It's been awhile. But I've been thinking about journaling/blogging more often and figured, why not now?
This was a big weekend for Sterling and I and I want to share the first steps of our new journey. But before that I can bring you up to speed.
When Sterling and I started dating I was at CMU and he was at MSU. We always used to say that our "long distance" relationship (an hour apart... what I would do to live an HOUR away from him now...) was preparing us for our future. We didn't know what his future held in store for him as far as the army went and I wasn't sure what I was doing with my future... but we were pretty sure that we weren't going to live together for some time.
Then we got married in July of 2010 and got to hang out for a hot minute. We didn't live together before we got married (I was finishing up my masters and he was doing some training) and we only got to live together until May in 2011. We haven't lived together since then. I've been in Lansing the whole time, he's been in Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee and Afghanistan. Probably other places too... I just forget. It's been over 4 years since I've lived with that guy and man do I miss him.
So you must imagine how excited we are that his last day in the army is in March. Like... a month away. It's so close it almost doesn't seem real. And so to prepare for his transition out of the army, Sterling has been working with a company called Cameron Brooks (hope I spelled that right). This company is awesome. They work with Sterling to figure out what kind of career (NOT JOB) would be best for him once he is out and then they go and recruit several businesses for him to interview for. We actually just got back from his interviewing conference.
This was an experience that we are both so excited and grateful for. Not many people get to go on 15 interviews in one weekend. Also, didn't mention that these companies are good. Like... Fortune 500 good. These are businesses that he can stay and make a career out of. His interviews ranged from medical device sales to management, to selling jet planes. It was awesome. Here's the thing though, we got the list of companies and found that 1 out of 15 of the jobs were located in Michigan. Serious bummer. I am almost done with school... I have one semester left of my PhD then I have 2 years of medical school left that has to be finished in Lansing. *Sigh* the separation thing again.
We decided to not look at location or salary and just have him do the best he can do at the interviews and then we will go from there. Of course he killed it. He always does amazing at things like this. He had several companies ask for follow-up interviews and we chose the top 4. Not based on location or salary but based on what he would do best at and what he would get the most fulfillment from. As hard as it is to not live together, how awful would it be to live a life of regret from not taking this opportunity? There are moments when I want to be selfish and say "no, you have to live in Michigan and just find a job where I am." But if he said that to me... Oh man would I shake my head and z-snap my fingers and say "oh no you did not just say that." We have both worked so hard to be where we are at right now. Would it have been nice to have where we are at right now be in the same geographic location? Sure. We don't want to live apart. He is my best friend. I would love to come home and tell him about my day and make him laugh with all my stupid jokes (he wouldn't laugh because my jokes are funny, but because of how funny I think my own jokes are... I'm hilarious). Neither of us would be satisfied with that though. We are both incredibly supportive to each other but both incredibly ambitious as well. It may not work for you, but this works for us. It's hard, but it's worth it.
I guess I wrote this post not to explain to everyone the transition we are going through right now, but rather to work through this in my own way. It's hard to explain to people why we live the way we do, but maybe this helps. Know that we are both happy, that we love each other a ridiculous amount and that we fully support each other in finding a career that is fulfilling and endures.
Please keep Sterling in your thoughts and prayers as he goes up for his follow-up interviews. This is such an exciting time for us and we are excited to share what happens to him in the very near future!
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