AFCU

We don't have anything super interesting going on other than the fact that I went to training this week for my new job as a teller for America First Credit Union. As such, I don't have any pictures for this post. :( Sorry!

The first two days were a new employee orientation training. I liked the people working at the training-- everyone was so nice! If you don't know the difference between a bank and credit union, let me fill you in with some of my notes from the training. A credit union is a group of people who save together and lend to each other at a fair and reasonable rate of interest. Credit Unions are owned and controlled by the people who use them. They are also democratically controlled by their members. So, in a credit union the member (rather than customer) is more important than the board of directors, president, etc. The profits made from a credit union are returned to the members through means of much lower interest rates (and in the building of new branches and payroll of employees). Banks are run by shareholders, to whom the profits are returned. Customers have no rights under the organizational structure. The board of directors represents the interests of shareholders and investors rather than members. Essentially, banks are profit driven whereas credit unions are member-service driven. As a patron of AFCU, I can definitely see this member importance from instances when I've gone to the bank. Even in this training it was evident that, even though we were employees, we were also members to be treated with courtesy, friendship and respect. The days were so long but the information present was so good (even the section on what to do if you're robbed! Yikes!).

The second two days were spent on teller training. Oh man, there was so much to learn! I did pretty well on the test they gave me but I'm scared of messing up when it actually comes time to help members. I'm sure I will get used to it within the first couple of weeks. Our trainer in these meetings was really cool as well and made it easy to learn. These two days were also very long! I start in Spanish Fork on Monday and I am nervous and excited all the same.

The Whitney Whisk

I was just going to make a little add on to our blog with a page full of recipes that Bryan and I each grew up with. When I decided I wanted to add pictures I realized this would be one long page! So, {drumroll please} I'm proud to introduce The Whitney Whisk. I never really thought I'd make a food blog because I'm mostly good at following recipes, not creating them! I just wanted a place to share our family favorites. I also decided it would be a great opportunity to review great recipes I find online and share them with all of you. Maybe some day I'll be a good enough cook that you'll see something posted up there that I've invented all on my own.

Birthday Fun

Last Friday, the 7th of October, was my birthday. Yes, I am 25 years old. Sigh. I must prepare myself for a month of jokes about how I am older than my husband... courtesy of my husband. Honestly, I am less stressed about getting older this year than previous years despite being astonished that I'm actually 25. This probably has to do with the disappearance of that ticking clock in the back of my mind that I always had prior to getting married. No matter how old you get, you always feel like yourself, which is probably why I always take some adjusting when I come to a new age. I think we all have these perceptions about what we'll be like when we reach a certain age or stage of life. For some reason, when I got married I thought I'd feel different but I still just felt like the same person I was before I got married and not that that was in any way a bad thing. Anyway, I digress.

This year I had a nice, relaxed birthday. I slept in and then opened presents with Bryan. It's nice to have someone to do this with now-- in previous birthdays I would end up opening packages from home by myself. I got several nice things that I am very excited about. A little later I was watching the newest episode of The Office and I got a phone call. I've now been offered the position of teller at America First Credit Union in Spanish Fork. It's nice to not be worried about that any more but, as with starting anything new, a little nerve wracking. I start training on the 17th and then I will officially start on the 24th. It's nice that I'll have this week to get things in order.

In the afternoon my new sister in-law, Shelley, took me to lunch at one of my favorite places in Provo-- Kneaders. It was more packed than I have probably ever seen it. The food was delicious and the company delightful! Later that evening we went out with a bunch of good friends and got dinner at Brick Oven. Afterward, we all went back to our apartment for cake and ice cream. Alicia made me a white cake with lemon cream cheese frosting and it was to die for! We ended up just talking until after midnight. It was so fun-- we just told stories and laughed a lot.

The next day we had a family birthday party with the Whitneys. We went to Cornbelly's Corn Maze and then came back to Shelley's house for lunch and presents. The pictures below are from the fun we had at Cornbelly's.

There was a "Princess Playland" that supplied little girls with princess dresses to wear for the day. Ella was a little bulky in hers because she had her coat on underneath-- it was pretty cold out!

Here we are in the maze, figuring out a clue. Well, I'm behind the camera, anyway. It had rained that morning so we were slipping and sliding around in the mud.


After we finished the first time Bryan and Mike decided to go again, determined to make it to the very top of the maze and back.

Bryan and I did a little duck racing next, which I won both times! Then some people came and took our ducks... oh well.



We did a few other things that I didn't get pictures of but at the end we all took turns in the big rocking chair. It was definitely a fun day! I had a very good birthday weekend and am excited for next month when we celebrate Bryan's birthday.