I’m blessed to have found a job I genuinely like to go to. Rachelle and Emily (the owners) have been so kind and giving of their time. I’m never afraid to ask questions and value the trust I’ve earned from them the last few months. Kristin and Jane are so sweet and my go to people when I either need directions or help with anything else. Knowing very few people this side of the Rocky Mountains has meant that my co-workers have become more like family. We tease each other, laugh and genuinely have a great time. I especially love it when Emily and Kristin serenade the office with their sing alongs.

I’m not going to lie and say it’s been easy being so far away from my family and friends. I have such a close family, which is the only reason I’ve been able to do it so far. Their love and support is what has made me so strong. Thank the Lord for Skype and phone calls. Talking to my three year old niece Bethany brightens my day no matter what may be going on.

As the months went on, March quickly began to approach. I was back to writing cover letters and fine tuning my portfolio. With a great internship under my belt, I started planning for my next job. But the Lord loves to throw me curve balls and remind me that He has a greater plan than I could ever imagine. A month ago, Rachelle and Emily officially asked me to stay on long term and become a Senior Designer at Wiley Valentine. As you can imagine, my mind was spinning out of control. This whole experience has been more like a long vacation, but now I was presented with the opportunity of starting my career in Orange County. The decision on both sides wasn’t entered into lightly, but after working out a few details and lots of prayer, I happily accepted. Not only will I be a Senior Designer at Wiley Valentine, but I will also be Director of Social Media and Other Awesomeness <-formal title to follow for Czar Press, the letterpress studio run by Rachelle’s husband Michael. I will be working four days a week for WV and one day next door with the boys in the letterpress shop. Getting to do a little bit of everything I love? Yeah, I’m continually thanking the Lord for an incredible blessing.

The initial head spinning after the job was offered hasn’t quite subsided as I’m now trying to figure out California driver’s license, insurance, how to get my stuff here, etc. The joys of being an adult. I’m uncertain how this is all going to play out, but the Lord has confirmed this to me EVERY step of the process. I’m a little scared about this big step, but I have the support of my family and a faithful God behind me. Let’s see what California has in store for me and let the adventure continue…

***Read more about how this all started here: http://thinkcreatelive.com/blog/2011/10/21/my-new-adventure-at-wiley-valentine/

And since I love sharing new music, here’s a song that I have on repeat right now (it’s a perfect tune for my current mood!):

I went yesterday/Saturday around 3pm. I think the rained helped with the crowds not being too bad.

**Side note- The first grocery store I went into since I’ve been here was a Vons. I walked in all pumped to get some food, but I was completely lost when I couldn’t find a grocery cart. I looked like an idiot! On my way out I realized why I couldn’t find one, they were all outside!! Crazy thought to a Nebraska girl who’s used to the carts being inside because of all the snow and ice during the winter. Despite multiple times of me forgetting the carts were outside, I actually remembered when I went to Trader Joe’s! So with my grocery cart in tow, I was ready to do some serious business!

To those who know my eating habits, NO this is not my first time in a produce section

The "Reduced Guilt" part made me smile

The amount of sugar I'm going to have to add to these to get any flavor is going to negate any nutritional value, but for $1.99 you can't beat that!

I hope this is half as good as it looks $2.99

The thing I was most excited about was this. Nothing can beat One World Cafe's BBQ Chicken Pizza, but I was willing to give this a try. $4.99

My first Trader Joe's sample!! Turkey breast with dressing=yum!!

Overall I was very impressed with the store and their selection. The workers were so nice and I loved the low prices. For the first time since I’ve been here, I left a grocery store without feeling like I got violated!

I got home and had to make the BBQ Chicken Pizza. And it was delicious! Not as good as One World's but a decent frozen option.

After all the excitement of yesterday, I was hoping to have a relaxing day today, but after church service this morning I made an impromptu visit to Dana Point with someone I met last Sunday. It was such a gorgeous day and I loved walking around.

One of my favorite pictures I've taken since I got here.

**Side note- Another California thing I can’t get used to is their use of garages. Almost everyone I’ve seen has been full to the top with stuff! They leave their cars outside (nice cars at that, I’ve seen more BMW’s in my two weeks here than I have my whole life) and they fill their garages with everything under the sun. Some even put their washer and dryer in the garage! Crazy people! But I guess when you don’t have to worry about snow, ice, sleet, and every other fun weather element, you can use it as another room in the house. So many little differences…

I can’t believe I’ve been here for over two weeks already! It’s going so fast but I’m loving it! I can’t wait to see what other adventures I can go on and the people I can meet. All glory to God for bringing me here!

After packing like crazy on Sunday night, I finally hit the road Monday morning headed to Fort Collins, Colorado. This drive was fairly uneventful, seeing as most of it was through western Nebraska. Once in Fort Collins, I spent some time with my grandma and stayed the night with my aunt and uncle. I enjoyed getting to see and spend time with family. It has been about two years since I’ve seen the mountains and it definitely brought back a lot of memories.

It was a beautiful fall day in Colorado

Day two was an epic day of driving because I was crossing the Rocky Mountains. Many prayers were said for my car because she’s 14 years old and lacks in the power category. But she was good to me, yes, I had to drop down to 50 mph on some of the inclines, but we made up any time we lost on the backside of the mountains! It’s crazy how fast your car can get up to on those downhill slopes. This second day was about 10 hours of driving and I was exhausted when I finally got to the hotel in Beaver, Utah. I am blessed for having crossed the mountains on Tuesday rather than Wednesday, because they got six inches of snow and I-70 was actually closed in some areas. Praise the Lord for leaving on the day that I did!

A gorgeous drive through the Rockies

My first sighting of snow for the season. They were skiing at Loveland Ski Area, located right before the Eisenhower tunnel.

Right as I crossed the border into Utah it started pouring.

The title of this blog post comes from an area in Utah where there is nothing for 106 miles, and the gas stations right before this stretch know this. I had to pay $3.89 per gallon of gas because I only had an 1/8 of a tank left.

It’s safe to say that I was exhausted when I finally arrived at the hotel. I stayed at the Days Inn in Beaver, Utah, and I must say if you’re ever in that town, stay there. They had clean and newly built rooms and were very friendly, which was important to me since it was my first time staying in a hotel by myself. After watching about five episodes of Auction Kings, I passed out early so I would be ready for my final day of traveling. I woke up at 6:30am on Wednesday with the main goal of beating the commuter traffic once I got to Orange County. I was already thinking about sunny California, but was quickly reminded of winter’s pain when I saw my car was covered in ice. After scraping it all off, I headed over to the Flying J across the street to claim my free breakfast burrito Days Inn was offering. Usually I turn my nose up at anything like this, but it was DELICIOUS! One more reason to stay at the Days Inn.

The beautiful winter wonderland I woke up to.

My first time in Arizona and it was only about 20 minutes on the interstate.

This canyon in Arizona was very fun to drive through. zoom..zoom

Finally in Nevada!!

I spent a lot of time in the desert. This is about the time I started shedding layers I had piled on when I woke up to snow.

My first time in Las Vegas! They have a lot of trash on their interstate.

I made it to California!! I must say their state sign could use a little work.

This road in California was very fun to drive down.

One of the things I was the most nervous about was the toll roads in California. I’m from Nebraska, we don’t have those things! My only mistake was heading towards a booth that I didn’t realize was closed. I was too focused on if they would take dollar bills because I didn’t have quarters. This was the only time I almost hit somebody as I quickly cut them off, but I gave them my Nebraska wave and mouthed “I’m sorry!” Considering this was the only almost collision, I think it was a successful trip. When I got to the next toll booth, I was a pro and was quickly on my way. Finding the house I’m staying at was incredibly easy, and I officially ended my trip at 2pm on Wednesday. Three days of traveling and I was in Laguna Hills!! Diane (the lady I’m staying with) was so kind to not only help me unload my car, but she also took me around town last night, showing me where all the hot spots are. And we ate dinner at In-N-Out, what better way to say welcome to California than my first In-N-Out experience. I’m not sure about their five things on the whole menu, but the cheese burger was pretty darn good! Today I am going to go on my first experience exploring the town by myself with the main goal of getting some groceries. We’ll see how this goes!

Ten things I learned from this road trip:

1. My collection of mixed CDs saved my sanity

2. Colorado drivers rarely use their turn signals

3. Speeding down the backside of the mountains is not a good idea…there are cops everywhere.

4. I-70 is one of the most beautiful drives

5. A GPS system is a life saver. Thanks Mom and Dad!

6. I’ll choose the open plains of Nebraska over the desert any day

7. I have no desire to go to Las Vegas

8. California drivers speed…a lot.

9. Pay attention to which toll booths are closed

10. Yes, my car can make it halfway across the country!!

Some movies/tv shows that were on my mind:

1. Little House on the Prairie

2. Ice Road Truckers

3. CSI

4. Vegas Vacation

5. Tremors

I know some of you haven’t heard from me in a long time and probably have no idea where I’m at right now. No worries, this post will fill you in on the latest opportunity to come my way. It all started on Twitter about a month ago. Yes, it was a tweet that led me to Wiley Valentine in Irvine, California. I had been following them for awhile and was excited to hear that they were offering their first design internship. Within 24hrs of that first tweet I had responded with a cover letter and a link to my portfolio. Despite them wanting a local resident, I decided to adamantly pursue this opportunity and was able to get a Skype interview with them. As some of you know my portfolio case is 45 inches long so it made for an interesting time showing them over video. I quickly made a thank you card after the interview, which they received two days later. By the next day, I was offered the position. I will never again doubt the possibilities of Twitter.

Wiley Valentine is a design studio specializing in the paper industry. Their attention to detail and knowledge of the stationery world is what really drew me to them. The depth of their inventory is insane for having only two designers! Quality is often sacrificed for quantity, but that is NOT true for these ladies. Take a look at this Surprise Proposal suite that quickly circulated the Internet back in May. This internship is focused on the launch of their new site. I will be working with Photoshop backgrounds and designing different elements for the site. Earlier this week Rachelle (one of the owners) let me know that I will also be heading up the revamp of their Etsy shop. I’m so excited about designing for them! I will be surrounded with wedding invitations, website design, and an awareness of the impact designers have on the environment.  To top it all off, one of the owner’s husbands owns a letterpress studio right next door called Czar Press. It’s a little bit of everything I love about design!

I will be leaving Monday to make the 25 hr car ride there, spreading the drive out over three days. Any prayers for safe travels are greatly appreciated. I hope to post frequently about this new adventure, so check back often for the latest on my experience at Wiley Valentine.

Some of you may think this is crazy, a Nebraska girl moving out to California for an internship, but I’m a girl who loves taking risks and going to new places. The Lord has confirmed this step in more ways than one, and how it has all worked out, can only be attributed to His doing!

I’ll let you all know once I finally get a job and am done writing boring cover letters. As for now I’m open to freelance opportunities so if you have any ideas and would like to work with me, shoot me an email. I would love to talk to you. And I’ve already started designing Christmas cards for this year so let me know if you’re interested!

My plan for this blog is to share design inspiration and any projects I’m working on. Also a few updates on my life, which is always interesting. I’m a recent graduate trying to conquer the unfavorable job market right now so I’m sure I’ll have lots to share. If you have any comments or suggestions about the design, I would love to hear them! Thanks for reading!