Worry

That's all for tonight. -jannallred

Entrepreneurship

Making Life Better, one PB&J At a Time

            When the majority of your family is interested in business and entrepreneurship, you hear a lot about it at the dinner table. Something about being me makes that not very interesting.

            I figured my family had a big enough dose of entrepreneurship without my input. I therefore swore never to step foot over that line, but over time I also figured you become what you’re surrounded by.
            After the successful Ryan’s Lion Bake Sale, A neighbor asked if I could make her a loaf of homemade bread every week. This was fun and gave me a few dollars to spend. That was as far as it went...until my mom heard of the Mapleton Farmers Market.
            “Why not try selling your bread at the Farmer's Market?”
            Why not? It would be a good way to try all those recipes I've pinned on Pinterest! But, there’s a brick wall to everything. Mine happened to be called the law. 

First “Brick-Wall”

            That can’t be that big of a deal, can it? It only took my mom and I a little while to figure out just how much that meant. You’ll need to spend a few hours and dollars getting a food handler's permit, store all business ingredients separate from your personal ingredients, have specific types of cleaning techniques, make food labels to fit legal expectations, and...Oh! Call someone from the state to come and inspect your kitchen before you even touch the flour with a measuring cup.

As my mom and I read through the requirements, we laughed and pretended not to notice how big of an undertaking this was going to be. Luckily, we have a second kitchen in the basement so we wouldn't have to worry about keeping our ingredients separated. We swept up the crumbs, and both my mom and I got our food handlers permit. While I was at youth conference, my mom surprised me with getting the kitchen certified, and typing the bread labels up.

Second “Brick-Wall"

The little“investment” from my mom was to get me started, not buy me a new kitchen. We got the few necessities, picked out our favorite recipes, and bought the groceries. New sets of equipment weren't exactly in the budget. That made for some stolen measuring cups from upstairs, and a lot of hand washing. It also makes for a lot of good quality time with your mom. A lot of time....

             Seven hours and 27 loaves of bread later, we finally turned the oven off, and took the weight off our aching feet. 27 loaves were ready for packaging and selling. The next morning, we woke up bright and early, tied up the last few bread bags, loaded the truck, and drove down to the city center. It was only the 3rd week, but there were enough vendor stalls to let you know something was going on.

            We set up our two tables behind our truck, and spread the tablecloth over them. All that was left were the different types of bread waiting to be taken by customers.

The “Un-Brick Wall”

            I am not a salesman. That kind of stuff has always been for the boys in the family. Luckily, I didn't need to be a salesman! It was an amazing experience. I was the only baked goods salesman there, so that made for some easy competition. It seemed everyone that came by at least stopped to look if not buying something. The Market started at 8 a.m., and I was sold out by 10 a.m. Talk about a successful sales day!

            We continued to come weekly, trying different types of breads. The next week I sold out at the same time. Over the weeks, I slowly gained more experience and knowledge. I learned that presentation and looks are important to sell a product. I added some coconut into the banana bread, and shook some on top before it cooked. When it was done, I glazed the crispy golden coconut with a lime glaze. Then I called it Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze, and it was always the first to sell out. Drizzling chocolate over the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread pushed people over the edge to get themselves a treat. Over the weeks, my mom and I baked an average of 30 loaves of bread, and made about $100 a week. I always sold out, and would take one loaf home for my family, and put the other two in the family donation boxes (Selling only 3 loaves of bread is just awkward!).
            I had tons of awesome experiences. My aunt made me an adorable sign to hang on my table. I was interviewed for the newspaper. I met the guy in charge of entrepreneurship classes and summer camp at UVU. He told me to stay in touch, and he could get me into the camp next summer. I also earned over $600 to put into my savings account for college.

 At the end of my first day, my brother Austen (known as Austy-Poo) said,

       “Janna, you know you've become an entrepreneur right?”

I looked around trying to look innocent and said, “We just like different kinds of entrepreneurship.”

      “That’s the cutest things you've said all day.” He responded sarcastically.

Looking back, I've realized my parents didn't make an investment in the success of selling bread. They made an investment in my learning in the journey.

This is one of the stories I wrote for my personal narrative in ninth grade. After a lazy night at home being sick, I came across this interesting show about poverty and micro credit  It reminded me of my mini entrepreneurship, and that it actually works. I guess I'm not such a hater of entrepreneurship and economics anyway...

The video is called Small Fortunes-micro credit and the future of poverty on byutv.org

or just go to:

http://www.byutv.org/watch/caaf7a03-b351-4297-a42d-24dbaa79e8c8/small-fortunes-microcredit-and-the-future-of-poverty

-Jannallred

Color

If you're feeling blue, try painting yourself a different color.
-Hannah Cheatem, Age 8

I think it would do us all a little good to listen to the innocent wisdom of a child.

-jannallred

A guerilla gardner in South LA

 Hoooooray! It almost hit 60 degrees today which is the warmest it's been since September. Even 45 degrees feels spring-like after a long Utah weather. But 60 is heaven.

So, to continue this outdoorsy theme, I found this funny but genius TED talk. If you haven't noticed, I like TED talks, so get used to it. :) (Sorry, but this one swears a couple of times...)

If you are too "busy" (*cough* lame, unless you don't like swearing, in which case I'll forgive you) to watch the video, it's basically about this guy that decides to start planting gardens on the strip of grass/parkways outside his house in South LA. Only problem? It's city ground. But after 900 signatures, they got their little project approved. So now he goes around planting free, volunteer gardens.

There are many reasons I think this idea is genius. All of them fall under the "Better for the Community" topic. It's on the street. It's free. It's healthy. It makes the city look better.

He puts it on the street for a reason. It's meant for people to have, to be shared. On the street!
"It's like drinking your own money" Eat the food you grow. It's up for grabs on the street. Free!
"If kids grow kale, they eat kale." The food nowadays is just whatever is put in front of you fastest and cheapest. So why not put what's healthy in front of  you? Better yet, why not put something healthy that you GREW in front of you?!

This makes me excited to start planting my own garden boxes. Spring is a-comin!
-Jannallred

Bucket-List

I am a very task-oriented person.

Some people are ego-oriented, and base their success off of how many things they did well, how many people like them. But me? I'm a list-maker. I make lists for everything. To-do, Groceries, Homework Assignments, Books to Read. I even have a journal dedicated to lists for when I'm in the mood to brainstorm. Pathetic, I know.

But one of my favorite lists to make, is a Bucket List. Thanks to my "List Notebook" and Pinterest, I have written ideas, and image ideas. Some things aren't big bucket list items like go to Europe, but activities that would be fun to do someday. Like made eyes in the snow on someone's windshield:

Here are some things on my list:

1) Go to Europe (Italy, London, Paris, Switzerland, Germany, etc)
2) Go on a road trip with my friends our Senior Year
3) Go to College
4) Be a Mom
5) Have a career/be a teacher
6) Send a message in a bottle
7) Run the Dirty Dash
8) Play messy Twister: (Twister with paint)

9) Spend an entire day watching Disney Movies
10) Run a half or full Marathon
11) Throw a Dart on a map, and go where it lands/go on a spontaneous weekend trip
12) Go surfing
13) Fly a kite, and get it to stay up (I've never done this?!)
14) Put a piece of gum on the Seattle gum wall

(*Credit of images given to original sources)
...And more. But I'm done brainstorming for tonight. :)
-Jannallred

silly fish....

Everyone is a genius.
But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing its stupid.

(Catch the allusion to the one and only first post? Mmmhmm....)
-Jannallred

CES Devotional

Sorry I missed again yesterday... I had family all over the place. We had a big family lunch for one of my cousins, a dinner for my brother who recently returned home from his LDS mission in Mexico City, and another dinner tonight just because we always have family dinner on Sundays. Whew, I'm not going to eat for a week. Oh, but then we do it again next week for his homecoming. Then again the next week for my other cousin's farewell, then the next month for my sister's farewell, then AGAIN the next month for my OTHER cousin's farewell. Welcome to the family. Party on. Get fat. Mmmm.

Anyway, I've decided if I'm going to be blogging on Sunday's, it should probably be something that involves Sunday... So, if you didn't get the chance, watch the CES Fireside with Elder Bednar! It's awesome, even if it's for Young Adults. 

I know, I still need to figure out how to get an image to show up with the video link...sorry.
https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/watch/ces-devotionals/2013/03?lang=eng

-Jannallred