plans?

So this whole business has been going on for about a month now. And it's almost too much to spit back out in a blog post, but I'll do my best to sum up.

Basically, hub brought this up a month ago, saying that it was about that time for him to move on from his present job. He's big on what he can learn as a professional wherever he works. When the learning starts to ebb, he's usually ready to find another job. That time period, so far in the past, has been 1 year. We have been in the D.C. Metro area for 1 year.

And in that 1 year, I have unsuccessfully searched for a graphic design position. I have not been able to, in my eyes, start my career. I want to be employed. I can NOT dog walk or do other part-time job crap until I'm in my 30's or something...

So.

We hatch this 'plan'. For him to leave his job (which he was already going to do), and for me to quit my part-time dog walking, and to kick my job-hunting really into high-gear. And to move from our present apartment to perhaps somewhere else in the Metro area. We were more optimistic/hopeful about this plan, because recently I've been off to multiple interviews/hearing back from people I've applied to - the most I've had since we've moved here.

And to do this within a months' time.

But now.

The time is getting damned short now. The 4-5 interviews I went to ended up in nothing. I still have no sights for a job. Takeshi's culinary industry has always been, and probably will always be more reliable, compared to mine. And he's been out of college, working professionally now for at least 3-4 years.

But we've made decisions to end certain things now - we have until the 25th to move out of our current apartment. Both of our last days of work are this Saturday the 10th. Takeshi can only start looking for jobs until after he's left this job. Bad thing about being a chef is the hours. He doesn't have the time to actually go to interviews because he'd have to take time off. He works at least 15 hours a day.

It does feel like we were too hopeful, like I said. It feels like we've chosen to dig ourselves into a hole, we've chosen to be so risky. We've never been in such a clueless situation before.

So. What to do?

Last night we had a debate after hub got home from work at 11pm until about 2am.

These were our thoughts that night:

Basically, the way things are going (or NOT going...) with my job search, there is a HIGH probability that we'll have to move, again, with only Takeshi's new income at wherever he gets a job. But the cost of living in the D.C. Metro area is crippling us financially, since we got here. It's too damned expensive. We don't know if we'll be able to stay in this area that way.

A different way to look at my particular situation is that, with my entry-level experience that I have right now - perhaps I'm trying to reach a level in the D.C. Metro area, that I'll never be able to get to. The standards of, or what constitutes an "entry-level graphic design position" this area is more difficult than what I can qualify for. I need a stepping stone to start my career, but most or all of the "stones" in the D.C. Metro are too far away for me to leap onto. (Weird metaphor?)

So. With the issue of the cost of living, and my career troubles, we had to come up with a different way to try to obtain those things.

And our thoughts are now geared towards moving to a smaller city/town. Quite possibly not even within Maryland, DC, or Virginia. Smaller towns have lower costs of living for sure, and their standards for design jobs are different.

We saw both of these things in Lancaster, PA when we lived there. We actually saved money on TK's income ALONE, and I was still in college. We need to save money right now. And I need an easier way to get into the design industry. And if, in the worst case scenario, I'm not able to get "hired" in that new city/town right away, we need the backup plan of being able to sustain ourselves with his income alone. I could work as an intern somewhere to gain experience, and get another part-time job.

So yeah...........these past couple of months have been....heavy. And it's not over yet. It's going to get even crazier. But hopefully for the better.

I've started researching some locations already. Since we're working on a fast schedule anyway, we'll be hoping to make the best decision soon. And then even more decisions after that. There are so many "what-ifs" and so much that's just going to BE unknown. We just need to make the best 'educated' decision.

We have to make it work somehow, anyway. We don't have a choice. We have work to do. We have until the 25th.

Send us good vibes and rainbows. D:

Night all.