Spotlight: Jenny Beykirch

Jenny Beykirch:
Born and Raised:  I was born and raised in Salt Lake City (West Jordan, technically)

Brought her to St. George:  We moved to St. George in August of 2012 in a crazy whirlwind!  We owned a business, Love to Cook at Kitchen Kneads, in Logan, Utah and someone made us a great offer to buy it one day out of the blue.  We had actually been looking at buying another business in Phoenix, AZ, but it never felt quite right.  The opportunity to sell our store and buy another store here--the former BOSCH Kitchen Center, which we renamed The Kitchen Corner--happened right around the same time last summer.  So, in a matter of 6 weeks we sold a business and a home, packed up our entire house, family and life and made the move South in a U-haul.  It was unexpected and has brought us many blessings, challenges and opportunities!

Schooling and Career:  I graduated from Utah State University in English Literature and Family Finance.  Chris and I co-owned our store in Logan with his parents from the time we finished school until we bought his parent's share about 6 years ago when they retired and relocated to Arizona.  Chris ran the day-to-day operations there and I taught cooking classes, and helped run the cooking school on and off and worked on projects when I didn't have little babies.  When we moved last year, it took both of us full time to get the store here built up and running, so I spent a good 8 months working full time and parenting while my husband worked 12-14 hour days at our new store.  In the meantime we thought it would be a great idea to design and build a house.  Just thinking about it makes me want to take a nap!  Thankfully, our house is done and our store is running much smoother now, so I am back to teaching classes occasionally and letting the employees take care of the day jobs!

How They Met:  Chris and I met for the first time in an Institute class at Utah State.  We found out we were both in the same singles ward and became great friends.  We knew each other for about 2 years before we ever dated, which we then did for 9 months before we were married.

Kids:  We have two kids.  Hadden, who will be 9 in a few weeks, is a bundle of energy, brains and questions.  He likes to ride bikes, play sports, play the piano, read, swim, play with friends, and ask questions.  Calla, who is 6, is a sweet girl and is shy, until you get to know her!  She loves art of any kind, playing with friends, swimming, riding bikes, gymnastics, dancing, music and "taking care of" her younger cousins.

Hobbies and Favorites:  I LOVE to be outside.  My favorite part about Southern Utah is that I can be outside every day.  I love to exercise, but only if I can be outside while I'm doing it!  I like hiking, walking, camping, basketball, mountain biking, and road biking.  I absolutely love to cook, especially baking, and I love to eat yummy food!  I am a total chocoholic and have to have my chocolate fix every day!  I also enjoy gardening and I try to grow as much of my own food as possible.  I always love a good book and like to crochet if I'm ever sitting still long enough to work on something!

Something Unique:  I was born and raised in the same house and never moved until I went to college.  Since then I have moved 14 times!