Parent's Weekend

Because Scott works at Southwest, we get some special perks. Not only do Scott and I (plus any future children) get free flights, his parents also get to fly for free. So this weekend, Mom and Dad Sorensen tried out flying standby for the first time. They made all their flights and said it wasn't that bad - which means they probably won't be home much anymore!

On Friday, the first item of the weekend agenda was to visit Southwest Headquarters to see where Scott works and tour the offices. We ate lunch in The Landing, visited where Scott's training rooms, saw where his new desk will be, visited the Marketing Department where Scott interned, and viewed the museum-like halls covered with Southwest memorabilia of the company's life.

There were several projects I had conveniently not had time to complete since moving into the apartment. So after a SWA-HQ visit, we hit Lowes and bought the supplies. Hello Laundry Shelving! It was quite the project because of the location of the shelves. The presence of our washer and dryer occasionally made it difficult to use the drill.

On Saturday we hit the pavement and walked around downtown Dallas, visiting the JFK Memorial. It was a beautiful sunny day which Mom and Dad appreciated because they could thaw out from the frozen Utah tundra. It was so interesting seeing where President Kennedy was shot and hearing all the controversy about where the shooter was, if there were multiple shooters, etc.

Today after church, we found the Katy Trail, a 3.5 mile paved walk, bike, run, and roller blading path that goes through Dallas. It was a fun way to spend a sunny 70 degree day and explore Dallas's Uptown area .

It was a fun weekend! We hate it to end but they are heading back to the chilly Salt Lake City tomorrow morning. Hopefully their trip home will be as easy as their journey here. But I'm sure they will be back soon when they can just walk on a plane and leave whenever they want.

Birthday Weekend

This past weekend, Scott and I flew to Chicago. Scott was helping to plan and organize the Southwest portion of the Magnificent Mile Light Festival - and since it was my birthday on Friday, I tagged along as a volunteer (and also because who wants to be alone on their birthday).

On the plane ride over, one of the flight attendants spoke into the intercom and announced that they had the privilege to fly with someone special this flight.

Everyone looked around and I was focused on my knitting - not really paying attention - and then they said my name. I got up out of my seat, face beet red, and made my way up to the front of the cabin which seemed miles away as everyone clapped and cheered like I had won a gold medal in the Olympics.

Scott had secretly told the flight attendants about my birthday when he told me he was going to the bathroom. Oh Scott. So sneaky.

When at the front, the flight attendants crowned me with peanuts, gave me a "birthday cake" made from a roll of toilet paper and led the entire cabin in singing Happy Birthday. The entire time my face was the color of a tomato, but it was fun.

Several people said Happy Birthday to me while walking back to my seat, and even in the airport because they recognized the crazy girl with the peanuts on her head.

Oh Southwest Airlines! I've never felt so special, LUVed, and so embarrassed on a flight before.  A great memory and what a great way to kick off the birthday weekend!

When we got to the hotel, there was a FedEx envelope waiting for us (my birthday present) and I think Scott was surprised that I made it up to our hotel room before I ripped it open. Inside were two tickets to see Les Misérables that night!

I had never seen Les Mis before, so I was pretty excited. And it was fantastic! I had read the book not too long ago so I new the basic frame of the story, but other than that, I was a Les Mis newbie. It was an amazing birthday present and a great surprise!

The next day, the weekend got better with the opportunity to be in the Magnificent Mile Light Festival Holiday Parade! Southwest Airlines was parade sponsor that year and the team of parade volunteers from SWA got to walk in the parade and bring Rudolf down the Mag Mile!

And of course, after the parade we topped the night and the weekend off by getting some Chicago Deep Dish Stuffed pizza - because its what you do. And it was as delicious as ever. Scott managed to eat two slices, which is amazing because I tapped out after one. It was just so filling, so good and a great end to a fantastic birthday weekend!

Scott's Two Weeks at Southwest Airlines

This is Soxx himself this post.. Laura has been working very hard on the last ones and thought I should try a run at this blogging.

As some of you have heard I started an internship with Southwest Airlines this September and it has been a blast! It was a long road of sleepless nights, phone calls, emails, interviews, and prayers before we found out we were coming here.

Southwest Airlines (www.southwest.com) has called Dallas, Texas home for over 40 years. It was started in 1967 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. Like all great companies the idea for Southwest was written on a cocktail napkin when Herb told Rollin of his idea of an airline that should fly between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

It was a long fight between other states and other airlines but Southwest always found a way to prevail and win over more and more customers. One of my favorite stories that I never knew before was the Malice in Dallas. It a nutshell the dispute was between Southwest and an airline called Stevens Aviation.  Steven's claimed that Southwest had copied one of their ad slogans and instead of filing a law suit and waging millions in legal fees they decided to settle it like real men... with an arm wrestle! The two CEO's agreed and the winner would be allowed to continue to use the rights of the slogan. For the final results and what happened with the whole disagreement check out the entire story on YouTube.

That's the kind of company I now work for... it's great!! Herb served as Southwest Airlines CEO for many years before Gary Kelly was named the new CEO. Southwest has an amazing history and a bright future. It has a fun-LUVing spirit and shares that with it's customers and expects it's employees to do the same. I've only been here two weeks but I LUV it!

They hired me on as a Customer Engagement Intern in the Marketing department. The jist of my job is engaging with customers and making sure they see our brand and have a positive experience. Meaning I get to go to concerts, sporting events, food events, etc. and interact with our everyday customer. It is a dream job! This past week Southwest opened it's 3rd porch here is Dallas (http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blog/southwest-porch-strauss-square) and Citizen Cope was the opening show. Laura came with me and we handed out key chains in the shape of a guitar that also serves as a bottle opener. After we handed out all 1,500 key chains with the other interns we got to stay watch the show for free!! The night before was the private opening with Gary Kelly and the local news. Both nights were great and made me feel very lucky to have the job I do.

Next week we are off to Chicago to work the Ryder Cup and work on Navy Pier with Sports Illustrated. I cannot wait!! Neither of us have been there and we are very excited to see what the windy city is all about. 

My desk when I first arrived. They decorated it with Southwest and BYU-Idaho swag (see above)

We won two tickets the Ranger game at an intern party 

Pool table for free play at the Southwest Porch at Strauss Square

The view from the porch

Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest, giving the opening day speech

Fellow interns handing out blankets

Citizen Cope warming up for the show

The team getting ready to hand out key chains and welcome customers

Citizen Cope 

Every Monday after work they have a Deck Party with free food and drinks

Some of the props from the new Southwest Rapid Rewards commercial that is airing right now, we helped unload them at the warehouse. If you haven't seen the commercial, here is one of the spots...

Stay tuned for more updates over the next couple months. We LUV Dallas and I am LUVing Southwest Airlines even more!!! Below are some of the photos from my first two weeks here...