Permanent! And a little bit of Erik History

Hey everyone!! It's Erik! Now I know what you're thinking "Erik??? Who the heck is Erik?? We want Karen and Londyn!!!". And I understand, but bare with me, I got some news and a little bit of a story that will help everyone who doesn't know me that well understand me a little bit more.

So, I've always wanted to be a provider. It's been something I've wanted since I was probably 8 or younger. I've always known that I want to be able to go put hard work in, and know that my family is at home safe, and have the things that they need. I've always wanted that my wife would be able to stay home with our children and enjoy them all day long, and not have to worry about the stresses of a job on top of being a mother and wife.

That is Erik Sanders in a nutshell, but, when I was in school as a teenager, that ideal did not show manifest one bit. I was lazy, I didn't care about school, and took it about as seriously as a pet dust ball. I goofed off, with the ideal of "If I scrape by, that's all that matters, at least I'm going somewhere". I was wrong as wrong could be. I was going absolutely nowhere; yes I graduated High School, but with barely any sort of credentials that a college would look for. Somehow, I was able to get into BYU-Idaho for 2 semesters, where I absolutely threw away any sort of potential I could have. I wasted time, money(sorry Mom and Dad, I really really am sorry), and my life. Upon coming home, I continued to work at LifeTime fitness, with promises to family that I would improve, do things and become something great. I stayed at LifeTime for 2 years, and went absolutely nowhere...

Until I met Karen Kiker. She was a new employee at the end of my time at LifeTime, and I thought she was incredibly beautiful, funny, and the way she would play with children, and how she loved them made me know that this woman would be an incredible mother someday. I'm not much of a flirter, so if you would ask Karen what she first thought of me, her response would be "A jerk!". I didn't know what to do with her, I couldn't talk around her, and I always said the wrong thing. Luckily I overcame that. While I was with her, I knew she loved me for who I was, but at the same time, I knew she wanted more. She wanted someone with drive, someone with motivation and who was going somewhere in life. So, for the first time in my life, I TRIED at life. I tried to become a tidier person(still working on that one), I pushed myself beyond what I thought I could do, I did all this because I loved(and still love) her so much that I knew it would be worth it. I guess it worked, because we are now married and have a beautiful baby girl.

I started working at Jimmy John's in early March(I think) after being unemployed for almost a year. I was barely making anything(7 an hour plus tips...some days) and we were very fortunate we did not have any big bills to nail us down. Karen was pregnant and working, working hard and doing more than her share. She was amazing her whole pregnancy, and I could not be more proud of her.

In May, out of the blue, I get a call from a staffing company that I had interviewed with about a year before for a job I didn't get. Hadn't heard from them since that day. They had a job offer, and I immediately signed up for an interview with HUB International for a Data Entry position. I interviewed well(I thought) and was confident that I would get the job. I didn't. My heart was broken, it was a good job, payed well enough for us to get on our feet sooner than we thought, and I was rejected. I had been rejected by a billion other jobs before this, but this one stung quite hard for some reason. I continued to work barely making anything, with Karen working more hours(not by my decision of course, I asked for more hours at work but didn't get em) than I was, and I wanted so bad to be out of a sandwich shop.

About a month later, at an OBGYN appointment for Karen, I get a call from while we were in the waiting room. It was the staffing company! My heart raced so fast, and I heard the words "Someone has dropped out and HUB wants to know if you can work for them". I talked for a while outside, getting the details ironed out, and went back inside to tell Karen. She was in her room already waiting for whatever to be done. Now anyone who knows me knows what happened next. I bawled. I bawled and bawled and bawled right there in the doctors office, and hugged Karen so tight.

Now, here is the thing that I thought would never happened. I worked HARD, I excelled, I did as best as I could so that they would make me permanent after three months. I got told I was doing great, that I was exceeding expectation, something I have probably been told at twice in my life(and probably about video games) that I was doing good at something.

So, here we are three months later and...they are making me permanent! They have been an amazing employer and I've been impressed with how they treat their employees. I'm very proud of the work I've done, and happy that I was able to do this. I also know it's because of my amazing wife and my rowdy daughter that I was able to achieve this. They have been my support and my joy through this, and a constant reminder of how blessed and loved I am. And thank you to all of you who have supported me and have wished me luck or anything of the sort.

SHINING THUMBS UP!!!

That is all,

Erik.