Cleveland, yes Cleveland, Ohio

Bryan and I started going to Cleveland regularly just over two years ago when we decided to go to the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute to see what they could do for his eyes. Long story short, they did miracles for his eyes, and he can now drive safely, watch TV normally, not get nose paper cuts when reading, and see our kids' faces.

But long story long, we started to fall in love with Cleveland. Here are just a few places we love to visit when we go:

• Lilly's Chocolates in Tremont
• Lolita's in Tremont
• Big Fun East and Big Fun West
• Melt Bar and Grilled
• The West Side Market
• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Whole Foods and Trader Joe's
• Monroe's Apple Orchard in Hiram
• The A Christmas Story House
• The Lights at Nela Park
• Rockefeller Park and Cultural Gardens MLK Blvd
• and many more, but my list is getting too long

and for the last two years we've talked about moving there. If circumstances had stayed the same with us, we never would've acted on it. We just couldn't imagine upping and leaving Marty and Shelia and everything else we have here in Beckley for some crazy pipe dream of living in a city that we'd come to love. 

Well, circumstances did indeed change. The ultra-stable government agricultural research lab where I work is being closed, which in itself is a sign that things need to change. Since obtaining my Masters of Public Health last year, and really since all the soul-searching I did with the leadership program the previous year, I have been thinking about getting a different job. It always came down to, my job is so kushy and so stable, and has such great health care, how could I ever leave it? Well, now I have to leave it. 

And Bryan's job is just a freak horror-show of misery. It's pretty much been that way since he got the Boss from Hell, and it wasn't much better before that. The place he works has always been known around town for their "brown box days," where they just fire people at will until they are sated for the day, then start again the next day. 

We've been looking for jobs around here, and the pickin's are very slim. For me, the most likely candidate will be working for the State Department of Environmental Protection, with which I've had 3 interviews. I'm not sure any of them will pan out, and if they do they will pay around 10k less than I'm making now. For Bryan, there is even less available. He requires an organization that's big enough to have its own in-house IT department, but not so big that it contracts out IT. There aren't very many of those in and around Beckley. But we're looking. He's had one interview for a job that paid about 15k less than he makes.

You may have guessed where this is all going. We are pretty much going to move to Cleveland if everything comes together for us. It's a daunting task, finding jobs for each of us, going up for interviews, selling our house, buying a house... a lot of craziness will ensue. But it's something we feel strongly about, and I feel that we have been faced with a lot of closed doors, and unless the door that leads to Cleveland gets slammed in our face, we will go through it. 

Tomorrow I'll talk about the other reasons we want to move there, other than the job situation.