gracious grace: Full Week

This week was full of events.. from the elections to the layoffs at work. The atmosphere at work the past couple of weeks have been tense. When I first started working at American Express in 2006, they had some layoffs - but because I was so new (to work in general), I didn't think too much of it. I definitely felt these layoffs. I now know my coworkers and people in other departments. They're my friends. It's such a depressing situation. The economy is in such a rut right now and it's so sad to think that so many people have lost their jobs recently. I am extremely grateful that I wasn't impacted. Truly truly grateful.

Different topic... the elections. This was my very first time voting in the US Presidential Election. I became a US Citizen this year and I was very proud to vote on November 4th. It was a very exciting experience. I used the new electronic ballots. It would have been neat to use the old one, but that's ok. It's such a neat feeling to be a part of something so huge for the country and for the world. The US is a great country and I'm glad I was a part of its history. (Wow, I'm so patriotic, heh). Cheesiness. =P

Another topic... The parents and Timmy came out to SLC this past weekend. My parents arrived Wednesday night, Tim and his parents arrived Thursday night. I drove back and forth to the airport sooo many times last week. heh The parents met for the first time and I think it was pretty fun. Tim & I had a lot of things planned for all of us to do. I think they all had a nice time =) At least, I hope so. Hah

Friday - We first drove to Snowbird but we realized that the Tram (that we wanted to ride) is not in operation during the weekdays. Ug. So we just walked around and took pictures. heh

Just hanging out at Snowbird

(so cute)

Afterward, we drove around downtown Salt Lake.. I showed everyone one of the reception venue choices. =) Tim & I have our top two. (It's so hard to decide! We love both of 'em!) I think everyone liked mine & Tim's Top 2 choices. heh It was fun to just look around both of them.

Friday was my tatay's (dad's) 60th birthday. We all went out for a nice dinner at Tuscany. It was a very pretty Italian restaurant that looked like a really cute cottage. After dinner, we drove downtown to Abravanel Hall to enjoy a symphony, Bruckner's 4th.

Our dinner table by the fireplace at Tuscany

The Birthday Boy with his chocolate cake! Sweet 60! haha

Saturday - we drove to Park City and hung out there. I showed everyone another reception venue possibility. Again, I love this one as well and it's really hard to pick which one =)

Park City is lovely. I swear, I love the air over there. We walked around downtown Park City and ate lunch at The Eating Establishment. I definitely recommend this restaurant. Yummy, nice atmosphere, and not too expensive. After Park City, we drove out to Snowbird Ski Resort. About a 50 minute drive from Park City. We really wanted to ride the Tram this weekend so that's why we went back. Good times good times. On Sunday, the parents left out in the morning and Tim left a little after. Definitely a full and busy weekend. I was pretty tired after all of it, heh. =P

Here are some more pictures of the weekend: