Grab your glitter by the balls!

So not all that has gone on over the last 4 years has been awful and do you know when things got better? When I decided that in life you can’t trust anyone who says they have all of the answers, when I decided to grab my glitter by the balls. (disclaimer: I love glitter so by glitter!) So we’re going to fast forward to March 2, 2015 and we had been feverishly applying to every job that Chuck qualified for. We had been for months and we were running out of hope when I decided that even though we were living in New Hampshire (there was a move between the last entry and this one) I wanted to be back in Portland. I wanted to be there for the rest of my life. There was a federal job open in Portland that Chuck qualified for and it was set to close in a few hours so I decided what did we have to lose?

The following week he got a phone call for a phone interview. A week later an interview and then wait began. We came up with backup plans. He was working at a Walmart distribution center in the meantime but it did not pay the bills. Caroline was still only 2 and we had no way to afford childcare. So he began working out details for a plan b, call Walmarts in Oregon and see about becoming an assistant store manager as close to Portland as we could get. And oddly enough, they were interested without ever having met him but the details would take a lot of ironing out if they were going to be able to make it work. Fast forward to April 13th and as Chuck was driving to his 3rd shift job at the distribution center he calls me to ask if I’m ready to move to Portland. I thought he was playing a prank on me but he wasn’t. The job was his. He would start May 18th.

We donated, sold, and threw away memories. We made our girls part with momentos because we only had the ability to take what would fit in our one car and what could be put in boxes and shipped via Amtrak. But they took it well and the week before my 34th birthday we pulled into the place that had always felt like home.

Since May 18th, 2015 and now Chuck has finished the majority of his Business degree. I completed my associates degree. I’m working on my bachelor’s degree. The girls fell in love with Portland. I took both girls to their first concert, The Cure and had the best time of my life. Then I got to take them to see Depeche Mode as a family. Highlight of my life!

We have since moved up to the Seattle area, which I was definitely not happy about but in the end it was the right decision because as of right now the federal agency Chuck was working with is being dismantled slowly and who knows what will be of it in the next 3 years. However, we may actually be on our way back to Portland. The new agency he’s at LOVES him and a position opened in Portland at their headquarters and his boss said that the boss down in Portland wants Chuck down there as soon as possible. Granted, it’s a federal position so there are legal steps that must be taken first so that it’s fair and transparent. He has to run off to Utah and DC in February for training so hopefully by the end of February he’ll know something concrete. If I had my way we’d hear something next week but I’m certainly not the most patient of people.

I dream of being back in our old neighborhood. Walking the girls to school. Getting a JOB. Conversations with adults. Making a financial contribution to our household. Saving up to buy our girls a house. Setting up roots. And NO MORE MOVING LONG DISTANCE EVER AGAIN!

So for those on my facebook friends list….that’s what we are crossing our fingers for! Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone!