Manteca, California

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Moving On

Ryan just found out today that he is going to be the new manager of the Manteca, California Les Schwab!! We are very excited!! A store he has talked about managing since we moved here. You never know when your wishes might come true.......

My Surprise From Ryan Sucks

This quote is how I was feeling about my old vacuum.

I am obsessed with appliances. Obsessed! Ryan bought me a vacuum 11 years ago when we first moved to Albany. The kids and I were visiting my parents and when we came home, Ryan suprised me with it. It has been a great vacuum, however, over the last 11 years it has had lots of wear and tear. I am blessed to live with a handy man who has fixed it several times for me. He even tore part of the hose off once because it had a hole in it and managed to re-attach it. Ryan's handiness is the reason why everything I own lasts so long!

I have been drooling over the Dyson vacuum's since they came out but couldn't justify spending the money on one. I was going to buy one with my Christmas bonus from work but ended up spending it on the kids instead. I figured my vacuum could last me awhile longer and I would get one at the end of the year.

When Ryan and Colby came home from basketball practice last Thursday night, Colby walked through the door and said, "Did you see what Dad bought you?". Ryan came walking in carrying a Dyson box! I was so excited!! I couldn't believe that he went and bought it for me.

I love it! L.O.V.E I.T!! My carpets feel so clean. It took me a while to get used to it all and luckily Ryan was home the first time I used it to help me figure out all the bells and whistles on it. I can't believe the difference in the suction from this one to my old vacuum. It made me realize just how old my other one was. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, honey! I love it!

Ryan And The Laundry

Since going back to work three years ago, Ryan has been really great about helping out around the house more. I had no idea how hard working full-time and keeping up with our house was going to be. It would be easy to keep up with it if the boys weren't so involved in all of their activities, but most nights we aren't home until 8:30 or 9:00. It makes for long days and a messy house!

There have been many household chores that Ryan has learned to do to help me out but one thing I have not let him touch is the laundry. I LOVE laundry! It's soothing to my soul. I have spent hours reading about how to improve your laundry, which detergent is best, how to get stains, grease, and grime out of clothes. I have watched my Mom (who is a perfectionist at laundry) with her laundry and have learned all sorts of tricks. It bothers me when someone else steps in and does the laundry (except for my Mom) because I have a very specific routine and step-by-step plan that I follow. For whatever reasons, Ryan has wanted to do the laundry and I have managed to keep him at arm's length from it....until last week.

Ryan took a couple of days of vacation to work on some projects and to get the house prepped for Fall/Winter. He called me at work one afternoon and said, "I started the laundry". Of course I wanted to know if there was any method to his madness and he did pretty good except for the whites. I decided I better show him how I do it so if he does decide to do it, he knows how to do it right. After showing him a few tricks and how I sort it, his response to me was, "Can you just make a cheat sheet and hang it in the laundry room?".

So on Saturday as we're running some errands around town, I was telling Ryan how much Taylor's football bag bothers me. I was saying how it smells from carrying around his sweaty stuff after the game and that it was full of turf in the bottom from his shoes and socks. I said to Ryan, "Do you think I could wash his bag?". Ryan looked at me and said, "Are you passing the torch on?". I said, "What?". He said, "Is the student now becoming the teacher?". As soon as he said that, I knew what he was getting at and I died laughing. It was so funny! Here I've been instructing him on the proper way to do the laundry and I ask him if I can wash Taylor's bag. Maybe it was one of those moments where you had to be there, but Ryan and I laughed.

I really do appreciate all the Ryan does around the house to help me and especially the way he helps to get Colby and Taylor to where they need to be. I could never get them to where they need to be by myself. The thing that gets me the most about Ryan is, he's a really great Dad. Where his boys are, so is he. He spends hours at practices, games, school events, and church events to be involved with his boys. If messing up the laundry is my biggest worry with him, then I am one lucky girl!

Ryan's New Digs

I'm getting this post up to save my life. I think my Mom has her gun loaded and ready to shoot me if I don't post these pictures. The big move for Ryan and Lucas started last Friday. It was a pretty exciting weekend! By the afternoon of Friday, the store was looking pretty empty. Other managers from around the area came in, packed it, and hauled to the new store. After seeing how they pack and load pallets, they will not be invited to help me move my house when the time comes.

All that was left in the show-room when we arrived at the old store Friday night.

Lucas and the "I-T" people from Bend getting ready to shut the computer system down.

One of the service trucks loaded with tool boxes and ready to go!

We let Taylor have a Rockstar energy drink. 'Nough said.

Friday night, Ryan took the boys, Geniel, and I up to see the new store. When I walked in and saw the new store, I wanted to jump and shout for joy right there! I had forgotten what a "real" Les Schwab was supposed to look like. Everything is new, clean, and appealing. I am so excited for Ryan and Lucas!

Lucas. I treat him delicately. He keeps Ryan light-hearted at work.

Saturday we continued getting the rest of the small stuff out of the old store. The painters came to paint the outside of the store and to cover all the windows with plywood. The old store doesn't even resemble a Les Schwab anymore. It's kind of a bitter-sweet feeling for me. I never thought I would feel bad about leaving the downtown store but maybe it's the fact that it's closed down and we aren't just moving on. I feel like a part of Ryan's hard work has died without any credit. No one knows what he has gone through the last five years and as his wife, at times it's been very hard for me to sit by and watch him wait it out.

The new store! This is the view from walking in the side door.

The front counter.

The waiting area.

Now, we are on to greener pastures! Ryan and Lucas both act like they have ADD. They bounce from one project to the next. They have both been putting in some pretty long hours. I keep telling Ryan that it doesn't all have to be done today, but he doesn't listen to me. Ryan told me that they see more cars in three hours than they ever did at the old store in a week. Of course, they are on the corner of an eight-lane road. This makes it a little harder for them to get in too deep with a project during work hours because they have customers to help. Customers!! The employees at the store are walking around Ryan like he's the grim-reaper and he's going to call their number any moment. I don't think Ryan will make any big changes just yet, although they did move the bookkeeper to part-time already.

So, this begins the next chapter in our Les Schwab book. I hope this ride is a little smoother than the one that we've been on the last five years but we know we can handle whatever comes our way. Now, if I can just get Ryan to be as excited to clean out and re-organize the garage as he is over this new store......

Things Are Changing Around Here

One thing about our life, it's never dull. Sometimes it gets quiet and that's when I start to worry. Things have been quiet, a little too quiet. The week before Christmas, Ryan got a call from Greg on his way home. Greg asked Ryan if he had heard anything about Brian from the Hammer Lane store (Les Schwab) quitting. Ryan told Greg no and Greg said that Brian posted on Facebook that he was quitting and tomorrow would be his last day. Lo and behold, Greg was right. The next day, Ryan had to go to the Hammer Lane store and sure enough Brian told him that he was quitting and moving his family back to Oregon.

Ryan came home and confirmed the Facebook rumor to be true and non-chalantly I said to Ryan, "What would you do if they offered you to take over that store?" Someone was tuned into that conversation because the following Monday, Brian quit on Friday, Ryan looked outside his store and walking in was John (Regional Manager) and Neal (Area Manager) to talk to Ryan. They sat down and for the next three hours talked to Ryan about taking the Hammer Lane store. They told Ryan that it was his choice, if he took the Hammer Lane store they would close his store and if he didn't take it, they would leave the store he's currently in open and let him keep doing his thing and just put a new manager in the other store. Ryan told them a whole bunch of things, I think his gun has been loaded for awhile now, and he didn't hold back. He told them that he would need to talk to his wife (he scored points for that) and that he would let them know. They told him that he would need to let them know by Wednesday, two days to make a life-altering decision. They also told him that he wouldn't be able to take Lucas, his assistant manager, and that Brian had run a profitable, money-making store, into the hole $8,000.

Ryan called me at work and told me everything. My mind was spinning and so was his. This wasn't the "prime" opportunity we were both looking for. Although John and Neal told Ryan some really wonderful things about him and his performance as a manger, they wanted us to move to another store, assume another debt, and go that much longer without a bonus? Were they crazy? Were we crazy? What would other people think? Would they think we had failed if Ryan decided to shut his store down? Would we be the laughing stock of the company? Those were the things that were screaming in my head.

We talked about it all Monday night, while also trying to pack, not let the kids know yet, and get Christmas finished up to go to Washington. I didn't sleep all night and cried tears in my pillow over the fact that 1. they didn't want Ryan to tell Lucas, 2. Lucas and his families fate now laid in Ryan's hands, 3. I didn't want to be unloyal to Lucas because he had taken a chance on Ryan and this store, and 4. Dangit, I wasn't moving any closer to home, just moving up the road!

I got up Tuesday morning looking like I had been run over by a train and when Ryan got up I told him that I couldn't do this to Lucas and his family, it wasn't fair. I cried, Ryan cried, and then Ryan said, "Let's say another prayer about this". I had prayed all night, I think Ryan had, too. Then the conversation continued and some things were said that I can't say on my public blog. We had a plan, I felt good about what we decided, and now it was Ryan's turn to make some heavy-hearted decision.

That night Ryan came home and had made his decision once and for all. Ryan told the kids, they seemed indifferent. They're boys, they only get excited over food and sports! What was I expecting? I guess a little bit of a reaction. On our way to Washington Wednesday, Ryan made the call. John was excited about Ryan taking the store. I was happy for Ryan but a little sad to walk away from a store that has taught us a lot about ourselves over the last five years and a store that Ryan had put blood, sweat, and tears into.

It was so hard not telling my family when we were in Washington! I wanted someone to say, "No, Cara, you and Ryan aren't the stupidest people on the planet", or, "It will be a good thing, wait and see". I needed to hear those words from someone, anyone! I would ask Ryan my million questions everytime we were alone. He usually wouldn't know the answer but would reassure me that we were doing the right thing.

Now, here we are. It's now public knowledge and I can honestly say I feel good about it. I think Ryan's head is still spinning from all the things that lie ahead for him to do. He has a new store to get in order, new customers to get to know, and new people to work with. I hope, hope, hope that the things Ryan was told will happen for us. Since then, the assistant manager at the Hammer Lane store has decided to step down because he's a little upset that they won't let him move on even though he's put his two years in. Some people don't realize it's more than just fulfilling the time on your contract but I won't get into that. Today, we are waiting to see what Lucas and his family are going to do. Lucas was offered the position of the assistant at the new store yesterday but he had to discuss it with his wife. I think they had themselves already leaving Stockton. So here I am ,waiting for Ryan to call and biting my nails. It may be a long day!

Twelve Years And Still Going Strong!

Today, Ryan and I celebrate our twelve-year anniversary! I look back over the last twelve years and wonder where the time has gone? These last twelve years have gone by really fast but as I look back, I also realize Ryan and I are really different people from who we were when we first got married. We have grown up, moved away, struggled together, worried together, raised children together, and all those many things that come with marriage.

I think moving away and learning to depend on one another has been one of the best things for our marriage. When your own parents aren't right there to fall back on, you learn to rely on one another. Ryan and I have enjoyed living away and experiencing all that comes with living somewhere new, even though at times we have really missed living closer to home!

Our struggle with getting this Les Schwab store off the ground has been another great thing for our marriage. Our marriage has grown by leaps and bounds these last four years in California. We have worked hard, cried hard, and prayed hard together! I am very proud of Ryan for sticking this out and seeing where it will take us. I admire the fight Ryan has in him. There have been times he has wondered if he is the stupidest person on earth and I have had to tell him we aren't quitters and then proceed to give him a pumping up speech. This experience with this store has been harder than anyone will ever know but it has been worth every minute for us.

We have been blessed in so many aspects of our marriage from having two great boys to the blessings beings members of the church brings! I feel very fortunate that my marriage is in a good place, it's not perfect, but it's very good and I am thankful for that. I know it brings great comfort and security to Colby and Taylor knowing they have parents who love one another and love them.

Ryan, I know you read our blog at work (that's the only place you can go and laugh at my sense of humor that you know and admit that I have) and I just want you to know how much I love and respect you! You have been the very best husband for me - patient, even-tempered, kind, affectionate, and loving. I am so grateful for these last twelve years we have had together and I look forward to the many years ahead! I love you!

It's Somebody's Birthday, I Wonder Who?

Ryan turns the big 32 today! He is not much of a birthday person, but I am! I love birthdays and enjoy the excitement of the day, whether it's my own or one of the frat boys! I think Ryan is in the start of a mid-life crisis with the realization that he's not in his twenties anymore and never will be again. The other morning in the bathroom he commented on all the gray hair that was starting to show. I was not too overly sympathetic because I found my first gray hair the day we brought Colby home from the hospital. He then said, "Well, at least I still have hair". I'm sure that was some sort of a comforting statement to himself.







Now he is on this exercise kick about us running every night. Thus, the second reason he might be in the start of his mid-life crisis. He's killing me! We are running every night and I have discovered sore muscles I never knew I had. I guess if he brings home a sports car and a hot blonde, then I'll be really worried.



I got this cute idea from my neice, Melanie. She interviewed each of her kids about their dad on his birthday to get their perspective on his life. I thought it would be fun to interview "the old soul" and "the rebel" to get their outlook on Ryan's life. Here is what they said:



What year was Dad born in?
Colby: 1979.
Taylor: 1987.

What day is Dad's birthday?
Colby: April 25th.
Taylor: April 24th.

If Dad could have any job in the world, what would it be?
Colby: He would be a mechanic and own his own paint shop to paint old cars.
Taylor: He would own his own auto body shop.



What is Dad's favorite food?
Colby: Beef Stroganoff.
Taylor: Steak.



What is Dad's favorite sport?
Colby: Football.
Taylor: Football.



What does Dad like to do in his spare time?
Colby: He likes to be with us.
Taylor: Do things with our family.



How does Dad show you that he loves you?
Colby: By going to work everyday and providing for our family.
Taylor: He goes to work everyday, buys us nice things, and puts a roof over our heads.

What are Dad's hobbies?
Colby: Blowing stuff up, trying to figure out how to make stuff, and basketball.
Taylor: Watching sports, building things, and playing sports.



What do you think Dad was like in high school?
Colby: Crazy.
Taylor: Laid back. He didn't care what people said about him.


What is Dad's favorite movie?
Colby: The Bourne Identity movies.
Taylor: Dumb and Dumber.



What do you love most about Dad?
Colby: That he's there for me.
Taylor: He's there for us.

Colby and Taylor love their dad A LOT and have him figured out pretty well. Ryan, we love you and we hope you have a terrific day because you deserve it! You are an amazing husband and father! I'm grateful that we have such a fun and happy home! It's wonderful sharing this beautiful life that we have together with you! Happy Birthday!