Happy Holidays!

12/15/2007- I am too lazy or too busy to do Christmas cards this year, so I thought to myself, let's write a holiday blog and update everyone on what's going on in my world. I think I just referred to myself in the third person, but that's another issue.

I've gotten some interesting letters on updates from people this year, but mine won't be that exciting, compared to the rest of my blog at least.

This has been a good year, haven't burned down any homes, got to do some amazing travels, had another good season of coaching my girls swim team and am half-way done with my second Master's degree. So all in all, I would say a successful year.

So big news this year:

1. I am going to be an aunt again. Sara and Dom are expecting in June of 2008.

2. My nephew is cuter than ever.

3. I am now the co-head coach of the Wayzata girls swim team.

4. Got a promotion in April of 2007 after only 6 months with Polaris. Allowed me to add on a couple more trips internationally.

What's on the horizon for 2008?

1. Plan to do some travel but within the U.S. Going to Colorado, Ohio, and California a couple times for pleasure and Las Vegas for work in July.

2. I do not plan on getting married or having kids anytime soon so don't ask. The 45 girls I deal with for 3 1/2 months out of the year fill that quota just fine for me.

3. I will graduate, hopefully, this fall with my MBA from Augsburg College.

Nothing else too pressing on the horizon. The family is doing well. Mom and dad are in Hutch yet and had a nice Alaskan cruise this year, except for dad's emergency appendectomy, but they got to see most of the stuff they were supposed too.

Steve and Gretchen live in WI and Steve has actually started traveling for work and is going to beat me to a few continents this year. I'll catch up soon.

So with 2007 winding down, the season finale of Tila Tequila looming on the horizon, what more can I say. It has been a great year. One which saw my Guitar Hero skills blossom. One which saw my old bones get back into swimming and break 5 state records for my age group and win 3 state titles. And as always, I am looking for my next adventure, everyone knows I cannot sit still! Until next year, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. I hope to catch up with you soon. Many blessings to you and your families.

Love,
Beth

Thanksgiving with the Family

11/25/2007- After a long weekend hanging with the family, I am back in my recliner relaxing for the night. It was a great trip back to Hutch. Got to spend some time with my nephew, check out the pictures below. He is a bundle of fun and I am excited to be heading west for Christmas in a few weeks. Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day. Check back for the latest and greatest.

Home

11/19/2007- So I have been home for a week or so and now am staying put for a few months. So I thought I would take this time to update all of you on what else goes on in my life besides being a world traveler.

As most of you know, I am a very proud high school swim coach. This past weekend my team, the Wayzata Trojans competed at the state swim meet. Although we didn't finish as well as I hoped we would, we proved that we had some real good kids and some great talent. After a good night on Friday in prelims, we were in a position to finish in the top 5 if we swam well on Saturday. Unfortunately, we had a mishap the first event and our relay was disqualified. So after a little pep talk, we regrouped and finished the meet well. We finished 9th as a team, but the absolute highlight for all of us was our 200 Free Relay repeating as state champs. What made this feat amazing was that 3 of the 4 swimmers from last years relay, graduated last year. We also broke the school record by .03 seconds. It was a great night. Check out my champs below.

Italia!

11/4/2007- Today I arrived in Milan, Italy. After a very exciting taxi ride to my hotel, I head off for some true Italian cuisine. I find a local pizza joint and devour my first slice of Italian pizza. Then it was off to work. I spent the next four days working at our booth at the world's largest motorcycle exhibition. Our Italian team is very good and entertaining, even if I have no idea what they are saying!! But on the last afternoon I took the chance to be a tourist. So speed-tourist Beth was on the loose. I have 4 hours before I had to be back at the hotel so I hit the town. I visited the Duomo Cathedral (above), the shopping district, a very cool castle and The Last Supper painted by DaVinci. The one picture from the roof of the cathedral below looks like and M.C. Esher piece, it was pretty cool. All in all it was a good trip and I look forward to going back.

Next Stop, Sweden

9/19/2007- So after our two days in Paris and Northern France, we are off to our subsidiary office in Ostersund, Sweden. After meeting with some clothing vendors and touring a couple facilities, we head off to a dealership up in the mountains for a ride. It was a beautiful ride, which of course included me getting stuck in the mud and maybe damaging my ATV a little, not bad though. Check out the views from the ride. And yes, we are riding in a lake!!

After a few days of wonderful Sweden, it was back to the office. I look forward to my next trip to Sweden in March.

Paris and more....

9/16/2007- This trip was quite different from the rest. I didn't have to plan and run the event, I finally got to do a trip where research and relationship building was the key. We visited some key clothing vendors and got to see some dealerships in two countries. Quite different from the US dealers, but a great learning experience.

So of course it wasn't all work. Our first afternoon we got to explore Paris before heading to northern France. We saw the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Louvre Museum.

We stayed in a small town in Northern France. It was very cute and I ate some seafood I can honestly say, I never want to see again!!

Turkey Time!

8/17/2007- So the highlight of the trips so far was turkey. We went there for our annual sales meeting. We had over 175 people and press attend so the work was a little insane. But we were in an absolutely beautiful resort and the weather was gorgeous, except for feeling like 115 degrees, but you get used to it. The picture above is a view from my room. That is the Mediterranean Sea right out of the hotel.So after 8 days of solid work and meetings and a nasty bout with some sort of bug we started calling "Turkey Tummy", I had the chance to get out and see Antalya. And the surrounding area. It was beautiful, mountains, waterfalls, ancient ruins.

So after all of the hard work was done, we flew to Istanbul for our last day in Turkey. What an amazing city!

Meeting Time Again.... Iceland!

6/16/2007- I have to say this is one of the most exciting trips I will go on this year. Our distributor has done some great work setting up an amazing trip to his country. We started our trip by sitting in the Blue Lagoon, a natural hot spring. 90% of the homes in Iceland use the natural hot water found underground to to the volcanic nature of the country. (who knew you would learn something from this blog?)

Our next stop was to the dealership and enjoying Reykjavik for the day. After some amazing meals (fresh fish and seafood) we headed to our hotel up in the highlands. It was nice hotel, in the middle of nowhere. It served our purpose and we had some great meetings.

Then the fun began. We loaded the charter bus at 8am and headed out for our day of adventure. We saw the beautiful Gulfass Waterfall, the Geyser park and finally and amazing 4 hour ATV ride through the lava fields and along a glacier. See the pictures below.

After an eventful day enjoying Iceland we went back into Reykjavik. Our last day we took some time to explore the city. Oh, and it never got dark. See time, that AM!


Check back next time as I will be heading to Turkey for our summer sales meeting.

Off to Ireland

3/22/2007- Since turning 30 is supposed to be a big deal I thought I'd give myself a nice birthday present, three days in Ireland after my trip to Norway! My first stop in Dublin was the Guinness Brewery. Although the tour was amazing, the beer was not the greatest. I had my first and probably last glass of the great Guinness, although the environment was incredible.





Day two I ventured on the train to the western side of the country. After touring a castle and having lunch at an Irish pub, I saw the amazing cliffs of Moher. These were absolutely awe inspiring and we were lucky that we got some amazing weather the day we were visiting the cliffs.






On my final day in Dublin I spent the majority of the day walking all over the city. It was a city full of amazing architecture, bridges, parks, shops, and of course, pubs. After a day of walking all over Dublin, I walked over to the Rugby pitch and took in my first professional Rugby game. It was cram packed in the stands and I had a great seat in the middle with all of the local fans. Our team had an amazing comeback so everyone left happy.


I am now off for the airport and heading back to Minnesota. I have had an amazing trip, first to Norway and then to celebrate my birthday to Ireland. It was an amazing country and I hope to come back sometime and explore the rest of the country. Tune in next time for my next trip to Iceland....