Monday, August 18, 2008

First Edmond Door Shut

Although I have not received official word, I did not get the job I applied for in Edmond. We’re a little bummed about it and now we are back to the proverbial drawing board. Oh, how we wanted this to work out! This just sets the stage for something better to come along, right? I think it was good for me to look for other jobs and for us to consider moving—it brought up a lot of things for us to discuss.

What are our plans now? We have no idea, and we couldn’t come up with anything last night as we stared at the ceiling. It makes sense to stay here for the next two years to get my license, and it makes sense to move away from a place we do not see ourselves raising a family. We’ll try to keep you updated…

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Ramblings of an Unemployed Twentysomething...

As I sit in a coffee shop on a Wednesday afternoon, I am amazed at what a happening place this is & how many other people around me aren’t at work/school either. I’ve seen everything from old friends reuniting to a nun checking out the classifieds. I overheard a girl complaining about her job & realized that used to be me. From my experience, living life hating your job & having to commute in rush hour traffic on a daily basis is much more stressful than not having a job. However, feeling like you’re constantly in transition & having your spouse support you fully is tough & even earth shattering after awhile.

This is the part in my twentysomething life that I’m supposed to decide whether to focus on my career, travel around the world, have kids…the world is my oyster, right? So why does it seem so difficult not to get caught up in all the “responsibilities” of adulthood - health insurance, 401Ks, upgrading your house/cars/tvs etc? Would I be happier if I were sitting in a coffee shop in Auckland, Dublin or Colorado Springs - maybe? Would my life be complete if Ben & I created a new life & we would be able to experience everything in a whole new light - maybe?

I believe that relationships with people matter - stuff doesn’t. So why do we all go to work everyday to make more money to have more stuff? I know there’s a healthy balance of being responsible & not becoming a workaholic. Ideally, Ben & I would both have part-time jobs to support ourselves, yet also have time to enjoy more of life instead of spending it being at work. Ideally, ideally, we would both have part-time jobs that we loved, were passionate about & could make enough money to travel the world in all our spare time.

Mostly, during the past couple of months people have given me advice like, “just enjoy this time you have off,” which I am happy to say that I am so I hope these thoughts don’t come across as, “whoa is me, my life sucks.” A journey of self-discovery is better than no journey at all & I am happy to have the opportunity.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

DMB and TP

This week is concert week for the Benicas. Saturday night we went to a Dave Matthews Band concert at Autozone Park in Memphis. At 7PM when Willie Nelson was opening for him, the heat index was 105. By the end of the concert at 11PM, the heat index was down to 100. But isn’t that how you imagine a DMB concert should be? Everyone was sweating bullets and cheering everytime there was a breeze. The concert was awesome and we both fulfilled our dream of going to one of his concerts. When someone like the DMB comes to town, we try to go, because it is rare to have a concert of that magnitude in Memphis.

Tomorrow, we will be in St. Louis for a Tom Petty concert. This will be our third Tom Petty concert together and we are pumped! We’re going with some good friends who love the TP as well. Monica scored us some great seats, and we are ready to hear some awesome music. That will conclude our concert season for the year (one whole week).