May Madness

About a year ago, when I was talking to a friend, who has kids the same ages as my kids, she brought it to my attention that we would have children in the oldest grade of every school in 2014.
I realized THEN that we were going to have a VERY BUSY MAY!!!  And boy howdy, was our calendar ever cram packed!!

Haylee would graduate from Elementary School!

(Do you like how she "dresses up" for this Special Occasion?  She says it's WHO SHE IS, so I agreed to disagree.)

Kyle would graduate from Jr. High School!

And, I don't know how this is possible......

.....but somehow he donned this cap & gown......

....because it was time for my own son, Ryan, to graduate from High School!

Wasn't I just in that situation myself?!?

 

REALLY.  I can't be this old!!!

But, before we could even get to all these graduation ceremonies, our May was also filled to the brim with other things:

 Katelyn's final school choir concert

Brookelle's End-of-Kindergarten program

{Spot the yellow pants?}

Haylee (& the 6th grade) also had:

D.A.R.E. graduation

3 Field Trips

End of Level testing

Medieval Feast 

Greek Olympics

Swimming Pool party

6th Grade vs. Teachers Basketball game
Field Day

Kyle also had:

2 A.P. Exams (Human Geography & Environmental Science)

Field Trip to City Creek Center (to "study" urban life!)

9th Grade Honors Recognition Ceremony
9th Grade Dance

9th Grade Lagoon Day

Ryan had:
A.P. Exam (U.S. Government)

Baccalaureate Services

Seminary Graduation

Senior Picture

Senior Scholarship Awards Ceremony

Spring Fling

Graduation orientation/rehearsal

End-of-High-School stomp

 the "Looking Back" assembly which he M.C.'d
(these 4 students, Parker, Ryan, Sierra, & Amanda, M.C.'d together and had many, many rehearsals & filming sessions)

All Night graduation party 

(that Matt & I served at - then Matt went to work the next day and I threw a birthday party for Brookelle!  Can you say, "Bleary Eyed" or "Crazy"?)

{I was doing A LOT of praying for these kiddos this month - especially on test days!}

AND we get to do this again in THREE years when Kyle is a senior, Haylee a 9th grader, & Katelyn a 6th grader.

THEN we get to do it again in SIX years when Haylee is a senior, Katelyn is a 9th grader, & Brookelle is a 6th grader.

After that, we'll only have 2 or 1 graduations in the same year -- unless there's some college ones that happen to fall in 2023 or 2026.

THIS is an amazing time of our life.....but can I nap in June now?  ;)

Make a Customer, Not a Sale

I work in Customer Service.
I know it can be hard, at times, to satisfy the customer.
Especially when they're asking for the STARS - and the SUN & MOON for that matter!

But, lately, I've been on the OTHER SIDE.  I've been the recipient and I thought they deserve a shout out.  Little things go a LONG way.

SMITH'S

Matt & I were doing a late night, Saturday night none the less, shopping trip and stocked up on cereal because they were having a "Buy 4 and Save" type of sale.
First we tried self-check out......is it just ME, or does it NEVER work?!?
So, then we went to a real, live checker.  The cereal STILL didn't come up at the right sale price - even though we'd purchased the minimum of four.  It was discovered that the reason was because one of the boxes Matt had chosen was the larger box, the size that wasn't part of the deal, so it wasn't registering the price break.   
BUT, instead of making us return back to the cereal aisle to get the smaller box, she just said, "That's OK." and she re-scanned one of our qualifying [smaller] cereal boxes in it's place, so the computer would calculate the sale price....AND SHE LET US KEEP THE LARGEST BOX!
"Low Prices.  Market Fresh" - they made TRUE on their slogan! (I got a BELOW low price.)

CHICK-FIL-A 

 I don't usually order a drink at restaurants because I ONLY like one kind - diet Dr. Pepper - and not a lot of places have it.
(Although, more & more are coming out with it!  THANK YOU for finally responding to all my "Letters to the Editor"  ;)  haha.  J/K I never wrote....at least not that I can remember, and we know how volatile
 my memory has been over the past several years.)
Anyway, so I just ordered food, a sandwich & waffle fries, without a drink.  A few minutes later, I was at a different part of the order counter to get napkins, and I saw that the fountain drink machine over there DID, in fact, have DDP.   
Dang!  I'd already paid and I should've got the combo!
SO, I just approached the counter and explained to them I didn't know they had MY DRINK when I first ordered, but now, post-order, could I please change it into a combo?  The nice woman, who kept saying, "My pleasure." by the way, asked her manager how to enter it into the register and then she prepared me a drink and gave it to me.  I asked her what I owed her, I guessed it would be about a dollar to bring the total I had paid up to the combo meal price.....AND SHE SAID THEY WERE GIVING ME THE DRINK AS A PROMO because I just didn't know about their DDP when I ordered.
(And then they gave me free refills, too!!)
"EAT MORE CHIKIN" is their slogan - I WILL thanks to this experience!

KOHL'S 

Matt gave me a purse for my birthday (last September) that he had purchased at Kohl's.  I tend to put about 50 things in my purse - no joke!  (I have to be prepared for whatever I MIGHT need!)

So, when the purse started to get a few rips around the area where the straps meet up with the bag part, I figured it was just because it wasn't designed to handle the weight.  What's interesting, though, is that a friend of mine had actually got the exact same purse at about the same time.  She'd showed me that hers had some tears in it, too.
SO, when I was at Kohl's the next time (with my purse), I mentioned it to them and asked what we could do.  She told me to bring in the receipt and they could help me.  I actually did still have the receipt, but I thought for sure when they saw the date (8 MONTHS AGO!) that they would just tell me that it was normal wear & tear. (PLUS I am guilty of overloading)  BUT, NO!  I took in the receipt.....AND THEY TOLD ME TO GO GET A BRAND NEW PURSE OFF OF THEIR SHELVES.
She performed an "even exchange" and let me empty out everything from the used purse (I thought she would reconsider at this point when she saw the 50 items as the culprit of the purse's damage) and I put it all in the new purse, she disposed of the old one, and I was on my merry way!
"Expect great things" - they sure made TRUE on their slogan!

BLUE IGUANA RESTAURANT

Matt & I went out to dinner here Saturday night and our waitress had to deal with our (my) usual indecision on what to order.  She was trying to explain mole (the Mexican sauces) to me because I wasn't too familiar with it, and honestly, by reading the description of the ingredients in the menu, it sounded kind of NOT delicious, yet she was saying they WERE!  She really wanted to help me, so she said she'd be right back.  She went into the kitchen and came out a while later with a plate of all 8 or 10 mole samples on it and brought me a fresh basket of tortilla chips SO I COULD TRY EVERY SINGLE ONE.

Through that taste testing process, I was able to point to the ones I liked, and she could identify them, and we were [finally] able to make an order!
Their slogan:  "The most delicious recipes you'll EVER encounter" - she made sure I could have my encounter!  ;)


I appreciate all their EXTRA service they provided me......it makes me want to be sure to always give it in my job, too!

There are no traffic jams along the extra mile. ~ Roger Staubach
 
Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you. ~ Mark Cuban

Here is a simple but powerful rule: always give people more than what they expect to get. ~ Nelson Boswell

AND.....when in doubt if you can have something or not....ASK!!  ;)

Picture This: True Joy

It's no secret that sometimes we look TERRIBLE in pictures!  Just outright terrible.
(It's just that most the time, I choose to never let them make it on this blog, social media, or into my scrapbook!)

There are times when our smile just does not look good.  It's forced.  It's dumb.  It's half-hearted.  There's no reason to smile.

It might have been because we were NOT in the mood to get our photo taken.
We were tired.
We were mad at someone.
We were not excited.
We were frustrated with the photographer and had just uttered, through clenched teeth, "Just hurry and take the *&%$# picture!" - and at that very moment, they DID!

We were trying too hard.


We just weren't feelin' it!

CASE IN POINT:

Here's a few of MY less-than-stellar moments caught on "film" - or how do I say that now?  Caught in the digital world?

And Matt's had a few doozies, too:

Just trying to 'Keep it Real.'

It happens even when we're together in a photo:

(They're just NOT that cute of us AT ALL!)

AND.....we see it in our teenagers, too!

It was practically like pulling eye teeth to get Ryan to show some love to the camera when he was getting his Senior pictures taken a couple weeks ago.

His "enthusiasm" about this experience is evidenced by his scrunched up forehead,

 the look in his eyes that communicates, "My mom has such stupid ideas!",

 his refusal to smile, but instead opted to stare down the photographer,

and his "forced smile.....that borders on gnashing his teeth.

(My sweet friend/photographer was VERY patient with him!)

BUT.....then in stark contrast......check out these pictures from the evening Ryan opened his mission call.  

This event was a much anticipated, much welcomed, very blessed & joyful time in our lives.

 (with his cousin, Tayler)

 (with the "old neighborhood kids" - they first met when they were 4 & 5 years old!)

 (no cringing, no lopsided, wacky stuff, no perturbed looks - EXCEPT for Bob Marley on the T-shirt, that is!)

I specifically remember when the picture was being taken, thinking, "I don't even have to TRY to smile for this, I just can't hold it back!

 (Is that a GLISTEN in my eye?  Do we have the Orbit gum commercial sparkle-on-the-teethy-smile going on?)   

As exciting as it was to find out where & when he will be going, the fact that he is willing, and able, and worthy to go.....THAT is what is causing our bona fide smiles!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE it makes in your pictures (see photos at the beginning of this post for comparisons!) when you're genuinely feeling true joy - THE PROOF IS [definitely] IN THE PHOTOS!

I've Got a John Denver Song Playing in my Mind

The song's been with me ever since Sunday evening when Ryan opened his mission call (which one out of the 407 possible places would it be?!!?) 

in front of....Oh, I don't know how many....

a wall-to-wall multitude of his favorite peeps - family, friends, neighbors & church leaders.
(And family who are also some of his best friends, and friends who are also neighbors, and church leaders who are also friends!) 

{with Jaden - one of his best friends}

The song that's been on my mind is "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

Do you have a guess where he got called, now?

The song introduces this place with it's very first words, "ALMOST HEAVEN".

It continues by singing about it's BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS and SHENANDOAH RIVER.

Any guesses now?

John Denver pays tribute to it with the lyrics, "Take me home, to the place I BELONG...."
He reminisces about it with a "teardrop in my eye." 

Doesn't it sound like a MAGNIFICENT place?
Sentimental.  Dreamy.  Impressionable. Touching.

(Oh....John Denver evokes fond memories for me, too.  I hear his songs, and all of a sudden, I'm riding in my dad's Peugeot, listening to his 8-Tracks!!  
So, Matt bought me John Denver's 4-disc set several years ago as a gift!)

 He didn’t get to choose where he'd go. It could be anywhere from Boise, Idaho (very close to us), Florida, Greece, or Japan (where Matt & I served) or many, many other places.

 We had many guesses.

**One last chance to guess!**  ;)
(Matt put the video on facebook a couple days ago, so maybe it's no surprise, now!  haha)

OK.  Drumroll, please....

Ryan has been called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

He has been assigned to labor in the West Virginia Charleston Mission!!!
(He will serve for 2 years, starting August 27, 2014.)

He didn’t get to choose where he'd go. It could've been anywhere from Boise, Idaho (very close to us), Florida, Greece, or Japan (where Matt & I served) or many, many other places,  

but the second he found out where he was called, it was perfect!


We've been in celebratory mode around here ever since - it's SO VERY exciting!!

 A lifetime of waiting, and now we know!

A Visit From the Leprechaun in May?

A friend shared with me that Listerine has MORE USES than just helping with your gingivitis, plaque, & bad breath!!

(GOOD!  Because I can't even rinse my mouth with it for the required time WITHOUT my mouth burning, my eyes watering, and then drooling all down my chin and neck!!!)

She said that you can soak your feet in it and it's like a cure for thick, dry skin/rough heels/foot problems!  And since I kind of have a 'thing' for foot care & pampering, she CAUGHT MY ATTENTION!!  

So, instead of pouring in the [usual] hot water into my foot bath, I poured in the Listerine, and put my feet in for a while.

HEY!  I GOTTA DO SOMETHING - PASS THE TIME CREATIVELY - WHILE MY SON'S MISSION CALL SITS UNOPENED [STILL] IN OUR HOME!!!  ;)

I didn't really notice that I miraculously had soft, smooth, silky, supple feet after this procedure....

  ...but there WAS definitely a CHANGE!  ;)

Old Wives Tale???

I reported my green/blue feet to my friend......she laughed long & said she hoped they didn't fall off now!  Thanks A LOT!

(I told Brookelle & her friend, who was over, that I think the leprechaun 'got me' -- they thought that actually made perfect sense!)

Patience is a Virtue, RIGHT?!?

This was delivered in our mail today...

{Ryan's MISSION CALL}

{...from the Prophet!}

...but he says he doesn't have time to open it until Sunday evening!!! 
(Ya know, the month of May is super busy for a high school senior and all!...and opening it would take, like, TWO MINUTES!!)

He's only waited HIS WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE for this day....what's 4 more?!?  ;)