Home for the Holidays

Mike and I have been in Louisiana for only 4 days and have already eaten

a weeks worth of food and watched so many movies.

Movies we've watched:

The Muppet Christmas Carol

The Tourist

Avatar

The Santa Clause

Food we've eaten:

Thai Pepper

brisket

Meredith salad

Marmalade chicken

gooey butter cake

southern ham croissants

fajitas

Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Sonic shakes

(I've opted to stop listing because I'm already

disgusted by how much we've eaten at this point.)

On top of that laziness, we've taken some family pictures, gone on walks around the community, a little bit of Christmas Shopping and a lot of Blue Bell Ice cream. We've actually been good about taking pictures since we came out here so for the first time in a while we'll be able to post recent pictures! Wahoo! No more picture-free posts or Google images.

Here are a couple pictures from our little family photo session below....

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!

undecided.

I know I've been crappy at blogging lately...

I don't know how people find the time to post

at all in December if they're in school.

Good news is that Mike and I are DONE with everything but finals...

Now, he can help me with all my applications to graduate school.

Yep, I said graduate school.

Pretty much EVERYDAY I second guess if I actually want to go straight

into my masters degree.... I don't know how badly I actually want it, but

I guess I'll wait to see if I even get IN to decide. A little twisted, I know.

U.T.A.H.

I'm guessing all Ute fans need a pick-me-up right about now...

I think this video is HILARIOUS. So many witty comments.

(Can't say I agree with the one about Wynn though. I might cut his Achilles' heel)

sunday lesson.

Marriage makes you grow in ways you couldn't otherwise.

Someone said this in church today.

Nothing profound... but it really made me think.

I thought about the things I've experienced and ways I've changed since I married Mike.

For example, I'm slowly figuring out how to admit that I am wrong.

Granted, this hardly ever happens because I am rarely wrong.

Mike, I was wrong when I said the candy corn Hershey kisses are

sold until Thanksgiving. I went to buy some for you yesterday and

the nice man at the grocery store said they are only sold until Halloween.

My fault we missed eating them this year.

Lucky for me, he always forgives me.

Really though, marriage is helping me to be a lot less stubborn.

There's something about living with someone that makes you realize

how not perfect you are.

little bit country?

So to avoid doing any homework last night, I turned on the tube....

The most hilarious sitcom at present is Modern Family and I know exactly how I will be spending my 8pm time slot on Wednesday nights. Sadly, last night it wasn't on. Instead the CMAs (Country Music Awards) was...were? Whatever.

I've never been one for country music but I do love live performances and for some reason I like media-stalking Carrie Underwood because... well, I don't know why really.

She only makes me feel bad about myself when I look at her.

Anyway, I caught myself (too many times) nodding my head and moving to the beat of

Sugarland and Zach Brown Band. Good songs.

Check them out.

Oh, and it was Gwyneth Paltrow's country music debut last night...

I don't think she was all that impressive.

BUT maybe she didn't do well because her hubby couldn't even

show up to support her. That's just selfish Chris. Put Coldplay on pause.

So did anyone else watch the CMAs? What did you think about Gwyneth?

new addiction.

Okay... so it's not really a new addiction.
More like an old addiction that has resurfaced.

I love Costco. I love it for many reasons but this is my #1.


Otis Spunkmeyer frozen cookie dough. It's already rolled into little morsels of sugary bliss.

Now, let's be honest ladies.... They NEVER make it to the cookie sheet, do they?
I love love love eating them raw and frozen.

Oh, and unlike the homemade stuff, there is no raw egg in it... so the "real threat" of eating cookie dough is gone.

Now you can eat it guilt-free.
(as long as you don't think about the calories)

My Last Contribution?

Some of you may know that I am the marketing director at the U for Golden Key, and some of you may not even know what Golden Key is. Its probably going to be my last semester being active and I wanted to leave my mark on the group since it is pretty lame most of the time. I thought that the only thing I could do is make them look good, so I drew up some T-shirt designs. Here is the debut of my fashion design career:

I designed these while we were at lake powell (see my brother's blog for our sweet jet skiing and wake boarding skills - Alyssa will have a story to write about it also later.) The officers will be voting on a design soon, but I thought I'd get your input and opinion first.

Lone Star

Monday nights have made me downright giddy. If you had seen any episode of Lone Star, then you may share my excitement. I was driving down the street one day when the radio ad for Fox's fall lineup came on. For some freak reason I didn't change the channel; it was fate.

After House had taken 80% of the ad space, there was a short blurb about a critically acclaimed new series about a con-man. Not a normal con-man, I'll have you - but a young, sophisticated, suave con-man that not only sold fake oil shares, but himself. Well, I didn't get all of that from the 10 seconds that were left for the Lone Star ad, but its pretty much what the show was about. And the show was amazing.

Let me add an emphasis on "was." The show was canceled a couple days ago. There was something about not enough people watching. Well, you know what Mr. Fox Television? I was watching. And I was liking ever second of it. I'm going to go cry in a corner now.

As many of you know, Mike and I have been saving money since our dating months for a trip to Europe. We've put extra cash into a large glass vase that we refer to as our "Italy Fund".

The money has since moved. This is actually good news. We now have enough cash that we keep it in a little safety box-- on lock and key. We don't touch it but I regularly count it and squeal with excitement at how our dream is becoming a reality.

Soon we will start planning our Italian excursion. I couldn't be more thrilled about it.

Celebrities with Mustaches

This weekend we went to the State fair where we enjoyed some baby-making music by Boys II Men and baby-making art by senior citizens. Among the 6 first-place scrap book pages and silk flower floral arrangements, we came across this beauty:

It is a beautiful painting that depicts farm workers in the U.S. If you look closely, you can see that the artist's rendition solely depicts Hispanics in every aspect of farm development. We thought that it was so outlandish that I made Alyssa pose by it so that we could share it with the rest of you.

Then it got me thinking about how cool mustaches are. I mean, not a lot of people can pull them off, unless you are a celebrity and people already envy you and don't care what you do. Take the classic example, Tom Selleck.

I don't care who you are, that is a pretty sweet mustache. I mean, not even the sexiest man on the planet (Brad Pitt from what I hear) can pull it off that well.

But boy does he do a good job trying. I don't know if he started the whole modern day look, but Orlando bloom followed his example, even down to the scarf:

So it got me thinking some more. What makes a sexy-stache? Is it celebrity status? Or is it something more? My theory is that it are essential elements that all boils down to making an efficient Mustachio. Here is my philosophy:

1. Dark Hair
2. Some type of scarf (Tom Selleck doesn't need one though because his chest hair probably grows out of his shirt enough to keep his neck warm)
3. The ability to grow facial hair

That's it. So I thought that I could pull it off pretty well too.

I guess not. Don't worry, I shaved it off about 10 seconds after shaving my beard into a mustache... which was about two after taking this picture. I guess I'll have to re-examine the effective-stache theory and try again.

When we had summer...

Just before school started up again Mike and I went with our friends -Parker and Bekah- to Los Angeles for one last hurrah! We did Knotts Berry Farm, Universal Studios, Jimmy Kimmel Live,

the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Santa Monica Pier and beach.... and hit up Subway like 3 times.

Here are some pictures of our fun times:

I don't pass up opportunities to silly pictures like this...

The beeeeeach! I'm so much happier in the sun!

Hollywood baby!

Mike and... that tiger from Madagascar

Dessert bonus for Bekah's birthday! Parker went to the bathroom and missed it.

We waited for you Parker. We waited.

About to experience the Jurassic Park ride. This is about 2 minutes before we looked like wet rats.

Fun stuff, that California vacation. I'd guess another 5 weeks until I get the "ditch SLC for a vaca" itch.

FYI, tonight I'm making fried rice and I'm pretty excited about it. Do you ever get super excited about the meal you're making? Even if isn't anything special?

Kelsey.

Kelsey Rose Fausett

Birthday: August 08, 1990

Favorite Color: Red

Musical Obsession: The Format

Status: Single

My sister (and one of my BEST friends), Kelsey, turned 20 last month. We took her to PF Changs to celebrate! I can't believe she is 20 now. She already has 2 years of college down. She's decidedly Pre-Med. My guy friends think she's hot. She has gone on a million first dates- but she's picky. When did she grow up so much?? When she tells me about trips she's going on with her friends it takes everything inside me not to say, "Are there going to be any adults there? Maybe Mike and I can come along to chaperon". I know she's not 12 anymore but it's so weird to see my kid sister be... not so much of a kid anymore. I love her. I'm so glad she's only 50 minutes away so I can get my "sister fix" when I need it.

That usually includes food of some kind.

Designer Discovery

So here it is! My brand new beautiful bag I got about 3 weeks ago... just in time to use during my senior year of college! What made me fall in love with this black beauty was mainly all of the compartments and dividers. This semester I have tons of books, folders, notebooks, lecture print outs and so on to carry around campus and I can put in all in one place! I have ample room for everything... Great right?

Well, what's not so great is that I found out I've been carrying around a diaper bag. How did I miss that? Wow. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous so I told Mike what I had just realized... and he was excited for me.

"Now, we won't have to buy you a diaper bag when you get pregnant! Money saved."

Um no, Mike. You're missing the point.

I love it still. I'm using it still. Yes, ladies and gentleman.... I'll be the cool one on campus with a baby bag on my shoulder. At least I now understand why one of the dividers detaches from the bag... for a baby changing pad.

It's the end of summer. Soon I'll post about the happenings of these past few weeks... but for now, school is on the mind.

This semester 10 hours a day, Monday through Thursday, I will be on campus at the University of Utah. Yep, that's just like a full time job... 40 hours a week. I'm not so excited about it but that's just how the chips fell this semester. I have 6 great core classes this semester.

The line-up:

Hearing Science

Phonetics

Pediatric Speech Pathology

Aural Rehabilitation

Anatomy and Physiology of Speech

Language Science

I've got some tough ones this year... but Mike is being a man and working really hard while going to school this semester so that I can focus and get great grades in these classes. I'm so blessed to have someone who cares enough about me and my education to sacrifice more of his time to benefit me. I'm so excited about these last 2 semesters before I get my bachelor's degree in Speech Pathology. I have such a thirst for knowledge and can't wait! Wish me luck... Maybe a prayer too. I'll need it!

Sorry to leave our blog on such a depressing note for so long.

In an attempt to catch you up to speed on what Mike and I have done in the last couple weeks, I will used bullet points. :)

- We spent 2 days in Vegas. Ashley got married to a wonderful guy named Johnathan. I love her new last name, Francisco. We spent a lot of money shopping around. Saw Blue Man Group (Yay!)

Outside Chapel of the Flowers. Photographer, Mike.

- We went to the Ben Folds concert with a bunch of friends. Awesome.

- Bought a comfy, new jacket from Shade.

- Cheered on 3,000 10k runners and 800 marathon runners. Our friend, Missy Brown did so well!

- A couple late night driving adventures.

- Went to Juicy Berry (frozen yogurt at the Gateway) and felt like we were in a rave club. Weird.

- Biked Elephant Rock.

- Saw Inception at the theater. BEST movie this year! (Mike claims "EVER")

- Went camping.

That's about it. We only have ONE MONTH left of summer. You better believe we're going to make the most of it!

Disclaimer: I love my life.

I just reconnected with an old friend from 7 years back. This old friend is now living in Madrid and is a fashion stylist who contracts out her services for several of the world's leading magazines. She has a gorgeous flat in the heart of the city and more lovely designer clothing than I have ever seen. Moments like this make me wonder what I've done with my life so far. I still have 2 semesters left in my bachelors degree. I've worked at the same place for 2.5 years, getting paid less than I'm worth. I've gained 15 pounds since high school. My international traveling consists of Canada and Mexico. (Wahoo! of sarcasm).

Bit of a bummer/pity me mood....

On Saturday, after taking Mike from store to store with me on the hunt for a specific clothing item... I figured I owed him dinner. We made the best decision, Arella Pizzeria, in Bountiful.

It is a brand new restaurant in Bountiful that makes delish thin-crust pizza in their wood-fired brick oven. The decor kept Mike and I talking for a while... the white, modern lamps, black and white furniture with green accents and glassy tile walls.

I got a small Chicken Bacon Alfredo pizza (yes, it was heaven!) and Mike created his own calzone. We got seat right at the bar so we could see everything being made.

We loved it. If you find ourselves north of SLC and hungry... GO!

Matrimony and Vegas.

Don't you love it when two (good looking) people fall in love several times, always with the same person... and decide to put their faith in that person and the institution of marriage? I LOVE IT.

My middle school/high school best friend, Ashley Ann, (who I still love to death, though I never see) is getting married to her love on July 15th....

Here at the Little Chapel of the Flowers in Vegas....

I am SO excited for her. I'm sooo excited to go!
I love LOVE.
Now, Mike and I have been to Las Vegas a few times- separate, together, married and single.... but we're welcoming some suggestions. Anyone know of a great restaurant to go to? A show/exhibit that we should see? Perhaps a delish place for dessert? Please share so we can really make the most of our trip down next weekend!

Manna from Heaven

This upcoming fall and spring semesters are looking up and up, especially after the news that I (Mike) received a scholarship from the Clegg Memorial Foundation to the University of Utah yesterday. Both Alyssa and I were pretty surprised to find out that a scholarship that I applied for back in January finally let us know that I got it. I guess that's what happens when you move and never change your address with the post office. The funny thing about the scholarship is that it was from at a $4.3 million estate which was left to students of the University of Utah, but the creator of the scholarship grew up in Fresno, California and never lived here. Awesome for us!

I think this Geico thing is still funny...

We were kind of worried about the financial arena that we would be entering since I'm not sure that SkinCareRx.com is going to hire me on after my internship and Alyssa isn't going to have much working time with a full school schedule. Yes, it will go back to us not seeing each other that much because of our crazy and busy lifestyles, but its only for 2 more semesters, right?

As for the past 3 previous posts, I would like to clear up some things: Alyssa is right about everything. Charlize Theron is one pretty lady, Ben Folds is amazing, and getting food poisoning on your anniversary night sucks! (But having a wife that cares and is willing to do things for you while you are on your deathbed is pretty dang cool too...)

anniversary weekend.

Our first year anniversary was Friday, the 25th.

Hubby and I decided this was his year to plan things (like Valentine's Day and the anniversary) and we would trade off the planning every other year.

I woke up to a ton of beautiful yellow flowers and the smell of waffles. We jump started our weekend as soon as I got off work. He took me to the Cheesecake Factory (one of my favvvs) and we delighted in avocado eggrolls, delish entrees and got a shared raspberry lemon creme cheesecake.

We kept gifts simple and bought a fun Fujifilm xp10 Camera.

It's waterproof-shockproof-freezeproof...

basically it's Mike and Alyssa proof. We love it.

After dinner he whisked me away to a hotel and we spent much needed (ahem)... romantic time.

The night was wonderful.

Then in the middle of the night things took a turn for the worst.

His constant bathroom visits + stomach ache + fever = our belief he got food poisoning.

He was miserable for about 24 hours. Per the request of a man who thought he was dying, I made 2 separate trips to the grocery store... once for Powerade and the second for a Redbox dvd.

For better or worse, right?

Happy one year babe!

Just purchased tickets to see this guy in concert (with the Utah Symphony) next month at Deer Valley...

Ben Folds, here we come!!!

and we don't mind one bit that they're general admission/lawn tickets.

Bring on the blankets, great friends and good music.

naomi.

If you know Mike well, you know he has a favorite actress. He sometimes refers to her as his "girlfriend". Charlize Theron. He carried a picture of her around with him everyday on his mission. I want to call him childish for having a celebrity crush but I just can't. C'mon, look at her... beautiful!

Another thing he really digs are women with British or Australian accents. A few times he as tried to get me to talk with a fake Aussie accent.. "The waiter doesn't really know. Just pretend"... it's hilarious how truly pathetic I am at pretending.

So imagine my fright when I heard the gorgeous Naomi Watts speak on a television interview.

She's a bombshell like Charlize but WITH an accent. She was born in England and moved to Australia when she was 14. I just can't compete.

Luckily, she's a little older than Mike would care for.

And she probably will never come to Salt Lake City.

I think I might be able to keep my husband.

**note: yes, when I first did this post I said it was Scarlett Johansson. I think I got confused since she's basically MY celebrity crush

WHY?

Anytime Mike and I are having "baby cravings" we remind ourselves (and yes- I do mean WE-it's not just me) of the Why Game.

If you've ever spent more than five minutes around a three or four year old you know what I'm talking about.

Just the other day, we had our four year old nephew, Blake, stay overnight and we got very familiar with the Why Game.

Blake: What are you doing on your phone?

Alyssa: I'm sending someone a text message.

Blake: Why?

Alyssa: Because they were asking me a question.

Blake: Why?

Alyssa: Because I know the answer.

Blake: Why?

Alyssa: I just do... I'm smart.

Blake: Why?

Alyssa: Miiiiiiiike. Help me!

I'm still not so good. Thank goodness I don't have any kids yet. I've got plenty to learn beforehand- like how to dodge those verbal bullets.

fab weekend.

I say "fab" -partly sarcastic and partly sincere. This weekend was pretty good though...

Friday after work we met up with Taylor and Becca Duncan at the temple. It was great to feel so close to my husband in the temple and to spend time with friends doing great work there. I was good to see an old friend, McKensie Wilkinson, too! Mike, Taylor, Becca and I tried Litza's Pizza on 4th south for dinner and I think I'd be safe to say that we all really enjoyed it. Becca and I started out with waters but ended up with some caffeine by the end of dinner. And I don't feel one bit guilty about it.

Now, an interesting Saturday. Mike and I had a few things planned for Saturday.

First on the list, Lagoon.

If you're unfamiliar with what I'm talking about... it's an amusement park north of Salt Lake that's like a small Six Flags-only more ghetto.

Before meeting up with our fun friends, Parker and Bekah, I was eager to buy a camera (ours has been MIA for 3 months now and I've given up the search) so we stopped by Kmart to see what options they had. If you're in the market for anything electronic, I'll save you some time. Don't go to Kmart. They are years behind. Mike and I are still sans camera. Disappointing. (How are they still in business??)

Continuing on, the party of four went up to Lagoon, despite the high wind warnings and monsoon-like weather. We entered the park and stayed a whole two hours before my whining finally annoyed everyone enough to leave. We find the car and Parker... doesn't find his keys. We're locked out of the car and left in the cold. Waiting for our dad (Gary) to pick us all up felt a little like middle school but we still had fun together. (Right guys?)

Later that night, Mike and I met up with some favorites, Cody and Jade, at the Mandarin restaurant in Bountiful. We picked delish sounding dishes.... only for 3 out of 4 to be mediocre. (The ginger beef is excellent though!) Then we went back to our place and played a brand new card game they introduced us to, hand and foot. It is SWEET. Mike and I want to play it again stat. Like tomorrow. Or the next day.

Sunday, we slept in until NINE. That's huge for me... ate delightful scones for breakfast and went to a missionary homecoming. Simple Sunday.

Good life, huh?

summer.

i've been thinking all day about how much i LOVE the summer.

(p.s.- i'm feeling kind of lazy today and i'm not going to capitalize at all.)

i thought it deserved its own blog post.

i'm one of those people whose mood is affected by the weather.

i'm not the most pleasant person when it's a snowy day.

in fact, when i see snow in the forecast at all, i get slightly depressed....

BUT lately i've been loving this!

mike and i have enjoyed so much time outside on walks, runs, picnics and BBQs.

speaking of BBQs... we had one on saturday night at sugarhouse park with several of our good friends from the Village and it was a BLAST.

i love those people. mike and i already miss our 25th ward like crazy.

anyway. back to summer. it's great.

plus, we all look better with a little vitamin D.

this summer we have plans to:

-go to lagoon this weekend

-lose some weight (i swore i wouldn't gain weight once i got married... haha. surprise surprise.)

-decorate our cute basement apartment

-go on an anniversary trip to LA (knotts berry farm AND universal studios!)

-go somewhere delish and new for our 1st year anniversary this month!

-eat lots of fruits and spinach salads

-have several picnics at local parks

-attend a few weddings (yay!)

-go camping at least 3 times (we need to use all our new camping gear)

compliments

I've realized that they go a far way. Just the other day at the hotel a handsome businessman, about 3o years old, came to the front desk to check out. I handed him his final statement and he walked away. Once he got to the revolving door he did a 180 and came back to the front desk. I said to me with a smile, "I just wanted to let you know you're amazingly beautiful." ...waited for no response and walked off.

Wow. I must have been having a good hair day.

That compliment made me so happy. (I told Mike this story and he rebutted that he tells me this all the time... It's true. BUT it's just nice to hear it from other people because once you get married-- if you're anything like me-- you start to convince yourself that your husband is the only one who thinks so.)

Anyway, I thought about it some more and it makes me JUST as happy when someone compliments my earrings or shoes. Anything really. It can turn a blah day into a good one.

There is a cute girl in the ward we just moved out of that would make comments so often like "You're so fashionable. I just love your top".. "You're so funny, Alyssa"... and so on. I laughed her words off but she never had any idea how much her words really lifted me up. They meant so much to me.

I want to make others feel good by making simple remarks.

From now on, I resolve to be that person.

Swagger Wagon

Soooo... If you know me well, you know how I've sworn
to never drive a minivan (probably because of the
hideous Astrovan we had when my family was young and in rags)
BUT... after watching this video I might want to join the Sienna Family.

"Thank you for calling University Park Marriott"

So yesterday all of my co-workers kept saying

"happy anniversary!"

I didn't get it... Mike and I's one year wedding anniversary

isn't until JUNE 25th, not May 25th.

At any rate, I thought it was incredibly nice that everyone

remembered it was on the 25th.

Then, finally... one of my favorites, Haylee, said

"I can't believe you've been here 2 years now."

It was my 2 year anniversary of working at the

University Park Marriott.

Some days I think it's been two years too long.

BUT most days I just LOVE my job at the front desk.

Yes, it definitely qualifies as a glorified "joe job" but...

I'm okay with that for now...

Thank you Marriott for the great travel benefits

and thank you Marriott guests, for giving me plenty of

ridiculous stories over these past two years!

New.

First, we got rid of some OLD things yesterday at the

HUGE University Student Apartments yard sale.

There were tons, dare I say at least a thousand, people there.

We threw some things together to sell last minute and made

fifty bones. Ha... that will be spent easily.

Now that we've gotten rid of the old... bring on the NEW!

We move up to Bountiful in two weeks!

Into a brand NEW basement apartment.

(So NEW that it isn't even close to finished right now...)

For that NEW place we plan to buy a NEW couch, NEW bedding,

a NEW painting for the wall and Mikey is planning on a NEW projector.

(Good luck, squeezing that into our budget babe!)

Also, we bought the NEW car. We love it.

We have cruised everywhere in it already... State Street, up Millcreek Canyon,

down to St. George and around Zions National Park!

Mike got a NEW job! He is interning as the

Internet Marketing Assistant at

SkinCareRx.com

He loves it so far! His boss is awesome.

It's the atmosphere that fits his personality and interests the best!

Goodbye USANA.... You've been good to us, but a dead end road nonetheless.....

AND... It's a NEW semester for Mike! He is taking 4 classes this summer

so that we can graduate together next Spring!

He will be busy, busy, busy with 12 credits and an intern position....

I think I'll still see him more than I did last semester though.

As for me, I'm STILL at the Marriott. I feel like I'm long overdue for a change....

Ode {to the Altima}

We've had you but a brief 11 hours.

But we love you.

You have a beautiful brown exterior with

a nice black interior.

But the reason I (Alyssa) love you

the most.... you have a radio/cd player!

I am sure many of you remember Beamer.

Some of you may have taken rides in it while

others were afraid to.

Surprisingly enough, there are some things we

will miss about Beamer.

We will miss the smell of crayons,

the black leather in the summertime, the way it occasionally shook around 40 mph,

the broken radio, the sweet sounds of the outdoors as we drove....

Okay really, I think we'll only miss the sunroof.

Don't worry though! It is not dead yet.

Kelsey Fausett will soon be the proud new driver

of the infamous '92 BMW.

(Why infamous you asked? Well... it had some run-is with Trax,

flying boulders and a dump truck!)

Enough about the past though... Let's talk about the present!

Our brand new (to us) car is a Nissan Altima that had only

35,000 miles on it! We bought it from Levi at Ken Garff Nissan.

Levi was the BEST! He dealt with our picky-ness

from the beginning. He spent at least an hour with us trying to find

the right thing before I asked if there were any used Altimas or Maximas.

He said no and that they go like hotcakes! But then he remember an Altima

the dealership had just got in 2 days ago.

We pulled up to it (in the Nissan Xterra that Mike really wanted....

sorry Mike. You'll thank me with the first trip to the gas station.)

We jumped out and and peeked inside. I loved it! We loved it!

Levi had no clue about the car since it just came in.

I told Levi to go find out about it

BUT

don't come back with the keys unless it

fits in our price range....

LONG story short. He came back with keys.

I fell in love with it. Mike felt he had no choice.

We bought it.

FOR A STEAL though!! We got it for $5,500 below Kelley Blue Book.

They planned on selling it for SOOOOO much more

but Levi knew we (I) wanted it... and now that he made

no commission off of us, I am making him

my wonderful taco soup and cornbread.

I make some killer taco soup and cornbread....

and now, I drive a killer car.

Modern Business Correspondence (1907)

Continuing my last post about my business writing class, I found this book at the University of Utah's library sale. It was written in 1907 and has chapters about how to send Telegrams and Cablegrams, how to send a letter through the mail and how many hours it will take to arrive, and how to write a good advertisement as a merchant. It gives this poem for all merchants to remember:

"We may live without poetry, music, and art;

We may live without conscience and live without heart;

We may live without friends and live without fads-

But business today can not live without ads."

What I found quite funny was the politically incorrect way of writing toward women. check it out for yourself here.

So, if i understand correctly, all women should only be signing their own name if they are unmarried or widowed? When did that change?

"Cross"ing the Line of Traditional Advertising

What is a business writing class good for? I haven't really figured that one out yet... but it did get my brain juices flowing to the point where I crafted a 12 page guerrilla marketing research paper and these photos to show how easy guerrilla marketing campaigns can be. (If you don't know what guerrilla marketing is, it is just doing something out of the ordinary to get a consumer's attention.) So, as part of trying to explain how non-traditional marketing works, I used the photoshop skills within me and took 6 different companies to push my point even further. Let me know which one is your favorite!

Here is the template that I used - Just a common street

AT&T: More Bars in More Places
Tide: Brighten up your way
UtahSymphony.org: noteworthy advertising
Coca-Cola Crossing
Nike: Pedestrian Playoff
Kinko's: white-out walk-out

Open House for the Rich and Famous

Okay, so today Lyss and I were driving down 13th East in Sugarhouse and saw people thronging near the Tuscan masterpiece on Harvard Ave. If it wasn't for the 15 open-house signs and balloons, we most likely would have driven right past it. Luckily though (thanks to quick thinking and a near car accident) we were able to change our course of direction and park ourselves right out front among the BMWs, Mercedes, and Infinities.

As we entered the home, we were asked to take off our shoes or put on little white booties. It reminded me of the time I had gone through the Bountiful Temple open-house. And comparably, this home was just as awe-striking. The entryway had intricate tile patterns and smelled of fresh mahogany. It leads you into the living room, which has been refinished but kept the original fireplace from 1923. Turning left would send you into a small den that opened up to the patio above the garage and continuing forward would send you into the dining room/kitchen area.

The newly renovated kitchen had beautiful cabinetry, subway tile, multicolored tiled flooring, and an awesome granite-mirror counter top (not to mention the stainless steel appliances).

where the camera shows in the kitchen, turning left will take you into a huge hallway with floor to ceiling walnut cabinets on both sides that lead into the mud-room. I was less impressed with the mudroom because of the color, but still loved the layout and design. going back through the kitchen to the downstairs takes you around a wooden spiral-like staircase where two bedrooms and access to the garage are.

The bathroom in the basement had a His-and-Her sink with a beautiful mirror and great tiles (once again). The garage seemed pretty small though, and I don't think that you could've fit a large sized SUV in it. Going back up the stairs to the top level brings you to one more bedroom and bath and the master suite.

The master bedroom was simply amazing with exposed support beams for the extra lofty ceilings. The wood flooring was also a great touch, but kind of left the room feeling cold... but that's okay, because you have a sauna that connects to the room. Equipped with a jet-tub, amazing built in cabinetry for the vanity and walk-in closet, and most of all, a shower built for the gods.

The shower was by far the coolest thing I had ever seen. It had multiple heads from different directions, a bench, and the whole thing was covered in tile. When you are inside the shower, you are actually standing right above the front door (see first picture above). The only downside of the whole house that we could find was that the house had absolutely no yard. The Realtor stated that you could always use the lawn that was across the street, but who would want their kids playing on an island of grass between two busy streets!?

Oh, and did I mention that it is up for sale for $800,000?