Decisions, Decisions!

It has been a while since I have blogged! We have been carless for about a month now, so we haven't been doing much. My mom came to visit a couple of weeks ago, so that was really fun! It was so good to see her.

The big thing lately with our family is that we are faced with several decisions to make very soon about jobs and living. It is really anxiety-producing. Luckily, the weather has been gorgeous here, so we can ponder our problems while enjoying a beautiful day outside, which makes everything better. Anyways, the decisions we are faced with all come down to Fox choosing a career path. He has finished all of his course work in his graduate program and is just waiting on taking his final exam. After that, well, here is what we can do:

1.) Join the National Guard. Fox wants to join so that he can be placed in the linguist program to learn Chinese. He loves languages and also has to be fluent in 2 other languages if he decides to get a PhD in Folklore eventually. The cons of this are that he would be away from his family (us) for months at a time with possible deployment for a year when he finishes his training. Also, the Utah National Guard has so many people lining up to join that they have taken away all bonuses (so no student loan reimbursement or sign-on bonus).

2.) Go back to Japan. I never thought I would ever type that! Our friend Brandy is looking for new teachers in January, and she is ready to hire us on the spot. It would be just like our last job there, except better curriculum, more money, bigger house and car, close to the beach, and vacation time. In fact, we would be on the same island and in the same ward. There are so many pros and cons with this one--we don't even know where to start. The biggest con is isolation (it's a very small island and our friends in Marugame would be about an hour away)and the weather (extreme humidity in summer, homes aren't insulated for winter). The pros are--of course, Japan! It's awesome. The people are amazing. The food is delicious. Cuteness and culture abound! We have to let Brandy know by the end of this week.

3.) Sticking it out in Logan until Fox finds a job elsewhere. He's been applying to a ton of jobs, but it is the academic field, which is very competitive. Basically, he's qualified to teach high school or community college English/Composition.

4.) Moving to someplace in the U.S. that we love and hoping Fox finds a job there. Probably not the best idea in this economy!

Hmmmm...decisions! Of course whatever is best for our family will eventually be revealed, but any input is definitely welcome right now. We have been stumped and anxious all week.