In All Seriousness

So I assume most of you remember that we're waiting to see where Joseph gets a teaching job this fall. While he graduated in December, there weren't really any job listings until mid May, at which point we began applying to all the places we thought looked like great places to live. Places in Oregon like Astoria, Hood River, Coos Bay and others. We applied to positions in Wyoming like Riverton or the Star Valley area, places I'd visited before and which payed really well! We looked in Colorado, and a handful in Utah, Idaho, Texas and other surrounding states.

With each place we applied to I would do research, so I could feel like I was accomplishing something instead of just waiting. We'd look at street views of each town on google maps, check prices on moving trucks, even look up houses for sale and pick out neighborhoods that look good. There are several towns now with which I feel familiar enough that I could give you a guided tour, even though I've never been there in the flesh!

Unfortunately, one by one these jobs closed and we weren't chosen for the position. So we started applying to teaching positions in less ideal locales: smaller towns, harsher climates, further from family. We got all excited about one close by in Idaho, then we learned that this one too has been filled, just this week.

This has been especially frustrating for Joseph, as he was told that as a male educator in Elementary Education, he should get a job right away with no problems. Not to mention that he had good grades and was loved by all the teachers he substituted for all last semester!

But still we're waiting! I think a big problem is all the unemployed teachers out there right now. One site Joseph uses seems to be showing how many people are applying for each job, and if its accurate then each place is getting over 100 applications!

Every day there are a few more positions available, and Joseph is diligently applying to them. Meanwhile, I have started packing our belongings a little at a time and we have turned in our "Intent to Vacate" form 30 days in advance like we're supposed to. They probably would've let us stay longer, but I don't want to get in trouble if we have to move at the last minute, plus its really not fair for us to live here anymore when they really need the room for new student families.

With many of our most recent options, I honestly am not too excited about living in any of those places, but I'd still be excited if we found anything, even if we just stayed there for a year! Just hopefully someplace with something bigger than a two-bedroom apartment please.

On Tuesday Joseph has an interview with a tutoring facility here in town. Its not really what he's looking to do, but he might as well keep his mind open! One of the reasons he hadn't been trying to stay here, is the horrible pollution in the Winter always makes Joseph very sick, as he has asthma, so even if he was offered the job, we don't know what we'll do about it.

So anyway, there's an update for those of you looking for some gossip. I promise I'll post as soon as we know something!