Our move to Utah - Part One

In an effort to document our move to Draper, here is part one of the story. I will add pics soon and the remaining installments. :o) My apologies if it is kind of jumbled...I did my best! Love you all!!!

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It all started on Friday, September 26. Zac was off work and had spent some time with Abby, picked up Kendyl from a field trip and was at home (Meemaw's house) with Abby and Kendyl. Zac got an unrecognized phone call and answered it - Ray Marshman, new district manager, was calling to talk to him about the Furniture Row (Denver Mattress) opening in Draper, Utah. While he was on the phone, Sheila and Kirsten came by to pick up Kendyl. When I got home, he told me that he had interviewed for the asst mgr position in Draper and thought the interview went well. We were running late to meet the Calls and Tualas for dinner, so we headed out to meet them. We had dinner at Macaroni Grill (YUM) and filled them in on Zac's interview.

The next day, Ray called Zac at work to tell him that, while he couldn't officially say anything, he was sending Zac's name through the HR dept and would get back to him on Monday. We spent the weekend telling family and friends that we might possibly be moving to Utah. When I got to work Monday morning, I told my manager about the possibility. I told him that IF Zac got the promotion, it would be a quick move but that I would keep him updated as well as I could.

Monday afternoon, Zac went to Sonic to get drinks for him, Shawn and Carl. He was gone for awhile because the slush machine at the Sonic close to Denver Mattress wasn't working (as usual). When he got back, Shawn told him that Ray had called. Zac called him back and got the official job offer as the asst mgr in Draper.

Meantime, back at US Bank, I was out balancing the ATM with Tracy. When I got back in (around 4pm), Nic told me that Zac called and told me to call him at work asap. My heart started beating fast as I called up my hubby. When he answered and knew it was me, he said, "Hey. Quit your job." While this was, to some degree, music to my ears, I started to cry. I was supposed to have a farewell party, not just walk out! He said he would be stopping by later. I went in to Nic's office and told him. Then I told Willie, my mgr, and then made my rounds across the teller line (lots of shocked reactions - "You're *@#%*@# kidding me" courtesy of Bryant) and back to my desk to tell Will. I was crying, laughing and in a general state of shock the whole time. Will told me to stop crying, because this is what I wanted. (He's pretty good at just laying it out there). I was scheduled off at 4, but ended up being there till 6, trying to get all of my stuff together. Will earned a couple of loans and lots of maintenance! ;o) Zac made a brief stop in and I told him to go ahead and go, because I would be awhile. He said we were meeting family (both sides) at Casa Mexicana at 7.

Once I finally left the bank, I called my friend Leigh to ask if I could drop the Church nursery keys off to her. I stopped by and talked to her for about 30 minutes. She helped me be excited about the move and was a great help to me, as she always is! Then I headed off to meet the family at Casa. On my way I called Sherry ( who didn't know yet!) and she called Mom & Dad so she could ride with them to Casa. Hope wouldn't come because she didn't want to cry at the restaurant!

Here's who came to dinner: Meemaw, Pa, Rick, Sheila, Kirsten, Kendyl, Mom, Dad, Sherry, and of course, Zac, Abby and me. Kendyl had two friends with her. I had my favorite dish as Casa, the Grande Chicken Quesadilla. We also got queso and sodas - no low cal dieting that night! Kendyl bought us some candy and bubbles and a ball for Abby. (Those came in handy for our stops!) After dinner, Zac went to Meemaw's to start packing and Abby and I went to my parents house to get some pics of Abby and Megan (Jeff brought her over). Then we went home, too. I wasn't much help in packing - I told Zac that my brain was exhausted and I went to bed pretty early.

The next morning (Tuesday), Mom and Dad were our saving graces as they helped us pack and run errands. I HAD to get to the doctor to get some refills on my meds. Mom packed a little and watched Abby while Zac and Dad picked up the U-Haul (thanks to Steve G. for getting us the hook up!) and loaded our storage unit into it. After my dr appt, Juanita stopped by to say hi. Mom and I got locked out of Meemaw's because I'd given her my key the night before. So we waited on Dad and Zac. Then we spent the afternoon packing up Meemaw's house. (It kind of made me sick to see how much ridiculous crap we have. Insane. We're working on a huge donation to Deseret Industries out here.) I found out that U-Haul wouldn't let Zac pull his truck on the trailer and that we would pull the van and drive the truck. So I told Zac we had to get the brakes fixed and Dad and I took care of that at Sears.

That evening, I went with Mom to pick up Mamaw and take her to Mom & Dad's for dinner and a final hangout with my siblings. When Zac got there, we ran over to Annie's to say bye to her. Zac had a hard time telling her bye - she is so special to him and I know he feels bad that we didn't spend enough time with our grandmas.

When we got back to my parents' house, Hope had cooked some of the casseroles I'd made for our freezer. We had lasagna and my famous green chile chicken enchiladas. YUM. The whole crew was there, except Jeff, Matthew and Jennifer's family. I cried, talked to everybody about how excited/scared I was and just hung out. We took lots of fun pictures. Matt and Natalie B. stopped by, too, to bring us some yummy homemade cookies and a bag of our favorite trail mix, the Sam's Choice Indulgent Trail Mix. Yummy. I cried when Todd and his crew left. Zac and I walked Sherry and Megan to their car, on our way across the street to see the Elliotts. I bawled while I hugged/kissed Megan and Sherry. Abby and Megan hugged (too cute!) and Megan gave Uncle Zac hugs and kisses. Sherry said, "Is this payback for when I left for California?" I told her it was and that it sucked. I hate crying - my faces swells and I look like such a freak.

And so we headed to the Elliott house. It was probably one the best nights Abby has had over there. She was quite a ham while she played with Kendyl. Kendyl taught her to say, "Heeey!" and "What?!?" It was hilarious because she would say them together and get really loud..."Heeey. what?? What?? WHAT? WHAT?? WHAT???" We were laughing our butts off. She loved on everybody, which was great. Lots of tears and hugs when we left there. More swollen face and freakness for me.

By the time we got back to my parents' most everyone was asleep. We laid Abby down and Zac and I tried to get a few last things together before we snoozed in their living room. Wednesday morning came waaaaaay too soon.