Sally Zlotnick

 

Sally Zlotnick was born and raised in the land of glorious summer and winter's so cold you have to plug your cars in at night to keep the battery from dying. She had 2 brothers and 2 sisters. One of her sisters was an indian foster child through the church's former indian placement program. But their family never consider her a foster child. Sally feels having her as her sister was a wonderful experience. Her dad was the superintendent of schools and her mom was a stay-at-home mother.

Sally was born in Missoula Montana and when she was 4 years old, they moved to Preston Idaho. That's right Preston Idaho, the land of Napoleon Dynamite and the birthplace of Ezra Taft Benson. In fact, Sally's dad's name is on the credits of Napoleon Dynamite – he allowed access to the school they used to shoot the movie. She said it was fun to watch the movie and see the places where she had grown up and even worked on the screen.

Sally said she loved growing up in Preston. She enjoyed spending time on her grandparents farm and they always had animals around them. Although, she's not sure how it happened, but she grew up to not really prefer animals. She says she likes to pet them, but doesn't really want to live with them.

Sally also really liked being from a small town and that everyone knew everyone. She said because the school and community were so small she had the opportunity to participate in any activity she wanted. There weren't many other kids to compete with so everything was up for grabs and she grabbed almost all of it. She participated in choir, dance, soccer, student government and taking AP classes (although the AP classes and honors course were not nearly the intensity and the variety as we get in our bigger schools.)

Her favorite activity to be involved in was student government. She really enjoyed the planning of the school dances and assemblies and just being involved with the other students and having fun. She also worked after school at Big J's (also featured in Napoleon Dynamite). She says even though she was involved in many activities, she never felt super busy. Just busy enough for it to all be enjoyable.

After graduating from High school, Sally went on to attend Brigham Young University where she majored in School Health Education . True to form Sally liked being busy but not stressed out, so she took a little more relaxed pace taking 12-14 credit hours a term. This meant it took her a little longer to graduate but the pace was more manageable.

While at BYU she was able to be part of the BYUSA (Brigham Young University Student Association). Being part of this organization gave her the opportunity to help out with and attend many of the activities on campus. But her favorite thing with the BYUSA was helping with the special olympics.

She also was on the BYU back up ballroom dancing team (it would appear only at BYU would they have a backup BYU ballroom dance team). She said that was great fun. She also worked at the BYU bookstore and in the music department.

Sally's best friend also attended BYU although they didn't live together or were even in the same ward. But there was a young man in her friend's ward named Justin Zlotnick from Santa Fe New Mexico. Sally's friend introduced them and three months later Justin asked Sally out. They liked each other right away and dated over the next 1 ½ years. They were married in April of 1995 and Sally graduated the next month. However, even though she enjoyed School Health, she never used her degree, accept in real life.

Justin had another year at BYU before he could start working on his MBA. So Sally stayed at BYU and worked for the athletic department. Her job was to help the athletes stay academically eligible. This was fantastic training for being a mother. It was amazing to her that after providing all the tutoring and support some athletes still would not turn in their assignments. She loved however, getting to know all the people she worked with and was able to attend many different athletic events for free. She also really liked her boss. It was her favorite job at BYU.

After a year, Justin enrolled at Purdue University in West Lafayette Indiana. By that time Sally had had their first baby, Abby and Sally began the best job she has ever had, being a stay-at-home mom. She said she always wanted to stay home with her children and feels very fortunate that she has never had to work since the day her daughter was born. She does however help Justin out with his business sometimes.

After graduating with his MBA Justin began working for Ingersoll-Rand. His job took him all over and the family was transferred every year. They lived in New Jersey, Colorado Springs – where they had their second and last child, Danny- and then back to Indiana to live in Indianapolis. Although they really enjoyed the adventure of moving, they thought it would probably be better for their kids to find a place to live for awhile. They also wanted to come back West to be closer to their families.

Justin knew a friend that worked for State Farm in Utah, so he gave him a call to find out what it would take to work in the business side of the insurance business. His friend however talked him into looking into becoming an agent. So they took a leap of faith. Justin got his licence to sell insurance and they moved to Layton Utah just right across from Heritage Elementary. They lived in that house for the next 12 years providing their kids with the stability they had desired.

However, Justin and Sally still liked the adventure of moving. After 12 years they were getting a little antsy and wanted a change in scenery. They started looking at home in their kid's school boundaries. That's when they came upon their house in our ward. They have loved this neighborhood and have felt incredibly welcomed. They also really appreciate their children's young men and young women leaders. But maybe Sally’s favorite thing about living here is her calling in nursery!

I asked Sally what has been the greatest struggle of her life. The thing that has changed her and molded her into who she is. She said it is being a mother. That no other thing has moved her out of her comfort and made her stretch the way mothering has.

I found Sally to be enjoyably laid back. She is a good listener and easy to relate to. I hope each of you will have the opportunity to get to know her.