Life of a Door to Door Salesman

Selling is Hard. Period.

I don't envy my husbands job. He is awesome. I love him and appreciate what he does for my family. Because. I. Could. NOT. Period.

This is his third year selling and his first year as a manager so we are finally starting to get the hang of this summer life.

He gets up and does his own morning things (scriptures, prayer, teeth brushed, works-out, etc.) then he has to get meeting stuff ready. Find area. Make sure they have permits. I never knew how much a manager actually has to do. I thought "Sweet, the money is awesome! DO IT" but it also brings on a headache that neither Brandon or I ever imagined. But - it's awesome and he does so well at it. He has always been a natural leader so this is right up his alley. 

Then they have their meeting. 

He tries to motivate & excite. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. 

He has to hide his emotions.

After meeting he grabs his stuff and leaves to sell till after dark. 

It's rough. He gets yelled at and chased by dogs (sometimes). Its hot. It rains. 

He walks the area. 

He gets REALLY BAD farmer's tans.

He eats PB&J or Turkey sandwiches EVERY SINGLE DAY for lunch. 

He makes good money!

It's not easy but its worth it. 

So as a wife, I try to help his as much as I can. I do the laundry. I make the meals. I clean the house and take care of Tylee. I try to make it so he has minimal things to do. His only official job around the house is taking out the trash. How fitting with his job ;)

But I try to do some cute things for him as well. 

I write him notes on his fruit!

We make him brownies and cookies

Let him sleep in.

Send him funny pictures that I find 

And take advantage of our Saturday night dinners and Sundays after church that we get to spend together. 

As you can see the life of a salesman is hard. We squeeze in fun times when we can but it makes for an amazing school year of more time together. We have a love/hate relationship with the summer sales life. The adventures and learning experience are something that we will never trade for the world. I wonder what company/state/job we will be in/working for next year. 

We sure love Daddy! He's the best husband and father anyone can get! Thanks B! 

LOVE YA FOREVER!

Fun while we've got her..

I really appreciate my mom! She is the best example I've ever had. Not to mention she gave me my life. We were very lucky to have her spend a few days with us at our new place in Minnesota before she headed back home (on an airplane this time.)

So naturally we needed to pack in some fun days:
Day 1: (Saturday Night)
We made it to Plymouth and unpacked the car and went to dinner with the salesmen.

Day 2: (Sunday)
We went to the Twins Game and went to the lake for a bbq at the owners' house.

Day 3: (Monday)
MALL OF AMERICA & SEA LIFE AQUARIUM

This was Lego Land in the Mall...

What a day. I can't believe how big the mall actually is.. Seriously look it up! Biggest MALL ever. It was really fun to go check it out. Definitely need a week to shop there. 

DAY 4: (TUESDAY:)

We went to the Como Zoo.

The zoo was a blast and yes grandma spoiled Tylee with some cotton candy. She is such a good grandma and we are lucky to have her.

DAY 5: Wednesday

Well this about sums up the week with grandma. This is the day we helped her pack her bags and drop her off at the airport. We sure are going to miss you and your company. We love you and can't wait to see you at the end of the summer. 

Utah to Minnesota

After a LONG month without my husband and Tylee with out her daddy, we began our long journey from Logan, Utah to Plymouth Minnesota. Check my Instagram for some pictures my mother took while I drove @camillebgriffin . It was actually a very fun roadtrip that I loved. We saw Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug, Mammoth Site, and seeing other cool things we made it.

3 States, 1,310 Miles, 22 driving hours later.... WE MADE IT!!!!!!!!

After missing your husband and daddy for that long reunions are so sweet. We unpacked the car, got ready for dinner and got to go meet up with the team after an amazing sales day. It was a great night. Then the next day we was Sunday so we were lucky enough to spend the day together. We were naughty and skipped out on church to go to a Twins Baseball Game. Neither me, my mom, or Tylee had ever been to a pro-game before so we were in for a treat.

Definitely get a hot dog there. MM MM GOOD!!

Well our family was finally all together again. How it should be. Now its time to check out what our new temporary home was like.

Blogging ....

It's been a while. A long while. I don't know what it is about blogging. I love it, yet I hardly ever do it. Life gets in the way. Since Baby Animal Days back in April a few things happen. Some may call them big, some may call them little. But I call it LIFE.

prior to MAY 2013:

My husband decided to sell for a new company this year. MSI. He is selling garbage contracts. If you are like me and have lived in Utah (or another state where trash is considered a utility bill and already added on to what you pay, you will think what in the heck is that?!) He signed on as a manager for this company and we couldn't be happier. We chose friends that we thought would rock and not to mention MARRIED!!! (yay! I won't be all alone all summer.)

A few of you readers may know some of the people who decided to join our family this summer. Branson & Susie Smith
Derick & Caitlin Cox
Blair & Tyler Munk
Shelby Warren
Blake Kelley
As you can see this is one of the most fun groups of people ever! We couldn't be any happier than to spend the entire summer in Colorado Springs. Life is grand.

So of course this decision made the annual "-pack-up-the-apartment-&-coerce-the-family-to-help-move" event. BY THE WAY THANKS EVERYONE WHO HELPED IN ANYWAY. WE KNOW YOU MIGHT BE SICK OF IT AND WE REALLY REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE THE HELP.

We moved out and Brandon packed up the car, leaving Tylee and I behind for the month of May. He headed out with his Avalon, Gary's truck and a borrowed trailer packed to the hilt with all of our belongings. The other couples were in the train in their cars and they began the trek to Colorado Springs.

MEANWHILE BACK HOME....
The Bales' Family was heading off to St. George to have a weekend relaxing in the fun sun!!! :) Yay. We packed up the suitcases and hopped in the truck to head to St. George.

Here is a few photos from having fun in the sun:

We had a blast playing! Thanks mom and dad. We love you guys. 

BACK TO THE COLORADO JOURNEY...

While on vacation in St. George...

I got a phone call (well many phone calls, but one in particular) from Brandon saying that the apartments we were supposed to live in were apparently very ghetto and lots of druggies lived there. Not acceptable for families. Period. 

So after unpacking the furniture they repacked. Not going to lie, I didn't envy them one bit. That is a ton of work and a pain, especially when you have that big of a caravan. Well apparently the company they were supposed to be working didn't have an office or anything ready at all for these poor traveling salesmen. I will not point any fingers at this point, but I will say that NO ONE was happy. So after debating and talking over options Brandon decided to not call the quits yet and head to Plymouth, MN. WHAT?!

I'm now expected to travel with a two year old from Utah to Minnesota by myself. Call me crazy but I was not a happy camper. I was worried. Plus I wasn't happy with the company they were supposed to be working for because of the rough start. 

After coming to terms with the situation, I began making traveling decisions. Blair Munk (my good friend who stayed behind to finish up her job) would possibly to travel with me and help me in the long journey with my cute little Tylee. 

Well to make a long story short. MSI finally got the team settled in Plymouth MN. After another decision processing event my wonderful mother decided to make the journey with me. 

Baby Animal Days

Every year American West Heritage Center hosts a huge event, "BABY ANIMAL DAYS." This year (and last) they had baby bears even.. We saw them last year and decided not to wait in the huge line. We did do some other fun things though. Again I regret not taking enough photos...