One Year Later: A Look Back

I like to reminiscence. So much, in fact, that my wife calls me "Time Capsule."

Well, it's been a little more than a year since I started this blog, so what better time than now to reminiscence on a year full of excitement and transition?

For starters, it's been about four months since we left the Lone Star State and landed in San Francisco, but with as much as we've done since April 22, it seems like years. We've settled in, yet there's so much to do and see every day - in the city and in the entire Bay Area - that we still feel like tourists. The neighborhoods, the food, the culture, and on and on.

The iconic cable cars of San Francisco

After my nearly yearlong break from work, it's been nice to return to the world of academic/health care public relations at the University of California, San Francisco, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. It's a fast-paced, exciting team environment, and I enjoy interacting not only with UCSF faculty, staff and students but also patients and the community.

The Laurel Heights campus of UCSF

Along with the weather (it's about 40 degrees cooler here right now in summer compared to Texas) and time zone difference, the biggest adjustment has been vehicles - or the lack thereof. It amazes me I haven't driven a car in almost four months, courtesy of public transit, ride sharing and my two feet. I'm really thankful that I began regular walks a year ago in the Brazos Valley, though there was no way it could have prepared me for all the hills and steep inclines. Up, up and away!

Erica and I bundled up for the Fourth of July at Golden Gate Park- Yes, Fourth of July

Living in the Bay Area also means following their sports teams. I must admit I've abandoned the Astros a little bit, what with it being almost a decade since their World Series appearance and now season after season of 100+ losses. I've grown to like the Giants and Athletics, and at one point, another "Battle of the Bay" World Series seemed possible (minus the earthquake, I hope). The Giants are doing their best to prevent that from happening, though, and now attention has started shifting to football.

This time last year, I made my football predictions for the upcoming season, so I'll do it again now. Looking back, I did OK, knowing the Miami Dolphins probably wouldn't make the playoffs and Texas A&M and Nebraska would have good, but not championship caliber, seasons. Alabama and Ohio State in the BCS title game? Yeesh!

The Dolphins are in line for another average season, and I really don't know what to do with 'em. Bullygate, steroid suspensions, injuries, a new offensive coordinator, an entirely new offensive line - it all adds up to trouble. With two chances to clinch a playoff spot last year, they choked, and I see the same this year: 7-9 or 8-8. Then what? Fire the head coach? Draft a new quarterback? Change entire offensive and defensive schemes? Been there, done that, and nothing's changed. Sigh.

No, I will not jump on the Niners bandwagon, though I'm sure my best friend will rib me about it every week. They have a strong shot for another NFC Championship, if not Super Bowl, with the Seattle Seahawks standing in the way. The AFC also could be a repeat of a season ago, with the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots leading the charge. No Super Bowl prediction from me, however. The Oakland Raiders? Yikes!

Though I lived in the Brazos Valley for eight years, I never became a Texas A&M Aggies fan, and I'm not now. I am curious how they'll do without "Johnny Football," with some pundits predicting them next to last in the SEC West. I see a Beck Bowl or Texas Bowl appearance, not the best place to be immediately after a $450 million renovation to Kyle Field.

Here, it's Pac-12 country with Stanford and Cal. They have nice stadiums, but that's all I know and care to know about the Cardinal and Golden Bears.

Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto

And Nebraska? Same as the year before, and the year before that, and... Bo Pelini is a good coach, but injuries, suspensions and a new quarterback don't exactly have me brimming with hope, especially with Michigan State, Wisconsin and Iowa on your schedule (all on the road). I see another showing in the Capital One Bowl, perhaps against LSU. I am curious to see their Sept. 13 night game against Fresno State, which is just 190 miles southeast of here. I'm not going, but the matchup has drawn a lot of interest.

Oh, national title? In this new playoff system, I'll go with Alabama over Florida State in the "College Football Championship Game" (sponsor pending), and let's see how wrong I am this year.

OK, it's another beautiful, cool day, and I'm here inside typing away on the keyboard. Time to get out before Karl the Fog makes his daily appearance. Boy, does he like to cover things up!

Just a typical sunset on Ocean Beach

Til the next time...

Welcome to The City

Wow! It's been nearly two months but seems like just yesterday that my wife (Erica) and I learned we'd be moving to San Francisco. And what a trip it's been!

First, we had to get squared away with leaving Aggieland. That included our apartment contents being loaded into a pod storage container for transport. With all of our stuff, there was slight concern the door wouldn't close! But it did, and after saying "Bon Voyage" to Bryan-College Station after eight years, we went on a 10-day "Texas tour" visiting family and friends.

All our Earthly possessions fit in here - barely

Then, on April 22, we finally landed in San Francisco, our new home. As it was more than six years since our last visit, we first saw the sights before settling in. It was a very different experience in getting around without having a car, but thanks to our legs (soon-to-be rock-hard calves) and ride-sharing programs like Lyft, Uber and Sidecar, our four wheels haven't been missed.

Clowning around in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

Soon enough, it was time to tackle my new job as senior public information representative at UCSF and look for a place to live. Many said the search could take weeks, if not months.

Laurel Heights Campus of the University of California, San Francisco

Once again on this journey, God has stepped in and blessed us. We  found a nice 1/1 in less than a week, and it's an 8-minute walk to work. The new place secured, it was time for the boxes to arrive. Erica's obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has now kicked in to unpack and get settled before she takes a hard-earned "vacation," primarily at one of the numerous little movie theaters in the area.

Our new residence in Laurel Heights

All this time, we've really warmed up to The City, especially with food. Surprise for us Texans! We discovered good barbecue at Memphis Minnie's and Mexican at Little Chihuahua, along with brew pubs and breweries like Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery, Social Kitchen and Brewery, Cellarmaker Brewing Company, 21st Amendment Brewery and Thirsty Bear Brewing Co.
 

Memphis Minnie's

The Little Chihuahua

Watermelon Wheat at 21st Amendment

Right now, the biggest adjustments for us are the cooler weather (though the recent record-breaking hot spells have had temps in the 90s) and time zone difference (baseball games at 9 a.m.?). Nonetheless, we've been blessed with this opportunity and would not change our experience for the world.

Well, off to Union Square for some more fun and adventures. Til the next time...

Don't Lose Faith in the Quiet

Noise. It's all around us. Seems the only time we can escape is when we're asleep, and even then, most of us -- including myself -- don't get enough.

Noise is a distraction, including in our walk with God. We need to take time, picture ourselves on a beautiful golf course during a tournament and...

It's hard, I know -- but the results are always rewarding.

I raised the "Quiet Please" sign months ago during my job search. From my last blog post, I've been blessed with the opportunity to work for the University of California, San Francisco.

It didn't happen overnight.

After several weeks, months -- years -- searching and filling out numerous applications online, I landed a handful of interviews all at once in mid-October and early November, followed by more after the new year. They came from California, Baltimore and Boston. I was amped and sure things would move quickly. I knew that within weeks, if not days, we'd be on our way.

I was wrong.

The interviews were done, then the quiet came. No follow ups. No "yeses." No "nos." No second interviews. No cancellations or holds. Just quiet.

I didn't like it. And after a while, I got agitated -- at myself and God. Why would he line things up so quickly, then not have them come to pass? To me, even a rejection was at least better than silence.

But it wasn't the first time I'd needed to wait, and I'm not alone. As a follower of Joyce Meyer, a charismatic Christian author and speaker, I recalled she addressed "When God's Timing is Taking Too Long." In the past and now, I read and re-read that article to find peace and maintain faith.

I also have the support of my wonderful wife, who herself was finding it difficult to wait. That changed in an instant through an intimate moment with God.

Over the past few months, Erica has gotten up in the early morning hours to exercise and research for her developing screenwriting career. But one morning, God told her to put the script down she was reading so he could talk.

He said, "Don't lose faith in the quiet."

At that moment, Erica was at peace. And when I needed support -- something to lean on -- she reminded me of that simple statement.

It worked, and here we are today.

Believe me, this won't be the last time I'm challenged with patience. We all are. The key is, when it looks like nothing is happening in the natural, that's when God really is at work behind the scenes. Just stay in faith.

Til the next time....

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

Sometimes, God throws you a fastball. Sometimes, He throws you a curve.

Well, He just threw a curve to my wife and I that is taking us on another "Maier Adventure."

Ever since our first trip to Boston in June 2009 to catch a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, we've loved the city. In fact, six months later, I sent initial feelers out to higher education institutions there to see what opportunities existed for a professional communicator.

There were numerous online applications, email rejections, a few phone interviews. But after more than four years, we were no closer to Boston than to Billings, Mont. So, I started thinking about other cities we loved and would want to call home, and on that short list was San Francisco.

Erica and I visited San Francisco in 2008. And while Boston was the initial focus of my job search, I had been checking out SF for prospects. One institution was the University of California, San Francisco, which is world renowned in health care. In fact, during my time at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, we considered ourselves among the top U.S. health care institutions, along with Harvard Medical School and UCSF.

Just a few weeks ago, I found an opening for a senior public information representative. The primary duties are covering certain medical/health beats and media relations, areas that I'm familiar with and have expertise. So, I applied, interviewed, and now we're on our way to San Francisco!

Yep, instead of the East Coast, we're off to the West Coast.

San Francisco at night

SF also has a great public transit system and is quite walkable, if you don't mind the hills. In fact, it's second to New York and ahead of Boston in not needing a car. There's a lot of preparing, packing and unpacking ahead for our first interstate move, but it should be pretty straightforward, as we don't have a mortgage, children or pets.

I want to thank my wife for her support, allowing me to leave my job at the Texas A&M Health Science Center after more than seven years while she continued to work. It gave me time to clear my head, relax and see what the big wide world has to offer. I admit getting a little bit of cabin fever, but I also had a chance to catch up on Springer (as the father-in-law says, that show's gotten pretty bad).

I'd also like to thank Joel Osteen and Jon Acuff. Joel is a preacher and pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, the largest congregation in the country. Erica and I watch him every week and make it a point to attend Sunday service whenever we're in town. His most recent book, Breakout!, offers five keys to going beyond your barriers and living an extraordinary life: believe bigger; consider God, not circumstances; pray God-sized prayers; keep the right perspective; and don't settle for good enough.

"When God laid out the plan for your life He lined up the right people, the right breaks, and the right opportunities. He already has your yeses planned out...Now here's the key: On the way to yes there will be nos. You have to go through the nos to get to your yeses....You have to go through your closed doors before you reach your open doors. When you come to a no, instead of being discouraged the correct attitude is 'I'm one step closer to my yes.' " (Breakout!, Page 76)

Jon is a Christian author and blogger. Erica read his books and followed his social media accounts, then suggested I go with her to an April 2013 speaking engagement in Austin. It was a life-changer. He was promoting his latest book, Start., which says there are only two paths in life: average and awesome. The average path is easy because all you have to do is nothing. The awesome path is more challenging because things like fear only bother you when you do work that matters. The book gives practical, actionable insights to be more awesome more often.

"We've been told our whole lives that our 20s are when we begin down our career paths. And our 60s are the end of the road. But that timeline is no longer the only valid one. In fact, that timeline is no longer typical. Age is no longer the primary factor that determines where you are on the map. Life is now less about how old you are and more about when you decide to live.... Regardless of your age or station in life, it all comes down to one simple truth: you just have to start." (Start., Pages 24-25)

Start. by Jon Acuff, left, and Breakout! by Joel Osteen

That realization made a big impression, so much so that I submitted my resignation and left the health science center six weeks later in May. Through Joel, Jon, family, friends and other supporters, I am truly blessed. I'd like to give testimony that whatever your dreams, your hopes, your goals, NEVER give up. It may take a week, a month, a year -- more than four years. But run your race, and don't stop 'til you cross the finish line.

Yep. God threw us a curve, and we hit it out of the (AT&T) Park. Til the next time...