our gift for the year

Some people may have thought that leaving during the first year of our marriage was not really a good idea. I would not say it was great but it was not something I decided on lightly. I am just so glad to have been blessed to have found a very understanding partner in J, for accepting my decision to pursue studies and conquer Europe for 15 months. He did not only accept, but understood.

Now that I am back in the Philippines, we are starting to build our life together. Soon, we will be starting our apartment search. This is something I am excited about. But there is something I am particularly thankful for, and that is J and I work on the same street in Makati.

It was quite serendipitous for us. He was invited to work for a friend's digital advertising company late February. After some deliberation, he decided to take the offer and be, for a first time in many years, an employee again. It took some adjustment but he eventually got used to having a fixed time. He also started to enjoy it.

I, on the other hand, have been on the prowl for work since January. March became my lucky month because calls came one after the other. I had to turn down one offer for various reasons. After some time, it boiled down to two organizations. Both had interesting work. Both were of international scope. I was more qualified and knowledgeable for one, while I needed a lot of work for the work of the other. It was amusing how I got a call a hiring from the other while I was on my way for my last stage of interview in the other. I decided to accept the offer and somewhat intentionally flubbed the interview I was going to.

The one I chose was the one I had less knowledge about. It was something I was weighing on for days. And while I know I can really perform with the other job, the idea of leaving every week was not as pleasurable as it was years ago. I knew that I had my time for travel last year. I think my call is now to find a way to start a family with J.

It was a wonderful bonus to have our offices on the same street. While his call time is 9AM and mine is 8AM, we go to work together. We also try to wait for each other when we go home. Sometimes we have lunch together. It's really a great set-up for us. We get to spend more quality time during the day together. This is something not a lot of couples get to enjoy.

I feel so lucky to have been gifted this chance to build a stronger relation with my partner. :)