Jared is Superman

Yesterday this man pulled 17 hours of work between 2 stores. It was our annual Free Day in just 2 of our stores (the next 3 are soon to follow on March 28th). There are very few people who know what actually goes into pulling off a free day in one store, let alone 2! In fact, in our organization, there are four people that have an idea, and only 2 who REALLY know. Here is an idea (mind you, this is all in addition to a regular work week among all 6 stores):
Months ahead there is the planning before it goes to the store level.
Weeks ahead it goes to the store level- outlining to managers how to prepare for the day and giving a heads up as to when they will receive their materials and need to start in-store marketing. Those materials then have to be prepared to take to the store level. Even though we have done this time and time again, there is still about 20 hours of work that go into just the material prep and distribution (store signs, count downs, fliers, and more)
10 days before starts the in-store marketing to customers. We also begin marketing out of store because the idea is to get new customers out of the deal :) The hours spent on out of store marketing are about 10-15 hours within the 10 day time period.
The week of the event starts preparation of in-store supplies for the day of (decorations, food for employees, signage, ordering of product, employee and manager training, organization of sign wavers, store cleaning, and more).
The day of the event starts as early as your body will let you get up...or as soon as you can force it out of bed. For Jared, that was 5:45 am.
Before Open, Banners have to be hung, POS system has to be updated to match promotions, streets signs have to be placed, in-store decorating, inventory counts, and regular opening procedures all have to be done, sign wavers have to arrive and be instructed (sometimes this includes providing the ride), and extra cleaning that didn't happen the week before must get done now. It is best to start the employees in the neighborhood of 8 am to be able to accomplish it all.
Once 11 am rolls around, it looks like this:
Serving a line out the door for the rest of the day (a few 2-3 minute breaks from customers in there)
Filling machines constantly- the minute you get done with all 12, the routine starts over again.
Filling toppings- these don't run out as quickly and we have learned to have extra pans of the ones that do.
Cleaning the store front- tables, chairs, and floor- around the crowd of people. This gets tricky with the floor, seeing how it is EXTREMELY dirty, yet there are people standing on it, so a mop is out of the question. On your hands and knees with a rag (saying "Excuse me sir." Excuse me ma'am", "Move it kid", you get the idea) is the only way.
Dealing with outrageous customers- complaining just about any complaint you can think of over FREE yogurt.
Enjoying grateful customers that tell you how wonderful it is for us to do this- they show interest and concern for the work that is being put into the efforts of the day.
Remembering to inform customers about a list of things for which there is no time to tell them- gift card promotion, Bounce Back week, how the promotion works, explaining the flavors, find out if they are a new customer, etc. If it is a new customer, which we always hope it is, this list is a lot longer.
Getting employees to take a break.
Feeding employees
Tipping out employees at shift changes.
Handling the changing out of sign wavers and directing the next shift where to be. (Again, this sometimes includes giving them rides to/from the store).

Needless to say, at 10:00 pm we are more than ready to close the doors! And then the routine looks something like this, and takes all of 2 hours:
Telling customers for the next 30 minutes that we really are closed as they bang on the doors and windows.
Normal closing procedures.
Inventory count (cups and yogurt).
Taking down of all the signs.
Bringing in the street signs.
Taking down the banners.
Cleaning up the food brought for the employees.
Getting total sales, hourly reports on employee labor and register count-out to calculate the success and losses of the day (greater losses translate as greater success).

Now those 17 hours don't look so easy to handle. Add to that the addition of a Girl Scout Cookie promotion in ALL of the stores, which went really well. Now that alone would make a Superman, but there is another piece to the story.
On Thursday evening Jared said he was feeling a raw feeling in his throat. Corban had been experiencing a runny nose since the beginning of the week. Since Jared has been teaching him to kiss and he doesn't quite understand the concept of pursed lips, so you get the wide mouth kiss, that would explain Jared picking up the sickness. Friday he was completely wiped out, but still worked from morning 'til night. Saturday wasn't any better. About 2/3 of the way through the day I was telling him that I really felt bad for him and that it must be really hard. He stopped me and said, "Don't say that. Just call me Superman and it will help me get through it." And that he did!

What Brings the Smiles

I haven't been in much of a writing mood lately. In fact, last night I couldn't sleep and I thought about writing...but no. I have plenty of inspiring things to write about, but I just don't feel it. I think I have also discovered the problem- I am overly stressed. What tipped me off on this was the appearance of a tiny, cumbersome bump on my lip...which grew and grew into a medium size cold sore over night. These usually appear after being sick- which I haven't been- or having experienced stress over a long period of time. What could stress out someone who has a perfect life? The thought of "bliss" ending.
That isn't completely true. The most stressful part of my life right now would get into way too much detail that probably wouldn't be much fun to read. So instead we will focus on what is keeping me smiling.
Jared is the greatest husband ever. I don't know that I have anything unusual to say about him to convince any one person that he is great. What makes him the greatest to me is that he is PERFECT for me. There are so many moments in my life that I think, "I couldn't have married a more perfect man for ME." Times like when I have just overreacted to something and he just smiles and makes things right, he doesn't mind me telling him that he is in a situation that would really stress me out so I am glad it is him instead of me (he just knows how to handle those situations better), he continuously tells me how attractive I am without make up, he is more than happy to make me happy in sending me to see my mom for 4 long days without him (he even paid for it with his "tip" money from work, until my mom insisted that she pay for the trip), and those are just the most recent happenings. One of the best things that has happened in the last couple of months of changes in our life and business is that we have become so much closer- or at least I feel a lot closer to him. I believe challenges could one or the other- bring you close or create distance. I am grateful for the closeness!
The other day, a regular attendee of my Body Works class at LA Fitness brought me a stack of books for my baby. So sweet of her! When I got home, I was looking through the stack and one of the books was titled "Porn for New Moms". I had to reread that title a couple of times, and then it took me even longer to decide whether or not I should even crack it open. I wonder if she thought twice about giving this book to me, or if it is just common place in the world. Well, I did crack it open and read the introduction, which then lead me to read a few more pages. I couldn't help but hand it to Jared when he got home. He was just as shocked as I was upon first glance. Here are some lines/quotes from the book: "Let me get rid of this junk, so we'll have room in here for the jogging stroller." "I figure if I drop the sports channels, we'll max out the college fund in no time." "I changed the sheets so we can all snuggle up together in a nice, clean bed." "No, you relax for a while. I've figured out how to fold everything one-handed." EAch quote is accompanied by a clothed, well groomed, maybe sexy to some, man with a baby. The idea is that women are mostly turned on by dads with babies and dads performing simple household chores. So I share this with you only because of this: Today Jared spent 5 1/2 hours of hard labor with many other men in our ward ripping off an old roof. He came home beat up, tired and hungry. He only a had a few minutes to shower and throw something down his throat before we were off to Sea World to meet up with the Barrington's. After our time there was through and we were on our way home for him to again, quickly throw something down his throat before he was off to work at the stores, he told me he was glad we went to Sea World. I really had to question where he was going with this one because I could only imagine how his mind had to be thinking it would have been nice to have had some rest in this long Saturday. He proceeded with, "Because I was able to watch Corban be a boy." He explained that is was fun to just enjoy time with Corban, chasing him around, watching him enjoy the sea animals, and whatever else happened in those 3 hours. This was instead of having stayed at home where he would have had something else nagging at him that would have kept him from just enjoying his boy- GS work, church calling, work around the house, or even sleep. That was probably the sexiest thing he could have said at that moment. And here it is 11 pm and he still isn't home from work. He is going to be a tuckered out little soul.
Corban is the other producer of smiles in me. This little man I could watch for hours. The other night while in Manti he decided he wasn't going to sleep in the middle of the night. Unfortunately I had decided to go to bed late, so when he woke me up minutes after drifting off, I wasn't too excited. There was no coaxing him back to sleep. So after laying there trying to keep him quiet to no avail, I decided to let him get up and play. I allowed him to play upstairs for a little, until he was banging a wooden spoon against a chair because he liked the noise (he commonly repeats things over and over that make loud noises). Then we tried downstairs. Mind you, I was VERY tired and just wanted him to play while I layed down. I was lying on the couch just watching him sift through the toys, touching buttons here and there, picking up toys and carrying them across the room, pulling rolling toys that follow behind his foot steps, finding a trackor and making car sounds (a gurgle in his throat) as he rolls it over other toys, and on the list goes. I realized, even though I was so tired, I couldn't help but just enjoy watching my little boy learn and play with all these new things before him. Lucky for both of us, he finally realized he was tired. He came over to me and layed his head down on his blanket that was covering me. I took that as a clear sign that we could try going to bed again.
A quick list of other things I adore about Corban's personality as of recent:
He walks and swings his arms forward as if he is trying to clap- many times he does. This is something he does quite often, whether it be when just walking around the house, or out in public.
He gives "five" just after learning it from Sinjin this week.
He gives open mouth kisses.
He loves to play with Nika- today he would hide in the curtains and she would come up under the curtain to see him and he run out laughing and screaming, just to come back and do it again.
He enjoys a great game of hide and seek as long as he is the one hiding- yesterday Jared was taking care of the nighttime routine and Corban ran and hid under the dinning table. Jared would walk around asking where Corban was and then would peak down under the table and say, "There he is!" and Corban would laugh and laugh.
He LOVES to throw things. The louder the hit, the better he likes it. While in GS tonight he found an empty bucket that he picked up and threw over and over again- all because of the sound.
He is all smiles when you get him out of bed in the morning and after naps. If he was crying, it instantly turns to a smile when you open the door and he sees you.
He lights up when he realizes there are buttons to push on whatever is before him.
He whines when he doesn't get what he wants- this isn't exactly an admirable quality, but it really can be funny at times.
He doesn't stay busy with any one thing for very long- he could have touched and played with 10 toys in just one minute. He is so busy going from place to place.
He loves being naked. The second you take off his diaper for a bath, he runs away enjoying the freedom. I can't help but love the little naked bum!

That's all I can share for now because my hubby just came home...and soon we will be off to dreamland. But just so you know, my stress has been reduced 10 fold just by writing this post.

Keeping Memories

Yesterday I was going through this list with Jared of things Corban did to melt my heart. As I was retelling the story I realized I couldn't tell it like it happened and there was no way Jared could completely get the picture. Then I realized- soon I won't have that vivid of a memory of these moments either. He told me to journal/blog about it, which I am doing, but even then, it isn't the moment. And I don't have nearly the writing skills it takes to paint the picture. So we settle for this:
After Jared left for work, I could hear Corban up in his bed talking. Every once in a while it would sound like he was moaning/crying, so I decided it was time to go in and get him. As I slowly crept into his room, he looked up with his smiling eyes, still sitting in his bed, he lifted up his monkey with whom he was talking. It was like he was showing me the monkey because there was something cool about it. Apparently, because this monkey was keeping him quiet for quite some time.
After his nap was over, it was a similar thing- I could hear him start to whine a little so I slowly opened the door and peeked in (more in play than as if I were checking on him- I had full intention of going in to get him). He was lying down, but could see me through the bars of the crib. His face suddenly lit up and he started talking (still only jibber jabber).

These aren't anything new, it is actually a part of my everyday life. I just really do feel so blessed to be able to experience it. I guess I have started to pay more attention to these things as I am preparing to go back to work. It aches me to think about not having these moments with him. I don't know how other mothers do it.
A favorite game of Corban's is to go up stairs and close the gate (which is at the top of the stairs). When I come up to get him, I growl his name, and he squeals as he runs to either side-- my bedroom or down the hall. As long as I stay behind the gate, he will keep coming back to have me "scare" him again. It is hilarious to watch him squeal and "run" away.
He definitely has a will he likes to exert often. He knows what he wants and right now he thinks whining and crying will get it for him. That is, unless he can get it himself, then that is exactly what he will do. I have had to block off a planter that has some favorite rocks in it because my floor was starting to look like the garden. When he hears the bathtub turn on, he b-lines it to the bathroom and starts to climb in. We are lucky he can't just yet get his leg on top of the tub. He did figure out the shower door, so Jared just started taking all his showers with a little companion. There is no force feeding this boy. And somehow the sign for "all done" has changed to just standing up in the highchair- yes, this is why they have straps. My favorite is when he is busy doing something and he suddenly gets up and heads, with great determination, somewhere else. He owns this house!
Oh, I just remembered one of the funniest moments. One evening I was busy downstairs and I knew Corban had gone upstairs, but I decided to finish what I was doing. When I finally realized it was probably time to see what he was doing, I went upstairs to a dark bedroom (the sun had just gone down so the lights were not on upstairs), with a TV playing and this is what I saw:

Hilarious! He moved from that position very shortly after I walked in, but can you guess what great movie is playing?

And the crowning moment for these parents: Corban sleeps through the night! This can all be attributed to "The Baby Whisperer" and the father, and probably the fact that our child is very amenable. I just don't have the stamina it takes, but Jared did it in three short, but they felt VERY LONG, nights. There have been a few nights after the initial training that we have had to repeat the process, but not nearly as long as those three nights. And to my amazement, this week I have enjoyed giving him loves before putting him in his bed with NO TEARS! He now quietly goes down for bed, and today I had the same pleasure for nap time. Incredible!

Sure hope the next one's a charm :)

Just guess what is going on here:

An introduction to our next biggest challenge- potty training :) This is my indication of when he is "busy". I truly is more funny when it is your own child. I can laugh about his potty habits to someone without children and they give that friendly smile. Parents laugh.

Meeting Expectations

So this isn't necessarily what you would think I would write about, since I have a million other topics that need to be posted, like December happenings, Christmas in Flagstaff, Corban's first birthday, and my crazy new life in 2009. I am just motivated to write tonight because I found a few seconds (Jared is in the shower) and this is what happened today:

Yesterday I got a phone call from Home Depot Expo's Showroom Supervisor, Brian. He called, just as I had been expecting, to tell me that I could come pick up the sink that we were going to buy from the showroom. This sink is the Kohler Yingyang sink. The particular one we were going to buy is a color and finish Kohler has discontinued, so Brian had arranged for us to buy their display. He called to tell me that I would need to come as soon as possible because all EXPO's are closing their doors FOREVER. Apparently it has been all over the news...which I don't recieve, nor do I seek it out. The price he would sell the sink for was $100. WHAHOO! That was a steal of a deal because the sink was actually $180 AND it was a great color and finish. I have spent the last month dreaming of how perfect this sink will be in our bathroom and trying to determine what would be my highest price because he hadn't told me how much it would be until this phone call. Yes, $100 is definitely within range for this lovely sink.

Today we planned a quick trip down to EXPO to pick up our sink. We went straight to the showroom and found Brian, who knew who we were when we went directly to the sink. So he worked to take down the display. He got the fixtures removed and then removed the board on which the sink was sitting. He tried to pull it off the board, which wasn't working and then with one quick movement, which I missed, the sink fell off the board onto the floor. Shattered. We all looked at the sink in amazement and silence. Brain began to apologize, Jared calmly said we can glue it back together, and I just tried to process what had happened. Brian felt so bad that he said he had some others he could sell us. As he showed them to us and explained how they could look, Jared motioned towards this other sink and, mostly talking to me, said, "We also liked this one" hoping that I would be happy with something else. It was the DemiLav Wading Pool in a finish that is apparently extra money.
Brain said, "I can sell that one to you. Do you want that one? I will sell it to you for $100 since that is what I was selling you the other one for."
That wasn't what either of us expected, and infact, this exceeded our expectations. This sink retailed for $590, was on sale for $390, and we just stole it for $100! This was actually our preference over the other one, but I would never spend that on a sink.

We picked up the tile for the shower at 20% off. It is amazing how fast you can make decisions when you have a little pressure on you. We ended up leaving EXPO with a hole in our credit card, but we came away with our bathroom project complete (only speaking of materials...now we have to find the labor to put it all in).
There were a lot of other great things for sale, but unfortunately we have cut our spending budget. So if it isn't necessary for the finishing of our remodel, it doesn't come home.

I will let you know when the master bath really is finished, and I will throw in some pictures of the $100 sink!

the best!

i really do have the best wife...i know i tell her all the time, but i thought that you might want to know. i love her.

-jared

trading places

so, this is jared and i pretty much refuse to ever capitalize anything...except for Christ, God, and words like that. i just wanted to let you know what it would be like when i post to this blog.

we just had a great visit from my parents. we were semi-busy (nothing new) but my parents are always good sports and are willing to put up with our crazy lives. i didn't see my parents until wednesday night when they came home from a opening dinner and entertainment. they both look so good. they are eating right and exercising...and it shows. love them to death!

here's a picture of corban with cousin sinjin in salt lake going into home depot:

I missed my wife and corban while they had a mini vacation in utah. amanda's friend, allison, was married last weekend. they left saturday morning and got back tuesday night. but apparently they had a great time! while amanda suffered in the snow, i suffered in the 80's (weather, not era)! it was nice and busy at work, but i still missed them terribly.

TRADING PLACES:

ok, so nika (our dog) has been doing certain things forever. things like climbing in the bottom of the stroller on walks...knocking over the laundry basket and climbing in to play...well, there was a role change just recently. check out the videos and pictures to see what i mean. basically you can see that from an early age our children are observing and learning...corban is learning how to be a dog. here's a pic of corban in nika's bed:

hope you enjoyed my first attempt. this will be the first of few, i am sure.

Thanksgiving Cruis'n

So much to share! It almost feels ridiculous sharing about the cruise since it was so long ago. It really was a fabulous vacation! We'll forgo all the details and tell our story with pictures:

Day 1, arriving on the ship, the first thing we did was go up to the buffet and EAT. Grandpa and Noni couldn't resist giving Corban his first bite of chocolate and ice cream. This picture is Noni showing him some fun with water. The waiters loved us on this vacation!

These boys are the cutest! We are sure lucky they are in the family! They are demonstrating what to do in an emergency evacuation of the ship-Be Sure to Have Fun.

This here was one of the many wonderful creations on our bed each night. Chocolate, not so good.
Day 2 was spent cruis'n the seas. One of only two days that we could fully enjoy all there was to enjoy on the ship.

Day 3 was Haiti. Of course they have their own private island. This interaction with Corban and Noni was hilarious to watch. He kept pulling down on the brim of the hat and then lifting it up for the surprise of Noni's loving smile. This entertained him for a couple of minutes.

Day 4 was Jamaica. We spent our day with Miche and Linzi, driving around with a islander who asked if we wanted some weed. He was kind enough to show us all the good things about Jamaica too- like the waterfalls (not the most famous, crowded ones), the "jungle" with fresh coconut and sugar cane treats, Jamaican food, and this here spot where we took the photo he showed us all kinds of plants. If you look closely to the left, you will see our ship- the biggest cruise ship on the ocean.

Here's our photographers (Miche and Linzi) and our driver.

Day 5 was Grand Caymans. We spent our day swimming with the sting rays at Ray City- pretty amazing. Then we did some snorkeling. We ended our day early to allow Corban a much needed nap and to stick to prepaid food.

Feeding the Sting Rays.

A favorite thing- soft serve cones at anytime of day and as much as you want. Corban just enjoyed the cone. This was our balcony...we received this room after suffering through a night of a sewer-smelling room.

Thanksgiving Dinner. Noni kept up with the tradition of providing Kinder Eggs for the contest of the best toy. Here they are setting them up for the vote- even our waiters got into it.

This was the culprit of Jared not going to Cozumel. He looks talented enough to not get injured, however, once you fall off that board, you get whipped to the top of the slope and slam against the wall. Not exactly the best thing for a previously injured shoulder.


Spectators. We all probably should have stuck to this position.

Day six was Cozumel. This was out scuba diving in Cozumel. Beautiful water made for a perfect dive. As mentioned above, Jared was not able to join us on this portion of the day due to a deadly shoulder pain.
Kimberly taking advantage of the late night dessert plate- I there is one of everything on that plate!
The last day we did actually have a business meeting. You can see how serious Corban thought it was.
It really was a fabulous vacation. Thank you Larsen's for making it memorable! We can't wait until the next vacation!