Song of the moment - Merry Christmas

On Saturday and Sunday mornings Heath and I love to watch CMT. This past week we heard this wonderful music video. It is Rascal Flatts doing "I'll Be Home For Christmas" a capella. I listened to it three times in a row while driving the last ten miles in a bed of white snow to my parents home on Christmas eve. Merry Christmas!!

2008 in review

Heath and I have been engaged for exactly one year as of Sunday. And as of today we have five months left until the wedding. Yikes! I thought I would review our 2008 year of engagement. I still have a paper version of my calendar. I don't have a fancy blackberry or iPhone....yet ;) So let me flip back to January......ok, here we go!

January: I went to my first bridal show with Heath's mom. Our friends Flint and Theresa, and Sara and Mark came to visit us and we dragged them out in the snow to the wedding site.

February: I tried on my first wedding dress. We saw our friend Ben on the show Extreme Homemakeover (so awesome). Ross and Tawny (Heath's parents) moved to Kansas City!!

March: We went to go see the Bodies Revealed Exhibit. Heath turned 27.


April: We went house hunting for the first time. I went to Minnesota to see Theresa and we found my wedding dress at the Mall of America. KU won the Championship.


May: Went house shopping in Weston, MO and went to the wedding site exactly one year from the wedding.

June: Went to the Spooner Cabin with Trent and Megan in Council Grove, Kansas. Went to Dary's housewarming party. Booked our photographer for the wedding.

July: I went to go visit my brother in Virginia. I babysat Lucy a lot! Went to Mike's wedding in Colby.


August: We went to Mike and Kelly's shower. Heath and I celebrated five years together! Aaron and I pulled off a surprise visit to Iowa.

September: Our good friend Luke was in town so he and Dary and Heath got a little crazy. Uncle Greg came to town and entertained us for an evening.

October: I went to St. Louis to help Theresa with her frames. We went out on the town with Shi and Holly.

November: I voted in my first election. We put a bid on our first house.

December: Began the process of purchasing our first home. We completed the wedding website and sent out our Save The Dates.

I am sure I am missing some things but this is what is on my calendar. Have a Merry Christmas!!

Consumer Reports - MJ style

I am a firm believer in customer service. It is not a difficult trade as most of us know from experience. I have worked in many service industries including IT, the railroad, education, and consulting.

I am also a consumer. Sadly I understand that small town customer service is very different from big city customer service and the every-so-freightening global customer service. Those of us who have worked in customer service know that word of mouth travels faster when something negative happens. I believe the ratio is 10/1. I appreciate the word-of-mouth marketing theory and I support it. For this reason I will be posting any time I have a good or bad experience alike.

But for this post I have to do a little 2008 catch-up. I have two good and two bad experiences to share to keep it fair.

UPS - They have a decent online business account system, they have decent customer service, and their drivers/delivery people are awesome! This is most important since they are the face of the company. Specifically there was a time when I was in a pinch at work that I decided to forget trying to work with the 'other' service and go with trusty UPS. It was 6:45, the last pick-up in the good area of KC was at 7:00 and I was trying my hardest to get there in time. Otherwise it was to the East Bottoms for the 8:00 pick-up - YIKES!

So there I am balancing a HUGE box as I tryed to stumble across the downtown sidewalks in massive need of repair (welcome to Missouri) in my high heels. I was about to enter the parking garage to walk up the 7 flights of stairs to my car when that big brown truck came rolling down the street. This super nice UPS guy stoped right in front of me and came out with a big smile on his face and took my box. MADE MY DAY!

Fedex/Kinkos - Imagine the same situation only a month or so before. I first went to the Fedex/Kinkos in my building only to be ingored by three people working there and no other customers in sight for about 10 minutes. Then I had to go to the Plaza location to make the 7:00 drop off and was glared at by the Kinkos workers as well as the Fedex driver for getting there at 6:55. They did one of those dramatic glances at the clock to make sure they actually had to help me. ZERO customer service skills.

And their online business service is pathetic.

BUT in defense - I do really like their drivers, especially our good friend Jamie!

Lands' End - Great customer service. You call in, get through to someone right away, and they are VERY helpful and sweet and great follow-through. I like their catalogs, and their promotions, lots of good deals. Their products are decent, but they do run large.

Samsung - Horrible customer service and faulty products. I have a Samsung phone and have had the worst time with their accessories, I understand that this is a small portion of their overall products but regardless, it matters. So I had this specific accessory go bad on me twice, the first time Verizon just gave me a new one, the second time it seemed to be the adapter which I could only get from Samsung directly. So after I sat on the phone for 60 minutes and was transfered at least seven times the conclusion was that I could buy a new one for $13 (why would I do that? It is faulty!) or to send it back at my expense and wait for 6 weeks for a new one. I then asked if I could get 3 for the next 3 times it was going to go out on me and of course that was not an option. So I verified with the woman that every 6 months I would have to pay money to send it in and wait 6 weeks for a new one back. It didn't seem to matter when I told her that an easy fix for me was to never buy a Samsung product again. She said "I can understand why you would choose that". WHAT?!? Yes, I could have ordered this adapter through them but that takes 6 weeks to get anyhow even if I pay! You can only get them through the retailer if you buy the phone too. What an unnecessary mess. I will never buy a Samsung product again.

*BONUS*
Centerbeam - They are our outsourced IT company for my job. I have to call them all the time and it is hit or miss if they can actually help, but instead of focusing on that, I would like to focus on the fact that they GAVE me an 80 Gig Video iPod! Just for filling out a survey. I love them!! Yes, you can buy my customer service love.

I have three more but I think this is enough for now. But just as an FYI - Pitney Bowes is aweful, but its not like they have much competition. Hallmark Business Expressions has good intentions but really messed up on our Christmas card order for the office, and Shutterfly has very professional customer service for those of us that do not know what we are doing.

Does anyone have any to add??

Christmas Party -a-thon

My company Christmas party was this past Friday, and following was Heath's company Christmas party the following day on Saturday. We have been planning/dreading this for a month or so only because it is a little scary having them back to back. But things went just fine :)

Hay Group's Christmas party was in the new Power & Light district at the Bristol (YUM!). We played a fun round of Jeopardy which resulted in many many laughs. Our office has 15 employees and we are quite the dis'fun'ctional family.

Sadly, Heath and I suffered from headaches from the begining of the eveining so we were not as lively as usual. Here is an example :(

Umbrella Medical Systems had a themed Christmas party. The theme was "The Newlywed Game". So you can imagine how Heath and I 'stuck out' to be the only engaged/not wed couple there. But we actually made it to the finals!! (yes, I cheated)

Here is a picture of the Umbrella Medical Systems/Data File power group. Meet Bill, Janine, Heath, Me, Megan, and Trent.

Our gifts

I have finally obtained the most recent ADORABLE picture of Hooper J, Heath's nephew. Hooper is two years old and lives in Oklahoma with his parents (see piano bar post). We are so excited to see him over the Thanksgiving holiday in Colby, KS with the rest of the Stover/Potter families. It is always a good time with good people. I am a lucky girl to have such wonderful in-laws.

We will be staying at Grandpa Smokey's house this time around. This can be a fun, yet scary option - Smokey can drink most anyone under the table and he is a very festive man. Guaranteed good time, but usually I get to leave when its time. But we will be staying in the basement (where the bar is) of Mr. Peer Pressure himself. The extra bonus is Cuddles, the very fluffy, foo foo dog, will be there to entertain me.

Due to the big trip to Colby we have had to ask some big favors of friends, one favor to Dary and Christy to let us ditch a car at their house in order to take advantage of carpooling (thanks guys!), and the other favor (the big one) is to Tanner and Oheema to take care of our pooches. Late notice and all, good friends always come through. Here is the most recent picture that I have taken of the pups, although we (my dad) built this wonderful dog house, during the fall they love to nestle into the leaves from the giant sycamore tree that fall behind the dog house. Don't worry during the winter they LOVE the dog house.

I can't help it - one more picture of Hooper J - beautiful child!

Big Decisions

Today we are placing a bid on a house. I think this cartoon illustrates the massive amounts of confusion we are going through. It is, of course, not your typical situation where we offer $$ to the seller and they counter with $$$. Oh no - we had to make it complicated. We are placing a bid on a pre-foreclosure home. First time home buyers and first time bidding, the perfect storm, and we are jumping in with two feet. But I guess we are better off than the sellers at this point :(


Heath and I are learning so much by the moment, the real estate business is a fierce one. Heath is sure that I have jinxed the whole thing because I have been talking about it non-stop and I have been really excited. Doesn't he know me at all? When I get a new shirt I wear it three days in a row and once a week for the next 8 weeks - I get excited about things! He is such the synic! So here I am - announcing it to the inter web - all three of you! Please pray for us!

Lessons Learned

I will try not to talk much about politics on this site but I couldn't resist for this historical event.

I was raised in a family that did not talk about politics, ever. Growing up I had no idea what my parent's political views were or even if they had any. I have to admit, sometimes ignorance is bliss for a young, small town, Iowa girl. The only exposure I had was when Tom Vilsack ran for Governor of Iowa during my senior year of high school. It was amazing to be a part of his election and his re-election four years later. But I still knew very little about the whole process.

This past year was a big step for me in the right direction of my adult life by becoming involved in the entire election process. Because Heath was so involved from the beginning and because I work in an office where politics are openly discussed I decided it was time.

I learned a great deal about the different parties, the issues, the processes, etc. I had a lot of people encouraging me to become informed and to vote and I owe them a huge thanks. A lot of my political education came from asking questions. People that I trusted to give me the facts in a way that I can understand from both sides of the issues. These people are mostly co-workers and friends (thanks for putting up with my questions!). Is it twisted that one of my favorite things to do is initiate a heated debate between a conservative and a liberal about the issues for my own benefit?

I also did a lot of internet research, including finding those handy sites to help me understand the issues and what was important to me (I know some can be misleading, but I was careful!). I watched every debate in detail (I would sometimes rewind and watch again) and I ignored every negative ad I came across.

I know that I am just one vote, but it is still important (especially in Missouri!). I am so glad that I finally got my stuff together so that I felt confident enough to exercise my right to vote in such an important historical election. It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to tell my children about it.

I also want to say a quick thanks to my dad for chatting with me about it last night, he resisted a great deal but finally I got what I wanted (don't I always Dad!). We had an amazing conversation about the election and it just made me realize how much I am like him and how lucky I am to be his daughter. Thanks Dad!

Timeless Moments By Theresa

Last week I took off work Thursday and Friday and participated in the 2008 Holiday Mart at the Overland Park Convention Center in Kansas City with Theresa.

Theresa has started her own business,Timeless Moments By Theresa, making these wonderfully trendy, emotional, and quality picture frames:

You see, Theresa and I are best friends but we are quite opposite. She is short, I am not. She has curly light hair, I have dark straight hair. She likes to shop, I like to avoid all malls. So needless to say she has this amazing talent to think up ideas and then create them. Or in this case, find something she thinks is awesome and making it for herself. She is quite handy and creative. I'm not. So it is super fun for me to be involved in her projects from time to time. I did help a little on the sanding and painting of the frames - but that was only a small portion of all the work that she put into this. Did I mention that she created and built the booth herself??

Theresa and I have been best friends for 13 years or so, ever since our Freshman year of High School. To be friends with a Collora girl means you gotta know how to pull your own weight! The Collora family kept me out of a lot of trouble because if I wanted to hang out with Theresa then the best way was to help out with the family businesses. I learned so much.

One of my favorite memories of working with them (and there are many!) was when Judy gave Theresa the keys to the van packed full of crafts and off we went to a craft show in Illinois. We did it all ourselves: travel, unpack, set-up, sell sell sell, tear down, pack-up, travel back home. All in one day. You can imagine the look of confusion on the cops face when Theresa got pulled over for her first speeding ticket on the way back home. He was sure that we were two High School rebels out drinking and stole a bunch of loot from someone. Sorry officer - we like to rock the craft show for fun on Saturday nights.

So last weekend was just like old times and we did very well!! It was a success for sales and Theresa and I got to spend four days in a row together :)

*notice - the warped hand-made cart to the left with a tired, pregnant, stressed, Theresa looking over it.*

The Piano Bar

This weekend was very full of activities (moving Trent and Megan, Hooper, sickness, etc.) but the most entertaining of them all was going out on the town with Heath's brother, Shiloah and his sister-in-law, Holly. We started at Buca di Bepo on the Plaza and after being offered two houses to buy and a job from our waiter (I think the economy was on his mind) we headed to Westport.

Holly wanted to go to one of the new dueling piano bars, she was so excited to go to a 'grown-up' bar, it was hilarious. This poor sheltered girl from Oklahoma hadn't been to a real bar since college. Ernie Biggs was a good choice, pure entertainment in a nice atmosphere, and not to crowded. After many fancy drinks and Holly winning the college fight song contest (Boomer Sooner!) we called it a night.

I think the picture shows - we were having tons of fun, Heath even showed his teeth for the camera!

Our Goddaughter

Heath and I became the proud Godparents to Lucinda (Lucy) Sloan Peters two and a half years ago. We are very good friends with her parents, Trent and Megan, in many ways.

First of all they have been our neighbors for the past 3 years in our eclectic neighborhood in West Plaza. Second, Heath and Trent started their own business in May of 2007 and for at least a year prior to, they worked very hard (in the basement - while Meg and I were upstairs watching Grey's Anatomy) on the concept and the development. Third, Lucy goes to daycare four houses down from our house so we get to enjoy seeing her after work often.

I am writing this because it is the end of an era for the Peters' family, they are moving to the suburbs. EEEKKKK! We will be following suit soon I hope, but for now it is very sad. No more long walks with the dogs, wine/movie nights (at least the kind where I can walk home), daycare pick-ups after work, bringing Molly over to play and watching Satchel look down the street in anticipation, watering each other's flowers, grilling on a nice afternoon, carpools when one of the four run-down cars is in the shop, trips to the office with pizza just to 'say hi' to daddy and HEAT! (how Lu says Heath).

Basically we are like one big family that is spread out between five blocks. I'm sure we will still have our fun times and begin new memories. I know Megan is having a hard time leaving the house she got married in, had Lucy in, etc. But it didn't hit me until I was asked to pick up Lu at daycare after work last night and I couldn't help but take this picture. I'm going to miss this!

The Dress

So my wedding dress finally showed up. Just for the sake of memories I will tell the story of how this dress was purchased...

Theresa was living in Minneapolis across from the Mall of America when I was ready to dress shop. How convenient that Ms. Shopper herself was located next to the biggest mall in the country. This is definitely a scary thing for me. But I made the trip up to see her (and my wonderful Uncle Greg too!) and to attempt my biggest fear - wedding dress shopping. Ick.

After many try-ons and attempts at fancy bridal galleries we happened to stumble upon The Chapel of Love. Seriously, that is really the name. And it just so happens that it is what it seems, a one stop wedding shop. You can buy your gown AND get married, all in the same day. Its like Vegas, but on the 4th floor of the Mall of America.

So in my true cheesy fashion I happened to love all of their gowns and had no problems finding a bunch to try on. But it didn't matter. I tried on one dress and loved it. But it gets better people! It was only $344 AND it was 2 sizes smaller than what I had been trying on! Bonus. Sold. Most importantly - I was done shopping!

So six months later (and the first order going to another bride...grrrr) my dress was delivered yesterday at work. Yes, at work, since I wanted to be sure it didn't sit on my rainy steps all day (and it did rain!). Here it is!



hehehehe....I know - it really isn't that funny ;)

Our Yearbook

So there is a website that has hit the social networking sites this week called Yearbookyourself.com. As Heath and I sit on the couch on this uneventful Saturday night we though we would have some fun with it. I think we look our best in the 60's - at least we know this is when our parents looked their best!

Secret Blog

I have decided not to share this blog with anyone for awhile. I need to have time to wrap my head around it. Basically I do not expect many people to read this, it is more for Heath and myself to keep a cyber-diary of our lives as they begin together.(saaaapppy!!! Ick.)

I have zero writing skills and my spelling is lacking, but at least those that do read it will be able to comprehend. If you ever feel the need to correct my grammar please sugar coat the heck out of it! At least it will be in English.....most of the time. Heath happens to be a wonderful writer (he gets it from his mom) so if he ever decides to make an appearance the quality will go up a few notches!

Ironically, after I started the blog yesterday I went home and started flipping channels waiting for the VP debate to begin. And lo and behold! The Cosby Show. YAY! Then the disappointment, I had already seen that one recently. Just as I was about to change the channel, Heath walked in the door from work and said "one more Cosby Show?" Making fun of the fact that when its late and we should be going to bed we act like children by asking "one more Cosby Show?" in hopes to stay up later and watch more T.V. (rarely is it actually The Cosby Show).

I figured this was the best time to tell him about the blog. He knew I was thinking about it but I couldn't think of a name. He seemed fine with it but didn't ask where it was out in cyberspace. He was distracted by the fact that he had to go back to work and miss the debate. Poor guy.

ps- I promise, no politics.....yet. But I have to add a picture to keep things interesting.

The Cosby Show

I thought the first post should describe the inspiration for the chosen title. I grew up watching The Cosby Show. My parents refused to let us watch The Simpsons, but had no problems with The Cosby Show. Now I watch whenever I come across it while flipping channels. Heath humors me and watches with me.

As a child my parents would help me understand time measurement by the number of Cosby Shows. I specifically remember going into the kitchen soon after my dad got home from work and asking my mom when it was time to eat supper. As she stirred whatever goodness she was cooking on the stove she pointed to the little T.V. on the counter and said "two more Cosby Shows". I immediately understood and sat down to watch whatever mischief Theo and Cockroach were up to that day.

I still feel all warm and fuzzy inside whenever I watch this show and hopefully one day Heath and I will have the same loving and crazy family the Huxtables portrayed on T.V. Welcome to The Stover Show!