The last several days have been such a whirlwind. Rewind to last week….

The day before Zach and I left for New York, he came across a job listing and sent the link to me in an email. As soon as I read the job description and skills required, I got excited. I know what you are thinking…I have a job. I do, and it has been a great job for me the past two and a half years. But the last few months things have been changing drastically at that job and I didn’t feel right about some of the adjustments. So I sent in my resume and preview portfolio. I sent the email around 10:00 am and then got a call back at 10:30. They asked if I could come in for an interview. I THEN had to explain to them that I was leaving for New York in 3 hours and that I wouldn’t be able to meet with them until Monday, almost a full week! They told me that I had to come in immediately. I was in the middle of work and had two clients coming in to see me. So I grabbed my portfolio off my desk and rushed off to the interview, frantically calling clients and re-arranging schedules. I didn’t know how long the interview would last, so I had Zach finish packing my bags for the trip and meet me at our house to drive me to my interview. We shoved all our bags in the car and took off.  The interview lasted for an hour and 45 minutes. I started off strong, and then started to panic. I knew we were never going to make it to the airport in time for our flight. Luckily, before it hit TWO WHOLE hours, they told me the interview was over and they would call me later in the week. I ran out to the car (with Zach waiting, playing Angry Birds on his iPad) and we rushed off to the airport. We made it with minutes to spare on the plane. Thank HEAVEN ABOVE for that trip. It kept me distracted enough that I didn’t think about the interview or the wait for their decision. I was in a good place because if I didn’t get the new position I still had my current job. The new company knew I wouldn’t get home until Sunday, so I didn’t expect anything from them until at least Monday.

Friday I got an email. It basically asked if I could come up with a design concept for a fictional client and present it to them. It needed to be a 20×20 exhibit space. That’s all the information they gave me at that time. They also wanted to meet with me again for lunch when I arrived home. I assumed they would give me the details of this concept they wanted me to create while we had our lunch (which was scheduled for Tuesday).

We arrived home from NY really late at night and we went right to bed, we didn’t even unpack our bags.

Monday morning came and they emailed me again, asking where the concept I had designed was….

ARE YOU SERIOUS!? They expected me to do drawings and a three dimensional rendering while I was on vacation?!

That meant that I only had Monday night to come up with a whole design concept and finished rendering. The night was a disaster. They needed something by Tuesday morning and I was frantic. I was so swamped at work from being gone for three days that I didn’t have any time to work on this design concept until after hours. Then my Autocad crashed. It wouldn’t even open. I struggled with it for hours. Then I saw the clock and realized it was 9:00 pm. Finally after some frustrating rants, a few tears, and some prayers later it started up. I built my whole model in 3D and I was happy with it. Then time to render it….

Then the second disaster: My copy of 3D Studio Max was expired, I hadn’t used it in 6 months. More tears later….more prayers later, I downloaded the 30 day trial of the software online and it worked perfectly.

After some photoshop I came up with this:

I sent it off and slept as much as I could.

Tuesday came really fast and I left once again for a lunch interview. Two different people this time. Then of course, “We’ll call you when we have made our decision.”

Two days went by and I hadn’t heard a word. I was crushed. I had my hopes up way too high, and I knew that I had done myself a huge injustice by setting my heart set on it.

Thursday came and I got another phone call. They wanted to meet with me AGAIN. I kept telling myself not to show emotion when they told me I wasn’t “a good fit” or “decided to go with someone else.” The meeting was long, as usual. Then my interviewer got up in the middle of our conversation and left me alone in his office. It was only 10 minutes but it felt like a million years.

He came back in and sat back down in his chair, looked at me plainly in the face and said, “We’d like to offer you the position. Can you start tomorrow?”

I got the job. I’m officially a Senior Designer. I told them I couldn’t start until Monday, because I had so much to finish up at my “old” job. I was SO excited. I played it cool though, and told him I would have to talk it over with my husband. I had already said yes in my heart and mind though.

Monday is coming sooner that I expected. I will have a new desk. New co-workers.  Yesterday was one of the hardest days I have ever had. I had to tell my boss, co-workers, clients, and contractors I work with that it was my last day. I have made some amazing friends, laughed a thousand times, and even shed some tears. All in all, I will miss so much about Peppertree.

I know this new position was meant to be.  I had been complaining to Zach for quite some time about things at my old job, and he was worried about me and my happiness.  My husband is always looking out for my best interests, I am so lucky to have him.  Without Zach, I would have never found this job opportunity, and I owe him everything.  He and my family are my biggest support system.  I have some big shoes to fill at this new job, but I hope and pray I can do my best and succeed.

I am scared out of my mind.