Q1 Recap
Hello again. Thank you for your patience while I neglected to blog for three months, courtesy of seasonal depression and intensely studying for a professional HR certification exam for the first quarter of the year. Now that I passed my test (spoiler alert) and spring has sprung (although, it did try to snow yesterday), I can become a real person who can enjoy life again. It’s so nice not to be stressy depressy and have to spend all of your free time learning about labor laws.
Here’s what you missed this winter:
So. much. snow. Several ski resorts are still open and plan to stay open until the summer. Totally feasible when you have 800+ inches of snow up in the mountains. However, now we deal with the flooding and a delay to the hiking season because of all the extra snow. It’s quite obnoxious, really.
While I spent virtually every weekend and evening studying for my HR test, Ian really got into downhill skiing. Historically he’s been a snowboarder, but apparently snowboarding is dead to him now and all he wants to do is ski. I’m glad he had fun. No reason for both of us to be miserable.
I did manage to squeeze in a few cross country ski outings to try to maintain some semblance of my sanity during the studying months. I’m not saying I’m a pro or anything, but now falling is rare and I feel much more in control on the skis. We finally bought our own equipment, which was a great investment.
Two of my friends and I went to an indoor scuba diving class for one friend’s birthday. Both of them had gone scuba diving before in real life, and I have not. That was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever done. Psychologically, it was hard to go from being above water standing in the pool to putting the Darth Vader-esque breathing mouthpiece in (it has a real name, but I forgot it), and then breathing through that, exclusively through your mouth, while under water. It was freaky. I made it to the bottom of the pool with everyone else, but I don’t feel compelled to do it again.
My aunt passed away from cancer. I didn’t know her very well, but I’m glad I got to talk with her on the phone before she died and that she went out on her own terms surrounded by family.
You may be wondering what the heck is up with this test she keeps talking about? When my boss quit back in October, work asked me to get a a professional HR certification so that I’d be more knowledgeable and better at my job and help me learn and grow and all that jazz. This was not an unreasonable request, and one that I had been thinking about already. Many HR professionals have one or both of the major certifications so they can put letters behind their name and make more money and seem like they know what they’re doing.
Long story short, courtesy of my company credit card I applied to take the exam and then spent the next three months casually destroying myself studying for this stupid test. I guess all that hard work paid off because in April I passed my test, got a title bump, and a raise. *Insert huge sigh of relief here
Since then, Ian and I celebrated our two year anniversary with our Christmas crab cakes from my dad, which were delicious.
To celebrate Ian’s birthday, we went downtown for a delicious brunch at some award-winning, Guy Fieri recommended restaurant that lived up to the hype. I picked it for the soft shell crab eggs benedict, but the real star was the chicken hash. We followed brunch with a Utah Jazz game. Neither one of us had ever been to an NBA game before, but it was actually really fun.
Unfortunately, Ian celebrated his actual birthday with food poisoning/a stomach bug. He was down for the count for several days but is getting his groove back.
In May, we’ll be heading to Denver for a weekend to get away, watch some baseball, and explore. The following weekend we’ll be coming home for Sara’s college graduation. I’m not sure which is more strange - that Sara is old enough to be graduating from college or that Sam is old enough to be getting her learner’s permit. Either way, I am perturbed.
Thank you for reading. I should be back on a more regular blogging schedule now that my life isn’t consumed with studying anymore and Ian and I get out and about for more adventures.
Love and miss you all!
Chloe
Happy spring
Our crab cake anniversary dinner. We got really into making mashed potatoes there for a minute.
Scuba class. Not pictured is me realizing as I’m getting ready before class that I don’t own a bathing suit.
The nosebleed seats weren’t half bad.
