Debbie's A Genius & Matt's First Week

Well I am hoping to update the blog on a semi-frequent basis, and I thought that now would be a good time to do so.

I start with the most exciting bit of news from the Salt household. Debbie is now a registered RN. She passed her national boards on Thursday. She spent most of Thursday & Friday checking for her results. It took incredible will power for her to only check every hour, on the hour. She was even kind enough to wake me early on Saturday morning to let me know that her results were in.

While I joke about her incessant checking, I can say that I grateful I am for all of her hard work and for doing so well and passing on the first attempt. It was difficult for her to focus with the movers and getting settled into a new place, and all that entails. But she got the job done and in fact started orientation today at her new job (Medical Center of Aurora - South Campus, NICU/Nursery). I am enormously proud of her efforts & accomplishments (and the end of all ties to Provo College, but that is for another blog).

As for me, I started my new job last Monday, and I must say that it felt like the first day of school all over again. You know how on the first day at a new school you get your picture taken, you're not quit sure what to expect and who your going to see and how you'll fit in ? Well that was what I was feeling as I walked across the street to my new office. (Did I mention that our apartment is across the street from my office? Well if not, let me tell you that it's amazing! Going home for lunch, leaving work and being home in less than 5 minutes. I'm not sure how I'm going to give it up.)

Anyway, I got there and went through the orientation stuff, and then it was off to actually do work. I guess you could say that I was a bit nervous. I didn't really know what they wanted me to do or how I was supposed to add value to anything at that point, but I'm starting to get over it. So far it's a great place to work. I share a good sized office with a computer engineer named Karl. He seems to have a similar personality, and we crack jokes and make sarcastic comments back and forth. I work on a team of 4 or 5 individuals (still trying to make out some of the office dynamics) in the Finance department. I think that they're a good bunch and that we should be able to work well together and get a lot done. Basically at this point, I don't hate going to work everyday, so that's a good thing.

And now as I have started week two, Karl has made sure to point out that I am no longer the new guy (they hired a new woman to work as an admin assistant in the office and she started today), and will be expected to carry my weight. Thanks a lot Karl.

Movers From Hell

Because it's entertaining if you're into dark humor I thought that I'd share what's been going on in our lives. When I accepted this job in Colorado they told us that they would pay for us to move to Colorado. We thought that was great. We could use UHAUL if we wanted them to pay or we could arrange it ourselves and they would reimburse us. Well since the weather between Provo & Denver can be very volatile this time of year, we decided to have someone drive our stuff over to Colorado for us.

We went with a company, Nationwide Relocation (NR) that promised to pick up our stuff either Dec 18 or 19 and then deliver it between Dec 19 & 23. WE thought that that sounded great. Their bid was well below the limit and they said that it would be no problem to have it there by the 23^rd, and it had to be there then since we had a flight from Denver to Houston on the 24^th.

Well needless to say, the days came and went and no movers showed up. I called NR and they said that the pickup date had been moved to Thursday, but that it would still be no problem to have the items in Denver by the 23^rd. Then Thursday came, and I was on the phone with them basically all day trying to figure out when they would be there, since we were living at the Hunt's since all our stuff was packed. They had said 2:30pm but at about 2:50 they finally made me call the driver with Ben Hur Moving & Storage (BH) who told me that he couldn't be there until Saturday the 22^nd.

Well that wasn't good since we couldn't wait that long and still have our stuff delivered before we left for Houston, but there was little that we could do at that point. We arranged to have Larry or Dorothy at our place while the movers packed up and that we would drive over to Aurora on Sat. Then we would have our landlords let the movers in when they got there the following week. When Saturday came, the movers were of course late, and of course they had left no where near the room that they needed to bring all of our belongings with them. They spent nearly 8 hours wrapping our belongings in blankets. In that amount of time, Debbie & people from the ward could have loaded the truck and driven it half way to Denver.

So when we get to Denver, instead of having all of our stuff and beginning to unpack, Debbie & I spend a couple of days at Jeff & Donna's because there is literally only clothes for our trip and some dishes in our apartment. No bed. No table. No silverware to compliment those dishes. But we do make it to the airport and to Houston to begin enjoying our Christmas break. Now I didn't mention that BH told us that they would have all the stuff in the apartment just a few days after the first load arrived shortly after Christmas, so we joyfully enjoy our break eating at JITB, playing croquet and helping Ally to enjoy the Naughty Uncle's Club.

Now when we return, we are glad to notice that we now have furniture. In fact, we have almost half our stuff. But try living a week without any hangers. Or in fact, any clothes that you didn't take to Houston for Christmas. It's really a chore. And they broke anything that had wheels, so goodbye microwave stand & awesome desk chair that Debbie got me for my birthday. So I get on the phone with BH since it's now Jan 3 and my stuff is nowhere to be found and I'm supposed to start work and my SS Card is in their possession somewhere. Well they tell me it will be a few more days until a driver can get there. But they tell me he will be there on Monday the 7^th and will be delivering on Wed the 9^th.

That doesn't sound too bad, so I call my work to make sure that it's ok if I start without my ID. They tell me that it's no problem, well except that if I don't have my ID by the end of the third day of employment, then they are forced to terminate me (well my employment, but same thing right?). Well I think that this is a problem, since BH (and NR, who has offered me no assistance in my situation despite numerous phone calls) has basically not delivered on one thing since I started dealing with them.

So I push my move date back to the 14^th, and good thing that I did, since on Monday night I get a phone call from BH stating that the driver who was to pick up my items in Utah will not be there until the 14^th at the earliest (later they tell me, and you can believe at your own peril, that the driver was in an accident that cost the company $15,000 to repair the truck and that's why he won't be there). They blame me for not taking these important documents with me (and while I will not make that mistake again, who really think that a mover will take three times as many days to do a job as hours it takes to drive from Provo to Aurora?), and so they thwart my many attempts to get my belongings out of storage to be sent to Provo.

Now luckily, on Thursday the 9^th, we also discover that my company will take a letter from the SS office as proof that I have a SS Card and that I can just bring in the card when I get it in the mail (around the 23^rd) or when I get my stuff (before the 23^rd???). So like I said, I'll be starting work tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. While it's fun to sit around and bother Debbie all day, the credit cards / bank accounts can only take so long with out me or her working.

But hopefully this tale is picking up pace towards happily ever after, but we'll have to see. I hope that we have something better to report in a day or two.

2007 Year In Review

This is the time of year that we all get to take a look at our lives and realize how much we have to be and let our friends and family know what has been going on in our lives. Debbie & I aren't much of the mailing kind of people (or apparently the on time kind of people either), but we wanted to let you all know what's been going on in our lives.

Matthew spent this year working for AXA Advisors as a Financial Planner in their Salt Lake City office. He enjoyed the work and the people that he was able to work with, but it has always been our goal to live outside of the state of Utah. This being the case, he put his agent (Debbie) on the situation. She spent the late summer applying for close to a hundred jobs for Matt and he spent September interviewing with numerous companies. In the end, we decided to take a job with Northrop Grumman in Aurora, CO. He will be working in the finance department helping to keep the projects within the budget restrictions. He is very excited about this new position and new opportunity.

Debbie has finally finished school at Provo College in November. (Please remember that friends don't let friends go to Provo College!!) She is now eligible to take her national board exams, and upon passing this exam can work as an RN. It was an extremely difficult time for her and for us. The program was designed as a 14 month program, but it took closer to 20 months to actually finish, so we're extremely excited to be finished and free to move on to other opportunities. And now that she is done with school, Debbie is in high demand. She spent the last year working in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Utah Valley Medical Center.

The Salt's have had an exciting year outside of work and school.

In February, to celebrate a break in Debbie's schooling & for Matt to do some work, we took a trip to AZ. Matthew has a sister in Tucson and Debbie had a sister in Tucson and Phoenix at the time. It was great to be out of the snow and into the beautiful weather. Matt played golf while Debbie played with the 2 nieces and nephew.


In July we took a trip to Denver (unknowing that it would be our future home) to visit one of Debbie's sisters and to be there for a nephew's baptism.



Later in July, we were able to take a trip to Washington DC with Debbie's sister, Sharon, and her husband, Spencer. It was a wonderful experience, and Matthew in particular loved being in such a beautiful and historic city. It worked out well because the boys enjoyed spending hours in the museum while the girls speed through and spent time visiting and urging their husbands to hurry up.

Later in the summer, we went to visit Matt's grandparents in Bandon, OR. Matt's parents rented a house about a 3 minute walk from the beach. It was a great time to visit with Matt's grandparents, relax near the ocean and to see all of the Salt family.

Well the time has come for us to pack our bags (and all our other stuff) and head out to our new home to be. We thought that some of you might be interested in having our new mailing address, so here it is:

We're very excited to start this new adventure in our lives and hope to hear from you all from time to time to let us know what your up to and where your lives have taken you. And if you're ever in the area, let us know so we can get together.

~ Matthew & Debbie