Another chapter begins

Another chapter of my scattered, gypsy life is about to begin. I finally found a full time job! In less than 3 weeks I am moving to Wickenburg, Arizona to work as the children’s program director at a dude ranch. That’s right a dude ranch!

This new job should be full of new and memorable experiences.  I will be able to do the things I enjoy, working with children and spending time outdoors.  I haven’t spent much (OK, I’ve spent next no) time in the Western United States, but I have always liked the idea of going west. To me the western United States is freedom and openness. I miss that. I feel crowded. In fact, everything around here seems like it is getting more and more crowded. More cars. More traffic. More buildings. More people. More ignorance. Less open space. Less breathing room.  

I am very eager to get to Arizona and go hiking and camping and exploring. To start, the Grand Canyon, San Diego and Las Vegas are all within six hours of the ranch. On my days off, I plan to explore and travel around the southwest as much as I can.  I am also pretty excited to reconnect with my dad’s family in the Phoenix area. There are some relatives that I haven’t seen in years and others that I’ve never met.

When I graduated college two years ago, I was certain that I was going to get a full time teaching job right away and start teaching in my own class room the very next fall. When that fall rolled around and I still didn’t have a job, I was crushed. After subbing for a little bit I realized that I needed to explore other ways to use my teaching degree. In the end, I am so very thankful that I didn’t get a job right out of school because, I would have missed out on all the great experiences I have had in the last two years and the many new experiences I am sure I will have during this coming year.