As the sun waves its last goodbye
And disappears over the hills
The brilliant colors fade to pastels
Dusk
The temperature cools
Fireflies come out
And there’s a certain beauty
A little bit of magic in the air
A hectic day gives way to a quiet evening
It’s the tranquility I seek
I feel so serene, so calm
As peace washes over my heart
In that moment, it’s all I need
Dusk.
This weekend, I participated in the 15th Adobe Analytics Challenge. My team, DataInsights, was one of six finalists chosen to be flown out to Lehi, Utah (Adobe’s headquarters) and it was quite a ride! USC Marshall had two teams going and we all decided to extend our stay to enjoy Utah after the competition.
Check it out, we’re on the homepage!
This was my first case competition, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I must say that it would be hard to top. I mean, $50,000 worth of cash prizes, free trips to Utah, a fancy meal, all that swag, and a chance to check out Adobe’s headquarters? It was fabulous and I’m glad I was part of it. I hope to come back next year to support more Marshall teams that make it to the finals!!
I passed out during the plane ride and woke up to find snow covering the town.
Funny enough, as we got close to the airport, the snow was gone.
On our way to the hotel, we marveled at the mountains.
They got us suites, which was perfect for meeting in.
In the afternoon, we rested and cleaned up before dinner.
A shuttle bus drove us up to the Foundry Grill at Sundance.
When we arrived, Adobe staff and some appetizers awaited.
As we settled in, we chowed down on the appetizers before ordering.
The menu for the night!
It seems most people got the squash soup.
I opted for the salad.
Filet mignon was probably very popular too.
I wanted carrots, so I got the chicken.
One of the desserts was bread pudding.
The other option was chocolate cake with cherry flavors.
The decor in the place was very rustic.
The next day, we got to Adobe around 8 am.
The moon was still up!
In the entrance, they had signs for the event.
Their open cafeteria area is so spacious and bright.
As we got breakfast, they set up the stage, complete with mics and down screens.
What a wonderful surprise to find at our seats!! I love the swag.
The audience got to win all sorts of cool things!
This is where we paced doing last-minute practicing for our lines.
Looking out the hallway, there was still an awesome view.
We were the second to last team to go, so most of these folks went before us.
After all the presentations, the judges had time to deliberate and then we got ready for the announcement.
All teams got on stage for the prize announcements and this was our view. My team came in 4th.
After the event, we got to have lunch at the cafe and check out this amazing view.
Following lunch was a tour of random things like the indoor fire pit!
They’ve got a music room and signed guitars from artists who have played there.
As you go up the stairs, you can grab a ball that you can drop down a tube at the top.
In the game room, you’ll find these fun spin top chairs! You can fall backwards to roll completely around.
Ah, the nunchuck chair… you should ask about that story if you visit.
I didn’t want to sit on it but I wanted to pretend!
The nunchucks had some cool dragon designs on them.
They commissioned a famous graffiti artist to do this. There’s a timelapse of it somewhere…
Before heading out, a final pose with Adobe!
That night, we drove down to Moab and immediately had dinner. This was funny way of holding a pot.
One of the guys made us steak, asparagus, shrimp, and zucchini!
I love that the men took over the kitchen as the women hung out at the dining table. Thanks guys!
I got a sweet bedroom all to myself.
The master bathroom had this insane shower with tons of showerheads, color-changing lighting, and a steam room function. Not to mention a sauna next to it and a hot tub outside. We used them all!!
The next morning, we saw our surroundings for the first time.
First order of business was lunch at a local cafe. Look what we found!
The outdoor seating area included this pond.
As we were leaving, the birds came to have some fun with the food.
Then it was off to Arches National Park!
Our first stop provided wonderful views.
Check out the snowy mountains in the background!
Sometimes I feels like we’re in Arizona and other times the snow on the mountains feels like Colorado.
When we find Delicate Arch, I put on my fancy dress.
Who did it best? Me?
Or him? 😉
I had to do a jumping shot too. Always.
This human arch was great for running under.
Try planking it!
Every pit stop had something to look at.
Look at the glow from the canyon on its back as it eagerly awaited food.
What an amazing place!
The sun was setting as we reached our final destination – Devils Garden.
It was quite chilly without the sunlight.
With a change of wardrobe, I decided to imitate the arch for this one!
I was instructed to twirl, so I did as best I could with no shoes on.
It was a lot of fun as I got dizzy.
My photographers were getting into their own and starting to instruct me on what to do for this final one.
Wow, check out the mountains behind the red rocks.
Just before exiting, we saw this adorable bunny.
It even posed for us for a bit before hopping off.
That night, the ladies enjoyed the hot tub and came in to find dinner ready.
I just loved this random detail in the hall bath.
Our last day, I woke up ill and pretty much slept most of the day away. I caught a picture of Adobe as we passed by on the way to the airport.
And finally, here’s a look at what came in the bag! I looove the custom branded S’Well bottle and wall charger.
The thing I’m going to miss most about NoVA is all the different creatures you can find in nature. On just a weekend stroll, we were able to find many animals!
A momma duck with at least 6-7 babies.
A green frog camouflaging against the leaves.
A small frog and many polliwogs!
A giant moth that I think is a polyphemus moth.
I love finding cool new life all around me!!
To sniff and eat them, that is. Not just catnip either, though I do have that for them. Missy’s more interested in grass most of the time.
My new plants have been growing in a planter I got this summer. I have catnip, various wildflowers, poppies, and a smattering of other flowering type plants. I hope they make it through the colder weather coming up! I’ll have to find a place inside the home to place them later in fall. I recently planted tomato seeds and Panda saved pepper seeds from the last pepper we ate. I’d love to have my own little garden someday, though for now I don’t have a yard so my options are certainly limited.
This weekend, I received the compost tumbler that I ordered online! I wanted something compact that I could keep on my porch and put my food scraps in. The tumbling kind is perfect because you can rotate the mix around and distribute it more evenly for better “cooking” in there.
It was pretty easy to figure out once I tried out the components. There were a ton of screws to put in! There are some ventilation holes that can’t be sealed so I can’t pour straight liquid. I hope it decomposes well and doesn’t leak!
Been away for awhile on a cruise to Alaska! Check out some of the sights so far. There’s all sorts of awesomeness, with more pics to come. 🙂
Cruise ship view of Seattle.
Glittering black waters.
Ice chunks floating in the fjord!! And that’s a glacier back there.
A little bit of land exploration too. Tried to get the spider in the foreground.
When Panda and I went to Hong Kong, we spent a day hiking the mountains, which was so much fun. Here are some videos from that day!
dragonback hike time lapse from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
chillin' atop dragonback from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
dragonback view from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
paragliding over ocean from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
bird gliding over people on mountain from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
paraglider by mountain from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Ok, I’m a total sucker for lightning. It’s such a wonderful phenomenon and I could stare at a light show for hours (if only the need for sleep didn’t get in the way). Tonight as I was drafting my Love With Food box review, Panda came running in from the kitchen to tell me there was lightning outside. That made me happy, to think a thunderstorm might be rolling its way through.
But when I got outside to look, it was so much better than I could have hoped for. Flash after flash of brilliant light lit up the clouds in the sky. A gentle roll of thunder was barely perceptible in the distance. And boom, boom, boom, the lightning kept coming! It was so quiet and peaceful out – the crickets singing in the night didn’t seem to care about the show overhead. Even Smokey meowed at me to let her out and join me on the porch. Together we enjoyed the warmth of the night, the humidity in the air, and the flashes that lit up our faces.
This is so much better than a fireworks show and I even saw lightning that went up for the first time. Freakin’ amazing. So I dropped everything, got some videos and a picture, and of course put off that review for another day. This is far more exciting to me. Check it out:
lightning storm flashes from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
It was one of Panda’s coworker’s send-offs today, so we got a chance to go out to the farm of another coworker. Panda refers to it as the donkey farm, probably because the donkey is their unofficial mascot. Everyone had heard about momma donkey (Morning Glory) having baby donkey (Melvin), so Melvin became their mascot of sorts. They hadn’t actually met him yet, and I ended up being the first one to interact with him on the farm! I never knew that these mini donkeys made good companions for horses; that was the whole reason they are kept on the farm, in fact.
Hey there Ms. Morning Glory.
Romeo really loved attention.
Apparently Romeo saw all people as delicious.
Delilah and Melvin shared a nice meal in each other’s company.
Melvin seemed to enjoy nuzzling my foot. #majorbonding
Selfie with Melvin the miniature donkey (and mascot)!
Put some ice in it, throw the drinks in, and have a party. #farmlife
Whenever spring rolls around, I always look out for the emergence of birds. Last year they were everywhere! I’m finally starting to hear them again as the weather warms up. It’s supposed to get over 80 tomorrow!
birds swarming tree from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
symphony of birds from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
birds galore from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
