Good afternoon, everyone!

Before I continue on from yesterday's post, I have to mention just a few things real quick.

Warning though: My blogs aren't just a short paragraph or two. There's quite a bit to read. Home girl here has a lot to catch up on. ;) So you should probably pop some popcorn or grab some snacks while you enjoy.

I graduated from Foot Zoning school June 1 and quit my job as the Assistant Manager at the bridal store in Idaho Falls right after. I wanted to focus on zoning as many people as I could and just try to build my clientele while I was still in Idaho. I was still doing well for the most part, always tried to stay positive and happy and clientele just kept growing! It was wonderful. I knew that moving to Utah would put Foot Zoning on the back burner until I could build clientele there. That was my passion. It was hard to do, but I knew I had to.

*Back to where I left off from yesterday
Baily and I heading to Utah for our new adventure! I remember being so excited to finally be on my own and not worry about my health problems. Don't get me wrong, I had my moments of worrying and being stressed, but I knew Heavenly Father wanted me to go to Utah. I just needed to remind myself that putting my faith in Him would put me at ease and I just needed to trust Him.

Once we got to Utah, we finally got all unpacked after many, many trips up and down stairs. (Which by the way, don't ever move to the 3rd floor of a building, not one of our wisest moments, but definitely very entertaining). We had friends and family there to help us, so it wasn't too bad :) We moved on a Saturday and that following Monday we both started our new jobs. Come Monday morning, Baily left to her job and I drove to mine. I was working at Victoria's Secret in the Fashion Place Mall in Murray, UT.  I was so excited to be there and everybody just loved me. It felt amazing! I loved my boss and the girls I trained with. Life was pretty great :) Work was going really well and I loved living with Baily. And also being able to see my boyfriend all the time. ~Quick side note, the first day of moving to Utah is when my soon to be husband told me he loved me. AWWW. Just had to throw this in here! ;) Now we can continue.

Only after a few weeks of working at the Fashion Place Mall, my manager had called me into our back office to talk. I was kind of worried, but I knew I hadn't done anything wrong so I wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about. She told me a position had opened up at the South Towne Mall in Sandy, UT. I didn't think much of it and was just like, ok that's cool?? Then my manager, Tiffany told me the Store Manager from South Towne wanted me to interview. I was like, "Whaaaaa"? I was confused. Tiffany told me she was talking to her on the phone and told her I would be a great candidate and how amazing I was and so on. So the manager from the other location wanted me. She told me I had an interview set up already for the next day and I could just go during work and still get paid. I couldn't turn that down. I went home and was still just baffled at everything. I had been receiving so many blessings and I felt like this was another one. So I prayed that night and the next day went to the interview. It went amazing! The manager at South Towne and I had really bonded and I probably spent too much time there, but I figured, hey it's an interview and I'm getting paid right now. No problems here. :) So after being interviewed, I felt like I had it in the bag. Aaaaand I was right. Marilyn, South Towne Manager, had already called and talked to Tiffany and told her she wanted me. I had already felt so close with my staff at Fashion Place and it made me sad to leave. Tiffany didn't want me to leave either, but she told me I'd be in good hands and it's a great promotion. I trusted Tiffany with my life. That lady. Amazing. So I listened to her and followed my promptings. Two weeks later, I transferred to South Towne with a big raise. Woot woot.

So there I was, promoted after a few weeks with a big raise, working with wonderful people, I was still doing okay health wise, had the best roomie and the greatest boyfriend in the world. What more could I be blessed with? I received my first check from my new position, not really paying attention.. The next checked I received, I looked at my salary rate. It was more than I was offered. I looked by at my other check, same thing. I was like, wow.. I'm totally okay with this. I knew all of this was happening for a reason and I had felt so blessed. I expressed my gratitude constantly to my Heavenly Father. I truly felt like I was living a dream some days. Things almost didn't seem real. I was so used to how I used to live and what I struggled with in the past, but it didn't even matter anymore to me, because I was constantly being blessed and felt so loved.

Two weeks after transferring stores, my manager, Marilyn, the one who became like my best friend, quit. She had been offered an amazing position with Apple. I was so bummed she left. I felt a little upset, because she was part of the reason I transferred, but I knew it would be fine and I was there for a reason. I kind of became obsessed you could say with my job. I just loved it so much and loved my team. I was working a lot. And was working almost every Sunday. Since Marilyn had left, the Assistant Manager had to play her role as well. Everyone was under just a little bit of stress. I wasn't okay with working Sundays, but sometimes I just didn't have a choice in the matter. I was hardly ever going to church and I became so busy with work that I was always exhausted and never felt like going to the temple. The job soon became very stressful. The Assistant Manager had now quit. So that left me and another Category Manager, as well as two other supervisor's. We were all working so much and you could feel the bad energy starting to come around. But we still done our best to do what we could. I could tell my body was shutting down. I wasn't sleeping much at all, I wasn't eating right when I did eat, and I just was becoming very fatigue, very fast.

I needed to make a change and the whole working on Sunday business was not okay with me, I kept praying about what to do. I loved my job so much, but I knew I needed to put the Lord and gospel first. I felt like I needed to quit. I just needed to find another job first. So I prayed for one. One night after praying, I received a call to meet with one of the Bishop's counselor's. I went in the next couple days and met with him. He asked me how the ward was and I told him I had no idea, because I have only been once. I told him I had to work almost every Sunday. He told me that he normally doesn't tell people this, but he's telling me, I need a new job. I knew right then my feelings/prayers were confirmed and answered. He told me he had a friend who was part of Corporate for DownEast. I'm sure most of you are familiar with them. :) He told me to email him my resume and he'd send it to his friend to see if they had anything available. I went home that night and felt like I needed to job hunt. One of the first jobs that came up was a Store Manager position for DownEast at the Fashion Place Mall. I was like, wow. Maybe this is a sign. It was. I applied, sent my resume to my counselor and received a phone call the next day for an interview. I went in for the interview that week. It went very well and I felt pretty good about it.

The following week I left for vacation with my boyfriend and some friends. The weekend before leaving, I was at my mom's and received a call from the lady who interviewed me at DownEast. She offered me the position. She said she was going to check on the pay rate for me and see what she could do and would contact me in a few days.

We went to Arizona for a week and it was delightful. It was such a much needed break from work and just life. We literally lounged by the pool every single day. Of course we went shopping too. While we were on our trip, I kept in contact with DownEast. They offered me the position with lower pay than what I was making. I didn't want to accept less, but I knew I still needed to leave my job. I asked her if it would be possible for a higher pay and later she contacted me saying that it was. It was great! I just kept thinking, what a great blessing. I contacted my regional managers at VS right away and gave them my two weeks notice. We finished our vacation and went home a week later. Life was fabulous. Minus having to leave Arizona, the warm sun and weather, the great shopping, food, etc. We flew back home and the next day I went to work. The new store manager was there at VS and I already didn't like her. We just didn't have a very good start before I left for Arizona. But we were still pleasant with each other and it was totally fine. I knew I was making the right choice in leaving. It was better for my health and better for me spiritually. I only worked for one more week and then I was done. My last day went well and I was ready to start another adventure.

This will be my ending point for the day. Sorry this post was longer, but like I said, I have a lot to catch up on and I'm trying to do it quick so I can start in with my new stuff :)

Lots of love to everyone,
                    ~Nicole~