The Move In
Luka and I moved in over the last few days of 2022. The move went well and the adjustments were minimal. Me and Jeff went from 3-4 nights together to 7 and I’m happy to say it was a smooth transition for us both!
The hardest part for Jeff was having a dog after never growing up with one before. I work outside the home so Jeff has taken over doggie responsibilities from 5:00am – 6:00pm. More on that below! As for me, my commute changed drastically from my previous living situation. In the early days living together I’d come home heated after a 45-55 minute drive home. Here we are in June and I’ve settled down 🤣 Overall blessed to be living with my soul mate!
Job Search
The commute to work went from 23 minutes in the morning to 35, and my afternoon commutes became too long and nearly unbearable. I started looked at other SLP jobs in long term care within the month of moving, and I realized there’s nothing out there for me that I would be interested in. If I lost my job, I 100% could find one right away. It’s a perk of health care!
Ultimately, the risk of leaving my current facility is too high and not one I’m willing to take. The relationship I have with my boss is good, the workload is great most of the time, the pay can always be more with inflation and living in a high cost of living area, but fair in that regard too. Three and a half years in at my building and I have established relationships with nurses, nurses aides, kitchen staff, and I can go on. There are more reasons for me to stay than go and I never thought I would be in this position so tied to my work. So, I’m not leaving. I’m relieved to say I’ll be staying at my facility indefinitely!
Coach Vivian
My first day of solo coaching at OrangeTheory Fitness was January 1st. My first month of coaching was a challenging one. I made several mistakes and was having a hard time talking in the microphone. Me, Vivian the talker, had a hard time being engaging! There was quite the learning curve at first, but I’ve finally earned the stamp of approval from the members and head coach at our North Dallas studio.
Coaching has allowed me to fill this small but present void where I get to motivate and encourage others to be active. North Dallas members are awesome and I’m so glad to be part of the community! At the same time I’ve spent less time at home between coaching 5:45 and 7:15am classes, heading to work for my 9-5, then getting in my own workout in the evening. It’s a rigid schedule and I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to or want to maintain it. For now, it’s serving me well and made possible by dog dad Jeff.
A Proposal
I’ll link the full story here. Long story short, I didn’t know it was coming yet! We had looked at rings in November and I was in the dark after that, with the exception that Jeff said it would happen when it was warm. Warm because winter is a bad season and coats in photos aren’t flattering in my opinion.
I’ll admit as the warm weather slowly approached I was a little nervous. Was he actually going to propose? Or as my mom so frequently says regarding relationships this day and age – was he milking the cow? Only time would tell. March 10th wasn’t a warm day and we had plans for dinner with his brother. It turned out to be a beautiful proposal and a day I’ll never forget!
Birthday Getaway
A long weekend in Las Vegas is what I asked for, a long weekend in Las Vegas is what I got! Jeff flew us out to LV for a long weekend, and my friends tagged along. It was a weekend full of good drinks, great company, incredible cuisine, and a little black jack here and there. Here’s to the next decade of life!
XO,
Vivian