{Rant}: From an on site property manager

Please promise me you will never do any of the following to your landlord. If you do, your landlord will dislike you. And so will I.

- Ring the doorbell at 7am repeatedly and hope we answer the door. When we don't answer the door, please do not run home and call as many times as your little fingers can dial the number.
-Lie about how many people live in your apartment. When your apt. manager lives on site, they know what is going on and they are not stupid.
-Litter. Garbage cans and dumpsters are not just for decoration. Use them. And if you have something big, like a mattress that needs to go in the dumpster...
-PUT it IN the dumpster. Not to the side of it. Or by it. Someone has to lift it up and put it in the dumpster for the trash man. That person is your manager. Who probably has better things to do with their time.
-Pay rent late then yell at the manager for giving you a late fee. There is a reason the lease informs you of the late fee. Don't get mad at the manager for you being poor, too lazy to come on the proper day, or whatever other reason you have for being late. Your fault, not mine.
-Make us go to court because you feel you can live here without paying rent. You will lose.
-If you come to my door, do not smoke in my face. Unless you want me to puke on you.
-Just because you give me your rent does not give your kids permission to: pet my dog, give my dog baths, sit on my car, etc.
-Come to the door at any hour you please. Treat this like a business. A business has office hours. So do we. If you come an hour too soon, you can bet I will bite your head off and make you feel as stupid as humanly possible...there is a sign on the door that you are knocking on stating when we are open. Read it. Otherwise, prepare to be on my bad side. Which, believe it or not, is a very bad idea.
-If you don't speak English, bring someone to the door that can. I don't magically gain the gift of tongues every time I open the door. And I don't particularly enjoy playing charades either.
-Watch your kids. Need I say more? Oh wait, I do...pick up their poopy diapers and put them in. the. garbage.

And...the list could go on but I think that covers the basics that we all learned in kindergarten.

{Man's best friend}: Toby

Almost 6 months ago, Brian and I got Toby (that just goes to show how big I have been into blogging). Brian has wanted a beagle for as long as I have known him. One night I just decided to look on ksl for free dogs, and that's how we found Toby. When we went to pick him up, the lady that was giving him away started crying. We felt so bad; I know it's silly but now I  understand why she was so sad. I'm pretty sure I would do the same thing too now. I never thought I would love a dog that much- but I am so grateful we have him & he's definitely part of the family.

When Brian gets home from work, Toby always runs to the door to greet him. I don't know how he knows it's Brian because he always barks at other people who come to the door- but not Brian. Then when Brian gets inside, he'll just go lay with him while Brian rests. I'm bummed to say it, but Brian is probably Toby's favorite between the two of us. Talk about man's best friend.

He always gets up and begs like this when he wants something because he knows we will fall for it. I think he looks like he's wearing a tuxedo.

 He loves riding in the car...but what dog doesn't?

He also loves little kids and licking them. It's so fun watching my nieces play with him.  They can grab his tail or pretty much do whatever, and he will just sit there and be patient. 

{Update}: As of Late...

Where to start, where to start?

Brian and I are currently managing 37 apartments here in town. All  most of the tenants are Hispanic and don't speak English...so that makes it extra "fun." I can usually understand what is being talked about, but when it comes to actually speaking in Spanish, I have a really hard time. I need to get the RosettaStone! Some of the tenants are absolutely crazy; then there are others that I wish spoke English because they are so cute and nice.

School is in full swing. I can't believe this semester is already halfway! It's flying by and I am oh so happy about that...can't wait to be done! I already have a list of books to read when I'm able tor read something besides a textbook.

I am so excited for Fall. It's only mid September and I already have all of my "Fall" scents out...it is without a doubt my favorite season (besides Christmas). Speaking of Christmas, I went to Costco the other day and literally almost started crying because they have all their Christmas decorations out. I don't what it is, but I really love Christmas lights and decor!

And after a lot of work, our apt is looking more "homey" than when we moved in. Which reminds me...

We finally have a washer/dryer! Hooray! No More laundromat or having to do all the laundry at once!

{Reading}: Emotional Intelligence

For the past year or so while I've been in my program, I have hardly touched a book that isn't a required textbook. Thankfully, we are reading this book for one of my classes this semester. It has been nice to relax and just read every so often for the past few weeks. At first, I thought this book was really boring- mainly because it does start out kind of slow. But it gets better. Basically it's talking about the different characteristics that make up emotional intelligence and how they can help you succeed at home, work, or generally anywhere.
Here are a few things that I've been thinking about:

1. "The less aware we are of what makes us passionate, the more lost we will be. It feels better to do what we have a passion for, even if the rewards are greater elsewhere." I have been thinking about this a lot lately, so that's why it stuck out to me. It's still rolling around in the back of my head, so maybe more on that another day.

2. On empathy, "Sensing what others feel without their saying so captures the essence of empathy. At the highest levels, empathy is understanding the issues or concerns that lie behind another's feelings. The key to knowing others' emotional terrain is an intimate familiarity with our own. Empathy is our social radar." It makes me sad, because I feel like this is becoming a lost art sometimes. Whether it's while people are driving, standing in line at the grocery, or even talking with close friends. So often it's easy to disregard what may be going on with someone else because we are too busy or out of tune to read their body language rather than just half listening to the words they say. And I totally agree that part of that comes from being out of touch with one's self.

These are just a few thoughts that have stuck out to me while reading this past week. I know I have a long ways to go as far as achieving every aspect of emotional intelligence, but that's the beauty of it. It's a work in progress for everyone and we are all working on different aspects.

{Wholeness}

I think right now I may be in a "growing" phase and along with that comes some growing pains. I have been thinking a lot about the concept of feeling and being wholesome. This was a good quote for me to stumble upon today.

{Balance}: Sales

The past year has brought so many changes, opportunities, letdowns, and learning experiences. I won't go into detail about all of them right now, but one of those experiences has brought a lot of contemplation on my part about balance in life.

About 6 weeks ago I heard about a company called Saladmaster.  They are a cookware company that is not sold in stores or online- it must be sold in your home because at the store you "wouldn't know the difference between a $500 vs. a $50 saucepan. Yep, you read that right...$500 for a 1qt saucepan! Anyway, this cookware is top of the line: it is waterless and it doesn't pollute your food with any toxins. However, it was just a lot little too expensive for us. But then they told me about the opportunity to earn a free set of cookware! All you have to do is perform 30 dinner presentations in 90 days, so I decided to go for it. Oh how little I knew!

Once I "joined" the company I got to see what happens behind the scenes. There are no outright lies, but the whole presentation is filled with half truths. As I was learning to do the presentation I would watch one of the top sellers do her shows & sell these sets. It's her full time job & yes she is VERY good at it. However, it got me thinking a lot about the value of money. One time I was on a show with her and she got a sweet old lady to buy about $7,000 worth of cookware. I was appalled while I counted out the money for her-completely shocked at the fact that this sweet elderly woman was shelling out all of this cash on such a whim. Like, we're talkin' life savings here. I was even more shocked to hear the salesgirl when we got out to the car; she made it very clear that money is what drives her and that is what's most important; it's her full time job.

Last night I did a dinner show with some family. Beforehand we discussed that there would be no sale and no pressure whatsoever. The salesgirl was just there to observe me & make sure I can do a dinner on my own. When it came "time" to high pressure sale this family...I didn't do it. I was just about to pack up and leave. That's when the salesgirl stepped in and high pressure sold them worse than I've ever seen. I won't go into details, but it got pretty ugly. And I felt embarrassed to even be sitting there at that kitchen table. Despite the fact that they said no 5 times and also forgetting the fact that they told us right then that they really had NO money...they ended up deciding to buy- all due to this girl & her ability to sell. And afterwards, I can't even begin to describe how guilty & unethical I felt. I realize that this was their choice, but they also made that choice due to some serious pressure from the opposite party. In the end, I felt so bad that I told them how I was feeling about it & I told them about some of the "half truths" that had been told just to get them to buy. They decided to back out and I have never felt better about missing out on $300.

I was up all night thinking about this. And the final decision is that if I don't feel comfortable selling this to my own family, then I really shouldn't feel comfortable selling this to other people's family- their parents, their children, or perhaps, that sweet old lady down the street. It's a great product, but half truths & high pressure really aren't the best way to spend my time or earn my money.

I'm not saying it's a bad business and that money doesn't matter. Money may not buy happiness, but it can definitely alleviate a lot stress- I believe that. It's just that it's all about finding balance.