15 Years

Rinar reached a big milestone this year. 15 years with Fidelity. And since we are now here in Utah he was able to go to the fancy schmancy dinner they do for all the tenured employees who reach employment milestones, like 10, 15, 20, etc.  The dinner was at the Natural History Museum up at the U. It is a brand new building and it is truly spectacular.  

The lobby was full of food, drinks, desserts, and horrific live elevator music.  Besides the music, the night was quite a lot of fun. Rinar knew tons of people there and there was some good stuff that came out of the night. Namely, my conversation with one of Rinar's co-workers that will probably secure me a trip to Hawaii next year. It is all about networking, people!  Really, one of his peers goes to Hawaii for a client thing once a year and Rinar needs to go. And if Rinar needs to go, so do I!

We also talked to Kathy Murphy, the president of Fidelity personal investment. She made Forbes list of most powerful women. She is a really nice lady and it was fun to chat with her.

It is gratifying to see Rinar in his element. He is very talented and much beloved and I am a proud wife.

Way to go, honey!

Christmas Work Party

This year we celebrated Christmas for Rinar's work at Reds 395 in Carson City. It is a restaurant all decked out in southwestern decor. There are wagons hanging from the ceiling, beer bottles everywhere, and rustic wood and iron touches everywhere.  It is a fun place to eat.

Rinar had everyone bring a white elephant gift. It was great because I was able to re-gift the SpongeBob Squarepants  slippers from the party the week before.

Rinar definitely had the best worst gift, an 8.5x11 photo of himself in his ugly sweater.  He had the cheesiest pose ever and then autographed it like a movie star. Ryan was the lucky first recipient of this awesome, light-purpled 80's framed beauty.

Bonnie later stole it.  Hey, it can't hurt to kiss up to the boss a little!

Ichiban Christmas

We had our Christmas work party last night. I haven't been to one of these in many years.  Rinar's boss in Vegas was Jewish, so she would keep rescheduling it sothat everyone could come. It would usually end up being at the end of January, or just not at all. I guess there really wasn't a pressing need to have one in December, from a Jewish point of view, I suppose.

But we actually had a Christmas party in December, before Christmas. It was at Ichiban Steakhouse in downtown Reno.  It is like a Benihana's. 

Kelli, Kevin, Kim, Ryan, Mara, Aron, Rinar, Me, Ben, Natalie, Brenda, Karen, and Jim

Our cook was Manuel and he was very funny. Almost as amusing as me, really. I actually had a lot of funny jokes last night that nobody laughed at.  My best one was when Manuel put the minced garlic on the meat and told us it was good for our hearts.  I piped up and said love is also good for our hearts! No one laughed!  Come on...that was hilarious.

The food was delicious and it was great to be able to get out of the house for a date with my husband. 


Rinar took a bunch of pictures, but for some reason he didn't take one of Ryan and Kim.  Ryan is the new guy to the team.  This is a small branch, but they had a really great year.  They ended up #7 in the country.  Way to go, team!

Don't you just love my double chin!

Fidelity Luau

We hosted Fidelity's work party on Saturday. I tell you, when you host a party, it forces you to clean your house and finish up the odds and ends that need to be done.  I was glad for the motivation. And now I am glad that the party is over.

But the weather was impeccable, everyone was able to make it, and it was fun hanging out and relaxing in an informal setting.  Plus, there were a lot of lawn games happening.

Kevin and Marilyn

Gwyn and Ben playing some horseshoes. Gwyn is Jim's daughter.

Mara was checking out the yummy veggies.

For some reason, Julia really likes Mara's husband Aaron.  Rinar really likes him too. He does a great job at work.

I am wearing a vintage muumuu my grandma gave me. She got this dress in Hawaii in 1969, on the way back from Guam.  I love it. I am standing with Wendy, Brandon's wife. She is an amazing cake decorator.

This just cracked me up. Mara was kicking the pink all with her killer heels.  Toes were painted and everything.  Even with the heels on, she looked like a soccer player.

Adam stuck around for the party, before he headed back to Sacramento.  Aaron brought his Bocce game.  They loved it and played many rounds..

Kevin and Brandon. Two more stellar employees. These two were actually missionary companions back in the day, and are still best buddies. They work together and their wives hang out as well.  It is really cute.

Jim and his wife Karen. He is a new hire and has been doing well.

I didn't post a picture of everyone, but we love them all, regardless.