Our First Homes 1949 – 1954 When we were first married Scott and I had the opportunity of moving into my Mother’s recently purchased home at 367 West 1100 North (Clark Avenue).  The home had two bedrooms, a living room, small kitchen, one bathroom and a utility room. We had purchased a bedroom set before we were married so our bedroom was furnished.  The other bedroom we used as storage for wedding gifts, etc. All of our other furniture was hand-me-downs. Scott and I both worked at the Geneva Steel Plant located south of Provo.  Scott was a hod (cement and bricks) carrier and I worked in the metallurgical division typing numbers all day.  Scott was able to get one day off from work and I got two for our honeymoon.  No car, no money, no time!  367 West 1100 north was our designated honeymoon address! The first morning in our little home I woke up to ‘silence!’  I was confused at first and wondered what was different?  I then realized, no birds singing!  There were no trees surrounding our house, just a lot of other houses that looked the same.  I had always lived where there were trees and birds!  I remember feeling a little home-sick. The house had been built right after World War II.  Because of the war, building materials were scarce.  Used water heaters, old doors, and who knows what else were used to build these houses.  Our size house sold for around $5,000. New homes sold for around $7,450.  The homes in our neighborhood were not very old but they were not new.  At that time very few people had put in trees along our street.  Our first morning I quietly got out of bed while Scott was still sleeping and hurried into the bathroom to get dressed and put on my face.  My goal was always to put on my face before 9:00 am so I could answer the door if someone should come. Scott probably didn’t care a bit but this was all new to me.  I didn’t want to see the look on his face when he saw my face in the raw. We didn’t have the same days off at work so the one staying home would be in charge of cleaning our little house.  We would call each other at lunch time and the one at home would tell how long it had taken to clean and do any other work required.  Scott always beat me in time.  I would ask him if he had cleaned the fridge with Jubilee wax, had he mopped and waxed the floor, had he vacuumed the living room floor and furniture. Had he done the washings and hung out the clothes? He always answered, “Yes, yes, yes and yes!  I knew there was something he wasn’t doing because I was really fast at cleaning.  I could never beat him!  I was a bit competitive.  Scott was four years older than me and I felt I had to be as fast and as smart as he was.  Of course, I wasn’t as smart as he was but I was fast! I had to meet the bus a block or so away from where we lived to get my ride out to the plant.  One early morning, I remember standing on the corner by myself with the wind blowing and I was just freezing. I know some mornings it got down to 16 degrees.  The wind would blow and I would stand and wait and freeze.  Sometime during the last of my months working at Geneva, I was offered a ride with some other people who worked at the plant.  That made the ride out to the plant much more pleasant. The Hike Hiking up the back of Mount Timpanogas was a yearly event.  Hundreds of people would sleep over at the base of the mountain and make the climb the next morning.  About a month after we were married, Scott and I, with another couple from our ward, decided to make the trek.  We took our sleeping bags and pillows and slept that night among the other hikers. One of us woke up with the sun and realized many of the campers had already climbed half way up the mountain!  We were a little shocked at having slept so long.  We had slept in our clothes and moving rapidly, we stored our bags in the car and started our climb.  Naively, none of us had thought to carry any water with us.  I had so much energy in those early years.  I would run ahead of our little group and then wait for them to catch up.  I have great memories of that hike.  We passed water falls and smelled wonderful smells from the vegetation especially near little brooks that sometimes crossed our path.  We reached the glacier.  What a sight.  The beautiful little blue pool at the base of the glacier was breathtaking. It had been a hot climb and we were thirsty.  There was a guy up there selling drinks, but of course, we didn’t have any money.  We must have stuffed snow in our mouths.  Next - the climb up the glacier. That wasn’t easy!  I remember when I got to the top of the mountain I was able to straddle it!  Who would believe it!  I could see all of Utah County and the mountain range behind me.  I was on top of the world!  There was a little hut you could reach by continuing to climb around the mountain.  That was a scary climb with one side of the narrow path dropping straight down and the other side straight up.  I was suddenly afraid of heights.  Scott grabbed me from behind and holding on to me gave me a little push.  I thought I was going to die.  I was so upset with him!  We did make it to the hut and took pictures of each other documenting our achievement. On our way back down the glacier we slid on our jackets.  We had to be careful or we would slide right into the pool at the bottom.  It seems to me it took about five hours to climb all the way up and about three to come down. The next day was a Sunday and all four of us had been given assignments: 2½-minute talks and/or prayers.  We sat up in front on the stand at church with our shining red faces.  I felt a little uncomfortable. Work and Pregnancy After being married for two months, I became pregnant with Lana.  I was so, so sick.  I would get up in the morning and run to the bathroom to throw up.  My trigger was the awful smell from the oil furnace, with the vent coming up into the living room.  Before I left for work in the morning, I would throw up again.  As soon as I reached the building where I worked, I would run down a long hall to the restroom and throw up—again!  During those six months of working in Metallurgical, I was only able to keep down a peeled apple.  I really lost weight.  At that time I was 5 feet 4½ inches and weighed 120 pounds. Both Scott and I were called to teach in MIA.  Once a week in the evening, we would walk two blocks to Fifth West and then south ten blocks to our church building.  Walking home afterwards, we would pass a little café.  One evening, we stopped and each got a hot dog.  It seems I was always hungry.  At first it tasted so good but then my stomach rebelled and I had to lose it in the gutter right there on the street!  I was so embarrassed.  I couldn’t eat or think of a hot dog afterwards for years! A couple of weeks before I was to quit work, I offered to do the work of another girl along with my own work.  She had quit suddenly before they had a chance to replace her.  I was really accurate and fast.  My supervisor told me on my last day that I could get a job under his supervision any time I wanted.  It was a good note to quit on. Scott worked all that hot summer as a hod carrier, which meant he mixed and then carried the cement to a bricklayer who would use it to rebuild the ovens.  It was really hard work.  He was trying to save money before he started school in the fall. I suspect he was trying to pay off my rings as well.  Right at the beginning of our marriage, Scott always took care of the finances.  He would call me on the phone and ask, “Which would you like first, the good news or the bad?”  He would then tell me what our financial situation was. Anything we purchased we bought ‘on time’.  We would pay a required amount each month.  I remember Scott calling me one day and saying, “We own our refrigerator!”  I thought to myself, “Now it will never be repossessed.”  I think I had a silent fear of that happening.  It never did. The women that I worked with in Metallurgical got together and gave me a baby shower before I quit.  The gift I remember most was a portable bath (one that stood as high as the sink) for the baby.  I loved it because whoever bathed the baby, my mother the first month or so, didn’t have to bend over.  I also remember going to the baby shower (at six months) and for the first time, letting my black maternity skirt out one button!  I could tell myself that I really was pregnant!!  I was so anxious to be a mother!  Because it took two whole months before I got pregnant, I secretly worried that it might not happen.   Scott started school at BYU in the fall of 1949.  He was always a dedicated student.  One of the jobs he had while going to school was to do testing for the Counseling Department.  He was noticed by Monroe Jensen, the head of the counseling department, who was such a kind man.  Scott thought a lot of him.  Monroe changed the direction Scott had been studying.  Scott was going to be a history teacher.  He soon found that didn’t suit him at all, and so he went into psychology.  Eventually, Scott slid into Personnel and Guidance with a minor in Education.  He didn’t like the hard-core part of psychology. I remember the first Christmas break Scott worked at Firmage’s, a clothing and furniture store.  At the end of that Christmas break, they offered him a full-time job if he wanted it.  He was a good worker.  The night before Christmas, all the part-time workers were given a big box of very good candy.  I can see us now as we sat together on the couch opening that beautifully wrapped package and looking at each other.  What a thrill to have this gift given to us free!  I was so happy I could have cried! I am grateful for that experience.  Because we had nothing, we found happiness in the little things. In-Between—The Foote Home 672 East 2nd North in Provo, Utah   Taking only a rocking chair with us, we left our little house on 347 West and 1100 North about the last of February and moved in with my Mom (Venice), Uncle Mark, sometimes Uncle Keith, and sometimes Aunt Maude at 672 East 2nd North. Scott and I slept in the front bedroom.  Mother and Aunt Maude must have slept in the back bedroom, and Uncle Mark slept downstairs in his little bedroom, which he had carved out under the house.  There was just one bathroom in the entire home.  When Uncle Keith eventually came back to live, he moved into the downstairs bedroom.  Because of Uncle Keith’s heavy smoking, Uncle Mark was forced to move back upstairs after we had left.   My mother and several of her siblings had been born in this house. We made it to the little hut on top of the Mount Timanogas. Scott with Leslie/Jean in the background (1948).