My Grand Little Adventure

I had honestly begun to think the crazy, spontaneous girl in me had died or at least fallen asleep indefinitely. I was nicely settled into a pretty darn good life. I loved my little condo, I had a good job with career potential, and was surrounded by my loving family and terrific friends. True, I lacked a special someone in my life, but I was still very content with life.

Enter Steve and that crazy, spontaneous girl in me awoke and now my life is totally changed!

Today marks two weeks since I moved and as I sit in my pajamas an hour after I used to be at work, I'm amazed. Amazed at how quickly I made the decision to move after years of trying to move but never having a strong enough desire to actually do it. When I moved back to Cedar after living in New York, I promised myself I'd only stay until I graduated from college. When that time came, I had a really great job I loved, and I was offered a full-time position at that job. I stayed. A couple years later, I was itching to do something different and was thinking about moving to Portland, OR. My boss gave me a promotion and hefty pay raise, so I stayed, making a 2-year commitment to him. I even bought a condo, pretty much locking me in to staying in Cedar for several years...or so I thought.

Now I'm living in Layton, unemployed, and having a ball! I miss my family and friends and my condo...and my paycheck, but it's nice to have a little adventure again. Every evening I go for a walk around my new neighborhood and am enjoying exploring the area. It's fun not knowing where anything is then slowly finding where to go grocery shopping, where my bank is, and trying new restaurants.

Job hunting isn't fun and there's a small part of me that wonders if I made a mistake by turning down the job at the alarm company. Oh well, it's in the past and I can't do anything about it. I have at least one possibility today at a chiropractic office. It's only part-time and not a lot of money, but it would be money coming in. If I get it, I'd only work MWF, so I'm thinking about applying as a substitute teacher for T and Th. Or writing a book. Or going to school on those days.

Last week, Steve and I visited the culinary school and I really liked it and was uber excited until the counselor told us the price tag. I had prepared myself for $8-10k because the culinary school in Vegas was just over $7000 for a year. So, my jaw dropped when he said it would be $25,000, although it may be less for me since I have a Bachelor's already so won't need to take the academic courses (math, english, etc). Still, I'm thinking it will still be close to $20,000 for a year. Steve says we'll manage it if it's really what I want to do, but how the heck am I supposed to know when I've never even worked at a restaurant? I love cooking at home, but it's gotta be different, right?

So, I applied at a restaurant I really like that is near my new home. The manager looked at my work experience and asked me if I had any waiting experience at all. I said no and he got this look on his face like "why in the name of all that is good would I hire you to be a waitress with absolutely no experience". He said he's pretty sure the place is fully staffed right now but I can check back in a couple weeks. Sigh. I haven't given up hope...yet...and am planning on applying at a few more restaurants, but it made me realize that my experience and credentials definitely are in the office sector of the workforce. Which would be great if I was ok with working in an office the rest of my life, but I'm not sure that's what I want. I want to be passionate about what I'm doing, I want to be creative, I want to be proud of what I'm doing.

Sigh. I'm not going to lie, having everything up in the air is a little scary, but it's kind of exciting, too. Life certainly isn't stale or predictable. I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out, to meeting new people, to learning new things, and to having new challenges.

Oh, and being near Steve is absolutely wonderful! He is so good to me and for me. On Monday, when I had a little money-related breakdown, he put his arms around me and held me tight until I calmed down. Then he told me everything would be okay and he'd always take care of me. Whether we're playing tennis, hiking, playing cribbage, making dinner, or just relaxing and watching tv, I love being with him. We laugh a lot, talk about everything, and really enjoy being together. I love him.

Well, that's the scoop. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that I find a job soon. Thanks!