Barbara was born in American Fork. Her parents were high school sweethearts who married after her Dad's mission. Barbara was born while her dad was attending BYU. After her dad graduated from BYU law school, he took a job at a firm in Salt Lake City. Both her parents were from the Syracuse/Clinton area so they moved their family back up to Syracuse where Barbara grew up. They lived in the same house from the time Barbara was 2 until she was 17, which ended up being fortuitous for Barbara (but we'll touch on that later in the story).
Barbara was the 4th of 5 children. When she was young, she really enjoyed watching her older siblings play sports and really, really enjoyed hitting her parents up for money to buy snacks from the vending stands. Once she got into high school, she got more involved in extracurriculars, too. She was on the yearbook committee and student council in her junior year and she was the National Honors Society President and served on the seminary council during her senior year. In her senior year, she was also in Madrigals. In fact, it was a fabulous family tradition to be in Madrigals at Clearfield High. Both her mother and father had been, as well as two brothers and her sister.
While she loved singing, academics was really her focus. In fact she graduated with so many AP class credits under her belt that she was able to enter college as a Sophomore, completing her associates degree in one year.
From a young age, the gospel was a main focus of Barbara's life. She loved church and felt very drawn to being obedient to the commandments and truths she was learning. When I asked Barbara what lessons she learned from her high school years that really impacted her life, her answer was very profound and something we all have to learn at some point. She said, « One can take obedience too far. If one becomes so caught up in strict obedience and over obedience, the love for the gospel can be lost. Then one loses the whole point of the gospel, which is love!»
Barbara says she had to learn the Mary and Martha principle. She said it was quite humorous. At home at times she appeared to be so strict that her brother didn't realize she was a very fun person. In fact, a humorous anecdote of this is that she had been one of the homecoming royalty her senior year. The following year she returned to Clearfield High School to help in the crowning of the new royalty. Her brother, now attending high school, was surprised to see people excited to see Barbara and thinking she was fun.
Later that year, her family moved into a new house. It was in the same stake but a different ward. It was a very good move for the family. In the ward lived a young family named the Petersons. The dad in this family became close with Barbara's younger brother.
In the fall of Barbara's Senior year, she went to a fireside where Brother Peterson's younger brother was performing. He was part of a group of young recently returned missionaries who were singing acapella. They also each took a turn bearing their testimonies. Barbara was very impressed with them. She started picking out which ones she thought were the cutest. Luckily they were also the single ones. She decided who the two best looking guys were and after they all bore their testimonies she decided that Jared, the Peterson's younger brother, was the whole package. She wanted to go up and tell them what a great job they had done, especially since she had been in the audience smiling her biggest smiles at them, but her brother rushed her out of there (she was also a little nervous because she had worn really high heels and didn't want to scare Jared off by being too tall).
Shortly before graduating, Brother Peterson asked Barbara's brother if their parents would mind if they set Jared up with Barbara. When they asked Barbara if she would be interested, she enthusiastically said yes! So 8 days after Barbara graduated from high school she finally met Jared face to face. That's all it took. They were over the moon about each other. Exactly eleven months later, they were married in the Salt Lake Temple.
After they were married, Barbara went to work while Jared finished up his undergraduate work. They then set off for Ohio to attend The Ohio State University medical school. Barbara loved Ohio. They lived in a complex with several other LDS couples who were attending the medical school. These couples became a great support system for each other and it was like they were living in a mini Utah. While living in Ohio, the Peterson's welcomed their first two little girls into their home.
After graduating, they moved for Jared to complete his residency in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They ended up moving to New Jersey across the state line because it was safer. Barbara also loved New Jersey. She loved how the people were so direct and blunt. They were completely transparent. She also loved how things were busy and so close together. They were able to see so many cool sites while living there, like the DC Temple, the Jersey Shore (don't you dare call it the beach, the Jersey peeps will skin you alive), the Reading Railroad Terminal market and Liberty Bell, Gettysburg, NYC at Christmas time, and many others. They also, had two more children while living in New Jersey, a boy and a girl.
After having lived out East for so long, the Petersons wanted to move closer to family. So they accepted a work opportunity in Arizona where Jared began his practice in Ophthalmology. They thought they would stay in Arizona forever, so they bought a house in Gilbert, Arizona and began soaking up the beauty and enjoyment of the Arizona winters and the excitement of the new temple being dedicated – in fact, Barbara had the opportunity to work as an usher at the open house.
The job in Arizona wasn't as good as the Petersons had thought it would be. They were unsure of what to do, when a different work situation presented itself here in Layton. So in a whirl wind, Jared and Barbara decided to pack up again and move to Utah. It was a crazy time, since they had to be in Utah very quickly. With a house to sell in Arizona things got a little crazy. They lived with Jared's parents for awhile trying to sell their home.
After a few months, the Petersons realized renting out their house was a better option. As soon as they had a renter in their home, they found the house they live in now in our neighborhood. So finally, and hopefully for the last time, they moved into our neighborhood, since their oldest daughter has already attended four different elementary schools. Also, they recently added another baby boy to their family.
We are so lucky to have Barbara in our Relief Society. She is so fun. She is very open and happy to get to know others. She has recently been released as the Primary Chorister in our ward. In fact, she has had that calling in Ohio, New Jersey and now in Utah. She however is very excited about her new calling, assisting in interviewing and writing spotlights for our blog. If you are lucky enough to have her call you for an interview, I know you will have a great time chatting with her.
Welcome Barbara.
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