July 1, 2013

The title above was inspired by a quote Trav and I recently heard and liked, "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer."- Albert Camus. We both thought that was a beautiful idea and outlook.

So...a huge reason I created this blog is to share what is going on with us right now. The big news is that in one month, we are moving  to Texas (Waco in particular). To be honest, it has been a completely agonizing decision. Not that there is agony in moving to Waco, but rather in the decision itself. We were extremely torn and had discussion after discussion about what our next season of life should hold. My job as a nanny ends next week (the family I nanny for is moving to Maryland), and our lease here ends on Sept 1.

When we first moved to Boston, we didn't really have a set plan, but I suppose we just assumed that we would be here more long term. Travis loves this city..and well, I have a minor obsession with it. It is everything I had hoped for and then some. I could write a book about all of the reasons I appreciate this city. Travis and I have both been able to walk to work..it's only a 15 min walk for each of us, and are crazy about the fact that we can walk anywhere and everywhere within this city, no car needed. I am a history nut, so I immediately felt completely at home here and was in love right away. I have seen some of the historical sights here dozens of times, and it's never enough! The architecture is truly breathtaking, and it is a city full of so much life, passion, and excitement! I never take any of it for granted, and am completely awe-struck by everything.  So why in the heck are we moving?!

The answer isn't overly-simple but basically, here is what it boils down to:

1. FINANACES. Trav and I basically hate money. Or I suppose, we hate the fact that everything in life seems to revolve around it. But it's unavoidable. To be completely upfront..here in Boston we are paying almost $1500 a month for an apartment that is just shy of 300 sq. feet. Yes, you read that right. And that amount gets us...(crickets chirping)....nothing. Ok, well it gets us a roof over our heads, and running water, but that's literally about it. No air conditioning, oven(!), washer/dryer, dishwasher, closets..etc etc.. and lots and lots of maintenance issues. The cost of rent is gobbling up our paychecks, with not much to spare. Granted, we live in a fabulous location that we both adore. But it really doesn't matter where you live here, it is all insanely expensive. When we were looking for apartments here a few months ago, the rent we we've been paying was on the normal-to-low side of the price spectrum. By comparison, in Waco, most apartments we are looking at are exactly half the price of our current rent, with more than double the space.
Also, Trav and I are dying to do things like actually go to a beach together, or see Europe together..and our hope is that we can finally begin to save for those things. We can't wait to finally travel like we've always wanted to.
* Plus I've ALWAYS wanted to teach English abroad. And backpack across Europe. And many other things. Trav and I are BIG dreamers with big plans. ;)

2. LOCATION. As far as the physical location of a city, Boston is hard to beat. Like I said, I felt at home in New England almost instantly. A big part of me wants to live here forever. BUT this past year alone, I have flown to Texas 4 times. That's a lot in less than a year. Sure there have been reasons, like my brother's graduation, but the truth is..I was flying down because I didn't want to miss out on major life moments with the people we love. I feel like if we did continue to live here, we would end up spending hundreds, or thousands a year (see how money ruins everything?) flying to visit fam/friends in TX and IL. All of our vacation time/money would be used up to visit friends and family, because we want to see them!! So Waco just seems like the logical choice here. Of course, some of very dearest friends (and family) in the world don't live in Texas OR Illinois. They live in Boston, and Minnesota, and North Carolina, and California, and Philly, and Brazil..etc. If I had it my way, we would all pile in a giant bus and move an hour and  half south of Waco and call Austin home together! (I LOVE Austin). ...But I haven't figured out all the inner-workings of that plan yet. We feel like Waco is the best decision because we will be close to a large portion of my family, a large number of our close friends, and we will be able to access Trav's parents and our friends in IL by driving instead of only flying. Plus being within 3 hours of Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio are fantastic perks! We can't wait to see our Dallas friends again!

3. CAREERS. Job searching is the WORST. I think that is the title of my next (first) book. It's time consuming, depressing, and frustrating. We pretty much applied to everything we possibly could up here, and have had zero luck. I think a lot of it is due to the fact that the competition is extremely fierce here. I would apply to a preschool teaching position, only to get an email back saying that I was one of 80 applicants. Honestly though I feel like it was probably an even higher number than that with a lot of the other positions we applied to. MA requires a Master's degree to teach anything, even Kindergarten. Granted, they have some of the best schools in the country up here, so they are doing something (more like many things) right. But I simply can't afford to go to school full-time (what most schools I've looked into here require for that program) for two years so I have the possibility to maybe someday if I'm lucky get a great teaching job. The good teaching jobs are extremely hard to get here b/c they pay well (well for a teaching salary that is!). And the thing is, I want to start a career. So in Waco, I will begin a teacher certification program this Aug. for about 1/15 the cost of a master's in Ed. and the classes are in the evenings. And the neat thing is that Region 12, the center I am getting certified through,  is connected to a unique Master's program that I could already be halfway done with just by taking the classes Region 12 requires for certification.

As for my hardworking Trav, he is exploring several options: staying in the culinary field, and also working at Baylor. They both involve major passions of his and he would totally rock either option. He also has big culinary dreams for Waco (a town that is growing super fast and becoming more unique and innovative by the day). Trav's time working at Union here in Boston has been very beneficial to him, and has given him a crash course on what it really takes to keep a great restaurant running smoothly. To me, it would be so amazing if he eventually opened up a little place of his own. I think Waco would love what he has to offer! I know, I know, I'm biased. But really I'm not...b/c I swear he is just that awesome ;)

So...if you have read all of this. Then I applaud you. It was too long. But I wanted to really be able to explain things. And a short email or facebook post just wouldn't have cut it. I know I sound very overly sentimental..but this move is just pretty dang emotional. It's bittersweet. Bitter, because..well, for instance, I just watched this gorgeous time-lapsed video of Boston (I'll post the link) and cried like a baby. Like I keep saying, I ADORE this city. It truly is my favorite city in the entire world. I will miss it like crazy. I will also miss two of our dearest friends, Steph and Nic, like crazy. They mean so much to us and not getting to live nearby to them makes me very sad. BUT at the end of the day, we know we will be making many trips back to Boston. We won't be able to stay away!
And of course the sweet part of the bitter-sweet, is that we are making a move that we feel is the right decision for us. The reactions of people we love in TX have been SO sweet and exciting to hear, which means the world to us. We feel good about Texas being our home base, and really digging in and becoming part of the Waco-area community, and we are excited to spend time with close friends and family that we haven't gotten to see as much as we would have liked over the past several years. Trav and I have had so many adventures in our time together so far..I mean, just the fact that we've lived in 4 states together alone is crazy... and we know that many more adventures are yet to come!

We are truly thankful for our amazing family and friends who continue to encourage us daily! We will keep everyone posted. :)

(Gorgeous time-lapsed video I mentioned) http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2013/06/27/video-of-boston-timelapse/