DOMOPALOOZA

Jeff's company had its second annual user conference this month and it was quite the spectacle. The company announced their official branding moving forward: DOMO is the business cloud. What does that mean, you ask? It means users can now access every piece of data needed to run their business better, and access that data from the cloud. Over the years "the cloud" has become a place to store various data whether it be photos, music, documents, statistics, etc. But there has never been one source that enables people to access all of that data at the same time and make sense of it. DOMO does just that. It accesses thousands of data sources and brings all the information together in meaningful, visual ways.

The purpose of this 2nd annual user conference (aka #DP16) was to hit home just how groundbreaking this announcement was and to show its users how to take advantage of all that DOMO has to offer. With that came celebrations. And there is no better description for these celebrations than PALOOZA. It was a wild, crazy, and extravagant party for three days. As an employee, Jeff was invited to the conference after-party where Walk the Moon and Nelly were performing at the Grand America Ballroom. One of my coworkers attended the conference workshops but didn't want to stay in Salt Lake all night for the concert. She offered me her all-access pass, so I got to join in the palooza-ing!

Every nook and cranny of the Grand America had been paloozafied.

They handed out fun light up foam sticks for the party.

We were right at the front of the stage during Walk the Moon's performance, and decided to take a break from the crazy crowd and loud speakers during the second concert. I had no idea there were so many Nelly fans in SLC : ) The day after the conference, Jeff's department held a "Finance Kickoff" and Domopalooza recap meeting at the Cliff Lodge at Snowbird Ski Resort. After the meeting, we were invited to take advantage of the gorgeous slopes surrounding us. There were so many runs! It was a fun couple of days! Ain't no party like a DOMO party.

We're Here For RSL!

It was a typical wednesday afternoon, I had just returned from a meeting and was getting back into my desk-work when I saw that Jeff had texted me, "call me when you can, I have a fun activity for tonight". My curiosity sparked, I stepped outside to call him back. He proceeded to tell me the best news you can receive on a typical Wednesday -- we had box seat tickets to the Real Salt Lake CONCACAF Cup match! Jeff's CEO has season tickets and offered them to his finance department for this exciting match. I was thrilled! Jeff and I met at home after work and headed to Rio Tinto stadium as quickly as we could.

This stadium is awesome. It's a soccer specific stadium based off of European designs and it has such a cool atmosphere. I had intentions to attend a game here all through my college years but never made it for one reason or another. I'm SO glad we were given the chance this year! And what an introduction to the place. Box seats at mid-field, with a suite filled with catered food and drinks! It was so cool!

Jeff and I were the first ones to show up of his coworkers, so we had time to enjoy the suite all to ourselves and to walk around the stadium a bit. We were headed to the team store but didn't make it far when Jeff spotted a vendor selling last year's jerseys and gear at a major discount. We can now say we are official Real Salt Lake fans : )

As kickoff time approached we headed back to our seats, and Jeff's coworkers and their plus ones began to arrive. The match was an exciting one and it was so fun to watch players like Rimando, Beckerman, and Plata up close. Even though the game ended in a 1-1 tie RSL lost the match-up overall, due to their loss in the first leg of the tournament. Regardless of the outcome we had a fantastic time and are proud to call ourselves supporters of RSL.

The supporters section at Rio Tinto are known as the RioT, and they start the cheers and chants that go around the stadium. They have some great songs that were catchy and fun to sing along with. One of the chants we sing when RSL scores or does something good is:

If you believe then just stand up on your feet. 

and shout it loud, REAL! 

Here at the RioT the battle hymn's begun. 

We're here for RSL!

So thank you to DOMO for giving us this fun mid-week outing. We loved it! Go RSL!

Here's to 27

I have to say that turning 27 feels like a big deal. It seems so much older than wee 26. It's just a few years from 30 which is almost too weird to wrap my head around. But what a merry birthday it was! Mom came to visit for the weekend and we kicked off the celebrations early! Just a few of the highlights from the weekend:

Birthday Cake (times two):

Mom made a delicious Chocolate Orange cake from scratch.

It was heavenly!

And we got the biggest ice cream cake Dairy Queen had. Because, why not?

Lunch at Spicy Thai:

This place is so good!

Lovely winter hike in Provo Canyon:

My actual birthday was on a Tuesday this year and therefore a workday. But my coworkers, family, and friends (near and far) made it feel like a party all day! I arrived at my office to find my desk decorated and a dozen donuts waiting for me. It seemed like every time I left and came back to my desk a new surprise had been delivered! Cookies from my sister, Flowers from my family, an edible arrangement from my dear friend Mary, along with birthday cards and sweets! I have the most wonderful people in my life and I sure feel loved!

Thanks, Mary!!

That evening Jeff took me to dinner at La Costa, a Mexican restaurant near our home that we've been wanting to try. It was really good and the service was very personable. The waiters even sang me a lovely birthday song in Spanish! Caitie and Trey (sans Nate since he is in the thick of busy season accounting) joined us and it made for a very nice birthday night! We went to our apartment afterward to enjoy the still only half eaten ice cream cake, and I opened presents.

Thanks for the cute bamboo plant, Caitie. I love it!

Thanks to all who made it such a special day for me!

DOMO Snowshoeing

Jeff's boss, Brannen started a fun tradition of taking the guys in the finance department snow shoeing on friday mornings before work. They've gone a few times now and Jeff has loved it! He's learned more about the trails nearby and where to find the best views. Here are some photos from Jeff's early morning snow shoe adventures:

New Years Eve 2015

We had to come home on the 29th of December for work, at least I did. Jeff was off for DOMO Happy Holidays until January 4th, lucky guy. But we had some dear friends in town that we were able to spend New Years with!

Jared and Kelsey were in town visiting family and we had a great time catching up with them! Jared hung out with Jeff on one of the days I was still working, and they visited me for lunch. We decided to eat at J-Dawgs for old times sake.

On New Year's Eve we drove up to Murray where Jared and Kelsey were staying with her family. Kelsey and I went shopping and had a great time looking for rugs, comfy chairs, and famous ice slushies. We may be crazy to get Italian ice in the dead of winter, but fortunately we had a big fireplace to eat them by when we got home.

That night we met up with Nate and Caitie for dinner at Cafe Rio, and partying at the Stewarts' house in Cedar Hills. 

Kelsie and Trey

 When midnight struck we shot confetti canons off of the Stewarts balcony. Then we played boards games into the night. It was great to be with some of our favorite people. Happy New Year to all!

Here's to a fantastic 2016!

Christmas 2015

Now that we're back west we're on our holiday rotation again. This year was technically Jeff's family's year for Christmas. Even though we gathered in Bear Lake over the summer so that no one would feel obligated to travel to Idaho Falls for Christmas, we couldn't resist. Here's a few of the highlights from our short but sweet Christmas with the Mannings:

1) Visited the Museum of Idaho to see the gingerbread house and nativity displays:

I really liked the fluffy little sheep in this nativity.

2) Painted cookies. You heard me right. Painted. As in with paintbrushes and icing.

3) Facetimed my family. No Christmas is complete without Allie getting a large pair of ginch from the Grinch. He outdid himself this year!

4) Gift exchange - Mindy made us these awesome advent calendar stockings! We love them!

Gag gift for Paul. It's the perfect size. Right?

5) Christmas Pull-Aparts!

A christmas morning tradition

6) Test drove some sweet cars:

We went to the subaru dealership to drive a Forrester and an Outback. Both were super nice! One day we might need a new car and we want to know our options : )

And then Jeff's dad took us to the BMW dealership. Ain't she a beauty? 

It was fun to test drive the cars in the snow. I'm ipmressed they had all of the cars cleaned off and spiffed up, it had just snowed 4 inches the night before!

7) Celebrate December Birthdays - two of our nieces have birthdays right after Christmas. We went to Garcias to celebrate! I love that place!

Birthday sombreros and fried ice cream for the girls. They weren't so sure about the singing haha

Merry Christmas!