Holiday Customer Service

Seeing that I've been in the customer service field for about 4 years now, I feel like I have a pretty solid background and am allowed to complain about unreasonable people.

The people that I want to complain about are the individuals on Facebook that feel the need to inform everyone about a terrible customer service experience they had.  I've always noticed though, they never include the whole story.  It's strictly just, such and such company was so rude on the phone, my order didn't come on time, etc.  Here is what I have to say to ALL those people.  PLAN AHEAD.  No, it's not any of these people (customer service)  problem that you decided to wait until the ultimate last minute to get it rush shipped.  Keep in mind that FedEx is magic and can't get everything there 2 day even though you paid for it.  There are circumstances that don't allow that to happen.  And yelling at that person over the phone, doesn't accomplish anything.  In fact, I can guarantee that it makes them want to help you less or help you come up with a creative solution to the problem.  And what I've also noticed, the people complaining are stay at home Moms.  You don't see someone working full time complaining about that, because they know things happen that are out of that persons control and they just need to wait.  It doesn't help to call everyday and harass that person.  The answer will be the same from the one you got 3 hours ago.  I have experienced my fair share of people yelling just because they feel like it.  And, it's also the second you pick up the phone too.  It has nothing to do with what you say, they have called to yell at someone.  So, before you decide you are going to get your order, or tell someone off just remember that person on the other end of the phone is a person too.  They don't deserve to be the outlet of your anger.  My suggestion for all the angry people who love calling customer service lines, take up exercising, or go for a good run before you make a phone call like that.  And look at it from the company's point of view.  If they say they are sold out, they are.  Don't tell them to go in the magical back room and find one.  It doesn't exist.

Sorry for my rant, but I emphasize with these large companies that just get screamed at all day.  If you say thank you and happy holidays, the person on the other end is breathing a sigh of relief.  And I do understand that there are some crappy customer service places out there, but for the most part everyone is trying to do their fair share to help.

Holidays

In case no one knows me very well, I LOVE Christmas.  It's one of my favorite holidays, 4th of July is actual my ultimate favorite but Christmas is a close second.  This year, since it's our second Christmas together, and we are trying to cram a lot of parties in when Evan gets home too, I decided to decorate a lot! Yes for me, that is a bit out of my element.  But, it's so much fun because it makes Christmas that much better having your house all decorated.  Yes, it has been somewhat frustrating trying to figure out ideas...but with my Dad out of town too, it allows my Mom and I to go to tons of different stores everyday and get ideas.  It's been so much fun.  And so far, I have one party down and my house wasn't really Christmas decked out...but I'm hoping the party we have when Evan gets back with all our friends it will feel more "Christmasy".  It's also fun because Evan LOVES Nutcrackers.  So every year he goes and picks one out.  And no, I'm not allowed to pick it out because "I don't know which ones are the good ones"  this is directly from him.  So it's been fun making all the decorations, and making Christmas goodies for our neighbors because I have endless time!  Yes, that also means I need more hobbies, or probably could be doing something more productive but hey it's Christmas!

One thing I am bummed about, my side of the family is leaving for Christmas.  They are all headed to Alabama to spend time with my grandparents.  So this will be the first year ever that I won't see my parents on Christmas.  So that's a little sad, but the Howards treat me like their own daughter so I'm sure it won't be as terrible as I'm making it seem :)  Overall, I cannot believe that Christmas is in 10 days.  That is mind blowing, it's been nice having Evan gone for a bit because I'm able to go out all night and shop for presents and he isn't having to endure endless shopping torture.  Poor guy, he isn't a fan of all day shopping excursions.  However, I am SUPER ready to have him home.  It's been a really long trip.  I think my max is a week, after that it starts getting a bit lonely at the Howard house.  This 18 day trip is a bit ridiculous.

So if anyone needs anything, errands run, baby sitter for the night.  I'm your gal!  Sorry this blog wasn't very exciting, just thought I should update it with something.  And I forgot to take pictures of my cute cookie party.  It was really fun!

On the Road

Like Rachel said, with my new job i find myself on the road a lot during the winter. While I'm working I love it. I love being at events like dew tour and x games. I love the mountain community, and i love spending time with people at resorts. I love being able to get skis in the hands of people who aren't fortunate enough to get a new pair every year, so the ones they have are usually really old and dated.
The part i don't love is being away from Rachel for so long. I'm currently sitting in a hotel room thinking about how much i take her for granted when i'm home. I think this is what makes our parents relationships so strong because they never take each other for granted anymore. Whenever our fathers are home from trips you can see that they are so happy to spend time with their wives and us kids. It really opens your eyes when you are with a person all day every day, and then you are gone for a few weeks traveling around. This is a super sappy blog for me but i just wanted to get whats on my mind out, and to say love the one your with, and cherish the time you spend with them. We get so wrapped up in working, and money, and the grind of life, but those are never the things we think about when we are alone in a hotel room away from our families. It really shows what really matters and opens our eyes to a few things we can all do differently when we are home. I have a lot of respect for my father and father-in-law and also want them both to know their hard work and business trips aren't going unnoticed. It's not easy being away, but it can be used as a positive when it opens our eyes to all the things we have waiting at home for us.

Thankful

Seeing that I missed posting about Thanksgiving, I thought I would blog about what I'm thankful for.  The Howards do a tablecloth for Thanksgiving and you write every year what you are thankful for.  It's a fun tradition and it's nice to see what you write every year.

This year has been extremely eventful.  Both of us got great new jobs, that keep us EXTREMELY busy.  Before when I was at Rossignol, I would be busy.  Like having 10 voicemails, and 20 emails at the same time, and I thrived on it because I LOVE being busy.  Now?.....Rossignol busy was a delightful slow day at RAMP.  Evan and I constantly are working 10-12 hour days just to keep up with everything that is going on at work.  We both love it, don't get me wrong.  This isn't a complaint by any means.  We have great co-workers who are understanding when everyone is about to snap from working all day.  But I am thankful that we have this opportunity to work together and in something we both like to do.  I also am thankful for my family.  Both in laws and my immediate family.  My Mom and I are so close, and it makes it easier when Evan is gone on the road for so long, she keeps me busy and occupied.  Plus all my friends, I'm extremely thankful for them.  They know I get stir crazy being home alone so much and are constantly planning dinner dates and movie night, so thank you to all my friends.  You all know who you are, and I'm so thankful for you all everyday.  Mostly, I am thankful for Evan.  No matter what he always has a smile on his face, even when we do work 12 hour days and I'm grouchy and not fun to be with.  He is there to cheer me up and make a joke out of the day.  I also am thankful for my dogs.  Even though there are days when I want to kill them, they are still "my kids" and they are wonderful.

Overall we've been blessed with a house that is ours, two cars, two wonderful dogs, and great jobs.  We are extremely lucky and I wouldn't trade it for anything else.

Family Pics

The Howard family is beyond diligent with taking family pictures.  It's a trait to admire, because my side is TERRIBLE with keeping up on pictures.  Plus it's reliable so that means Evan and I can get an updated picture of us every year.  Not to say they turn out that awesome, but that's another story.  As a side note, the Howards are disgustingly good at taking pictures.  It's seriously not fair.  I have a weird smile, or squinty eyes, and there are the Howards, looking the same in every picture.  I have picture envy when it comes to having a group photo.  Needless to say, Evan looks awesome in every picture.  Which isn't fair at all, because someone had too much fun the night before and then his body realized he was 26 not 21 anymore.  So the poor guy was super sick, but in every picture he looked awesome.  I haven't decided which one I'm going to use, but I guess it's mandatory once you get married and have awesome kids like ours you have to send out Christmas cards.  So I guess I'll try my hand at it this year.  If you could let me know which is your fav, that would help me out lots.  Please and thank you.

 Option 1

 Option 2

 Option 3

 I know this is minus kids, but maybe an option?

 Everyone was paying attention!  Great group photo

 We tried to get the dogs to behave, it just wasn't going to happen.  But I thought this was a good one!

 My poor sick husband, at least Alta looks super cute!

Halloween

I know this is late, but I thought I would grace you with my AMAZING Halloween costume.  Needless to say, I've been planning this for months and was beyond excited to wear it everywhere.  We, I went to a Halloween party, Evan was out of town.  And since I knew about 50% of the peeps there, everyone thought I was that weirdo in the Peep costume.  Oh well, I know it looked fantastic.  On actual Halloween, we started with hiding from the neighbor kids when they rang our doorbell.  Yes, we are those people.  The ones that you know are home, but aren't answering their door.  We didn't buy any candy...whoops.  Also, who lets their kid go trick or treating at 5?  C'mon, at least wait until it's dark.  After we had one doorbell ring we hurried and left for Evan's parents house and went trick or treating with our favorite kids in the whole world.  It was so fun, we try to go with them every year.  Some highlights from trick or treating, Jackson getting the poo scared out of him from a scary guy on stilts.  Wyland and I running away from a giant cat that was attempting to eat my dog.  Overall a great night.  Thanks Kerry and Jeramie for letting us pretend we have kids so we can trick or treat with them!

As a side note, no I wasn't playing favorites and not taking pictures of our other dog.  Evan was taking pictures, and Alta was the only one paying attention.  Torre was busy chasing shadows and different colored lights that night.  Thank you.

Update

Thing have been busy, let me correct that, extremely busy.  Our lives revolve around work.  I have seen Evan for maybe two weeks out of the whole month of October.  He is gone a lot because of work now.  Which is so great, because he LOVES his job.  Now that ski season is getting started, and with RAMP being so new it's taking a lot of work to get RAMP off the ground.  A lot of work is good for me, because I think everyone who knows me knows I love being busy.  There isn't a better feeling then to look at the clock and realize that the day is over.  So most weekends Ev and I are working, whether he is home or not, I will be boxing stuff up to ship on Monday or we will be at events to promote RAMP.  It's been so fun to see just the exposure RAMP has gotten from August until now.  We are getting put in more advertisements, people are contacting us wanting to be at events, just things are coming together rather nicely.


On another side note, Evan currently has a crush on someone named Siri.  Yes, him and Siri have long conversations into the night about restaurants in the area, to having Siri compose his texts for him.  He finally got his iPhone he has long been eyeing for months now.  So now my parents and Evan can sit around and talk about how awesome their phones are while I play brick breaker on my Blackberry.  Personally, if they could bring the Razor back I would buy that in two seconds.


Other then that, our lives are very uneventful.  My children, Alta and Torre, are becoming accustomed to dealing with me all the time now instead of Evan.  So when Evan is home, he is now officially the "fun" one.  I can already see a flash into our future.  I'll be the evil mom, and he'll be sneaking them out of time out.  Oh well.  I do have pictures from Halloween, just haven't loaded them yet.  

The Big 26

It's this guys birthday today.  And that means he is 26.  Is it just me or is time flying by?  Time flies when you're having fun right?  Well to celebrate his birthday, I'm going to do the typical wife blog and tell you 26 things about him you may not know.
1.  He is a total goof ball.
2.  He puts 100% into EVERYTHING he does.  (ex. running, the dirty dash, hobble creek, skiing, etc.)
3.  He is the biggest ski junky I know
4.  He LOVES his job
5.  He likes singing Cotton Eyed Joe in the morning.  It's surprisingly upbeat and gets us up and at it in the morning.
6.  Loves 99s
7.  Can always make anyone laugh
8.  Cuddles with our dogs at least 3 times a day.
9.  Loves sports, whatever season it is that will be what's on at our house
10.  Super handy.  We will have a project to do, and all of a sudden he is building or repairing something.  I'm starting to think that guys are born with this "handy" gene
11.  He will do ANYTHING for his family
12.  I'm starting to think he loves little kid toys more then our nephews do.  He'll always be the first one to put it together and "test" it out for them.
13.  Loves his car, even though it is the SLOWEST car on the planet
14.  He can spend hours in REI
15.  Is the most athletic person I have ever met.  He is seriously good at EVERYTHING.  It's seriously not fair.
16.  Doesn't like dressing up for Halloween
17.  Loves pizza, mostly Totinos.  Our freezer is always packed with them
18.  Always encourages others
19.  Helper, he is constantly offering to help with anything around the house.  It is VERY nice.
20.  Knowledgable.  He picks up facts fast.  For instance, ski and snowboard tech facts.  He can spit them out and my head is literally spinning when he is talking to someone about product.
21.  Singer, he can always brighten my day by saying, "I picked out a song for you" and it'll be something like G Love "She's got Sauce"
22.  Evan is very spur of the moment.  We go on walks with the dogs at 10 at night or go on car rides up the canyon just because we feel like it.  Also all the trips we take.  It's nice to be married to someone who has the same adventurous drive.
23.  Love for life.  Everyday he lives life to it's full capacity.  Whether that be laughing until our sides hurt, or fitting as much time in a day as we possibly can.  He never lets a day go by without doing something.  It makes life more fun.
24.  He has the curliest hair ever and longest eyelashes.  I have total hair and eyelash envy since mine is stick straight and I have the shortest eyelashes ever made.
25.  Super organized.  Evan is great with organization.  All our closets are organized with tupperware and he is super good with numbers and takes care of the whole household.  It's positively wonderful.
26.  He has taught our dogs to give hugs every morning and at night.  I never thought a dog could do that!

Overall, I think I hit the jackpot.  Evan is the most caring, loving husband I could ever have asked for.  That is only 26 things people may not know about him.  Most probably already know all of that because he is that special to anyone that has met him.  I hope you have a wonderful birthday Ev!

Last two stops

The last two stops, we didn't do an excursion so we were on our own to wander and figure out something to do.  It was so hot on both of the days.  We went to Naples first, then Palma de Mallorca.  My ultimate favorite was Palma de Mallorca.  I loved that island.  It was so pretty and almost tropical in some cases, but still had historical places, such as cathedrals, and castles.  Naples, was dirty.  Like piles of garbage all over the streets.  It was pretty gross.  But I found some delicious gelato there.  One thing we kept on forgetting is you have to have your shoulders and knees covered in order to get into the cathedrals.  I die in hot weather, so I would have the knee part covered, but I would wear a tank top or something with the long skirt.  So I wasn't allowed in anywhere.  We got some stunning pictures in Palma, not so much in Naples because we didn't really see that much.  Italian people are super friendly too.  We never felt taken advantage of or anything for not being able to speak the language.  We had a great experience on this trip, and it was nice to go on such an amazing trip together and get away from everything!

 A castle we found in Naples

 Apparently a cannon ball was still stuck in a door, they had it on display

 Pretty cathedrals I couldn't go in

 These are the back streets that we found.  Notice, no tourists.  

 Palma de Mallorca

 The streets were extremely different, notice clean

Palma had more of a tropical feel, extremely pretty place.

Rome

After Pisa, we had one sea day and then off to Rome.  It was a long drive in, and a pretty hot and humid day for how much walking was ahead of us.  But we started off with driving around the city, then drove past the original Ceasar's Palace.  We then parked, and saw the Trevi Fountain, which was PACKED with people.  We were extremely careful who we asked to take our pictures, we mostly asked Americans or people in our tour group.  Some of these places had sketchy people walking around.  After the Trevi Fountain we walked through town and into the Roman ruins.  It honestly was at the center of the city and they still had pillars and all sorts of remains of buildings still around.  And the water system still pumped out water.  No, I didn't try it even though our guide insisted it was the best water around.  As we exited the ruins, we saw the Colosseum.  This is amazing to see in person.  Plus the history behind it.  They used to have water games in the Colosseum and fill it up in the center and have sea creatures in the water as well.  Also they had cages, or stalls ground out into the stone and they would put a fake stage on top of these stalls and that's where they kept the animals, or people who were fighting.  The original marble seats are still in tack as well as the second story and the original stairs.  All of it was mind boggling.  I can't believe we were there.  This was the highlight of the trip for both of us.  Plus, the reason why it is half demolished on top is they used some of the stone for the Vatican.  So they reused this stone for St. Peter's Square and the pillars they built in the square.  After the Colosseum we headed off to an authentic Italian dinner, with espresso.  Ps, if America had coffee/espresso like the Italians did I think I would drink it more, and Starbucks would go out of business.  It's so so so much better!  After lunch we were off to St. Peter's Square and to see the Vatican.  The line was forever long and we only went into St. Peter's but just being in that area was wonderful.  I'm bummed we weren't able to see the Sistine Chapel, but hey save that for another trip right?  Overall Rome was a whirlwind but totally worth it!  Picture overload below.

 Original Ceasar's Palace

 Streets of Rome

 Trevi Fountain

 Original Roman ruins

 Colosseum

 You can see the white seats, those are original marble seats

 The stalls, and the stage they would put over the top

 Closer view of the stage

 Higher up view of the whole Colosseum

 St. Peter's Square

 The never ending line.

 The Pope's balcony

 One of the Vatican guards.

 I personally thought all these statutes on top were a little creepy, but still super historic at the same time.

 The square exiting the Cathdral

 Part of the Cathedral ceiling

The entrance to Vatican City