Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Anticipation

Many might think that the actual best part of a vacation is the vacation. Not me! I much prefer the week before the vacation. When you are exhausted and stressed and think, "man, I could use a vacation!" and then you  remember that it is only a matter of days until you will have one. Yes, the best day of a trip is the day before the trip, that's what I say. Once you are on the trip you are too worried about how quickly the time is going by and if you are making good enough use of your time.

But this post isn't really about vacation. Don't worry, my cruise was probably the best vacation I've ever been on in my entire life. Loved. Every. Second! Especially those precious seconds spent underwater!

This is a post about Seattle, Austin, San Deigo and Salt Lake City.

Blaine has been jetsetting recently around the country interviewing at firms for his second summer internship. Something you should know about law students second summer internships is that the firms they intern at are likely the only ones they will get offers from (if things go well).

We've loved this summer working for the small local firm that Blaine worked at. They are flexible, nice (did you know apparently a lot of badgering and yelling happens in the patent law world? Not at this firm!), we've loved it. They pay a little less to start out, but the potential to earn is higher than most places. There is a lot of flexibility to work from home, or from anywhere, so potentially we could live anywhere in the country (I vote Hawaii!). But, in honor of strengthening Blaine's resume we figured it would be in our best interest to try something else out next summer. A bigger firm where Blaine would have the chance to try some litigation (as opposed to just prosecution).

So before the rejections and offers start coming in I am having a lovely time trying to decide where we should go. Will all of the aforementioned places even be options? Not likely. But that's what's so fun about the "week before". There is no actual decision to make yet, so it's not stressful (we all know how much I like to stress over a big, or little, decision). I'm just doing some soul searching about where I want to spend my next summer and potentially the rest of my life :)

There are lots of factors to consider aside from the actual cities themselves. Like, say, the firms.

The Austin firm is hands down the best opportunity (namely because he could practice prosecution and litigation for his entire career).

The Seattle firm is very prestigious. It's on the sixty second freakin floor of the largest building in Seattle. Frankly, it makes me sick just thinking about riding the elevator to visit Blaine in his office!

The three Utah firms all seem great in their own respects.

Blaine is just on his way to San Diego now, so I don't know what to think about those firms.

But, which firm is best is Blaine's prerogative. We would be flattered and honored to receive an offer at any one of them.

What I have to decide is where I could spend the rest of my life.



Seattle: I LOVE the Northwest. LOVE. I went on a roadtrip there in highschool and just fell head over heels in love with the green, mountains, ocean, crisp air, all of it. I've never seen somewhere so pretty. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven as I wandered through Pike's market and saw the fresh flowers and vendors. Recently I emailed with a friend who lives on an island in Pudget Sound. An ISLAND. I could live on an island.  Yes, yes I could. But the big question on my mind is -- could I handle the rain? I love feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin. Rain doesn't bother me, especially when it is not accompanied by scary storms (ahem, Austin). For reference sake though...there are 50 sunny days in Seattle a year. Sounds nice right? Well...there are 300 sunny days in Austin. Anyone lived there? Can I be happy with dreary skies and raincoats long term?


Austin: Well, I think we all know how I feel about Austin. Love. But..."you can't go back home". I wouldn't be able to slide back in to my once loved life there. I'm a different person now, my friends are different people, it would be way too super weird to try to fit back in to my old life. So I'd probably live in a new part of town. So I find myself asking if I really loved the place or if I really loved the people. And if there is a chance that I could find some awesome people again. I think I really did love the place too. And Blaine assures me that were we to settle in Austin we would install a storm shelter :). The problem with Austin is that it is SO freaking far away. I can drive people. I like to drive. Roadtrips are the bomb, but 24 hours...that's along road trip that I have done many times. And while I think that "quality" time with our families would definitely compensate for "quantity" time with them, ugh that drive. (No offense New Mexico - Hi Liz!- but I've traversed your barren freeways one too many times I think!). So, moving to Austin would definitely require me to get over that pesky fear of flying (which, are you so proud that I flew a bazillion times this summer?).


Utah: Utah has really grown on me. It took a couple years, but I'm pretty happy now. For starters we just moved to Saratoga Springs and holy Hannah--- Utah's never looked so pretty. I don't know, something about living over here makes the mountains look bigger and awesomer than other places. I feel like I'm living in an amphitheater of gorgeousness! My one complaint though? Snow. Ick. I. Hate. Winter. Fall and Spring are fine, but if I could be stuck in an eternal summer I would be. Weird right? As I've often said, life is too short to live somewhere cold.  I can handle chilly, I think I could handle rainy, but I'm plum whiny and miserable November- March here :). Snow...it's a nice thing to visit, a pain in the rear to live in.



San Deigo: The obvious right choice right? Warm! Ocean! Manageable drive to visit family! Tourist destination (ie family would want to come see us!). Gorgeous! Okay, aside from the fact that I know nothing of the firms in San Deigo--- wow, it's expensive. Like crazy expensive. Like we would probably never ever own a home (which...hey, buying a house the first time wasn't necessarily our best decision ever). So I guess I worry about being able to afford to live in a nice, safe neighborhood if we go there. Anyone lived there? What do you think? Is the weather worth the cost?

Yes so it is all fun and games to mull over where I want to live right now. Certainly when there is actually a choice to be made it won't be fun anymore. I'll be a ball of nerves and panicky and stressed. So I'm enjoying it now while it's all just talk. Where would you choose?






17 comments:

Stephanie T said...

Ahh, Krisit! You said what I think nearly everyday. If he takes the one at the flexible work at home company then you can always be anticipating, just like me!
PS- I think your'e Austin friends would be super happy to have you back too! You come up at almost every party I attend.

TheMoncurs said...

So...Seattle. My mom lived in the pacific northwest (and northern California) for much of her life and then we had to move to Arizona because she was getting Seasonal Affective Disorder (which is where the lack of sunlight makes you legit depressed). So if you're prone to bouts of the blues, just know that a cloudy rainy place may not help matters.

That being said, I desperately want to live in Seattle.

Jan said...

Ahhhhhh Saratoga Springs. The land of black widows-rattle snake and fireants :}


Jan said...

Ahhhhhh Saratoga Springs. The land of black widows-rattle snake and fireants :}


Melinda said...

Both Seattle and San Diego have my vote! But then I LOVE loving near the water. And Seattle may have fewer "sunny days" but we can play outside every day even with the drizzle/rain, unlike Austin with its heat stroke summers!!! Um, Utah? Really? No comment.

Janelle said...

Well, being a Seattle-ite (okay, suburb girl) for nearly my entire life, I don't think I have to tell you what I vote. (And Kayla, you totally should move here!) I know it's been said, but really the clouds/rain aren't that bad, and we never have to deal with that ridiculous, oppressive heat that some places get. We do get snow on occasion, but it generally snows, you play it it, and it melts. End of story. So it's pretty much the best. Ever. And then we could be friends. :)

Brooke said...

You know my vote! Seattle all the way!!!! The rain could be a problem for you in the winter, it does hang around, but generally it will rain in the morning and then you can go outside in the afternoon. That doesn't mean the sun will be out, but it won't be raining all day everyday for weeks on end. Our summers are the bomb!!! Best weather EVER! And it snows once or twice in the winter, enough to play in and it melts like Janelle said. And three hours from Portland fun ALL the time! We could go on camping trips and you could introduce us to Seattle. Seattle actually is kind of expensive cost of living though, more than you would think.

Jules said...

I think living in the Pac NW would be amazing- though I would also worry about handling so much gray after living in Texas so long with so much sun! As far as San Diego- well, we live here now. Actually we live in the "Round Rock" of San Diego-- that is, north of the actual city by 20-30 minutes. And it is still ridiculously expensive. We do love many things about it. We love the weather. We love the beach-- just enough hot days in the summer to enjoy summer activities before returning to cool days and chilly nights. We love not having fire ants around! We take our boys to the park all the time to just play, ride bikes, etc.- with hiking trails right near our house that go all the way to the coast (not that we could ever walk or bike that far- ha!) Mountain hiking/adventures within a short drive as well- and we drive to Southern Utah for long weekends to enjoy the outdoors there too. Our kids have great friends through church and at school. That being said, the high cost of living is a MAJOR turn off and I don't think we'll stay long term. Even if we were making big lawyer money (right now we are on student budget) I think I would still die a little bit inside whenever I paid bills or, well, purchased anything. In addition to astronomical housing prices (an apartment half the space of our San Antonio house for more than our mortgage was), food prices and gas prices are also really high. I can't remember what you said about all the firms, but in our experience having a job that is flexible and allows you to work from home really makes life happy-- having flexibility when needed (even if you usually go into the office) is a really nice perk. Good luck making this decision!!!







Janssen said...

I worried about the same thing moving back to Austin, but it was remarkably smooth. So, you know, come on back.

Sierra said...

Honestly? Austin. I've already told Seth that if he decided that's where we were going to live, I'd leave in a heartbeat. I loved it there. I love it in Salt Lake, too, but mostly because of the mountains, being near both sides of the family (and yet far enough away from both sides of the family) and MoTab. I lived in the rain for 3 years an hour west of Portland and finally decided it was WAY too gloomy for me. I wanted the sunlight. It just makes everything so gray, and the mold is awful. Everything smells moldy, and you can never get the musty smell out of towels. It's a good place if you don't want snow, though, and also good if you want to be near the ocean. They also have great thrift stores.

Irene said...

I know you don't know me - I was feeling a little homesick for my hometown and ended up linking to your blog via that picture you posted of Salt Lake City. Inasmuch as I was born and raised there, but have lived in Seattle for the last 28 years, I can tell you that if those Utah mountains ever get under your skin, you may spend the rest of your life missing them. Good luck with your decision. :-)

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