Where has the time gone...

It seems like just the other day we had our trip to California and SOOO much has changed since then! We have had a very busy and exciting last few months. I'm going to break this up into posts by topics/events so I don't end up with a hugely long post.

So first things first - my new big life changes. I had been unhappy at my job for quite awhile. I did not find insurance fulfilling or stimulating but haven't been able to figure out exactly what I want to do for the last several years (since I graduated college). Also, since we bought our house, it is not really an option to quit my job and "find myself" since we need a certain amount of steady income coming in.

I've spent some time researching things I've thought I'd be interested in - mostly copy editing and culinary school. Somehow, I could never quite fully commit to either of those options. The more I learned about copy editing, the more I realized it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do and while I would go to culinary school in a heartbeat, I don't actually want to work restaurant hours. Especially with the prospect of starting a family in the next few years, being a chef is not my first choice for a career while having little babies. Henry would always ask me, "if you could do ANYTHING, and money was no object, what would you do?" My answer would always end up being, "I would read books and talk about them" which is basically what I did for four years in college. It was awesome.

Shortly after we got home from California, there was the "perfect storm" of negative things that happened at my job. I won't go into the details of it, because I am trying to move on from the negativity I felt, but I will say I don't think I have cried so hard since my dad threw me in the car and forced me to go to college. (Thanks, by the way.) After a talk with Henry that lasted multiple hours, I finally realized the best way for me to do what I wanted - read books and talk about them - was to go back to my original career goal of being an English teacher. Being able to correct people's grammar and spelling is just an added bonus for me.

So it was decided! Well, after a few weeks of working VERY hard to bring Henry around to the idea. He wasn't so keen on me going back to school while he is still in school. I must admit, it will be a challenge for our little family, but I think it will be completely worth it. He was hesitant at first but is now being incredibly supportive. We think it will be fun having both of us in school - I'm imagining a wintry day with our books and papers spread across a table at the library.

After doing a fair bit of research, we decided the best option was for me to attend Montana State University here in Bozeman. Since I already have my B.A., I am enrolled as a non - degree seeking graduate student, meaning I will just be taking the coursework to get my Montana teacher's license. I decided to take three semesters rather than two to complete the coursework. Two semesters would have been possible but extremely difficult. After I complete the coursework, I will do my semester of student teaching and be ready to go! Then the next challenge will be finding a job as an English teacher in a town with only one high school....we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

The next challenge was deciding what to do about a job. I needed a job that would be flexible with a school schedule and still allow me to work forty hours a week. Also, we really wanted to avoid having me take a waitress job or something that could have me working nights and weekends so that I would be able to see my husband every now and then. Through the course of my research, I learned that if you are an employee of MSU, they happen to pay a certain amount of tuition for you!! Woo hoo!!! There just happened to be an opening that I thought I would be a good fit for and they agreed! I made it through the fairly stringent hiring process and now work at MSU as a program coordinator for the Residence Life department. To sum up the job in a very small nutshell, I help coordinate student's housing and administer stuff. I've only been there about two weeks so I am still learning exactly what it is I do and so far I am really enjoying it. I enjoy doing something new and the people I work with are very nice. The culture at MSU is really nice too - so many employees there are going to school and they are so supportive of people furthering their education and finding careers that truly make you happy. I love it. It's such a positive environment and I've already received such wonderful feedback. I feel appreciated and that was not the case at my last job. They actually told me that in the first three days, I had learned and taken on what they expected me to do in two weeks. That made me feel good.

So that is the major life change we have had in the last two months! I start school on August 30th and I'm really looking forward to continuing my new adventure. I feel so much happier already and can't wait to see what the future holds!