Erin (Christensen) Morrison Does It All!

After leaving the hallowed halls of Granger High, I went to BYU to attain my college degree. Before going Jon Williams (class of '95) said to me that there were two kinds of guys at BYU, the pre-missionaries or the guys with a ring in their back pocket. So my first weekend at BYU I went on a date with a cute guy I had met at work (the BYU Laundry, you know I could never leave a cleaners). He told me he was neither type of guy. He'd already served his mission and he wasn't looking too hard for marriage. It didn't take too long for me to sweep him off his feet. He knew I was quite a catch and didn't want to let me go. He was the only guy I dated in college--aside from a blind date for Granger Homecoming 1997 which was not fun!

Steve Morrison is from the San Diego area. We were married on April 21, 1998, in the Salt Lake Temple. We both continued going to school at BYU. I worked for The Daily Herald, Utah County's biggest newspaper. Wasn't quite Tri-Color Times, but it was a good paper to work for. I was the production room office manager, basically a glorified secretary for just over a year. Until the birth of our daughter, Nikki, in July 1999.

After Nikki was born I finished my Bachelor of Arts in Communications with an emphasis on Print Journalism in April 2001. Steve graduated at the same time with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering. College, kid, husband, one job between the two of us, Nikki's surgeries to repair a birth defect, and Steve put into the bishopric made college a fun, exciting, stressful, poor, and busy time.

We were ready to get out of Provo and into our real job! We moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in May 2001. Steve works for Sandia National Laboratories as an engineer. And that's all I can tell you because it's classified work for the government. Besides if he tried to tell me what he did it would all just confuse me because it's technical stuff.

Almost one year after living in an apartment in Albuquerque we bought our house. Who knew by 23 years old I would be buying the house we'd retire in and giving birth to my second child! Quentin, my first son, was born in March 2002--as we left our apartment for the last time, I was having contractions. It was perfect timing, I got to lay in the hospital bed recovering while Steve and Nikki unpacked from the move. Steve was called into the bishopric of our ward the weekend after we closed on our house. Between being a home-owner and all those repairs and updates, a mom, and various church callings, the years have rolled by with exciting stuff.

In August 2005, my second son Theo was born.

My husband was put in as bishop of a new ward in January 2006, just after turning 30. They changed the ward boundaries and released all callings. So he had to meet the ward before filling any callings. That was an interesting month or two! Currently I'm serving as a Family History Consultant in our ward. I just finished as a Young Women's Camp Co-Director, which was a total blast! We were blown away from our camp and I just finished replacing broken tent poles. At 28, I was the oldest leader for our ward at camp and I felt old!

I've been recruited by a few friends to be their "personal trainers." I'm not certified or anything but it's fun to push someone to do more than they think they can and to tell them to eat a balanced diet. And it's fun to see their results. I'm the organizer of a work out enrichment group for Relief Society which meets twice a week. I've run a few 5Ks and just a couple weeks ago went on a 40-mile bike ride with my husband.

I'm a business owner, Handmade Gel Candles. I make gel candles with a friend and sell them at local craft shows. It's fun to be creative with cool candles. I've also been sewing a lot since high school making everything from kids clothes to cover-ups for prom dresses to most recently a wedding dress. With a couple more wedding dresses on the horizon I may just stay busy with that. I volunteer at my kid's school once a week or so. All the kids know me as the mom with the big stroller because we walk to school every morning. And all the teachers know me as the mom who's always late. And I'm a mom to three kids. Nikki, 8, starting 4th grade; Quentin, 5 1/2, starting kindergarten, and Theo, who will be two the day of the reunion. Nikki will be baptized on the 18th of August, so I won't be at the reunion.

I love what I'm doing in life right now and wouldn't change it for anything!

Erin Morrison
morrisonabq@comcast.net