This morning I woke up and yet another friend didn't realize I was even living in California. HA! So I thought I'd share what life is like now that I've moved from UT to CA.
To really understand, here's the break down...
In late 1989 my parents packed their things and moved us from Dracut, MA to Provo, UT. I still remember sleeping in the living room on the floor after the movers took our things in Dracut, leaving in the middle of the night to go stay with my grandparents, and my best friend at the time crying from the window when 5 year old me told her I wasn't coming back.
By 1991 we were living in a small city called American Fork. A little while after we'd moved in a family of boys moved in down the road, the Jorgensen family. I remember my new friend Stephanie and I would pass by on our bikes as our brothers would play with them. Loren was the 2nd oldest.
Salt Lake City, UT with brothers Philip (oldest) and Garrett (baby) and my mom.
Highschool-ish: Loren's dad was a dentist, in fact when I had a tooth broken as a kid, it was Loren's dad who fixed it. A few years later the family eventually moved away from UT. Loren came back, worked and lived in Utah. He was still friends with the kids in the neighborhood and came back to visit. I remember seeing him when I was a teen and thinking "Wow, he's hot!" and my friends telling me to shut up because that was weird since we'd all known each other almost our whole lives.
2006-2007: I decided to serve a mission for my church which allowed me to lived in Kansas for a while. When I came back to Utah in the summer of 2007 my friend/roommate Susan and I took a trip to San Diego, CA. It was the first time I'd gone to California. I was dating a Marine at the time, not a good guy - at all! In fact it was drill instructors at the MCRD and the wife of a Marine who woke me up to the fact that the Marine Corps was not a bunch of jerks. I had a new found respect for them.
Early 2008: I had a prompting my life was not in Utah. That I needed to prepare myself to move. I felt like California was where I should be, but I didn't think I'd ever find a job once I moved there. I was still going to school for Graphic Design and as the story goes, most designers don't find jobs unless they've got a BFA. I didn't even have my associates! (thanks Provo College for screwing that one up while I was on my mission. They changed their program and instead of 93 credits, I now had 25. I got to start all over again at Utah Valley University.)
Loren's boot camp photo. 2008.
Around March I decided I wanted to join the Marine Corps. ;) Unknown to me, Loren decided to join the Marine Corps at this time. I started training to join (mentally and physically). At first my desire was to go into aviation. I asked the recruiters about it and they informed me that my training as a designer would be a great fit as a public affairs specialist. So I said "Hell yeah! Sign me up!" and started working on losing the weight from the mission so I could join. A few weeks after my birthday (mid April) while I was doing my evening workout (at this point I was 10lbs from my goal) I decided my room wasn't big enough and I wanted to work out in the living room. I had to move the couches to do that. So I moved everything in the living room around and right as I was moving the couch my knee locked and wouldn't bend.
I FREAKED!!! My roommate Emily tried to help. Long story short, my friend took me to the hospital 3 days later (I was in denial people). I had a bad meniscal tare in my right knee. They took out 50% of the cartilage in my knee.
Summer 2008: I got a job after I recovered and could walk again working for a company in Orem, UT. LOVED IT!!! I never wanted to leave. The probing to go to California was pushed to the back burner. I could have seen myself with that company for several years!
Early 2010: Again, I had the prompting to join the military. I thought I'd give it one more try. I started working out again, I was almost hitting my goal at the distance runs though some times my knee would hurt. One afternoon I thought I'd take the practice test for the ASVAB. I got 100% on every subject but a 70% on my math. :-S LOL! Yeah, I suck at math. Not even a week later the recruiter called from the Marine Corps office and invited me to PT with them.
Summer 2010: I started hanging around the office a lot, in fact almost every day after work I was there. It was fun! I loved learning about the Corps. Randomly one morning I woke up to the inability to even stand without pain. :( Went to the doctor - I'd mildly herniated a disc in my lower lumbar. CRAP! Physical therapy. Once I got better, I started training again. One evening while running at the gym my knee decided to hate me. It swelled up to an unrecognizable size and then turned black and blue. The long distance runs I could no longer do. It's been 2 years! WHAT THE?! Doc says it was due to the fact I had very little cartilage left in my knee and my knee would soon be rubbing bone if I wasn't careful... Crap. :( I was sad I couldn't join the Marine Corps... So I decided to do whatever I could to help out. I donated my time to organizations like "Adopt A Marine", sending care packages to those Marines who had no one.
Cookies I'd make for care packages. LOL!
Fall 2010: Facebook, you are the shiz. Reconnecting with Loren! ;) He was on his way to Afghanistan. I told him he had to come visit when he got back.
By September I received a huge blow. The company I so happily worked for was bought out and were cutting the whole production department. :( Come December I'd be out of a job. Lots of tears. Lots of depression. I'd exhausted all my resources as a designer in Utah. My only other option was to move to California... But with the economy the way it was, how would I ever find a job? I attempted to find work where I could. Those jobs were all dead ends. I got rid of my condo, moved back into BYU student housing (HORROR) and cried at the fact that in my mind I had failed.
Spring & Summer 2011: Life was ok. Not great, just ok. I wasn't working as a designer and forcing myself to do a job I hated - Sales. Eventually I begged to be moved into the company's graphics department. It was a complete demotion. They cut my pay $3 and told me I had to compete against an intern. My computer was super slow and I couldn't make quota. They didn't care. Eventually they let me go.
October 2011: Life in UT was rather shizzy. I lost my job and was having a hard time finding work. A friend of mine who was a new Marine kept having issues and I wasn't sure to help. I ran around trying to find answers to help him, but eventually something told me to give Loren a call. Loren and I talked for several hours, just catching up on life.
A few days later Loren and I decided to try a long distance relationship. :) <3 AWESOME! While Utah life was crumbling and I was in the midst of having to move from my apartment, the one great thing in my life was Loren.
November 2011: I packed my bags and decided I'd had enough of Utah. I wanted out and was going to the place where my heart already was. So the day after thanksgiving I said goodbye to my family and traveled the whole day to California.
This photo still cracks me up. This was right
after Loren and his friend had met me outside
the Fallbrook entrance for Camp Pendleton.
Rainey took the pic of Loren as he's waiting for
me in the bathroom. Time to process, I am here!
We weren't exactly sure where I'd go, we really had no plans other than to get me out there and then I'd start looking for work. So when Monday came and Loren had to go to work, I had time to sit on the beach and think. A LOT of time. I remember the one thought I did have - I was smiling. *I took this picture*... I was HAPPY to be away from the stressful life I'd had in Utah. Don't get me wrong, Utah is great for many reasons. But for me, it was ALL WRONG. I felt comfortable, I felt safe, and I felt at peace. I didn't have a lot of things but I had what mattered. ;) (ok, stop gagging at my cheesiness.) That evening I got a text message from Loren saying one of the LCpls he worked with had offered to help us out and take me in. So I drove over and moved in with her. SO MUCH FUN!! :)
December 2011: Well the beginning was hard. People were telling me to come home since I didn't have a job yet. I didn't know what to do. Everything was making me feel like a burden. Eventually Loren told me it was up to me but he recommended I at least give it a shot. I loved him and the thought of leaving him was something I knew I physically and mentally couldn't do. So I stuck it out and waited. On December 14th I was offered a job as a personal assistant to a model/fashion designer who lived in Carlsbad. HOLY CRAP! Things started falling into place, life was good, and I had confidence that things would work out. Our first Christmas together was simple, but we'd been given a lot of gifts and it was great being able to look at life in a positive way. I had a job, I had a roof over my head, Loren was on guard duty 2 days on 2 days off (more time off!), and I had supportive friends.
January 2012: A great new year! :) The stress weight I'd put on before leaving Utah was starting to come off! I moved in with an older couple who offered me a room in Oceanside. It was closer to Camp Pendleton, since I literally lived 3 mins away from the Main Gate, saving me on gas to visit Loren.
Loren and I also had more time to get to know each other again. It'd been a few years since we'd really even seen each other! I was thankful for our schedules. Though my hours were unpredictable, it allowed me to be off on days when he had off.
By the end of January, however, I decided to quit my job and find a new one. Daily I'd come home with a sick, hollow feeling about myself when working in the fashion industry. It didn't take me long to realize that world was not for me.
February 2012: And it didn't take long after having my resume and cover letter re-vamped. Apparently the whole interviewing process was different in California and I didn't know it! Within an hour of sending out my new resume I received 3 job interview invitations with very big companies in California. My skills as a designer and experience in several different jobs placed me "miles above everyone else" during interviews. I was offered a job as a receptionist (with a promise to grow to a graphic designer) on Valentines day. That next week Loren started checking out of the Marine Corps. Now it's time to look for our own place together. :D
