The Long Story Behind What's Next for Us

We've had many people jokingly ask us if we're ready to return to "real life". Frankly, that's annoying. We are currently living real life. Our sabbatical is not a fake life; it is part of our ongoing real life. Doing something different than the norm does not make it unreal or less life-like. Okay, rant over. Don't worry. Even if you've used that phrase, we still love you. 


Understandably we've also been getting a lot of sincere questions about what's next for us after our sabbatical ends. Figuring all that out hasn't been as smooth a transition as we expected. We did a lot of intensive planning for many parts of our sabbatical year, but it didn't occur to us to have a real plan in place for finishing the sabbatical. I guess over a year ago when we were first beginning this sabbatical, we kind of thought the end would just naturally fall into place. That has not happened. And, we are not very easy-going when it comes to transition and change. Would having an exit plan helped? Can you really plan for such a thing? Maybe. Maybe not. 


Regardless, we now have some direction that we're going to share with you. When I lay it out, I'm sure it'll sound fairly simple and logical. But, it's undeniable that to get to this place it's taken a lot of time, frustration, stress, communication, decision-making, sleeplessness, and tears. That's not fun to have to admit and write. We wanted our sabbatical to end peacefully, happily, and restfully. But, we want to remember these tough times. Maybe we'll do a sabbatical of sorts again sometime, and we'll want to look back on this to think about what we could do differently. 


I'll start with Brandon's job, because if I remember correctly that's what we figured out first. Whether or not Brandon went back to TechSmith and whether or not he could work remote would affect our next decisions. This put a bit of pressure on him, and he took some time and very thoughtfully made his decision. We're happy to say that Brandon is returning to TechSmith. We're so thankful for their support of this sabbatical year, and it's a blessing that Brandon will still be able to work remotely. 


With Brandon being able to work remote, we had to decide where to live. I can get a job pretty much anywhere, so that didn't help narrow things down at all. Throughout this sabbatical, we've definitely learned the value of community. As this has been a recurring theme, we decided we needed to invest in our Grand Rapids community for at least the next year. We've definitely felt that pull to move to another state or do something more exotic. But, we've more strongly felt the pull of community and, quite honestly, stability and routine. We believe that God has placed in our hearts to be in Grand Rapids for the time-being, and we'll see what happens. 


I have been yearning for a place to call our own for some time. I've also been wanting to return to the physical therapy world. Brandon can work from home, but I need to go into work. So, we wanted to live close to where I worked. That meant finding a job in the Grand Rapids area before finding a place to live. 


I have been conflicted about whether to look for more permanent work or a travel physical therapy job. Coming off all of the travel in the past year tipped the scales a bit more towards a permanent position. I started my search by finding private practices online and judging the quality of the potential workplace by the information on their website. These places didn't list job openings, but I've learned that isn't always important. I sent my resume to six different places, and then decided to contact one more clinic before being done for the week and waiting it out. One responded back with interest, and as it turned out, it was that one final clinic I had sent my resume to. They were interested in hiring someone part-time to start, which is exactly what I was looking for, and I ended up doing a phone interview on the spot. I've said for the past year that I'd like to find a part-time position to see how I could beneficially use that extra time outside of work and seek more work-life balance. The whole thing seemed providential. 


The job still didn't come to us perfectly easy. The company and I had a few communication issues, and there was some negotiating to do. But, I am pleased to announce that I have a job at Owens Physical Therapy in Grand Rapids. I begin working 20 hours a week in October. I am so excited to join a team that is passionate about quality patient care with a commitment to one-on-one, 45+ minute sessions. I'm going to be able to continue to learn there, and I'll be able to teach my co-workers a few things as well. 


Now onto a place to live. First, I have to profusely thank our friends again for kindly hosting us in our homelessness. It especially hasn't been easy for me to not have a place of our own. I feel bad asking for favors all the time and having to make our stays dependent on others. But, our friends have been so wonderfully gracious. And, it's actually turned into a joy staying with them. It's certainly great to see each other on a daily basis and spend more time together, and I'm now saddened to leave these times together behind. 


Finding a place to live was more difficult than we anticipated. We knew that we were spoiled with our rental and landlord in Holland, but I guess we didn't fully realize the extent of our spoiling. Being spoiled by this previous experience made every rental in Grand Rapids feel like we had to settle in some way. On top of that, rental prices in Grand Rapids have spiked in the last year. We had wanted to rent a single family home for ourselves, but with the spiked pricing we began to see that would not be an option. We would prefer live below our means and use that extra rent money in other ways. 


When we were both looking for rentals together, we began to feed on each other's negativity and stress about the situation. To put an end to that, we decided that just one of us would have carry out the house search and report back only on rentals with high potential. I took over that role, and I think it worked; our negativity and stress did decrease. I wish I could say that I also was able to find our ideal place to live, but I cannot. In the end, we did just have to choose a place and settle. 


So, we now have a place to live. The major negatives are that the place is on a second floor (our couch won't fit up there), and that it's kind of in a dead spot in terms of easy access to highways. It's also in the city limits, so we have to pay city income tax. But, rather than dwelling on the negatives, I'd like to focus on the positives. One positive is that the space is pretty large, so we should be able to entertain and host parties. In addition, we have two bedrooms, which should make it much easier to host people. We love having visitors, so please come! We're also located in Eastown, which has a lot of good food and hip culture for visitors to come and appreciate. It should be a fun area for us to live in and explore. We're also happy that we're renting from an actual couple rather than a property agency. Our landlords seem like good people to work with, and they kindly lowered our rent $50 a month when we asked if the price was negotiable. Another plus is that we have a carport, so snow will be less of hassle for me when leaving for work in the winter. And, a final positive is that our lease is less than a year. Our landlords requested that the renewal or end date be August 1, since it's a better time for them to move tenants in and out. This works for us. We'll take advantage of our time in Eastown, but if we want to buy or look for something better/different we aren't locked into a full year. 


So, those are the details. We're now doing all the time-consuming, menial adulting stuff of setting up gas, electric, trash, and internet, and ironing out job details. It's kind of an anti-climatic way for our sabbatical to finish. But, how is a sabbatical supposed to finish? Whether on sabbatical or not, we're just living our real life. Thanks for following along.