The night when things are on my mind.

I know I posted earlier about all the things I was thinking of, and how my mind was going crazy. Unfortunately, that is also happening tonight.

However, I am at least this time a bit farther than I was in that last post. There have been developments that are actually causing my brain to sort things out, one at a time.

The interview I had a few days ago turned into a job offer, only it's part-time rather than full because my interviewer was unable to decide between me and another candidate, so he's asking us if we could share the job. I won't get insurance, but I'd be making enough money (even though it's part-time) to afford health insurance on my own, as well as the 30-minute commute one-way to the job itself. I would only have to work 8-12 every day, or only three days a week from 8-4:30. Before accepting, Nick and I are going to pray about it the next few days, and I also need to ask my potential employer whether or not I would be able to ask for days off if I needed them.

The idea floating through my mind at this point is that if I accept the job, I will be under contract until May of next year. This would allow Nick and I sufficient time to find jobs in Colorado, and for me to decide whether or not grad school is for me, and what I'd study, and where I'd go. In addition, we'd be able to see our friends for longer, the ones who have graduated with me and the ones who are still in college this coming year. In May, most of our friends plan to move out of Iowa, anyway, and we are all thinking of moving to Colorado together. Nick is also thinking this is the best course for our lives right now.

If I don't accept this job, we'd have to work extra-hard to get jobs in Colorado, and save as much as we could to move soon. Though we'd like to be in Colorado because we think it's beautiful, we have little money to move, and even less to start a new life in the state's slightly more expensive economy. We're willing to risk a few hard months at first if we had jobs, but at this point we don't. So not accepting this job offer in Iowa could be potentially devastating to our careers, finances, and overall quality of life.

I may be able to go to another country to teach English, if the program that I joined/got accepted by paid for almost all our expenses. However, the only connections I have at this point are all in Asia, and Nick is very wary of the stability and safety of Asian countries. I'm trying to convince him that it probably won't be that bad, because many students and universities in Asian countries really want English speakers to come and instruct them. Also, South Korea has a strong Reformed background in certain parts, and I have two connections to universities there where some fellow college alumni are currently teaching. They say it's a great experience, and the quality and cost of life is pretty much like living in a decent apartment in the States.

At this point, Nick and I are focusing mainly on the job offer I got here in Iowa. Neither of us know we can really get anywhere or advance in our desired career fields with the jobs we have/will have, but it's a stable start that will help us pay off our loans as well as save for a move and/or grad school. I don't think we should try to ask for more than that.