Steph Lloyd » Smiling

31 Years

Steph — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 04:24:45 +0000

Today is my 31st birthday. It’s been a lovely birthday filled with a few things I love: I slept late, walked along the ocean with my love and started a new book (East of Eden).

This year is going to be good. I thought about coming up with a list of 31 reasons to prove it but decided against being so cheesy. Plus I’m tired from the long walk in the sun. Haha.

I’m grateful for so many things. My life is great and I’m looking forward to making it even better. Onward ho!

We Made It!

Steph — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:21:50 +0000

Hey, we’re here! We arrived in Pasadena on Friday (two days ago) and have been running around ever since.

The road trip from Oklahoma to California was fairly uneventful. Even so, we were really happy to pull into town, dump our stuff at the house and return the U-Haul. Ugh.

We really excited about our cute, little house (pictures to follow shortly). We have an awesome patio and a really nice yard. Our neighborhood is just lovely. Vegetation is lush. It smells wonderful! Our neighborhood is made up of bungalows. I’m in house heaven! (Unfortunately, our home is a mother-in-law suite that really can’t be classified as a bungalow… but I still love it!)

Our home is flooded with boxes. Literally. We can barely get from one side of the house to the other. We had a lot of errands to run yesterday and today, so not much has been done around here. We’ll hit it hard this week though since Matt is eager to work out and I to get to the bathroom without slamming my toe on something.

Work starts tomorrow also. It is my main priority at this point. Matt set up his desk for me to use until I get one of my own (I work from home). My training in Denver a couple of weeks ago seems like a year ago. I’m definitely going to have to reacquaint myself with the job and my duties.

I’ll be honest and admit I’m a bit overwhelmed. July was a crazy month, with me coming and going almost every week. Once we got here, I breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived because so much still needs to be done. Matt’s doing fine with it all. He’s been walking around with a huge grin on his face all weekend. Haha. I am grateful that everything has gone smoothly though… I really couldn’t ask for more!

Almost Outta Here

Steph — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:27:32 +0000

We planned our road trip to Pasadena tonight. We’re going to make the quick jump over to Amarillo on Wednesday, stay the night, drive to Flagstaff on Thursday, stay the night and then through to Pasadena on Friday. We were going to make the trip in two days originally but decided that we’d rather spread it out a bit.

So tomorrow is our last day in Tulsa. Rather than really enjoying it, we’ll be busy loading the rest of the truck and cleaning the house. Haha.

A Flutterby

Steph — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:53:33 +0000

I’ve mentioned to a few people that I wasn’t nervous when I interviewed for my new job. It was a first for me, I tend to get nervous the second before I do something like that. I thought I’d be nervous when I told my former boss that I was leaving, but he expected it and all I ended up doing in the meeting was grin like a fool. Haha.

The first time I felt nervous was when I emailed my resignation to him and HR. I thought about it for a second and clicked send. No biggie.

The second time I felt nervous was when I was leaving work for the last time. Since my last day was Sunday, there wasn’t really anyone around. I just logged out of each program, sent an email saying good bye to everyone, grabbed my bamboo plant and walked out. I got butterflies when I thought about the fact that I was leaving and wouldn’t be back. That I couldn’t go back. It was an interesting realization.

I’m proud of my time at Vyvx though. I met so many good people and learned a lot. My time there was shorter than I had originally anticipated but it’s all right. I have only good memories from there.

The phase in life we are about to enter is pretty huge. It feels like it’s more like the next book, rather than just a new chapter. Who knows though. Only time will tell.

Tomorrow I’m flying back to Denver for four days of training. I’m mentally prepared to absorb a ton of information. I’m rearing to go actually. Once I’m done in Denver, I’ll fly back, pack up the last little bit and drive out to Pasadena (Matt in the U-Haul, me in the car).

I’m thinking the flutterby will be back when we are driving out of Tulsa. Just like Korea, Tulsa holds a special place in my heart. I’m sad to go but I know it’s time. My nervousness will probably pass after being on the road for a few miles though… because what I thrive on is change and big changes are coming our way!

Gotta Start the Countdown

Steph — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:07:16 +0000

Wrapping things up in Tulsa has been surprisingly easy. Everything is literally falling into place. I couldn’t have planned it out any better if I had tried. It’s crazy. I’m so grateful. And blessed.

This move has been a long time coming. I wanted to go to California after college but I didn’t have anything lined up and I didn’t want to go out there and be broke and unemployed. I followed my heart here in Tulsa, over to Asia, back to Tulsa and now over to the West Coast. It’s funny how each step was necessary for the next and even though I wasn’t always sure why I was at a certain place in life, I trusted that I was where I was supposed to be, worked hard, was diligent and it paid off. Always does. I know the next step is going to take some serious work on my part but I’m ready for another challenge.

[St. Andrew's Catholic Church with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background. Photo by FrogMiller.]

We secured a cute little rental house in Pasadena to live in. It is sooooo cute! Quaint. Cozy. Haha. I’m not sure of the square footage but it’s smaller than our current home. Matt and I are excited though. We appreciate having what we need and nothing more. Excess is blah. The greatest thing about the house is the backyard. It’s big and beautiful. Lots of plants and flowers that are maintained by gardeners. We can see the massive palm trees around the neighborhood while we are chillin’ back there. There’s a large patio with a fire pit. Matt and I bought some ugly comfortable loungers this week so we can get right to it when we arrive. There is a nice size office with a sliding glass door onto the patio for my office (I’ll be working from home). I’m pretty sure I’ll allow Matt a corner for his desk. *wink*

Another bonus for living there: way cheap fares out of LAX!

A Changin’

Steph — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:49:20 +0000

Life is good and we’re basically happy yet here we are considering major changes. Again. I swear that neither of us know how to sit still for more than a minute. The reason we are exploring different options is because of the ‘basically’ I used in the first sentence. Life is so good and I’m so blessed… yet I want to continue doing and seeing more. I’m trying not to stress about it all but I’m thinking I’ll be trippin’ until I hear a yes or no on a couple of things we’re looking into. But until we hear, which is who knows when, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing… working, making soap, chillin’.

No Regrets

Steph — Mon, 25 May 2009 04:00:30 +0000

I just deleted a post I’ve been working on for awhile. It was a post detailing the various reasons for my lack of blogging lately. None of it really matters other than to say that I think that my life is about to transition into the next chapter.

Some news broke my heart today. I sat at work crying for the loss my friends are facing right now. The thought was overwhelming, and I wasn’t even going through it. Everything I was trying to vocalize in the post I deleted suddenly became so clear. Life is too short not live it. We are not guaranteed a long life. We are not even guaranteed tomorrow. I asked myself, if I died today, would I be proud of the life I have led? Would I be proud of the way I spent my time? Would I wish I had done something differently? There are many things in my life that I’m proud of and only a few that I regret. The conclusion I came to was that moving forward, I need to live. Really live. To seek out the things I’ve dreamt of since I was a kid. To do all the things I’m curious about. I don’t want to live off the crumbs of the things I’ve already done. I want to keep doing new and interesting things. I want to be able to look back at my life when I am on my way out and smile. Smile that I spent time with my husband, whom I was fortunate enough to meet early on in life. Smile that I didn’t let me fear of failure keep me tied to an ergonimically correct desk chair my whole life. Smile that I took risks. Smile that I took the advice I give to so many people: live like there is nothing holding you back. No money? Find a way! No time? Make it! No clue where to begin? It’s all about putting one foot in front of the other.

My focus for the past six months or so has been on starting my soap company. It’s been fun and there are so many elements of it that I enjoy… BUT… I asked myself last night what I would do if I knew I only had five years to do it? If at the five year mark, all I really had were my memories. Would I put all my time and money into building my soap company? Would I quit that and put more effort into my job? Would I quit working entirely? I decided that what I would want to make kick ass memories. I’d want to go see Australia and the Pyramids. I’d want to go down in a shark cage (no one can tell if you wet yourself right?!?). I’d want to hike the Andes. I’d want to dance and dance and dance. For whatever reason, all those things are important to me. I want to see everything. Touch everything. Taste everything. Smell almost everything. Nothing else matters, except fear, apparently. Fear keeps me from doing so many things. There is no sense wasting what precious little time we have on this earth doing things that we don’t really care about. Or things that society deems appropriate. We have to carve out our own way. Be ourselves. I believe that is what brings joy. And that is what I’m hoping to find.

Porch Time

Steph — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:44:58 +0000

Matt and I are about to embark on a full week of rest and relaxation right here in beautiful Tulsa, Oklahoma. Haha! Matt is on Spring Break through the 15th and I have nine days off starting Wednesday. I had hoped we’d be traveling to a beach somewhere… but we’re not… maybe this summer…

Anyway, Matt wasn’t feeling well when I left the house today and I’m exhausted so we’re pretty much planning on doing nothing. The weather is supposed to be warm. I can’t wait to sit outside in the sun. At the park. On our front porch-type-thingy. I wish our porch looked like this one. Isn’t it wonderful?

[via: katy elliott : hutker architects]

The entire cottage is wonderful. I love it!

I have a few things up my sleeve for break. It all depends on what we feel like doing at the time though. I’m sure Matt has a few things he’d like to get done too. Mainly, I just want peace and quiet… lots of sun… rest…

‘Tis the Season

Steph — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 02:00:42 +0000

Merry Christmas to my friends, family and faithful blog readers. Hope you are all feeling warm and fuzzy, like me. Lots of love to you and yours!

Holiday Perfection

Steph — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:45:15 +0000

Matt and I are wrapped up in a blanket, sipping hot apple cider and watching “You’ve Got Mail”. Our Christmas tree is glowing and it smells so good!

I’ve added my Christmas movie list to the side bar for the season. They are the Christmas movies that we actually own and watch each year. My standards are pretty low, the movies don’t have to have a Christmas theme for me to consider them a Christmas movie. The opening scene can have Christmas lights in the hallway and I consider it festive enough to watch. There are a bunch of movies I’d like to add to our slim collection. As always, feel free to to leave any Christmas movie recommendations in the comments. I’ll cross the movies off as we watch them. I love Christmas!

Found a cool website tonight that lists movies with Christmas in them: ChristmasMovies.net.