I know I’m a little late getting into this, but I’ve been a little busy.
At the end of 2012, Facebook started doing this “Year In Review” thing, where it pulled the top events from your year (well, the year you let Facebook be privy to) together in a little retrospective collection. It seemed a little cheesy at first, but it actually was a sweet reminder of just how awesome my year had been.
2012 started off pretty unremarkable except for one little thing: my brother was engaged! In June, he wed his bride, and I gained a sister. My brother had the genius (or luck?) to get married on his half birthday. So easy for him and everyone else to then remember when their anniversary is. June 3rd was the end of a fun weekend in Big Bear, with not enough time with friends but just the right amount of time with family.
Summer came and went, and September arrived hot and humid. But September also brought something I never thought I’d see. As the space shuttle Endeavour made its way to its new home here in Los Angeles, it flew (on the back of a 747 and with an escort of two fighter jets) over Warner Bros. twice. It’s perhaps the best photo I’ve ever taken, the Endeavour flying past the Warner Bros. water tower. I was shaking after it flew out of sight. I know, I know, I’m a space nerd. But it was just such a cool moment.
October was suspenseful. Some things had happened at work that made leaving necessary, and so I began looking for a new job. And at the end of September I had a job interview at a local Christian university. It wasn’t what I was looking for, it was in an industry I never thought I’d find myself in, but it felt right. So after two intense interviews, weeks of waiting on HR, I was finally offered a position at Azusa Pacific Online University as a program representative.
June 11, 2007 was my first day working at Warner Bros. Studios, and October 26th, 2012 was my last. I won’t say last EVER, as I have no idea what the future will bring, but it was the last for now. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. But, as Winnie-the-Pooh says, “how lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” I still miss it sometimes, miss the people, miss the lot, miss the activity, passion, and creativity. But it was time to move on.
On October 29, 2012, I started working at APOU. What a change. I’ll write more specifically later, but know that God is good, and I know without a doubt that I’m where I’m supposed to be right now.
And exactly two months later, I turned 30.
It was a big year.
I had the ambition to not only go farther than man had gone before, but to go as far as it was possible to go.