New Normal

This is the first time in 4 months that I finally feel like I'm able to breathe again. The good news is that Chris did get a very 11th hour job offer. He only applied because it was literally a one-click thing, as the district already had his application on file. He was back home after a 30 minute interview and inside I completely freaked out, thinking he didn't have the job - that's just way too short of an interview time! But no, they loved him and hired him two hours after the interview, even though they said they weren't to contact him until the next day.

We also have a new-to-us car, as my grandfather is downsizing his household and sold us his minivan for a steal of a deal. My monthly payment is a small check, several pictures, a hand painted card and a lengthy handwritten note.

I have started several projects in the last 4 months, but no finishes. Unless you count finishing my journal, a whopping 254 pages! I feel like it's a good documentation of our first year in Idaho, a lot of stress and struggles but no regrets. This is home for us.

My doTERRA business is really starting to take off. For the longest time it was just a trickle of income, but this month I finally broke the $1,000 mark! I'm not aggressive salesperson at all, it's been a 4.5 year journey to reach this point. But definitely feeling a lot of thankfulness and hope for my growth.

2015 feels full of hope for me. And I hope that includes more blogging!

The job hunt

We used to be more picky, applying for certain jobs in certain locations. But as time and money run low, I've come to realize that I can make any place a home in exchange for a full time job. There was only one place where I truly struggled to see myself living in - because I couldn't find any rentals. Didn't matter, the job was already filled.

That's something else we're learning. If we see a job that Chris qualifies for... APPLY! Especially if it's a brand new listing. The quicker you get your name in the pool of applicants, the better your chances of an interview.

I've lost track of how many applications we've filled. Some were filled, but never sent because we'd call them right before sending and they'd inform us the job was filled. Only two interviews thus far. One school decided to reshuffle internally and not hire at all. The other school ended up selecting somebody else. In both interviews they really liked Chris, said he interviews well. That whatever school does hire him will be a lucky to have him. Ok... so where is that lucky school?!

I never give up hope though. I keep pushing through, keep searching ahead for the next job we can apply. I just try to use the failures to see what we did wrong. Take the lessons learned from previous applications and apply them to the next. And pray, beg, and trust that God knows exactly what's the best for us.