Why I love design

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Love the skin you're in

Work is slow today so I thought it a perfect opportunity to update. Okay, where to start. I don’t know how many of you have seen the new Jerry Seinfield and Bill Gates Microsoft commercials. If you haven’t you aren’t missing much. They were slated to run five separate spots, each building on the previous. Well they were met with mixed reviews, let’s be honest, they just plain sucked. Microsoft was trying to spin this as a “buzz building” campaign, but how much additional “buzz” does the world’s largest software provider need? Anyway the spots are being pulled after only two of the five spots aired. They are being replaced with an Apple knock off commercial with a look-alike saying “I’m a PC, and I’ve been stereotyped.” I can’t even begin to tell you how lame that campaign is going to be. I can’t believe Microsoft signed off on that direction. That must have been an interesting pitch, “So you know the, I’m a Mac and I’m a PC commercials? Well imagine that but in reverse.” “That’s perfect, someone else has already done it and we’ll just steal the idea. Excellent Smithers, excellent.” (Also, Mr. Burns is the new Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft.) The good news is McCann Erickson didn’t have anything to do with either of these campaigns. That makes me happy. I thought they were from us for awhile and I was trying to figure out how to explain that on my resume. “Worked at McCann Erickson, but I didn’t have anything to do with the Seinfield, Gates stuff, promise.”

Enough about work and ad-nerdness; it’s time for a house update. We are in the process of getting the loan taken care of. There is a lot of paperwork, you wouldn’t believe. Right now we can blame lenders for destroying our economy and single handedly wiping out the rain forests. They sent us a little care package with pictures of the trees we just caused the destruction of, but hey what the heck they grow back eventually right, no worries. We had a home inspection performed Monday night and all was well with the house. A few minor things that we already assumed would need attention, nothing major. However, the roof on the garage needs to be replaced, which we knew from the beginning. When you stand in the garage and look up you can see the sky through the shingles, which is bad. Our realtor drew up an addendum requesting a credit toward the replacement of the roof. I’m sure the sellers are less then stoked to refund us $5,000 (that’s a rough estimate; it could be more than that). Tonight we will find out if they accepted that request. If they don’t then things can get interesting. The closing date still stands at October 2, and is steadily approaching. It’s going to be awesome to have a house, I can’t wait and Natalie is beside herself with excitement. I think she’s mostly excited about being able to have a cat. In the near future we will host a “name the kitty” competition on the blog so get those names ready, and let me warn you, I have some pretty awesome kitty names in mind so bring you’re A-name-game. That is just about all there is about the house.

I went on a walk today during lunch (I didn’t have hand weights, a fanny pack, or visor but it was fun none-the-less). Down town SLC is a strange place. I was struck with the dichotomous nature of the city. The old beautiful monoliths left behind from the early twentieth-century and the new citadels of industry overshadowing them. On Market Street I came across a three story building I have never seen before; the corner stone proclaimed 1891, and the bricks in the windows and doorway whispered a history of neglect and marginality. My building was built as a retreat for executives and the Salt Lake City bourgeoisie in 1908, and has been well maintained throughout its life. My desk is located in what was once a large Roman style bath. I love the re-tooling of the past. But I started thinking about what was the difference between this building of one time luxury and excess, and the 1891 building less then a block to the west. I don’t have any answer to that, but I think someday the 1891 building will be used again. The lot next door is being prepped for a foundation—across the street a shiny new slab of concrete waiting to support a new citadel of industry. A second chance at immortality. Salt Lake is nothing if not a city for second chances. That’s the duality I enjoy so much about Salt Lake. You can just about have it all here—modernity peppered with rooted history, city convenience under the shadow of tectonic playgrounds, and did I mention they have Carls Jr? I’m stoked to be here.

Times are Changing

First off, a little eyecandy. Thank you Apple. You have done it again!

I had a really good week. Making Memories is an awesome company to be working for. I really enjoy the people whom I work with and the work that I'm doing. Packaging design is really fun, but also pretty complicated. It is a welcomed challenge. I enjoy working with type again (it had been toooo long!). One of their clients is the beloved Target. Its a dream come true that i am working for Target in around about way. I feel like this job is going to be a great fit. Oh and did I mention, they have A/C, pay their employees on time, and the printers have ink??!!! They also purchased a 23" apple screen for me which I'm loving!

Even more exciting is. . . . . . . . our counter offer was accepted! If all of the inspections, loans and the other house stuff goes though we will be first time home buyers. We are nervous and excited. Its just crazy to think we will have a house in shorter then a month. And that we can afford to own a home. Life after college is good.

Utah has defiantly been a destination of change for us. It has taken a little while for us to settle in and find the best jobs and residence. Its hard moving to a new state and not knowing the area, wards and companies. But everything happens for a reason.

2 BIG Things

One, I start at Making Memories on monday. Read my Graphic Design oriented blog Natalies Patterns for the story. Click here! Im nervous and excited for this new change.


Two, We put an offer on our realistic dream house yesterday!!!! Click here for the link to the house. You can see some photos and specs if your interested in our could be future home.

The Party

Wyrick Girls. Me Michelle, Chelsea and Gabe.


Dad and I blowing out our candles. I had to remind him to be happy about his birthday. :)


Matt, Carrie, Fisher and Tyler came too! It was really cool of Matt to come down to work on my family. They loved it.


Josh gave me a really special present. I never ever thought I would get a Tiffanys Heart charm bracelet. I have wanted one since High School. I think its pretty neat that he gave me one. Jewelry is something that is really special to me. It always has meaning and is always a reminder of the person that gave it to you.

I should also mention Grandma Bee hasn't been doing well these past few months. She has been struggling with anxiety attacks and the doctors prescribed her medication that didn't mix with her existing medication. So lately she has been to the hospital and ER a lot. So they moved her to Fredrika Mannor to have better medical attention because my mom couldn't be her nurse 24/7. Then Grandma Bee went to the ER right before we came and then was in the hospital when we got there. We visited her the next day and I was in Shock (the last time I had seen her which was in March she looked normal happy and was active). She was soo skinny and just looked terrible and miserable. I tried not to cry while I was in the room and I burst into tears when we left. She just looked soo helpless.

So during the trip Grandma Bee had open heart surgery to fix a valve. Her Lungs had been filling with blood. If she hadn't decided to have the surgery her quality of life would be as it had been the past few months. Bed ridden and frequent trips to the hospital. The surgery made the week really traumatic. I was scared for her. She is 83 years old and has congestive heart failure. My mom was really scared. She didn't want to loose her mom and I can't imagine how that must have felt for her. But she prayed and left it in Heavenly Fathers hands. Magnificently Grandma Bee came out of the surgery and has been recovering with flying colors! I talked to her twice this week and she sounds better. I really hope she can have some of her old life back now.

That pretty much sums up the trip. It was fun and tiring and a little traumatic.

Holly Hoood!

We had a blast in Hollywood! It was more fun then I expected. We all went, Me, Josh, Michelle, Mom and Dad. We barley made it to hollywood in time. We had a bus tour scheduled at made it there with 10 minutes to spare. LA traffic blows.

We took a tour of the Historic sites and Celebrity Homes. I felt a little like a stalker, but it was really fun. The tour driver kept on talking about how he has spotted a shirtless Matthew Mcconaughey running around Mulholand Drive (its this street where all the celebrities live on sides of cliffs). Sadly we never saw him! It was really interesting seeing all of the beautiful houses. I liked going down Sunset trip and seeing where the old rock scene happened. Our camera ran out of batteries so I only have shots from the tour and none from the hollywood strip.

We also went to the Burton store. Which was a dream come true. I got some new winter everyday gloves. My old ones are kinda ratty. Plus these are red! next time we want to go to Melrose Street and go shopping. There were a ton of cool stores. Oh and we spotted Spidey and we didn't have a net gun!


Holly Wood sign


Downtown LA. Admire the pollution.


Rodeo Drive. We went into a few stores. They are wayy out of our price range but it was cool to see some real collections. My mom loved that part.


How sweet is Elton Johns new house? See the Grand Piano resemblance?


Leonardo di Caprios house. I thought it was cool.

You belong in a Zoo, The San Diego Zoo

We really didn't take many pictures since we went to Night Time zoo. But we sure had some fun. I am an animal lover. I love learning about different species. My mom taught me a lot growing up about animals because she worked there pretty much my whole life.




It was really dark when Josh took this picture. He must have used our flash and then took the picture when someone else's flash was going off. Thats why its kinda bright. So if you can see there is a baby Giraffe in the pen. It had just been born that very day. I am always amazed how they can walk the same day that they are born. All of the giraffes were crowding around looking at the baby and kissing and nuzzling it. Its funny how giraffe babies receive that same love that Human babies receive from everyone when they are new into the world. It was cool to watch.


These are Hippos "fighting." They are actually playing around. The water was all blurry because they pooped. It was really fun watching them play. I wish the picture could have been clearer!

Padres Game

This was our first time at Petco Park. The game was a lot of fun. The Padres won and the give away that night were shoulder Padre Bags. I really enjoy going to live sports games. The stadium is downtown and is surrounded by buildings. The park has a really cool feel to it.


I took this after the game. I love, love, love those Palm Trees.


Photo of the field during warm ups.


Michelle, Mom and Dad.


The field during the game.


Josh and I. I made sure we were wearing Padres colors. You gotta have the blue!

Lets play August Catch Up

Here is a start of some very delayed pictures. These are from Mission beach. We made it to the beach 4 times on the trip!


One of my Favorite landmarks. The Bel Mont Park rolled coaster!


My Mom and Michelle. We are waiting to cross the street.


Josh and I after a fun time in the water.
We broke down and purchased an "adult" body board for Josh. On all of the other trips I would let him borrow mine and I couldn't figure out why Josh couldn't body board. We all know how talented Josh is with "board sports." Turns out I forgot that I have a kid size board. My bad! I was pretty excited for Josh to feel the thrill of riding waves that bounce and buck you around. We had some pretty fun rides. We made it all the way to the shore a bunch of times. I really love being in the ocean and the rush of the water. Its awesome!


Josh and the beach. 2 of my most favorite things!

In a world where keeping it realer is the only way to keep it real...

A lot has happened in the last few weeks. It feels like we have been on a dead sprint for most of August. We spent a week in San Diego and it was totally awesome. Natalie got some serious shopping done and I got some incidental “oh that looks cool” shopping done. Before we left Utah, we gave each other a budget for the week; Natalie spent her entire budget at H&M and I spent less then half of mine. We celebrated Natalie’s birthday in California with her family at the annual “Natalie and John Wyrick backyard birthday blow out.” Matt and Carrie came down from L.A. and brought the boys. It was way fun. I spent most of the party hunting for cats with Fisher. The beach was fantastic, incase you were wondering. The water temperature was 68 degrees, so it was a little cold at first but a refreshing cold. All and all it was a great trip. We returned from California and reported to work the next morning. Layton to San Diego is almost exactly 12 hours so we drove both ways in one day. Work was cracker-crazy. My boss had a death in the family so she was gone all week and one of the other proofers was gone too, so that left me in charge of the Microsoft account. I have since been promoted to the Microsoft account fulltime, which is nice. Before I was bouncing back and forth between Verizon Wireless and Microsoft and they are pretty different accounts. We had an urgent project that had to be submitted by week end so we scrambled all week. I’m not going to lie; it was nice to be super busy. I much prefer being busy to being bored.

So that brings us to the Labor Day weekend. Friday I only worked half day and then Natalie and I drove up to Rexburg for our friend Cassie’s wedding reception. (Rexburg was exactly the same as when we left, surprise surprise) We stopped at Ryan and Jordan’s house first and caught up for awhile. Jordan is due any day now (unless Ella has already been born and no one has told me yet). Cassie’s reception was nice. She looked happy, and tired. (Oh to be a newlywed again, (Natalie is totally going to chop me in the neck for saying that)) I was a little freaked out because Cassie’s whole family was there and they all look like clones. It’s creepy. To compound the issue they were all wearing the same dress, except Cassie of course. Families that look like twins but aren’t twins freak me out. After the reception we went to Craigo’s in Rexburg, one of our favorite restaurants in the burg. Friday was Natalie’s official birthday so we celebrated it something proper by ordering a giant cookie-monster. For those unfortunate souls that don’t know what a cookie-monster is I’ll tell you. It is a pie pan with a giant warm chocolate chip cookie on the bottom, topped with copious amounts of vanilla ice cream, topped with whipped cream, caramel, and chocolate. UMMMM … so good. So after driving to Rexburg, hanging out with the Gholsons, partying at Cassie’s reception, and gorging on a delicious cookie-monster; I was spent. So we drove home and I was exhausted, and I was pretty grumpy (allegedly). Natalie says I only communicated in grunts and whimpers the whole car ride back to Pocatello. I don’t even remember driving back to Pocatello. The only thing I remember is a dream about Josh Jackson selling crystal meth and me being super pissed about it. Any way the rest of the weekend was chill-a-licious (stupid Blayne from Project Runway!). We hung out with Kyle and Dusty and my family and that was basically it. I did buy a bike this weekend and am pretty stoked about that. I figure I need a little more exercise in my life than wanting to go skateboarding. We came home Sunday night cause we just wanted a day to do nothing at home, and that’s what we did for the most part.

The big news is I now have a Facebook. I kicked against the pricks for so long, but Natalie finally broke me down. It has turned out to be a fortuitous thing however, I have found some old friends and that has been very cool. So I’m a Facebook-cadet now just like everyone else. Natalie told me that she always gets what she wants, eventually. And she’s right, I’m a wuss.

Other big news: we are looking at a house in Bountiful. It’s an older home, built in the 40’s, but remodeled recently. Of all the houses we have looked at, this one is the best and the one that feels the most like a home. We are stoked on it but still want to see other houses while we get the financial stuff taken care of. So progress is taking place in the finding a home department. Other stuff has happened I’m sure, I think I’ve hit on the most applicable tid-bits of Ormond family fun though. I’m sure Pictures of California, Rexburg, Labor Day weekend, and house will appear in the future. Stay tuned folks…