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if I may…

So I have had a great adventure recently as my sister and I have started the Missouri Star Quilt Co, it’s been a surprisingly fun experience working with family and I would be remiss if I did not give a quick bit o’ love to one of my best friends who happens to be a business partner of mine.

You gotta love this girl and I am constantly amazed at what she is able to accomplish. Let me give you a brief run down of what it’s taken to get here, and keep in mind, this is all done with 5 crazy kids and a champion of a husband, who all have karate, some have soccer, football, music and other commitments. A house of their own that needs attention from time to time, church commitments, and various other time sapping factors in play. So with all that going on, she has managed to find and negotiate a price on a building, close on the building, handle taxes and lawyers, work out loan needs with the bank, incorporate her company, remodel almost entirely a good chunk of the purchased building, get the multiple insurances necessary, come up with alternative financing for the quilt machine, get all the permits and tax id’s necessary to run a business, and the list goes on.

We talk every morning before I start work and we reset what needs to be done that day, and almost without fail, we do a call at the end of the day where she confirms that everything is taken care of. An absolute joy to see everything come together, and I just love working with miss Sarah. My family spoils me, what can I say?

triathlete = me.

I ran a triathlon yesterday. Not the olympic style, just the sprint length (the shortest tri available). A few months ago a friend of mine (woman friend) had started training months ago for this event, and tried to get me to train with her. In an effort to spite her, I promised I wouldn’t train and would still beat her. Well I had to make good on this threat, so on friday we drove to st george and camped (mistake) which means I sat up working on email projects all night cause I couldn’t sleep. Then finally at 4a I went back into the car and curled up there. 6am was race time, so we pushed over there and as I stood in the water to start the swim I looked around and tried to mimic the stretching and warm ups of those around me, which essentially was a lot of windmill arm swinging and upper body torso twisting and bending at the waist (that’s for the legs) then in my board shorts and swim cap (I was supposed to be in a wet suit it seemed) I waited anxiously for the horn, then yelled “GO ATHLETES” and waited for the herd to move out, then I hopped in and pulled out my stroke I know best, the tried and true side stroke. I side stroked in the back of the pack, a constant worry of the rescue folks because of my slow pace, and puttered through it all the same. I finished the swim and was surprisingly exhausted. I’m a swimmer, I really didn’t think it would phase me, but it did. I ran to my bike and changed into my bike shorts (another no no from what I gather, and tasty’s donut’s t-shirt and hopped on the bike and started rocking, then realizing I had no juice, none! I was tired. It took a good half of the bike to get my cadence back, and finally did get going on it, and took it to it. I got done with the cycling leg and hopped off to run. Understand, I am not a runner, at all. I hopped off the bike and started running, we got out of the parking lot, and up a hill and then I realized that ‘desert run’ meant I was running in sand and loose gravel. It was dusty, hot, and long. I felt so weak. I finally just joined a group of old women that pulled me through to the finish (bless their hearts) and did finish! It was pretty exciting for me, but I will never…. ever…. do something like that without training. Seriously, just a bit of prep and I would have had a completely different experience. But regardless, I beat the friend by 7 minutes, and feel it in every part of my body.

Anyway, gray hair or not, I am a triathlete baby.

See pics from both the triathlon, and the LoToJo (206 mile bike race from Logan UT to Jackson Hole WY that Etherington and Smart Mike did while I drove support) —> here

well I knew it was gonna happen

so I woke up the other morning, and went to work on a few projects, then I go brush my teeth and as I’m staring at myself in the mirror scrubbing my gums, I notice something tragic…

a gray hair. That’s right, me, the young, sexy, executive…. going to gray. Now I know what you’re thinking “Al, ladies love the salt and pepper look” well my sex appeal isn’t in question here, it’s me as I know me that is in question. Today, it appears, I’ve hit my peak and am slowly decomposing en route to death.

Stand by for my mid life crisis.

labor day, w00t

so for labor day weekend I hopped on a plane and cruised home to Missouri to do a bit of work. Mom is starting a quilt shop back there called “Missouri Star Quilt Co.” and is very excited. Well we’ve purchased a 5000 sqft old brick building that has a block of windowed store front and just some great character. So we needed to convert the old car dealership (brick building) / antique shop into something usable. Saturday I got in and went over plans with dad and the the family and we settled on what we were going to do. Then I went into the old totes in my room and dug out a pair of jeans (there were so many adventurous clothes in there, to limit myself to jeans was tough, and then Monday we went to work. We were up before 7 to hit the sales at the lumber yard, going in initially in seth’s truck, we hauled back lumber to build the walls, sheetrock, and insulation to rock the casbah. We got back and got working, draining old oil drums and knocking out industrial furnaces from the land before time days. Then we measured for the boardwalk out front, and me and dad ran back to the lumber yard to grab deck supplies. Thinking it would be a small purchase, we just took the minivan. As I ran the math it turned out our order for lumber with the van was almost more than when we had the truck. But this is why I love Missouri. We bought 30 planks of 12 foot treated wood, stuck it in the van leaving a good 6 feet sticking out the back, strapped it down with baling twine and a half working motorcycle strap, then drove 30 mph down the highway home, and no one batted an eye. That is why I love this place. So yeah, we cranked out some serious work on Monday, I was very pleased, then did birthdays the last few days for Seth and miss Ella Jane who is now 4. w00t!

Sarah Beth blogged some pics of the day -

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Life is good though, I was reminded of why I chose the desk job as I went to bed Monday night aching, but it is a feeling I love. It really is so good to be home, love my family, though today I’m jumping on a plane back to Provo, back to Logan tomorrow, back to LA on Tuesday, I’ll touch base with you guys again in a few days. Life is crazy, work is good. On the work note, I’ve found my dream company to work for…. the X Prize foundation. If anyone knows anyone associated with them, drop me a line, I am dead serious, I want to work with those guys. I’ll be looking to change jobs in about 2 years, so we got time, but you know.