Taco Love

Is it possible that tacos can bring happiness? In my world yes. A most definite yes. I dream of Mi Ranchito tacos and then if I am lucky, I stash a couple in the fridge and eat cold leftovers for breakfast. I would eat them everyday. Several times a day in my dreams. One day a couple weeks ago, Ashlee and Paul surprised me and brought in Mi-Ranchitos. Yep. Tacos for me and they rocked my world. Gracious!

New York Stationery Show

The New York Stationery Show begins today. Late nights of creating have now come to an end and only tiredness remains, at least for a day or two. Thankful for a supportive family and good people to work for. Leftover dishes are now back home in the dishwasher. I think for now, a nap here and there sounds awfully good. Time to clean up : )

Homework

The joys of a small family business never seem to end. There always seems to be something to do whether you want to or not. But I have to learn to count my blessings more often and be grateful.  Grateful we are still in business, grateful for family time together as we work on projects, grateful for flexibility with work. This weekend we prepared 400 visiting teaching gifts for our busy Utah Paper Craft Shop Hop coming up. Between Larry, Lindsey (and Lucy) and Abby's help, they got it done. They turned out pretty cute and are ready to go. Thank you family!

new logo for pebbles inc.

We had our new logo reveal for Pebbles Inc. over at Pebbles in my Pocket in Orem. Tauni, over at American Crafts did a great job planning it with the local bloggers and their kids, plenty of treats and Make and Takes. I love our new logo... simple, feminine and fun! I was happy to see some of our regular customers and friends from American Crafts there also... it was a wonderfully busy morning at Pebbles. Jack's favorite treat must have been the Krispy Kream Donuts :)

little teeth

New changes at Pebbles with Jack. He is now very mobile and likes to climb. His favorite place to be is standing on the little round step stool and eating a snack as he teeters back and forth. He makes friends with all of the kids that come in with their mom's. He likes to climb stairs. He has occasional tantrums that are pretty cute to watch, but is generally pretty good natured. The Jack surprise of this month? He has teeth and bit right through the package of our visiting teaching treats... needless to say that the untouchable things are moving up out of his reach :)

make a face

It is a mistake to let a picture this ugly get out. But honestly, I am just mimicking Jack's face that he makes every time we ask him to make a face... and then he giggles thinking he is just so funny. He is pretty darn cute and me? No words. Clearly I should have done more than pat my two day old hair down. Lesson learned :)

fighting the city

Every other Tuesday night from 6-7pm you will find me speaking for my allotted three minutes at the City Council meeting in Orem. Today's issue is the sign ordinance targeted for State Street businesses only, tomorrow's issue will be Utopia, attracting and keeping business in Orem to strengthen our tax base and being fiscally responsible. Also I would like to see the structure of the city management team change with more power to the citizens. Yes, I speak only for three minutes, but for those few short three minutes I have never feel so invisible. I think they have long forgotten that they work for us. I will be there to remind them :)

Today I went to court at Orem City about the sign ordinance. I was offered a continuance as I try to work out a deal with the city and I have started a facebook page 'Concerned Citizens for Orem'. I will not be taking our sign down and it feels good to take a stand.

sometimes you have to take a stand

So I was summoned to go to court in Orem. Crazy I know. Ashlee came to be a support, but mostly to make sure I was nice. The end of November I received notice to take down our banner sign on our fence. I called the city and told them that I would not be taking it down until I found an alternative. After several of his attempts to tell me that wasn't an acceptable option, my reply of "have you nothing better to do with your time?" "This is such a wise spending of our tax dollars". He did not like my attitude. I told him he clearly had never run a business. Plus we were going into the holiday season, could it not wait until spring? The battle lines were drawn. 

The summons came. I went to court along with the DUI's and the domestic disturbance people, then the door opened and the shackled criminals inched their way into the court. Then they called my name and I was ready to fight with all of my carefully gathered information. I plead not guilty and I have to go back in March. Frustration.

Kelsie said that I should just pay the fine and remove my banner. I told her that if our country was built on people that gave up that easily, it would not be the great country it is now. Sometimes there are things worth fighting for, even if it is just a sign in front of my business, on a fence that I own.

Years ago when the Davis family lived in the home...

on the go

Hmmm. He can no longer be contained at Pebbles and within weeks promises to be a little boy hurricane as he is naturally drawn to everything in his sight. Still, we look at him and know what a miracle and blessing he is.

-Brenda

ash and jack at pebbles

I get to spend part of each day with these two at Pebbles... lucky me :)

-Brenda   

busy weekend and still no baby

It has been a busy few days for us. We spent Friday night and all day Saturday down at the Riverwood's Farmers Market. Chalk the Block was pretty cool with artists that filled parking spaces with cool artwork. Lots of live music, yummy food and a real fun energy. It was a good way to advertise for Pebbles and let people know that we are more than a scrapbooking store. It was nice to spend time with the girls in the booth. Whether we were at the booth, watching grandkids at home, at school, working or waiting for the baby to come... we all pitched in and are surely tired. No baby for Lindsey and Tyler yet... they are being induced this morning... Lucy Lou should be here today. Keep them in your prayers :)

-Brenda 

jack. jax. mason.

It was so good to have Amy drop by with Jax and Mason (yes identical twins). Ashlee added Jack and we had a pile of growing boys... born within a month of each other. Just wait 'til they are on the move :)

Work has never been the same for me since Amy left Pebbles when her twins were born. I miss her. A lot. We could talk about everything at the same time and somehow keep up with it all... though occasionally I could confuse her. I don't think anyone talks more than me except Amy. True. I miss hearing the stories of her nieces and nephews, her home and craft projects, life with Jace and just her basic good attitude about life and the way she tells stories. Of course, I am still grateful she does work for me from home here and there when she is able. Thanks Amy!

-Brenda

farmers market and opening night of olympics

What a day. I feel like I hit the ground running and picked up speed as the day went along going from one fire to another. Overseeing the three new collection for Pebbles Inc. with a deadline of Sept 15 can be stressful, but in a good way because I love creating. Then the news came... our Pebbles in my Pocket website back end crashed and we lost the last 8 months of images and information. Unrecoverable at this time with our current host so we quickly found a new home and will begin to build our new website this weekend. Everyone is willing to help so hopefully it will get done quickly and be better than ever. 

I had signed up earlier for the Riverwoods Farmers Market on Friday evenings and of course it started tonight. We scrambled and got our display set up quickly. I snapped at Larry. I was at my breaking point. It's been a hard day. Katie and I spent time together at the booth and passed out coupons for Pebbles. Many people still think of us as a scrapbook store and don't know that we have been adding wonderful party supplies. This may be a good way to get the word out. It was very hot for the first couple of hours until the sun went down a bit. Everyone else at home planned an Olympics Party to celebrate the opening night with foods they made from different companies. I did get to come back in time to watch the athletes walk into the stadium and for just a moment the world felt at peace. I do think most people from all countries throughout the world want to live peaceful lives and get along. We are looking forward to watching some of them when we are able...

-Brenda

back from cha chicago

The CHA Tradeshow in Chicago has come and gone... the days blended together and before I knew it, we were flying home. I flew home on two hours of sleep and remember the plane being so cold. I simply covered my head with a red Delta blanket and that's the last thing I remember until we were ready to land. Not attractive I know.

I am glad our Pebbles Inc. product did well at the show... This show, the three collections we introduced were Walnut Grove, Tricks and Treats, Seen and Noted. I stayed in the booth and talked with store owners and then every once in awhile I would run and and gather catalogues for the Pebbles store. I continually feel grateful to be working for American Crafts. They are good people.

Memories of the trip:

Leaving at 4:30 am to get to the airport, knowing it would be a long day. Running to catch our connecting flight. Glad I got to room with Darcy. 10 lb deep dish Chicago style pizza. Mike treating us to a HUGE chocolate cake on our last night... so perfectly yummy and just enough pieces for us all, along with an extra one for the lucky customer we gave it to. Staying back at the hotel instead of going to downtown Chicago with everyone, I ordered pizza in and organized my purchasing plan while looking through catalogues. Eating my weight in Kit Kats each day during the show... addictive. Losing my luggage for the first day until we realized it was under the floor of the van in a secret compartment. Hot and humid = sticky and sweaty in Chicago. Juggling rooms the last night. Catching up with friends in the business. Missing home.  

-Brenda

yardwork at pebbles

Early morning Saturday took us to Pebbles. Nothing like cleaning up the leftover slimy leaves from fall in the springtime. Yep. We didn't get to it until now and the piles are growing. We did get a fair amount done, yet have more to do at Pebbles to get the yard looking more cared for and loved. Thank you for the help!

-Brenda

rebuilding pebbles

The tear down is behind us and the rebuilding of Pebbles in the basement has begun... a beam for the main support wall to open up the entire space, sheet rock and texture, better lighting, some finish work and carpet . . . the hardest part is picking out the paint color. What looks good upstairs, looks terrible downstairs . . . What looks good in the morning, looks terrible in the afternoon sun. The basement walls are covered with different paint swatches as I narrow down my choices. Meanwhile, if anyone happens to see a color they like here, I have a sample quart for you at the shop :)

-Brenda

self control

Everyday this past week, a few chocolate covered almonds showed up on my laptop at work. Always after Larry comes in. Yes. They are from my sweetheart. I am puzzled. I can't relate. I am delighted each day when they surprisingly show up. How does he do it? Why are some people able to make sweets last, and others hear their call until they are gone?

-Brenda

my protector

Deadlines are always part of life... when they come we just dig in and get what needs to be done... done. Other things get pushed aside for a bit. Last night was an all-nighter of creative kits that I have the opportunity to create for Target. About 10pm, the sounds of the old house [Pebbles] started to make me jumpy so I called Larry and he came with pillow and blanket in hand and slept on the couch while I busily created. Yep. He is ready to protect me at anytime and that brings me great comfort.

-Brenda

and the walls come tumbling down...

I am working hard at simplifying life... This is new to me as I talk a lot about it, yet have never been able to quite grasp it. It always feels just out of my reach. Frustrating. With Larry working at the hospital now, the kids with their growing families, grandkids & school something has to change. Pebbles is now 20 years old and it is time to make it fit into our family life better and turn it into a business that I can more easily manage. There are a lot of ideas floating around in my head...

After much pondering, I have decided to place half of Pebbles for lease. We only use half of our 7,000sq ft. I signed this past week with a clothing boutique company 'House of Denim'. That's right... we will soon have two boutique businesses under one roof. So the tear down and clearing out of the basement has begun. Oh my! How 20 years of business does pile up! Everyone in the family has pitched in and helped just as they always have through the years... the guys seemed to really like demolishing the walls. Together is a good place to be. I am on the right pathway and am excited for the changes we are making.

-Brenda

another coat...

Bar stools for the booth are freshly coated every 6 months for the CHA Trade Show [Craft & Hobby Association]. Pink is our color of choice this time, covering up the red from last time... This next week everything will be put in the crates and shipped off for the Pebbles Inc. booth. The show is in Anaheim, end of January and for the first time, in a very long time, I am not going. Ashlee is due on the 24th... and until this baby comes, life is on hold and everything is subject to change.

-Brenda