Well it's no secret that Dan and I have been searching for a change in our lives for awhile now. Let me give you a bit of history to set the stage for where we stand today.
After Dan's graduation from SAIT in April 2011 he took a job at the bank. After a few short months we realized that his income simply wasn't going to cut it in terms of providing for our family, so in the late fall of 2011 (just after having a new bay I might add) we embarked on the journey of self employment. Dan had experience painting and we felt that we could make a reasonable living off of this and so Fuller Painting was born. Our first year (2012) of business was BUSY. We kicked off our new company with a groupon that kept us busy all summer long and into the fall. The winter is typically a pretty slow season for many of the trades, so as expected Dan was not overly busy. It was during this slow season that we started to give a little more in depth thought to our plans for the future. Painting was a great fit for Dan but it wasn't the be all end all of our ambitions. At this time Dan considered going back to school to open up some more options and actually registered in some classes at the U of C for the winter term. He started classes in January 2013 and in February I came across an opportunity that we believed would be the answer to our years of searching for a career path.
As a member of the Royal Academy of Dance I receive monthly emails with national job postings. In February there was a posting for a dance school for sale on the Sunshine Coast of BC in a small town called Sechelt. Running a dance school has always been a dream of mine. In fact when Dan went to school for Business part of our reasoning behind this choice was with the intent that one day we would run our own school, with Dan managing the business aspect and myself managing the artistic side. When we came across this opportunity in such an exquisitely beautiful part of the country we fell in love with the idea of buying this school and living out our life in Sechelt. It really seemed like the fit we had been waiting a lifetime for.
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| Beautiful Sechelt, BC |
Sadly after a lot of investigation into this opportunity and even a visit to Sechelt with intentions of buying this school, we decided that this was not in fact the right pathway for us. It was a little heartbreaking, because I'll be honest, we had been struggling for years with trying to figure out where we were going with our lives. We are definitely the people whose direction seems to be up in the air left to the chance of which way the wind will blow!
When things fell through with this idea Dan and I felt pretty lost. We were of course still running our painting business through all of this with moderate success. As summer approached and Dan was busy again we felt that perhaps we needed to focus more on our business. We did this and were always blessed with enough work, but we still had reasons for seeking some sort of a change in our life. Novah was born in July 2013 and that sort of put things on hold for me. I stopped worrying about moving as I was busy with a baby! I know that Dan was still doing a lot of soul searching during this time though.
Again the winter came with a slow spell. At this time Dan was given the opportunity to start an apprenticeship as an Electrician. While I'll admit I wasn't crazy about this job I supported his decision to give it a try. After the 3 month of probation period, together we made the decision that this was another incorrect path for our family. Those of you reading this might feel like we are a bunch of quitters but I assure we are not! Some people may feel we didn't give it (or perhaps one of our other endeavours) a long enough chance but I promise you when something is not right for your family you know without a doubt. We did a lot of praying and spent hours agonizing over this decision, we really wanted to make it work, but once again this was not the pathway intended for us.
Cue spring of this year- 2014. Dan got right back into painting after leaving the electrical company and has had enough work to support our family for the past few months. However despite his return to painting we still felt that we needed a change. I began to consider going back to work teaching dance in the fall to help us out through the slow months in the winter. We looked into moving to Creston (a town in BC where Dans' sister lives) and starting a dance school there, but we didn't feel overly strong about this idea, so I started looking for job through the RAD database again. I stumbled upon an opportunity in Penticton BC which seemed like another great fit for us. If you haven't noticed we have a thing for BC and would love to end up there one day! I was actively communicating with a studio owner in Penticton about a teaching position when I happened upon an out of date job posting for a studio in Ontario that a friend of mine owns.
It was quite honestly (in my eyes) no coincidence that I found this job posting. I believe that I was guided to find it. Years ago I was an Associate Teacher with the Russian Society of Ballet (an Ontario based organization that specializes in the Vaganova technique of ballet.) I grew up studying this style of Ballet and only branched into the RAD because of its international standard and recognition. Because I was thinking about going to back to work I thought it would be an asset to regain my status with the Russian Society and was on their webpage to inquire about how to reactivate my membership. While looking around the page I found a few older job postings that hadn't been taken down. One was for a dance studio in Listowel.
Now it's important to mention that Dan I lived in Kitchener for 8 months in 2008 (January-August.) While we were there I worked at a theatre camp for the summer and worked with a gal who I really liked! She was also a dancer, graduated from Ryerson University and was an RAD teacher. We had a lot in common and though we never worked, "dance," together we definitely got along.
The old job posting that I found in Listowel was for her dance school. Even though I knew it was an old posting I decided to email her just to see how she was and let her know if she were ever looking for a teacher I would be interested in hearing from her. This began a series of emails and ultimately a pretty sweet job offer for me.
This whole process has been interesting because initially Dan and I had no interest in moving back to Ontario. While I was in the midst of emailing both Penticton and Listowel we didn't think for a moment that we would actually move to Listowel. We were trying to be open but were definitely more interested in moving to Penticton. However as things became more serious in the offers that were presented we couldn't deny that the offer in Listowel had a lot more pull to it than the one in Penticton.
In addition to the job that I was offered, Ontario has a whole series of other benefits that we simply could not overlook in our contemplation. For one this is where we both grew up so the majority of our family members are all in Ontario, as well as a whole host of friends who we grew up with. We are familiar with Ontario and have always missed many of the things which it has to offer which differ from the west. We miss the beaches, the great lakes, the hot summers, the fall, the great variety of trees (I miss maples!), visits to the sugar bush, summer berry picking and the vast number of cities with so much fun to offer. I miss the art and culture of Toronto (which isn't far away) the National Ballet of Canada and the many memories that I have embedded in so many different special places in Ontario. After all the Kitchener Stake Centre is where I first noticed Dan when I was 15 (though he had no idea I existed) and it is also where we had our first dance after he returned home from his mission.
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| Looking forward to seeing many of these this fall! |
As we became more serious in looking towards our future and what it might have to offer we could not deny the pros of moving to Listowel. With my job offer on the table and knowing that Dan can continue his business in the East (we also have hopes to expand into more home renovation and eventually home building) we felt more and more that this might be the right direction for us. The additional benefits of an affordable housing market, living in a small town (which Dan wants) that is close to a city (which I want) and the proximity to family and old friends could not be downplayed. And so after a lot of thought, lists, and prayers we made the decision to move to Listowel Ontario.
I have to admit that while I am really sad about leaving our friends in Calgary and a lot scared about living in a small town and going back to work with three kids (yikes) I feel very calm and at peace with our decision to move to Listowel. I know without a doubt that this is the right direction for our family right now and I can now see very clearly how God's hand has come to play in leading us up to, and preparing us for this point. Afterall the journey has been long and arduous. But there are too many factors to make this a coincidence (in my opinion.) It is amazing to me how it has taken years and multiple cross country moves to achieve this direction. I guess they aren't lying when they say God works on his own time.
I know that we still have a journey ahead full of the unknown and that the path is never set completely, but I am really glad that we have some direction at last and a reason for change. I am glad we have found an opportunity to move forward with our lives and out of the rut that we have felt ourselves sitting in for so long now.
Here's to new adventures and the great unknown future!
Jordan
