Elevate Highlight!

Greetings from Detroit! My name is Stacie Johnson and my husband Dusty and I have been married for 4 years. We met at school and it was kind of a whirlwind relationship right from the get go. We both love the outdoors, animals, movies, and pretty much anything fun. I am a complete child at heart; I love coloring, crafts, candy, and Disney everything. We have 2 dogs that are more spoiled than most children and we love how our life has turned out so far. Dust and I have been selling vagabonds for 4 years now and we just love this lifestyle. We enjoy traveling so why not move somewhere different each summer?! We have worked our way up to management which has been a great learning experience and something we are very grateful for. We plan on staying in this vocation for as long as possible. You gotta stick with what comes natural.

As you all know, the life of a summer wife can be difficult at times. After go, go, going all the time we become very stagnant and I have started to learn what works for me to keep me motivated and not deathly bored. I have picked up some new hobbies such as crocheting, sewing, and cooking new dishes. I also try to find new things to do around town because let’s face it; we will never be back in most of these cities after the summer so we better make it worth it. This is where Elevate steps in! They treat us wives very well and are conscious of our situations. The other Detroit Wives and I have had so much fun with their different activities/competitions they have set up. It is great to have a goal for a couple days and it is fun to work together to come up with something funny and crazy to show off our personalities. These are times that I will never forget. 

Like I said, summers can be hard. But if you let them, summers can be SO fun! I get to meet new girls that become close friends and we make memories that truly will last a lifetime. Dusty and I are forced to depend on each other while we are across the country from family and because of this we have learned a great deal about each other and the kind of marriage we want to continue to have. I always tell myself and others…Who can say that they have lived the life that we have? Not many. Live up this time because it truly is a blessing. You won’t get this opportunity again. 

Elevate August Raffle

https://www.facebook.com/notes/arm-summer/elevate-august-raffle/340123482786740
Details are up NOW for Elevates last summer event!! Hello awesome!! Good luck everyone.

Elevate Highlight!

Liam, David, Norabel, Dara Chessmore

"Home is now behind you, the world is ahead"--Gandalf. 
Much like Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit, I have never been on any great adventures. I'm a suburban Nebraska girl and never had plans to leave it all behind. 
The opportunity to join Vivint presented in December, we made our decision mid-February and we moved from Nebraska to a permanent home in Minnesota by March 1st. With a 2-year-old, 1-year-old and one on the way, I agreed to begin our adventure.
I had the impression this "adventure" would be humbling.

This isn't just about my first summer as a Vivint wife - it is my first summer in 25 years away from family and my home town. This is my first summer living in a third floor apartment, my first summer without familiar faces to spend my afternoons and my first summer in three years unable to spend Saturdays with my husband. 
With all nerdy Hobbit quotes aside, I believe a lot of the women I've met on this journey have a long list of sacrifices all their own. I've questioned my decision to begin our adventure more than once and I'll admit I've found myself homesick on occasion, but its a decision I knew was right for our young family. I knew in my heart we would be taken care of.


I've made it through my first summer of my husband's three emergency room visits, potty training, a crawler becoming a walker and even my toddler escaping our apartment naked. I made it through my first summer because of nine incredible women, who have become great friends. And, because of a company that more than motivates, it ELEVATES - not just its employees - it ELEVATES families.

Raffle winners announced!

Huge thanks to all the teams who joined in on the fun! We are so excited for the raffle winners. Click on the link to view the drawing!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5tT6OGBYxk&feature=share

Show me the TALENTS

The deadline for Elevate’s July Event is fast approaching. You and your team need to submit your videos showcasing your talents by Wednesday (July 17^th). That’s THIS Wednesday!

Remember how nice it was for your whole team to go to dinner and have us foot the bill? Well, Elevate has upped the ante for July's Talent Event. Five talented teams will win a day at the spa including three services! THREE! Oh, the possibilities. Twenty-five teams win white and orange Vivint HQ ear buds with ceramic casing, Skull Candy components, and a carbon fiber Nixon style case.

As much as I would like to tell all of you not to submit anything so that my team would be a shoo-in for the spa day, I can appreciate some healthy competition. Plus, I want to see what all of the other offices put together. I was so impressed with the humor, talent, and creativity from May’s Introduction pictures. I just know that these videos are going to be awesome.

I love having these monthly events to work on with the girls. It has gotten our office communicating more and working together to produce something we can be proud of. This month has been my favorite event to date. Our team organized a potluck so that we could get together and brainstorm about how we wanted to approach the video. We then met three separate times to record segments of the video. One of the girls is now editing the video so that it will be ready and submitted by Wednesday’s (July 17) deadline.

I’m not giving away any more details about our office’s video though- you’ll have to wait until the videos are posted online to see how awesome and talented our office is!

Remember, all videos need to be two minutes or less. Get together, get creative, and showcase those talents! More details about the rules and submission for the event can be found on Arm Summer’s Facebook page.

ALL VIDEO ENTRIES WILL BE VIEWABLE ON SATURDAY MORNING... HERE ON THIS BLOG!!!

Watermelon Popsicles

My girls love popsicles (they must be my daughters!).  I started feeling guilty about all the sugar in most store bought popsicles, and last summer I started making my own all fruit ones.

These ones are our favorite, and perfect for us, since we can never eat an entire watermelon.

6 cups watermelon, cubed

2 ripe banana, peeled

2 tablespoons agave nectar/maple syrup/honey (or more to taste)

Zest from 2 limes

Juice from 2 limes (about 4 tablespoons)

Put it all in a blender.  (during the summer I don't have my big blender, so I just do parts of it in a little magic bullet, and then stir it all together in a bowl.)  Then pour them into popsicle molds.  

I bought these ones at Walmart for a $1.50.  The dollar store sells them too.

If you have a yummy recipe you want to share, leave it in the comments or email me at stayce581 at hotmail dot com.

4th of July Treats

Wow! Can you believe it is already the middle of the summer, and we are celebrating the 4th of July this week? I can't... I have always loved the 4th of July! I feel truly blessed to live in such a wonderful place and to have the freedoms that I do! Each year when the 4th of July rolls around, I always want to make some festive treat; I want to share a few of my favorite festive treats with all of you.

Red, White and Blue Strawberries! YUMMY!

What you will need:

• Strawberries
• White Chocolate (you can use chocolate chips, almond bark, etc).
• Blue Sprinkles
• Wax paper

Directions:

• Wash and dry your strawberries. Make sure the strawberries are completely dry or the chocolate won't stick.
• Melt the chocolate over the stovetop. Chocolate burns really easy, so make sure the temperature is on medium-low or low. 
• Once the chocolate is melted, dip each strawberry in the chocolate. Once you have the strawberry dipped, you can then dip a 1/4 of the strawberry into the blue sprinkles that you have poured in a bowl. Then set on the wax paper. If you'd rather you can just sprinkle the blue sprinkles onto the strawberry as it sits on the wax paper.
• Enjoy eating your yummy and festive red, white, and blue strawberries! 

American Flag Fruit Pizza

I am a sucker for fruit pizza, so of course I have to make a festive one for the 4th of July. 

This is really yummy for Breakfast. 

Ingredients

Crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup margarine
• 2 beaten eggs

Cream Cheese Topping:

• 2 - 8oz cream cheese
• 6 TBSP. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Toppings to make the American Flag:

• Strawberries, Bananas, and Blueberries

Directions:

• To make the crust you will need to sift the dry ingredients. Cut in margarine until crumbly. Add beaten eggs. Mix. Press into greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and cool. 
• For cream cheese topping you will mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread over crust. 
• Then place your sliced fruit on the pizza forming the American Flag. 

Red, White, and Blue Fruit Salad

This is pretty self-explanatory so you don't really need directions... :) 

This Fruit Salad has 3 fruits:

• Sliced Strawberries (or raspberries), Blueberries, and Diced Apples

I hope each of you have a wonderful 4th of July that is FULL of Fun, laughter, gratitude, and of course YUMMY TREATS :)! 

Independence

I want to share with each of you a word I think is an important part of supporting a spouse with such a demanding job. I know that most of you are probably much better at this than me. Conveniently, because of the upcoming holiday, it’s a word that is on most of our minds. It’s also a trait we will all need to work on during this holiday and the upcoming weeks as our family's job will continue to (and increase) demand.  

Independence.  

To me this word represents strength. One’s ability to do things that may be hard on our own and doing so without dragging our feet. We all know that we are our husband’s biggest fans and cheerleaders, but as his family, can we also be his marching band? Be someone with strength, force and independence. It’s a demanding family job, but our job is to be the parade. Our lives will go on while he’s at work and we will be much happier and more successful if we can do that with independence. This has been one of the most valuable things I have learned during the summers. I learned that I couldn't just wait around for activities to happen or for my husband to come home and want to play. If I was going to make my summer worthwhile, I was going to have to learn to be more independent. I had to learn this when I've stayed home for the summer, when I've gone out before I had children and as soon as I had kids, when I've had a car or didn't have one.  I've had to relearn it as my life’s situations have changed. Maybe it comes naturally to some, but for me, I've had to make a conscious decision to tell myself that I can do things on my own.  

Instead of thinking that I couldn’t do things without my other half, I’ve had to learn to do things for myself and by myself. It can be scary. It can be lonely. It can be exhausting and hard. But it can also be rewarding. It can make us stronger. Instead of just waiting or feeling sad and depressed for ourselves, we can take action and move forward to do those things that are sometimes a lot of fun, and sometimes very hard.

I've greatly enjoyed watching the pictures of your charity projects being posted on Facebook. Not only are you being independent, you are serving those who may not be able to be as independent at this time. Many of you did things beyond your comfort zone. Whether you recognize it or not, you have all shown independence through this activity and throughout the summer. You are all an inspiration to me. I hope that despite the long working hours and extreme heat each of you can enjoy this Independence Day! 

Healthy Treats!

Doc McStuffins Muffins!

Full of fiber, fun easy recipe for kids!

1 pre sliced banana

1 1/3 oatmeal

1/3 shredded coconut

1/3 raisins

1/4 c strawberry preserves

Mash bananas, mix in all ingredients.

Press into a greased/sprayed muffin tin

Refrigerate overnight. OR minimum of 2 hours

Top with almond butter or sunflower seed butter and fresh strawberry slices

Double recipe for granola bars:

2 pre sliced bananas

2 2/3 C oatmeal

2/3 C shredded coconut

2/3 C raisins or craisins

1/2 C strawberry preserves

Mash bananas, mix in all ingredients.

Press into a greased/sprayed 9x9 pan

Refrigerate overnight. OR minimum of 2 hours

Top with almond butter or sunflower seed butter and fresh strawberry slices

Banana Ice Cream!

Freeze sliced bananas (4-6)

Throw frozen slices in the blender a small amount at a time. Blend until they're creamy. 

If your blender isn't doing the trick, add a little milk. 

Top with sprinkles, fresh berries, or almond honey butter drizzle. (melt almond butter and honey)

Mix-in opitons: Choc chips, nuts, brownie bites, cookie crumbles, graham crackers, any other yummy thing you can imagine. 

Do YOU have a favorite recipe!? Share it with us and we'll post it.