This is me challenge: marriage

*How did you meet your spouse?  Was it love at first sight or did it take some time?
When I was 17 I was visiting my sister, Sheryl, in Oregon. Nate was serving his mission and was in my sister's ward. Her family was very close with all the missionaries, and her husband Ben was the ward mission leader. I saw Nate at church and thought he was so cute! After I went home we wrote a few times but that was about it... Until later!

*How long did you date before you got engaged?  How long was your engagement?
We both ended up going to Sheryl's for Thanksgiving, 2 years later, (without knowing the other would be there!) and went on our first date that week! We got engaged on Christmas Eve, so only about a month of dating! We had a very short engagement as well, only 2 months!

*How did you get engaged?  (The story)
The first time Nate asked me he hadn't been intending to, we were exchanging Christmas presents and he just decided he couldn't live without me ;)  lol
Later on he had made an awesome treasure hunt with roses, and at the last clue I turned around to find him on one knee with the ring. So cute!

*Who did most of the wedding plans?  Who helped?
My mom and dad, and Sister Leeann Powell, a lady in our ward who had done my sister's wedding as well.

*Who were your bridesmaids/best men? 
Katie Manning and Codilyn Kendall were my bridesmaids, and Nate's best men were his older brother Gerrit and my brother-in-law Ben Mildenhall.

*Describe the details of your wedding:  the colors, the cake, the decorations, etc.
Colors: Dark green and ivory
The cake: It was white with raspberry filling, with roses trailing all over. Of course we had to have something silly amidst all the serious and pretty, so we decided to put a cow and pig cake topper that we'd found at the cake shop, that were in wedding clothes! The bakery made a cute little fence with hay and mud around them! Probably one of my favorite parts of the wedding :)

*Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We couldn't take much time off work so we decided not to go far. We stayed in a cute little B&B called Hines Mansion for the first night, then we went to SLC and stayed up there for a few nights and just played around the city.

This is me: Work

Work:

*What jobs have you had? 

• My very first job when I was 16 was at The Wirthlin Group in Orem (one of the many names it's had!). I did telephone surveys. I was pretty good at getting people to answer and keep them long enough to get the survey done!
• After that I worked at Modus Media in Lindon (again, one of the many names). I worked in the call center for a number of different technology companies (Compaq tech support, customer service/returns, etc.)
• Then when I was 19 Nate and I both started at Circuit City together, while we were engaged. He worked in the Electronics department. I worked in the Computer department. We transferred to Portland CC and I worked in computers as well as Customer Service Manager training. I worked at Circuit right up until I had Thor.
• Then when Thor was about 6 months I went back to Modus Media (I was done with retail!) until about a year after I had Erik.
• Now I work for myself, I own and manage a residential cleaning company called All Purpose Cleaners.

*What did you like/dislike about each job?
I liked working with people and being able to solve problems for them.

*What did you learn at each job?
I learned how to deal with angry, upset people, and how to make them feel happy, even if the situation still wasn't how they would have liked.

*Have you used any of that knowledge in later years?
I still do this in my job now and then, if someone isn't happy with a cleaning or if they've had a bad experience in the past with another company. Plus, I think everyone uses this skill when they have a family, almost every day!

*How did you get along with your co-workers?
My favorite co-workers were at Circuit City. They were a lot of fun and great people. Plus, I got to work with my husband in one department over ;)

*Which was your favorite job?
I really don't think there was a favorite, I learned so much at each job and I don't regret my time spent at any of them.
My "job" now is probably my favorite because it just seems to be another part of my life, it doesn't always feel like a job. I hire people (and unfortunately fire people), I am the secretary, the accountant (Nate definitely helps me with that, and he's taught me a lot), the customer service agent, the debt collector, I do it all. Sometimes I feel like a failure, but when things are running smoothly it does give a great sense of accomplishment!

*How many years until you retire?
I guess I could retire any time I want to, but in the end we'd like to keep our business running successfully so that it can just run itself or our kids can take over.

*Do you have any big plans for your retirement?
I would love to travel with Nate, and go on a mission together.

This is me: College Years

College years:

*Did you attend college or a trade school of some sort?
After high school I decided to just take institute classes at the Orem Institute of Religion. I was also in the Latter-day Celebration show choir with Brother Brenchley. I made some amazing friends there.
I finally decided to get back into school, and I had my heart set on going to cosmetology school, so I signed up at Von Curtis (now Paul Mitchell academy or something?). Shortly after I started and had learned all the basics, Nate and I decided to move to Portland. I was planning on transferring to a school there but instead I found out I was pregnant and VERY sick.

*What did you think was the hardest thing about your chosen profession at that time?  Did it turn out that way?
I didn't think it was hard, but it wasn't exactly what I had thought it would be when I dreamed of doing it all my childhood.

*What dumb things did you do during those years?
I wouldn't change anything I did, but I might have waited a little longer to get married so I could grow up first ;)

*What good things did you do?
Being in Latter-day Celebration was such a huge part of that time in my life. We were able to perform all over and travel to Texas for our tour. There were so many wonderful experiences during that time.

*Did you live on your own?  How well prepared were you for that?
I didn't live on my own until we got married, but I think we made it work. We had no family close by so we had to rely on each other. We worked hard (we worked at the same place so we had plenty of time together!) and had lots of fun on our days off.

*What life lessons did you learn?
My testimony was definitely strengthened during those years in Latter-day Celebration. I learned a lot from cosmetology school that has been useful in helping my own family/friends with hair and makeup, etc. And I have some wonderful memories of my mom even though she wasn't close by. She had an 800 number at her work that I could call her on, so we could chat often and keep up on everything that was going on.