September is here and we are excited! Autumn officially begins this coming Sunday, and that means great things. The temperatures are dropping, the smoke is clearing, and the air has a tangible electricity in the air. Okay, so that last sentence probably had you scratching your heads. Were there wildfires in Texas? We realize that the last some of you knew, we were still living in the Lone Star State. Well, a lot has changed since then, so allow us to catch you up.

After the pandemic restrictions lifted, we started to get itchy feet. Our wanderlust kicked in. It had never been our intention to move to Texas permanently. So, we started looking for new job opportunities. As you know, we love to entertain and be hospitable. Friends had told us to check out a website they used called WorkingCouples.com, and as we started to peruse the want ads there, we came across an opportunity that sounded too good to be true. (Spoiler alert: it was!)

The position was for hotel managers of a boutique resort right on the beach in the Pacific Northwest. We thought if we put our heads together, we could rock the job. Plus, the ad promised work-life balance, a stunning apartment, and lots of room for growth. So, after several interviews with the company, we packed up our belongings and had them shipped to Oregon.

Sure enough, we loved the area. The community was warm and welcoming. The staff at the visitor’s center invited us to become active members of the chamber of commerce. They also invited us to join the downtown development association. We joined them and that helped us settle in quickly. It also helped us forge friendships with a lot of the other businesspeople in town. These organizations became our lifeline, which we definitely needed.

As we collaborated with our community partners, we soon realized that we all shared several common problems. There was a labor shortage. It was difficult to find qualified employees. It was nearly impossible to keep them because there wasn’t enough affordable housing to go around. It was also very tough to find competent contractors who could work on our properties. In most cases, we had to schedule appointments with them months in advance. We prayed we wouldn’t face any emergencies. And finally, we had to navigate the problems that resulted from the growing homeless population in the encampment nearby. Much of that was alleviated by forging respectful relationships with the unhoused.

By the time we finally resigned, we had worked our magic and accomplished a lot in our short time there. We even managed to impress guests, contractors, and the community with what we had done. It was always nice to hear. We wouldn’t have been capable of doing any of it, though, without the insight and mentoring from a former manager. Still, we did manage to overhaul the housekeeping and maintenance departments; create an employee handbook; build a new website and property management system; upgrade the Internet, Wi-Fi, cable, and phone systems; learn to keep a commercial pool and upgrade the pool house; work with some great realtors to help sell several units; and even began to bring in tradespeople to do some upgrades to individual units. Still, working around the clock for months on end without days off took a toll on us. It left us utterly exhausted.

We finally managed to escape the Oregon job and were giddy and hopeful as we left to take another hospitality gig in Northern California. That position proved to be as all-consuming as the earlier one. Soon, we found ourselves eager to leave that job in our rear-view mirror as well. When we did leave, we planned to move south. The Camp Fire in California was spreading. We had nowhere to go. Thankfully, our friends in Idaho invited us to come north and visit them while we figure out our next steps.

Despite all the drama, we count ourselves blessed. We made some great friends over the past year and a half. They have kept us afloat in many ways, often helping us keep our sanity and navigate potential pitfalls we may not have been aware of. We also learned loads of new skills—and refined old ones—that make us more knowledgeable in the workplace. For example, we now know how to professionally wash laundry on a commercial scale. We can clean a room in no time flat. We have honed our organization skills. We have even become quite adept at guessing the needs of our guests before they even ask. Many of our employees testified that we became empathetic managers. We learned to champion our staff and work hard alongside them.

So that’s our adventure in a nutshell. We still aren’t sure where we will land next. We are enjoying the break and are applying for new jobs each day. The library has become our second home, and we are very grateful for the workspace. We are also happy that we finally get to read and cook again. Ever since we got into hospitality, we had nearly no time to do either of those activities. If we attempted to cook, we would almost always be interrupted by guests which oftentimes resulted in burnt dinners. (We’ve never eaten out so much in our lives!) So, we are excited to get to start sharing new recipes and reads with you. You’ve probably also noticed that our website has been overhauled with a more modern, professional design. We couldn’t be more pleased with it. We hope you enjoy the changes, and you find it easier to find the information you’re searching for.

Until next time, enjoy the fall season. We plan to take more hikes, commune with nature, and bury our noses in good books while we snuggle up in our comfy sweaters and sip pumpkin spice lattes or mugs of hot chocolate.

Cheers,

Jathan & Heather