Going to Colorado...

I thought I wanted to live in the same city as Jason. It was a large city, and I thought finding a job there would be a piece of cake! I mean, there are thousands of people there, lots of places to work, right? Well, there are...I'm sure. But after a year of searching in that huge metropolitan area, I hadn't found anything.

Well, yes, I was offered a job at a department store for minimum wage. And I had several good interviews for positions that I wanted and thought I would be good at. But none of them panned out or came through for me. I got really frustrated and determined at the same time. Why was I not able to get a job here?, I thought to myself.

My sponsor, meanwhile, was telling me that maybe it's not meant to be. Well, I said to her, that's not possible! I'm going to be with this man, whether or not it's meant to be!! HA! That's not a good attitude to take, I found out later. God has a sense of humor. He will also let me do what I want to do for as long as I want to!

It finally came to me that maybe I should expand my search a bit. I had always, in the back of my mind, wanted to live in Colorado. When we lived in Denver during my growing up years, we, my whole family, had fallen in love with the mountains and the climate. I knew that someday I wanted to go back there! So I expanded my search. I looked at journalismjobs.com, the website for journalists, and found several jobs in Colorado. I think I sent my resume out to Cortez, Steamboat Springs, Craig and maybe one other place.

The publisher in Cortez snapped it up, called me, and asked if I could interview for the Mancos Times editor job! I thought - wow! That was easy! I told Jason about it, and he was non-commital. He said, It's your choice and you've always wanted to live there. I think you should go for it!

So I did!

I drove out there in January to interview for the job. I met the publisher, and met a few of the people who work there and met the current editor. I liked everything I saw,  I liked the area and decided I would take the job if they offered it to me. On the way out there, the roads were clear despite the snow everywhere and I thought it would be an easy trip.

Well, they offered me the job!

Since Jason didn't say to me, "Just stay, honey!", or "Please don't go!", I decided I would go. After all, I needed to do what was best for me. I had been single for a while and knew that I was the only one who was going to look after me! I couldn't wait for, or rely on, a man to tell me what to do. And, I thought to myself, he wasn't going to beg me to stay!

It was emotionally hard, though, to leave what was familiar to me. The house that I lived in in Kansas, with my daughter, was one that I had known for a while. The town was familiar. My friends were familiar. Here I was, going off to a place where I knew nobody, where the job was all that was taking me out there, and leaving everything that I knew. And leaving my daughter was going to be especially hard!

Well, at the time, after living with her for several years, and raising her on my own since she was 16, I was ready to go. I think we both needed to have some space to ourselves and to live on our own. It was hard, but I did it.

I packed my car with all that would fit in it. I made arrangements by email to stay in a place near Mancos that was furnished and close. I said goodbye to all my friends...and said that I would see them again soon.

And off I went to my new job, my new life, and my new experiences!!