Plot Twist, or, Be Careful What You Ask For

I picked up a small, hand painted sign at Vintage Market Days, held in Colorado Springs, last week.  

I went to the market twice: once on my own and once with Rebecca!  It was an event I'd been looking forward to for a long time.

Here's that little sign:

I bought it because, there has been an unexpected development in our lives.

In writing, this is called a plot twist.

We have decided to put our beloved home on the market and move to a more urban area, North of Denver, where jobs are plentiful and pay better.

It's a move we've been contemplating for a long time,

but love of our home and reluctance to make such a change has always overridden the decision.

Until now.

As you know, Dennis has been out of work for more than 5 months.  I've been working for a temporary agency pretty steadily, but have not had a permanent job for 8 months despite applying everywhere, too.

It's not that there aren't any jobs here -- it's just that there aren't any jobs that pay living wages.

 Dennis and I have both endured being under-employed for many, many years now.

Even though it has felt, at times, degrading -- especially for Dennis -- it was a compromise we were willing to make because we loved where we lived, and hoped for something to get better.

But it hasn't gotten better, it's gotten worse.

So, we made this tough decision.

We are both very sad.

Just yesterday, we took a break from our frenzied packing to do some semi-serious looking around at properties.  It's a seller's market right now, so we are contemplating an apartment for a while.

This is actually something we don't agree on; I'd rather just buy a small house now, but Dennis wants to wait.  Stay tuned to find out which way we go!

It's a lovely area we're looking at, but it will be a huge adjustment.

Meanwhile...

I'm working a four-week temporary job, 40 hours a week, and we are trying to have our house on the market within the next two weeks!

There is MUCH to be done!

You cannot imagine how hard we've been working to get rid of clutter/stage the house!

On July 4, we will have friends over for what will likely be our last get-together in our beloved home.

Thankfully, Ben decided to come for a few days and will be here, too.

I hope you have a fun holiday as well!