Moving to SLC

Grandpa Hooper with sleepy Mr C

Last year a former co-worker of Zak's contacted him several times to recruit him to work at a new company. They made an initial offer earlier in the year, but it didn't work for our family, so Zak continued at his current job. Later, they gave another offer, which they had managed by rearranging some responsibilities and roles. This time it seemed like a welcome change for Zak that would allow our family to stay where we were.

His second day at the new job shortly after New Year's, I returned home from play group with the kids and found out the main owner and investor at the company had not approved the hire, and so they laid him off. Day two. At least we hadn't relocated for this job. His previous employers had told him he would be welcomed back if he ever wanted to return to Aquamira, but Zak thought he should look at other opportunities.

He spent some time on his personal portfolio website, zporter.com, and applied for several positions. Because he has about ten years of experience in his field, as well as being amazing, many of the jobs around Cache Valley were for lower level positions that wouldn't pay what he deserves. We decided he should apply for jobs around Salt Lake and Provo. After a few phone, video, and in-person interviews two companies seemed interested, and one ended up making an offer. We discussed it and prayed about the decision, and decided to accept the offer. He had a start date at Master Control for March 5 in Cottonwood Heights.

Last morning in our old house. The kids were good sports and slept on foam pads because we'd packed up their beds.

During the two months between paychecks blessings poured on us. We had our 3-6 month emergency savings mostly funded, and Zak had some freelance work already started, so he could focus on that instead of worrying.

It took several trips down to Salt Lake before we found an apartment we liked at a reasonable price that had a decent school, since Miss V will be starting kindergarten in the fall. And then that apartment went to someone else. So...another trip later we found one at a slightly better price and quickly applied for the basement apartment of a home in an established neighborhood. During these trips, the kids were very good sports, and we had some fun together at restaurants and the mall.

Because of the housing delay, we didn't end up signing for the apartment until the Saturday night before Zak started, and my parents watched the kids while we signed papers and went on a date. Zak pulled one load of stuff in our little trailer Sunday evening, and the kids and I were left to finish packing and cleaning until he returned Friday after work. Besides scout camps and girls' camps, we haven't been apart much in our marriage. Fortunately, I could still call him and send videos, but he left the wifi with us, so he didn't have much internet, and I had limited myself on phone minutes.

I did feel overwhelmed after writing a to-do list and realizing how much I had left to do. So many of our friends, family, and neighbors offered to help with the kids, cleaning, packing, and moving. My young women gave me a farewell card and orchid! Even though we had to give our goodbyes to friends from church, play group, and preschool, we felt so loved. Our financial needs were met, and I got the emotional and physical help I needed throughout the process. Saturday morning and afternoon we had people in pretty much every room of our house scrubbing walls, windows, and vacuuming.

We gave away several pieces of furniture (most were items given to us for free), and sold a few pieces online. Because our housing dimensions were going from 1700 square feet to about 950 square feet, seeing the furniture go to their new homes brought waves of relief. I'd admired tiny house living for a while, and we wanted to be responsible with money and save for a house downpayment, so I think we've picked a good place. It took another load in our little utility trailer, Grandpa's large utility trailer, Dad Porter's truck, Dad Hooper's Tahoe, my minivan, and the 4Runner, but we managed to fit everything. I still have a dishwasher, my washer and dryer, and room for some food storage.

Our new basement apartment

Three weeks in we've unpacked and found places for most items. Because of some family events, we've only made it to our new church congregation one time, but we're looking forward to getting to know our neighbors.

I unpacked and cleaned the kitchen. The rest of the family room still has boxes.

Benefits of Work

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!

Moving to Idaho

Zak graduated in December with is Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, so it was time to look for another job.  He sent out his portfolio and resume to a few places (http://zporter.com/), and got a call back from Melaleuca, Inc. We drove up to Idaho together, and I canvased the town while he had a full day of interviews with various people in the Web Design Department and corporate. We heard back a short time later that they intended to make an offer, and when it finally came, we accepted. Husband is officially a Jr. Web Designer. The company booked and covered a hotel stay and cost of meals so we could go a-house-hunting.  I'd been browsing Craigslist, and found a few in our price range to see. Most were pretty small, in areas we didn't like as much, or lacked some of the amenities we wanted. We eventually met with Steve, who showed us some 4-plex housing. The street was pretty busy, but he showed us some others with the same floor plan in another neighborhood.  I liked the washer/dryer hookups, room in the kitchen for a table, and dishwasher, and Zak liked the garage and larger rooms. That week we packed, scrubbed walls, and shampooed our carpet.  My wonderful home teaching companion brought us a meal, our home teacher and my parents and siblings helped us haul our ample boxes of stuff into the 14-foot U-haul Zak was so excited to drive, and we said good-bye to our friends and family. Lots of friends offered help and love. Thank you. A week after our hotel stay and house-hunt, we moved to Idaho. Sort of. My parents did drive us back to Utah to visit with family when cousin Troy spoke in church after coming home from his mission, and when the Johnson side celebrated Daxin's birthday.  It was a great opportunity to see most of the Hoopers and Johnsons.  I'm still adjusting to living in a place where neighbors walk right past my windows, but I  crave the light and can't seem to shut my curtains when the sun is shining. Also "I have a [dishwasher], I have a [dishwasher], I have a [dishwasher], hey hey hey hey!" What a month.