I Found A Job!!

2 1/2 weeks ago we moved away from Southern California.

I was pretty happy about moving, we didn't have the best time living there. It wasn't horrible, but I especially wasn't very happy living there either. We had some fun times and I don't regret it, and I learned some valuable lessons and also learned some things about myself.


Right now we are staying with my aunt, uncle and cousin in Fremont. I love it, we're having a lot of fun and we're so grateful they've opened their home to us. We even brought our cats and they are starting to get along with the dog! My cousins Rachel and Desiree (although Desi is in Idaho) are the closest relationship I have to having actual sisters, so it's very fun being here.


Ryan is working at a job he previously had before we left California and moved to Idaho. We're very grateful that they have been gracious to give him a position and he's been there for over a month already. We don't know how long it will be for, at least 6 months to a year most likely, until the economy slowly starts to improve and he can find a job in commercial construction again.


I have been substituting at a preschool I used to work at before we got married and left California and I'm having a blast!! The kids are so fun and cute, and I love the school, I have always carried fond memories of working there so it's great to be back. I've been helping them out about 2 days a week, and am their permanent on call sub until August, when I start my new job!!


In August I will be a young 5's teacher at a preschool on the peninsula in Portola Valley, and I couldn't be more thrilled!!

The students have already been through preschool, and are either just a little too young for kindergarten, or their parents want them to have an even stronger foundation before they enter kindergarten. There are 14 children in the class and there are 2 of us teachers. I will be the lead teacher of the group. It gets even better, they follow the school year calendar so I have Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and summers off!! It's the best feeling in the world, because once again I'll be a true teacher, and not a teacher and day care provider. My heart is full of gratitude and I'm thrilled that things are coming together for us!!!


I know that moving back to Fremont was the absolute right thing for us to do, and I think that Ryan probably got laid off so we could come back here. I have found a dream job, he's doing well at his job, we are near friends and family and I truly couldn't be happier! Life in Southern California felt so unpredictable and out of control, and those of you who know me well know that I have a very hard time tolerating things like that and my patience wears thin easily. I had made plans for our life there and nothing that I wanted came to actually happening. Of course that's life, but after dealing with it and being unhappy, we are finally getting a break and get to be on the up again!

Finally things are going well and working out and I love it!!

Lovin NorCal

Fremont with Mission Peak in the background

We moved 2 weeks ago and I couldn't be happier!!!

It's so beautiful and green here right now from all the rain, and we're so close to friends and family, it's fantastic!! We're so grateful to have family who have opened their home to us, and old job connections who were willing to help us out in our time of need. Ryan is working and I've been substituting and interviewing, and should be landing a job pretty soon! Although it has been difficult, I really feel like we made the right choice in moving here. It's sad that Ryan was laid off from such a wonderful job, but we're a lot happier now so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all :)

On The Move . . .

From Rexburg, Idaho (where we lived from 1999-2001, 2003-2008). . .

To Santa Clarita, California (2008-2010). . .

Back to Fremont where we were born and raised!!

(Background info: Ryan and I are from Fremont, California. After high school we went to Rexburg, Idaho for college. We came back to Fremont for about 2 years, got married in 2003, and then returned to Rexburg, Idaho)

In January 2008 Ryan was recruited to work at the Southern California division of a nation-wide commercial construction company. He had just graduated in Construction Management, and I was in the middle of teaching my first year of first grade, and we were living in Idaho. We made the decision that he should take the job and move, and I would join him in June when the school year was over. It was an amazing opportunity for a great job that we couldn't pass up. I stayed at our house with all of our things, and in June 2008 Ryan came out for a week, we packed up (and packed, and packed, and packed) and moved to Santa Clarita, CA.

It was exciting and new at first, and within 2 months of moving I found a job teaching kindergarten at a small, private preschool. Then after a while we started to realize that Southern California wasn't quite for us. We experienced quite a few disappointments while living here, and I realized it's not really all that it's cracked up to be living in sunny California. Being from the Bay Area, we found ourselves visiting it there quite a bit and actually missing it. I always felt like we were in the "wrong" part of California. I guess it's my NorCal pride!!

It hasn't been horrible living here, we've actually done a lot of fun things, it just isn't a place we really wanted to spend the rest of our lives in. But, Ryan had a great job and we knew that over time things would smooth out and we'd get accustomed to life in SoCal.

Then about 2 weeks before Christmas 2009, Ryan was unexpectedly laid off from his job due to the economy. It came as a total shock and we had no idea what to do. My job was solid so I just kept working while we tried to figure out what to do. Everything was up in the air and it was driving me crazy!! Should he try to find another job here in SoCal even though we'd rather be somewhere else? Should we go back to Idaho? Should we try to go back to the Bay Area where we haven't lived for 7 years??? I am very much a planner and do not do well when life throws unexpected turns, so my stress level was pretty high, but I tried to stay calm while we rationalized and weighed our options.

Ryan tried and tried to look for a job here but came up with nothing. There's nothing happening in Idaho so for right now we dismissed that option too. We were getting desperate, he needed to start working asap. Thankfully, he was able to find a job, but in the Bay Area. And thankfully, we have caring, supportive family members who have opened their homes to us while we try to smooth out this major bump in the road.

So Ryan starts work next week and is moving to Fremont this weekend. Our lease is up Feb. 11th so I'm staying at my job until Feb. 12th, just to get through our lease. I figure I might as well keep working while I have the opportunity to do so. Then I'll try to find a job once we move to the Bay Area. We have no idea how temporary or permanent this is going to be, but it's something for now so we decided we need to go with it. We may make our way back to Idaho, but for now it's back to the Bay. I guess there's no place like home!! I have to admit, I did a lot of complaining during our time in Southern California, so it makes me wonder if God heard my complaints and granted us a way out, even though it's not the easiest!!

It's extremely unfortunate that Ryan was laid off because he had so much going for him and could have done great things for the company he was working for. He wasn't the only one let go, though, so he just fell victim to this recession that we're going through. We might be nomads for a while, but as long as we can pay the bills and be together, we'll be able to get through it!