The customer is always right.

So sometimes we get bored at work. Really, really bored. It’s the one downfall to my job – it’s not very consistent. I mean, who wants to visit a college the day before Thanksgiving?? Other times we’re so busy we skip lunch breaks, call in for back up, etc. So when it starts to get a little slow my coworkers and I often find unique ways to fill our time until we get busy again.

Our most recent “project” is what we call the complaint board. Basically, whenever you have a really bad experience with a product, company, restaurant, etc. you file a complaint on their website, and then see what kind of response you get. You’d be amazed at what companies are willing to do to keep customers happy!

Now, I’m not usually a complainer, but I do feel that if you have a truly bad experience, you have the right to say something, especially since you spent your hard earned money on it! Plus, I’ve found when companies responded positively to my complaints, I felt much more likely to want to continue purchasing their items.

So in case you didn’t already know this, every company has a spot on their website (usually under customer service) where you can fill out a form if you’ve had a bad experience with them. Based on my experience, most companies will respond within a few days and they are usually really willing to compensate you for your bad experience.

Here’s what I’ve received in the past few months as a result:

2 Free Meals from Bagger Dave’s

1 Free Pizza from Papa John’s

2 Free Drinks from Starbucks

1 Free replacement item & free shipping from Amazon

The only company I filed a complaint against, that didn’t respond was Meijer, but I wasn’t very surprised by that. I think I’m done filing complaints for now, but it was an interesting experiment to see how companies would respond. And hey – if I ever have a REALLY bad experience again, I know what to do!!

Have a great weekend all!

Our "complaint board" at work.

Mommy-son date

Liam & I have been spending a lot of one on one time together since Ben is busy with work/internships/classes. I've been trying to plan one night a week to do something fun & different with him.

Last night as soon as I picked him up from daycare (my sister's house) we went to Culver's for dinner and then the library. As soon as I told him we were going to the library he yelled "yay!" I know I've said it before, but I love that he loves books.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the age he's at. He's energetic, inquisitive, super talkative and VERY animated. EVERY day he does/says something to make me laugh. He's a great kid, and I'm SO blessed to be his momma. 

Super late summer post

I have been absolutely terrible about updating my blog lately. We've been too busy enjoying summer! So now that summer is over, what have we've been up to over the past few months? Well...

 

Part Time:

Every summer my job goes part time. Since the first of June I have only worked Wednesday-Friday each week. I can't even begin to express how much I have enjoyed 4 whole days with Liam each week. We've had so much fun together. We got library cards, and Liam joined the summer reading club. For his age group he just needs to be read to, rather than read on his own. He has always loved books, but it's been so great to watch his love of books grow. He's just like his momma. We also spent plenty of time at our neighborhood park and had a few play dates with some of Liam's friends.

July 14 ~ Liam's first time swimming!

Ben's New Schedule:

Ben also started the last portion of his grad program this summer - his internship. He is currently working 40 hours a week, doing 20 hours each week at his internship, and taking 2 classes at a time. It's been tough, but we just have to get through this coming winter and then he'll graduate in May. While this is definitely the most stressful portion of his grad program, it's also so nice to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Only 8 more months until he'll be done! I am already so proud of how hard he has worked.

Liam is 2:

July 12 Liam turned 2! I can't believe how quickly he is growing. On July 7 we had my family up for a construction-truck themed party. Then on July 14 we went to Hudson, MI to celebrate with Ben's family. 

 

Liam is 2!

 

More birthdays:

2 of Liam's cousins also turned 2 this summer. We celebrated Avigail's birthday on July 20 and Lily's birthday on August 31. AND, and on August 6 Ben turned 30! Speaking of birthdays, Ben's sister and brother-in-law had their baby boy this summer. Elijah Edward was born on Friday, July 26 at home after a 4 hour labor. Way to go, Catie!

College reunion:

On Saturday, August 10 three of my college friends/roommates came to Grand Rapids to catch up. We hadn't all been together in 4 years. We hung out in East Grand Rapids & Gaslight Village. It was beautiful weather and we had some great conversations. I didn't realize how much I needed some girl time until the day was over.

Spent an afternoon with some college friends.

Camping!

The highlight of my summer by far was taking Liam camping for the first time. I didn't expect to go this summer with Ben's crazy schedule, but my parents had planned to go and invited us to tag along. I am still so impressed at how well he did. He slept great, and even took good naps. I could tell he loved being outside that much. I also kayaked on Lake Michigan for the first time! Thankfully the weather was great, and the water was warm, but I still think I prefer kayaking/canoeing on rivers or inland lakes. 

 

Not the best picture, but my favorite part of camping was kayaking.

 

 

Labor Day Weekend:

We ended our summer by spending Labor Day weekend in St. Joe with my family. We celebrated my niece's birthday, Ben and I went on a date night, we hung out downtown & by the lake, I got to shoot my brother's crossbow (hoping to go hunting this fall!) and just spent a lot of time with family. It was a great way to end summer.

Labor Day weekend with family.

So now I'm back at work full-time. It's a little bittersweet. I'll miss being home so much, but I'm looking forward to fall. It has always been my favorite season.

Home Projects

This is what our dining room China cabinet looked like when we first moved in! Crazy, right?

And here's what it looks like after 5 coats of paint. Ben built the shelves and the China was passed down to me from my Great-Grandma on my Mom's side of the family.

And we added this wall decal in the dining room, to the right of the China cabinet.

Our somewhat decorated fireplace mantel. I am geeked for Christmas season. It'll be SO fun to hang some garland and stockings. :)

Pictures

I realized lately that I have not been doing a very good job at taking pictures. In fact, I think the last picture I took of Liam (besides Easter) was from Christmas. So I spent this weekend trying to make up for it!

Every time Liam walks by these flowers in the front yard he has to stop and smell them!

"Cheeeeese!"

One with mommy

Posing for the camera

My niece, Eden turned 1 this weekend & we were thankful for the opportunity to celebrate with her!

At Eden's Birthday party. Liam had a blast checking out the new toys.

Best part of where we live? Getting to see my niece on a regular basis! Sunday afternoon she stopped by for a short visit.

Easter Weekend

Our Easter weekend started early with driving to visit Ben's family Thursday after work. (The great thing about both of us working for Christian employers - we get Good Friday off!) Friday was a nice, long day of relaxing with Ben's Mom and catching up with other family members who joined us for dinner.

We headed home Friday night, and Sunday my family came up to celebrate Easter with us. I enjoyed having the opportunity to FINALLY play hostess and I loved cooking the big Easter meal for everyone. Great church service, yummy food, good conversations, and lots of time with family. What more can you ask for?

After lunch we held an Easter Egg Hunt for Liam & his cousins in our backyard. It took a while for them to grasp what they were supposed to be doing, but once they caught on they LOVED it!

Liam: "I found it! I found it!"

My niece Lily wasn't nearly as interested in the egg hunt as the other kiddos.

Aunt Jennifer & Uncle Chris helping them find their eggs!

 

Random picture of Ben & I! We have so few of pictures of us.

Liam's reaction when we brought him back inside. This kid is OBSESSED with being outdoors!
 



Story time at the end of the day.