I always wanted to live outside of Iowa. I met my husband, an Iowa native, who wanted to forever call his hometown of Iowa City his home. I loved my husband more than the idea of living outside of Iowa and quickly grew into a settled life.
Settled can have so many meanings. Dictionary.com defines settled as:
1. To put into order; arrange or fix definitely as desired.
2. To put firmly into a desired position or place; establish.
Settled to others can have connotations of staying in the same house, same job, same routines.
We changed houses more frequently than we changed cars. Being a consultant, my husband changed jobs like some go on vacations—annually, semiannually, etc. I remember getting off unusually early one day from work, walking into the house and seeing my husband sitting at his computer. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. I just said, “You quit your job, didn’t you?” He said “Yep.” I gave him a kiss hello and realized, that was that, things would work out and went on my business.
No, we never lived a settled life, by any definition. I’m still trying to figure it out, but I think upon agreeing to stay in Iowa part of me began to expect the settled life. Instead, I was hit head-on by the express train en route to the land of Adventure.
“I’m unhappy.” It takes a strong person to state those two words. It takes a strong person to listen to those two words. But from that statement, we discussed how a longing for a change in location had begun to take root.
My husband, Ben, had applied to two jobs—one in Nashville, one in Austin—and received offers to both. We researched and talked and talked and researched about the pros and cons of each location. We came to the conclusion, as had many others, it was a tough choice and we couldn’t be unhappy with either. Ultimately, we chose Austin because it was closer to family, the ocean, Big Bend National Park and had many more opportunities for future employment.
We notified our landlord in advance of the 30-day requirement, utility companies and employers. Long story short, the job fell through, our townhouse already had a tenant lined up behind us. We were faced with deciding on “Should we ask for our jobs back, find another place to live and continue on with our life here?” or “Should we just move to Austin, hope we find a job and live in our camper until we found a place to live?” We decided we should take a leap, move and hope things would work out.
Ben began working remotely for his previous employer. He hoped they would keep him long enough until he found a job in Austin. Instead, they signed a contract for him to work remotely.
And so I begin my story…
We changed houses more frequently than we changed cars. Being a consultant, my husband changed jobs like some go on vacations—annually, semiannually, etc. I remember getting off unusually early one day from work, walking into the house and seeing my husband sitting at his computer. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. I just said, “You quit your job, didn’t you?” He said “Yep.” I gave him a kiss hello and realized, that was that, things would work out and went on my business.
No, we never lived a settled life, by any definition. I’m still trying to figure it out, but I think upon agreeing to stay in Iowa part of me began to expect the settled life. Instead, I was hit head-on by the express train en route to the land of Adventure.
“I’m unhappy.” It takes a strong person to state those two words. It takes a strong person to listen to those two words. But from that statement, we discussed how a longing for a change in location had begun to take root.
My husband, Ben, had applied to two jobs—one in Nashville, one in Austin—and received offers to both. We researched and talked and talked and researched about the pros and cons of each location. We came to the conclusion, as had many others, it was a tough choice and we couldn’t be unhappy with either. Ultimately, we chose Austin because it was closer to family, the ocean, Big Bend National Park and had many more opportunities for future employment.
We notified our landlord in advance of the 30-day requirement, utility companies and employers. Long story short, the job fell through, our townhouse already had a tenant lined up behind us. We were faced with deciding on “Should we ask for our jobs back, find another place to live and continue on with our life here?” or “Should we just move to Austin, hope we find a job and live in our camper until we found a place to live?” We decided we should take a leap, move and hope things would work out.
Ben began working remotely for his previous employer. He hoped they would keep him long enough until he found a job in Austin. Instead, they signed a contract for him to work remotely.
And so I begin my story…
