Can't complain when there are palm trees.

It has been a long, but productive day. Work has been going great, and I'm really enjoying the work I get to do and the creative freedom and autonomy I have to just go after what needs to be done. I still lack some direction and knowledge about the whole industry, but that will come with time.

And on my third trip to the DMV today, I finally got my license and transferred the title on my car. So I am an official Californian now. I of course had to take the test on traffic laws and I of course failed the first time (by one point!) but the second time around I got 100%, so I was elated to be gone from there by hour three. Thankfully, I shouldn't have to go back there for a long long time.

I got home around 4:30 and did myself a solid and went to the gym. I only went twice last week so I figure I should at least do that. I know it's only going to get harder to get motivated once I start school in a few weeks. But my brain could use some exercise too, I feel like I'm getting dumber. So there might have to be some trade off there.

So I'm pretty much wiped out from today, but I try to keep things in perspective. It's a good kind of exhausted. It's an accomplished kind of exhausted. And it feels good to feel that way. And I really keep reminding myself is that I really have nothing to complain about. I drive to work every morning in my nice new car, in beautiful sunny california, I make money, come home to my wonderful boyfriend and two extremely naughty birds, and then I generally piss around until it is time to go to bed.

And quite honestly, even my worst days in California are better than my best in Missouri.

Goodnight.

I'm becoming a morning person.

I woke up at 5:45 this morning and made my first commute as a grown up. It's a weird feeling knowing that I have a real job with real responsibilities. It's weird being a full blown adult in general. Granted, I'm only working part time for now, but it's a big step in the direction I will be heading during my 20's.

While training and the first few days of a new job are usually the worst, but it went quickly and I am shadowing different people this week to get a feel for what the company is doing and other peoples' responsibilities. It's a little hard for me to stay detached and remember that while some aspects of their job are important for me to know, it's mostly for me to figure out how things work in general and see what I can improve upon from a graphic and usability standpoint. Hopefully by next week I will be set up with an office and my own responsibilities. I already have multiple ideas to work on, and there is a lot that already needs to be done.

But, it is nice to have a job where I can actually be proactive and creative and looked at like an equal and a person with value. I also get to wear nice clothes, which is a nice change of pace and probably the biggest adjustment out of all of this.

Tim's dad found me a car this weekend, so I will be getting that by Wednesday hopefully. I need to take my driver's test out here again and get all the registration crap sorted out which is going to be a big pain in the ass because it all has to be done so quickly, but it's the last big hurdle to being a real californian and being completely settled in out here.

So, basically I need to get through this week and I'll be good to go. In the meantime I'll suck it up and deal with it. At least I'm doing something productive and making some money.

Big Changes

Things have changed quite a bit for us over the past few months. First of all, we added to our family. Tim bought me a Jenday Conure that we named Kiwi. He is almost five months old and really cute and playfully. He is a little mean to Mango (our other bird) but they are entertaining nonetheless. And they have kept our spirits up during our respective job searches.

I was about on the verge of giving up on finding a real job and just trying to do some freelance design to make ends meet. I had applied for one job that seemed to fit me perfectly. I emailed to set up an interview, but didn’t hear anything back for about a week. Finally, I got the interview arranged so Tim took me in for my first interview since we moved here.

It was for a graphic design position, so I felt very out of my league when I entered the waiting area and there were pretty much only older men carrying big portfolios. I also arrived about 15 minutes early and there were three other people that were going to be interviewed before me. To me this just screams cattle drive interviews, if I had driven there myself I would have probably just left. Nonetheless, I stayed there, had a great interview and left feeling a little bit hopeful.  As is customary to us now, we went to In-N-Out for lunch and then headed back home.

I found out on Tuesday that I got the job. We went out for sushi to celebrate, and we are going to San Diego this weekend. More importantly, I get to go shopping for new grown up office clothes.

Tim is still looking and has had several interviews, but no luck just yet.

I start school in a little over a month and I am a bit apprehensive about the load I will be taking on, but I think it will be good for me. And after two years I should be set up for a pretty comfortable and successful career. It’s exciting to have a job that fits me so well and the opportunity to expand upon my education.  But I will still have nights and weekends to do homework and/or relax.

So that’s where we are at now.