In the past year, my husband and I had our first baby, he lost his job, I was forced to leave mine, and his family moved across the country. In June 2023 his family moved from CA to VA (for very good reasons and we are SO happy for them). But it is difficult for him because he obviously misses them. During that time, I was pregnant with our son, AND a few months later he lost his job. We knew his long time work place was closing down (the owner wanted to retire) but knowing didn’t make things any easier. Not only was he stressed out about our financial situation but he was also missing his family and getting used to them not being here, all while we were trying to prepare for a baby. And let’s not downplay what pregnancy does to your hormones and emotions because I too was a stressed and emotional wreck at times.
He started doing courses to get certified as a Salesforce Admin, something he was interested in doing and something he knew would pay good money. Our son was born in January and my husband got his certification a couple weeks after that, and the search for a job began. Unfortunately, the market for Salesforce Admin jobs is so saturated right now that if anyone had any sort of experience at all, even for an entry level position, they were bound to get a job over him. After 4 months of maternity leave and my husband searching for a job, I was then forced to leave my job. I had been commuting full time to the Bay Area, and my employer was not willing to work with me on my schedule or hours. There was literally no way we could afford daycare for 12+ hours a day (factor in CA traffic to my commute time, plus a full day of work) and there weren’t even any daycares that I found that were open during the hours I would have needed. I had no other option but to leave and look for work elsewhere.
If you’re keeping track, we are now at 4 major life changes all within a span of less than one year. To say we have been stressed is an understatement. Thankfully my husband was able to get a job in July doing something similar to what he was doing before (not a Salesforce job). We are getting by, but it is still incredibly stressful at times. We went from a two income household, both working in the Bay Area making GREAT money and never worrying about a thing, to both of us being out of a job searching for work, and now just getting by. I am still on the hunt for a job just so we don’t have to worry about things. Being a mama is my favorite job in the whole world and I am grateful that I am able to be home with our son, but it’s not paying the bills.
It has been a hard transitional period in our lives and it’s only our second year of marriage, but it’s our seventh year being together. We have always been good at communicating with and understanding one another. I know it has been a hard year for him personally outside of our relationship, and he knows that me being postpartum and learning as a new mother has been stressful and hard at times for me. We sometimes have different ways of wanting to resolve arguments or misunderstandings, but in the end we both always remember that we are a team and we are in this together – we both work hard and do our part to provide what we can for our little family. In my mind, it seems like if we can survive a year like we just had, we can probably get through anything together.
I decided to start this blog now because I feel like life was giving me a sign. A sign that it was time to go for the things I had told myself and my husband I would love to do after getting my Masters degree. I’ve got the time, and the desire to make it work. I wanted to start a website of some sort where I could utilize what I know and what I’ve experienced to help others, and to reach a broader community of people who might relate to or be interested in what I have to say. I’m using the lemons we’ve been handed to make my own version of lemonade. Hopefully it tastes good <3