Road Trip Day 1 and 2

Wow we have had a long couple days. We left bright and early Sunday morning at 7:00 am. Getting out of Holland was thrilling and sad. I just kept thinking to myself... wow am I seriously doing this? Its not avoidable really but the further and further away we got from Holland, and eventually out of Michigan, I got more excited. We spent a while crossing Illinois. The snow piles kept getting smaller and smaller. We got into St. Louis and decided to stop and see the Arch. I was very excited to see it. Wow was it huge! We had planned on going to the top but unfortunately it was too long of a wait so we had to scrap the idea and continue on. However, I was able to get some pictures that I'm happy with. Getting out of St. Louis was interesting. We wanted to stop at a Starbucks but kept having a hard time finding one. We eventually found one but then we wanted to gas up after that and had a hard time finding a gas station. It took a while but we eventually got out of St. Louis and across Missouri. At the end of the day we stopped in Miami, Oklahoma to call it a night. 

Today went smooth. We made it across the prairie lands of Oklahoma. It wasn't the most breath taking scenery but it was fun seeing all the cows and horses. There were many billboards and signs talking about the Native American history of the area. As we drove it kept getting warmer and warmer. It was also extremely windy. We saw a lot of wind turbines, which I thought was great. Lets hear it for renewable energy right?! We got out of Oklahoma and into Texas. Everyone talks about how big Texas is but I think it was the state we spent the least amount of time in. We only crossed the pan handle which is the north part of Texas and its the smallest. We passed Amarillo which was just a couple hours north of Lubbock which is where my mom was born. There was a Starbucks in Amarillo that we ended up stopping at. There were many people who had accents and even saw cowboy hats. The south is great. We got out of Texas and into New Mexico where we switched into Mountain time! The sun was setting when we started to see the mountains. The road continued to get curvier and steeper as we traveled through the dark. I was bummed I couldn't see the mountains better but tomorrow we will get to see plenty of them. We are currently in Albuquerque resting for the night. Its been a great couple days. Tomorrow we are going to see the Grand Canyon. I'm very excited. Here are some pictures of course. =) 

Missouri Sky

He's been doing such a great job!

Me being a dork... =) 

Sun Setting in Oklahoma

Land in Oklahoma

In the car

My bear Bernie had his own seat

Loved seeing all this renewable energy in Texas!

More Wind Turbines 

New Mexico

Only 2 more days! 

~Vanessa M. Martinez

January 8-14 Week 2

 Week 2 In January!

January 8, 2012

Spent another day in bed. This was a view from the couch I had to lay on. The doctor said I had to stay sitting up.

January 9, 2012

Nolani Rae came over to give me my Christmas present. She paid for it all by herself. I was so proud and honored to get this beautiful new charm for my Pandora bracelet.

January 10, 2012

I finally got some ice cream! It felt great on my mouth. I was able to start eating more solid foods as well.

January 11, 2012

This is Froggy's in Holland. Its one of my favorite local burger and fry joints. AMAZING! I met Miriam here to chat and say goodbye.

January 12, 2012

Just a few days before we leave to California and we get slammed with snow. This was just the beginning it got worse but way to say farewell Michigan!

January 13, 2012

Over the past 6 months I started collecting access vinyl from the projects that I weeded at work. By the end I accumulated a lot of confetti. It was my last day of work and I think you can see what happened...

January 14, 2012

My going away Party. This is Rosie with our cousin's daughter Mia. I thought this picture was precious

Another great week! This next week will sure be eventful... California here I come!

~Vanessa M. Martinez

My Wesco Journey

My Parents live on a little street with just seven houses on it. If you walk to the end of Rose Street and look across Lakewood Boulevard you will see a convenient store called Wesco. Ever since I was a little kid growing up and riding my bike to the end of that road I knew there was something special about that place. It was the only Wesco in Holland and as far as I knew it was the only one around the area. They always had the nicest people working who were always patient when we would bring pop cans to cash in just to get an icee. You could always count on walking in to the smell of fresh popcorn. In 2005 they started tearing down the small brick building and I was of course in agony because I thought they were taking it away! I found out they were rebuilding the store little did I know what that would do for me. 

In the Fall of 2007 I was starting my Senior year of High School. I was working at Mcdonalds but wasn't too thrilled about it. The managers were awful and the hours didn't work well for me. My mom had talked to our neighbor who was the manager of the ToGo at the Wesco. She said she was looking for help and asked if I was interested. I was coming home from volleyball practice when my mom sprung it to me that I was about to go in for an interview. She dropped me off and next thing I knew the interview was over. I was hired within the week and more then thrilled to take my 2 minute walk across the street to work. I knew a lot of the people there from coming in so often so it was an easy transition. 

My senior year of high school I was the sandwich and pizza girl. I loved making people happy, it was and still is one of my favorite things. That summer I graduated from high school and decided that I would attend community college to save money and work. Wesco has a reimbursement program that will give you back money for good grades. July that summer they closed the Deli and because my 18th birthday wasn't until September I became a stocker and cleaner. I worked a few days a week, saving my money and enjoying the summer with friends before they went away to college. September came and I became a Sales Associate, serving customers with a smile was my goal everyday. 

November 2008 I met a guy with glasses and a funny beard that came in a filled his popcorn buckets before working his 3rd shift at the radio stations in Grand Rapids. I received a message from a friend telling me that a radio show in the morning was talking about me. Turns out that guy had a big crush on me. He appeared a lot older then he really was. He once asked me for coffee and I wasn't sure what to say I hardly knew him after all. I started hiding in the cooler or the back room whenever he would come in. After several months of convincing and conversation, not to mention a good shave, I finally realized what a wonderful guy he really was. We started dating late spring of 2009. I don't think we would have ever met if it weren't for those buckets or my pink polo that he thought was cute on me.

November 2009 my coworker Rob approached me with an email that wassent down from corporate about a job opening at the office. His wordswhere "you can do this this, it sounds like you. I really think youshould apply!" There was a tight time frame for me to get my resumeand internal application filled out but I managed to get everything in. I interviewed in Muskegon on a cold November morning. I left extra early to make sure I wouldn't get lost. Problem was I left too early…I ended up showing up 40 minutes early and wasn't sure what to do with myself. I parked in the parking lot with my dads loud pick up truck because my mom had my car that day. It was so embaressing. I met Bryan and Cody and wasn't sure what to think, especially after using the word cute to describe the place. I gave it my all, left it at that but latter that week I got a call from Bryan Link asking me to come in again for another interview. I was a bit shocked but of course excited. I came in for a trial run. I cut, laminated and even helped wrap a car. It was exciting and so much fun. A week went by and Bryan called and asked if I wanted the job. I gladly excepted.

I would spent the next 2 years learning about the printing and marketing world at Wesco known as Studio W. I've wrapped cars, ice chests, climbed on the tallest ladders to install graphics, taken pictures of some amazing people, and worked with an awesome team. Our room is across the hall from the owner of the company, Jerry Westgate.Working for a company who's president know you by name is one of the many reasons I loved my job. I have so many stories and wouldn't even know where to begin with explaining all the skills I've learned over the past 4 years.

Bryan and Cody thanks for taking a chance on me. It's been wonderfulworking with you. I won't forget the things I've learned and will put them to use.

.Jerry, Nancy, Lauren, Kim, Allison, Jessica, Kathie, Jeanie, Linda,Nicole, Mike, Stacy, Sam, Amy, Jena, Bob, Jake, Barb, Jim, Russ, the list really goes on, but I wish you all the best and hope you keepdoing great things with this wonderful company.

Heather, Winona, Angela, Rob, Phaula, Tanya, Jerret, Kristi, Candy, Joel, Kacie, Leah, Jess, Wendy and everyone else I worked with at store 4, thank you for helping me and keep up the great work wherever you may be.

With that I hope you smile and make every day a WINNING day!

All my love

~Vanessa M. Martinez

The sign at the store in Holland when I got my promotion

Me in store 4 during my goodbye party

Angela Goulet and I

The first truck I ever wrapped

Zippy and the summer of fun car that I wrapped

I came home after a day of being at school for a day and they had made a cardboard cut out of my head. I guess I was loved that much!

Studio W

2010 Summer of fun car. I was very excited after we finished the wrap on it

Modeling for the Wesco Market Place

Enjoying an icee

I think I could be Wesco's number one fan!

366 week 1

HELLO 2012!

I embrace you with open arms and am looking forward to all the new adventures you have for me. 

My new years resolution was to complete a 365 project. I recently found out its a leap year so make that 366! Regardless I feel that with moving out west to California this will help keep people updated and see what goes on in my everyday life. I will still have normal posts with more pictures but weekly I'll be putting out my everyday photo. So that being said this first week of January was a hectic one...

January 1, 2012

This is my beautiful Grandma, Ramona Martinez. This is the first Christmas that she has had without my grandma and her one wish was that she could see her family. We had a potluck just for her.

January 2, 2012

The snow finally came! Not only did we have a white christmas but we had a white New Years and then the second came and we received a gift. Hello Snow!

January 3, 2012

I met my oldest friend Paige Fox for coffee at JP's in Holland. Lovely place but more importantly I got to spend time with a friend before leaving.

January 4, 2012

Happy 9th Birthday Lemonjellos! They had an open mic night for their birthday party and my brother participated. He loves the attention.

January 5, 2012

I was able to see another close friend of mine, Kristi Lynn Mcdonald. We went to the Elks Lounge in Holland. Id never seen one of these mounted animals before. It was HUGE!

January 6, 2012

I had my wisdom teeth removed. I was very nervous and wasn't sure what to expect. It went well but then I had to take all these pills... YIKES!

January 7, 2012

This picture describes my day perfectly. I was stuck in bed all day and didn't move around much. It was awful but healing is important

First week was overall exciting. Hoping there are more exciting things to come. 

~Vanessa M. Martinez

Santa Visits Wesco

Santa decided to take a visit to the Wesco in White Cloud Michigan. I traveled up north to take pictures for it. Mr. and Mrs. Clause have been volunteering for the past seven years in the White Cloud/Fremont area. They had many visitors who were both happy and nervous to share their Christmas wishes. Here are some shots from the day. 

She was scared but she still didn't cry!

Buy a Wesco Gift Card and put it under your tree

Such a cutie

Wesco Associates with Santa and Mrs. Clause

This little one had such a cute personality.

Such a good little boy.

She loved Santa =)

He didn't know what he wanted for Christmas.

Don't forget your Wesco gift cards for your friends and family

Merry Christmas

~Vanessa M. Martinez