5 years!

Hard to believe, but June 5th was my 5 year anniversary at work. That means a few things...

• I've been here in Phoenix for 5 years
• I've now been working longer than I was in school (college at least)
• I will start earning more PTO (yeah for paid time off)
• my 401K is now fully vested, so it's all mine

I'm sure it means lots of other things, but on any level it's a cool milestone.

Add a little personality

So my most recent project was something to add a little personality to the new cubical that I have moved into at work. Since I spend a majority of my time during the day in my cube, I like it to be a place that makes me want to be there. One thing that I always like to have up is pictures. Both pictures of people and places I've been. So I decided to take these things... do this... and this... and this is what I got. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I love having projects to do, because I think I just really like to see how things turn out. This one was super easy, but I love it!

Riding around the desert

So the past couple of days I've been on a different assignment at work. They needed someone to assist one of our surveyors in doing some flood certifications for Pinal county. So I've spent the last two days in the tiny towns of Mammoth and Dudleyville, Arizona. We had to track down houses that were a little difficult to find and buzz around on the rhino in the desert looking for USGS monuments. Kind of fun, but definitely different from my normal desk job.

It's Official

So as of yesterday it's official. I can now add two letters to the end of my name P.E. Which for those of you who are outside the engineering world means. Shelly McConnell, Professional Engineer!

This also means that that 13 weeks of waiting is now over!

Up close and personal....with the aligators.

So now that I'm back home in Phoenix and have time to share some of my adventure. So the second Sunday that I was in Florida I made my way down to Everglades National Park. I enjoyed my drive through the park so much last time that I had to stop and see it. The first place that I went was one of the visitor's centers that is just off the road. This is where I got my first glimpse of an alligator.They were a lot larger than I thought that they would be. Keep in mind though that I have never seen an alligator. I had no problem looking at the alligators from above... little did I know that I would soon be closer than I ever wanted to be to the alligators. So as I continued down the road I made another stop at one entrance to the Everglades National Park. So I decided to get out of the car and take a little walk down the road. Well I didn't get very far down the path when this is what I found. Not only that but there was one of the alligators that wanted to show off. I got close enough to take a picture, but that was close enough for me. I really didn't want to be any closer. As I continued on down the road I got to the main part of the National Park. I stopped at the main visitor's center at the National Park and learned a little bit about the park from the ranger there. I didn't know that there were different sections of the National Park. There are three main sections, and the elevation change between the the three different areas is 4 feet. The pine forest is at the highest level of the National Park. But when I heard pine forest this is not what I imagined. These don't seem like pine trees to me, but they're Everglade pine trees.The other section of the National Park is more what I imagined. Boardwalks over water and grass lands. There are sections were the water is only a few inches deep and other sections where it is really deep. The last part of Everglades National Park is down on the tip of Florida. So the area is more coastal and there are keys. I was actually down at the end of the park by the time it was time for sunset. It was another beautiful sunset in Florida.Overall I'm glad that I've been able to get out and see a little bit of Florida and the alligators.

Key West

So Sundays I don't have to worry about work at all (thank goodness). So Sunday morning I finally got to wake up when I wanted to... no to an alarm. Then I headed off to a local ward here. The Bonita Springs ward... it's not really large, but it was a ward. That's actually one thing that I really like about the church no matter where you go you can find a ward and it's the same as church. After church I decided to take a little drive. Actually it wasn't all that little of a drive. I decided to drive down to Key West. It's about a 5 hour drive, but it was definitely worth it. First I took US-41 west. It travels across the Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. It was a really cool... and had it not been for the fact that I wanted to get to Key West before the sunset I drove through. (Maybe I'll have to go back to see more.) Then I took US-997 south. It traveled through a whole bunch of nurseries. I think you could probably find any plant you wanted. Then I finally reached US-1. It was only 124 miles to Key West. The drive was actually really cool, but since I was driving I couldn't take very many pictures of the trip down. It's a really cool drive and some day I'll have to go back when I can take more pictures. When I got down to Key West I drove around the island for a little bit until I found a place to park close to the water.The water was that amazing color of blue. It was so pretty.Then I drove around the island some more until I found a parking spot next to a beach that I could walk out onto. I was even able to take a picture of myself (to prove I was there). Thank goodness for the self timer feature on the camera.Then I waited on the beach until the sun almost went down. It was very picturesque. I didn't stay until sunset though, because I had a long drive back.But while I was driving away with Key West and sun in the rear view mirror I decided that I had to stop to take a picture cause it would just be so sad to miss the beautiful colors.The rest of the drive wasn't too bad. A little long, but definitely worth it. I'm so glad that I've have the opportunity to be down in in Florida. Not only for the opportunities that I've had at work, but also for the things that I've been able to see.

Sanibel Island

Thank goodness for Saturdays. After working long hours during the week its nice to get the opportunity to get out and see some of Florida while I'm here. This Saturday I decided to head up the cost to Sanibel Island. It's up north of where I'm staying. One of the reasons that I decided to head up to Sanibel is that there is a lighthouse out at the one end. I originally thought that it would be a larger lighthouse then the one that was there. The lighthouse was actually decorated for Christmas.
Another reason that I wanted to head out to Sanibel was that it's beaches are not only know for their beautiful white sands, but for all the shells that create this sand. It's hard to tell from the picture but there are large sections of the beach that are entirely covered with shells. I spent some time digging around to find some nice ones. It' amazes me how many beautiful shells there are. I would find one that I like... then look around and find one that was even more beautiful. I think that I ended up bringing a handful home with me. It's amazing, because I know they definitely won't be missed off the beach there are so many. I stuck around the beach until sunset. There is something so relaxing to me about the beach. Hearing the waves crash, feeling the sand on my toes, and feeling the warmth of the sun. The weather right now is actually really beautiful... I almost forget that its December! It was so nice to be outside... it didn't really even cool off until when the sun was going down. Well if I'm going to be working so hard during the week, at least I can get outside and see things around me on the weekends. It kind of makes all the hard work worth it.

Florida... round one

Just in case any of you were concerned I am still around. Actually I'm now back in Phoenix trying to get some stuff done here before the holidays come.

My trip to Florida went so fast, because of the long hours that I was working. (69 hours in a week is more than I've ever put in). It seems all I did was wake up... go to work and then go back to the hotel at night. There were some days when I don't think that I even saw the sun. Thank goodness those aren't my regular working hours, cause I don't think that I could do it.

So the beach was only about 2 miles from the office. It was funny, because every day the guys there would ask if I'd gone down to the beach yet. Of course not... all my time was spent in the office when there was any sunlight. Finally on Saturday we ended up working only half a day (8 hours... but that's not much compared to the others). Since I had the afternoon off I headed down to at least see the beach with one of my co-workers.

It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon. The sun was shining and the weather was in the 80s. Which isn't much different than Phoenix at this time of year. But the humidity was pretty low... which anywhere that's humid is more humid than Phoenix.

The beach was littered with sea shells... it makes for beautiful white sand, but it's not so friendly on the feet. I honestly don't think I've seen that many shells at one time. I even grabbed a few to bring home for my bathroom... now I can say that I have some real sea shells.

I ended up walking up and back down the beach for probably 5 miles. It was just so nice to be outside and walking around. It's amazing how relaxing the sand and the waves can be.

Well it was a beautiful day at the beach and at least I can say that I've seen it now. I can't really say that I got out to see much more of Naples. Like I said busy working. Maybe next time I'll get out to see some more. If I do I will definitely post pictures.

So I'm off...

On Sunday I'm heading out to Florida (Napels) for work. I will be working on a project located in Abu Dhabi, so it should be a good experience. But it only gets more exciting. I will be in Florida for a couple of weeks. Then I'll be here in Phoenix for a week, with just enough time to complete a submittal for a project here. (Actually I'm hoping that it's enough time). Then it's off to St. George for Thanksgiving. Then I will promptly be returning to Florida for three more weeks to complete the improvement plans. When I return to Arizona I will have enough time to unpack my stuff before I head home to California for Christmas. So there goes the next two months of my life. I'll definately have to keep you posted on stuff... and I'm sure I'll try to get some pictures of the Gulf Coast since it's only a couple miles from the office there. It's going to be fun.

It will sure make the 13 weeks of waiting go faster.

10 weeks to go...

So I started studying again... no I didn't decide to go back to school, but I decided to finally start studying for the Professional Engineering Exam that I will be taking at the end of October. I will be taking the test in California in hopes to pass the test there... and then in another 2 years I will be able to transfer my license to Arizona. I'll admit I was a little overwhelmed last night when I started studying, but at least of started.

More site visits...

This morning I was out on another site visit. This time I was taking picture of four intersections located in a historic district of Downtown Phoenix. This project will involve making improvements to four intersections that are part of the Willo Historic District in Phoenix. The historic neighborhoods in Downtown Phoenix are kind of cool. For the most part they've been really well taken care of. The houses are small, but I think the owners take pride in their houses and their yards. The historic districts in Phoenix actually have some of the most expensive house ($ per sq ft). This could be a cool project just because I'd learn more about the rules and regulations required by this specific historic district.

Out at the Lake...

Oh the beautiful Lake Pleasant...

pristine blue water...

empty parking lot...

and rip rap (technical term for rocks use for drainage)

So as much as I would like to say that I was out at Lake Pleasant for a beautiful day spent on the lake, that's not the case. I was actually out there early this morning to do a walk around for a project that we have at the Scorpion Bay Marina. I never really realized, but you still have to be concerned about how the water flows even when you are around a lake. It's nice to get out of the office once in a while, but I'm glad I was out this morning when it was only 90 degrees not the 108 its suppose to be this afternoon.