2013 Spudman Triathlon (Video!)

We spent this past weekend in Idaho for the 2013 Spudman Olympic-length triathlon. While Ryan and family swam, biked, and ran...I filmed!

I had an assignment to create a VNR (Video News Release) for my graduate New Media class. This is what resulted. I couldn't help but include my stud in the Spud at the end! Ryan did a great job on his race, improving his time overall from last year. It was a family affair, with three Beck siblings and Tami's husband Mavin  racing. They're all amazing.

Here's what I was up to on the sidelines...

You're Killing Me, Smalls!

Last Friday Ryan and I took a summer stroll down memory lane, right into the essence of childhood. Remember the first time you watched "The Sandlot"? I don't, but since it was countless views ago, I can tell you the Utah-filmed flick played a big role in my life. My dad says my sisters and I wore out our video copy (remember videos?) and he had to get us a second one. I've mentioned the "Wendy Peffercorn" pool is only blocks away from us here in Ogden, a fact I can't help but feel quite proud about! 

That being said, Ryan and I went to the Utah Bees game last Friday, where they were playing "The Sandlot" after the game for the 20th Anniversary of the film. Even better, they wrangled in the gang of guys from the movie to make a live appearance! We saw Ham, Squints, and Yeah-Yeah in the flesh, and now that those guys are in their mid-thirties, it was hilarious to see that some of them look strikingly similar to their boyhood silver screen versions.

Although the Bees got absolutely spanked by the Sacramento Rivercats (we're talking 17-8...ouch!), we had such a blast going out on the field with hundreds of families to see the show on the screen. Afterwards, we hit up Denny's for our free Grand Slams, on account of the Bees hitting a grand slam during the game. 

Can I just say we heart summer?  How long? FOR-EVVVVVVV-ER!

Loving us some general admission seats on the grass. So nice to stretch out and see the free entertainment around us.

The view of the game.

We both pretended to watch the game, but let's be honest...we were there for the movie!

Yeah! Everyone's storming the field. There wasn't a bad seat in the house.

So "Yeah-Yeah" morphed from a puny kid into a HUGE muscle man. Ham and Squints looked totally the same!

Recognize these guys?

Hard to tell...but the movie is playing on the screen. Fun!

Gotta love the spontaneous, free breakfast at midnight!

My New Work Position + Grand Opening!

Late last month I was promoted to a newly created position at MarketStar. The company now knows Crystalee Beck as Social Community Manager for our company of 3,500+ employees, and I'm leading the charge on ushering in our new social intranet. We've called it "MarketStar Connect," and it's a robust, interactive place for all employees to connect and collaborate, no matter where they work. It's really cool technology, somewhat a cross between Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter that's exclusively for our employees.

With the enterprise launch only three weeks away from my sign-on date, I knew I was jumping into very sharp learning curve - and honestly, the first week I felt very overwhelmed. Thank goodness for my Ryan, who's been a true cheerleader at home. He's been understanding when I'm working late and exhausted. He's left me sweet little notes like, "You're so capable," that have boosted my spirit more than he knows.

If I was an accountant (like my talented sister), this would be the crux of last minute tax season. It's been an intense couple of weeks, and I'm thrilled all the meetings and planning and trainings will come to fruition tomorrow! Today alone I led four different trainings, and over the past business week I've busted out:

• 342 emails answered (ay ay ay!)
• 250 t-shirts distributed for the event
• 48 donuts for the Champs in today's meeting
• 7 Manager kickoff trainings
• 5 parties planned for locations across the country
• 2 Team Champion kickoffs
• 1 Senior Executive training

With that, Grand Opening... let's hit it tomorrow!

P.S. You better believe I'm sleeping in this Saturday... :)

Ry's Birthday Weekend at Snowbird

We kicked off the last year of Ryan being in his twenties with a Snowbird staycation this weekend. Twenty-four hours of cool, clean mountain air sent us both away feeling refreshed.

Are you in Utah? Looking for a creative, free date night? - check out Snowbird's Family Flicks. We happened across "Cool Runnings" and couldn't help but watch the Jamaican bobsled team.

Saturday we made good use of our all-day activity passes, feeling like little kids trying out the Alpine Slide, Mountain Flyer, Ropes Course...I'm pretty sure Ryan set a new record for height on the Bungy Trampoline - he got lots of air as he did double backflips. We brought a picnic lunch on the Aerial Tram, eating it up at the top of the 11,000-foot summit of Hidden Peak. On top of the world! 

Happy birthday, Ryan!

Happy birthday, Ry guy! 29 looks good on you.

Check out all these fun movies - free date night!

We love how Snowbird is nestled right into the mountains - so beautiful.

Ryan got pretty excited when he was strapped in.

This was only about 60 seconds later - he launched himself high!

Crystalee on the ropes course.

Something pretty romantic about riding on a summer lift.

I just got done running, and we're both loving the mountain scene.