First Time for Everything

I cannot express the excitement I hold working for Yazdani Family Dentistry.  It was a short two and a half weeks ago when I started in this position as a marketing director.  I've now had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta, GA for a marketing technique workshop that I learned so much from.  Not only did I learn more about marketing, but also about the joys of flying and navigating myself through an airport for the first time.

Let me tell you, when you don't know what to expect or know where to go, things can get a little hairy.  For a first experience though it was a great one and one I will never forget.  It started off with trying to get my dog settled and into her crate before leaving.  The plan was to have my friend +Robyn Poore pick up Rose when she was done work.  I think Rose knew something was up because she would not go in her crate for the life of her and she loves that thing!  I did everything I could from bribery to downright blackmail. Even if she didn't understand my threats, she understood that I was not going to work and that I was going to be leaving her as she noticed she had her own bags packed.  Poor thing, she knows how to play with my heart strings.  It's hard to let your baby go when you're leaving the country, but damn it! I wasn't missing my flight.

Robyn dropped me off at the airport and gave me some detailed instructions on where to go and what I could expect.  Needless to say, I will still a little nervous.  I wasn't so much nervous about the idea of flying, I was nervous because what if I got on the wrong flight, or didn't make it through security.  The most random ideas were going through my mind.  I got to the Air Canada desk and spoke to the agent.  He was quite surprised that it was my first time flying (I'm guessing because of my age, but then again who knows!) He was super helpful and offered me window seating instead of aisle seating which was very exciting to me as I wanted to see the action first hand. Knowing me though, I would have just leaned over some complete strangers lap to see what was going on out of pure excitement :) He gave me very detailed instructions on where to go.  I used the term "first time flyer" quite often and noticed to my benefit that it helped a lot.  Everyone was so informative.  I get to security and I asked the guy a million and one questions on if I have to take my shoes off, where I have to put them, do I need to take my sweater off too? Will my jewelry set off the scanners etc. I think he got a kick out of it but he answered them all calmly and professionally. Picture this, I am in line waiting to go through the security check and I'm waiting on the guy in front of me.  I watch carefully what he does and I mimic what he does so that I look like a pro.  He goes through no problem so I figure I got this! Piece of cake.  I go through the scanner and all goes well.  Then the guy that I mimic gets stopped and security asks to go through the contents of his bag because something questionable came up in the scanner.  HAHA the thoughts that went through my head were priceless.  I immediately think of the movies and am half anticipating a S.W.A.T. team to show up with guns and approach it like its a BOMB. By the way, the thought did cross my mind to yell this at one point or another.

I had a 3.5 hour lay over in Toronto and really what is there to do?

I Facebooked my friends, people watched, scoped out my gates, charged the phone and of course ate some food.  Count on Swiss Chalet to quench that craving though, it was a great lunch spent solo.  Flying surprisingly makes you hungry, or is it that I love food too much?  

Once I got on my plane headed for Atlanta, I knew the real excitement was about to begin.  Its a freaking huge airport! Thank god for the detailed instructions Dr. Yazdani left for me because I am not sure I would have made it to my destination.  There were signs indicating where I should be going, but I swear I was seeing double.  There were two signs and they both were saying the same thing only they were pointing in opposite directions. Maybe I was tired, but I managed to figure it out.

I had to go left, then right, then down an escalator and take a train and stay on it for six stops then go right then up an escalator and go outside and cross the street.  Take an elevator up so the Skytrain.  This thing was kind of cool :) I would say the easiest part of the entire trip haha

Once I arrived, I was in heaven.  Not only did I get to stay in the Marriott hotel, it was all paid for! One lucky girl I am.  The room was beautiful.  Once I walked in I was in awe.  I literally dropped my bags on the floor and did a backwards fall on to the bed.  I could have passed out right then and there!

I met up with Dr. Yazdani and the team for some dinner before hitting the hay for the big day!

Not only did I learn a lot, I never went hungry.  The food they serve there is to die for!  It started off with breakfast, then a break, then lunch, then a break, then one more break and they finished it off with wine and beer for after the seminar! All for free! Can you believe it! I was mentally exhausted by the end of it and could not for the life of me think of eating another bite.  I know right, me not want to eat food? Pfft, ya right! But I simply could not fathom the idea of it.

After the seminar, I had to take full advantage of the nice weather.  The sun was shining, there wasn't any snow on the ground and I had two hours to kill before our dinner reservation.  I maybe wanted to rub it in everyone's faces a little bit that it was so nice out and everyone back home was stuck in the middle of a winter wonderland...oops ;)

Unfortunately, as I quickly realized, the Marriott is the nicest thing that was around.  I took a walk and tried to make the most of it but really, there isn't anything that was nice enough to really look at.  It was kind of sad to be honest, how poor it really is.  Buildings were abandoned or taken over by the bank.  Even the dirt looked dirty. But still, I enjoyed the fresh air and the exercise.

On the way home, I was less stressed about traveling as Dr. Yazdani and I travelled back together.  I had to commit to memory what I had to do though because I am on my own when I go back for the Marketing Masters Program in February.  We were up super early and I was amazed at how quiet an airport can be at 6:00 in the morning.  It was a peaceful trip home :) 

I was quite happy when I finally got home but was NOT happy about how cold it was.  Everyone kept telling me how it was more mild then when I was away.  Its truly amazing how quickly your body adapts to warmer weather.  I couldn't shake the cold all day.  All I wanted was to curl up into a ball with my little pup and fall into dream land.  

Thank you to +Audrey Poore for taking care of my little rascal while I was away.  I think she enjoyed her time because she slept from 4:00PM until 7:00AM the next morning.  Snoring and all :) 

Reaching for the stars

When you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. 

Starting a new year always makes me reflect on the previous.  2013 had its ups and downs for me, sometimes it felt like more downs than ups but I learned a lot from it all.  Never give up because you never know whats around the corner.  For those of you who have followed my progress, you know that I went from job to job and seemed to be all over the place.  I encountered people who were all wrong for me but at the same time each person that came into my life and stayed and those that didn't make the cut have all taught me something.  They all brought something positive into my life that I can still cherish and hold dear to me.  I realized that it's very important to hold on to the good and look for the positive outlook in every situation instead of letting it bring you down.  That's one hard task to do on a regular basis.  

In December, I scored the job of my dreams.  I became a marketing director for Yazdani Family Dentistry in Kemptville.  I started in January and am loving it all so far.  Only three weeks in and already he is sending me to Atlanta for training :) In February and June, I get to go back for a Marketing Masters program.  I can't express how excited I am to be involved in such a great working environment.  I was losing hope for awhile that I wouldn't be able to find a job in the field I wanted.  I felt the longer I waited to get it, the more outdated I was becoming.  Dr. Yazdani is definitely making sure that I stay up-to-date.  In just a few short weeks I already know that I am going to love working here.  The staff are super friendly, everyone is easy going and willing to take the time to explain things that I don't know about.  They even invited me out to their Christmas party in December just so I could get to know the team.  How awesome is that :) 

I must say, I am particularly excited for this trip to Atlanta this weekend as I have never really been outside of the country except for one trip to Disney Land.  I've never flown before and I get to for the first time this weekend.  I am a little scared to be honest but I love adventure.  Let's just hope I make it to Atlanta and don't end up somewhere else...but then again, I don't think I would mind that so much either. It's like a mini vacation even though I have to work.  

Stay tuned and I'll let everyone know how it all went.  

This could get interesting...