A dream, a possibility, a reality

I can remember the first time I ever stepped foot inside the state of Minnesota. It was October 2023 with a crisp cold breeze in Minneapolis as my plane reached the tarmac, a big variation from the humid and arid weather I’d left back in Florida. A friend was scheduled for surgery later that week for cancer removal and I was asked to fly in to watch the house, child, and furbabies. It was frigid, but not yet unbearable, and it even snowed as we were running errands around town. I was bought a jacket and picked up a beanie and gloves.

This was the first time I’d ever flown with any of my children, my son J 6 at the time went with me. I remember his face the first time he saw snow full of wonder and enjoyment as we made a mini snowman on the table just outside their house. The crunch beneath our feet creating a sensory experience neither of us had ever been exposed to before. I watched a sense of wonder begin to grow. He quickly got sick and the timing was less than ideal. He felt like Minnesota was what caused the sickness, but travel has a way of doing that to you sometimes. 21 hours away from “home” is a long way. It’s not just a few hours, it’s a few days.

J on the plane with Buzz and Woody. October 2023

I traveled back again in January 2025 and again in November that same year. During the last trip I decided to bring my oldest daughter K. She adjusted quickly, and I learned that I had zero desire to go outside in 0 degree weather, but she played in shorts and a tank top like it was 70 degrees, rolling around, making snow angels. It was a sight to see considering all the crisis we’ve been involved in together. Our lives in between were full of trials and tribulations. My husband left his long-term job as a NASCAR Chef to become an operations manager for a ghost kitchen company. Less than a year later he was laid off due to the company declaring bankruptcy.

Making ends meet in July 2025, preparing to InstaCart.

From July 2025 on, I became the full breadwinner for our family after having been a stay at home mom for seven years prior. It took time to develop my confidence and begin earning a paycheck again. At the time, I was struggling to keep pennies in my pocket while trying to run a coaching business my husband constantly reminded me wasn’t making an income. I went through therapy, got two cats, became the mom that calls the cops more times than I care to admit while also being the mom with a runaway child. All the while I was working, first at a restaurant and then in a dental office. (That one I applied for on the couch of my friend in MN, and ended up interviewing for the job the day after I landed back in FL in December.) I ended up working for that six-doctor dental office as a front office admin from December-April when a family emergency led me to put in my two weeks due to moral reasons. My daughter had been gone for close to a month, and I wanted to focus my efforts on finding her full time. Leaving my life to GUS and a prayer of a hope my bills would get paid, a few days later my daughter called with a severe life-threatening infection landing us in a hospital two states from home for three and a half weeks administering broad-spectrum antibiotics for staph. We were subpoenaed while we were up there for court in Orlando Florida due to an incident that happened the day my daughter and I traveled back from MN in December. With trial looming, I couldn’t sit on my butt and keep racking up hours in Stardew Valley while compiling a multitude of DCF cases any longer.

Working as a front desk admin at Alexander Dental in December 2025

Somewhere in the middle of all the chaos and restructuring, I stopped asking if life could get worse and started being grateful that I got to exist every day. I started to pray a little, asking to be put in a position to provide for my family and release the paradigm of struggle. I started to trust and believe that we were just going to be okay, sometimes living day by day, and other times living minute by minute.

By 2026, Minnesota became a place I found myself returning to again and again. It refreshes me and creates a calm inside my soul that doesn’t otherwise exist. I even convinced my best friend to move up there, only to stay in Florida and try to make ends meet for a while. That was until last Wednesday, June 10, 2026 when I put in an application for a job that I questioned if I was even qualified for. It was an office manager position in rural Minnesota in the same city that the friend I house sit for lives. I remember sitting on the steps of my mother-in-law’s house asking ChatGPT what jobs were best for me to apply for. It provided me with a list of opportunities and I applied for the first one without hesitation. I used the indeed auto resume feature and before I knew it I forgot it even happened.

Living in a hospital getting the oldest back to stable in May 2026.

Later that week I found myself driving to South Carolina with my whole family to complete some medical requirements and visit my mother. On the ride up there, I noticed an email from a dentist and you’ll never believe from where! Minnesota! I started to believe that God, whom I like to call GUS had a little sprinkle of play in this new venture. I replied to the email and then set up an interview the next morning.

Not many people can say they have been interviewed in two different states to work in a third, but I can now. Dr. B initially phone interviewed me from South Carolina on a Saturday, and scheduled the second interview the next Tuesday. He then sent me an offer letter later that Thursday. A dream I once had of being stable with income enough to support my family is finally open to me. The possibility that I would become a Dental Assistant again never crossed my mind, and for a long time I even rejected the idea of it. Now, on the horizon of owning my own home in a state that I don’t have to sweat when going outside in, I can see a silver lining begin to form in the distance. I was chosen for a job that only requires me to work four days a week and has growth potential right out the door. I couldn’t have asked for more. Though it is exactly what I once asked for! You could have never told me 10 years ago when I obtained my degree that I would be accepting a position to be groomed as office manager across the country in a state that I then would have laughed at you for suggesting. It’s funny where life takes you when you put a little sprinkle of intention into your reality.

Until next time,

Amanda :)