Charlotte to the Russe!

Hello Friends! So if y'all didn't know...I love my job. I really do. I seriously feel so blessed to have it. We get dozens of applications every day and I am so lucky! I feel even more lucky after this morning. Why you may ask? We had a Holiday meeting this morning...at 7...in the blessed a.m. It was dang early, especially after having been there til 11 last night. But, the doughnuts and OJ made it bearable. I was kinda dreading this coming season because it gets so crazy and I feel like I live at the store. However, after this meeting I am SOOOO excited!! I feel like I know better about what I am doing since I've been there over a year now and we have some fun things to keep us going that our managers told us about. Such as:

1. Holiday Game! We got split up in to teams and the managers are going to give us "x amount" of points when they see us doing things that help in shop lifting or customer service or keeping the store clean....etc. It is mostly to help with loss prevention..aka...shop lifters. So one team is called "Oh no you didn't!" and my team is called "You betta not!" We get a gift card if our team wins!

2. St. Jude's fund. Every season Charlotte Russe raises money for the St. Jude Children's Hospital. The chain as a whole wants to raise over $500,000 for the hospital. That's huge! So I hope we can do that because it's for such a great cause! They sent us pictures and stories to y'know...tug at our heart strings and it worked!

We are pumped to ask people for donations at the registers. And we as employees have been asked to raise at least $50. So don't be alarmed if I ask you for some cash. And if you saw these pictures and heard these stories you will be pulling out your wallets! :] Plus if I raise the most I get a prize. And if our store raises the most in our region our store manager, Brooke, gets TO GO to St. Jude's!! She wants to SO bad, so we're gonna try our hardest to send her!

3. I got a promotion! I am no longer an associate, but I am now the counter supervisor! Hoorah for me! With that comes more responsibility and a raise. Double hoorah! Basically I specialize in the registers...knowing how to add on items at the cash wrap, return procedures, overriding things, etc. I'm not quite as cool as a manager, but I have more to do. I am excited about it! I am also the shoe specialist so I help the associates be more effective in the shoe selling techniques. Emily, one of my managers, and I redid the whole shoe room and it looks awesome! Very proud of it!

The meeting was just to tell us all about how the Holiday season is going to run and get us pumped for it! Black Friday is just around the corner! It's going to be a busy time, but it's such a fun day! We get tacos, a free shirt to wear, and the shift flies by since it's so crazy! But even after that friday the store will always be busy! The mall starts to stay open til 10 on weekdays and 11 on weekends...which is kinda death since we're there til midnight or 1 cleaning up the store! But oh well...what can ya do?!

And how did we end our meeting? No better way then to pick out an outfit and strut down the runway! Ha! I love Charlotte Russe!

Winter.

Well folks...winter is here. It really is.

Snow is in the mountains.
Frost and ice is all over Neil in the morning.
I can see my breathe.
If I walked out with wet hair I could break it off like an icicle.
I can't feel my hands.
I fall all over the place on campus [and sometimes bringing innocent passerbys with me.]
And it is extremely difficult to get out of bed in the morning!

"I admit that in the past I've been a nasty"...ha, line from The Little Mermaid.
But really...I always complain about how much I hate winter.
Every winter I close to hate my life and wish every day that BYU was on HHI.
But I am going to turn over a new [frozen] leaf.
I am going to enjoy winter.
Now...with that said that doesn't mean I won't be able to have my moments where I cry from being so cold I can't think or I complain how it's April and still snowing BUT...
I am going to enjoy myself.

I am going to go tubing and ice skating and sledding and have snowball fights and make snowman and snow angels and make ice cream from the snow [clean snow] and drink hot chocolate multiple times a week and all while looking stylish!
I will admit...winter clothes are my favorite kind of clothes! I do not like being cold, but I think winter clothing is so great! I love how much you can do!! Scarves, mittens, hats, boots, jackets, sweaters, eatmuffs! The amount of accessorizing, mix and matching, and layering is unlimited. Oh I love it!

So that's it folks...I am going to have a better attitude about having to live in this Narnia.
Wish me luck in this endeavor cause some days it's gonna be dang hard to control my resentment for the cold.
Hopefully this 5th winter of mine will be better than the previous 4!
Peace out and Happy Winter!

i have sisters.

When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us? ~Pam Brown

So tonight I really should have been in bed over an hour ago. But alas....Facebook and Blogspot were invented so here I am. It's been a rough few weeks. I won't lie. School is drowning me, work is busy, boys are dumb, but mostly...my future is uncertain. And as much as I try to say I'm ok and I don't worry about it...I do. I worry about what is going to happen to me all the time. I really don't like not knowing where I will be a year from now. Anyways, I've been having one of those weeks where my worrisome nature gets the best of me when I'm by myself and have time to think. But tonight I went to my sister's blog and in her latest blog [which was not about me] there was a link to the blogs she had written about me. The one at the bottom of the page was written over a year ago on the day I broke off my engagement...hands down the worst day of my life. I did not follow Krista's blog then so I had never seen it before. But wow...it made my week. The compliments and kind things she shared lifted my spirits like none other. I think that's why God gave us sisters. Sisters have a certain element that no other relationship has. So thanks, Kris. Thanks a lot. My week will now go smoother because I know how much I am loved, appreciated, and looked up to.

I MET NIENIE!

Ok...so I am a total dork, but I am SOOOOOO excited I met her! Who is NieNie you ask? Well, if you don't know who she is, then you are missing out! She is one of the most incredible people in this world. Her life is amazing. Her name, NieNie, comes from her real name: stephaNIE NIElson. She became famous in the blogging world sometime ago because she just has a way with words and telling about her life, which sometimes seems too perfect. Who has that amazing of a husband? I mean, really? She always calls her husband "Mr. Nielson" and they have a love like in the movies. And they have 4 kids, who are all cute as a button. Nie loves her life. And she shares that zest for life with the bloggers. Anyways, last summer NieNie and Mr. Nielson were in a small plane crash, from which Mr. Nielson had to pull NieNie from the rubble. He was burned on about 30% of his body and NieNie was burned about 75% of her body. She was in a coma for 2 months. She pulled through though and is now trying to live life as normal as possible. It is very difficult sometimes. She obviously cannot do all the things she used to because her skin is so sensitive and hurts almost constantly. She has also had to get used to how she looks now. She was beautiful before and if you know her you still think she's gorgeous, even though she struggles with her image. She has most recently been on Oprah to talk about her experience and you better believe McKell and I were on the couch watching!

Anyway, Whitney and I talk about her all the time while working at Magleby's. Mr. Nielson came in a few weeks ago, which was most exciting. But, this week the real deal came in! When I saw her walking towards the door I about wet myself. Oh my gosh. The moment has come! I have wanted to meet her, but how the heck does that happen? Yes, she lives in Provo, but who knows where her house is and I most certainly am not going to stalk her even if I did know where her house was. And now here she was...walking towards me. She was wearing the same J Crewe cardigan sweater she wore while on Oprah and her hair was done cute. Her 2 little boys followed behind. She was meeting a friend for breakfast so she said hi to her and then came on walking to the register. She smiled and asked what was good to eat and what would be easy for her little boys to share. She got french toast for both her and her boys. I was so nervous the entire time. I have taken hundreds, no probably thousands, of people's orders at Magleby's, but this was the most epic yet! We have to ask for their name because we call their name out when their food is ready. But duh...i KNEW her name! I didn't need to ask. So like the dork I am I said, "Stephanie, right?" Her fairy like eyes lit up, she smiled, and said, "yes!" I can't believe I said this, but I said, "I'm sorry. That's probably weird I know that. And I feel like such a fool, but I feel like I'm meeting a celebrity." She just laughed and said, "oh you're too sweet. I am no celebrity." Oh NieNie...to me you are. haha. From there I swiped her card and we chatted for a few moments before she went to sit with her children and friends. I could not keep my eyes off of her though! I wanted to just stare at her and just watch how she is. She's positively angelic.

Whitney came in about 30 mins later. When she walked in I motioned her over and said "look at who is here...in the orange sweater!!" I shared and let Whitney have some interaction with her, so she got to give NieNie a to-go box. haha. It was a sad moment when NieNie left Magleby's. I felt like a better person from just being in the same room with her and watching her strength with my own 2 eyes. Read her blog. Seriously. Go back to the very beginning and read it. You'll be hooked and fall in love with her. I know I am.

nieniedialogues.blogspot.com

Man's Best Friend

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Kaycie. Kaycie was born 6 years after the previous child so because of that age gap, Heavenly Father knew she would need a companion when her older sisters had to go to school or had to go do "older" things like such sisters do. So at the ripe old age of 2, a 4th sister was brought in to the mix. A precious, adorable, pure bred, golden retriever puppy. Because of the family business she was named Matey. Ahoy. It was love at first sight for Kaycie and Matey. Maybe because they were both so small. Maybe because they both had golden hair. Maybe because they got along well. Whatever it was...they were destined to be best friends since the first day she was brought in to the Maurer household.


From then on Kaycie and Matey did everything together. Wherever Kaycie was, Matey was and vice versa. They played house together. They read books together. They ate the cat's food together. [it's true.] And they slept together because Kaycie had really cool parents who let the dog in the bed.


Since Kaycie was homeschooled from Kindergarten until 3rd grade, they were still able to spend lots of time together at home. Kaycie couldn't really use the excuse "my dog ate my homework" to the teacher cause A] the teacher was her mother and B] Matey didn't care for paper...unless there was candy or chocolate underneath. Like the one time Kaycie left her HUGE Halloween candy bag next to the couch when the family went to church and when they came back there were colorful wrappers all over the house and Matey pooped a variety of colors for a week. That statement "chocolate kills dogs" is not true.


There was also a time when Kaycie decided to cut Matey's hair. What had actually happened was Kaycie fell asleep laying on Matey's stomach with gum in her mouth. Kaycie had done that once before and got gum in her own hair. Her mother told her to never again fall asleep with gum, and since she had, she was too scared to tell her mom. So Kaycie took matters in to her own hands and played hairdresser. It did not turn out well. Mama Maurer was not happy, but at least she never knew about the gum...maybe. Until now.


Matey was always a happy dog. Always. Unless she saw another dog. Then all bets were off. She hated other dogs. She loved all humans. The family joke was: "If a robber came in the middle of the night, we would never know...unless he brought a dog with him." All jokes aside though, Matey was very protective of the family. Even when she thought other family members were threatening. Karly would play "superman" with Kaycie and lift her up on her feet. Kaycie would scream and laugh and scream, but sometimes Matey thought Karly was hurting Kaycie and would get very upset.


One thing that set Matey apart was her lack of brains. Not that she was stupid...but she was not your average dog. She flunked obedience school. Not just got a bad grade, but she completely failed out. When it was time for "stay", all the other dogs stayed in their spot while Matey happily bounded towards Mama Maurer. She was not one to be left behind. She hated when the family went anywhere and did not take her. Which is why she got brought to Grandma and Granddad's almost every Sunday for family dinner. She would stick her head out of the window on the 15 min drive and let her tongue flap in the wind. The guard at the neighborhood had treats for her and everyone loved her. Everyone.


Matey was not much of a retriever either. We're not quite sure where that "pure bred" blood went. We'd throw the ball and she would bring it back acting like she wanted to give it to you, but no. Just as you'd reach for it she would run away with a smile on her face. It'd take forever to get the tennis ball or squeaky newspaper [her favorite toys] to throw it again. It mostly became a game of "keep away" and running. Which was fine. The Maurer family was used to it. Another one of Matey's favorite games was going in circles, around and around the coffee table with Daddy. She would either run right behind him or run in opposite ways to sneak past him so he couldn't grab her squeaky. It was always quite the entertainment for the rest of the family. Matey was also famous for putting multiple tennis balls in her mouth at one time. The most she got in at one time was 4. One in very back, 2 in the cheeks, and one in the very front. Then she would bark. Obviously muffled, it always brought the family down in belly laughs. This is not Matey, but it looked something like this:


There are too many stories to tell about Miss Matey Maurer. She was the best dog in the world and she happened to stumble upon the right family that needed her in their lives. When Kaycie was a Junior in high school and 17 years old, Matey died. Matey almost passed away a few times in previous years, but she kept fighting because she loved her family too much to go. When she finally left this earth she was 15 years old and in her best friend's arms. Kaycie cried for weeks...and sometimes still cries today.


Dear Matey, I miss you. I miss you lots. It's been almost 6 years since you died, but it still makes me sad to think about you being gone. I miss you sneezing on me. I miss hearing you drink out of the toilet. I miss eating bologna and mustard with you. I miss the click of her nails on the wood floor. I miss rubbing the super soft hair behind your ears. I miss taking you on walks...or rather you taking me on walks. I miss you hogging the entire backseat in the car. I miss sharing popsicles with you. I miss laying on your tummy while I read. I miss jumping on the trampoline with you. I miss hitting you with the front door when we came home since you were always right there waiting. I miss watching your face when we fed you bananas, grapes, or lettuce. I miss you laying right in the middle of the hallway so you could see the bedroom doors of all family members in the night. I miss your bark and I miss your cry. I miss your friendship and I miss you just being there. You're the best dog in the world and I'll see you on the other side. I love you Matey.

d.a.d.

i have learned a lot about my co-workers in the last week.

co-workers at Magleby's that is...
i have known Tara for 3 years and Whitney for 1 year.
and little did i know until recently that their fathers had passed away.
Tara's dad died when she was 13 and Whitney's about 2 years ago. [i think that's right.]
wow.
that's all i could say was wow.
i was floored.

i just assumed this whole time whenever they would say "my mom" instead of "my parents" that their parents had split up.
it was amazing to me how they are now.
i mean...i know you can't mope around your whole life feeling like your life couldn't get any worse.
but it made me feel very ungrateful.
i don't think twice about being able to talk to my daddy.
i can do it whenever i want.
when i am home, i can sit in his lap.
when i am away, i can call him and listen to his voice.
i need to tell my daddy [and mama] that i love them more often.
i need to call them more.
i need to say thank you more.
i don't know if Tara or Whitney read this, but if you do...y'all are amazing and i really admire your strength.

and to my parents...i love y'all.
that's all i have to say.