Holy Stress, Batman!

Well, I have now been a Health Catalyst employee for a week and a half. It's been pretty good, for the most part, except that I still don't know what my routine will be and what exactly I will be in charge of. I've been told over and over about how I'm supposed to be engaged and involved with the sales team, but how that is going to happen hasn't exactly been made clear. (It's also weird that I'm part of the sales team. Which is nearly all men. That's a definite change for me.)

Which is where the stress comes in. I hate starting new jobs specifically because I hate not knowing what I'm doing. I have such a hard time when I'm completely dependent on other people to tell me what I'm supposed to be doing every minute of every day. Being told to familiarize myself with a website when I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing with said website makes things really difficult. At KLAS, I went to work every day knowing exactly what I would be doing. And if I ran out of editing, I knew three other things I could do to fill my time. At Health Catalyst, if I don't have content to edit or a proposal to work on, I'm sitting on my thumbs, trying to find new websites that can entertain me until I get something to work on.

I know this phase will end. I know this is just how it goes at a new job. I'm still trying to figure out what the company does and how I fit in, and I know that I went through this exact same phase at KLAS. I had the same frustrations and stresses when I started there over four years ago, but now all I can think about is how much I miss the familiarity.

Unfortunately, knowing that I will become familiar with Health Catalyst doesn't make the process of getting there any easier. It's been a stressful week and a half. Just ask Andrew about the (at least) three times I've broken down into tears at the prospect of going to work the next day. (To be fair, I warned him before I started that I would be a wreck for the first, oh, month or so.) I'm so thankful that Andrew's been so understanding. It is definitely nice to have such a supportive husband to come home to every night. I love him a ridiculous amount.

The good thing is that I think I'll like it at Health Catalyst. Eventually. The people have been super welcoming and nice, and the kitchen is fully stocked with candy, granola bars, caffeine, and other goodies. It's a great perk, especially when I forget a lunch and don't have to go out and spend money. However, it is terrible for my calorie counting. I have to exercise some serious restraint.

Speaking of calorie counting, they also gave me a FitBit, which is pretty cool. It tracks my steps, how many floors I've climbed, and how well I sleep. I've looked into getting one before, but I didn't want to spend the money, and now I don't have to! Woot! Even though I have been appalled at just how few steps I take some days.

Anyway, this is a long post that doesn't say much other than that I'm trying to get my feet under me. And on the days that I'm extra stressed and don't know what I'm doing, I just remind myself that this job is where I need to be right now. I know I was supposed to take this position because everything worked out too well for it not to be right. And I also know that in time, I will become as comfortable here as I was at KLAS. I just have to stick it out and take my time. Everything will work out great. Especially once we move and I no longer have this frigging nasty commute. (It's seriously awful. Rush-hour traffic is devil spawn.)

And because I worry that my text-only posts are super boring, here's a picture of my new work space. Because that's not boring at all, right?

Conference Weekend

When the week leading up to conference has been a bit stressful:


Source: Just Say Amen Already

Have I mentioned yet just how much I hate starting new jobs? No? Oh. Well, now I have.

Bittersweet

Well, this is it. My last day at KLAS. It's a little surreal to me. I've been working here since January of 2009, right after I graduated from BYU. It feels like I've been here forever.

I've been packing up my desk, and it looks so sad and empty now that my pictures and everything have been taken down.

I've never been so sad to leave a job. The last two jobs I left were fast food and maintenance, so I can't exactly say that I enjoyed what I was doing. But at KLAS, I was editing. I was working in my field, and though I didn't always enjoy my job, I always enjoyed working with my coworkers.

I think that's why I'm so sad; I don't want to leave the friends I've made here. But I know that it's the right thing to do. I'm nervous as all get out to start my job on Monday, but I know it will be a good opportunity for me. I'll still be using my editing skills, and I'll also be using the healthcare knowledge I've gained at KLAS over the last 4+ years. In fact, I'm pretty sure that experience is the main reason I got this job in the first place.

So now I bid farewell to a place that has been very good to me and head on to a new adventure.

Everything All At Once

One month ago today, Andrew and I got married. I moved into our apartment in Pleasant Grove and out of Carriage Cove. You'd think those would be big enough changes to tide us over for the moment, but no. I've come to the realization in my life that we are tested by nothing happening or by everything happening all at the same time. The latter is the case in my life right now, but all the things that are happening are good things, so I can't complain too much.

The latest big change is that I got a new job. A new pretty amazing job. On paper, at least. I'll reserve complete judgement until I actually start. I will be working for a company called Health Catalyst, which is an IT consulting company in the healthcare industry. They actually recruited me because of my experience at KLAS. Who knew that working in the healthcare industry would be my road to opportunity? In the course of recruiting me, Health Catalyst actually created a new position for me, which is pretty cool. I will be managing their RFP process, which is technical to explain, especially since I don't know exactly what I'll be doing yet. I'm not sure that the company knows either. Regardless, it's an exciting position and a move up in the workplace. I think it will be great for me and Andrew.

But I think what I am most excited about is the fact that this job is in Salt Lake City. And since Andrew works in Midvale, it only makes sense for us to move out of Utah County. Keeping a 30–40 minute commute when we could have a 5–10 commute seems foolish. We'll be spending a fortune on gas the next couple of months until our current contract ends in June. I can't wait to move. I've wanted to move to Salt Lake for a long time now, and the circumstances are finally right.

It's amazing to me how everything works out. I tried for years to get a job in Salt Lake and move out of Provo, but it never worked. Then I tried simply to get out of student housing, and that didn't work either. Then I married Andrew, which got me out of Carriage Cove. Then we happened to get an apartment on a contract of six months. Then I get a job in Salt Lake that requires us to move, and I only have to commute for two months. The Lord truly knows what he's doing. And no matter how many times I think He doesn't, He proves me wrong time and again.

So life is crazy right now, but it is also very, very good.