Nike Scottsdale Run Club

After working at the Nike store for a while now, I got to join our Nike+ Run Club. We meet every Wednesday at 6:00 and either run 3, 5, or 7 miles depending on what other people want to do. There are usually 3 employees that run, so one is the pacer who decides where we are running, and the middle guy who just does his own thing, and then there is the sweeper, who runs with the slowest person so they don't feel left behind. Now, I love free stuff. And I would like to say that I joined the run club because I love to run, but that is a flat out lie. I hate running, because I'm terrible at running. I joined because I get a free shirt, and free running shoes. I need help picking between this color:

and this color:

Until I get them though, I've been running in these:

Can I just say that I LOVE these shoes? I'm not trying to be a Nike Salesperson right now, but I think everyone in the world should own a pair of these. They are so comfortable and so light weight and flexible and so good for your feet. You've all seen the Sketcher "Shape-Up" shoes, right? The ugly ones with the round bottom? This is Nike's concept of the toning shoes. Why do people in Africa run so fast? Because they practice their running barefoot. Meaning they have stronger feet and lower leg muscles. I ran yesterday for run club and my feet and lower legs are killing me! But its a good pain. I love sore muscles. So, if anyone wants to come run with us, every Wednesday at the Nike store in Scottsdale Quarter, 6:00pm. It will be fun!

I Hang Out With Cool People

Great way to entertain kids AND get a great leg workout:

1. Lay a blanket/towel down underneath your trampoline.

2. Crawl under and lay on the blanket/towel on your back.

3. Put your feet perpendicular to the ground so they touch the trampoline like so:

4. Make sure children's faces are not looking down at you. Have them sit in an upright position.

5. Bounce them up off the trampoline EVERY time they say, "Again! Again! Your legs aren't tired anymore! Again! You already rested! Again! Are you sleeping? Bounce me! Bounce me high!" etc.

My legs were sore for 2 days. Also, I guess I was laying on a rock or large pebble because I had a bruise on my spine from it. So, maybe go with the blanket instead of towel...

Nike Scottsdale Store Challenge

The weeks before the Nike store opened, all the new employees had to go to a week long "Rookie Camp". I explained it more in a previous post, but one guy flew out from Oregon where HQ is, and he was I think the Nike+ technology guy. Engineer or programmer or something. Anyway, he did his shpeal with a powerpoint cramming all kinds of information into our heads about Nike+ and how it works, and then he gave us a test. After we were done, he said, Who got 20 out of 20 right? One person raises their hand. He gives them one of these:

Anyway, he kept going down until he only had one band left. He said the number and 3 of us raised our hands. We played Rock Paper Scissors. I won. :) Then he told us all about the Employee Store Challenge that would be going on. You would have to have a sensor of some kind to upload your runs onto the website, and whoever ran the most miles in one month would win an iPad. Second place would get an iTouch. Third Place would get the new Nano Touch. And the results were!!!:

Yeah. It wasn't really an iPad competition after the guy got 40 miles the first week and I got 10, and then the second place guy kept uploading random runs out of nowhere. He told me the other day that he turned his sensor on while he was working so he got extra miles just from walking around the store. I called him a cheater. But! I don't care! I get this:

For running 50 miles. :) I even had a couple of 5k's that I did! Never thought that would happen!

Yes, I'm proud.

The Best Is Yet To Come

Lately, I've been in a reflecting mood. As in, I've been wondering what the heck I'm doing right now in my life and all that jazz. So, here is all the analyzing that went on in my brain:

I'm not going to school. This summer when I found out that I lost my scholarship, I was terrified on so many levels. First of all, that was a lot of free money. I lived off of it for 2 years. It paid for my rent, insurance, food, gas, and I still had enough to play all the time. It was a really good hook up. Now, I would have to get a job and earn all of that good stuff. And work A LOT. Like, more than 20 hours a week!! (Imagine I said that like a dumb blonde haha) Second of all, I was scared of what other people would think. I was friends with and related to so many people that got scholarships as well, and I felt like an idiot because I couldn't keep mine. Really, how hard is it to keep your GPA higher than 3.25? It wasn't hard at all. But, tell you the truth, I didn't take it serious enough. I didn't know what major I wanted or what job I was working towards,.........

I've been meeting some fantastic people. When I got back from Delaware this summer, I would hang out with my usual friends that I knew before. Well, they met more people and so our "group" got larger. One girl named Ali started hanging out with us, and we became good friends. I envy her outgoing/semi-loud personality, but we are both equally as chill, I guess you could say. Anyway, we get along good. She is a very fun girl. So, I got back from the East Coast, and we start hanging out. After a month of no job luck, she says to me, Hey! There is a new Nike store opening up in Scottsdale! You just have to apply online. We should work together! and so, we do. We both work at Nike which is fantastic. We both got the call that we were hired within 2 days, and so we celebrated. We got to go through the whole "Rookie Camp" of learning about the history of Nike, we had to memorize all the shoes, and the technology in the shoes (Max Air, Zoom Air, what kind of foam is in the midsole.....), and we did all kinds of role playing. And they gave us free stuff. :) There were people that flew in from Oregon (where HQ is) and New York (where the largest NikeTown is). But anyway. I get along great with all of my managers and co-workers. I have nicknames from a lot of them as well. I take that as a good sign.

I live with my brother. I'm not going to lie, sometimes it is frustrating, but mostly, it is just fun. It really is great that we get along so good, otherwise, we would hate each other. How profound, right? Haha. We hang out with the same group of friends and we gossip about the same things, and we make fun of each other, and it is just a blast. I tell him stories about what happened at work and he tells me about all the new words he learned in his Chinese class that day... shoot me brains out (Irish accent). Yay for different languages... Anyway, our apartment situation is good.

I miss my family. I'm jealous of all the people who just have to drive 3 hours to give their Mom or Dad a hug. I miss staying up late with Sarah, Jesse, Dallin, and the parents playing dice and card games where we laugh a LOT! But I don't just miss my Delaware family. I miss Arizona family as well. Now that I work all the time, I don't get to see my favorite Stoddard's. I used to babysit over there all the time and they are some of my most favorite people. They pretty much helped me survive the first month when I didn't have a job. I'm so excited for baby #3! November 7th was my Grandma Udall's birthday, so she and Grandpa have been on my mind. I got an email from my cousin today, who is transcribing their life stories that were recorded, and my Grandpa said:

"I still am always excited every morning that the sun came up again, that it didn't go somewhere else in the night. (laughing) And I have great pleasure come to me when I see my little grandchildren doing well. I love to watch Emily play basketball... or volleyball. She's not a spectacular player but she's very steady and very dependable. It's so interesting. And so on with the others. ..."

They were both very big supporters of me in my high school sports, especially when we played against Thatcher. :) I'm selfishly sad that I won't have them in my "Family Temple Picture", among other things.

So, after adding all these together and multiplying them by terror and dividing by praying, I decided that I'm in the right place right now. Right place in my life. I think that me losing my scholarship was Heavenly Father's way of saying, Whoa. Let's try this some other time. or, Ok, you totally missed my queue for the major you need to declare. Either one. Or both. :) The people I associate with help me see what kind of person I want to be, what kind of person I don't want to be, and its always a plus when they have the same standards as you. I'm glad I have a reliable roommate and I love my family.

I am happy with my life right now.

Gonzo, Shmonzo...

I helped Luis Gonzalez pick out some sweat pants yesterday at the store. He came in with his brother and because everyone recognized him except me, I was the only one NOT freaking out. Winning hit and the World Series? Ok. Cool. You want a jacket to match?

Now, if Misty Mae or Kerri Walsh were to stroll in, then someone would have to administer CPR. I dare them to come visit Scottsdale. I dare them...

Red Shoes

Another story from today. I think I've gotten to see all the different faces of Scottsdale, Arizona in just one week of working over there. I've gotten the spoiled brats that buy everything with Daddy's credit card, the stuck up people that won't accept your help unless absolutely necessary, the sweet old couples that love chatting, and we even had a homecoming/Frolic/Prom group come in... I don't know why. Anyway. I got a mix today. A sweet older couple came in and the lady says to me with her Spanish sounding accent, "You have all red shoes? I need all red shoes. But no holes on top." I say, "All red? You mean with no mesh on top?" I show her all kinds of examples of semi-red shoes, and she says, "I need all red shoes to hide the blood."

(Screeching Brakes!!!)

What!?!?!? I'm pretty sure I made a really weird face because she and her husband both said at the same time, "Oh, she is a surgeon! So sorry! Is ok! We're not scary!" Freaked me RIGHT OUT!!!

1) Ew! Blood all over your shoes??? What kind of surgery does she do???

2) I thought for 2 seconds she was a sweet little foreign serial killer who would do away with me if I didn't get her RED SHOES, and

3) It is now extremely funny to me. I guess I've watched one too many episodes of Criminal Minds lately to think someone like her would really be capable of hacking people up.

All Red Shoes! Hahaha!!!

Filthy Rich

I now understand what that means. Filthy Rich. Let me enlighten you with a story:

When we first opened our Nike store up in Scottsdale, I felt kind of bad because our managers told us that our main job is to talk customers up to buying more, More, MORE! In my mind, it sort of felt dishonest for some reason. But that quickly changed. Today, a young girl came in with her fit-your-closet-in-it Prada bag. She looked READY to shop. She said she was looking for a jacket because it was raining outside and she was getting her hair done in 2 hours. So, I show her the most pricey jackets we have. One was $160, one was $360, and the last one was $420. Guess which one she chose? $420 in 3 minutes. But just wait. I say to her, "Oh, I love that jacket. And the best thing is, we have so many shirts that would go great with it!" As I'm catching all the shirts she picks up to try on, I say, "This shirt has leggings that are meant to go with it. Would you like to try those on as well?" Get the picture? I don't think she said no to me once. I got clear down to 2 pairs of running shoes. And everything in between. I take her mountain of stuff to the cashier, and he rings her up. Her total? Almost $800. !!!! And do you know what she says!? And I quote:

"Wow, thats it? Maybe I should get more stuff.... I already spent double that over at TJMax..."

Oh, my gosh! Isn't that just... disgusting??? So there you go.

Disgusting, filthy rich.

Lucky. haha