( Steph Lloyd )

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.” – Alan Cohen

While I wouldn’t consider Tulsa to be meaningless to me, both Matt and I have been preparing for change for quite awhile. We didn’t really know where we’d go or what we’d do but we knew it was coming.

A few months ago when we were considering a move back to Korea, I felt that if we went, we’d be giving up something even better. At the time it seemed dumb, because we had no other prospects, but we both really wanted something different.

I turned everything down in Korea and didn’t even feel bad about it because I knew in my heart that something else was going to come up. A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend who was leaving L.A. to go back home to Colorado. I asked her who was taking her job, she said no one had been hired and that I should apply. I applied, had a webcam interview and then heard nothing for about a week and a half. My heart wasn’t exactly set on the position, although it seemed really neat, so when I heard that another applicant was way more experienced and already living out there, I didn’t feel too bad.

Fast forward another week. I got a call saying that this company wanted to interview me in person. I flew up to Denver last Tuesday morning and met with several people there. I had a great time! The company is really great and I had no qualms about anything. It was the best experience interviewing that I’ve ever had.  I wasn’t nervous and I felt that there was no b.s. being exchanged.  That afternoon the owner asked if instead of flying back to Tulsa, I’d fly out to L.A. to meet some of the clients. I had nothing with me… clothes, camera, computer, all of which I almost brought but didn’t… but told him I was up for it.

I flew into Burbank, picked up a rental car and cruised over to Pasadena. My friend met me at my hotel and we went and bought underwear a few things. We ate at a cool little Thai restaurant and then I crashed back at the hotel (I had only slept six hours the night before). The next day we met a client at his home, then went to the Honda Center and finally Angel Stadium. I also got to sit in traffic for about two hours. That was fun! That night she showed me the software they use and just explained more of what her job entails.

On Thursday we met with another client before I had to fly out. Everything went well with that meeting too. I left with not enough time to get to the airport but couldn’t do much about it since everything was blocked off for Michael Jackson’s memorial at the Staples Center downtown and traffic wasn’t moving very fast. I made it to the airport, dropped the car off, got through security and got to my gate five minutes before they were going to board. Major relief because I really didn’t want to wait around in the airport for another flight.

I didn’t expect to receive a call until today, because of the 4th, but Sunday morning I got a call from HR offering me the job! Matt and I are soooooo excited. I turned in my letter of resignation today and will start packing our house on Wednesday. My new company has annual meetings in July, so I’ll be flying back to Denver next week for those. I’m not sure of the exact date we’ll be moving yet but it’ll be this month. Woohoooo!