summer recap

in between the chaos that was this summer, i did the following things on my list:

*not cut my hair (okay, i trimmed it a couple times and once was a pretty major trim...but i didn't substantially cut it, which is a success for me)

*rode the heber creeper



*went fishing (THREE times!)




*attended my third wasatch county demolition derby. and don't be jealous, but jayson got to be a judge. ok, be really jealous.


*made a new summer playlist. we danced to it a lot.

*made lemonade out of lemons (literally), thanks to my very talented sister kendra and her appearance on the aol holiday blog.

*rode a chair lift (this was beautiful)






*canned peaches

*outdoor movie (thank you ward activity, even if it did rain)



i did not:

*walk a 5k, but i played some tennis.


*watch hot air balloons, although i did see some fly.
*sit on my new flagstone patio (no $$)
*play kickball
*paint my toenails every week. i can't see my toenails, so i had to rely on others. katy did it for me twice. thank you katy.
*outdoor concert
*go to cove fort (jayson really wants to do this)
*drive alpine loop in the BMW. maybe this week? it's perfect right now.
*go to moab. really, we still haven't been? i can't believe i haven't taken jayson here yet.
*golfing with jayson. he's catered more on golf courses this summer than actually played.
*ride bike from bridal vail to utah lake (next summer).
*batting cages. there is still time.
*go on lots of walks. this one is hopeless. my walks are 4 blocks at best.
*make ice cream in a hand crank bucket. i did get a hand crank bucket, but it's broken and i'm not sure i can fix it. but peach ice cream sounds delightful, and peaches are amazing right now. this week?!?!?!?!

the highlight of the summer was having my parents come home, and having all my family in town. it was crazy, but so much fun. this summer was chaotic, but that's how we roll. yeehaw!

changes

it's been a crazy couple weeks for us.

three weeks ago jayson was called into a new bishopric in our ward. he's the new first counselor, and he loves the men he works with--bishop scott holden, second counselor steve sumsion, and executive secretary mike groneman. it's going to take a bit to figure out how everything works--for both of us. there are new meetings, new responsibilities, new commitments, etc.

this week we opened headquarters, and i think it's been one of the longest weeks of our lives. it's been so much work, but it seems like it will be worth it. we had our highest grossing day on saturday. it was busy, but it felt more controlled than other days. the extra space is nice. but, it also feels like we're starting from scratch. there are many things we need to get used to and figure out. trial and error is the only way to get things sorted out, so the next few weeks are going to be interesting. we'll have to give it some more attention.

and, today marks one month until baby penny comes. she's bound to shake things up around here too. (we're not 100 percent set on penny yet, so don't hold me to it).


isn't it amazing how changes seem to all come at once? i never thought i'd say this, but thank heavens winter is almost here because things seem to slow down a bit for us during the cold months.

but then again, that was before we had indoor seating at j dawgs.

vip open house

(j holding a ticket from our vip open house)

go here for pictures from last night. lots of family, friends, and hot dogs. it was an amazing night.

it is time.

pheh. it's done.

since january we've been working on a big project. and it's been a long and exhausting run. but it's also been fantastic in many ways. tonight, we open for the first time and our emotions are running high.


here is "hq" (headquarters), or j dawgs new home. it's adjacent to where we are now (858 north 700 east in provo). this new space represents a new era for us and j dawgs, and we'd be lying if we said we weren't nervous.

the shack has been really good to us. i don't think anyone could be more attached to a 10'x10' building than we are to it. jayson and i met here, spent part of our first date here, and many many hours here. it's kind of a third person in our marriage, but in a good way. at the shack we have met people from all different walks of life and made some of our best friends.

but we've outgrown it. we can't continue to operate efficiently here. it's just too small.

so we're opening up next door. it has indoor seating, a bathroom, a heater/ac, a 12 head pepsi machine, a tv to watch cougar football, and everything else you might want in a hot dog establishment. except it's not the shack, and that makes us a little sad. but we've felt multiple times that this is the right move for us and we need to make it. so we have trusted in that and moved forward.

tonight we open for those who have helped us finish this project. and as long as we don't blow it up tonight, we open tomorrow for everyone else. we're so excited.

we still don't know the future of the shack. we will keep it (absolutely), and figure out it's new role in j dawgs soon. to go orders? car hop? a new food product all together? not sure, but it's ours and no one will take it from us.

until then, come see us at 858 north 700 east. it's beautiful inside.