I remember having so much to say about this when it first happened, and I'm sure I'll have more to say about it in another post. But right now, I just want to get caught up. So, for now I will just say that after Hamburg, Tom and I went to California for Arron's wedding. While we were there Tom got the news that he was being offered a job at Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City, Utah. This was THE BEST NEWS EVER.
He had applied for the job while we were in Hamburg after finding that he had an old friend working there. It seemed like forever passed before we finally got word and we had started to worry. After looking for well over a year for a job, ANY job it is difficult to express just how happy, relieved, giddy and grateful we were to be finally getting that news. And on top of it, it was a REAL job!
The interesting thing is that, while it was wonderful for him to get a job, I remember also feeling a bit scared and uncomfortable, which I hadn't expected at all. It was scary because it was such a big commitment and because we were so used to always being together (way more than most couples) and because it made us into normal settled down folks. Actually, for Tom it was scary for other reasons - this is just me. We were so used to being nomads and so much of our personality had begun to be tied up in that (and still is). To be one of those people with an established job, who lived in the same place for years was (is) just so foreign to us. We didn't (don't) know how to be those people. I hope that doesn't sound offensive to anyone. I don't mean it in a negative way, I just mean that it was different than what our experience had been. And, to be honest, there IS a part of us that doesn't want to live that type of life. It's not that we view it as a lesser kind of life, it's just that it isn't us. Anyway, more on that in another post, because it truly deserves it own post.
The "uncomfortable" part was mostly about money. We had gotten so used to the simplicity (in certain ways) of being destitute. When you have no money, it's easy to decide whether or not to buy something - the answer is no. At first that's hard (and to a limited extent it always is), but after a while you get pretty used to it and it becomes easy. Easy in the same way that after moving 20 times de-cluttering becomes easy. Actually, both situations require you to severely limit the amount of "stuff" you buy. If you know your'e going to move in the next few months, you're probably not going to buy real furniture. It will be painful and make you flinch when you have to give it up. Also, if you have no money, you're not going to buy real furniture because it will be painful and make you flinch to not be able to pay rent.
So, to all of a sudden have disposable income (although, let's be honest, we still don't have THAT much disposable income...) and to be stationary for the foreseeable future is actually a bit of an unpleasant shock. At least it was to me. It was REALLY hard to get out of the mindset that we couldn't afford anything. It was hard not to stress about every single little tiny purchase. Like, can we really afford to buy another stick of eyeliner? I could just skip make-up from now on. Although, let's be honest, I still do anyway...Plus, now that we have the option of saving for retirement and saving for a house and saving for another car and saving for a new computer and saving for everything imaginable, we have to actually make decisions about whether to do so and how much money to put toward it all.
It's been equally hard to even know how to put down roots. I'm so used to feeling like I'm only going to know the people around me for 6 months that it just blows my mind every time I realize that, that's likely not the case here. And I've gotten into such a cycle with places that I'm already starting to think about where we might move next even though it probably won't be for at least a FEW years. What do I do with myself for YEARS in the SAME place? How do I get so that I'm not so acutely aware of the passage of EACH month? That kind of behavior is ok when you are only going to be somewhere for a few months, but when you'll be there for years, it's maddening.
Alright, enough of my thoughts. To finish up with the catching up, Tom took the job and we moved into the basement of Tom's parents' house. They don't live here right now because they are mission presidents abroad. But, Tom's sister Emily, and her husband and baby girl live upstairs. We like it here and are pretty content, but have started saving for a house. So, hopefully we'll be moving into our first house in another year or less. That should pacify my addiction to moving at least a bit. Maybe we'll get a fixer-upper so that I can distract my obsessive brain and give it something to do.
As for the job, Tom is performing anti-money-laundering investigations. It's something he's been interested in for a while, so he finds it really interesting. Some days he loves it and some days not so much. The downside is mainly the loooooong hours. The upsides are that it's interesting and that they offer GREAT benefits. Oh, and that it's a JOB.
The End
