The Life of a Door-to-Door Salesman

Taylor and I are in Chicago this summer doing door-to-door sales. I decided I wanted to sell with him mainly because I didn't want to find some minimum wage job just for four months. I never thought I would do door-to-door sales, but I also had just a slight curiosity of what it would be like. Well, now I know :) Here is what it's like, the good and bad.

At the beginning of summer, each night after selling we stopped at a gas station to get a treat. If I didn't sell anything that day, then Taylor would tell me to get a treat to help make me feel better. If I did sell that day, then it was because I deserved it. My treat of choice was usually a cosmic brownie, but that soon had to come to an end :)

It's been strange for me to see that most people don't realize door-to-door salesman are real people. It's almost like we are some different type of person and it's completely acceptable to be as rude and disrespectful as you would like. I hate that. People are rude and act like I am the biggest nuisance to them because I knock on their door and take 30 seconds of their time. I often times just think to myself, "If they knew me personally, or if they knew that I was out here to just try to get a little ahead in life and to pay for Taylor's school, then they would treat me like a normal person." But because I'm a "salesman" that "gives" them the right to be as rude as they would like. 

I have to wear a shirt that is made for a man. That means my sleeves end at my elbows. I am also out knocking in the hot sun everyday, so I have a very noticeable tan line whenever I wear any of my normal shirts (ones that are made for women).

I get to spend all my time with Taylor! We now live and work together. So we are together all the time. After spending our entire dating days living in different states, we are loving all the time we get together.

For me, if I get one sale a day then it's a good day. I often go out with a prayer in my heart and ask the Lord to help guide me to just one person who is in need of our service. A few days the Lord has answered that prayer within the first couple of hours, but most days he likes to wait until the very end of the night. Last month there was a day where I hadn't sold any and was done for the day. Taylor came and picked me up early, but when I got to the car, I decided I better knock for another 20 minutes. Right when 20 minutes was up, I knocked on a guy's door and he was probably the easiest sale I have ever made. The next day was the exact same story. After what had happened to me the day before I decided to knock until the end and again sold my very last door. Simple things like that are little testimony builders to me that the Lord is watching over me and that if I work hard and do my best, then it will pay off.

We don't have a tv, so whenever there is a sports game on that we need to watch, we drive 2 miles to the Buffalo Wild Wings. One week we were there 3 out of the 7 days.

Being away from family has made me really appreciate and miss them so much, both mine and Taylor's family. We are missing them so much and can't wait to get back so we can all play again.  I think being away from everyone has been the hardest thing for me out here.

However, I do also think it has been one of the best things for me too. Now I have a husband, and being away from family has really made us learn to rely on each other. I have learned that I can turn to Taylor for support when I need it and I know Taylor is always working to do what is best for the both of us.

Being away also means I get super fun packages in the mail :)

The rain this year has been the biggest love/hate relationship for me. I love that I don't have to knock, but I hate that I can't make money when it's raining. 

On our little time off, we are able to go explore all the great things Chicago has to offer. 

After this summer I don't think I will ever want another peanut butter and jam or honey sandwich ever again. Taylor and I eat them every day for lunch because they are the only thing I can think of that was stay good if it sits in the hot car all morning. 

It's technically illegal to go door-to-door with out a solicitors permit. However, nobody buys those permits. It would end up costing each individual rep. thousands of dollars if they got a permit for every neighborhood they knocked, so everyone goes without. Most of the time nobody cares, but every once in awhile you get the cops called on you. Usually the cops don't care, quite frankly most of them hate that they get called out for such a petty thing. They just tell you that you better leave that area for the day. Except one cop in Elgin. I usually like cops and never say bad things about them, but this cop that pulled me over made me want to call him bad names. He was the rudest guy I have ever met and was doing everything he could to scare me and it worked. As soon as I finished talking to him, I got in the car and just started bawling.

Coming out here I knew I wasn't going to be able to walk at my college graduation and I was perfectly fine by that. I didn't think it matter at all. Except when the day came, that was the only thing I wanted to be doing. I wanted to be back in Logan, walking across the stage and feeling so accomplished and have everyone proud of me. So when that day came I was kind of having a hard time. My family was so sweet though and sent me this picture letting me know they were thinking of me and that they were proud. 

I have a long list of people's houses I want to egg at the end of summer. I also have a list of people who were so unexpectedly sweet to me, that if I ever become wealthy, I'm going back to those houses and giving them a portion of my money. 

This job gets kind of monotonous. By monday I'm dreaming about the weekend. We have a team meeting at 10, leave the apartment by 11, get to our area at 12, knock until 2:30, take a break until 4, knock until 9, get home at 10, eat, go to sleep and repeat. 

We love our church ward out here. Everyone is so sweet and friendly. I think part of that is because it's so diverse, but also because not many people have family out here, so they turn to the ward for support. I've also noticed that most people in the ward are converts, which is something I'm not used to. It's been neat to hear all their stories and get their perspective on the church. 

We've had a great summer with a lot of fun experiences, but we are now getting so excited to move back to Logan!!!

My Love Story

It's been interesting for me to see how the Lord has guided my life lately to better things than I would have imagined. This May I decided to go on a mission. I started working on my papers and thought I would have them completed sometime in June, but for some reason or another they were taking me a lot longer to complete than expected. Certain things kept coming up that kept pushing them back later and later.

Finally, by July 17th, I had my interview with my Bishop and only needed my interview with my Stake President. However, the day I had my final interview with Bishop, was the day I was leaving to visit my sister in Alaska for two weeks, which also meant I would need to wait two weeks to have my interview with my Stake President. Also, on July 17th was the first time I talked to a guy named Taylor.

I met Taylor through Facebook. His friend, Tyler, went to the same high school as me. We were Facebook friends and he randomly wrote me and said something like, "Hey, I know we don't talk at all, but I need to know if you have a boyfriend or not. I'll explain later." (Ha weird, random?) I wrote him back and said I didn't. He then responded by saying he had a really good friend, named Taylor, who seemed like my type and we should become friends. At this time I was thinking oh great, a set up. These things never work, but after talking to Tyler for a little bit, I decided to add Taylor as a friend on Facebook. July 17th is the when we started talking.

I left for Alaska, which meant I couldn't turn my papers in until I came back, which also meant I had time to talk and get to know Taylor. We texted for a couple of days before he called me. We talked for the first time for about an hour and a half and it wasn't even awkward. Then the next night I lost a bet with him and so I had to call him that night. We talked for almost four hours that night and poor guy was in Ohio (selling pest control for the summer) and I was in Alaska. That makes a four hour time difference between the two of us. He stayed up until 4:30 his time talking to me. It was sure sweet of him. And then we talked every night after that. Even while I was on my trip we just assumed we would talk to each other every night. I had so much fun talking to him. He was really easy to talk to and we had a lot in common. After a little while, we started talking about us hanging out when he got back from Ohio and he asked me what my school schedule was so we could plan a time to do something. Well, I didn't have a school schedule. I was going on a mission and wasn't signed up for fall semester, but I wasn't about to tell him that, yet. I was going to tell him eventually, of course, but I just didn't want to then. Everyday I talked to him I liked him more and more. I was planning on telling him once I got home from my trip, but not during. I didn't want to be sad while I was on vacation, so I just made sure to enjoy it :) So when he asked me what my school schedule was, I lied and made one up and continued talking to him for the rest of the week with my fake schedule.

Finally, the night I got home from my trip, July 28th, I told Taylor I was going on a mission. He was pretty surprised and just didn't really now how to respond that night. He made a joke about me being an awkward sister missionary and I made a joke about him writing me. It was a pretty quiet conversation, just because we were both doing a lot of thinking, but what he was saying was making it sound like he wasn't just going to disappear. He asked if there was a chance that if I had my call and things were going well then I would stay home. I told him no. In one of my interviews with my Bishop, when I was trying to decide if I wanted to go or not, he said there was no harm in working on my papers and if I decided to not go I could just stop my papers anytime and be fine, but once those papers were turned in and I had my call, then he believed my call was from the Lord and that I should go. And that's what I told Taylor I would do. After talking to Taylor, my parents, my siblings and praying and analyzing every situation possible, I decided to sign up for fall semester. My justification for it all was that it was taking me so long to turn in my papers that I wouldn't even leave until about November anyway and then I would just be sitting and waiting until then. I might as well sign up for fall semester and then leave on my mission right after that. That way I wouldn't be wasting any time. That was my justification, but the real reason was Taylor, but I wasn't going to tell people that, especially because I hadn't even met him yet. He was still in Ohio until August 27th.

Our very first date!

We talked and skyped for the next month until he came home. We went on our first date August 28th. I was a little nervous and was wondering what he would think of me. We met at the City Creek mall and went and look around all the shops and then had dinner at P.F. Changs. After that we just sat and talked. It was pretty low key, but I enjoyed every second of it. We continued to date and every time we saw each other it just got better and better. I don't think there was any question for either one of us about where things would lead. Everything was always just so perfect and things couldn't have worked out better for us to be together :)

Taylor proposed on December 7, 2012 and I graciously accepted :) We will be married March 16, 2013 in the Logan LDS temple and I couldn't be happier. I love to look back and see how the Lord has guided me through my life that has led me to where I am today and all my many blessings.

She's Crafty :)

So here is what my bed looked like at the beginning of summer...

... and here is what it looked like after I decided to be crafty and make pillows for it.

I'm kind of proud of my little project. The pillows have really made my room so cute :)

Humanitarian Quilts

I make humanitarian blankets because I need service hours for a project I'm working, but I decided to make blankets because after watching the Church's humanitarian video it really did make me so sad to think that some moms around the world bring their newborns home from the hospital wrapped in newspaper because they don't have a blanket for them. I watched this video around the same time my sister had just had a baby and it made me so sad to think about a baby being cold and only wrapped in newspaper, so I decided to make blankets for my service hours :) My mom told me to take a picture of each one I made so I would remember them, so here they are. I still have plenty more to make though, and don't judge me on the way I look. The pictures are purely about the quilt. I take a picture right after I finish them and it's usually late at night when I've given up on my day ha.

Also, I get the fabric from the humanitarian center and then put the quilts together. The horrible fabric choices were not my decision.

100 Things I'm Grateful For

I just read this wonderful talk by Elder Eyring, The Choice to Be Grateful. It is a commandment that we be grateful in all things, and Elder Eyring tells us that we can recognize our blessing by writing them down. So he gives us ten topics in which we write ten things we are grateful for in each one to show that there really is so much in our lives to be grateful for. Here is my list of 100 things :)

Write 10 physical abilities you are grateful for.

~Running

~Learning

~Laughing

~Reading

~Sewing

~Sleeping

~Skiing

~Working

~Eating

~Talking

Write 10 material possessions you are grateful for.

~My ring I got from my Grandma Tippets

~My necklace Em got me

~A car

~My iPad

~My rain boots in cold weather

~My cellphone

~My bed

~My sewing machine

~My picture of Audrey Hepburn

~My makeup

3.

Write 10 living people you are grateful for.

~Em

~My parents

~All of my family

~Mary Sue Jones

~Cole Griffeth

~Senator Orrin Hatch

~The great guys I work with

~President Monson

~Bishop Maughnn

~Tasia

.

Write 10 deceased people you are grateful for.

~President Hinckley

~President Ronald Reagan

~Grandpa & Grandma Alleman

~Grandma Tippets

~Audrey Hepburn

~Abraham Lincoln

~Soldiers

~George Washington

~Mark Twain

~Mrs. Pedersen

5.

Write 10 things about nature you are grateful for.

~Stars

~Brisk air

~Rain

~Snow

~Colorful leaves

~Trails in the mountains

~Flowing water

~Clouds

~Birds

~Lightening

Write 10 things about today you are grateful for.

~David and Katie brought me food at work

~Em and I hung out together all night

~I took apart a phone I had no knowledge of and fixed it

~I cleaned my room before I went to work this morning

~I got the days I requested off at work off

~A guy at work talked to an angry customer for me, so I didn't have to

~The music I'm listening too

~The friendly guy at Jamba Juice

~Mary Sue's text messages to me

~An app I found that helps me set a budget

. Write 10 places on earth you are grateful for.

~My home in Bear Lake

~My bedroom

~Boise

~Beaver Mountain ski resort

~Logan Canyon

~San Diego

~My parents back yard

~Bear Lake

~Uintah Mountains

~Temple grounds

8.

Write 10 modern inventions you are grateful for.

~Nice computers

~iPad

~Hair straightener

~Audible

~Spotify

~Washing machines

~Internet

~Space heaters

~Pinterest

~Panini maker

Write 10 foods you are grateful for.

~Oranges

~Peanut butter and honey

~Chocolate chip cookies

~Frozen grapes

~Smoothies

~Hot soup

~Hot chocolate

~Tofu

~Fruit

~Cheescake

10.

Write 10 things about the gospel you are grateful for.

~The Priesthood

~Temples

~Blessings from tithing

~The gospel's simplicity

~The great role models from the church

~The Church's standards

~Scriptures

~The great comfort

~Missionaries

~The Apostles

After making this list I realized there really is so much for me to be grateful for. There are so many different categories of things I can think of that I'm grateful for. Doing this list was a good reminder for me of all my blessings.

A Few Happenings Lately

I just love this picture of Will :)

My ornament I got from Sen. Hatch. I'm pretty proud of that thing

My singles ward put on a live nativity and they did such a great job. It was in a barn and they had all the live animals for it, even a camel, and we sat on hay bails for seating. It was the perfect thing to get in the Christmas spirit.

Em and I went and saw the lights on temple square with Jesse and his brother Matt. I always love going there.

Ty and I went cross country skiing on Christmas day :) That boy is way better than me on those skis.

How Cordie Tippets gets me to do insanity with her.

She opens up a box of chocolate and has me sample each one, then I feel guilty and have to work out. Great plan Cord.