People of the Park

This picture is from one of my new favorite websites called peopleofthepark.com. Not the best photos yet, but it's brand new. I'm sure I could go through my photos and find something worthy of submission.

Had To Share....

Found this on awkwardfamilyphotos.com....

What I find even more funny is Jake's response to this was: "Um, doesn't she know women didn't dress like that in medieval times?"

Yes, my husband did battleguard in high school...

Better Than I Thought

Though the snow made me fifteen minutes late I finally made it to see my academic advisor at UVU yesterday. And as the title would suggest, it went much better than expected. The only drawback, my math credits have expired. Of all the credits to expire! But that's ok. I will prevail. As long as I can pass the Math 1010 placement test I only have 2 classes left until it's bye-bye generals!!! And I can start diving into the classes I really want to take like, "Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective", or "Physiological Psychology", or "Human Development/Lifespan", or "Introduction to Practice Evaluation and Grant Writing"....... ok, not the last one.

I'm extremely motivated. I'm ready to run in and bust out some A's. Just have to get my ducks in a row and it's off I go. I can't wait to start doing what I love and feel like I'm improving myself!

Support Systems

It's amazing what you can get through with a good support system. It also helps you realize what's important and what you really want to be doing. Thanks to some of the most incredible co-workers I've ever had this is exactly what I'm going through. We have been pushed down and stomped more than any other management team out there and yet we are still at work smiling every day. The only reason for this is we care about each other and we're three people dedicated to showing people we can do it. And the best part is, we are doing it. :) We're doing it better than most and we're doing what was thought impossible.

Thank You

I have been given prime examples in my retail experience of people willing to give up almost everything important to them for the sake of their job. They use intimidation to get results and often times spend countless hours trying to be the best at the cost of their family, friends, and lives in general.

If you have been in the retail world you are familiar with DM visits, RM visits, Corporate visits, etc. These are the things you stay at work late and go in early for. When you ask another store manager how their week is and they say, "Preparing for a visit..." you can sympathize with the anxiety they are going through. These can go REALLY good, or REALLY bad. There's rarely an in between. An example of REALLY bad? I once had a Regional Manager who hated women in positions of power. He was 5'3". Short complex anyone? If you know me, you can imagine how (not) well I handled this visit. :)

Anyway, going back to my first thought. For the most part, the examples presented to me of upper management individuals who are very successful and very good at their jobs has been somewhat negative. In a business sense they are everything they should be. Outgoing, always reaching for the better, quick to throw out ideas of how to improve your business, and just all around very well put together. The other thing I have noticed is the amount of time spent away from their homes. I never really heard about balance between work and family. It was always work...#1...

That has finally changed. I have been given an example of the success + the caring. I have had the ideas conveyed to me that family is important. If today was bad then tomorrow will be better. Don't dwell on your negative feedback and move on. "We sell socks and underwear. We just want to do it well." "I AM ALWAYS A PHONE CALL AWAY" "I AM PROUD OF YOU"

I guarantee in a room full of retail managers hardly one could raise their hand and say they have heard this from a superior in their business. But I have. :)

Real Tree

Jake and I have been married for 4 and a half months and it feels like years already. Of course, I mean that in a good way. Not an "OMG, I feel like I've been looking at the same thing for a year!!" kind of way. It has been wonderful and I couldn't be happier. I found this picture that was taken about a year ago. We were getting engaged about three weeks later. AWE! :)

Jake insists we get a real tree for our first Christmas. Now, I really, really, really don't want a real tree for a few reasons:

1) Fires

2) Needles

3) Clean up

4) Fires

So, anyway, we're getting a real tree. We'll see how it goes. :)

Please Be Nice :)

What is it about the holidays that makes people so angry? It obviously can't be the holiday itself, but clearly the things surrounding it really put some in a bad mood. I'm on my eighth holiday in retail and it never changes. In fact, it gets worse. Here are a few things I would like you to remember when you are doing your holiday shopping:

1) We are not there for the sole purpose of making your day worse. We actually would like to help you.

2) Don't ignore me when you walk in my store and I welcome you into it. That's just rude and you're ruining my day.

3) If there are two of you in line and you see other associates around, they're probably helping other customers or doing quick tasks that keep the store running for you. It's not going to kill you to wait 30 seconds for the next available cashier. We'll be with you as soon as we can.

4) The reason we may not have your size is because PEOPLE BUY IT. We can't control who buys what and we don't magically know to hold a size for you.

And finally....

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!! IF YOU TRULY UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF THE HOLIDAY YOU WOULD HAVE NO REASON FOR ACTING THIS WAY. WE TRY SO HARD TO KEEP OUR SPIRITS UP AFTER DEALING WITH YOU. WE ARE PEOPLE AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE SOME CONSIDERATION.

That is all. :)