There have only been a few times when the Schaub couple gets separated but thanks to the craziness of the pandemic we did something we thought we would never do...spend time working apart. And spoiler alert, it sucked.

This may come as a shock because we didn't tell anyone and it's not like us to work apart. We spend all of our time together so this was a big change.

In our first few years of marriage, the longest time we had spent apart was when Phil had a root canal. Now we've been married for six years and we still only spend at most about a week apart.

So you can imagine how deciding to work and live in two different states was a big decision. It the end it was two months total with one quick weekend together in the middle.

It was a crazy adventure and not something we would recommend. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's rewind and start in the beginning.

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Apart Before

Just for some background information. We have spent time apart before we were married.

While still in school for physical therapy we spent about 20 weeks apart. Part of our schooling was a clinical "internship" resulting in the summer of us living in different states.

For the first 10 weeks, Kelsey was in Texas While Phil was in Ohio. Then we switched and Kelsey was in Ohio while Phil headed out to Washington.

We handled our time apart pretty well. Did we mention Kelsey flew out to Washington and we eloped during this time?

After getting married and spending the next six weeks apart we thought "well, this will be the last time we have to be apart from each other this long". We handled it well but we didn't want to go through that again.

Having to Divide and Conquer

We moved to Portland and began the process of getting everything switched over to our new home. We're talking cell phones, drivers licenses, car registration, bank statements, the whole shebang. Turns out moving has a lot more little steps than people realize.

Then after only a few days in Portland Kelsey got a traveling physical therapy contract at a home health company in California about 13 HOURS from home. She got the job because of her home health experience and being able to start ASAP.

Typically we would all pack up as a family (cats included) and bop on down to Cali. This time we had other factors to consider.

The Boys

Our cats are great at traveling and have relocated too many times to count but this time it was different. They had just driven across the country 35 hours in the car to get to Portland.

It seemed a little cruel to make them pack up immediately and make their way 13 hours down the highway. Plus we wanted them to get time in their new home so they would feel more attached to it.

DMV

The biggest reason we had to divide and conquer was the DMV. We not only needed new driver licenses but new car registration.

You're supposed to get your car registered within 30 days of moving to a new state. Because of the pandemic, there is some leniency but it's a grey area.

Our Ohio registration expires in November so even if we didn't make the 30 days, we at least needed to get the process going. Everything is taking a bit longer right now so we knew this was important.

The Job

Usually, when we get a travel contract, we are committed to doing 13 weeks as that's what our contract has. This time we were a little concerned about that given the pandemic and the current status of travel PT.

This was the first interview we had for over three months! Because of Covid-19, there are just too many people and not enough jobs in the travel PT industry.

We also understand that at any time, things can change with this pandemic. We were worried about an uptick in cases and all of a sudden, they don't need Kelsey anymore and would put in a 30-day notice on her contract.

Because of all that uncertainty, we weren't comfortable paying more to lock in cat-friendly housing for three months if the contract was ended early.

So it was decided, Kelsey would head down on her own and begin working. It was too good an offer to turn down during a pandemic.

Phil would stay in Portland with the cats and work on getting everything switched over to our new home. Once we had the new license plate and we had more confidence in the job, Phil would join Kelsey and bring the cats along.

Keeping it a Secret

This is a big one. Like we get it, we share our lives on social media so why keep quiet about this?

Technically we have a blog post about it so it's not really a secret. It was more of a "wait to tell people" situation.

Blogging about our journey together through life and sharing our photo memories means a lot to us. But this situation was a little different.

But why did we hold off on telling people? The simple answer is stress.

This was a very stressful time for us. Not only was being apart stressful but the job assignment ended up not being a great fit.

With everything going on we knew it was important to save energy and focus on working through this life challenge.

We're sharing it now because we think it's important to be transparent about our ups and downs. Sometimes on social media, you only see the good but it can be the more challenging moments that help you grow.

The main goal of our site is so others can learn with us along the way and benefit from our mistakes.

Take Away

The main take away we learned from this experience was that it was the worst and we will never do it again. It was the right decision at the time and we don't regret it but luckily it was a one-off situation.

Okay but seriously some good came from this. We always find a silver lining.

By working apart we learned a few things.

We're Better Together

The Schaub duo is much better together than apart. We already knew this but now we have definitive proof.

Together we work towards improving ourselves and making the most out of each day. When apart we still pushed ourselves to be the best versions we could but it's easier together.

We Didn't Die

As dramatic as Kelsey can be she will admit that it wasn't fun but we survived. It wasn't the end of the world.

Again, just to be clear as possible, it was not enjoyable but it could have been worse. There is something to be said about knowing that you CAN.

In the end, we did it. We worked apart and we made it work.

Learning Process

We learned that we can work apart but that it's not the right path for us. We tried it, didn't like it.

Now we know to only take jobs in the future that allow us to work together. Together or bust is our new motto (not really, that's a pretty bad motto).

So now you all know what was going on with the Schaubs on the West Coast. This time has been an interesting life experience.

Some of our friends and family have pointed out the amount of time we spend together as being odd but it's the perfect fit for us. Now, we have proof.

We expect some of our family and friends may have some questions so ask away. Our inbox is always open.

Oh and one more thing...We now have Portland phone numbers! If you need our new numbers make sure to message us.