Impromptu birthday celebration

We haven't seen Matt & Carrie since New Year's. And her & I were on the phone yesterday & we decided that we needed to get together. And since B-rad's birthday is coming up - we thought we'd be nice (normally Carrie & I make the plans & the guys are just along for the ride!) & ask him what he might wanna do for his birthday. He said, "go out to eat & go bowling."

So we ventured to the far-away land of Taylorsville Road. Matt said they had a really nice bowling alley there. We ate at Buffalo Wild Wings first.

And since there was snow - Brad decided to torment Carrie with it.
He got her after we ate...

And he got her again when we got to the bowling alley.

We went to KingPin to bowl. It was really nice inside. And perhaps the best part?! It's NO SMOKING! Which means when you leave, every article of clothing you are wearing & your hair doesn't smell like a cigarette!! We had to wait for a lane to come open. So the boys decided to race motorcyles. (Matt has a Harley & of course you know about B-rad's bikes.)

I was cracking up watching them lean away from each other, then towards each other.

Time to bowl! It's hard to tell who everybody is because all the pics are from the back! That's Matt's butt...

Carrie's butt...

My butt...
Brad's butt.Carrie's parents have a group of friends that all hang together. There are like 8 of them. And unfortunately, 1 of the ladies passed this week. And her memorial service was yesterday. Carrie said it was really sad to see her mom so upset about losing a friend she's had for 30 years. That made Carrie & I appreciate each other even more. It's hard to find great friends that stick with you forever.

Of course, Matt sees the situation a little differently. He says that after seeing Carrie's parents so upset - he's decided he doesn't wanna have to deal with that pain in 30 years when we start dropping off. So he said it was good to spend time together...for the last time...And I don't like to brag - but I think in this pic Matt's pointing at the scores because I won the first game. But this is funny because I suck as a bowler. Really - I'm NO good. And it must've been beginners luck because I lost the 2 games after that.

What a difference a year makes!

Last year on this exact day all the wonderful technologies in our home that require electricity went dark. And they stayed dark for 7 long, agonizing days.
A ice storm hit in the morning & by 9:00 am - there were no comforting "hummmms" from various appliances in our home sucking down the gold that I like to call electricity.

And I never dreamed we would be without the common conveniences in life (not to mention HEAT) for 7 days.

And we had to depend on the kindness of others for those pesky creature comforts like hot meals & laundry.

Every day I became more & more desperate. Call me spoiled, but I can only HOPE you never have to endure the hell that we went through. Heating a pan of water on the kerosene heater to brush your teeth & wash your face?! No clocks?! No tv?! (oh the humanity!). No hot meals?!

We did have kerosene for heat. And you can't leave those things running unattended. The house got down to 50 degrees during the day. And when you get home from work - ya gotta fire up the kerosene. And it ain't instantaneous people - these things take time. And by bed time - our home was back to a manageable temperature. Usually 65-68 degrees.

And my smart hubby got the generator hooked up. So his poor wifey could have tv so she didn't go TOTALLY insane. However - the generator can only run so much at a time & not get over loaded. Like my tv... & that's it. I do have my priorities...We have a well that provides water. And no electric means no pump to pull the water from the depths of the earth. And it also means no hot water.

But again - my B-rad came through. We would shut off everything (including my bff the tv) to allow the generator to use all its abilities (& a full tank of gas) to heat the water. Then he'd shut the hot water heater off & turn on the well pump so we could take showers. And I was giddy from the thought of a hot shower. Alas, I got sloppy. And forgot that when he was heating water you can't run anything else. I forgot that I couldn't flush the toilet at the same time (how dare I?!) . It was too much for the generator & it shut down & B-rad yelled at me. Sniff, sniff... Rookie mistake...

Brad's birthday is Feb. 1st. And we were still without power that day. We didn't do anything for his birthday. We missed a superbowl party. I just wish that I would've been blogging back then. It would have been a wonderful outlet for my rage & desperation! (No worries - I took my laptop other places & stole their electric to charge the battery. I would've been fine...)

Premier rally!

So I spent the weekend in Columbus, Ohio for Premiers regional conference. There were 15 of us here locally that went together. And trying to keep that many ladies together was a chore. But my Premier mom, Brenda, had an excellent idea. She bought some cardboard hearts & some wooden dowell rods. And we made signs. Not only to use so we could all see each other - but also to get attention from the Premier people so they would take our pic & put it in the newsletter they send out!

Thursday night after we arrived, everyone went into one room & we got started. Brenda's being silly & she hadn't even had anything to drink... I had 2 jobs. #1- I held the ribbon in my hands while another lady strung it. We eventually cut them in half & then curled them to attach to the rods.
My second job was to write cute little sayings about Premier on the hearts with a black marker.

The finished product. This was Friday morning before everything got started.

Obviously I had no clue what to expect because I was a Premier rally virgin. But I quickly learned that Premier does NOT mess around. Everything was top of the line! We had trainings on Friday & Saturday. But of course, they made it fun & it wasn't like we were sitting down taking notes all day. They'd give away prizes & people would sing & stuff like that.

This guy was called, "Mr. Celebration." Before each session would start he would go up front & they would draw jeweler numbers & give away 50 & 100 dollar bills. No lie. I can't imagine how much money in prizes, gift cards, jewelry, etc they gave away! I would say tens of thousand of dollars! And NO, I didn't win a dang thing!

Premier is also big on "recognition". And they have goals in place for jewelers. And when you obtain those goals, you get recognized by either getting certificates for jewelry or pins or something. In addition to that, you get to walk your happy bootie out on stage (& senior leaders are on stage giving you five & telling you, "good job!") during Rally & your name scrolls on the screen. And guess who got to march her happy bootie out on that stage - twice?! Yup - ME!! (And you'll just have to take my word for it because I don't have any pics on my camera 'cuz I was on stage - duh! But other people took my pic. If I can get somebody to send me some - I'll post them for ya!)

The first time was because within my first 45 days in Premier, I had 9 home shows. And I got a certificate to purchase $300 in jewelry. The second thing was for being a member of the "home show club". And there are different levels you can earn. Right now I'm in the "25 home show club". I had 25 home shows in a 120 consecutive day period. There were other people there that were in the "200 home show club." Cut me some slack people, I've only been in 6 months!

One of the most exciting parts is when they introduce the new spring/summer collection on Friday afternoon. After they show us each piece on the big screens, they have several stations set up so that ladies can get a closer look at it. But our group is lucky because Brenda pre-orders the whole entire line. So there was a box with her name on it waiting for her. (AND-speaking of prizes again- they gave away several entire lines that afternoon... & one of our ladies won it! We were all screaming & jumping up & down for her. That's worth about $2000 right there!!!!) So Friday night we all got to play in the new jewelry!

Friday night they had a 25th anniversary celebration party for us. And when we came up to the escalators & looked down - this is what we saw.

All these people waiting to get into the party just like us!

There was a band & they had cupcakes & punch!

Dancing!

And of course - this party was where they gave away all the stuff I mentioned in my previous post. So this was after Rose stole, er I mean WON, my Coach bag. Everyone wanted to get their pic with her. Please look closely at my face. How funny am I?!This was Saturday morning before the sessions that day. And I must tell you. I was exhausted. I don't sleep well away from home plus we had gotten up at 5:30 that morning! Yikes!

THIS was the part I was looking most forward to. The founders of Premier, Andy & Joan Horner, spoke live & in living color!

And I must tell you. They seemed like the most down to earth people. They each spoke to us.

And they didn't talk about selling jewelry. They didn't talk about making money. They talked about serving others. And enriching others' lives. And the biblical principles they founded Premier on.

And I was truly inspired. I mean, of course I've heard the philosophy of Premier. And I've heard their views on business. But to actually HEAR the people who founded the company 25 years ago when they were in their 60's & already millionaires? And to have their son (who is now the President) read us a letter from 25 years ago his dad wrote to him & his brother explaining WHY they wanted to start this company? I'm tellin' ya - they are the real deal. And I am proud to be involved with such an organization!

(And now I can't wait for National Rally in Texas in July! I may have to sleep a solid week leading up to it because they say it's non-stop for 4 days. And prizes? Well - they are giving away a C-A-R everyday! Maybe I can set my hopes only to be crushed again?!)

No, I did NOT win that stupid Coach bag...

I'm back from my big adventure safe & sound. And I had a GREAT time. And I will share those stories with you in a post later.

But I know you've been on pins & needles wondering if I won a Coach bag. Well, N-O I did not. BUT - a girl from our group did! Premier had a 25th annivesary party for us Friday night. And there were a TON of prizes. Ipods, laptops, gift cards, gps's (& yes - they gave away more than 1 of everything.)

So we're standing in the back of the room & they draw for the prize & read your jeweler number then your name. Rose & I were standing next to each other. And we had a deal. She was gonna win the bag & I was gonna win the laptop & we'd switch. Sounds easy enough, right?! Well, they read off the jeweler number (& of course, I don't know all our peoples numbers...), then they said, "Rose Honaker!" And I looked over at her & she was air-born!! She was jumping up & down & we were ALL screaming! She ran down & got her prize!

Please loyal stalkers, don't be sad

I have disturbing news. Now, please, brace yourselves...

I am going outta town & won't be home until Sunday so you will not hear from me until probably the first of next week. I will pause for gasps...

Ok! So - here's what's up! I have official jewelry business coming up this weekend in Columbus, Ohio. (Please don't get any bright ideas about coming here & breaking into our house - B-rad will be home & he will shoot you...)

So I've been sick since Sunday evening. My chest was really tight & I just figured that being around all those old musty toys at the Farm Toy Show Saturday just triggered my asthma. So I took a few hits off of my inhaler & thought I'd magically get better. Wrong.

Monday it got worse & I had a terribly bad, dry cough. I felt like crap when I got home. I couldn't get warm & just laid around on the couch. I woke up in the middle of the night with a low grade fever. I took some Advil, got hardly any sleep & decided I was going to the doctor because I didn't wanna be sick while I was out of town.

So the Doctor diagnosed me with Bronchitis & he gave me a z-pack & some yummy cough syrup & I am now on the road to recovery. Not quite there yet - but definately movin' down the road...

So more about the official jewelry business - it's Premier's Regional Rally. And new jewelry will be introduced. And they are going to give away prizes ( & ya'll know I love free stuff! If it's free - it's for me!) And I need you, my loyal stalkers, to send happy thoughts my way 'cuz one of the things they are giving away is a Coach handbag. Um - if there's one thing in this world that I love - it's handbags. And although I don't have a Coach bag (are you kidding? The prices on those things are ridic-u-lous!), I am hella excited about the mere prospect of winning one!

And if I DO win - I will TOTALLY share custody of it with you. I promise. But I'm a jewelry lady - I don't make deliveries. So if you would like custody for the weekend or one weeknight - you gotta come out to the sticks to pick it up yourself. Mmmmkay?!

I was a Hibachi grill virgin

My buddy, Alicia, had a birthday last Monday. And apparently their schedules were pretty busy because they couldn't celebrate until this past weekend.

I got an email from her that said that they were all going out to Tomo for her birthday & she'd love (yes, she said L-O-V-E) for us to come! Ummm, well - uh, I couldn't respond right away because I didn't know if I would eat anything on the menu! I'm not a seafood person - at all! So I did some investigation & found out that it was a Hibachi grill & it was really fun & that they served dead cow & dead chicken so I was set (I was worried it was raw, dead fish!) So I emailed her back (& yes - I told her all that above - have you MET me?!) & said we'd L-O-V-E to come!

The birthday girl doing what she does best - talk! (No shame in her game! - I'm the SAME way!) Me & B-rad

The fire was SO cool!
Alicia has SO many people that love her that we had to sit around 2, count 'em 2, hibachi grills. Our guy didn't do as many tricks as their guy - but hey - she's the birthday girl - she deserved the tricks!

A mountain of rice with the biggest slab of butter I've ever seen!

Daniel sold me out & told them I had never been there before so they let me (attempt) to throw eggs in his hat. I think he had a crush on Meredith 'cuz he let her throw one too. We both missed!

He dropped his jar of eggs on the floor beside me! He made a bigger mess than we did!

Alicia's guy gave her a plate full of egg shells for her dinner!

And my guy asked if I was the birthday girls sister. I said, "No, but do we look alike?!" He said, "Oh yea!" I said, "I'll take that as a compliment!" Then he called me 'pretty girl' the rest of the night! O, be still my heart...

This is the whole crew. Now ya see why we had to have 2 grills?!

Thanks for inviting us & letting us share in your birthday celebration! We had a lot of fun & the food was wonderful!!!