VeGAs with my iNVenToR MAn

So...my inventor man (aka: my husband, Dakota's dad, also known as Zach ;) ) and I went to Vegas in May for the National Hardware Show. Now what is this you are asking??

Well, last year when Zach tried out to be on the show Shark Tank for his invention (click here to read about it)...unfortunately he didn't get on! BOO! I never did an update on that (sorry) so here is how it ended. He tried out. They took him to the next level which meant he had to send in a video of his invention in action and a story about him.

Well, we all know we have a pretty dang good story...at least I think so. A blind inventor with a brain injured child and a crazy wife...you can't make that stuff up! ;)

They had told him if you don't hear back in a couple of weeks then you didn't get on the show. Obviously, they don't have time to contact the thousands of people that try out to get on the show and tell them, sorry you didn't make it. Well about a week later he had an email from the guy he auditioned with. Exciting?! YES! 

Unfortunately (but cool at the same time that he would take the time to write Zach a personal email) he said. We really loved your invention and your story BUT we don't think a post hole digger is exciting enough and demanding enough for T.V.

Come on...what is not exciting about a post hole digger!! We got the point, but I'm not gonna lie...we were VERY disappointed! 

The one good thing about auditioning for the show is that we got to meet a lot of people like Zach who love to invent products. By talking to some people as we waited in the forever long line, Zach learned about the National Hardware Show. It had already taken place last year by the time he heard about it so this year he decided WHY NOT?! We have come this far!!

So, off for a road trip we went. I (of course) did all the driving...drinking LOTS of Diet Dr. Pepper and jamming to some Taylor Swift and Eric Church! 

We got their Monday early evening, just in time to set up our little booth!

We even brought our own UT dirt! ;)

Wala!! Beautiful!! Of course you gotta have some candy to top it off...chocolate! ;)

We TRULY had NO idea what we were in for. We had NO idea how big of a show it was. If anyone would really even come to the booth. If it would be worth the money and time we were putting into it.

First day...getting ready to see what was in store.

When we got there it was pretty overwhelming. It was at the Las Vegas Convention Center and it was HUGE!! Zach's booth was in a smaller room called the Innovation Station. It was cool to see all the different ideas and products people had there. Met some great people!

Outside the convention center, at the doors, innovation station entrance, and our sweet booth!

The hardware show lasted for 3 days. All 3 days were super busy. I had brought books and magazines thinking I would have all this down time to read and relax...never even opened a cover. 

There was a really consistent flow of people coming in from all different lines. Some big businesses trying to look at new ideas. Some small store owners that were also looking for items to stock on their shelves and to meet with the BIG vendors that were there for there products in the other parts of the show. Zach needed me to be his eyes and let him know if someone was checking out the post hole digger or just walking by since he can't tell by there facial expressions. Also, there were times where there would be mulitple people there wanting to check it out and while Zach was talking to one, I put on my best professional post hole digger face and did some demoing myself! ;)

I only wish we had a video camera to film ALL of the amazing responses Zach got from people that came over to get a demo on how to use his post hole digger. Also known as The Simp-Hole Digger!! ;) Because it is SIMPLE people!! There were SOOO many great compliments!

He has been working on it ever since we have been married so it's kinda old new to us. After so long you start to wonder...does anyone else think this is a good idea or is it just us?!

SOOOO many people LOVED it! We got many responses! "Why didn't I think of that?!" Where was this last year when I needed it!" "This is genius!" "This product is gonna go somewhere!" How much are you selling them for?" "Let me know when you get it on the market." "Did you think of this yourself?" "This is so innovative!"

It definitely gave Zach a confidence boost in his invention that he so rightly deserves! He is a such an innovative guy and I am SO SO proud to be his wife!

There were SEVERAL companies that were interested there and gave Zach their cards and took his info. It FINALLY got him in front of some of the biggest companies that he had been trying to get in front of himself but they don't really take the time to talk to ya. IT was SO worth the trip to go! We couldn't have asked for it to go any better!!

As of right now, there are 3 companies since the show that have called Zach and have asked for a sample and a release to look at his patent info. Now we are just waiting and praying that something great will happen. In all of this, Zach has always wanted to sell his idea or license it out to a bigger company that is already manufacturing hand tools since they would already be set up to take it on. It is way too hard and expensive for some Joe Schmo to try and get their 1 product into a big store.

So pray your little hearts out for him as well. We are trying not to get our hopes us too high but I so want Zach to find success in this because I have stood by him as he has spent SO much time, work, and money into this product that he loves!!! I know how much it means to him!

The majority of our time spent in Vegas was at the show or at a copy shop getting things ready or making more copies. We did have a little time to play of course...you have to in Vegas!

It was both of our first times going there as adults and not kids so I'm not gonna lie...I was a little overwhelmed. I asked on Facebook where a good, clean place to stay would be and the amount of responses I got of things we need to do while we were in Vegas was out of control!

I so appreciated all the info but kinda felt overwhelmed on trying to pick and choose what to do when there was such little time! And let's be honest...I was most excited to sleep through a full night as I always am when I have a little "mom" break! My sweet mom flew up to take care of Dakota while we were gone. Thank you mom!!!

We had to get up early every morning so usually after dinner I was ready to go back to the hotel and go to bed! ;) I know I am lame!

We ended up staying at the South Point Hotel. It was off the strip, newer, and clean looking, so it won over the exciting other hotels! ;)

I still can't believe how big all the hotels are!

Zach "pretending" like he is lucky! LOL!!! ;)

We thought it would be fun to put a coin in and try our luck and then we realized we had no idea how to even play ANYTHING so we decided not to! :)

We went out on the strip a couple nights...ate some yummy food of course!

Ate at the CaboWabo at Planet Hollywood

Chowing down as we listen to a fun band!

All the lights!!

Check out this Pizza we got at the Stratosphere!!! And yes...I TOTALLY ate that whole thing and 1/2 of that GIANT bread stick sitting next to me!!

We wanted to go to at least one show while we were there but weren't sure what kinda show to go to so we went to The Variety Show at the V Theatre since it was a little bit of everything. So super fun!!!

As we waited in line for about an hour I SO thought we were outside until I saw this red balloon and realized we were inside. CRAZY!!

Did a little bit of Mother's Day shopping for me. I tried to limit my shopping experience since I know how much Zach loves it...not at all! But he was a good sport and let me check out a few stores I had never been to before!

Next trip to Vegas will have to be all for fun cuz there is SO much to do and we didn't even scratch the surface! But let's be real...we never really go on vacation unless their is a business purpose or family involved! ;)

Quick trip to L.A.

So Zach and I got crazy and decided totally last minute we were going to L.A. Totally not like us...we hardly ever go on vacation, let alone outside of UT or AZ. But there was a purpose behind it all...

So Zach is an amazing thinker. Since he has gone blind he has invented 2 different tools. One just for landscapers and one a posthole digger that blows the normal posthole digger out of the water. He has spent the last few years spending hours and hours making them exactly how he wants them...and now he is at the point to really manufacture and sell them. The landscaping tool he is gonna manufacture and sell on his own since it is a lot smaller scale...so if you know any landscapers that use poly pipe, they are gonna want one of these babies. ;) The posthole digger he has just filed the patent on and is looking to license it out to a bigger company and have them manufacture and sell it, but its a lot harder to do. Nobody wants to talk to joe shmo and so it is hard to find a company that will even talk to you.

Anyways... So Zach's favorite show is Shark Tank because it is a show with a bunch of entrepreneurs like him who started a business or invented something and they go before rich investors with their ideas and try and get them to be partners with them. So we had these 2 plane tickets that were about to expire so I told him we should use them for him to go audition for the show...crazy right. So Sunday night we looked online to see when and where auditions were and they were that Thursday in L.A.!!! Not a lot of time to plan and prepare. Zach wasn't sure he could take off work (even when you own your own business it is hard to do since you have commitments). So he worked his little tail feathers off Monday through Wednesday to see if he could get ahead to be able to go and on Wednesday afternoon he gave me the go ahead. So I hurried and booked our flights, got a hotel, rental car, and lucky for us Zach's AMAZING parents were willing and able to watch Dakota so we could go and even stay a couple of days to make it a little more fun. So we flew in Thursday morning (missed our flight even though we got up at 4 a.m., but lucky enough we were able to jump on another real quick) got into L.A. bout 10:30. Auditions were from 12-7. We got to the place for auditions bout 11:30 and the line was already way down the street. We waited in line for 6 whole hours for a chance to meet with someone for 5 minutes. (I cant imagine the wait for American idol!) We were pretty much in line on the streets most the time.

Zach waiting. thinking. resting.

Check out that line...and we were probably towards the last half!

By the time we got in the building it was probably bout an hour wait. We met some great people though in line and it was fun to talk with other inventors and here what their ideas were.

This is Jasmine who we got to know the best! She has a great idea for a jogging stroller!

She also hooked us up with some great places to go to while we were there!

More chatting!

The room where you got to present had 6 different people in it, so six people were all presenting to each person at the same time. Lucky for Zach he got to present to a male, since most of the people in there were females. (mostly guys have only used pothole diggers and can appreciate how hard they are to use) The guy loved his idea and spent a lot of time with Zach.

I was able to sneak a couple photos while he presented.

 He even called one of the head guys over to look at it and talk to him for a second. 

Do those faces not look interested or what?! ;)

So the next step is they want Zach to send them a video demonstrating how to use the old posthole digger and his new version of it. So Zach will send that in in the next couple days and then its just wait and see. They start filming in June through August so you here back pretty soon. There were over a thousand people and they got bout 25,000 email submissions since the last show so the chances are pretty slim but we are crossing our fingers. It is a T.V. show so even if you have a great idea, if they don't think it would be an entertaining idea for people or the "sharks" or if they just don't like the person, you don't really have a shot no matter how great your idea is. So who knows?! It would be a great opportunity but we are not getting our hopes up to high. Even if it doesn't work out we got a fun trip out of it.

After the long day of waiting we went down to universal city walk and walked around the shops and ate some dinner. I was such a fun environment and it was fun to be somewhere completely new. 

They had a water massage store so we had to try that out. The guy was nice and let us try out some of his other fun tools.

Do we not look so nice and relaxed?!

Little head massager

He had some electronic little stimulators on his upper back that made his shoulders shrug up and down involuntarily. It was pretty hilarious to watch and even crazier to feel!

They had comedy show that night so we decided to go to that and had some good laughs.

There were probably bout 6 or 7 different comedians...this guy was one of our favorites! Cant remember his name though!

  It was late by the time we got to the hotel and we were exhausted after only going off of 3 hours of sleep. The next day we really had no agenda. That was the best part about the trip...nowhere to be just going with the flow. We decided to go on a tour bus round Hollywood and Beverly hills. This was so fun and relaxing just in the fact that I didn't have to drive! (have i mentioned i hate driving since i became the sole driver for our family) I just got to sit back and relax and enjoy the scenery. They took us around to several stars homes. We aren't really the star struck kinda people but I love to look at different homes and designs and these were some pretty amazing houses...even ones that weren't famous peoples.

Here they are as best as I could get them. Some of the houses were pretty secluded and covered up with trees and bushes so you could only see like the chimney or rooftop like the Bechams and Tom Cruise but it was still fun...

Got our headphones on and ready!! The van was open top so it was nice and breezy!

I think this one was I Love Lucy ladies last house before she passed away. Took that one for my sister Annie and my mom. Die hard I Love Lucy watchers! ;)

This was Elton Johns home...can you see the EJ on the fence gate.

This wasn't anyone famous just a crazy lookin house...probably the Smurfs or something. ;)

Can't remember the name of this car because I am not a car person but it's like some outrageous car that the tour guide said we would probably never see in our lifetime again...so I took a picture. Zach said Simon Cowell has one of these. Cool...I guess! ;)

Some beautiful scenery!

Made 1 stop to get out and check out that scenery so had to snap a pic!

Jimmy Kimmel (not sure if that's how you spell it or not)

This was Simon Cowell's. He bought Jennifer Lopez's house for 8 million and tore the house down and built this one for like 22 million...SERIOUSLY...why don't you just pay my house off...it wasn't even that cool lookin! Come on Simon!!!

Can't remember...somebody cool! ;)

This was the gate in front of a house that Elvis Presley owned. This gate has TONS of messages from fans to Elvis...thought it was pretty cool!

Didn't know this celebrity but they had a cool place.

Christina Aguilara...somebody else cool before it was hers too...just can't remember. ;)

Totally can't remember...I'm so lame I know! It was fun though!!

Where the tour started and ended was where all the handprints of celebrities is located. Right off the bat I found my "cougar crush" from Twighlight "Jacob." I decided this was my only chance to hold his hand!

He is on the left.

It was so warm! ;)

 

I felt bad so I had to find one of Zach's crush (and one of my girl crushes) so it would be fair for Zach...Jennifer Aniston. ;)

He looks like he liked it a little too much...look at that grin!

After the tour we decided to go to Santa Monica beach. I was hoping to just relax on the beach but by the time we got there it was so cold and windy it was pretty miserable to be outside. So we went in a restaurant and had some dinner. Ended the night with of course some ice cream! (I didn't get any pics of this cuz my camera and Zach's phone were out of battery)

We flew out the next morning and that was that. Of course it would have been nice to have a couple more days but since it was so last minute and Zach's parents weren't planning on watching Dakota we couldn't stay for too long...and I did miss my sweet boy. He wouldn't have enjoyed doing all the things that we went and did but I wished he was there with us and we were able to take him to Disneyland and all the fun places that a normal 3 year old would LOVE!   It was all worth it though just for Zach and I to get away and just be together for a bit. We definitely enjoyed just the thought of leaving all are worries behind and just being carefree...at least for a couple of days. We were so grateful to Doug and Vicki (Zach's parents) for taking care of our little man. We never have to worry when he is with them! They even sent us a picture of his sweet smile!

Although we had a great time...I do love the beach and will miss the Cali weather and the excitement... I realized I love Perry UT and the serenity of where we live. It's nothing extravagant or exciting but it is home!

I love: 1. When someone honks at you it is because they know you and are saying hi...not saying hurry up you idiot! :)

2. I love that our local Walmart is just 1 floor and not 3. Seriously there were escalators in the Walmart and a place next to them that takes your cart up for you...it was nuts!  I love that we can ride our Ranger on the back road all the way to our Walmart!

3. I love that I don't have to rely on Zach's phone to get me where I need to be...I know where I am going and there are not 10  million stop lights along the way.

4. I don't have to pay 7-10 dollars to park anywhere and I don't have to get my parking ticket validated just to go to CVS pharmacy.

5. I don't have to pay $1,500 a month for a small apartment. (that is more then r mortgage!!)

6. I don't have tour buses full of people driving by my home. (although if people knew how cool our neighborhood really is...they most totally would! ;) )

7. Even though we don't have tons of land and yard, we have more then most houses up there. The homes are huge but they are all jam packed together with no room .

Overall, it was a breath of fresh air to go somewhere new and different and just relax. We are ready to take on real life again! :) My only regret was I was SO close to the Ellen show and didn't get to go. Thursday was her last show for the summer and it was sold out...we wouldn't have been able to go that day anway cuz we were in line for Shark Tank. Oh well, one of these days Ell...I'm comin to see you!!!!