Russ is amazing!

So tonight Russ threw a party at his new store location for all Apple
employees. (He invited The Shops of Mission Viejo, Fashion Island,
South Coast Plaza, and the Spectrum Apple store employees to come.) I
was able to come towards the end of the night, and the party was
hopping! He gave away free shields and laser engravings and the
employees were loving it! What a great idea! He is such an awesome
entreprenuer and I am so proud of him! :)

The Garage Sale Junkies week two.

Garage sale season has officially begun! I didnt write about last week
because i went by myself and didnt find too much. I think Russ is a
lucky charm. So yesterday russ and I went to a couple community
garage sales... And we scored. :) I'm totally excited about all 9
seasons of king of queens we found new, never opened for $60. On eBay
they're retailing for $100 to $225.00 for the set. We love the show
and have been talking about downloading all of the seasons for
years... So I think were going to watch them before we sell them...

I also found a whole bunch of books, a brand new blanket and really
cool bowl. Yesterday was a successful garage selling day!

Fuming against Lane Bryant

So I just spent that last hour and a half writing my story and then posting it on RipOff Report and LA.BBB.org.  I'm also preparing  a letter to send to Lane Bryant.... and I will also be contacting the credit agencies on Monday.  

I haven't been taken advantage of in a long time.  A very long time.... where I felt like someone purposely did something against my will for no reason.  

And now, comes the repercussion.  They didn't know who they were dealing with....  Here's what happened... let me know what you think.... has someone ever done this to you? Was I just naive?  Augghhh.... I can't believe what happened!

     Let me preface this by stating that I NEVER SIGNED anything stating that I wanted an open line of credit for Lane Braynt.  I was scammed by the sales representative into applying for a card by falsely representing the terms and conditions.

     I went into the Shops of Mission Viejo Mall today for my first time to visit Layne Bryant.  My friend, Casey, had been talking up the store saying what a great place it was to get business clothing.  We had been planning to go for a week because she received a coupon in the mail for a discount off of a purchase. 

      When we arrived, we were met with some great service representatives who measured me and helped me find the right clothing.  The shopping experience in the store was a lot of fun.  One service representative came up to us about three times asking if we wanted to sign up for a Layne Bryant card. My friend already had one, and I said I might be interested.  She kept asking if she could have my credit card so she could start the process.  I told her twice that if I found something I liked, I would consider it.  Within an hour,  I found several items and was ready to check out.

     The same rep who had asked me several time about the card, was at the register and I asked her to see if she had a specific pant size available. She said she would look online.  When I approached the register she had already rung up my other items and was waiting for me.  My friend also had a dress that she was going to buy.  My friend asked if we could use the coupon on both of our purchases. The sales rep then said—“I’ll tell you what, if you try to see if you are approved for a Layne Bryant card, I’ll give you 20% off, and I’ll let both of you guys use the coupon for your purchases.”  I then proceeded to tell her that I would have to talk to my husband about registering for a new line of credit before doing anything. 

      She then said, “Well you don’t have to accept the card. All I’ll do is see if you could have an open line of credit, and you’ll get 20% off of the purchase and both of you can use the coupon if you just give me your information.”  I asked her again if it would be an open line of credit and she said “No, all I need to do it put in your application, nothing will open if you don’t want it to.”  I didn’t see anything wrong with that—she made it sound like all she needed was an application, and nothing would happen—so I gave her my credit card, my social security number, and my address. 

     All of a sudden she hands me these terms and conditions along with a receipt saying, “you were approved, your line of credit is $300.00.  Congratulations! Do you want to put this on your new card?” 

      I was so taken aback that I said, “What do you mean I have a line of credit?  I thought I was just giving you an application, you said I could decline the card if I didn’t want it, all you were going to do was see if I was able to open a card or not.” 

      She said, “I’m sorry, but you were approved, so it just put you through and gave you a card, look at the receipt, here are your terms and conditions.”  I didn’t know what to say, I was flabbergasted.

     I then said “you just totally tricked me so you could sign up someone on a new card.  You totally lied to me.” 

      She just smiled and said, “I told you, you would be getting a card.” I couldn’t believe that she totally lied to me! 

      I couldn’t believe how I was taken advantage of.  My pleasurable shopping experience turned completely negative and I felt so helpless that someone would take advantage of me my credit like that.  My friend started to argue with her as well and was trying to ask her why she totally just lied to us and then did exactly what I told her I didn’t want her to do.  I looked to the other sales reps for help, but they just looked at me with pity… I couldn’t believe it!

      I started to argue with her again and said, “I don’t want a line of credit, can you please undo what you just did?” 

     The representative said, “Sorry, I can’t do anything anymore, you’ll have to do what ever it says on the terms and conditions.” 

     I said, “What do you mean?  You didn’t even explain to me how the card or the whole program worked.”  She then said “sorry, but you’ll have to contact your credit agency or the company, but there is nothing I can do”.  

       My friend was so disgusted by the whole thing that she handed the dress back and said “I won’t shop at a company that takes advantage and tricks people. You’ve lost my business.”  We walked off fuming.

 I NEVER SIGNED anything stating that I wanted her to run my credit, nor did I sign anything stating that I wanted a card or a line of credit open at this company.  I was scammed by the sales representative into applying for a card by falsely representing the terms and conditions.

      I couldn’t believe how horrible the situation was! I hope they don’t scam other shoppers like me. 

..................

So what do you think? Was I scammed? Or taken advantage of?  Man!!! I'm still so upset about it!

 

 

The PT cruiser has it's own rally race pit crew

So after a solid victory on the rally race circuit of Provo airport
with my awesome navigator (chris williamson with his iPhone) we had to
have the pit crew swap out a blow out( I guess you can call the tire
completly seperated from the wheel that)
We passed a jeep like it was standing still and made it first
across the finish line
PT cruiser FTW

And the office musical...

And this one is from Heathers blog.... for those of you who love The Office... you'll love this!!!

thanks for making my day rachel!!!

Rachel posted on her blog and it made me laugh so hard, that I had to share it on mine!!!

I think Baxters selling himself too short.

So I've been working on the magazine, organizing, and cleaning this
weekend while Russ has been gone. Baxter was helping me organize the
"art" room when I looked down and saw this. I had a good laugh!

The Cinderella Pact--A great read!

The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! I was totally into it! The story line was fun and even though there were several morals to the story-- something I took from it is don't be scared to be who you are, live life to the fullest by basking in good friendships, family experiences, and romance and everything else will fall into place. I loved this book so much, I'm going to post it on my blog! :)

View all my reviews.

Boats and H---s

Boats and Hoes...this is in commeration of the greatest music video ever made....PRESTIGE WORLWIDE..

this video was made in international waters and therefore is exempt from all copyright infringment.

<

Sister Act

Not the best picture of me... But I just said bless you to this
sneezing nun behind me. I thought it was pretty funny. She must not
have thought so because she moved down a seat after it happened. Russ
took this picture incognito.

Happy Valentines day!

Russ spoiled me with flowers and chocolates. And I decided to see what
500 heart shaped post its would look like on his car. The theme? Love
is blind. For those of u who know Russ and how he drives, you'll
understand. Happy Valentines Day to everyone!

Never Stick Your Finger Up Russ' Nose..... NEVER EVER...

So I should have realized it was not a good idea.... 

Especially knowing who I was doing it to.

I learned my lesson the hard way.....

We had just taken some family pictures and we were "supposed to do a goofy shot." I thought it would be funny if I made a funny face and stuck my finger up Russ' nose.  I really didn't plan on putting it in, but it all happened so quickly and I made the mistake of going somewhat inside of his nose.  His reaction?  Of corse to blow a snot rocket as hard as he could on my finger.   My reaction?  First, it was of shock (I mean who does that... I mean really!), then it was of laughter,  and then it was of amazement that nothing got on my finger.  Brian caught the whole thing with his camera......  pretty funny pictures. 

catching up

By the way... Russ did these posts today... not me! :)  I think he got a little bored in church... the lesson was "Why You Need It" "How Can You Get It" and he and Brother Roll went a little crazy making jokes in the back....  the class thought it was pretty funny! :)  

Sorry if I've disappeared for the past few weeks.  Our company finally made the big move yesterday.  Over the last three weeks I've put in an extra 40 hours of work--which I'm going to use for vacation to Hawaii next week.  But this week will consist of unpacking the office and making sure we have everything we need.  It's been a little stressful and I'll be so glad to board the plane next week to re-cooperate.    

On another note, the last few weeks have been a lot of fun. I got to meet my future sister-in-law Carly--who is absolutely amazing.  I feel like Alice in Midnight Sun (the book that Stephenie Meyer has half-way written from Edwards perspective), who just knows that she is going to be best friends with Bella for the rest of her life, but doesn't want to too overwhelm her.  I just know Carly and I are going to get a long so well!!!  She and Scott are hoping to move down to CA after the wedding so it will be so much fun to have them so close!   

They came down with Brian and Cathy last weekend for Heather & Cody's wedding--which was beautiful!  Last weekend was 80 degree weather with crystal blue skies, and we got to be in Los Angeles and in Palmdale.... and on Sunday we had a beach day (Russ, Scott, Carly, and Brian all went in the ocean, but Cathy, Desiree, and I knew better... and didn't want to attempt the 50-some-odd degree waves :))  It was so much fun to have family and friends around.  

This weekend Amelia and GJ came down to visit. We showed them the new place went to Avila's El Rancherita, saw some pretty interesting shops in the ghetto part of Lake Forest (there are some pretty crazy places around that restaurant, don't believe me... go check it out), showed them Russ' store at the Spectrum, and then hung out and chatted the night away.  It was lots of laughs... we've really missed them and hope they move down this way eventually too!!!  I must say the low part of the night was when Russ e-braked the rental car (his car is in the shop again) and I slammed my head into the side window--I smacked Russ on the head and started yelling at him because I seriously was holding the back the tears from the hit... I felt really bad later because I really freaked out in front of them... oh well.... sorry guys! :)  

Tonight we played Euchre with my parents after my mom's famous pineapple ham.  We had a lot of laughs....You'll have to ask my dad what he thinks Carnation Light Whip Creme tastes like... and don't forget to have him act it out with the can, pretty funny stuff.   Even though my dad and I (we were a team) lost to my mom and Russ,  it was so nice to relax and get ready for this upcoming busy week! 

Sleeping Beauty

This is how we sleep with Baxter. Sometimes well find a paw on our
head or he'll lay between us on his back with paws up. This is how I
caught him this morning while debbie was still sleeping.

Self portrait of root canal

The best church lesson ever

So I going into the Sunday school the heavens were lifted and what was
written on the board I though or sure was delivered by angels.

The two columns read....

Why we need it......

How we get it......

I though to myself that the sex gods must gave descended upon the town
of mission Viejo to grant unto me, one of their humble followers the
greatest of all knowledges. Why we need it and how we get it.

.........5 minutes into the lesson, I was devastated when I came to
learn that we were about to discuss the process of Obtaining a years
supply.... Wahh...wahhh...wahhh

Me with the loot

Check out what we got!

Brenda was the one who told me about it and invited me to go....
Thanks brenda!

It's free!

So I stood in line for 20 minutes at nordstrom and 5 minutes at macys
and I got free stuff! I guess there is some law suit out there where
these department stores have to give away $175 million in certain
products and since I normally buy my perfume and face lotion there, I
figured I should take part. Yeah!

From 0 degrees to 87 degrees all in one day.

This morning we left our Utah hotel room at 5:40 am to drive 9 hours back to sunny California. The temperature at 5:40 was 0 degrees…. And in 9 hours we were back to the sunny 87 degree weather that California can usually boast for January—but man did we have a fun trip! A lot of it was centered around meeting different people for meals, which was a lot of fun as we got to catch up with everyone as well as eat some of our favorites!

Me and Peanut

On Friday I arrived in Salt Lake and Russ picked me up to take me to go and meet GJ and Amelia’s new little girl… “Peanut” (Peanut is her blog name)  Stowell. She was so adorable cooing and looking around while we held her and chatted away with Amelia. Amelia always has the best stories and it was so fun to hear all about her latest news!!! I loved watching “Peanut” wrinkle her forehead…. It was so cute! 

We then headed down to Provo to meet newly expecting parents—Tyler and Desiree. We did a “BEST OF PROVO” night and went crazy on our meals. We started out with sharing an appetizer—amazing Sweet Potato Fries at Guru’s on Center Street. We then headed over to Smokehouse BBQ & Pizza around the corner on University Avenue and ordered a pizza and wings to share. We decided that they had changed their dough recipe since that last time we had gone, but man was it good. We then hung out with them in the lounge in our old Schooled Magazine building as we let the main course settle. Of course the Tyler & Russ had their own comedy hour while Desiree and I laughed and caught up ourselves. To end the special night we headed over to Coney’s where Russ got his infamous Cyclone—I think he adds like 5 or 6 toppings into it to make it the “Russ Madness” version of the dessert—while the rest of us had regular Cyclones and sundaes.

Me and Kaia

Saturday was just as full of friends and family. We headed out in the morning to meet Chris and Lynsey at Magleby’s Fresh for their special all you can eat pancakes and French toast. Russ and I were so full from the previous nights excursion we could only eat half of our plates, but man was their breakfast yummy! We got to meet Kaia Williamson, born one day after “Peanut.” I held her for a long time and was enchanted by all of her cute facial expressions! I love how good babies smell and how soft their skin is! Chris was so proud of Kaia’s chunky legs that he made a special effort to show us how big they were—which were so cute!

We then ran over to Circuit City (where we briefly saw Jeff Barlow), and University Mall where I went crazy with buying SHADE t-shirts and tank tops (I love how modest and comfort fitting they are—if you are looking for some awesome undershirts, you totally have to check them out www.shadeclothing.com, my favorite are the cap sleeve basic layering shirts) who was having a sidewalk sale and had shirts at $8.99 each! I also went to Express’ 70% off sale and used the gift card Scott gave me for Christmas and got some amazing deals—thanks again Scott!

Next we rushed over to meet Kristen and Riley, and Jeff and Becca for lunch at Café Rio where we chatted the lunch hour away. Kristen and Riley had just come from snowboarding at Sundance and Jeff and Becca from running errands so it was fun to catch up on all of their news.

Then we headed over to Gold Smith Jewelers where we had some trade from the magazine to use. I went crazy--- I was like a kid in a candy shop. I don’t know what I’m going to do when we don’t have the magazine any more and I don’t get my yearly jewelry fix…. Hum, Russ better start budgeting! :) Anyway, I picked out this amazing ring—it’s a Hearts On Fire Adoration Five-Stone Band (http://www.heartsonfire.com/us/en-us/diamond-collection/view-details.php?type=1&style_name=DrmSc5B&item_id=3170&item_name=Adoration+Five-Stone+Band&type_id=1&type_name=Rings&subtype_id=2&subtype_name=Wedding%20Bands) that is absolutely beautiful. All Hearts On Fire diamonds are perfectly cut where they go through this really long preparation…. The website has a ton of information on it. Russ and I celebrated our five-year anniversary this year, so the I wanted to get something sentimental to go along with the celebration and this was the perfect find. I had to order it in my size so I should get it in the next few weeks! I’m so excited!

Jeff and Becca’s was next on our list and we were dying to see their new home, so we headed over and got the tour. It’s huge and so gorgeous! Congratulations guys!!! We then headed over to Costco for the boys to look at TV’s while Becca and I chatted away on the Costco couches. Some people finally had to come up to us to ask us if we wouldn’t mind moving because they wanted to try out the couch! I guess we were there for a little too long! ☺

The traditional meet up at Macaroni Grill was next on the days’ itinerary and GJ, Amelia, Peanut, Tyler, Desiree, Chris, Lynsey and Kaia all came for some good food and fun conversation. It was the first time in years that Russ didn’t order his normal Penne Rustica, and tried a Chicken Parmesan Salad… so it was a dinner of new records and proportions for us! It was also a first time for the other couples to meet each others new editions….which was fun!

Chris and Lynsey then graciously offered for all of us to come over and hang out at their house, where an insane game of Catch Phrase occurred. Some of the favorites of the night were when Amelia tried to explain rapper LL Cool Jay by saying “He’s a rapper…. And he’s black…. And he wears hats all of the time…” Unfortunately we didn’t get that one. And then I had a hard time explaining Chuck Norris… and I said “His first name rhymes with ‘puck.’” Yeah that one got people laughing hysterically. Another one I had was I was trying to explain the KGB, but Amelia thought the Russian Mafia/CIA was the KKK.... pretty funny stuff.   We had so much fun with the game that we played it for almost three hours! It seemed like the night ended too quickly and we were off to the hotel again.

Russ drove the whole way home which was awesome because it meant that I could sleep a portion of it… and we chatted the rest of the time. The trip was so much fun and I’m so glad that I was able to go up and meet the new babes and hang out with such amazing people! On our way home Russ and I were talking about how our perfect world would be if everyone moved down and lived in California with us—because we miss everyone so much!!! We can’t wait for our next trip out there.

Off with his head.

So I pulled out my yearbooks for our new years eve party to look at
them with some past high school friends. I accidentaly left them in
our "media room". Since russ has been gone for the past two weeks. I
hadn't gone in there. But tonight as I was vacuuming the house, I came
to find this. My senior yearbook torn to shreds. If it had been one
of the other years, I probably wouldn't have been as upset, but this
was my senior yearbook. And all of the back pages where everyone signs
have been completly eaten and shredded. Baxter spent an hour in a dark
bathroom as punishment. I don't know when he did it, but as soon as I
went into the room and started to cry, he knew he was in big trouble.
I don't have any more words, I'm devestated that the memories of my
high school days that were captured in that leather bound book are now
gone.

My very first silk floral arrangement

It's almost finished! I still have to add three more flowers and I'll have accomplished my first silk floral arrangement! My mom and I have been looking for something to fill this spot in the great room/smoothie bar area and we were baffled at the $300-$400 price tags for silk floral arrangements.... So I said--hey I can do the same thing for a fraction of the cost.  So my mom and I went to Michaels where she picked out the types of silk flowers she liked. We figured out a scheme, and tonight I designed the arrangement.  All for around $100.  It's a pretty big arrangement around 3 feet tall and about a foot wide.  Not too shabby huh?  I'm excited that I've had some fun projects lately to do to spark up my creative juices--not to mention the fun I've had with my mom shopping and deciding what flowers to use! 

Another new years eve shot

Scott & Carly are ENGAGED!!!!!!

Russ' brother Scott popped the question to his girlfriend on New Years Eve at the Seattle Space Needle. Look at how cool these pictures turned out--they almost look like a fake background.  We've heard the proposal was like a fairy tale!  

Their plans are to wed in June of this year in Seattle.  

I still have yet to meet Carly (Russ got to meet her right before Christmas), but I have spoken to her on the phone and she is fantastic!  I'm so excited to have the final addition to our family (with the exception of all of those grandchildren to come!).

Congratulations Scott & Carly! 

(*P.S. A special thanks to whomever grabbed these priceless pictures--thanks for letting us be able to share them!)