Choices

I recently went to Las Vegas to work for a week. An old boss of mine called and asked if I would come to Vegas and help out with transportation for a large convention that was in town. I jumped at the chance to go back to Vegas. I must admit that I still miss Las Vegas more than I miss Vermont. I think I had a love/hate relationship with Vermont, but that is a whole other post. I worked just over 75 hours in 5 days. I was exhausted but I found time to also see some old friends. That was by far the best part of the trip, although I did win 40 bucks with only a dollar in the penny slots. Yes, I cashed out right away - I took my money and ran.

I have also been working about 5-10 hours per week for VLS, mostly answering questions for my replacement and doing some web editing. I have to say that I feel really blessed to be able to have some work although we chose to move to Colorado.

This is not the first time that I have been unemployed. In fact this is the 4th time I have had to job hunt since I graduated from college only a couple years ago. There was the first time when I graduated and had to find a full time job to replace my part time/college job. I was laid off by my next job and then I quit a job to move to Vermont so that Brian could get more education. Each time the job hunt is a roller coaster ride of emotions the whole time. Some days I feel really confident and I know that I will find something and then some days I don't want to get out of bed and I feel doomed to be unemployed forever! (I know, it can be very dramatic when sad).

This time on the job hunt is no different - still a roller coaster, but there are a few things that are different. One, the economy is much worse than before, so I expected that my normal 3 month period to find a job would grow longer - I prepared myself for that. But what I didn't expect or prepare myself for was the constant pity and disappointment from family and friends. Despite what people may think, I did not chose to move to Colorado because I wanted to live here or that I just picked a place on a map. Do I want to live here, Yes. But there was an educated decision made, whether to stay in Vermont or should we move, where should we move to or what exactly should we do once Brian graduated. This was not an easy decision, like deciding what to eat for dinner. We thought we had the decision made many times before we came to our final decision. There were many Pro and Con lists made, fasting and praying, going to the temple, crying and listening to everyone's advice, but ultimately it was OUR decision, we had to make it. Would we have made this decision if we had children or owned a home, probably not, but we don't have any of those things. There is nothing more crushing than getting a phone call/email/letter from family or friends laced with negativity.

We are finding many jobs to apply for, some here in Colorado and some other places, we are not limiting ourselves. We are applying for jobs and getting interviews.

We are making progress, so please don't pity us.

~ Nicole