Changes

So I need to catch up on my month of thanks. And for those who are curious about what happened at my job, it will be scattered throughout and then at the end, so just read the whole thing ;) Well, here goes!

Nov. 19-Temples
We went to the temple with some of our friends and it was so wonderful. It truly is amazing to have somewhere to go to completely escape this life and the worries this life brings. We had a wonderful experience in the temple and it brought so much peace to me. I am so grateful to live so close to a temple.

Nov. 18- A supportive family and husband that will defend me when wrongs me.
Well I was pretty nervous to tell my family that I had quit my job. I didn't want them to freak out at me and tell me that I shouldn't have done that... so I was very nervous to say the least! But I told my parents and my in-laws and they were all so supportive. My parents were completely on my side and understood why I quit and I was so grateful! Thank you to my wonderful parents-both sets!

Nov. 17-Courage and faith to help me stand up for myself and do what's right.
This was the day I quit my job. It felt SO good! Things had just been getting really, really awful at the store and I was being treated like crap. I got in trouble for something that was in no way my fault, and I was done. After the phone call where someone got upset with me I went upstairs and just started crying. After that, I decided to quit-it was the last straw. So I called up an appropriate person and quit. Wow! A HUGE weight was lifted off my shoulders and I felt soooo good!

Nov. 16-Pageants and the interview skills they taught me.
I had applied at a different job the previous week. They called me on the 15th and asked if I could come in for an interview on the 16th, so I did. I was really nervous. My previous job had really beaten me down so I didn't have a ton of confidence. And I had been at Flower Patch for almost 4 years, so I hadn't had to interview for a long time. But once I got in for my interview my pageant interview skills kinda kicked in and I did really well and actually kinda enjoyed myself.

Nov. 15- Not having to clean the kitchen. Sometimes I just hate doing dishes!
I was exhausted after work and desperately needed a nap. So I actually got one. I fell asleep on the couch and when I woke up, Spencer had cleaned the kitchen. :) What a wonderful treat!

Nov. 14-Priesthood Blessings and a husband worthy to give them to me.
I was really, really struggling with my job and just life. We have really been struggling money-wise and that was weighing down on me. Bust mostly it was my job. I absolutely hated going to work everyday. So I asked Spencer to give me a blessing and he was able to do it just a few minutes later. What a blessing and comfort to me!
For those who don't know what a Priesthood Blessing is, it is a "prayer for healing, comfort or counsel given by a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, who lays his hands on the head of the person receiving the blessing." They are basically acting as a mouthpiece for our Heavenly Father, so that we can receive His counsel and comfort. They are truly amazing!

Nov. 13-A husband that will push me to be a little more selfish and do something for myself once in awhile.
As I said previously, I was really struggling. I felt like Spencer wasn't helping around the house as much and I felt like I was doing everything. Working full time but also having to clean the apartment. He gently reminded me that he often tried to get me to do things for myself, but I would shrug it off and say, 'no this needs to be done,' so I never got anything for myself. So Spencer told me to be selfish for the week. It was not easy, but I definitely did a few very selfish things. One of which was quitting my job! haha. But that wasn't just selfish, it was the right thing to do. But I just was so grateful for a husband that would encourage me to do what I wanted to do and not care as much about what other people wanted. It felt very good!


So I quit my job. I don't even know where to begin explaining certain things... Things have been steadily decreasing at work since my old manager left. I guess I will start there. She gave corporate a month's notice, so they had time to figure out what they were going to do when she left... I don't think they gave it much thought. And they never told us what was happening, so it just fell on me to step in and open every morning and do all of the managerial duties. I was okay with that because I thought they would see how I handled things and they would consider me for manager. (yeah, that totally didn't happen! And they never even thanked me for stepping in and taking care of what needed to be done.)
So I was "in charge" without being paid or anything. And then they brought in a girl that used to work there. She had been fired because of all the problems she caused.... but corporate brought her back. That was when all of the problems started. Long story short, I started having to deal with a lot more problems-things being priced wrong, orders that weren't taken properly, orders with wrong prices/product so there were more angry customers. Her arrangements weren't the greatest either, so I was constantly having to re-do her arrangements. She just caused WAY more work for me. And if something slipped past me or I decided to just not fix one of her mistakes, I got in trouble. Then soon, everyone was lying to each other and backstabbing each other. I had NO idea who I could trust at all. There were so many problems going on at the store and I could not fix anything. There was no control over anything at the shop.

I sent emails to corporate asking them to step in and tell us what they wanted, and I never got a response. I even sent an email saying that I would like to be considered for the manager position and I never got any response-not even a response just saying that they had received the email.
Anyway, I sent an email to corporate explaining what was going on. And so did a few other girls. The only response then I got was "we will be taking care of this at the meeting on wednesday." And when that meeting came around, nothing that I had mentioned in my email was addressed. And none of the other girls' emails were addressed. They just said play nice. And absolutely nothing changed. Other than everyone started hating corporate even more. One particular corporate member came down for the meeting, we'll call him Pete. He was a complete jerk. He talked to us like we were worthless. And he flat out said, I want you all to stay because you've been here awhile and know what's going on, but you are all replaceable. So if you don't step up for the new changes, you will be fired. Pete also told us that we would not be getting a raise if we had gotten one in the past twelve months. This was complete crap because I had stepped up and was in charge of all of the managerial duties at the store and never received any compensation for it, and this just told me that even though they kept giving me more duties, I would not get a raise because I got one in May. All that they accomplished with their meeting was making all of the girls hate them even more. So much that one girl quit the following week, another girl quit and yesterday was her last day. Another girl is quitting in the next couple weeks, and they lost me abruptly on Thursday.
Anyway, the meeting wasn't why I quit. It definitely made me VERY upset and made me loathe Pete, but it's not what made me quit. What made me quit was how they treated me. If there were mistakes in the store, I got in trouble for them. Regardless of who caused the mistake, somehow I was the one that got in trouble for it. This girl that they brought back that caused a lot of problems. We will call her Ann to make it easier. Ann was bringing in someone to help her at night sometimes. This meant she was bringing in someone who didn't work there, and the girl was making arrangements for the company. This is a huge no no, and to make it even worse, the girl was on the do-not-hire list because of the crap she pulled when she used to work for the Flower Patch. The same girl that Ann brought in stole from the store. Ann said she would pay for it and never did. I told corporate about it and guess what? No response and nothing happened to her. Ann actually stole from the store as well. (And come to find out she shoplifted from another store as well.) So this is the girl that I am dealing with... corporate sided with her. I kept getting in trouble for mistakes Ann was making.
Well the past week when I came in to work in the morning, nothing was done. The store was a complete mess, flowers were out of water, buckets with flowers/greenery were left out over night--nothing had been done. It was getting really frustrating and making us get behind in the mornings. So Thursday I sent an email to a corporate-ish lady, (we'll call her Jan) that we have been dealing with. I explained the situation. I didn't even name names, except for one, making sure they knew that this one particular girl was always very good and when she closed things were done correctly. I didn't get upset or anything. I just explained what was going on. I even apologized, telling her I was sorry to bug her about this because she isn't the manager down at the Provo store. (They had hired a new manager and she is starting tomorrow at the Provo location.) I told Jan that I didn't have the email for the new manager, so if she would please just forward it to the new manager that would be great. Well guess what happened? Jan called me a little bit later and got upset at me for the email. She basically said well it's kind of your fault anyway. She said I had left early the previous day, which I had, but I had gotten the girl that was taking over for me to come in early so I could leave early. So I hadn't just left. And the girl, Ann, that was the closing designer for the night, had come in over an hour late. Well none of that was mentioned in the phone call. She just got upset with me. So it was the final straw. I went upstairs and cried after the phone call and I called Spencer to talk to him. He said he would support me in whatever I decided. I decided to quit. I called Spencer and told him and then I called Jan and told her I quit. I said I would stay till 12 till Ann got there and then I would leave. And that I would work my shift the next day, but that I was done after that. Well a few hours later I got a call from Pete. He said, "in light of what happened today, Jan will be opening at the store tomorrow morning and it's probably best that you don't work together, so you should just clear out and go." So I took my key in and got all of my stuff and I am done.
And I am SO happy about it! A very real weight was lifted off of my shoulders when I quit and I was ecstatic about it. It was invigorating and felt so good. I have been so much happier this weekend. And I know that it kinda screwed them over, which they totally deserve. I was even supposed to help teach/train the new manager this week. So I am good enough to help teach the new manager, but I'm not good enough to be manager? So yeah. The fact that they kept siding with Ann, who is just downright not a good person, over me- their best worker and girl that had been there the longest and knew the most, was just terrible. It was completely wrong and I was sick of being treated like crap. And just to give you a little more insight to Ann. The night I quit, she sent me an email on facebook completely chewing me out-even cursing at me, saying 'you are so f-ingly selfish and immature.' She said lots more crappy stuff and I was just done with it. She had blocked me after sending it so I couldn't even respond. I just deleted it and I couldn't be happier that I don't work there anymore. I don't ever have to deal with those people again and I am so grateful!!

Anyway. So I am waiting to hear back from this other job that I applied to. I want to work there SO bad. They treat their workers so well and I really enjoyed the time I worked there. They paid me what they pay their temp workers, so come in and help them on Thursday and Friday because they were really busy. I really enjoyed working there! I had a second interview on Friday with one of the owners, so I am hoping and praying that I get the job!!! I guess I should say what it's for. It's a wholesaler here in Provo. They mass produce arrangement because they provide flower arrangements for a ton of grocery stores in the west. So I would just be a designer there, mass producing arrangements. I would love it! Prayers for it to work out for me would be wonderful, since we have no income right now. And prayers for Spencer to get accepted to the Media Arts Program would be much appreciated. Everything is turned in and he had his faculty interview, so now we just wait to find out. We will find out at the end of next month, the week after grades are posted. So we will keep everyone updated.
Sorry this post is SO long! It was very therapeutic for me to talk about everything that has been going on though. To those who read it all the way through, thank you for your time and I'm sorry it was so long. Love you all!

Catching up...

I didn't realize I hadn't put up some of the days of thankfulness! I got all creative one night and decided to make a "month of thanks" door thingy. So every day Spencer and I write on a leaf something we are grateful for, and then we put it on our closet door. :) So I will catch up with it all!!

Nov. 12-Nieces and nephews and the cute things they do.
We spent the day at my sister's house and her kids are adorable! They say and do the funniest things. There is something about being around babies/kids (especially nieces and nephews) that just cheers you up and makes you happy sometimes. Today was one of those days. :)

Nov. 11-A husband that is an excellent cook!
Spencer was wonderful and got up with me in the morning (6 am!) and made crepes. If he hadn't done that... I don't know where I would have been yesterday. It was a very long and frustrating day at work. I worked over eleven and a half hours and was so done with stuff that was going on. That small act in the morning helped me for the rest of the day.

Nov. 10-The Lord's tender mercies and putting people in the right place at the right time.
I don't believe in coincidences. Everything happens for a reason and that day... wow. I ran into an old friend/co-worker that was able to help me out. And it was just wonderful to catch up with a friend that I have missed.

Nov. 9-Internet/Technology.
I was able to throw together a portfolio and send it online to be printed at office max. It was such a blessing that I could do it over-night, 'cause that's what needed to happen!

Nov. 8-Being close to family and being able to help when they need it.
So our cousin lost her cell-phone on BYU campus and her mom called us to see if we could help out. We traipsed around for about an hour and a half to get her phone and track her down to give it back to her. Even though we lost out on sleep and I was tired the next day, I was so glad that we were able to help. I know I would have wanted someone to do the same for me.

Nov. 7-Deadlines. So there is something to look forward to and relief at the end!
Spencer's media arts application was due and I was so grateful to have it over and done with. I wasn't even the one doing it, but I did so much to help him, I was so relieved when he turned it in and it was done with. Now here's to hoping that he gets accepted!!

Nov. 6-A husband that knows the importance of fast offerings.
We are really strapped financially and I was having a hard time donating much money to fast offerings. Spencer chastised me and we gave more and have definitely reaped the rewards this week.

Nov. 5-Someone willing to take my shift at work
Time off of work is special. A co-worker took my shift and I was SO grateful. I didn't get much of a day off but it sure was nice to be able to help Spencer and do stuff we needed to do.

Nov. 4-Texing, so I can send and receive cute little messages from my husband while we are both busy.
Work gets pretty crazy and hard sometimes and being able to get little messages throughout the day really helps to lift my spirits and get me through the day.

Nov. 3-Friends that are willing to help when we need them.
Spencer's media arts application was coming due very quickly. Thankfully the Bishop brought his son to be in the short film he was doing, and our friend Preston was in it as well. I don't know what we would have done without them!!!

Nov. 2-Cat naps with my husband.
Pretty self explanatory there. It is amazing to just take a short nap snuggled up to Spencer. It gives me energy and just makes me happy!

Day 1 of Thanksgiving!

So I am going to try this day of thanks thing again! It is a little more appropriate this month, since Thanksgiving is this month. Anyway...

I cannot believe that it is the 1st of November already! This year has completely flown by. For which I am kinda grateful, this has been a pretty rough year and I have much higher hopes for next year. But we are hanging in there and doing the best we can, and that's all we can do really. Well today was quite the day. I had the day off of work but I definitely did not have the day off. Spencer is applying for the media arts program again this semester, so today we were running errands just getting stuff for his creative sample. He has to have a 3 minute or less creative sample-he is making a short film. We have the people, thank goodness! But today we had to get the clothes/props and it took quite a bit of time. But we have everything he needs, not it's just a matter of making it look more worn and used so that it fits what he is going for. But on to what I am grateful for today...

Cold Autumn Days
I know it's crazy that I am saying this, but sometimes I really do like cold weather. I do prefer cold to hot, though. But today was beautiful (minus the snow). The snow can stay on the mountains as long as it doesn't come down to us. I like looking at the snow, just not necessarily being in it. But today really was beautiful. There are still leaves on the trees, and when the wind would blow it would send the leaves flying and swirling about and it was absolutely beautiful! I enjoyed wearing a coat, and walking into a warm store after being out in the cold was just a wonderful feeling. Sometimes those cold days are just amazing and today was one of them!