Happy 10 year anniversary...to ME!!!

Update! I got surprised with this INSANELY good cake that Tricia made as well. She is a goddess in the kitchen. SO GOOD!!! What a great day! Thanks guys!

Today is the 10 year anniversary of my employment at QuinStreet. I don't talk much about my company on my blog, but my role, and involvement here is a big point of pride in my life, and I feel 10 years is notable. As with any startup, it has not been without its challenges and emotional ups-and-downs, but as long as for me, the positives outweigh the negative, I am very happy to be here.

I started here when I was 22, and I am now 32. That is a span of time in one's life. I started as an associate, I was single, childless and living with roommates. Today I am a Sr. Director, married to a wonderful man, have a beautiful child, and a lovely home. What a difference 10 years can make. The only constant was my family, and QuinStreet.

We grew from a very small start-up to an international company with over 600 employees that is now publicly traded. Having had that experience will be invaluable to my professional career.

Most importantly I have made friends that will last a lifetime. Lori, Lisa, Dawn, Rebecca, Brad, Karen, Kerren, Rupal, Kristen the list could go on forever, the point is QuinStreet helped me create a family for myself.

A very happy 10 years it has been, and I look forward to many more! When I got to work today my friends had decorated my desk, gotten me a beautiful bottle of champagne and lovely flowers! Not a bad way to start a Tuesday!

It started with a lovely housewarming gift...

Kristen came over today to check out our digs and have some coffee talk. She brought a beautiful bottle of her favorite blend with her as a housewarming gift (thank you Kristen!) That was the motivation I needed to make our first sit down dinner here at the house.

We had a roast, corn on the cob, a fresh garden salad, and my mom's yummy pilaf recipe. Everything was delicious! In the end we didn't end up having the wine as we ate early, but now it can be inspiration for another dinner.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday night!

Why should Mommy and Daddy have all the fun?

Mommy and Daddy bought themselves a house, so Grams thought she would get in on the action and buy Annie one of her own!

Annie loved the doll house in the OC so we picked this one out while we were down there. It's HUGE! And Annie loves it. It's so big she tried to climb the stairs in it, no joke.





Mommy and Daddy's stairs:

Annie's Stairs:

Fun with Friends

What goes better with one lonely glass of wine than seven more? Nothing.

No, the multiple glasses of wine are not my friends. Well, they sort of are, but that is not the topic of this post. If you recall I met a fabulous new friend, Christine (Jameson's Mom) and we decided to meet in Danville for a glass of wine sans children.

She suggested this great place in downtown for us to meet. We each did a flight of whites to taste and had some beautiful cheese. Better than that we discovered we had a lot more in common, laughed a lot, and made plans for the future for many more good times, next time our hubbys will meet. This place is really starting to feel like home!

I even left with an affordable beautiful bottle of Chardonnay to enjoy with Adam later.

Cheers!

Break the back or break the wallet...

We chose back and decided not to pay someone to do this work. But how awesome does this look????

Annie needed an area to play on in the side yard. We did not want something permanent as next summer we are going to do the whole yard, but we wanted something secure, safe and stable. We wanted put put all her grandparent gifts back there. We had a sandbox with canopy and 1,000 lbs of sand, a play house and a bench.

The way the yard was before it was all splintery bark. I decided enough was enough and needed a plan. We are not right now at the place that we want to drop 5-10k on hard scaping so Todd and I put our heads together and decided to do it ourselves. I have so say, we make a great team, we had a lot of fun, and... we are basically bad asses. We are bonded for life. We will remember this day together for ever!! I had a lot of fun working with my brother. It feels great to do things by hand on your own, you learn, and you feel pride, and best yet, Annie loves her area!

Before, with all the bark....
To start, all the tiles and 2000 lbs of sand.

Todd putting in the drainage sand...
Pavers laid out
Hammering out any "toe subbers"

Getting ready to fill in the "grout". I assembled the sand box myself, we are missing the top green canopy, but it will come next week.

I am a bad ass with power tool. I put that sand box together like it was my job!


Ready for sand grout. Thanks to Grammy and Gramps for the sand box, its huge!!

Sand swept into the cracks, waiting for the first of 3 light mistings of water.



Annie trying to help out.
Moving rocks like a champ.
First spray down of grout...and Annies Sand Box.

We rock. No pun intended.
All the gear on the pavers. A house, a Bench, a Water Table, and Sand Box.




decorative corner rocks.... very story book!

Annie's house...thanks Grams! I love my house!!!


This will be the first of many many many events in the yard! Thank you for all of your help Todd, and Adam we make a great team!