Changes are afoot!

So I got a new job. I've only been at my current job for 15 months, and there are parts of it I like. My current title is customer success manager (which I cringe at, a little) and I've liked helping people using our software get the attention & information they need when they need it. But I haven't liked having too many accounts to serve well, and I haven't liked that our software is so complex that I'm not expected to really know much about it (it's back office enterprise software, aka accounting, HR, professional services... complex stuff).

I applied for a couple of jobs last summer, and I wrote great cover letters to explain why I was looking after only 4 months on the job, but I knew it was too soon and so I stopped searching. And then, one of my coworkers let me know she was in the final stages for a job at another company, and they might be adding another person. She asked me to hold off on applying until she got her offer, which was fair, and I officially applied in early June.

They really did an awesome job of getting me through the process, and I got a job offer last week - whew! It's a 4% pay cut (6% if you factor in that they don't pay for home internet & cell phone like my last job did) but that's okay - I'm making enough money and think this will be a better fit.

I'll still be at a software company, with a better title (Strategic Account Consultant), fewer accounts to manage, and will be expected to be pretty skilled with our software so I can advise my accounts on best practices and help them use the software more & better than they might be currently.

Of all my jobs it's most like the one I was most enthused about, way back in the late '90s. I don't know if I can love a job, but it feels like this one has a chance at that. We shall see.

What was nuts that when I gave notice, my current job offered me a 20% raise. That is SO MUCH money. But... though I was dazzled, I wasn't tempted in the slightest. I feel super lucky to be in a place where I can make the best choice for myself by weighing all the factors, not just financial ones.

Hiking hiking hiking FOOD

So far I've been doing a lot of hiking this year - in preparation for doing South Sister (outside of Bend, Oregon) in August!

Avalanche lilies

Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rainier, ten million flowers

Mount Hood 

Mount Shasta

I also added yet another activity to my non-working hours: cookbook club! A friend organized this, and I'm so grateful she did as it's something I've wanted to do for a long time but didn't have the right people/energy to get it going. We pick a cookbook, everyone gets it from the library (or buys it I guess), we each pick recipes and tell each other what we'll bring, and then we have a potluck made up of dishes all from the same cookbook. OOOOOOH it is so good. 

Food from the Jerusalem cookbook by Sami Tamimi and Yotam Ottolenghi

Food from Mallmann On Fire by Francis Mallmann

Running continues to be a major challenge - namely, finding shoes that don't make my legs ache - and I've tried yoga three times at a spot in my neighborhood. Today I get to take off since I hiked 10.5 miles yesterday; since I had an enormous dinner after the hike, I might walk a couple miles today just so I don't feel like a complete slug. We'll see how the weather is looking when I get off work!