Chilling Reality

Recap

2010-02-23T23:57:00.004-07:00

So I was thinking about blogs today and why I haven't done more of it. I actually enjoy sharing my thoughts and feelings. When I was in 2nd grade, all I wanted to be was the governor of Idaho. That's because I wanted to drive in a limo and I thought that was what you had to do to get a limo. Ahhh the simple minds of kids. Well, I still like politics and I like attention - the good kind - and I like helping people. So one of the reasons I've hesitated blogging more is because I don't want to say something that might some day come back to bite me in the you know what. But lately I've thought, who cares right? So what if it does. And who knows what tomorrow will bring. Live the here and now while preparing for tomorrow. But live today! So here I am. It is midnight and I should be heading home to my wonderful wife. We closed the store tonight at 10:10. Had a couple come in at the last minute. Couldn't have cared less that our open sign was off and half the lights were off. They wanted ice cream. So we served them! After I got dishes done and closed out the till, it was after 11. Then I checked the bank accounts, submitted the credit cards, and checked facebook (normal routine). Then I warmed up the car and got the deposit ready for tomorrow. And now here I am blogging at midnight. (I turned the car off Al Gore.)

I guess I really should keep this short because my wife is so very patient with me. But when you work a 14 hour day, you just feel like a piece of lettuce--no substance left. I have no drive to even get up. Tomorrow I start a job with the Census. It appears that I will be QAC or quality access controller or something like that. I will be traveling every thursday and friday down to the bear lake and southeastern part of Idaho to do something. I don't even understand yet. But I'll know better tomorrow. They pay about $8/hour, $.50/mile, $34/day for food, hotel and I get paid while I drive. It will be easy. And kinda relaxing methinks. I wish it were more pay per hour, but hey, this is a job that works around my school schedule, and will still allow me to put in about 30 hours a week in the store at the busier times - night. So it will be good. Dad is going to have to pick up the slack going from about 38 hours to 45 hours a week in the store. He says he can handle it. I believe him. Sometimes I wonder what things would be like if I were in this without him. I can honestly say that I don't think it would be better. We make a great team and while things have been tough, they are definitely better that we work together. The job will help me make my house payment until it sells. The store hasn't been able to feed us much of anything lately. It's been slow this winter. It's like in September someone yelled DON'T SPEND ANY MONEY! Our revenue was cut in more than half. It's been interesting. We've learned how to be more efficient and work harder. Our labor has been substantially lower. When the government says that a higher minimum wage is better for people, they don't think about the big picture. And when they decide to scare the public and consumer confidence is down, it is definitely bad for business. It's funny too, because 93% of the people in this valley have the same jobs they had 2 years ago. It's all a mind set. We'll make it through. Our numbers are already picking up with the weather. And when you figure in the fact that our labor is so much lower this year, our numbers are quite comparable to last years. Not the same volume, but the same ratios. So we are planning on a good summer.

Holli and I are still trying to get to Texas. It's been more difficult than we ever could have imagined. I won't go into detail because it's hard to explain. If you ever want to know, feel free to ask me. I love talking about business. We are persistent and we are determined. We believe whole heartedly in Sub Zero and what it means to the world. It is the best ice cream money can buy. The business concept is sound and it will get tweaked in years to come into the best business model you could every participate in. We are right in the middle of it and that is a great honor. We'll fight on. We wouldn't be where we are without the help of a wonderful family. You guys are all fantastic! I hope you know that. Thanks for the prayers and support.

And finally, about this blog. I don't want it to be a journal. I want to share my thoughts and feelings. I want to express my concerns about things from religion to the economy to politics to random thoughts. So please read and let me know what you think. And if there is anything you would ever like my opinion on, please ask. It will give me something to think about during the hours of the night I can't sleep. Besides, I get pretty bored during my classes! Thanks for reading!

Closure of Hitt Road

2009-06-14T21:09:00.003-06:00

Hey all, heads up:

Hitt road from Mesa road (by the LDS church) to the north exit of Walmart (roughly John Adams) will be closed till October. Yeah, it's going to be a long summer fighting traffic on 17th and Woodruff to get around to that side of town. And for all you that are coming from Rexburg/Rigby, better use the Ammon Road (Ucon) way into town. I've attached a photo. The only good thing? 4 lanes down Hitt road and a fixed 1st street/Hitt road intersection! It's about time!

Sinuses

2009-05-03T12:34:00.002-06:00

So, I'm sick again. Yeah, it's annoying as all get out. See, I have these sinuses that are just a pain in the be-hind. And they get infected and start to swell. This leads to a stuffy AND runny nose, headaches, tooth aches, coughing, sneezing, and overall yuckiness. It usually happens about twice a year, but when I get stressed out and don't get enough sleep, I'll cause it to come on more often. I usually take some amoxicillin and it's gone and all is well. But I was sick like this not more than a month ago, and you're not supposed to take antibiotics that close together or something. So I'm fighting this one out. Danny says that humidifiers and hot showers are the way to go. Mom wants me to take Clariton D or some other stuff, Holli just wants me to feel better, and I just want it to go away. Anyway, the worst part is when I lose my voice. I sound like a frog and it's really annoying. There! I'm done whining.

Things in life (other than the above) are going great! Julia is growing and making tons of funny and new noises everyday. She likes to explore her voice. It's funny to listen to her and then watch her facial expressions at the same time. Apparently she loves Lawrence Welk. Or just the music. Things at Sub Zero are starting to pick up a little, weather permitting. We are still having killer weekends, and whenever it is warm and sunshiny, we can see a noticeable difference. We are currently working on getting a pocatello store opened, and another location on the west side. There...cat's out of the bag for anyone reading this. I have an awesome friend who is interested in opening a store in Coeur d'Alene, which would be an absolutely amazing place for a Sub Zero. We have also recently helped get stores sold in Logan and Tri-Cities, Washington, and we're currently working on Boise and St. George. So things are moving along and getting exciting. Anyway, that's a small update. I'll try to keep posting.

Light bulbs

2009-02-23T20:57:00.002-07:00

I really don't like Walmart. I went there last night to buy some light bulbs for the store. I wanted 40 watt bulbs. well, I decided to go with the fancy energy efficient things. I grabbed three boxes of 40 watt bulbs, paid for them, and left the store. When I opened them, only one box was 40 watts (the first one I was looking at) and the other two boxes were 100 watts! They were all on the same shelf labeled equally! I hate walmart! But then as I was walking to the registers, I found a calender of The Office for 12 bucks that ran up as $4.00. so I guess that made my anger subside and all is well again. lol

The Office

2009-02-12T23:55:00.003-07:00

So we got rid of our satellite TV and have been watching a lot more movies lately (that is when there's time). I really miss Fox News, but I stay up to speed through the net so it's okay. It saves us moolah and time. HOWEVER, Holli recently borrowed the first season of the Office and needless to say, I sat down and watched a bit...We are finished with season four and don't know if we'll make it until 5 comes out on dvd!!! I can't believe how much I'm enjoying it. Now that I have employees, and that I look at business differently, it is really funny to see how all the characters react to different situations. I love it. So, yeah...I guess you could say that I am now a huge office fan. Who would have thought? ("That's what she said!")

iLife '09!

2009-01-27T23:16:00.002-07:00

Have you Mac users seen the new iLife '09? It's awesome! I am thinking that I will begin to utilize my web pages and start to do my own blogs without using blogger. Blogspot is cool, and easy to use, but the iWeb application is so much more powerful that I am excited to tackle it. We'll see i guess.

I have been coming home every day at 6:00 to eat dinner with my family and I have enjoyed it so much. I went from September until the first part of January not seeing my wife and child for 16+ hours a day. It was hard. But as a new year's resolution, Holli and I decided to try and have dinner together every night. So she works hard to get something prepared and we eat together from 6-7. Then I either go back to work, or go to mutual. Yes, that's right. I was called as the first councilor in the young mens and therefore I go to mutual every Tuesday night from 7-8ish. It is fun. It's a good change from the daily routine and work. Anyway, I'll try to work on the web page thing and keep you all in touch. Thanks for your blogs! I love reading them!

A New Blog

2009-01-22T23:47:00.003-07:00

Hey all! I have created a new blog strictly for Sub Zero Ice Cream in Idaho Falls. I will try to keep it up to date with all of the happenings of Sub Zero. That way people who are interested in the business but don't really want to know about my personal life, can filter out the fluff :) It is subzeroidahofalls.blogspot.com I will spend some more time over the next couple weeks getting it to look good and making it more attractive and fun. And no, I never sleep.

Julia went swimming!

2009-01-04T01:44:00.003-07:00

She Loves it!

Holli and I spent the last 4 days in Utah with family. We traveled down on the 31st and planned to return on Friday. Well, we stopped in Brigham City to eat at the Maddox (quite over-rated, but still very good) because Julia needed to eat and we had heard so much about this place, we thought we would check it out. Well, turns out that it was raining through Ogden and Brigham City and by the time we had gotten our food it was snowing pretty bad. We heard people entering the restaurant talking about how slick the roads were getting and one couple mentioned they had heard the Malad pass was being closed down because it was really bad through there. Well, needless to say we were both tired and not in the mood to drive through a white-out or manage slick roads with a potentially crying baby. So we found a simple yet nice hotel in Brigham (Crystal Inn...recommended to all) and we spent the night. This is where these shots were taken (by my iPhone thank you) and this is where Julia had her first experience with swimming! We just held her above the water and let her toes touch every now-and-then and rubbed water on her with our hands. It was quite warm and pleasant, she liked it and it was fun. We didn't swim long but what a story! We think it is really good to have experiences that are memorable. That's what life is all about! To be lived!

Papai Noel!

2008-12-22T23:18:00.002-07:00

We had a special visitor at Sub Zero Ice Cream recently! That's right, Santa Clause himself came for some very special preschool children. We had a preschool that brought two classes to Sub Zero for an early morning Christmas party. We made ice cream for them all, watched a movie, and then Papai Noel came and brought them all candy canes. We liked him here so much that we think we will bring him in once or twice a week for Christmas next year! Thank you to Ms. Thueson's preschool class for the wonderful time we all had!

Seattle

2008-12-19T00:07:00.003-07:00

Well, I thought this would be a fun post. The first week of October, my dad and I went to Seattle, Washington for business purposes. We arrived early in the morning and only planned to stay one night and head back home the next day. As we were taking public transportation from the airport to our hotel (an adventure in itself) we had to walk a couple miles from where the bus stopped. As we were walking, I asked Dad if he thought we should call our family that lives there (his brother). We both decided it was worth calling them up just to say hi. To our surprise, they wanted to meet up with us and go to dinner. They changed some of their plans and we had a wonderful evening. We went to dinner on the Warf (fish and chips yum!) and then went for a drive to the other side of the bay. It was beautiful and I snapped these shots with my iPhone. (not bad eh?) This is my dad and his brother, Bob, talking on a pier. I love family! And thanks to the Seattle clan for a very memorable trip!

Julia Fuhriman has entered the building!

2008-12-06T01:05:00.002-07:00

My Princess! Yes, that's right...the guy who said he never wanted to get married and wanted nothing to do with girls now has a baby! And isn't she adorable!!!???!!! Of course, pretty much all babies are, but, uhhh, mine's exceptionally cute :)

We had a baby girl on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 7:28 pm. Everything went fine, --about as fine as you could hope-- and she is doing well. We took her to the doctor on Monday and everything is normal and well. And Holli is doing well also. We have had tons of support from our family and our friends and neighbors and couldn't ask for a better network of friends. Thank you all for everything! We feel very lucky and extremely blessed. Oh yeah, we named her Julia. Just Julia. (or Julia Gulia as her uncles and I like to call her :) ) I will post some more pictures when I have time. Thanks for reading!

New Niece

2008-11-19T23:43:00.004-07:00

This is my new niece! Actually, she's almost a month old, but hey, better late than never with the blog! I decided to post this picture because I think it is awesome. I remember my mom saying that my dad never used to hold babies...including us. So to see him so enthralled in his newest granddaughter (number 10), it is really neat. Her name is Anna Merl Hamilton. Out baby is due any day. The official date is Sunday, the 23rd, but it could be any day now, and we are anxiously waiting! I'll keep you all posted.

We had another great few weeks at Sub Zero and this week is going to top them all. We will see what the weekend brings. We are perfecting our system so that the wait time in line is significantly less (usually). Last saturday we served almost 500 ice creams, and nobody had to wait for more than 15-20 minutes. Yes, that is along time, but when you consider the fact that at one time our line stretched to the door and then wrapped around inside the store all the way back to the cash register!!! We are moving them pretty fast. Thanks for all your support!

Just a thank you.

2008-10-29T00:28:00.004-06:00

Hi all! So, this is going to be quick, but first: Rachel, I will get my 7 things up here soon...thanks for tagging me! We have had a wonderful time and Sub Zero is really picking up. We have had some awesome feedback and a lot of help on things that we can improve, and things we are doing well. Thank you to all!

Here is a couple pictures I thought you might like to see.....Doesn't it make you hungry!?! A big thank you to the Steve and Eric at the Idaho Falls Magazine for taking these awesome pictures and releasing them to us to use. Check out our ad in their Nov/Dec issue! And subscribe to the magazine first of the year, they are going newstand and that's a big deal...we here at Sub Zero wish them the best of luck! Keep checking back and I will get this blog working a bit more frequently.

Our Counter!

2008-10-14T00:19:00.002-06:00

Check it out! This counter turned out awesome. I really like it. See if you can see the constellations. These lights are fiber optics and really light up like Christmas. They are way bright, but I like 'em. Our store is going well. We appreciate all of the support everyone is giving us, and all the help we have received. The word of mouth has been wonderful and we keep getting repeat customers, so others must think the ice cream tastes as well as I think it tastes! (And it tastes better!!!) We have some upcoming events that I want to inform everyone of. The first will be on the 25th of October at the Home Emporium. Come check it out! The Home Emporium is an awesome new place on Hitt Road down by the round-a-bout on Lincoln. It's in the industrial park called Trellis Square. It is a Halloween carnival from 10-4 with games and prizes and stuff. We are going to be providing bottled water and ice cream for $1.00. Bring your kids and friends and have a blast! The second event we have planned as of now is on Halloween day, at the Snake River Landing. I am not positive on the time, but I think it is from 3:00-5:30. It is the Z103 Trunk-or-Treat. We are going to be decorating a camper trailer and handing out candy and coupons. We will have a big cauldron with liquid nitrogen and water which will be fun. We may make ice cream, but it depends on the weather. If we make it, it will be small servings and it will be free! So come see our trailer!!! Things are getting exciting and we are looking forward to the future. Our final activity we have marked on the calendar is for November 6th, at 4:00 p.m. It is our grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony. We should have some influential members of the city there and we will begin a weekend of good ice cream, great prizes, and fun! Come participate!

A night off!

2008-10-09T00:31:00.004-06:00

So on Wednesdays, I have appointments and meetings until close to 6:00. So Holli and I decided that Wednesdays would be our day off. So we have tried to get our employees trained well enough that we are able to just leave, and all is well. And tonight was our first attempt...and everything went wonderfully! Holli and I went to dinner and a movie, something we haven't done for quite some time. Don't get me wrong, we have eaten pretty much nothing but Taco Bell and Wendy's the last month. And we've been treated to dinner by our parents and other friends, but to actually have an evening just the two of us was a rare treat. And we enjoyed it immensely! We went to "An American Carol" which was alright. The satire was hilarious, but it was a "Farley" type movie with dirty humor and unnecessary inuendos. While we were there we found a vending machine and decided to relive our childhood. But get this, it was $.50!!! And this is what we got for our two quarters:

We thought that was pretty lame. But we had a good time and that was our first real date in a while! I will try to get an update on the store by the end of the week. We are getting our counter worked on tomorrow morning. The front part is being installed. Come check it out...it is going to be awesome!

2008-10-05T23:38:00.001-06:00

Check it out! We were on the news!!!

We are open!

2008-10-05T01:38:00.002-06:00

I don't have any pictures right now to post, but I will get some soon. I just wanted to let everyone know that we are open and running business! And things are going really well! We had an awesome first week. Thanks to everyone who came and supported us. And thank you so much for telling your friends and family and neighbors about us. You cannot believe how much help that is. So many people come in and we ask them, "How did you hear about us?" and they respond, "Oh, my co-worker told me about it." or, "My sister said I should come check it out." It is such a huge boost to have word of mouth spreading our good news! Thank you to all! And please, don't stop! We served over 300 ice creams saturday! We are only going to get busier!!!

http://www.localnews8.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=2989128&at1=News&h1=Sub

We were also on Channel 8 News! Just a couple corrections: We are located in Idaho Falls, not Ammon, and we offer Frozen Yogurt, Low-Fat, Custard, and Premium Ice Cream. Check it out! Doesn't Holli just look so sexy? hehe. And she's a Sub Zero Owner! Yay!!!

Just a quick note.

2008-09-23T22:57:00.002-06:00

Here are a couple pictures of our newest addition to our sign. I am so excited and I think it looks awesome!

Yay! A Tank!

2008-09-09T23:13:00.004-06:00

Here it is! We got the tank in! It wasn't that bad either. After we got it set, they filled it full of liquid nitrogen (photo on bottom) and you can see the frost that formed on the bottom of the tank. It is 1500 liters, which is almost 400 gallons. It weighs one ton empty and a lot heavier full! It is completely harmless and totally okay to touch, and it is extremely noisy when it is filled! I mean EXTREMELY noisy! The pipes you see go out to a box that is on the outside of the building where they will pull a truck up to it and fill it. For a couple months we will have a smaller tank, about 230 liters, that we will wheel around because we are having special tubes made to transfer the liquid nitrogen from this larger tank to the counter where we add it to the cream. But it will still have an awesome effect. Thursday they are supposed to start on the floors (I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't happen until Friday though) and then it will really look official! We have all the painting done (as you can see) and just have some touch-ups to do. Tomorrow we are going to stain trim and then put it up after the floors are finished. If everything goes well, we will be making ice cream at the shelley spud day saturday the 20th, so if you are going, look for us!

2008-09-05T00:03:00.006-06:00

So we got our sheetrock all hung! The group that did it was from Phoenix and they like it up here. They drive a Cadillac Escalade! It was kinda funny. But they worked fast and they did a great job! As soon as they got done, and we let the final coat of texture dry, we were already in there prepping for paint! And we got all the primer on today, along with one coat of black on the ceiling.

The black looks absolutely awesome! It just makes the whole ceiling disappear. I am not even kidding. When you look up, you can't tell where the wall stops and the ceiling starts, which is exactly the look we were hoping for. Tomorrow, we should get on the main colors and it will really start to take shape. Our sign is supposed to be installed on Wednesday and Friday of next week, the tank will be installed on Monday, and they are working on the floors starting Tuesday. Things are really starting to come together! A huge thank you to my brother Reid for making it all possible with the painting. He has worked hard (as he always does) to make this paint job happen. And we wouldn't be able to do it without him. And thanks to his wonderful wife and family for letting me borrow him for so much time. I really appreciate it. Sometimes, the time and the interest that people put in and show is worth a million dollars! Thanks to all for your help and support! Opening day, September 29th!

Sheetrock!

2008-08-30T00:11:00.002-06:00

Sheetrock!!! Yes, that is right. We got sheetrock hung today. They will be finishing up tomorrow. Things are moving forward. Can you believe it!?! So Dad and I built the soffit (that hanging thing you see) and it was soooo crazy hard! The angles were just so weird and confusing. And then we had to hang it off the ground. Holli's brother, Chad, helped us and we would have been really lost without him. We got it done and it looked okay, (we didn't even care because we knew it would be covered by the sheetrock). Well Nate, our sheetrocker, told us that it looked pretty good. And he gave me peace of mind when he said that soffits aren't easy and that we did a pretty good job. I still think he was just being nice, but hey...I liked it! Oh, and we got the concrete poured too. We had to fill in the trench we dug out to add the plumbing. Things are happening!

2008-08-20T23:29:00.004-06:00

We need your help! Which sign do you like better? Top or Bottom? The bottom one would not have the three lights. Those don't even work! And the top one has the cone and ice cream in a 3D foam design. Main points: having the cone lean to the left or the right, and having the cone stick out, or placing it flat and behind the letters, and including the website on the sign, or just having it visible inside the store or on the window. Let me know! Every opinion will help. Thanks!

Moving along despite the road blocks!

2008-08-19T00:35:00.002-06:00

So we got the walls all framed in and the soffit is up. The soffit is the wall you see hanging from the ceiling. It will have pictures on it of our ice cream and there will be some lights shining on it. Should look pretty slick (we hope!). It was a bugger to get up because of all the crazy angles! It got so confusing and needless to say, we made a few mistakes, but you'll never notice!!! The plumbers also finished their rough-in and the electrician is done with his rough-in too. So things are moving forward. We were told that we would have our permits like two weeks ago, and that is why we went ahead with the construction. Then the city caught wind that we were doing the work on our own, without a general contractor, and then all of a sudden the began demanding that everything be done perfectly with the book. They are requiring that we put up a 3 foot tall, 4 foot long wall near the back door to create a 44" hallway so that we "aren't able to stack boxes in the emergency exit lane." It is absolutely ridiculous. And they even dictate what kind of door handles we have. Yep, they can't be knobs, they have to be lever handles. And we had to change a couple doors too to make them ADA compliant. That part we didn't really mind, but the city could have informed us of these silly rules when we started 3 weeks ago! They have just made life miserable. But our chins are high and our hopes even higher and all will work out for the best.

This is our sheetrock being delivered. I remember hauling sheetrock by hand and it was always such a pain. Well these guys use this boom arm to pick up the rock, then two guys slide it onto carts, roll it to where it needs to go, and then just pick it up off the cart. It took them about 20 minutes to unload 55 sheets of rock! It was crazy! When we get all that hung, it is going to totally transform the place!

Say Hello!

2008-08-13T23:10:00.003-06:00

So here is our sign! It is in the process of being made right now. I love it! I have heard that it is too big, or leans the wrong way, but I think it grows on you, and that it just flat out makes you hungry for ice cream! We are excited. The ice cream cone and the ice cream itself will be made out of foam and will have a 3D look to it. It is going to be sweet!

We had one of our subs inform us that there is no way he will be able to get in to do our floors until after labor day. So that set us back about two weeks. It is actually going to be okay, because we are just pushing things to the limit. It will be good to be able to slow down a bit and take more time on each part of the process. We should hopefully be able to catch any mistakes and perfect what we are doing. Focus is becoming ever so difficult for me. And if I didn't have my iPhone, I would be so lost. I keep everything in it. The other day I had to call a guy and ask him what time we had set our appointment because I hadn't put it in my calender and wow how things just start to blend together! And I decided it was a good thing that Melaleuca did not hire me. I registered for school and will have a couple classes at 2:00 monday-wednesday. It would have been impossible to get this to work with Melaleuca, and there aren't any other times to take the classes, unless I want to travel to Pocatello. So things have a funny way of working out. I will just have to work double hard at Sub Zero to make everything work!

Sub Zero Walls Are Up!

2008-08-08T22:58:00.002-06:00

PROGRESS!!! We had the electricians in today. They should be all done tomorrow. And we got all the walls up this week. We have one door to frame in in the back right near the bathrooms where we will have some closet storage. Tomorrow we are building a soffit and facia that will go over the counter. I will post some pics when it's done. Things are moving along and we hope to be able to serve ice cream on over labor day weekend! Wish us luck!

Melaleuca

2008-08-06T01:42:00.002-06:00

Well, I had an interview last Monday with Melaleuca for a Data Entry job. I thought for sure I would get it. I am definitely qualified, and I know enough people there...but apparently I just wasn't cut out for the job. I received a letter today telling me basically I didn't get the job, but I was welcome to reapply for others. HAH! Oh well. I will just put my time into other things. I have signed up for a medical transcribing class that is supposed to take 3-4 months to complete. It would be perfect because of the flexibility. And I am a very fast typer. But it will be hard to wait that long before I actually get jobs to do and make money. Sub Zero is flying along! I really think we will make our Labor Day Weekend deadline of opening. I never thought it would be possible. But things are working out. We hung walls today and had some awesome help. I know there are lots of people that would be helping me if they could and I really really really appreciate that. I understand that sometimes things just don't work out...and that's okay. I take what I can get when I can get it and I smile all the way! I will try to upload some pictures soon of the progress.

Jack Hammer!

2008-07-31T00:19:00.005-06:00

So today a friend and I knocked out the concrete that stands in the way of our plumbing line. My friend's name is Chet and he's a cool kid. I used to work with him a little at Alpine Heating. Anyway, it was really hard at first because we were using a sledge hammer and a steel bar. Then we decided to rent a hammer drill and try to break it up. Then when that was taking forever I finally caved and we rented a real powerful jack hammer! It was awesome!!! I have never run one before and I have to admit it was kinda fun. Boys and their power tools...hehehe. We got rid of the concrete in about 30 minutes which would have taken us at least 2 or 3 hours the way we were doing it before. Which got me to thinking...if we have the right tools in life, it doesn't have to be that hard. Just an interesting thought. Everything is going well on the store and I will keep you posted as we go along. I have never been so busy in all my life. I get to bed before 1:00 (if I'm lucky) and I'm up and going around 6:30 or 7:00. I think I might burn myself out before long. But only a month or so of this and all will be good.

Holli is making me eat breakfast every morning now. I promised her I would and I tell you, it's hard! I don't like cereal, and I'm too lazy in the mornings to make anything else. I told her that if I could go to Denny's or Smitty's or Perkin's (why are all those possessive? weird...) and eat bacon and eggs and pancakes every morning and hashbrowns and sausage and orange juice and biscuits and gravy or some kind of combination, I would gladly eat breakfast! She didn't go for that. So cereal it is. We'll see how well this goes. Wish me luck! Toodles.

My store

2008-07-26T00:57:00.003-06:00

So, this is a before and after picture of my store. It is located at 3104 S 25th E on Hitt Road by Jimmy John's Sandwiches. We are currently in the remodeling stages. The first has the carpet and wall and the second is when the carpet is gone and the wall is stripped. We are really excited and hopeful that we can open September 1st. If you would like to see some pictures of Sub Zero Ice Cream, go to gallery.me.com/sorvetter and check it out.

We are doing most of the remodeling ourselves. I remodeled my house last winter which was an experience, and this is much like

that. I had Dad's help A LOT on my house and he is also helping with this. He will be a big part of the store and I am so glad. I think that there is a lot I will learn from him. I suspect I will get a lot of help from Holli's father as well. He also helped on our house and built our closet shelving. He's a darn good carpenter! So I will try to keep this blog up to date with news of our store and hope you enjoy it!

Close to a month!

2008-07-06T17:21:00.003-06:00

Yeah, so I guess I shouldn't take this long to write. Although there are roughly (1..2..3..4..) I think four people who read my blogs, I should still be writing more frequently. So here my goal: to write more often. I know, deep huh.

It's been a crazy month! A lot has happened. We have acquired a little over half of the total money we need for our business! We are now only $40,000 short...if you know anyone, point them my way please! We put a down payment on the franchise itself and signed all the paperwork. It is a done deal. And this week we will be signing the lease and paying our deposit on the building. I have been gathering bids for the remodel and although it seems expensive, it is going to work! I am VERY excited and feel extremely blessed. I know it is going to work out.

Yesterday, Holli and I bought a couch for the store. I'm not sure about her, but I'm pumped! I think it's an awesome couch. Thanks to Rachel for helping us decide. It's well built yet comfortable and the color is perfect. It also has stainless steel looking legs so it will fit right in with our scheme. Now we need to find two lounge type chairs that are a dark cherry red.

I just lost my train of thought so I will close. I'll try to post more often and make this more entertaining and interesting to read. Have a great week!

One Step Forward

2008-06-11T01:10:00.004-06:00

I am trying to open a business. It's a franchise, and requires money. And of course, I don't have it. But has that ever stopped me before? lol. So now for about five months I have been actively engaged in finding investors and people willing to take a chance on me. I have tried everything. And I mean everything. And with the market the way it is and people being extra cautious, it is just very difficult! Well, I had a big blow today and was about ready to throw in the towel. I mean, is it really worth all the stress? Luckily I have an awesome family and I have been encouraged by siblings, parents, and my amazing wife. And tomorrow is a new day right? Right! Well, I was thinking about the road blocks, detours, brick walls, and mountains in our life and it got me thinking back to my mission. I always seemed to get sent to an area where there was a problem. It was either with the members and their lack of trust in the missionaries, or branch presidents who don't report tithing, or elders who don't want to work, but always something. And those things never bothered me! I was always up for the challenge and excited to help change the mission and bring everyone closer to the Lord. So I got thinking, why would I walk away from a challenge now? I mean, I said from the get-go that finding the funding would be the easy part. So if I can't handle the mountain I'm climbing now, how in the world would I hand the ones to come?!? So I thank all of you who have encouraged me and told me not to give up. You are many and you know who you are. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

The New AT&T

2008-06-05T07:58:00.002-06:00

So this last month has been crazy as far as cell phones go. The first week of May I changed carriers from Verizon to Edge Wireless. I did this for two reasons: 1) I can get the same plan and the same "extras" with Edge/AT&T as I can with Verizon and its cheaper. And 2) uhh...the iPhone? Need I say more? Yes that's right. I have been converted to the other side. I am an Apple fanatic. And I blame Danny. But you know, you really have to look into it, because they have some awesome products that do some amazing things. Take the iPhone for example. If you call me, and I do not answer, it will go to my voicemail. No big deal right? Every phone does that. But then when I check my voicemail, I don't have to wait through all the menu crap and listen to the first message in order to be surprised who the second message is from. Nope, iPhone and AT&T have what is called "visual voicemail." When I go to my voicemail, it is like checking email. I can view all my messages at the same time, select which one I wish to listen to, no matter the order, and I can fast-forward or rewind the message as if it was a song on my ipod. Now is that cool or what? And that is just one of many awesome features of this phone. And it is so easy to use! So here's my plug for the day, check out Apple and all their cool technology and you just might be amazed.
So I am now an AT&T customer. For one month I was with Edge Wireless until the merger was complete and this week it is done. And I am happy. I like their service. It is better coverage than Verizon in my opinion, the plans are less money and you get more for your buck too. If you have any questions about the two services, add a comment and I would be happy to oblige. Toodles!

I Quit My Job

2008-04-28T09:25:00.002-06:00

Well, I finally did it. I have dreaded my job with Big Dog Satellite for roughly six months now, and I finally quit. I am not much of a quitter. I've been sticking it out for well over a month now but I had a run-in with my manager. He fired me, but then denied he fired me and instead just suspended my "van privileges." Well, I decided that it was time to let go and release the stress. So I no longer enter people's homes to install their satellite and internet systems. I actually enjoyed the work. It was nice to meet so many people and bring to them a service that they have been looking forward to. It's kind of like Christmas every time. And it was fun. But the management is just too much to bear. Often we as installer would have to re-sell the systems because the customer was such bad information. And our paychecks were never right, and there was always a lack of equipment in the office so oft times our jobs would have to be rescheduled. This only meant that we wouldn't get paid. When you only get paid for work you complete, it is hard to just accept that the management didn't have enough foresight to have equipment available. Oh well. Now I don't have to worry about it! It definitely feels good! Just thought I would tell the world!

The Game of Life

2008-04-22T14:18:00.002-06:00

So I'm not a huge fan of board games. I love games, don't get me wrong, but anything that has a dice or spinner or little pegs you have to move with tweezers...yeah, I've never really enjoyed. The reason being that I get extremely board. I mean, they never require any brain power. You roll the dice, move your peg thingy, read what's on the space, obey some invisible game commander and then your turn is over. *yawn* However, on the flip side, I love games like scrabble, catch phrase, scattegories, boggle, and any other game that requires thought. Those games actually keep me up at night thinking about strategies and how I need to increase my vocabulary, which is another blog topic for another day.

But recently Holli and I played the game of Life. I haven't played Life for sooo long that I couldn't believe how much the board--and the game itself--has actually changed. It was a new experience for me. We played a last week (had to read the instructions sadly) and I lost. Of course, she went to college first while I jump-started my career as a mechanic (yeah, I know. Luck of the draw). But it was so close, and so much fun that yesterday I challenged her to a rematch. This time I went to college, and this time I won. (I don't think the relation between getting a college career card and a regular career card in the game of Life is justification enough for me to go back to school. I still have strong feelings in regards to our country's higher education system. Just thought I'd let you know.) Actually, the reason I won is because Holli "drew" the Lawyer card, and I "drew" the doctor card. So we basically "got lucky" with our careers at the start. But we had so much fun that my feelings towards regular board games just might change.

I think what made this "life" changing experience so great is that I enjoyed playing a simple board game with my wife more than I enjoyed watching TV or a movie or doing anything else. It was just so much fun and such a great way to get to know Holli so much better. I think there are simple and inexpensive ways that we can enjoy life. Part of our problems is that we are just too "busy" to recognize them and give them a chance. Having said that, I would therefore like to propose a toast. A toast to Life! *chink*

I've Caved

2008-04-12T00:08:00.000-06:00

Well, I saw how much fun my friend Steve was having with this blog stuff, and I have finally caved to modernity. Yes, I have a blog. This should just be one more thing for me to do before I lay my head on that soft pillow at night, thus delaying me longer from my lifetime pass into dream heaven. Hopefully, I will start a habit of posting in the mornings so I don't keep my lovely wife waiting any longer than necessary. She is always so quick about getting to bed. Me, it takes at least a half hour from the time I accept the late hour to the time I actually pull over the covers. I just get too darn distracted! I hope that for those who read this (both of you), you will find it enjoyable, enlightening, and relaxing. I have always liked to tell stories (just ask my old roommates) and so I think that will be my theme. I will just talk about life and do it in a story-type way. I appologize ahead of time for spelling errors, misuse of words (I like to make up words that just sound like they should be words) and my tendency to ramble. With that being said...enjoy!