love this dress

If I lived in Dallas, then I would wear this to dinner for Valentines (but a few inches longer)!

Too wild for Seattle, but I think it would be a perfect dress for Nick & Sam's, which I am craving!

I wonder what people would think if I wore this to "the Bee" ......

There are nice people still out there in the world.

I had a fantastic, non-stop, on the go, busy day today!


It started out with a great Crossfit workout in Seattle ... that was free! Crossfit is an incredible workout that is similar to old school military training with no machines and equipment. They use medicine balls, wheels, jump ropes, climbing ropes, and have crazy .... crazy routines. The workouts consist of normally three circuits and can vary from 20 to 30 minutes, and it is one of the most intense workouts of my life. The goal is to get through a workout without ANY rest, and by the end of the session you want to absolutely die! It is super fun and a nice change of pace from my normal workouts at the gym.


So, I had a great workout and was ready for a cup of java from my favorite place, Panera! I load in my work laptop, box of modules to study from, notebook to take notes on, and I plan on studying for a good five hours. I was really getting a lot accomplished in the back corner, facing a wall, and have headphones in my ears to use as earplugs (music would distract me). This lady sits directly next to me with her husband and two kids, which is fine .... except when she insisted on using this lunch experience to teach her one year old child how to have proper manners. "No, slow down Micky. No sir, we don't grab. Micky, put that down ... 1,2,3 .... Mommy is only going to ask you again. Micky do you want to follow Mommy to the trash can. Let's wait our turn."


OH MY GOODNESS! I was going to kill her (not actually), but it was driving me crazy~! She finally left, and I was so very thankful. I studied a bit longer, and then left to meet Mollie and Katie for a fun filled afternoon to run errands.


We went to a scrapbook store to get some ideas for Katie's wedding invitations. Then, we went to the outlet malls to help Mollie find new work clothes, and we shut the store down. She found great deals at our Banana Republic outlet, and I did not buy one thing. I told myself I was going in to find stuff for her and be her personal shopper! It's funny how things don't look that amazing when you have the mindset that you really don't need anything.


As I walked into the door this evening at 8:30pm, I realized my hands seemed empty and as if I was missing something. I walked back out to my car to make sure I gathered everything since I have not been home since 8:30 this morning.


Well, that's funny (I thought to myself) .... where is my computer? And my box of modules that I had with me at Panera? Oh my, where is my notebook that I took notes in all day. Hmmm, I LEFT IT AT PANERA! I immediately flip out, google Panera on my phone to get their number, and start dialing away. I worry that they will be closed on a Sunday evening, and I was so excited to have a gentlemen finally pick up the phone. I was still panicky while trying to describe to him that I left a whole bunch of things over five hours ago at the front door. Thank goodness he had it in the back, and I was comforted to know that there are still nice people out there in the world!


My heart is still beating way too fast! I realized it was not worth me refilling my cup of coffee for the 100th time since it made me get sidetracked and leave all of my belongings in the entry way of the restaurant. Ah, what a relief that they have it, and I just have to hope it is still there in the morning!


Hey, at least now I have another excuse to get Panera coffee in the morning! Their drip coffee is 10x better than Starbucks drip. Plus, they give you a punch card :)

Hilarious video after the dentist.

It made me cringe everytime he attempted to put his finger in his mouth. This is hilarious, and thank goodness for medicine!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs


Got to love YouTube!

Static Electricity

Check out this precious grin with wild electricity making his hair static! He is 10 months old, and my next trip to Dallas will be for his one year birthday. I can't wait to see this sweet boy and have him start to say his favorite auntie's name :)

Town Hall Meeting in Seattle

This morning, I had a meeting downtown with the executive leaders of our RBU (Regional Business Unit) to answer questions regarding our new roles. All of the local representatives and managers met to discuss what our future looks like, and it was really neat to have us all together collectively. In the past, Pfizer has always had us in separate divisions depending on what products we sold, and with the "new" Pfizer we are more connected and interchanged. I got a chance to meet a few new people who work south of Seattle that cover a different territory.

Then, I found out what my new role will be. I am a "Flex" rep, which is a new position where I will be responsible for Pfizer's entire portfolio ..... 10 drugs! They have never had someone carry all of the drugs before, so it should be really exciting and challenging. I am slightly overwhelmed and will be stuck studying modules, modules, and more modules the next couple weeks. I will continue to sell Lipitor, Caduet, and pick up Celebrex, Lyrica, Chantix, Viagra, Deltrol LA, Aricept, and Spiriva. I will travel to New York in a month for two weeks to attend mini Med school! After that, I get the pleasure of going to Vegas for a week and stay at the Venetian to launch a new drug the first week of April. What a great location for a meeting, and I am so excited to see my old "band camp" training buddies!

It would be an understatement to say I have a lot to look forward to. I am incredibly thankful for my job and the stability of my day to day (for the time being .... until some sort of change comes that occurs yearly in my industry). This allows Gabe to continue to build his business in commercial real estate, and we are so excited for what the future holds!

Not quite what I was thinking

So, I signed up for this new mystery shopping website that had a "Neighborhood Bar and Grill" for dinner available on February 13th. I said to myself, "This could be a fun way to have a free meal for Valentines Day with my hubby!" The odd thing was it wouldn't allow me to know the name of the restaurant until after I applied for it and was accepted. So, I applied thinking Gabe loves food and it can't be too bad of a place .... haha, boy was I wrong!

A couple days later, I was accepted for Applebee's!! I have eaten Applebee's once or twice before, and I never want to go back. I emailed Gabe and told him to put it on the calendar because we have no choice and have to go. He died laughing because he knows I hate Applebee's, and he asked jokingly if this is our big Smith V-Day celebration. Too funny!

I will let you know how it goes, my goodness, I have no clue what to order this time around. Any suggestions from Applebee's lovers?