I have been thinking a lot in the past year about my career and other job options in the New Jersey area that I could advance to.  I’ve figured out, as have many before me, that the best way to get yourself advanced in your career is to just get a new job.  Too many companies do not prioritize the promotion of their internal employees, and it’s quite a shame.  When thinking about the choices around me geographically there wasn’t much.  In NYC I could work for a Financial institution, Insurance Company, etc as the IT Guy.   This would likely mean “suiting up” and toning it down.  That was not something I would look forward to.  Then, I thought about California.  It just seems like the place to be for IT Professionals.  So, I decided to follow up on a lead from 2007 and give my resume to a friend of mine that had gone to work for Data Domain.

After six phone interviews I was offered the job, thank goodness.  So my husband and I decided that we would move cross-country to California and have a life adventure together.  The downside of all of this is leaving our friends and family behind to do it.  It’s pretty hard when I think about it.  I spent most of my life without the joy of good friends.  In the past 5 years or so I’ve really become close with some of the greatest people in the world.  Everything in life, besides work, was pretty great in NJ.  When we had a surprise going away party thrown for us things really started to hit hard.  Leaving started to feel like the wrong choice.

Not to mention realizing that the last time I was at my parents’ house might be the last time I am there for a year or more.  I am used to seeing my parents at least once every other week or so, which was nice.  Now it might be shifting to once every 6 months or so.  It’s so weird.

But, we’re doing it.  Right now I’m sitting in a hotel room in Wauseon, Ohio waiting to move on to our next destination, Omaha, NE.  The only thing I really know about Omaha is that it’s where 311 is from, and hey that’s more than I knew about Ohio!!

It still feels pretty temporary. Like we’re just going on some sort of vacation. Even though we’ve secured an apartment, rented out our condo and put all of our belongings in a POD to traverse the continent.  It still feels temporary.  It will kick in soon.  Now it’s off to another 10 hour day of driving!