Goals

Tim and I have been really examining our goals lately… career, family, life; it’s all interconnected and it’s all being discussed.

There are a few things we’ve been talking about that I’m excited about.

1. Travel
We have been wanting to go to Korea to visit our friends who are currently working/going to school there. This year we’ve made it a priority, and we are fully planning on going. We’ve tentatively selected 2 weeks in October that would coincide with our 5th anniversary. This all sounds fantastic, until we realized it’s June and we haven’t yet started saving for this trip. Oops!

We have also been wanting to do more traveling within the USA. We have friends living all over the country that we haven’t had a chance to see in several years. Taking into account the fact our families are also spread throughout Minnesota, Illinois, and Florida, we definitely need to get out there!

2a. Living Situation
Our current living situation is not ideal. Currently, we are living with my parents. Luckily, there is essentially a studio apartment in the basement with a separate entrance from the rest of the house. While the current situation is mutually beneficial – we get to have a roof over our heads and food to eat; my parents get to have a house/dog sitter while they are traveling – at some point (hopefully soon!) we would like to get back into our own place.

2b. Where to Live
With my folks in Minnesota constantly traveling (leaving their dog behind), and Tim’s family in Illinois with potential health issues, knowing where to live has been a challenge.

We moved from Illinois to Minnesota in August of 2015. We both had good jobs and were on track to paying off debt so we could buy a house. ….Until Tim’s contract ended sooner than anticipated. We were still able to get by on my income, but I was not as happy in my current job as I thought I would be which is why I left in August 2016.

Pair all of this with Tim finding out his mom isn’t doing so well, and we have ourselves a conundrum.

Right now, we are planning on moving back to Illinois for at least 18 months so Tim can be closer to his family.

3. Career
Remember how I said #1 was to travel? We have decided we need to make working remotely and telecommuting a priority in our job searches.

Traveling has been a difficult priority to put in place since I quit my full-time Marketing Director job in August 2016, and Tim quit his job at the post office this past April. We have been making ends meet by working at and subbing in the local school district which has been fantastic for the time being. Unfortunately, summer is here. That means no work. Yikes!

I have been lucky enough to pick up freelance/consulting work in web design and writing, but right now it’s not quite enough to live on.

4. Family
We would love to start our own family. I have a few problems on my end that really need to get checked out, but I don’t have any insurance to do so. Having a baby without insurance is also a pretty good way to go bankrupt, I would guess, so this really needs to go on the back burner while we get a few other things figured out.

So we will see what happens. We have a lot going on, and a lot of places we feel we need to be. First thing’s first, though – let’s get better jobs! 😀