Thursday, March 27, 2008

Week 34ish - What an amazing family excursion to the Yucatan!


Hey there, hi there and happy belated Easter there! It's been a while since the last post and I hope that everything has been absolutely wonderful ... even if it did snow again in Iowa:) First off I want to give a big CONGRATS to the 11 time Regional Champions; MMC SIFE. I really wish I could've been there to see the impact you've had on the community since I've gone ... you're all amazing!

It was a short but sweet time at work last week with lots of projects being revamped and sent out. Our recruitment initiative launched this last week which has been a huge undertaking that we are learning as we go. It hasn't been as successful thus far as we thought, but we're adapting and I've gained a lot of experience with this project. We tested another cost-savings project I've been working on finally which also didn't post great results (maybe it wasn't such a great work week:) but this project probably won't get launched for several months because of the ridiculous amount of red tape that needs to be cut through; bureaucracy will be the demise of my corporate career ... I can feel it now! I also met with my new department leader and I can tell you that Sales Support & Administration will be an amazing rotation when I start next week. It's been kind of crazy when people ask me where I'm at now in my rotation and it takes me a minute to remember, maybe I'm just getting old!

Had another couple of u10 soccer practices that went very well. I really like the kids on my team, I just hope team En Fuego can get a W sometime instead of getting whooped every game! I also had the opportunity to listen to Jim Blanchard speak at the New Horizons event with Jason, Lucia and Jennelle ... a wonderful time and delicious dinner was had!

Then it was time to say hasta luego to reality and hola to days filled with no emails, phones or alarm clocks in Riviera Maya at the Iberostar Pariso Lindo (or something Spanish like that:). We flew in Thursday and enjoyed a good 11 hours of sleep before awakening to one of the most glorious days ever of eating at endless buffets, relaxing by the pool side and slurping up some wonderful ice cream. Friday was incredibly relaxing and full of good ol' family time with the Crum family as well. Saturday also brought the same perfect weather, a visit to Cancun to haggle with vendors, warm beaches filled with sand volleyball and more all-inclusive food and snacks. We also dominated in an intense water-polo match followed by a ride down the lazy river and another great night of sleep after hitting up the dance floor full of drunk 17 year olds ... wow I felt old and a little weird! Easter Sunday is when we all got on the boat for some fishing out on the sea (pictured above). We caught some amazing sun and all of the kids reeled in some bright orange Grouper. Then the strangest thing happened when another boat called us up to see if we wanted to reel in one of their catches, so I was able to reel in an 82" sailfish which was absolutely fantacular! It was by far the biggest fish I've ever seen in person and reeled in ... got to love the catch and release though! We played some more sand volleyball every day from then on which was just an absolutely amazing time. The hotel also provided the residents with a nightly show which included Michael Jackson (when he was still black and less creepy), N'SYNC, Boogie Nights and the Blues Brothers to name a few. Monday it did rain a bit, but luckily ma, steph and myself had set out for another excursion. This time it was to the tree-tops for the largest zip-line in North America. We strapped in and zipped through the forest, tipped upside down, rode bikes and did back-flips into a cavernous watering hole which was very refreshing. It was an absolutely breath-taking experience riding atop the trees with the monkey folks! Each night was also filled with a delicious new meal which was topped off with a Japanese Hibachi experience ... mmm mm good. (PS, talking about food made me go get some candy I received and by golly gee willickers if I didn't get both a red and pink Starburst in the same pack ... also mmm mm good, just thought you'd like to know:)! Tuesday's highlight was when I blocked the poo out of the cocky Iberostar worker from Canada and everyone cheered ... nothing against the Canadians, it just made everyone quite happy, but my parents were the most elated. It was a great way to wrap up the trip on a positive note. I had an absolutely amazing time with my family and our family friends and I would never trade the experience for anything in the world. Thank you all so much for one of the most amazing trips ever, I can never say thank you enough for the wonderful memories of swimming, hamburgers, great weather and relaxation! I wish we could do it more often, but until next time ... thanks!
I hope everyone has a great rest of March and that the rest of your week/weekend is filled with amazing memories with family and friends.
I leave you with a morsel of knowledge I received from one of my good friends Miranda that made me smile from ear to ear: What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. Continue to think about this as we enter into National Volunteer Month in April. Until next time ...
Alwayz, Nate

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