The Desert

I am in Phoenix.

Well, right now I'm in Glendale. A Springhill Suites to be exact. Sitting on my bed, with a box of left over bbq, my last night in town writing a blog.

Arizona has been an interesting time. Our country is so diverse. The "American" spirit is really different down here. Radio stations play the national anthem at noon to give thanks to the "fact" that we live in the greatest country in the world. Don't get me wrong, I love where I'm from- but I do think these people don't get around much. A few mediocre radio d.j.s aside, the west is a cool place. The landscape is so different. For the most part it's a vast desert, except for what you see above: Red Rocks.

The Red Rocks are one of the most beautiful natural wonders I have ever seen. The pictures above do not do them justice. If you're ever anywhere near Sedona, you should go see them. Then hit up an In-N-Out on the way home for a Double-Double Animal Style, because that just may be the best afternoon of a business trip that your life has seen so far. For me, it was way up there.

The yo shows here have been pretty awesome as well. Sweet kids, nice teachers. I haven't been to a rough school. There is always tomorrow, but I do believe that some cities in the U.S. don't have 'rough' areas as others do. Sure, they're rough compared to their surroundings, but when you bring other demographics into the equation, it doesn't come close.

Oh, by the way, did I say that it's been sunny and an average of 70ish degrees all week? 'Cause it has, and it's been sooooo good.

Post numero uno de 2011.

So, after a lovely two weeks of vacation, I'm back in Seattle for team training with all of the other fabulous folk that do my job in other parts of the country. Before I tell you about that, I do want to say that I'm quite excited to have finished my first real adult vacation time- like, when you still get paid when you take time off...and you don't have to retake a drug test or get re-hired or any other of that bullshit. Yay job!

So it's been quite cool hanging with my co-workers. There is such a variety of people. The people that do my job include all ages, moms, dads, grandpas- it's pretty neat. I've been talking with a lot of people I've never really talked to before. There are a little less than 20 of us, so it's pretty neat to actually know everyone that does your job. I like being a part of a smaller company. Also, I like having someone to talk to, because when I'm in the bean, my co-workers are all at least 300 miles away. It's cool to be reminded- hey, I'm not all alone.

I won an award for being good at my job. I was thrilled. Needless to say, I wasn't expecting it, especially since I haven't even hit the 6 month mark yet. Huzzah!

This trip, I haven't seen anything more than the office and my hotel, so not too much to write home about there. In one week, I'm off to the west....