V-day 2011

This year Valentine's Day came and went. That's not so new for us. I would ask that you all try to contain your envy over our day. In pretty typical fashion, Dave hung out at the business all day. (Didn't even get to break away to go to the dollar store and get me a flower, which I may have suggested at some point...) I worked in Murray at the day job; then went to work, with the hubs, at pretty much our favorite place, hah! We closed up shop, and then I picked up McDonald's on the way home. Excitement! Okay, again, try to contain yourselves. :)

The next day Dave actually did break away in the evening, a rarity. We were able to on a dinner date, which is something we haven't done for some time. Tried to go to Chili's, who ended up being closed for the evening; then went and tried a new Mexican place instead. It wasn't bad. So there you have it. A note about our big date and a post...finally...and it's (pretty much) not about the business.

Setting New Records

This last week has been crazy! What's new? Last Monday we had our busiest day yet. We did 3-4 times as much business as usual, and we did it with just Dave, me, and 2 other employees. Tuesday night we spent the night cleaning. We did massive floor cleaning ,and a bit of painting. Pretty much spent the night - we left the business at 4 AM. :)

Honestly, can't remember much of last week, or the last couple of weeks. So, this will just be short and sweet. Until next time... (Whenever that may be.)

The Beginning and The End

Due to the insanity of business ownership, I'm finding that I just don't have time and/or energy to do much of anything these days. However, I am off from the hospital today, hanging out (working) at the business, and it's slow right now. So, here's my blurb about the end of 2010; beginning of 2011.

The last week of 2010 proved to be quite busy at the restaurant. It was kind of a bizarre week, in that our slowest day was one of the busier ones, and the busy days were quite slow. Regardless, I think it was our best week to date - not hard to do since it was only our 4th week. :0)

Learning experience: We weren't sure what New Year's Eve/New Year's day would be like, but we thought we'd try being open and see how it went. Good plan, better teaching moment. What we learned is that nearly no one goes out on New Year's Eve, I think especially when it's in the single digits outside. New Year's day was good, but we won't be open the full day. Hardly anyone came in until 4:00 or 5:00 PM, but then we were slammed. It was good for business, but really stressful as it was Dave, me, and 2 other employees. We managed though.

We have done fairly well the first few days of January and are hopeful that we might be successful in this endeavor and in all that we do this upcoming year. Dave has hired several people, and I think we have just about got a full staff. At that point we can back off of the front lines and focus on marketing and other such fun stuff.

Christmas 2010

This year Christmas came an went... way too fast! Dave and I spent most of the time at home. However, we were able to go have dinner and spend some time with Dave's sister Patty and her family on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas day we went to West Valley for the annual Bingo party with my family. It's a really short one, but that's about it for this year.

A Few Firsts

Over the last week, I had a few firsts that I thought I would share.

* Went grocery shopping for the first time
in weeks - usually go weekly.
* Got lost in a Wal-Mart parking lot - couldn't find the car, had
to walk around for a few minutes.
* Was banned from going to the business - sweet hubby
said I couldn't go in to help.
* Took a nap.

Crazy Busy!

This is the first time I've had in a couple of weeks to FINALLY post that Dave and I are business owners! Oh the madness. Yep, we bought a pizza buffet in Provo, called Doc's. (Not our name, already established as such.) I cannot tell you how insanely busy it has kept us. Although, I do think that with each day we're in there, it is becoming less crazy. Still plenty busy, but we can take it in now.

Over the weekend Dave and I figured out that he does about 80-90 hrs/wk at the business and I do 60-70 between my "day job" and my "night one". At last, I realize why we are so exhausted. :0)

Despite the stress and chaos of it all, we are enjoying it and it has already been quite the venture. We have found out a lot in the short time that we have taken over. Some good things, others not so much. I think we are starting to get a handle on things though.

Among other things, getting the right staff in has been helpful. The previous owners had 6 Korean speakers and 2 Spanish speakers. Luckily, I suppose, I know a decent amount of Spanish. Nevertheless, the language barrier has been trying, especially for Dave. It was very interesting when Dave was training with the previous owner, another Korean speaker, and he would translate "Korean English" to "American English". While he was doing that, I was going between Spanish and English. So when we tried to talk to each other we both ended up really having to think what to say and how to say it. That is improving.

I will try to get some pictures up in the next couple of days before we start remodelling. We are planning on painting to start and will be getting that under way toward the end of the week. So until next time...

'Tis the Season

I'm so excited to be in the holiday season. We have really felt the Christmas spirit this year. It is so easy to get wrapped up in gifts, Christmas trees, and candy canes. While these things are fun and add to the holiday season, this is the time of year that we celebrate the birth and life of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We have watched numerous Hallmark Christmas movies, each with wonderful messages. I have also been touched by holiday music. Amid stress, and hustle and bustle, it has been in these holiday tunes that I have felt great comfort and relaxation.

Of course, it's not to say that we don't participate in such holiday traditions as decorating the Christmas tree, hanging Christmas lights, and attending parties. We went to our ward party last night. It was nice to be with friends and get out for a bit. We have not done our family picture as of yet, but here are our lights and tree. Here are the new additions...

(present lights)

(snowman lights)

(holiday train)