Well.....after waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for the Census Bureau to get back to me, I finally decided to start applying for other jobs. I think I probably applied for 150 jobs. One company was looking for someone with Web Design experience and Graphic Design experience. So I applied. Their name is ULLICO. They are an insurance company a few blocks from the White House in Washington DC.Before going to the interview at ULLICO, I interviewed at The Atlantic Media company, Capital One HQ, and many others. ULLICO was the first to give me an offer. It was a very very good offer with better benefits than any other job could ever possibly offer. Probably better than any government job could offer.
I drove back and forth between my girlfriends house in Norfolk VA and Washington DC several times in one week. It was tough but it certainly was worth it. I think I have a good idea of how bad the traffic in Northern VA is now. Ugh!
So right now I am gearing up to move to Fredericksburg VA and start a real life with my girl friend. I've looked for some places in that area and have liked a lot of what I have found. There are a few that are close to the commuter rail station that I plan to use everyday to work. I'm actually looking forward to that.
While I'm on here, I'll tell you a little about Kristin, my girl friend. Well.......she's great!
Around January, I decided to get out of Texas and move back to the East Coast. My sister has a baby now, and I'd like to see her grow up. I've been going to school for nearly 10 years and I'm a little sick of it honestly. Don't get me wrong, I have A LOT to show for it, but I'm just done for the most part. I had already decided to move to VA. One day it hit me that Kristin is probably in VA as well. I recalled her telling me 10 years ago that she was going to try to get a job as a journalist in Washington. I remember where we were standing and what we said in the conversation. That's got to mean something if I remember it that well. So I emailed our mutual friend from high school and asked about Kristin's whereabouts.
After finding out a little about what was going on with her, I sent her a message on Facebook and just asked if she would be interested in having lunch when I fly to DC for my interview. AND SHE SAID YES! :-) I ended up flying out a few weeks earlier to visit my family and decided to rent a car and drive up to see her. We had a great time walking on the beach and catching up. I remember a guy yelled out at us "You guys look great!" That kind of made both of our days.
Eventually, against my friends advice, I broke down and told her all about how much I liked her in high school and how I remembered her after all of these years. I told her about all these small conversations we had 10+ years ago. And the rest is history.
She's a great girl. The best. She's an award winning journalist, smart, funny, and we are from the same hometown. Did I mention she is insanely beautiful? When it came time for me to come home from Texas, she flew out there and we drove back together and had the best time. We stopped in the mountains in Georgia and took in the sights there. After that we knew that we were really an item.
So the moral of the story is, God listens to prayers. I've prayed for this stuff starting in January. Everything fell into place just like He wanted it to. I prayed for a Christian woman, a wonderful job, and a lot of patience and God came through. Texas wasn't where I needed to be. I should have never have gone. But it was all in God's plan. If I hadn't had gone to Texas, I wouldn't have applied for this job in DC. I wouldn't have reconnected with Kristin. I wouldn't have been offered a really awesome job. And I wouldn't be as happy as I am right now.
