What if your single source of income was cut off today? What if you lost your job or had to move in 24 hours? Think about it.

May 12, 2015

BIG NEWS! Today is our one month and three day anniversary of our current employment status: Unemployed. On April 9^th, my husband, Adam and I were working at a water services company in North Dakota, and then on that same day, we weren’t.

Quick Background: We both finished 4+ years of active duty service in the Navy in October 2014. (Go Navy. Beat Army.) Last November we got married, and in January 2015 we started two new and exciting jobs in the Wild Wild West of North Dakota. We were both eager to make our mark in our first jobs as civilians and in the oil and gas industry, but what we anticipated being a five to seven year saga quickly became a 3 month gig.

Harsh Reality: We spent A LOT of our savings on our wedding and then even more on a lovely three-week honeymoon to Paris and London. We spent carelessly, knowing that we had scored jobs with great pay. Then, rather suddenly, the jobs that we were counting on to secure our future together were pulled from beneath our feet.

Bottom Line: We were NOT PREPARED to hear the words, “I have to let you go.”

The Questions: What to do? Where to go? How to survive? What job comes next to provide the same lifestyle? the same benefits? any benefits? etc.  Our situation was unique in that we were both employed by the same company. Before North Dakota, we were both employed by the Navy. While driving, fighting, and engineering warships sounds impressive on a resume, it is not a skill set that translates seamlessly into our dream jobs – to be entrepreneurs. To be our own boss. To write our own schedules.

So here it is, just over one month since that fateful day of April 9^th, and we find ourselves in Greenville, SC – Adam’s hometown. We are extremely fortunate to have parents who love us and who turned their Air B&B apartment into an Heir B&B apartment. This works well since we don’t own any property and all our things are in storage in Denver, Colorado (long story).

The loss of responsibility brings a wealth of time. Over the last month, we have been able  to re-connect with family and friends in San Diego, Los Angeles, Nashville, Knoxville, Charleston, Savannah, and Greenville. We have had the time to unwind. It’s been fabulous, but now we are itching to be wound back up.

It’s all on us now. The Navy is not there to hold our hand or force us to succeed. We have no obligations to anyone or any debt. We have a blank slate to write the chapters of our new life however we desire them to be written. We have many dreams, but no real direction yet as to how the pages will be filled.

It’s exciting! It’s also terrifying. When we get anxious, my sweet Mother-in-Law reminds me that we are unencumbered. I laughed the first time she said it, writing it off as a gentle way of saying unemployed. But the more I let it sink in, the more I value her words.

We are truly unencumbered. Literally, unencumbered means not having any burden or impediment; free of debt or other financial liabilities. So, to us “Living Unencumbered” means eliminating the superfluous things that prevent you from dreaming of what you want to do and doing what you dream.

That is the gist of this blog: How to live an unencumbered life while still being purposeful, providing value to the world and your community, and hopefully, eventually, (please God) making some money. This blog will follow the rebuilding of our lives, but mostly, we hope it will help others learn from our mistakes, capitalize on our successes while leading us all to happier and healthier ways of living unencumbered.

—Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  I’m glad He knows…