Back at It!

After four short months of being on JQH Task Force I am going back to the Normal Marriott as a Catering Manager! These last few months have been fantastic working from home and traveling! Nothing is better than  drinking coffee until noon, working out in my down time,  making lunch and dinner everyday, trading my heels for uggs, and being with my dog all day long!

It was a lot easier to work from home than I expected because I am very routine oriented. Matt helped me set up an office in our dining room which kept me sitting at my computer during the day instead of getting preoccupied with other things at home but I loved getting laundry done and keeping the house tidy during the week since I was always there.

Before I left the hotel to go on Task Force I had the goal of being a catering manager but it didn't seem like anyone was going to leave anytime soon, and as soon as I left so did another manger.

I am still doing Task Force here and there for the next few months (I am currently in Houston and will be in Oklahoma next week) but then I will go back permanently to the hotel soon! The ladies I work with are great and welcomed me back with open arms. This is what they did for me on my first day back!

My Little Snuggle Bug - Sawyer Tate!

The newest addition to the Grieder Family Sawyer Tate.  I know anyone that reads my blog follows my sister Brooke Brand Grieder but I just had to post these cute pictures. 

The first picture was on Sawyer's birthday at the hospital. 

 Yesterday I spent all day with this little guy and got to hold him pretty much all day. He slept for most of the day and then he woke up so me and Brooke did a little photo shoot. This picture was when I was holding him and he just kept staring at me and I can't believe how good it turned out! Brooke also dressed him in a onesie that says "My Auntie Rocks" so this one goes out to Taylor and Kaitlin too!

 He is a very content baby that doesn't ever fuss (which I enjoy because I never know what little ones need) and he is a little heater so I didn't mind holding him all day. I had my dog Willie at Brooke's house and he was being my little guard dog.  He kept getting closer and closer to the baby. I don't think Brooke enjoyed it too much but I thought it was super cute! I am sure I will have a lot more pictures in the future to post of this little man!!

Nashville

Matt had two engines in his shop that he was going to sell to a diesel mechanic shop outside of Nashville, TN. He has had them for a few weeks and I told him that no matter when he took them I was going to go with him so I could go to Nashville!

I have only been to Nashville once and it was for a sorority convention back before I was even 21! When I was there we really didn't get to do too much but we did manage to sneak out two nights when we were there. I have always wanted to go so I hitched a ride with Matt.

We stayed at the Gaylord Opryland which Marriott recently bought the Gaylord resorts so I got a steal on a room. Here is a map of the hotel to show you how big it was!

This is the map they give you at check-in so you can find your room. There was over 7 restaurants and bars in the hotel so we actually never left once we checked in! It was really busy and we decided since it was a quick trip we would just stay there!
On the right is a picture of the atrium with ducks, fish, and water features! There was sushi bar on the water it was so cool! I told Matt that we need to take girls trip around Christmas and come back to this hotel!!

Matt and I have an obsession with the Food Network especially Diner's, Drive-in's, and Dives. We have been talking about stopping at restaurants we see on this show for years and we finally hit up our first place. It was super yummy and had local beers to wash it down! I am not a fan of BBQ at all but I even enjoyed the food. Then the very next week Matt and Tyler went to Mississippi and hit up another DDD favorite Memphis BBQ.

This is a picture of where they smoke the pig! It smelled so good in this restaurant! 

Not the best picture but we actually took a picture together! 

On the Move!

In January I took on a new position through Corporate John Q. Hammons Hotels (aka Marriott) to work from home and travel to other properties to help with training of a new computer program. I was so excited about this opportunity because I would be working from home, traveling, and teaching again!

It was slow at the beginning trying to get on board with new concepts, get to know a million new people, and work from home and be productive! Well I hit the ground running and my first road trip was to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for two weeks (when I say weeks I mean Sunday-Thursday they let me come home on the weekend), home for a week, and then off to Dallas, Texas for two weeks.

When I was in the airport flying home from Dallas on Thursday I made a few notes on my phone on my whirlwind of my last 12 days:

In 12 days I been traveling for work for 9 days
I have flown on 6 airplanes
Went to Nashville for 2 days (trip with Matt)
 Stayed at 3 amazing Full Service Marriott's (think the Normal Marriott bigger)
Was at home for less than 24 hours
And slept in my own bed with my two boys twice (Matt and Willie oh course)

When I was in Dallas they spoiled me with amenities every night in my room! Apparently on my file says I like veggies, fruit, and beer! Pretty fitting if you ask me!

Here are a few pics from my trips! They are not as fun as they sounds because all I do is work and don't get to get outside of the hotel too much but I made sure to get a few runs and walks in when I was in Dallas since it was in the 20's here!

Jersey Boys

Back in November my Mom asked if we would like to go see the Jeresey Boys with her and Dad. When she was asking me and Matt she said they would take us to dinner at Jim's in Peoria, so before Matt even knew what it was he said "yes."

I explained to him what Jersey Boys was and that it was an off Broadway musical. He then was really excited. Well February came and we went to see Jersey Boys last Saturday. We got all dressed up and picked up mom and dad, and of course I forgot to take any pictures the entire night.

We went to Jim's and it was amazing! It was really a great treat from mom and dad. Then we were off to the show! I think all of us really enjoyed it! It was fun and exciting throughout the entire show...
They cussed alot and it I really like all the music and outfits everyone was wearing.

Matt said he really enjoyed it! I would like to go to another "show" with him in the future....so let's see how that goes!

Happy Birthday to Me!

It seems like I am having a birthday week instead of just one special day! The morning of my birthday I got up and got a really good run in (oustide) and then came in and got straight to work! That is what is nice about working from home! I can go run/work out and then take a shower and get right to work.  Taylor called me and said she was stopping by, and when she did she brought me this!

It is a caramel coconut latte from Gloria Jean's and it is so yummy! I got us chillers a week or so ago and this was the first time I have had it hot but it was a great treat.

 

Taylor and I decided to run down to GiGi Bottega to do a little shopping over my lunch hour and picked out a few cute items. I had to exchange a top my Mom got me that was too small so I got a really cute poncho. When I came home and started working again there was a know on the door and it was this.

 

They are flowers from one of my closests friends Emily from college. She was my first friend at KU and we have been close ever since. She is so thoughtful and never misses a special day. We were bridemaids in each other weddings and I can see us doing family vacations in the future! If she only lived closer but visiting California is pretty nice change from Illinois.

 

When I got done working Matt came home and brought me these! Yellow roses, a sweet card, and M&M's. He know the way to my heart! We are going to get new phones for my birthday present and I can't wait to have a phone that takes better pictures.

 

 We went to dinner with Matt's parents and Taylor came too! I had seafood jambalaya that was a special for Fat Tuesday and it was amazing. I love Medici because of the food and the great beers. We came home and opened presents and i got a picture of my little bear sleeping! If you can see he is snuggling with a stuffed animal (I know I am a crazy dog lady but I don't care). Overall I had a great 28th birthday!!

28th Birthday.....Well a Little Early at Mom and Dad's!

We celebrated my birthday a little early because my mom has parent teacher conferences on Tuesday so we had pizza and treats at Mom and Dad's.

We had a really relaxing evening with Papa Murphy's pizza and a Cookie from Mrs. Fields. My Mom also picked up some cake pops from Sugar Mama's and they were yummy! Clayton was convinced that if he kept asking he could have cake pop but he just had second helpings on the cookie cake.

My Mom got me these awesome flowers from Viva La Flora and the picture doesn't even do them justice.

We are going to celebrate my birthday tomorrow night at Medici!

 Royal Blue my favorite! My two favorite colors are royal blue and purple and when I picked up the cookie it looked purple but when we got home it looked blue. Mom said it was supposed to be purple but whatever color it is..... I love it!

Here are the flowers. I am not even sure what they are and the picture doesn't do them justice but they are so pretty!

Maybe I will take a few pictures and be able to make another post!

New China Cabinet

I have wanted a china cabinet since we started registering for our wedding because I wanted to show off all my pretty glasses and accessories we got for the wedding. Before Christmas I went furniture shopping with my Mom and Taylor and didn't even really find anything I liked at the furniture stores in town and if I did they were all over a thousand dollars. I wanted something nice but not really expensive so I looked at IKEA.

Since I was in high school I have loved IKEA. I got my duvet and duvet cover among other items for college and the funny thing is they still have the duvet cover. That has been almost ten years!! I have gone to IKEA a few times with my Mom and sisters so we decided to go Super Bowl Sunday. We didn't think it was going to be busy but it was busy! We knew what we wanted and we ended up leaving with a full truck! Brooke didn't make the trip since she is so preggers but Taylor, Jenna, my Mom, and I took the day to shop. Taylor got a lot of furniture and Jenna even picked up a few things. I left with my china cabinet and Matt even was a sport helping me put it together. Here are the pictures of the cabinet!

 I don't have the best camera and actually the only camera I use is on my camera. The cabinet is awesome and has four shelves and four drawers. I have my linens, cookbooks, and other wine accessories in the drawers.

 This bookshelf is my old "china cabinet" which now is in another corner of my dining room and has a few pictures I had hanging on the wall and other decor that I keep in a closet upstairs. I love the way it looks!

These three bottles are super cool and my Dad has found all of them doing different backhoe work. They are all local and are from Normal and Pekin. I have tried to look up more information on them but wasn't able to find anything in my search. 

 

Here is a picture of my truck ans it filled to the max! Taylor actually is the one who packed it but don't worry the big box that looks like it is going to fly out is a really a chair and in the shape of a chair so the top of the chair is shoved down between other boxes! We successfully didn't lose anything on our trip home! My Mom and Jenna had to sit with all of our other purchases but we all survived. I know I drove for a reason!!!

 

 

Kansas City.... Gary Allan!

We head to Kansas City this weekend. Well Grain Valley so almost Kansas City to see one of our favorite singers Gary Allan. He is releasing a new CD tomorrow so it was a pop-up concert at this venue called Whiskey Tango. I was super excited because tickets were only 20.00 and I knew it would be a small venue.

We called Chad and Keili and they invited us to stay at there house for the weekend. We had so much fun just hanging around the house, catching up, eating great food, and loving on Cole! I really need to work on my picture taking skills because they only picture I took was of a drink Keili and I made so I could send it to Taylor.

Saturday we went shopping for a little bit and then headed back to the house to hang out with the boys. We ended up going to the concert and it was a total bust. We waited for over three hours to get to watch Gary Allan and by that time this place was packed, hot, no where to stand, you couldn't get a drink, and they only have 1 bathroom. That is right 1 bathroom for over 3,000 people. I think we decided we are getting old for this kind of thing! We ended up only staying for about 5 songs and left to go back to the Kruger's for the night.

Overall it was a great weekend with friends. I really enjoyed just hanging out and not feeling like we have to run around all weekend long.
                                                       
Here is a picture of Gary Allan. He is amazing and Matt took me to see him the summer I graduated from college. It was one of the best dates ever and since then I think we have gone to at least 6 or 7 of his shows together.
                                            
I found this picture thanks for facebook. This is when we went to see Gary at All-State Arena a few years ago when he opened for Keith Urban. We both look a little thinner than we are now, ha ha! Oh well It was still a great weekend!

New Job!

I have recently accepted a new job for the company I work for John Q. Hammons Hotels. I will be leaving my position at the Normal Marriott to go on a task force for the next six to eight months to work on a conversion program for new computer software. I will be working from home and traveling to different properties when needed. My area is going to be mainly in the Southwest which couldn't be better for this time of year. I am going to miss my daily routine at the Marriott but working from home and traveling to new places sounds pretty good to me!

I am really hoping since I can work remotely that I can make more trips to the lake this summer! I hope at least.... I can dream right?