Lounging on the couch, reading one of my favorite books again, or watching Elizabeth and Darcy end up together after five hours brings so much simple pleasure. I do, however, appreciate lessons learned, money earned, and people met through work. I've been pretty blessed with my jobs, and have learned a great deal, as well as being able to pay for practically all of my college tuition with my wages.
At sixteen I snagged one of the coveted summer positions at the snow cone shacks in three locations around town. We worked four-hour shifts, were paid $4.25/hour for the first 90 days or so, at which time the government required the full $5.15/hour minimum wage be paid. Cynthia, the owner, let us eat as many snow cones each shift that we wanted, provided we bring our own cup or pay 25 cents for one, and we only add ice cream if we pay for that as well. I'd go through several snow cones a day, finding my favorites. I loved when other snow cone makers would invent new flavor combinations. One of the Spiderman movies came out that first summer, so a blue and red spider-like design was born. My favorite was a varient of the Star Wars (Grape, lemon lime, and blue raspberry with sprinkles). I'd save the sprinkles for others and switch the blue to red raspberry. Tiger's blood (strawberry and coconut) also brought joy to my tongue. With such small buildings, cleaning didn't take too long, and as long as I'd time my snow cone consumption to not require a potty-break, life was good. I do remember cutting my finger on one of the blades one time when I had a line, probably a Saturday. I wanted to make sure everything was thoroughly cleaned and sanitized, but I didn't want the customers to see why I had to replace the block of ice and clean the blade. Apparently, everyone survived. I also remember on one of my first days working I pulled on the mini fridge drawer in the wrong direction, and cracked the plastic. I quickly turned my boss, fearing she'd charge me or let me go, but she was very understanding. She'd even wait with us at the end of the night if we had to wait for Mom. We didn't have a computer, so the calculator got a lot of use. I worked there two summers, and enjoyed having time off during the school year.
Shortly before I turned 18, I applied for a job involving working with people with disabilities. I smiled through almost the entire 45-minute interview, feeling the burn in my cheeks, when in the last few minutes the interviewer realized I wasn't quite 18, and he couldn't hire me yet. My sister already worked for the company, and I knew they worked with her schedule, so I applied again after my birthday. I was placed in a couple apartment set-ups, but primarily got to work with Laura, a woman with cerebral palsy, like my Uncle Scott, but it affected her limbs more than it had his. I had a lot of fun talking with Laura, planning activities to do around town, and going on trips with her. It worked really well when I started college, because when I earned enough "seniority" and my sister was no longer able to work some of the night shifts, I was able to work a sleeping night shift, waking up when needed, and then helping Laura before she went to work, and then working some evenings. Laura is very intelligent, and mostly wanted to do things that other women enjoy, so we had great walks and fun Friday nights. I did hurt my back a little with some of the chair lifts, but I'd definitely been trained in bending from the knees and not the back. This job was high responsibility, in that I was helping to car a for another person, and I'd get stressed out if I forgot to administer some meds, or plans didn't work out as I had hoped. Laura let me take a trip to St. George with her, as well as go camping with Common Ground, and she willingly attended some of my family parties, which are a big part of my life. I was also able to take a couple months of in the summer of 2006 to study abroad in Germany, and had my job waiting for me when I got back. I quit before my mission, and then discovered when I returned home that Laura wasn't even with the company anymore.
I decided to wait to get another job for a few months while I got back into school, and fortunately had some money saved from before my LDS mission to Ohio. I donated plasma for several months, during which time I passed out once and had to get stitches in my lip. A dot in each elbow crease also remain. When that first semester back drew to a close, I applied several places, and landed a job at Shoe Carnival. I was a carny. Even though it was a job held by primarily high school students, I appreciated the low-stress aspect of the job, and used my newly-improved conversation and open-ended question skills from my mission for customer service. Feet and shoes became a fascination everywhere I went. When Zak and I started dating, I'd get to dish about it with my practically all-female co-workers. This is where I first experienced the store end of Black Friday. We had a nice little line, only slightly surpassed by the Best Buy line crossing in front of ours from next door. I manned the children's department the first year, holding up the cheap boots for kids as the managers announced a temporary deal over the microphone. The following year I worked in the evening, but as the Men's Department Lead, primarily stuck myself in that area. I actually enjoyed sitting on the carpet as I arranged and aligned the boxes to get optimal space used. (Hence the black carpet stains on the seat and knees of my khaki pants). That was especially nice on the days when I didn't feel like talking much. I tried not to spend too much on shoes, but on friends and family discount weekends when I could get up to 35% off the clearance shoes, I splurged a bit. Because my uniform matched that of Walmart employees at the time, I'd do my best to not go across the street after work to pick up groceries on work days. I stayed at Shoe Carnival until after I graduated, and then Zak and I studied abroad in Switzerland.
One of the women in my neighborhood and church congregation allowed me the great honor and pleasure of taking care of her infant son for a few months between jobs before we moved to Idaho Falls. I sure love that little boy. At the time Zak and I also got to help care for the 18-month to 3-year-old children during part of church. What a blessing! I loved holding the kids when they needed some attention (or just needed to get away from one of the other children). Zak would always claim, "We have about 18 3-foot friends." We definitely went home tired on many occasions, but they were worth it.
We moved to Idaho, and I stayed home for a while. Without the family interaction, and no assigned responsibilities at church for a while, I tried to reach out to others and go to every activity I could. A few months after the move, I started applying with the school districts and a day care center because I missed being around the kids. I interviewed a couple times, but didn't end up getting those positions. In the meantime, I joyfully accepted a calling at church to help with the teenage young women, wich has been a great pleasure. Wanting to contribute something towards our debt-reduction battle, I decided to focus on getting a professional job, where I could actually wear dress clothes instead of a Walmart uniform. I applied for several, interviewed for a couple, and fortunately, became a bank teller. Even when I close our branch, it's still daylight, and I have a couple hours to spend with husband. We're closed every Sunday, and I get major holidays off of work. I've been able to talk with team members who come from different background around the world, and again get to fine tune my customer service skills. I enjoy budgeting with Husband now, because we've been able to make much bigger payments towards our last two student loans. While it doesn't require my degree, I feel like I am using it somewhat, since my emphasis was in world development and the global economy.
I'm especially impressed with my parents and husband who have worked so hard throughout their lives, and been wonderful examples. One of Zak's great attractions is that he's always striving to learn and understand more skills of his trade, so he'll be able to support our family. I always wanted to marry someone like Dad (who reads textbooks in his spare time), and I'm so blessed that I have. Mom has also worked so much, that she asked my Dad to stop praying all of the time for her to have work (so they could get enough money). Thanks for all of your hard work!
At sixteen I snagged one of the coveted summer positions at the snow cone shacks in three locations around town. We worked four-hour shifts, were paid $4.25/hour for the first 90 days or so, at which time the government required the full $5.15/hour minimum wage be paid. Cynthia, the owner, let us eat as many snow cones each shift that we wanted, provided we bring our own cup or pay 25 cents for one, and we only add ice cream if we pay for that as well. I'd go through several snow cones a day, finding my favorites. I loved when other snow cone makers would invent new flavor combinations. One of the Spiderman movies came out that first summer, so a blue and red spider-like design was born. My favorite was a varient of the Star Wars (Grape, lemon lime, and blue raspberry with sprinkles). I'd save the sprinkles for others and switch the blue to red raspberry. Tiger's blood (strawberry and coconut) also brought joy to my tongue. With such small buildings, cleaning didn't take too long, and as long as I'd time my snow cone consumption to not require a potty-break, life was good. I do remember cutting my finger on one of the blades one time when I had a line, probably a Saturday. I wanted to make sure everything was thoroughly cleaned and sanitized, but I didn't want the customers to see why I had to replace the block of ice and clean the blade. Apparently, everyone survived. I also remember on one of my first days working I pulled on the mini fridge drawer in the wrong direction, and cracked the plastic. I quickly turned my boss, fearing she'd charge me or let me go, but she was very understanding. She'd even wait with us at the end of the night if we had to wait for Mom. We didn't have a computer, so the calculator got a lot of use. I worked there two summers, and enjoyed having time off during the school year.
Shortly before I turned 18, I applied for a job involving working with people with disabilities. I smiled through almost the entire 45-minute interview, feeling the burn in my cheeks, when in the last few minutes the interviewer realized I wasn't quite 18, and he couldn't hire me yet. My sister already worked for the company, and I knew they worked with her schedule, so I applied again after my birthday. I was placed in a couple apartment set-ups, but primarily got to work with Laura, a woman with cerebral palsy, like my Uncle Scott, but it affected her limbs more than it had his. I had a lot of fun talking with Laura, planning activities to do around town, and going on trips with her. It worked really well when I started college, because when I earned enough "seniority" and my sister was no longer able to work some of the night shifts, I was able to work a sleeping night shift, waking up when needed, and then helping Laura before she went to work, and then working some evenings. Laura is very intelligent, and mostly wanted to do things that other women enjoy, so we had great walks and fun Friday nights. I did hurt my back a little with some of the chair lifts, but I'd definitely been trained in bending from the knees and not the back. This job was high responsibility, in that I was helping to car a for another person, and I'd get stressed out if I forgot to administer some meds, or plans didn't work out as I had hoped. Laura let me take a trip to St. George with her, as well as go camping with Common Ground, and she willingly attended some of my family parties, which are a big part of my life. I was also able to take a couple months of in the summer of 2006 to study abroad in Germany, and had my job waiting for me when I got back. I quit before my mission, and then discovered when I returned home that Laura wasn't even with the company anymore.
I decided to wait to get another job for a few months while I got back into school, and fortunately had some money saved from before my LDS mission to Ohio. I donated plasma for several months, during which time I passed out once and had to get stitches in my lip. A dot in each elbow crease also remain. When that first semester back drew to a close, I applied several places, and landed a job at Shoe Carnival. I was a carny. Even though it was a job held by primarily high school students, I appreciated the low-stress aspect of the job, and used my newly-improved conversation and open-ended question skills from my mission for customer service. Feet and shoes became a fascination everywhere I went. When Zak and I started dating, I'd get to dish about it with my practically all-female co-workers. This is where I first experienced the store end of Black Friday. We had a nice little line, only slightly surpassed by the Best Buy line crossing in front of ours from next door. I manned the children's department the first year, holding up the cheap boots for kids as the managers announced a temporary deal over the microphone. The following year I worked in the evening, but as the Men's Department Lead, primarily stuck myself in that area. I actually enjoyed sitting on the carpet as I arranged and aligned the boxes to get optimal space used. (Hence the black carpet stains on the seat and knees of my khaki pants). That was especially nice on the days when I didn't feel like talking much. I tried not to spend too much on shoes, but on friends and family discount weekends when I could get up to 35% off the clearance shoes, I splurged a bit. Because my uniform matched that of Walmart employees at the time, I'd do my best to not go across the street after work to pick up groceries on work days. I stayed at Shoe Carnival until after I graduated, and then Zak and I studied abroad in Switzerland.
One of the women in my neighborhood and church congregation allowed me the great honor and pleasure of taking care of her infant son for a few months between jobs before we moved to Idaho Falls. I sure love that little boy. At the time Zak and I also got to help care for the 18-month to 3-year-old children during part of church. What a blessing! I loved holding the kids when they needed some attention (or just needed to get away from one of the other children). Zak would always claim, "We have about 18 3-foot friends." We definitely went home tired on many occasions, but they were worth it.
We moved to Idaho, and I stayed home for a while. Without the family interaction, and no assigned responsibilities at church for a while, I tried to reach out to others and go to every activity I could. A few months after the move, I started applying with the school districts and a day care center because I missed being around the kids. I interviewed a couple times, but didn't end up getting those positions. In the meantime, I joyfully accepted a calling at church to help with the teenage young women, wich has been a great pleasure. Wanting to contribute something towards our debt-reduction battle, I decided to focus on getting a professional job, where I could actually wear dress clothes instead of a Walmart uniform. I applied for several, interviewed for a couple, and fortunately, became a bank teller. Even when I close our branch, it's still daylight, and I have a couple hours to spend with husband. We're closed every Sunday, and I get major holidays off of work. I've been able to talk with team members who come from different background around the world, and again get to fine tune my customer service skills. I enjoy budgeting with Husband now, because we've been able to make much bigger payments towards our last two student loans. While it doesn't require my degree, I feel like I am using it somewhat, since my emphasis was in world development and the global economy.
I'm especially impressed with my parents and husband who have worked so hard throughout their lives, and been wonderful examples. One of Zak's great attractions is that he's always striving to learn and understand more skills of his trade, so he'll be able to support our family. I always wanted to marry someone like Dad (who reads textbooks in his spare time), and I'm so blessed that I have. Mom has also worked so much, that she asked my Dad to stop praying all of the time for her to have work (so they could get enough money). Thanks for all of your hard work!
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