I CAN’T BELIEVE IT EITHER.
If I had a nickel for every time we moved because of Mike’s job, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.
At our going away party, I remember telling friends that we would for sure be back in 2-5 years when we had kids. I hear raising kids without your friends and fam is hard. Did I jinx myself?
We Fell in Love with Asheville
It didn’t take long to fall head over heels for the artsy, hospitable, and free-spirited style of living in Asheville, NC. We are 4 hours to Charleston, Nashville, and Savannah, surrounded by National Parks, and 2 hours to Charlotte. The perfect location for day trips. Waking up to a “pinch me” view. Ummm…we were in heaven! So I thought lol.
Our community welcomed us with a get-together, we joined a church, I was loving the creative blogger company downtown, and everything was going perfectly. I even started going barefoot and stopped wearing a bra. JK JK. I’m not that Asheville.
Mike was loving his job, and he had a great schedule of one week on/off, so we spent the week off exploring the town and hiking.
We were happier than we had been in a while, and we even thought for 2 weeks we were ready to start a family, LOL. Thank you Lord for looking out because that kid would come out with 3 legs and 4 personalities at a minimum. I don’t know how I would survive this 3rd big move in 8 months without wine. So, everything was blissful until…
I Got a New Porsche….You’re Fired
The week of Thanksgiving. Mike’s boss called him. In one breath, he said he bought a new Porsche and also the group was cutting hours or one employee entirely. Mike is the group’s newest employee. Immediately, he knew his job was in trouble either way. That’s how we ended up in Asheville; Mike’s hours were slashed in Virginia Beach.
We talked about the what ifs and Mike started applying to other jobs. We decided that no matter what, we would keep our home and stay in Asheville. Being long-distance and then moving from Baltimore to Virginia Beach to now Ashe hasn’t exactly been easy, so if we could make it easier by staying in one place…so be it. Mike said he would work at a methadone clinic. Anything. 🙃
2020 + Holiday Season = Bad Time for Applying
The day before Thanksgiving, Mike was told that he would no longer be employed on March 1. As you know, hiring in 2020 is impossible to begin with. Pair that with hiring around the holiday season? Forget it. Then, both of my parents were in the hospital within the same week, so I went up to Virginia for a few weeks.
During that time, Mike was offered a job in Asheville, and he turned it down. He decided that he only wanted to work in Emergency Medicine as he has been fellowship trained. So, he applied for EM jobs from Montana to Florida. That is one thing I love about him. When he knows what he wants, he goes after it. Full gusto.
Change of Plans
On my end, I thought we were still doing anything to stay in Asheville. I was staying up until 1 am finding jobs, was in the final stages of an interview with a very well-known medical device company, networking with all of my medical device affiliates to find other opportunities, applying to stock shelves at Target, upping my blog, Etsy, pitching to companies, anything.
What is Chelsea Doing for Work?
Once again, we were in this place of “how do I even know where to apply for a job”? 😬 A few weeks after we got here, I turned down a J&J job that was listed in Asheville but the territory was really in Greenville. The guy liked me so much that he wanted to hire me! I couldn’t leave Mike/spend that much time away from him, so I turned it down.
People ask Mike the time…so what is Chelsea doing for work? I’m like umm this blog and Etsy are a job! Some people in the medical field think anything outside is “less than” and I get it. I think most people are genuinely just curious, but from applying to PA school to blogging to ortho sales, it looks like my path has been a little sporadic. However, for the past 8 months now, we have been on the move. So, I grew a successful Etsy shop out of that. Go “heart” the shop if you want to show support!
Interviews All over the Country…AGAIN
We traveled to Fayetteville, NC for one of Mike’s interviews at Cape Fear. I watched the inauguration by myself in a hotel room and talked on the phone with a realtor. I thought….what the heck is going on with our lives? Where are we going to live?
He had countless zoom interviews and almost took a job in Tennessee. And then I thought he was taking a job on an Cherokee NC an hour away (and we’d still move). It has been a *journey*.
Finally a Contract
Until the moment Mike signed his contract in Hampton Roads, I literally had no idea what was going on. He didn’t know either, he just wanted to make the best decision for his career. I was hoping (and verbalizing) he would change his mind about applying for a job in Asheville. Any temporary PA gig to get us through this rough COVID patch until a full time job opened up in EM. I think there are going to be ups and downs no matter what. Especially in this economy, but I believe in sticking in one place and riding out the storm. Buttt that is where we are different. And that’s ok!
I want to lay down roots and have a family. I want to be part of a community. BUTTT I’m very uncertain about how/when/what that is going to look like. 🙃
Two Weeks!
In two weeks, we will be back in Virginia. I’d say for good but at this rate, who knows? Mike’s new job is in Hampton, and he will be using all of his encyclopedia brain knowledge to lead a group of PAs. Despite this not being an ideal situation, we are so blessed that he was offered a job near my hometown because if he wasn’t, we would be moving wherever he got a job in EM! Also, we haven’t found a place to live yet. Houses are going so fast in this market!
Asheville is truly a gem, and I will treasure every single day that we were blessed to call it home.
On to the next chapter. More details to come.
xx, Chels
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