Working Woman

I am trying to get back to journaling about myself, and one of the questions was what was my first job with a paycheck. I started thinking about it and decided I needed to document my working life.

My first job that came with a paycheck was filing for my Dad at the dealership. I started doing that the summer after I turned twelve and worked there almost every summer/holiday after that when I was not involved with sports. I had to clock in and out...the whole bit. I hated filing, but I did it anyhow. I did not think much of it then, but now 12 seems so young.

The last couple of summers I worked for my Dad I washed cars with Chelsey. We had to drag the hose from the front of the building to each car. We scrubbed it good and made it shiny and pretty. I was actually quite boring and very hot. To keep ourselves entertained we got in a few tiffs (the sales people always got a kick out of it) and memorized about ever price and color of the cars (who knew there were 15 different ways to say white...well I do!)

At some point in there I worked after hours at a little place that did matting and framing for artwork. I had a key, I would let myself in, turn the music on, make a cup of hot chocolate and get to work assembling frames. The frames would be ordered and come to me in pieces of wood. I would assemble the frames, staples them, fill in all holes and cracks (that was my favorite part mixing the colors to match the frames perfectly and making it look seamless.) I would cut the glass, clean everything, put it together, back it and get the wire hung properly. I loved that job!

The first summer after college I got a job as a teller at First National Bank. That was my first full-time job. As much as I hated wearing dress clothes, I loved playing with money.

Back at college I got a job at a place that right now the name has escaped me. I fulfilled orders. I would get a list of what people ordered, pull it off the racks, package it in boxes, print the shipping label and send it on it's way. I worked there full-time in the summer and then part-time when school started. It payed the bills.

After the mission I got a job working at the children's place, but that only lasted about a month and a half when I was offered the job I really wanted at the MTC. I taught Dutch and religion. That job was amazing (even though I had to wear a dress.) I had to leave that job a year later because I graduated BYU and was getting married.

My first job as a married lady was a teller at a credit union. Once again I got to play with money. The cool thing about this job is it really helped me and Grant to manage our finances and have a system that would allow us to live financially smart (at least we think) to this day. I learned a lot while working there!

When I started my graduate program it was difficult to work there so I got a new job at Cardon health care. I started out as a data entry person (my nightmare job staring at a computer all day without human interaction) but eventually evolved into an account rep where I learned a great deal about health insurance and its workings. This would later help us when we had our million dollar baby and future medical situations. I ended this job back as a data entry person after I had Jamison and they allowed me to work there part time to help make ends meet while Grant was still going to school.

During my employment at Cardon I also did two years of practicum (internships) that payed minimally. The first year I worked for Goodwill Initiatives on Aging and County Aging, and the second year I worked for LDS Family Services.

When we moved to Farmington I got a job working just a few hours a week at the LDS Family Services here. It was difficult, but I felt like I needed experience in case I ever needed to work to help support our family. If nothing else, I feel like I have learned a lot about being a parent through my experiences counseling others. I quit that job just before Asher was born because it was getting to be too much.

Just after Caleb was born I started doing some simple accounting for my Papa. I have always loved numbers and wanted to give it a try and see if I was interested. I have done that for the last four years and have discovered that I really like it and would love to get more training in that direction.....someday. I have come to the point now, that my most important job (which does not come with a paycheck) needs my undivided attention, so this week I no longer will be doing accounting.

So what I thought was going to be a quick little post has practically turned into a novel. As I think about my working history I am so grateful that my parent instilled a hard work ethic in me. I did not always love working (who am I kidding, I rarely liked it) but I can look back on my experiences and see how each job has taught me so much and what I have gained as a result. I hope I can teach our kids to work hard for what they need and want, and become contributing good people as a result. I am a better person for having worked hard for things we have!