I Need a Plan

It's another WINDY day in Wendover - if you can believe it!  Days like today really motivate me to search for another job in a different place.  Alan and I would really love to move back to the Southern Box Elder/Norther Weber County areas.  It feels like home and we'd be closer to my family, our friends, shopping, medical facilities, etc.  Living in Wendover is quite inconvenient and it feels like another world out here.  Let me be clear about my situation, I am very grateful for the experience of living here and the benefits it has provided me and my family.  The community has been a relatively safe place for us to raise our son up until the last year or so.  Our mortgage is bearable, we got a good handle on our finances, and we have paid off a lot of "baggage" debt that we would never had been able to overcome without living out here.  Moving to Wendover has allowed Alan, Trey and I to escape a lot of drama that would have been too distracting had we lived in Tremonton.  And living close to Alan's family has taught us what family really is.  I've cleared my head of emotional baggage and gotten a degree in Family Life Studies.  There are so many lessons I have learned while living here and I am grateful for them all, and now I am almost ready to move home.

So what's holding me back?  One reason is that I am AFRAID of what will happen with my son once we move.  A major benefit Alan and I have here is that I can take him to school in the morning and Alan can pick him up after school.  Both of our jobs are very flexible so if there is an emergency we are able to leave and handle it.  What will it be like when we move?  Will one of us still be able to take care of our son?  We are both concerned that he will be a "latch-key" child and neither of us want that.  We want Trey to know that he is so important and special to us and we need to know he is safe.  Financially I am a little worried because I'm not sure what our income will be once we move there.  Although, we do have some control over this so my worries about money are almost non-existent.  Ideally, I would love to see Alan get a high paying job (more than $60,000 a year) so I can work part-time with families allowing me to be passionate about my job while taking care of Trey.   As he gets older, I don't think I would mind advancing to a full-time position.

Another "road block" I have ran into is there aren't many good paying jobs in the field of study my degree is in.  My goal is to make $20/hour or more at a 3/4 or full-time position.  Money is important to me not because I want so many "things" but because I want to be able to give charitably to others and to take care of my husband, Trey, and my parents if they ever need it.  I don't really want or need material things.  With a Bachelor's Degree I could probably do other things than work with families; however, I feel so passionate about this and it is something I would like to share with others.  I want to teach them from my mistakes and learn with them about how to create a better life as individuals and families.  From what I have seen, there seem to be few jobs available for this type of career and it is something I really want.  I am very grateful for my education, I didn't only go into it to get a piece of paper, I went into this field of study so I could help myself - and boy has it worked! 

It isn't crucial to move right now; Alan is still in college and I'd really hate to add the stress of moving onto his plate.  I think we'd both really like to move within the next year and a half.  He should be finished with college by the end of spring/summer next year.  I can wait that long.  Waiting isn't really the problem, I think the problem I'm running into right now is how to prepare for the next step.  How do I become marketable?  How do I become knowledgable in the field I have studied?  I'm already knowledgable, but I want to really interest, motivate and teach people.  What requirements to these types of jobs have?  How do I meet those?  How do I practice those things in Wendover with such a limited audience? 

Some thoughts on what I can do right now are to check with USU in Tooele about offering classes in Wendover and see if I could instruct them.  I can check the Family Life Educator website to learn how to become certified.  It wouldn't hurt to check with the USU career help website to see how they can help to find a new job.  I really want to talk with Alan over the next week to learn what he would like to do for his career so we can learn what he needs to be marketable.  And finally, we need a vision. 

My vision, or goals for the next two years:

• Move to Box Elder/Weber County
• Have a 4 bedroom + home in a safe, supportive neighborhood
• Have an income of $80K a year or more
• I want to be in a career position of working with families in ways I am passionate about
• To continue to be financially stable
• Trey is protected and loved and we are there to support him before and after school
• Trey is in a school which encourages and supports his academic level of learning
• Alan has found a job which he enjoys, has weekends off and works day shift; taking little time away from his family
• Spend more time with friends & family (mom, dad, California people, etc.) & have fun
• For all of us to continue to be healthy and active

Please God, and all my readers, support me and help me find a way to make these things happen.