My Walmart commercial

A few months ago our Relief Society president was on a local Walmart commercial. She said that if anyone wanted to do it they were looking for more Albuquerque moms and she'd give them our numbers. It's a price comparison and they give you money to shop and you also get a gift card. I gave her my name and they called a few weeks later to interview. I met the producer and her cameraman at a Starbucks and they recorded our short interview. They asked me a few questions like where I shopped, if I use coupons, and what makes my daughter laugh. She told me they shoot commercials all the time and the next one was the middle of March and asked if I would be available, I said yes. I got a call on March 17 that they wanted me as an "alternate mom" for the shoot on March 19. Basically, if either "shopping mom" didn't show they would call me in. I was on call from about 8-11 until they called and said I didn't need to come in. They said because I was an alternate that the next time they shoot I would be moved to the top of the list to shop.

They called back the 1st week of April when I was in Utah and asked if I was available the 9th. I told them I would be on vacation so they said they'd call back. On my birthday they called and asked if I was available on the 23rd, finally I was. They went over a few details with me and then the producer called me the Sunday before to talk some more.We met at 7:45 Tuesday morning at Starbucks with both producers. The other shopping mom was actually Chris Bushman, a lady in our ward. They gave us an envelope with $250 to spend shopping at Albertsons. They told us to limit our shopping to about 40 items. We were supposed to buy what we normally would; however, they could only compare the items that Walmart carried. so, produce, meat, and generic brands wouldn't count. I had two trainees shop with me and one of the producers went with Chris. I had my grocery list already prepared so it didn't take long. They had a clicker and would count every item I put in my cart. I ended up with about 43 items and my total was $220. Chris said she spent less than $100 so I kind of figured I would be the one on the commercial.

Next, we drove to Walmart and took all our groceries inside. They had us go in the back while they did their accounting and price comparison. They had a scanner that told them whether Walmart carried that particular item or not. The process took about an hour. Meanwhile we got hair and makeup and snacks and a tour and just chatted with the crew while we waited. Around 10:30 the producer came in and said I was going to be in the commercial and they sent Chris home. I got miked up and just as we were going to shoot the first item she came and told us there was a situation and we needed to wait a bit. Later I found out that the situation was that I had saved so much money that they were worried it would look unbelievable so they called in another mom to shop. We kept shooting just in case they could go with mine. They didn't tell me how much I had saved total or on each item until they shot it because they wanted my true reaction on film. We did 5 or 6 takes for each item and we filmed 5 items plus a bunch of extra stuff at the check out and just walking around the store and my interview. It was a lot of fun and the guy doing the commercial was great and made me laugh a lot.

We had lunch break at 1:00 and that's when they got the go ahead to continue shooting and airing my commercial.  The other mom did come in and shop and they just sent her home with her groceries. We wrapped around 3:00. I got my groceries and they gave me a $250 Walmart gift card. It was a cool experience and crazy to see my commercial a few days later. They ended up comparing 27 items and I saved $33.66. I really do shop at Albertsons for my groceries. Walmart is closer, but I just hate going there. It was really eye opening to see how much I can save each week though. The commercial only shows 3 of the items we actually shot. Chris and I both got compensated the same, but I just got the commercial too. It's funny because I'm the 3rd one in our ward that's been on these commercials. I don't know how much longer they're going to do them in our area.

Here's the link to the video:
http://walmarturl.com/14evCpD 

Two weeks in New Mexico

We've been in New Mexico two weeks now. We're finally all unpacked and "settled in." We took  all of our boxes to the recycling bin last night and feel very much less cluttered now. The weather has been decent, but very windy and it snowed (a light dusting) last night. Ryan's been hard at work visiting the branches, answering emails and getting things done. He's been without a laptop, which hopefully he'll have Tuesday, so he hasn't been able to do his full work, but has been getting by from his phone. His new schedule is great. He just mosies out the door in the morning when he pleases. He doesn't have an office and does most stuff from his phone. His schedule is super flexible so he can meet me for appointments during the day if necessary and come home early, which I'm not used to.  Since his boss is in Colorado, he really doesn't have anyone to report to, which is nice. Since we have no friends here we just hang out together and that's been great. This weekend we've been married 5 1/2 years. So very lucky to have him! I started looking for a job this week. Now that we're all unpacked I'm super bored. There's not much to do with 3 cats.

Moves are stressful (I pulled out a gray hair this morning) and expensive. There are so many little things we had and still have to do that I didn't even realize. We still don't have any mail, I guess it takes 7-10 business days to forward. Registering our car has been a huge headache. I don't even want to think about getting a new driver's license when mine expires next month.

Went grocery shopping at Albertson's, which was a breath of fresh air. Wal-Mart is closer, but I hate shopping at Wal-Mart and now I'm so glad I don't have to go there every week for groceries.

Before we left Utah we got to see a lot of our friends and family and say goodbye. I was doing ok until I walked into my parent's house and my mom started crying. My sister is now the only sibling living in Utah still. We got together with friends Saturday morning for breakfast then went back to our place to clean. My mom, sister and Ryan's brother Devin came and helped. We went to lunch afterwards then to my parent's with Syd to spend one last evening with them.

Dinner with our YW

Breakfast with friends from the ward

Goodbye to Syd

My parents 

Peggy &

Paul (our gamers)

"my dog" lucky

Ryan helping with cleaning our empty home after the movers came

This was our trial run with the cats. We had them in their carriers when the movers came and when the carpet was getting cleaned. They did great and we made sure they could see each other. HAHA

This is where they hid while we were cleaning

Lunch with my sister, Toni

The drive...

The cats did great. They cried until about Spanish Fork canyon, then only for a few minutes at a time every hour or so after that. Once it got dark we didn't hear from them until we got to our hotel. Our vet  suggested we use Children's benadryl to "knock them out." We tried it a few days before but they just spit it up and it ended up foaming out of their mouths, so we opted not to use it, and they did great!

We stayed at La Quinta Inn with our cats for 4 nights before our stuff got to our house. Thanks to my sister's recommendation. The cats loved it and really lounged around, like they knew they were on vacation. They were in heaven. 

We found out they have a Rudy's BBQ here. Of course we went! If you've ever lived in Texas you know how good this place is.

We also tried another recommendation, Quarters BBQ. Yummy as well.

While exploring our city Ryan stumbled upon this and took me later to show me. That's a rattlesnake folks, made of stone, in the middle of the road. Crazy. It was huge, and rather creepy.

Wal-Mart. Packed. That's the checkout line. That day, swore I'd never go back.

First home-made meal in our new house. After eating out for nearly 12 days straight. Yuck.

The cats love our new place. They like to lay upstairs in the sun.

We're enjoying it here so far. Our neighborhood is quiet, and our ward seems great.  We'll keep you updated.