Five Years
I've been thinking a lot about what I want my life to look like five years from now. I will be 28 years old. So much is unknown. Much of my next 25 years depends on work, as much as I would like it not to.
Of course I'll still be married to my wonderful wife. Same will be getting up there in age...he'll be 11. Toby will be 7. We will probably be contemplating kids, but no guarantees. I imagine I'll be looking for a job as an assistant city manager at this time.
What about 3 years from now? Three years from now I'll be 26. I'll (fingers crossed) have my Master's Degree in Public Administration and 5 years of experience in Municipal Government. Hutto is expected to reach a population of 20,000+ by then (though it very well maybe higher as we are approaching 17,000 now). In 3 years I think I'll be ready to move onto a different position. Hutto might have the position I'm looking for then, or it might not. I wouldn't be opposed to staying here, but I also wouldn't be opposed to moving out to a different area. I'd even consider a different state, just to have the experience of living somewhere else and having new scenery. Wyoming looks nice. So does Colorado. There are probably even some places on the East Coast I would consider. I've never been to the East Coast other than Florida. A lot of this depends on Mallory and what she wants. She might be in a job that she really enjoys.
What about 1 year from now? In a year, I'm hoping I'll be in my same job. I'll be wrapping up my graduate degree, and Mallory will have a job. Our apartment lease ends in May 2008. I think I'd really like to buy an old $60-80,000 house that I can fix up. That won't be cheap though. Projects are expensive and things break in old houses. Air conditioners go out, water heaters leak, and termites make an easy lunch out of wood. I just don't know. I don't want an apartment...I know that much. I want to be able to have Toby and Sam and a backyard. We'll see.
I want to be a city manager so that I can help people and create wonderful and unique places to live and work. I want to build towns that are unlike others. I don't want to create a town that is just like the one that you will see if you drive 15 minutes down the road. Towns have so much to offer, but I don't think many full appreciate and promote what they have. A lot of that is political and lack of money and is difficult to overcome. Some of it is lack of vision. I hope I leave a positive impact on cities I work for. I'm all about green programs and parks. I think each City needs green spaces for people to exercise, relax, and appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds them. This will inevitably be one of the things that I work on as I have always been a big advocate of the outdoors. I admire what the City of Austin has done to promote green building activities and what they offer in the form of green spaces such as Zilker Park, the Hike and Bike, and more. Kerrville also has a unique opportunity with their existing parkland and the Guadalupe River. New Braunfels is another good example. They have capitalized on the river and have Landa Park.
Of course I'll still be married to my wonderful wife. Same will be getting up there in age...he'll be 11. Toby will be 7. We will probably be contemplating kids, but no guarantees. I imagine I'll be looking for a job as an assistant city manager at this time.
What about 3 years from now? Three years from now I'll be 26. I'll (fingers crossed) have my Master's Degree in Public Administration and 5 years of experience in Municipal Government. Hutto is expected to reach a population of 20,000+ by then (though it very well maybe higher as we are approaching 17,000 now). In 3 years I think I'll be ready to move onto a different position. Hutto might have the position I'm looking for then, or it might not. I wouldn't be opposed to staying here, but I also wouldn't be opposed to moving out to a different area. I'd even consider a different state, just to have the experience of living somewhere else and having new scenery. Wyoming looks nice. So does Colorado. There are probably even some places on the East Coast I would consider. I've never been to the East Coast other than Florida. A lot of this depends on Mallory and what she wants. She might be in a job that she really enjoys.
What about 1 year from now? In a year, I'm hoping I'll be in my same job. I'll be wrapping up my graduate degree, and Mallory will have a job. Our apartment lease ends in May 2008. I think I'd really like to buy an old $60-80,000 house that I can fix up. That won't be cheap though. Projects are expensive and things break in old houses. Air conditioners go out, water heaters leak, and termites make an easy lunch out of wood. I just don't know. I don't want an apartment...I know that much. I want to be able to have Toby and Sam and a backyard. We'll see.
I want to be a city manager so that I can help people and create wonderful and unique places to live and work. I want to build towns that are unlike others. I don't want to create a town that is just like the one that you will see if you drive 15 minutes down the road. Towns have so much to offer, but I don't think many full appreciate and promote what they have. A lot of that is political and lack of money and is difficult to overcome. Some of it is lack of vision. I hope I leave a positive impact on cities I work for. I'm all about green programs and parks. I think each City needs green spaces for people to exercise, relax, and appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds them. This will inevitably be one of the things that I work on as I have always been a big advocate of the outdoors. I admire what the City of Austin has done to promote green building activities and what they offer in the form of green spaces such as Zilker Park, the Hike and Bike, and more. Kerrville also has a unique opportunity with their existing parkland and the Guadalupe River. New Braunfels is another good example. They have capitalized on the river and have Landa Park.