Cross Country Travels

On Sunday morning around 9am we left Salt Lake City, perhaps for the last time. We were sad to see the place we had taken as our home goodbye. Though we are ready for a new stage in our lives.
We plan our trip out into 450-500 miles a day. Our stops this time consist of Cheyenne, Omaha, St Louis, and Knoxville. We have enjoyed seeing things that were lost to us in Utah. Foods and cultural aspects that are what we have known all of our lives.

My husband has made contacts in the Catawba area, though we have yet to make it there as of yet. He already as one interview. I will be starting my position next month, and will still have time to work on my online community management for small local companies and build my portfolio.

We are also moving into my the home that I always dreamed of building my home like. I spent my childhood in my Grandparents house. Climbing the fig tree, Hiding in the barn, and sitting by the fireplace inside. We will be taking over my Grandfather's home. My dream home will be mine for good once papers are signed.

We arrive back in North Carolina tomorrow for the first time in two years. It will be the a return to a life we know, but on a path we had not planned on. I am excited to see what will be around the next turn.

Last Hours in this place.

Today is our last full day in Salt Lake City. Tomorrow morning as the sun rises we will be starting our journey in search of the South East. Leaving behind two years of struggle and good friends that we never would have met had we not taken a chance this time in 2010 and moved to an unknown city.

I am going to guess that today is going to be an emotional one for me. I have come to love this land, the scene from my window each morning of snow capped peak that is so close it looks like you will trip and fall on it any second. I grew up seeing Mountains and missed it for many years when I moved to Charlotte NC. I will once again be able to see my beloved Blue Ridge, but they are a sober companion compared to the majesty of the Peaks here.

I will miss those people that welcomed us with open arms here, becoming a new family when ours were 3000 miles away. We were lucky to have a few contacts here that we had spoken too in passing. When we pulled into the Hotel parking lot, a special person I had yet to meet in person was waiting there to give us big hugs and show us the area. He later became one of my dearest friends. This was just the start of a Community that was caring and open with us as we started our new life.

There were also people here that became confidants, monitors, and “siblings” to me. They have an inner strength that helped me become a better person. I must say one such person will be the person I miss most of all. Though I knew her but a short time, she gave me more in that time then I can ever return. “You, my heart Sister will always be my guiding light.” Thank you Evelyn S.

Though I do not intend to let any of my friends fall to the wayside, in this day and age when a click of the button and you are talking face to face with someone on the other side of the world, I still will miss their spirits. I will miss this place. I know I am going on to a new stage in my life, one that has grand new opportunities, and old friends in the bargain. Though I will not forget the journey that brought me to the place I am today.

Houston we have a “Go”

Finally we have an answer on the outcome of all this waiting. After two years in Utah we will be moving back to North Carolina on the anniversary of our arrival here. We ha loved the area and the wonderful Friends that we have made here. However a number of things have happened that have made it quite clear that we are meant to go back home. Though we are not walking blindly back to place we came from.

We will be moving into a wonderful home that my family has owned for years, and taking over the care of it. Along with being close to family for the first time in nearly 8 years. I will be doing personal care and Art Therapy with, while still being able to do my own work with networking and some online marketing for some of the small businesses in the area.

All of this is in addition to the large network of connections and contacts that both my husband and I have in the field there for his Operations Management and Transportation analysis field.

So we will be saying good bye this weekend to the place that has become home. A place full of wonderful people and great opportunities, and returning to a place that has always held a special place in our hearts. So I will be looking longingly at the mountains for a few more days, as I will replacing these peaks with the Application and Blue Ridge.

Holding Pattern

One thing I have to say I am not proud of myself for is my inability to handle being still. I do not like the idea of being in a place my husband refers to as Limbo. It seems we know what our choice is. However we are leaving the final announcement until Monday the 19th.
This has meant for me nights of no sleep, and people getting stressed as I make plans that to them seam to be jumping the gun. However it is my coping mechanism. While other people have to move in their personal space, or have to have  a clean kitchen before going to bed, I have to have a plan. I have to be able to map out the near and possible distant future out in my head.
This change is one that almost feels like returning to my old path. But what bothers me is my inability to set things in motion. We are waiting for one last event before we start the gears moving. So like a plane on the runway, we are fueled and have a flight plan. All we are waiting on is for the tower to relay one final bit of information to the Pilate.
It use my time doing research for future projects, and continuing my study into fields I have wanted to expand. Along with make connections with people that may be useful to know in the near future. Though I am still more then ready to have the outcome of all of this be 100%.

Which Path to Take

There are times that your life is going down a path. Whetherr it is a path we like or not, I have had many situations of late that have taken my path in a new way. However there are also times when yourself confronted with a fork. While normally I am there person to say when there are two paths to try, I take the one less traveled by, that is not always the case. This time the one less traveled by is taking a leap of faith. However when it is more then yourself you must do this for it makes a difference.

Time has come to a head, I have been without a job for months, and my husband is also out of work. My temp position is costing me more then I am making, as the position requires me to drive 40-80 miles a day going location to location. The pay I was quoted is not how it works in truth. The sad part is I was making more when I was on unemployment. We are now at a point were time has run out, this is also the time that the fork presented it’s self.

My husband has a very good chance at a position, here in Salt Lake that will fix the issues that have established themselves.
On the other hand I have been offered a position back in North Carolina that will offer us a place to live and help pay for the move. In the next week we have to make a decision as to what way to go, to Wait and hope for a position that is a good chance but not a guarantee. Or a guarantee position, but a worse economy for my husband to find a position to stabilize our finances, not to mention the move from a place that I had hoped to call Home for now on.

I know this is a choice that will either unravel on it’s own, or we will have to make a choice. Now is the time to see if we are going to once again take a risk with our live, or admit that our last gamble was a bad one.

Use what you have.

Well not that it is any suprise but as of yet job X is being less then helpful. In the week+ I have had this job the number of hours I have worked can be counted on one hand. I find that what I had hoped would be a means of keeping the wolves from the door seems like it will do anything but.

This makes me think of a few things, common truths and points of interest.

• One of these is that my moral code, like many others, required me to remove myself from unemployment as soon as I could. However one should not rush into a situation without some knowlage of what they are getting into.

I have found that evan after all of the research I did on Job X it fell well below even my low expectation bar.

• Knowledge is power, not only should you learn as much about the position that you are looking for but also about the people that work there.

Walking into a position/interview is always the hardest part of the job market for many people. However in this day and age we have tools that can make this easy. When I go to an interview I look at the position title as stated above but also the company (both history and future plans) and the person that I will be doing an interview with.

Recently went to an interview, and was asked what it was I knew about the company. I floored the interviewer when I started with the simple stuff leading up to what % increase they had last year. While I did not over do the information offering I did make sure that they were aware that I had done my homework. I went above and beyond what the average candidate does and this made me stand out. It helped them see that I am willing to do my job to the best of my ability.

• Use what you have.

There are lots of people looking at every job you apply for. All claim to have the same or better skills then you. The trick is to find a way to build up and offer those traits that only you can offer. Your expirience is more then just information on paper, it is what makes you one of a kind and of use to your future empoyer.

How do you do this? You first need to learn about yourself and what it is that makes you special. Inner self is a personal revelution that we each must come to in time. However striving for this is often enough to make you see what it is that you have to offer others.

Road Closed Ahead, Please Take Detour.

An interesting thing has happened, and changed my road map yet again. While I was out looking for the perfect job the operation my husband was working for closed down. So rather then both of us being without work I had to make a decision. I was offered a position (let us say job X). It is an honest pay for an honest day's work, however one that I am not happy to gloat about. Job X is menial labor for menial pay, no mental challenge and no real room for advancement.

We know these jobs. They are the jobs that keep our society running smoothly, cooking, cleaning, fixing things. I have done them before and had hoped to never have to do them again. We all pay our dues in the field of low end menial jobs, so we all know the feeling of being in them.

Now for a new challenge. I have to be able to do my job well, 5 days a week and still find time to go to networking events, interviews and push myself. Ahh the struggle most people have when they are working and still looking else were. When taking this job I was told that it was Monday-Sat with a day off in the week, this does not seem to be the case now, rather Monday-Friday 8-6:30. Which makes those interviews a little harder to accomplish.

But I will not be denied. My pay is connected with my attendance if I take time off my % goes down, but this only makes me want to find someplace better even more. I refuse to let this setback break me down. I am a highly educated, gregarious, and creative person, and will still find a career to make “Home.”