12/3/2011.....

For those of you following my blog, I'll let you know that this post will be quite boring for you. My MCOM 320 Professor has asked that I dedicate this blog to giving her feedback on her class. That's all i will be posting about today.

MCOM 320 Feedback

Overall, I have had a great impression with this class. More than anything, I've been impressed with the teaching rather than the material. Lets start with the good feedback. I can tell that you care about your students and their future. This comes across in the way that you teach. You are passionate about teaching and it shows. I noticed that you practiced what you preached. Everything that you were teaching us, you did yourself. For example, you used the same tools and techniques that you taught us during the class about presenting. I've enjoyed your class.

I also enjoyed team projects. It was great to work as a team and build relationships in your classroom. From my experience, this is how the real world is. You will be working as teams, not as individuals.

I felt that some material was applicable and some material was truly not applicable. I know that you were worried about my work at the start of the semester. As a budding Entrepreneur, I pick and choose which things I feel that are applicable to me. My work was very poor when it came to writing a resume, or interviewing for a job because that is of no interest to me. I decided to just turn something in to get some points and focus my time and energy on something more applicable to me. When there were projects that had more to do with my interests, I hope you noticed that I put in much more effort. I don't know if I speak for everybody, but I will give you my opinion for what it's worth. One suggestion that I would give is to make sure that the assignments that you give out are broad enough to apply to everyone. I noticed that you tried to do this, but it could be a bit better. Thanks for a great semester

11/27/201....

Hey guys, welcome to another week of my life!

Thanksgiving Break

This was a fun thanksgiving break. We stayed here in Orem and enjoyed the holiday at the Roney's. Even though the family is vegetarian, they still made a delicious turkey (thank goodness)! I felt like a total bum this last week because I did a lot of lounging. It was nice to spend time with Brienne, and just relax! Work has been so crazy lately that we don't get much down time. We saw the movie "Hugo" and it was a bit weird but good. One unexpected surprise happened with my good friend Gerry. His appendix ruptured and he had to have it removed. The poor guy just arrived from Ireland a couple weeks ago and now he's out for a week after surgery. It's kind of crazy because this guy eats incredibly healthy but still had Appendix problems. We had a cool experience with him in the hospital, and I believe our prayers were answered.

The only other thing that I'd really like to post is how grateful I am for this thanksgiving holiday. One of my professor's shared his thoughts on the true meaning of thanksgiving and it goes like this. The true meaning of thanksgiving is for us to remember and be grateful to live in a land where we are free. The pilgrims arrived in America just before winter and did not have time to plant and harvest crops. So needless to say, they had more mouths to feed then they had food. About 100 arrived in the Mayflower to America, and 13 died the first winter. The next year they planted their crops but because of unfamiliarity with the American soil the crops did not grow as they had intended. To make matters worse, another ship arrived just before the next winter and unloaded more men and took many supplies and food. Now they had a bigger problem than the year before, more mouths to feed and less food. While a feast with the indians did occur (probably because the pilgrims wanted their food), the real purpose of thanksgiving is to remember these pilgrims. They looked around at eachother before the next winter knowing that many people would not survive the winter. Even though they knew that many would die, their hearts were filled with gratitude for having the opportunity to live in a free land. Many did die the following winter, at least another 30. Let us remember how grateful we should be to live in a free land and choose our paths in life.

I've added a little survey to the right, if you could answer the questions, it would help me with market research for Sponsor me Slim. Thanks

11/20/2011......

It's 11:00pm at night and I have to write a blog before I go to bed. Wow, life has been absolutely crazy! Tomorrow is my last day of classes before Thanksgiving break and it is very much needed. Here's a little catch up on my life

Sponsor Me Slim

Things are going better than ever! There are hundreds of people on the program and changing their lives for the better. It's been a real treat to watch these people change their lives and make a change in their health. We have donated hundreds of meals for the children and I still get choked up thinking that kids lives are being saved because of this wonderful program. I'm very thankful for Kenton Worthington and Peter Lavery for thinking it up and bringing me on board. There is so much to catch you up on, I don't even know where to start. We have spread from Centerville, Utah to Lehi, Utah and now we are holding awareness evenings in Provo, Utah at the Wells Fargo building. Every Wednesday night at 7:00pm you can come and learn how to slim down and hear testimonials from our current clients. Another update for you all, we are now working in three gyms with Sponsor Me Slim and have had amazing success this last week. Yesterday we held interviews for our first 10 to compete in the Sponsor Me Slim competition. These lucky ten people will receive a free month's membership at the gym, free personal training for the month and the winner gets some pretty great prizes. The person who loses the most amount of weight in the first month will win a free nutrition program for the following month and a free trip to Thailand where they can stay for 10 days in our private weight loss resort. We have chosen our contestants for this competition and it will start tomorrow! I'll keep you updated on their progress

School

This isn't really a subject that I want to talk about right now. I'm going back and forth of whether or not I want to continue school this next semester. Things are going very well with work and school seems like more of a distraction than anything else. The only thing holding me in there are two things. First, I have already gone to three years of schooling, and to quit now would be crazy! Second, the prophet has told us to get as much education as possible. While I don't think that College is the only way to gain education, I know that he would support me going to school. I'm not going to regret finishing school, but it's possible to regret leaving. I will most likely continue going to school next semester even though it's hard for me. I'm going to need to speak with my teachers to make sure that I pass all of my classes this semester. I just haven't really been there! haha, any suggestions would help if you've been in my shoes. :)

Everything else

I feel extremely blessed to have such an incredible wife, family, friends, and mentors. I only hope that I can use all of these blessings to be better serve others. To close, here's something written on the back of a coin that I carry with me everywhere. It says: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things i can, and wisdom to know the difference."

11/8/2011.....

Hey guys, welcome back to my life! Kind of hard to know where I left off but I'll try.

Our life

Brie and I are doing really well. We have such a crazy busy life right now I'm surprised that we even stay normal. I'm lucky to have her as a wife, and love that we'll always make time for each other. We bought our tickets out to Texas for Christmas this year, and we are very much looking forward to seeing my family. I just got word that my sister'

s boy Carter has been put back in the hospital for troubles breathing. We are praying and fasting for baby Carter that he'll be ok. The poor guy has been poked and prodded ever since his premature birth last December. Another crazy incident took place last week on Brie's side of the family. Her cousins were on their way to a youth activity for their church and the roads were icy. They slid off the road and down a 100' cliff. I can't believe it, but they all survived. Two of the cousins were just fine, one suffered from hypothermia, and the third got a big gash in her face and many broken bones. The driver broker her back, and o

ne other girl was hurt quite severely. She is at Primary Children's Hospital, please keep them all in your prayers. Here is a picture of the vehicle:

School Life

I know that everybody in my classes thinks that I'm going to drop out, but i won't! School's been an interesting challenge for me :). I'm having a hard time attending classes that I don't feel contribute much to my future. You know, some of those annoying general classes. I remember before I made a switch to Entrepreneurship, school was so different. I was studying Civil Engineering and had school paid for and then some left over. I really hated my major and found no relevance in what I was learning, yet it paid well. I felt like that wasn't a track that I wanted to get started on. If I continued with Civil, I could probably get a decent job and make decent amounts of money, but I'd have been miserable. Grades were so important to me, now they are not. Don't get me wrong, i know that i need to pass my classes. I just know that grades don't really define me. I pick and choose what I want to apply into my life and I like that better. The funny thing is, the only people that this makes any sense to are Entrepreneurs.

Work Life

Sponsor me Slim is still going amazingly well. We had the grand opening of our new center up in Centerville Utah and there were over 180 people there. I'm amazed with how fast this is growing, but it's very exciting. I love the fact that i'm able to slim people down and change their lives. At the same time we feed starving children and save their lives. Peter Lavery has flown people in from all over the world to work at slimming down America. Now Gerry is in from Thailand and last night we went to the airport to pick up Leni from England. These are all incredible individuals. It was a true pleasure to spend time with Leni last night. He has trained 4 world champion boxers and over 20 national champions. His son Richard Odwall is training the British Olympic Boxing team. They are very influential and respectable people and it's an honor to work with them. I'm trying to soak in everything that they are teaching me so that I can make the best possible impact in some one's life. That's all I have time for, thanks guys!

10/27/2011......

I think it's quite apparent what I'll be updating you guys on if you've been following my blog at all. Life is great right now. I'm loving my wife, SMS, School, and many other things!

My wifey

Brie doesn't like when I do stuff like this but I highly doubt she reads this blog, so I'm free to write anything :). Simply said, i'm married to the most amazing girl in the world! We've been able to spend a lot of time together now that business is going well. We spent all last week in Nevada and will be spending all weekend in SLC for a global convention. I love her for who she is and for who she's striving to become. I owe everything to her, and couldn't have accomplished have of what I have without her support. Thanks Brienne for being my biggest example and best support, I love you.

Sponsor Me Slim

Wow, things are really getting exciting. I'm so proud of those of you who have made the decision to live a healthier lifestyle. The program in itself is very simple, but many of you are taking it an extra step receiving extraordinary results. I'd like to recognize Preston Carter for his extraordinary results over the last three weeks. Preston has lost 15lbs 25in and has raised $875 for starving children. That $875 will feed and nourish 39 children who otherwise would have died of malnutrition/starvation. I'm proud of you Preston for making your weight loss bigger than yourself.

Things continue to grow rapidly with SMS. Tuesday night we attended on of our Health Awareness Seminars and I counted 61 people in the room. It's crazy to see where this has come in just six weeks. The stories are incredible! I look forward to my close friends and family experiencing the same results in the near future.

Rocks to Riches

Just to give you all a quick update on our progress with our school project. Last Saturday we ended up with a 60" TV, Bowflex Machine, $50 gift certificate to the University Mall, $100 gift certificate to Sierra West, Wakeboard Bindings, Bluetooth headset, Cordless phone, and a Sky Caddy. If any of these things sound appealing, feel free to make an offer and maybe we can work out a trade!

Good Friends

I've really appreciated my friends lately. I realize how important it is to surround yourself with great people. Just like Jim Rhome has said, "you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." I'm lucky to have met some amazing people in the last year. I look forward to building these relationships and creating even more. I'd like to thank Alex Paulos publicly for his friendship and all that he is doing for helping others. For those of you who don't know Alex, he is an extremely intelligent and caring individual. He has studied extensively human traits, personalities...etc. It's been great to have him explain my personality type and how I can be more aware of others' feelings. I can't thank him enough for what he's done for me and my family. I look forward to spending time with him, learning what he does, and helping him share his gift with others. I know that it's something that can really help a lot of people.

That's it for this week, thanks for following!

10/21/2011.....

Wow, what an amazing week! Where do I begin? Lets give you guys an update with last week's news.

Rock to Riches

As I mentioned last week, we were given an assignment last week in school to trade a rock for eventual riches. We started with a rock that weighed less than a pound. We traded that rock for a bunch of stuff that Haylie and Brett Nowell were going to get rid of. We left our first trade with wakeboard bindings, poster, bags, blankets...etc. In 20 minutes we will be trading some of those things for a computer scanner. This ends tomorrow, so if you guys have anything to contribute, it would be much appreciated. This has been exciting!

Sponsor me Slim

I just got back from an amazing Sponsor me Slim weekend. We spent the week at Pirate's Cove in Boulder City Nevada. If you don't know where that is, please watch this video on YouTUBE. It's the coolest house known to mankind!

We took a bus down there with around 30 people. We left Monday morning and arrived around 7pm. After we got settled in, we spent the night swimming, jumping off of the pirate planks, and going down the water slides. I can't leave out the all you can eat ice cream and slushies that I enjoyed. I know, I need to be a better example to my clients that are losing weight. Every time I ate a cone, I saw somebody look at me with disgust. haha, I'll be better! The next two days we spent eating and playing. It was very relaxing. The only thing I could compare it to was a theme park and cruise ship combined. If it weren't $5000 a night, I would recommend that everyone go there! Or join us and lose a bunch of weight and we'll get you there for free :) The last day was my favorite. We spent the day with some incredible people and received great counsel on how to build a sustainable long term business. A special thanks to Craig Tillotson, Kenton Worthington, and Peter Lavery. With out you guys, we wouldn't be seeing the rapid growth that we've seen thus far. Thanks to you, hundreds of people are losing weight and many hundreds of children are now being fed nutritious meals! The most impacting moment for me this week was actually on the bus ride down there. Peter Lavery made us watch the movie "Schindler's List." If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend the movie even though it isn't a fun movie to watch. It tells the story of the Jews that were placed in the camps during WWII. Very sad to see how those Jews were treated and how many were killed. Over a three year period, close to six million Jews had been killed. No one did anything about it. What would you do if you lived in Germany at the time? Would you stand by and watch that happen? The takeaway message for me was this. In three years over six million Jews were exterminated and nobody did anything about it. Every year six million children, not adults but children, are dying of starvation. This is totally preventable! Am I just going to stand by and watch it happen? The answer is no! Lets keep up the pace....help people achieve their weight loss goals with a purpose. To feed the world's starving children. It's up to us. Take care guys!

10/10/2011

Ok guys, I have an exciting blog post for you all this week! As I've mentioned previously, I am studying Entrepreneurship at BYU. This week, we've been given an assignment called "creating value." Have you heard about the red paper clip? Check out this video if you'd like to see what it's all about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE8b02EdZvw

We are pretty much doing the exact same thing. Instead of starting with one red paper clip, we are starting with a rock. The purpose of the assignment is to see how well we can barter with people to change one rock (under 1 lb) into something great. I'd like everybody who reads this blog to send me an email (erickson.kelsey8@gmail.com) just to let me know that you've seen this blog. It will take two minutes but will be very helpful. We are open to any offers to get started. Do you have something at your house, in your garage, or just lying around that you don't use anymore? Please let us know and we can start with something of value. I'll be updating you all weekly on our team's progress. Also, please check us out on facebook! I'll be throwing up a post to try and get everybody's participation. Even if you aren't willing to trade something with us, you can like us or post on our post. This way more people will see what we are about. Thanks so much everyone for your participation, this will be fun and exciting!

A little update with "Sponsor Me Slim". We have more people on the program than I could ever imagine in such a short time frame. Tomorrow I will have a weigh in with some of our new comers and with their permission I'll update you all! I also haven't asked my mom if it was ok that I put up her numbers but she has had great progress! Contact her to hear how much weight/inches she lost in only her first week! Proud of you mom!!! Two really exciting things happened this last week with "Sponsor Me Slim." First, we got corporate's attention. In the last 1.5 weeks of September, we generated more volume in weight loss than competing programs in last 3 months combined. Corporate called us up to ask what we were doing. Instead of telling them, we invited them to one of our seminars and they were blown away with the testimonials. Over 25 people stood up and shared their weight loss and health success. It was truly inspiring! I also noticed that we had over 20 Nourish the Children Ambassador's in the room. That means that over 120 children were fed last month because of our efforts. Because we had such great success in September, we all went to celebrate. We stayed at the Zermott in Midway, Utah. We ate dinner and swam Friday night, then had a full day of training on Saturday. What a fabulous weekend. Thanks everyone for your support. Well that's all that I have time for right now, have a great week!

10/3/2011 update....

Hey guys! Another week has passed and there's a lot to get you all updated on. First, lets start with a personal achievment. I have not bitten my nails for two months! Ha ha. This sounds funny but it's something that I've struggled with for over 15 years. It really helps me relate to people with any addiction. Unfortunately, biting my nails is my addiction. Thanks to the wifey for the help!
Brie and I have also been looking at houses this past week. We met with a loan officer and were pre-approved to start looking at houses. Also, we met with a real estate guy and have started the whole process. It's kind of funny! We recieve about five emails a day with pictures of houses on the market. Our real estate guy is wanting to move much faster than we are. We are looking into places near Springville area with a basement apartment that we can rent out to young married couples. We have found a few houses that we like and will probably go and visit them soon. It's kind of funny the timing of it all actually. This week in my Personal Finance Class, we are learning strategies on buying a house. Already I've realized that we need to slow down and consider a bunch of other things. We may not even move into a house. We are most likely out of Utah after I graduate from BYU in two years. Some questions that we're considering. Will our house build enough equity in two years to sell it? If not, will we be able to rent out our house to cover our mortgage and create another avenue of residual income? Will it be a lot of work to rent out the house while we are not living nearby? We're in the process of considering these questions and are open to any input that you guys have! Feel free to leave a comment with your opinions.
Things with "Sponsor me Slim" are going fantastic! It's been so fun to see some amazing success stories in just one short month. Ilia is down 16 lbs in 16 days and 12 inches. Jim has lost 3lbs and 1 inches in his first four days on the program. Alex has lost 27 lbs and 12 inches in his first month on the program! Another great thing to see is how many people have become ambassadors of Nourish the Children. At least 100 starving children have been fed this last month due to our efforts and this number is continuing to grow! My mom started the program yesterday, and I'm excited to see her progress! It's been a blast to work so closely with Peter Lavery. He's having me do questionnaires, 1 on 1 interviews, training and much much more. He has already had a huge impact on my business and can't hardly wait to see how things will be in only one months time.
Lastly, we had a blast this conference weekend. My in-laws rented a cabin in Sundance and we stayed the weekend up there. Conference was a great excuse to get away and enjoy time with the family and pondering the words of our leaders. I felt like 5+ talks were written just for me. Saturday I enjoyed going out to eat with Rick, Andrew, Brennan and Landon. After Priesthood session, we returned to the cabin and had an awesome spa experience. We spent time in a hot tub, steam room, and sana. To finish things off, Brie had me wear a Glacial Marine Mud Mask. Haha good times!

In the working......

9/26/2011

I apologize to everyone (especially Mrs. Thomas) for not keeping my blog up-to-date. Life has been absolutely hectic lately! Over the past few weeks I’ve been building my new venture, “Sponsor Me Slim.” I will catch you up on that later. This has left me with very little time for anything else (including blogging). However, Brie and I have made time to have some fun.
Last weekend Brie and I went to a circus! This is the first time that she had ever been, so that was fun to experience that with her. We also enjoyed the company of some old and new friends. All I can say is “fire it up!” If you were at the Rigley Brother’s circus, you will understand that joke. I’ll throw up some pictures of the circus later this week. I was amazed with the trapeze artists, the elephants, and the tigers.
Before I jump into my new venture, I have to say that I’m extremely excited for General Conference this next weekend. We are renting a cabin for the weekend in Sundance so look for the update and some pictures next week.
What is “Sponsor Me Slim?” The easiest way to explain it to you guys is with a few horrifying statistics. Did you know that every seven seconds someone dies of Type II Diabetes? Did you know that Type II Diabetes is directly associated with obesity? Did you know that every six seconds a child dies of starvation? “Sponsor Me Slim” is designed to rid America of obesity and at the same time feed starving children through-out the world. We guarantee our program or your money back. This is my career and feed my family so I’m not interested in selling you a program; instead I’m interested in results. Another cool thing about our weight loss program is that in almost all cases it will save you money. Another important factor with “Sponsor Me Slim” is our partnership. Did you know that if you give a starving child a truck full of corn they will still die of malnutrition? We have partnered with a company that employs over 75 scientists to formulate the most nutritious meal to feed a starving child. In summary, this program is about helping you lose weight and most importantly helping you recapture your health. At the same time, we are solving the problem of starvation by donating nutritious meals to starving children in the world.

Here we go...

What's up guys? I have mentioned to a few of you already, but I've started this blog for a business class at BYU. For the first time today, I looked at a few blogs and realized that I have some heavy competition with women from all ranges. Unfortunately, my blog probably won't be that cute and won't contain millions of pictures of my kids (because I don't have any). I was trying to think about what I'd like this blog to consist of and kept drawing blanks. Many of you that know me probably can picture me trying to think of how I can make "the best blog ever." Haha! After thinking about it for a short time (5 days haha...I'm a stinking perfectionist), I just decided that I'd create a blog that makes my life a little more transparent. Sometimes I'm lectured for not informing my family enough on what's going on in my life, so, maybe this can be a great tool for that. I have the best wife I could ever imagine but at times don't recognize the little things that she does; maybe this can be a great tool for that as well. My wife and I are on an incredible journey in running our first businesses and I learn many lessons daily; maybe it's a great tool to jot down those lessons in hopes that they can help others. Lastly, I'm amazed daily at the grace and love of our Father in Heaven and maybe it can be a tool to help me share hope with others. Whatever I blog about, you I can make clear the world as I see it. Well, here we go!
A little introduction:
My name is Kelsey Lane Erickson and I am married to the one and only Brienne Johanna Erickson. We have been happily married since May 8, 2010. Both Brienne and I grew up in Utah county and dated through our senior year in high school, college, and a 2 year leave :). Currently, I attend the Marriot School at BYU and will graduate in 2 years (can't come fast enough). I'm studying Business/Entrepreneurship and am hoping to make my business and others an international success with that knowledge. I'm a proud member of the LDS or Mormon church and am happy share our beliefs with anyone that has questions. Other than my brother, the rest of my family lives in Dallas, Texas. Yes they left me here in Utah all by myself when I returned home from a 2 year leave in Chile. I don't know much else to tell you all about what I am currently doing except to tell you a bit about Brie. She is slowly working towards her bachelors degree at BYU and already completed 2 years of aesthetics school. She runs "The Spa at Provo Beach Resort" and yes she'd love to have you all come and visit. She's very generous to friends, family, and first timers! She's an example to me and others in more ways than one and I'm lucky to have her. This is us, and welcome to our lives!