Powerful: Derek + Laura

So it's been a while since I've blogged. I don't really know why but you know how you just get behind and it seems overwhelming to catch up? Yeah...I think that is what has happened here. Anyways I have been wanting to blog about this for a while. Earlier this month I said goodbye to my Ancestry Family and it was much harder than I thought it would be. For as long as I can remember I have envisioned myself staying home with my children. It's all I knew as a child and I enjoyed having my mother there to talk to and confide in. Well a little over 2 years ago I started working at Ancestry.com, the largest family history company. I started off doing customer support for MyFamily.com. I was there for less than 2 months and was promoted to work in the Escalations handling angry customers, privacy complaints, BBB stuff, and lots of other things. I really loved the people I worked with and my boss was the best. I was able to interact with so many departments in the company an...

New York was both fun and exhausting. I am glad it was my last trip for the year. Ended this year of travels in a great place. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I am just grateful I got out before they didn't let anyone out anymore.  The city was just beautiful. Central park was the best. Honestly. I couldn't get enough of it. Sad to know that with the damage of Sandy a lot of the parks don't look the same anymore - so I had to share the beauty of NYC as I was able to enjoy it.  View from the reservoir in Central Park These girls are the best and totally made my trip awesome. Thanks Alina and Kate for being the best! One night we made reservations at Max Brenner. Best choice. They are famous for their chocolate everything.  This was my chocolate peanut butter ice cream sundae. So good. Honestly. I loved it. So Kate and I were exploring the city one afternoon and she introduced me to Juniors Cheesecake. Fantastic. We stopped here: Th...

Ok a couple of things before I begin.  First, thank you so much to all of you for your love and support. We were a little hesitant to announce the news of our baby girl and we feel even more blessed for all of your sweet comments and best wishes. It truly meant the world to us. So excited to meet her. I can already tell she's cute. :) Second thing...I made it home from Alabama safely. Thanks again for all of your worry and support. I feel bad for the people in Louisiana as they really suffered some hardships due to hurricane Isaac. After all, I was born in Louisiana and even though i only lived there for two short weeks of my life it's still my birth place. I have been keeping them in my prayers and I hope they all recover quickly. In other news...Birmingham was an interesting place. Highlight of the trip: Jim n Nick's BBQ. They had amazing mashed potatoes, homemade mac n cheese, and these cheddar biscuits that were to die for. Honestly. I could just ea...

So this week I have the pleasure of going here... I am sure many of your are jealous. I mean it's Alabama. Be excited! ha So if my sarcasm didn't give it away I am not looking forward to this trip at all.  It's over labor day weekend and it's Birmingham, AL. Maybe I could be wrong and this could be the best place I've been to all year for work but somehow I just don't believe that to be possible.  So if I wasn't already dreading this trip enough lets throw in this little guy... That is Hurricane Isaac. I have been receiving many worried e-mails from my team and from attendees. We'll see how it goes. Looks like we are about 4 hours inland so we should just have heavy rain the whole week. The only problem with heavy rain and storms is that the power has a chance to go out and flights can be delayed. Either way it should be an adventure and I am interested to see how it all plays out. I hope for everyone's sake it is just a little rainy ...

I apologize. I haven't updated the blog in quote some time. I took a business trip and then it was on to glorious vacation for the next two weeks. I've been back for a week and am starting to finally catch up on work and life. Here are some highlights from those missing weeks.  First stop: Paris  Finally vacation! First stop: Newport Beach with my family Morning tide pools adventure in Corona Del Mar Then it was on to Santa Clarita for time with the Power's A night out at the Hollywood Bowl  Relaxing with Derek and our picni Last stop before home: Vegas!  It was our first time doing Vegas together and we had a blast! Then when we got home Derek and I rushed to see my Grandma Ellsworth, Aunt Lori, Aunt Linda, and cousins Amy and Holly. That was a blast. It has been way too long since I have seen most of them. It was Derek's first time meeting them as well. So glad we were able to see them...sad we didn't get any pictures. You c...

So tomorrow I am headed here... Sadly not the best picture of us but I still love it I am pretty excited to head there again and spend a week in this fabulous city. It is for work so I don't know how much site seeing I will get in...so my list of things to do are shorter than if this trip was all about me. Eat lots of delicious, buttery croissants  Bring home Laduree for Derek (also eat some while there) Find Le Petit Prince pop-up book for Martha Go to Angelina's and sip down their velvety hot chocolate Go to Versailles (This one will be a stretch since it's a day trip to get out there and see everything. However, I hear the gardens in the summer time are gorgeous) Eat Italian ice Eat a delicious warm crepe with Nutella all melty inside Eat a croque-monsieur  Conquer my fear to travel on the metro alone Find gifts for loved ones Oh and work.... I love how most of this list is about me eating delicious food. Oh well...why not while I'm there, rig...

So recently for work I was able to travel to Philadelphia and New York.  It was a blast. Successful conferences, family, and friends. I couldn't of asked for better trips. I seriously love my job. I feel so blessed everyday to do something I love so much. So here are some highlights from each trip: Philadelphia: Saw my friend Dan from college, met his girlfriend, and ate an authentic Philly Cheese-steak with Cheese Wiz. It was delicious. Seriously. It was fun to see him and catch up. It had been a long time. Went out to dinner with my Aunt Janette and Uncle Lance. We went to this amazing Italian restaurant. It is located right across the street from an Opera Academy so each waitor is an opera singer. Every 10-15 minutes they break out in to some beautiful aria. What a treat. The food was great as well. It was fun to catch up with them and see their new house. It's a charming row house located in a great area. How I love the east coast. Also this is huge news for me: I ...