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In late October the employees at my studio journeyed down to Los Angeles for a company-wide meeting with our LA-based co-workers. We left bright and early in the morning, and returned to the Bay Area late at night. It was a very exciting opportunity, although it made for a very long day.

At the time, I was still working on the night shift, so I attempted to “sleep in,” but instead woke up around 3am, well in advanced of my 5:30am departure for the airport. As I arrived at the airport I ran into several co-workers headed to the terminal where a large group of fellow-workers were gathered, awaiting our 7am departure time. The flight south was rather cloudy to begin with, but once we were over LA it was bright and sunny.
After landing, we rode buses across town to a large venue where we had company meetings all morning and afternoon. The team of wranglers, from both the north and south, met and sat together through the meetings. It was great to see them all again, and in fact, this was the first time that many from either side had met the other wranglers in person. It is always intriguing to think that the people we work closely with on a daily basis live and work hundreds of miles away. This was a great opportunity to bring together the various teams in the studios, not just our own, and I am sure that many of the teams had a great time with their counterparts that day.
So we had a huge company meeting that day, going over future projects we will be working on, as well as seeing updates on current projects we have in the works. Right in the middle we had a wonderful lunch outdoors in sunny LA. I think that our lunch was the best boxed lunch I have ever had! Once the afternoon meetings wrapped up, we all hopped onto the bus caravan and made our way back to the studio for a tour and refreshments, as well as to visit with everyone. We had a ton of great food around, and we had some wonderful photo opportunities as well. The only issue was that we ran short on time! Before long we had to catch the bus back to the airport, for the return flight north. We ended up landing shortly after 9pm, so by the time I got back to my apartment and in bed it was about 11pm. Talk about a long day!
Not only was that a very special and exciting trip, but it also came one day after my one-year anniversary of living in California! It has been a very interesting year, and I have learned so much. It is hard to believe that one year ago I was starting my first full-time job, in a new area, knowing nobody in the area. However, I do think it has been entirely worth it. Granted, I am no more sure now about what the next several years have in store, but I do know that I have many wonderful opportunities to think about. I will just keep up the work I have been doing, and hope that I follow the correct opportunities that God has prepared for me as they come along.

*Image from the DreamWorks Animation Facebook page