Optimistic or bust

This is an "I'm on my soap box" blog. So if you don't want to read about me whining, then click away now.

I changed the hair - so it looked more like me...don't have the skills to change the outfit...but you get the idea!

I'm breathing today. One breath at a time. Its been an incredibly chaotic 5 days. Luckily the worst is out of the way and I'm forcing myself to stay positive.

As manager of my salon, I have to deal with hiring and firing....yuck. Hiring is a piece of cake. I enjoy that part of it, but having to let someone go, it torture. I'm sure you know where this is going, yes I had to let someone go last week. Well, I didn't personally, but my manager's manager drove in from out of state to deal with the situation in person. I'm grateful for that because I was about to throw up just thinking of what I would have to say.

I can't give many details, especially because I'd get fired. But I can stress my frustration of my staffing problems. For real, what is up? Since I've started there as manager (January 09) 7 people have come and gone!!! 7 people!!! Five of which left voluntarily pursuing other areas of their career, one left due to a mutual agreement and now one was let go! Its so aggravating to lose people and to be considered a salon with high turnover. I hate that phrase "high turnover." I've worked for the company 3+ years!!! Why does no one else have my same work ethic or stability?

Most of my customers are probably wondering what is wrong with me. They don't hear that my stylists left on their own. All they see is me, constantly under staffed and frustrated. Now I'm down to just 1 stylist. Just me and Megan. And since there is only 2 of us, my manager has asked me to cut the salon's hours! Oh my gosh I'm going to die. CUT THE HOURS?!?! I wanna make money, hello?? But I also don't want to work 72+ hours a week. There is nothing I can do at this point. I have hired someone that is starting on the 1st of September and I have one amazing stylist that, so far, is sticking with me through this whole mess.

I just get so frustrated with managing. Its not in me to be a leader. I'm a hardcore follower. Anyone read 'One Minute Manager?' Its brilliant!! Why can't I turn my life around or adapt different skills?

One of these days I'll figure it out. I'll get through this storm. Luckily I have amazing, positive people surrounding me. They pull me back to normal life and bring the cheerful side of me out again. I only have 1 choice in this matter. I'm not willing to give up; I'm not willing to back down; I can't make people stay in my salon. I can only be optimistic about the future. Positive thinking when I hire someone new. This could be another stylist with my same ambition. This could be a candidate to replace me one day.

I love doing hair. I love my salon. I love making clients happy and boosting their self esteem. I know I'm in the right business. So what can I do now to keep my salon successful and STAFFED!?!?! Any advice would be appreciated. I always feel like I go above and beyond for my girls. But I'm sure I need improvement somewhere.

My apology's go out to anyone I'm going to inconvenience over the next few weeks. My hours at the salon will be unpredictable and I'm going to miss out on certain important events. I've had to move around so many plans because my work schedule keeps changing. Your patience and understanding is VERY much appreciated. Handling my salon with just 2 of us there is a lot of work and so stressful/overwhelming. Err...

And to all of you who keep a smile on my face...thank you. A true smile is really a sigh of relief in my book. One breath at a time.

August = birthdays galore!

I have so many family members with birthdays in August. (And Andee's birthday is in the first week of September.) So basically we have a birthday party almost every weekend until after Labor day. But its all good! I love celebrating the lives of my family. I thought I'd write a little blurb about each of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First, JESSICA!!! Her 18th birthday was August 11th.

I just love the crap out of this girl. I mean really, every time I see her I can't help but smile. She is the epitome of silly, dorky, pretty & fun. She can make me laugh when I'm in a bad mood, cheer me up when I'm sad and comfort me when I'm stressed. Most of you know her and you all know what I'm talking about. I hardly ever see this girl in a bad mood.

She is a dedicated dancer; which makes spending time with her VERY difficult. You almost need to check with her coach before talking to her. But she loves, eats and sleeps Jordan Drill. I have nothing but the utmost respect for her and her dedication. Long practices, competitions, tight outfits, sore muscles and the endless kicking. I get exhausted just thinking about what a drill practice is like. I love watching her doing watch she loves most. Its so inspiring.

Jessica, my sweet, I love you dearly. You are my baby sister and my happiness. Thank you for always being there to put a huge smile on my face. Happy birthday!! I can't believe you're 18!!! Seriously, it makes me feel so old. I hope your day was wonderful and I can't wait to celebrate with you tomorrow. (Thanks for making time to go to breakfast with me on Friday...or should I thank Chandra??) :P

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Second there is KELLY (KJ). My sister Andee's husband. His 30th birthday is on the 25th.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KJ!! You're 30....wow...you're old!! ;)

This guy is another reason I smile all the time. So sarcastic and witty. We've had many good jokes!! He is a very motivated landscaper. Not only does he mow our lawn twice a week, he deals with trimming, cutting, clipping, weeding, poop scooping, decorating and trapping rats!! (Or coaching my Simon on how to catch rats!) I can't thank this guy enough for all he has done for our house. It looks so much better on the outside and really gives this place a "home" feeling. Thank you for keeping this place looking nice. Oh and thank you for dealing with my sister. She's a handful that one!! You're a patient man....(just teasing Andee!!!) Plus you agreed to buy a house with me, Andee's twin. Again, you're a very patient man. And thanks for cleaning up after my dogs - that's the biggest thanks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now there is my Dad and my nephew Dallin. Both born on August 31st...but MANY years apart! ;)

I wish I had more pics of him

DALLIN! He is Joe's Luke Skywalker. His padawan, his pupil, his apprentice. They share some of the same "gamer" passions and dreams. He's a smart kid that will definitely be inspired by technology. He loves playing with other kids and enjoys hanging out with little Jesse. They're always getting into trouble together. Dallin has always been such a sweet boy and he always gives me goodbye hugs.

Happy birthday Dallin...I'm sorry you have to share your day with my Dad. Your birthday will never be as important.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Which brings me to my Dad. Although his birthday is on the 31st, we start celebrating it after Jessica's and all the way to Andee's. (He truly believes the month of August is all about him.) Ask him where we're going to dinner...its his birthday, he decides. What movie are we going to see? Well whatever he wants...its his birthday! Hee hee.

DAD will be 55 this year. (Sorry for outing your age) I've always been a huge daddy's girl and he really does mean the world to me. Whenever I have a mathematical, geological, technical, or any other type of question, I know he's just a phone call away. I am so lucky to have a dad that can be so understanding and accepting - okay well most of the time! I know he loves me unconditionally, even though sometimes I disappoint. He is proud of my career choice, husband choice and life choice. Whether it was the life he wanted for me or not, I know he's proud nonetheless.

You all know "Uncle Al the Kiddies Pal!" He's always been great with kids. Laughing, spoiling, teaching, frustrating and guiding! My dad has done SO MUCH for me over the years. I'm grateful to have such a supporting figure in my life. Even though he can be extremely ornery sometimes and constantly inquisitive..."What? What's going on?" "What's happening?" He still is a great role model. Luckily I married a man very similar to my dad. Both logical thinkers (lucky me!) Both dorky, nerdy and fascinated by anything sci-fi. They're big Trekkers too. I love it though. I get my time with Nancy and Joe gets his time with my dad. Its a perfect situation!!

Happy birthday Dad. Your month long birthday celebration has officially started. Although I celebrate you every day! NO TIME!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, those are the 4 birthdays in August. (It doesn't seem like a lot, but considering its the only month we celebrate more than 2 people, it gets hectic trying to plan parties) But each of these people mean so much to me, in so many different ways. My sister, brother-in-law, nephew and dad. I appreciate each of you and really want you to know that I am celebrating you. Happy birthday guys!!! **** I also want to give a shout out to everyone else who has a birthday in August. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I have some friends and Joe has a niece who were also born this month - hope your birthdays were and will be great!!! ****

P.S. Sorry Andee, technically you're a September baby and will have to wait for that September post. Even though your birthday is thrown into the "August chaos of celebration," I'll dedicate a post just for you. Love you Smalls!!!

PINE VALLEY!!!

Oh I'm so excited for this coming weekend. My family is headed down to Pine Valley, Utah. (Kinda in the mountains between Cedar City & St. George) Its just gorgeous down there and I have so many memories from that little place. Its been a annual tradition in my family to go down every 24th of July. Of course as we've all gotten older, its harder to make it down there EVERY year, but we try! My dad's side of the family are part of this tradition and I'm very excited to see family I haven't seen in a long time.

Its going to be beautiful weather, lots of fun & games, plus peaceful time in the breath taking valley. I'm making a stop in Enterprise of course to see my Aunt & Uncle and I'm attending a wedding in St. George for my buddy Travis. Plus we're doing family photos and going to Tuacahn!

What a perfect way to spend my weekend. My ENTIRE family will be going and some of my cousins I can't wait to see. Yay for Pine Valley! We're leaving Thursday night, so I'll post some pics when we return.

Here's the church. Just seeing this photo,

my whole childhood flashes in front of me.

This is the Pine Valley reservoir.

Everyone will be fishin' at some point. Isn't it beautiful??

The Cox kiddos

Okay this blog is mainly pictures. But they were so fun, I had to share.

We had a "birthday picnic" for my mom's birthday tonight at the West Jordan Veterans park. We all brought our own meals, spread out a blanket & had a good time. My brother Chad wanted to go back to the hospital to see Kelsey and my mom & Kelly went along. After Kalie & her family went home, we stayed and played. KJ and Joe played Frisbee, while Andee & I took Garrett, Lauren and Caleb all throughout the playgrounds. Man we were exhausted. But we had such a good time and got to take some silly photos in the process.

That Lauren is such a ham. Anytime a camera shows up, she either wants to take the picture or decide what faces we get to make.

These kids are just a blast to hang out with. Enjoy our silliness!!! (sorry, there's a bunch of pictures. I hate slide shows...they take too long to download!)

LAUREN!!!

Aww, cute girlies

Silly face!

Lauren wanted us to do "scary" faces....we tried, okay?

With Lauren behind the camera we tried scary faces again. It worked, I'm scared.

Lauren is quite the photographer. We're center & everything.

CALEB!!!

He wouldn't smile.

He made my ride along. Yeah, my legs hurt from trying to keep myself up! Not an adult toy.

Caleb took a turn taking photos. He's still learning!

GARRETT!!!

(he didn't want his picture taken, so this is all we got)

We got Popsicles from the ice cream man.

This is supposed to be Dora?!?!

And Spongebob. Wow, they should really work on those!! hee hee

And of course pictures of me & Andee. Lauren is the best

photographer. She picked the faces!!

What a good night. Thanks Chad & Amanda for letting us be apart of their lives this week. Its been a blessing to get to know them and share in their joys. We're serious about the BIG sleepover. When Kelsey's better its gonna be a part-TAY at the Blackstroms!! We love the Cox Family!!!

Kelsey

My sweet niece's condition is progressing in the positive. I was delighted when I heard good news today. I was over at my brothers watching their kids today and I was lucky enough to be there when Amanda returned from the hospital.

They have taken Kelsey off her paralysis medication and have taken out the machine that was pumping her blood. She started moving her fingers and toes, even tried opening her eyes!!! Amanda said she was holding her hand and felt a squeeze!!

I know it isn't a full recovery, but its such a relief to hear she's reacting well to her antibiotics and possibly moving her extremities. There is more to come and I'm anxiously waiting. I just can't wait for the day where I can sit and talk to her again. They are going to keep her sedated and on a ventilator (sp?) to help her lungs. So its still a waiting game.

Chad & Amanda have stayed so strong through this ordeal and I admire them so much. It was an honor to help them out today. Their kids are a blast to play with. I had my nephew Jesse as well and him & Caleb were ALL over the place. Lauren stayed close by me and loved hide-n-seek. Garrett is the "man" of them all and enjoyed his senority! We played out in the water and he had the best aim with his water gun...the other kids really enjoyed that!

I love those guys!! Thank you Chad & Amanda for letting me come to your home just to "hang" all day. It was a good day.

Kalie posted about Kelsey today as well and it inspired me to share some cute pics. I have an adorable niece - such a teenager! I'm anxious for the future and only hope it continues to stay positive. Good luck Kelsey, stay strong! LOVE YOU!!!

My mom and Kelsey at "Love Bunco 2005"

This was at Andee's bridal shower. She "stuffed!"

Her "self portrait" face

(Plus her new haircut. That was a fun day!)

She's so stylish, I love it!

June is over...Wait, what???

I can't believe it has been 4 weeks since my last blog. That is so unlike me. I'm a weekly blogger. I guess I felt nothing in my life was "blog worthy." Well I'll play a little catch up.

June...well let's see. I worked. Changes were made at work that has required some adjustments. Um, Father's Day came around. Celebrated with my dad and family. Then the last weekend in June my family went camping up at Strawberry. My first camp out of the year. We had a good time, lots of card games and Scrabble. I got dirty, didn't shower for 2 days and was eaten alive by mosquitoes. (Not my idea of a good time, but my sisters made it fun!!)

Okay what a good catch up. That small paragraph was my life in June. See now why I didn't blog?

Now we're in July and so many things have happened that are blog worthy. First, my 13 yr old niece, Kelsey. Unfortunately she got real sick last week and is currently in the PICU up at Primary Children's Hospital. She is progressing, thank heavens. She was put in a medically induced coma last Friday so they could do some extreme blood work and she'll stay in that state for a few more days. I was able to go up and see her with my sisters and parents yesterday. It was so hard to see that poor girl surrounded by all this intense machinery and tubes coming out of everywhere. I just felt so helpless. I made her a silly fleece blanket in her favorite color, pink. It seems like my efforts to make her feel comfortable are useless, since she's in a coma, but it sure looks warm and comfy on her lap.

Read more about her condition on my sister-in-laws blog. They have been posting updates about her progress and information about what happened as well. Please read. They can explain it better than I ever could. www.twogetherfourever.blogspot.com

We are praying for her and trying to help Chad and Amanda out as much as possible. She's a sweet little angel that doesn't deserve this heartache. I can only hope things get better and she won't be in that dreaded hospital much longer. She's got a long road ahead of her.

Of course Independence Day was last weekend. Friday night my sister Jessica, performed at the Real Salt Lake game with her drill team. So we all got to watch the soccer game, awesome half-time events, David Osmond sing and the fireworks show. I didn't watch much of the fireworks, because Kalie and I were too busy watching this little guy, my newphew Jesse.

Mouth open and everything. Man he's cute!!!

Saturday I had to work for a little bit, but I met up with my Dad & Nancy afterwards to go to the South Towne/Sandy annual parade. Lots of candy and water guns. Pretty fun. Then we had dinner together and separated to go to different firework events. Joe and I met up with our friends Alex & Haliee and saw the West Jordan show. A little sad and disappointing. The show started 15 minutes late and only lasted a short 13 minutes. Kind of a bummer, but good conversation took away from the disappointment.

Then yesterday was full of excitement. Joe and I had breakfast with Ciara, Mitch and their adorable little Evie. So nice to catch-up and laugh together. We need to do that more often C!! Then it was up to the hospital to spend some time with Kelsey and her parents. After bawling my eyes out, it was time to head back home and prep for a get together I was planning with more friends. Joe cleaned up the backyard deck and I bought party lights!!! We had a good time.

So there it is. Today is the 6th of July and already more excited than June. We have a trip down to Pine Valley with the Snow fam over the 24th weekend. We're gonna do family photos, so the WHOLE Snow Clan is going down. Kalie & Jesse and Robyn & Jarron. We're excited to have their families enjoy our traditions.

Hopefully more blogs to come. Come on Elizabeth, hop on my band wagon!!

Happy Birthday Moffitt!!!

This post has taken forever to get up - many computer problems. But I literally have 1 minute before today is over and this HAS to post. Errors and all.

Today is my friend Elizabeth's birthday. The big 25!! I just wanted to put together a blog as a tribute to her and our friendship over the past five years. And of course, I have pictures!!

Elizabeth and I met in beauty school and were a hit from the very beginning. Our friendship has outlasted every single one of our beauty school friends. (I only remember a select few!) Beauty school was a blast on its own, but Elizabeth really made it overly exciting. We were also friends with another Elizabeth, so with two Elizabeth's around I had to uncomplicate things and I started calling this Elizabeth by her last name, Moffitt.  Most of my family STILL call her that, even though she is now married and never uses her maiden name. In fact I think there are a few in my family that don't know her real name - my bad! Although I've tried to get rid of that habit, I'll always know this sweet woman as Moffitt.

Man we had some good times in school.  Many lunches on Saturdays at Chili's (where we became Soda Sisters), many theory classes we slept through or never made it to because we couldn't get out of bed!! Many hours of goofing around when we should have been perming those mannequins! Plus all the jokes and laughter we had with fellows students and our favorite instructors, Ruby and Myra. 

Although we lost a few friends after we moved on from school. Liz, Amber and Grace...bummer. I stole Moffitt away from Grace...and let's just say she wasn't too "gracious" about it! Hee hee. We still have good memories.  Like this picture was taken at my surprise engagment celebration. These girls made breakfast for me to celebrate my engagement, although I didn't notice the big sign CONGRATULATIONS ERICA & JOE hanging on the wall for almost 30 mintues!!! I was a little dense.  But here we are, playing with the camera. 

Here is Liz, Moffitt, Amber and Me! We always had such a good time.

Elizabeth was also there for me when I was planning my wedding. Dress shopping, cake tasting, reception center hunting. She was fabulous!! She was my right hand man and really got me through the tough decisions. Nancy, Elizabeth and I had such a blast with all the little details. I couldn't have done it without her. Thank you Elizabeth!! Even though it wasn't your job or your duty, you never complained when I wanted to talk wedding stuff and gush about how excited I was. You were just amazing!!

Here we are on my special day! Man we've changed since then!

And these are my girls. Ciara, Chandra and Elizabeth. They took me out to breakfast before my wedding.

Over the course of our friendship, she has really become a part of my family as well. Either I pick good friends or my family is just freakin' awesome, because they've always excepted my friends like family. Chandra, Ciara and now Moffitt have just fit right in with my family. All the bridal showers, baby showers, fiestas or just for fun, they've always been included. Here are a few of our famous self portraits!

This is us at Andee's bridal shower

Midnight showing of Twilight!

On my birthday at the tattoo place

We have changed so much over the past 5 years, but we've stayed such close friends. I can only hope our friendship just continues and continues. We meet for lunch every Monday and continue our Chili's tradition from back in beauty school. I love our Monday adventures. Chili's and ROSS!!  Plus we've shared friends as well. I've come to know all of her childhood friends and I've been lucky enough to be included in their lives as well. Weddings, birthdays, girl outings. They are a lot of fun and I'm excited I get to share them too.

Well Elizabeth, I hope you know how much I love you. I can't tell you how many times you have been there for me...even just listening. Which you do A LOT of, because I'm always gabbing!! Thank you for being such a great friend. We've had some good times for sure.

Happy birthday friend. I hope you had fun at the Bee's game with everyone and I hope you enjoyed your day. I can't wait to celebrate with you on our Monday. LOVE YA!!!