Thursday, January 15, 2009

The Journey to Atlanta

Lots and lots have happened in the 5 weeks since I have posted last. The most recent was the trip to Atlanta Alan and I took for his work.

Last year Alan and I moved from Salt Lake to St. George without Alan getting a job. I had a job as a Special Education teacher for the public school system. In May, I decided not to renew my contract with the public school system and instead take a volunteer job for a private school. At this point Alan still didn’t have a job and we were still paying our mortgage on our house in Salt Lake. We sent in resume after resume and Alan had job interview after job interview. At each job he was either over qualified or not qualified enough. Then we filled out an application for a company called Shift 4, for a job that we thought would be “perfect.” Alan went in for a job interview at Adams and Co. Adams and Co. is a home décor store and Alan said he would decline the job even if he was offered. The next day the president of the company and his wife took Alan out to lunch and offered him a job. Not ever hearing back from the “perfect” job Alan took the job at Adams and Co. Alan went to work one day and was way over qualified for the position. That night the President of the company called him and promoted him to a higher position. Then Shift 4 called and offered Alan the “perfect” job. They gave him 4 hours to decide and only one week notice for his current job. We prayed and prayed of what to do but got no answer. At 5:00 we decided to go with Shift 4 because it was the “perfect” job. Giving Adams and Co. one week notice at their busiest time of the year. Alan went to work for one day at the “perfect” job. After one day he knew it wasn't perfect job. Good thing Adams and Co. called at 12:00 and asked Alan to come back with a raise.

Getting this job at Adams and Co. has been a huge blessing in our life. Alan likes what he does and the people he works with. He has been able to use his skills and have the flexibility he desires. There are also a lot of opportunities for growth. In August they were short on employees so I started to work at Adams and Co. as well. Once I started teaching again I would just go in on Mondays and Fridays but now I just work from home on the web page.


This is where Atlanta comes in. We were asked to go to Atlanta the biggest show of the year. It was our first business trip and we got to go together. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of work. We had to be up at 6:30 a.m. and work all day then go back to the hotel and prepare paper work until 12:30. We were exhausted and our feet hurt like they have never hurt before. But it was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about the product and buyers.




Some of the highlights were eating at the Corner Bakery everyday. Umm I love muffins. Eating ribs with Alan’s cousin Michelle, and racing up 11 flights of stairs in my high heels. We also went to the Aquarium, and the famous Varsity car hop. It is true what people say about southern hospitality. They are so nice and accommodating. We loved the trip but we are also happy to be home.


This is the 11 flights of stairs I raced up. The escalators were packed and an old man jokingly said “lets take the stairs” so I stupidly said “I’ll race you” 11 flights of stairs later my calves were killing me but I found out he was a buyer. I convinced him to come and look at our booth, which he did and he bought $566.00 worth of product.








THE AQUARIUM






5 comments:

Jessie said...

I'm glad you two had fun. Of course it wasn't quite as fun as wedding dress shopping, but oh well . . .

Nelson Family said...

Those are some way neat pictures of The Aquarum. I am glad you had fun and also very sorry you lost your phone. (You do have the worst luck when it comes to cell phones)

Kurt and Jasmine said...

Sounds like a ton of fun. I was just wondering, did you beat the old man up the 11 flights of stairs? He may have bought more had you let me win, lol

Kurt and Jasmine said...

"had you let HIM win". It's ok if I don't :)

Becca B said...

Hey Mariah! hows my fairy godmother?
it's me becca! I found your blog through stretch. It is so fun to read about you and hear how things are goin! Atlanta is a cool place, sounds like you had fun. How are you liking st. george? Mike has talked about moving there. Take care!