Monday, May 11, 2009

Circle of Excellence Day 1

2008 was a great year for us at Astra Zeneca. Everything said and done, I won the coveted award "Circle of Excellence" for ranking #1 in the region (western USA) and #2 in the nation. Winning this award comes with many benefits, winning a week long vacation being on of them. This year, the CoE award trip was in Scottsdale, AZ. Although we were excited to take a vacation, there was a lot of work to be done to prepare for the trip. Thanks to Naquel and her insightful planning, as well as her parents and my sister for watching our kids while we were gone.

We had an action packed week filled with so many activities and it would take a long post to describe it all. So we decided to post a little bit about the trip over the next few days. All in all we had a great time, and we got a little more tan. The resort we stayed at is called the Phoenician. It rests right at the base of Camelback mountain in Scottsdale. When we first got there, we were very impressed at how beautiful the property was. The resort had a special welcome party waiting for all of the CoE winners which was very nice. They gave us some really nice bags, towels, shirts, lots of money (cashiers checks) for off resort dinning, as well as some really nice Maui Jim sunglasses for each of us. Every night for the rest of the vacation they left gifts in our room- that was my favorite part of the trip (more to come on this, later).

We finally checked into our room and I was ready to crash, but Astra Zeneca had a welcome party that night which was pretty cool. Lots of food and pop to keep us content. The theme was based around Arizona Wild Hogs bikers... the bikes were cool... the bikers...not so cool. Here are a few pictures from the first day there.

Our hotel room was pretty cool.

And the bathroom was upscale as well

We had a great view off of our balcony

Naquel was pretty excited to finally get settled in

The pool area was amazing and we had a lot of fun hanging out there

The Phoenician Resort grounds were beautiful, and the resort did not disappoint.


More photos to come in another post.


4 comments:

Fausett Family said...

Looks like so much fun. It is beautiful there. Congrats on the award.

Keith and Allie said...

What a gorgeous place to take a vacation! I am soooo jealous! Keith needs a new job! :) Congratulations on doing so well...you guys deserve it!

Stauverson said...

Great shots! My spouse was a COE winner and we attended a few years ago in Key Biscayne/Miami. The evening events were a highlight for us! The theming and decor was amazing! Any photos of those?

Dion said...

Please tell me you played golf at that course...