So after almost a YEAR hiatus...I woke up this morning with an urge to journal how I was feeling about this new season of life!
It's been a crazy year & soon I'll write a post updating y'all on everything that's transpired in the past year but as a quick recap...last spring I was put on this really cool project at work called WCR. For the past year I have been working diligently with a great team to advocate for our industry. Then in November...BAM - Baby Weaver on the way! Due June 30, 2016...which at the time seemed like an eternity away. But boy did time fly!
In January our company announced layoffs, but that they would be offering a severance package to anyone who left voluntarily. I had always wanted to/planned on staying home so this was the perfect option for me! However, everyone at our company was subject to the layoffs - therefore Jacob's job was in jeopardy as well. So after prayerful consideration, we decided even if something happened to his job, it was important to us that I still be able to stay home with the baby and that God would provide a way for that. So I officially made the decision to opt out of the selection process and volunteer to be let go.
So throughout February & March we were in limbo, waiting and waiting and waiting for announcements to be made about jobs, positions open, postings, ect. Then one wonderful early April morning, Jacob's boss sits him down and tells him he is safe, has a job & we will be in Covington for a few more years! That same day - they offered me a short term transition job that allowed me to keep working until June but still get the severance package to stay on and help with WCR. I accepted that position and what seemed like the quickest two months ever...has come to an end!
Today - May 31, 2016 is my last day as a Chevron employee! Starting tomorrow I'll be full time stay at home momma to baby girl Emma Grace (oh yeah baby Weaver is a girl!), Raider & Reagan!
I have DREAMED about this day for months, years really but now that it is finally here all I can seem to muster up are feelings of nostalgia for my time here, leaving out the tearful first day, the lonely nights offshore, the feelings of inadequacy, the good ole' boys club, the long days/nights, and how could I ever forget - the cubicles. The mind has a really interesting way of doing that though. The moment you feel something slipping away, in a last ditch effort to preserve, it floods your senses with only positive memories to somehow make walking away just a little bit harder?
Driving in this morning was a surreal thing. All I could think to myself was "this is the last time I'll ever drive to this office as a Chevron employee with Jacob. Next time I come here I'll probably have Emma in the backseat." What an exciting & terrifying thing all at once! This new season of life beginning but a very important one ending. These past four years working at Chevron have been a whirlwind! I have learned so much about this exciting industry but more importantly - I have learned so much about myself & what I am capable of. So in a way - I'm so grateful that today my mind is flooded with feelings of nostalgia, blocking out some of the less glamorous realities. This has been an important building block, preparing my heart for the days to come.
I have loved learning the ins & outs of offshore drilling & completions.
I have loved/hated the look on people's face when I tell them I'm a drilling engineer & that I worked offshore for two years.
I have loved the opportunity to teach young high school girls about potential careers in science & engineering.
I have loved being able to have real, in-depth technical conversations with Jacob about things going on with his projects or mine.
I have loved being able to advocate for our industry to congressmen, the governor's office & government organizations.
I have loved that exhilarating feeling of learning & understanding something fully for the first time.
I have loved being able to be apart of drilling where we are just about as dysfunctional as the average family during the holidays. But we love, support & bind together...it's a strange yet perfect relationship and one that only comes from night after night offshore.
I have loved what working here has done for my confidence. I am prayerful that one day Emma will recognize that doing things outside your comfort zone can either build you up or tear you down...only you are in control of the outcome.
Lastly, I have loved loved loved the dozens of breathtaking sunrises & sunsets I've watched from the helipad in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. There is truly no sunrise or sunset more beautiful than one offshore. I can still smell the synthetic based mud in the air, feel a cup of hot coffee in my hand (also coffee is somehow better offshore? I think it's the lack of sleep...), and feel the worn pink steel toed boots on my feet.
With that perfect image in my mind, I'll close - I am so grateful for my time here but so excited for the opportunity to be a stay at home mom with Emma. Both have/will come with their own challenges and rewards but today I am thankful for the journey that has been and is to be.
Until next time...
