2007: A Year of Change

2007 was not just any year. For me, it represented more change than I have ever faced in my life. Change for the good I hope. This is both a new and exciting time for me in my life, the things that use to be "normal" to me in my life are now history. I am living an entirely new life in a new place, new people, and a new adventure.

The year started like any other. LB Productions was thriving and I had a fairly basic social life in Joseph, Oregon. Little did I know, by year's end my life was going to have changed forever. So what prompted all this you ask? Where did it all come from?

People who know me well aren't surprised at the big changes that 2007 brought. For the past two years I had considered these changes. But when did I finally "break?"

In March I went on a long, long road trip across the country with my best friend Christian Ambroson. It was that trip that spawned a great debate in my mind... "what was I doing with my life?" My buddy and I had a great time, though the trip was long and boring in some spots, it gave us both time to think about life. For me, it was almost a soul searching mission.

The trip essentially started in Portland, where I left my car for when I flew back. Christian and I rode home to Joseph with his parents and left the next morning. We traveled across the midwest, eventually making it to Steubenville, Ohio where he goes to school. Days later I got on a Southwest Airlines flight and flew from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania back to Portland. It was the most miserable flight of my life. The flight was hot (due to an air circulation problem). The seats were uncomfortable, and I sat next to the most annoying person. By the time I reached Portland I wanted to kiss the ground. Most of the trip across the country was brown and dead or snow covered, simply because of the time of year. Oddly enough, though, when I returned to Portland everything was green and blossoming. It felt like a great place to be. The feeling was right, and after spending a few days with my friends Dylan and Thane (even making a side trip to the coast), I snapped! It hit me: I couldn't waste anymore of my life doing what I was doing. I wanted to move to the Willamette Valley, and move I did.

My reasoning was quite simple... I was burnt out. The business had eaten me alive. In the ten years I actively ran the business my stress had risen to an uncomfortable level. By 2005, my weight and blood pressure were at a very unhealthy level. In 2007 cancer returned. I was spiraling out of control, all on the account of working too hard, changes had to be made or I was looking at an early death. I recall one of my doctors asking me "Levi, what do you expect to happen if things continue in the same direction?" It was then I realized I was in serious trouble.

With that being said, the spring of 2007 went like any other, I had record computer sales in my business... things for the most part went smoothly. I had one of the greatest summers ever, but the number of Joseph friends was dwindling. Our close group was shrinking, people were moving on with their lives. I felt as if I was in a rut. The pressure was building. I had to get out.

I was part of Relay for Life for the first part of the year. It was very meaningful for me, being a cancer survivor. I helped organize the largest and most successful relay team in Wallowa County history.

The summer kicked off with lots of fun on the lake in my Mastercraft Ski Boat... my only reprieve from the daily grind of my life. As you can imagine it was no challege finding friends to come join me out on the water. I will say though, it was harder than in previous years because so many of my local friends were disappearing for the big city. This included my friend Jay Watts (pictured below) who became a full time Portland resident. Previously, he came home for the summer. This was just another factor in my decision.

In June I started applying for jobs over the internet, by late June I had interviews scheduled in the Portland and Salem areas. The first job that came to the surface was a position at the Forest Grove School District as the lead technology coordinator at the help desk. This position looked promising... however, I was not hired. This ended up being a good thing as I really didn't feel a good fit in that area. A few weeks later I was actually hired at a call center called Stream in Beaverton. I did not take the job as it wasn't paying nearly what I made at my own business. Then, I received a call in mid July from the Oregon Department of Transportation to schedule an interview. Oddly enough, this was one of my top picks for a job. I was not surprised about the interview, but the fact it had been narrowed down to four people. I had a great interview, and a couple months later my references told me they had been called. This is how I knew it was serious... and just a day later the woman who is now my supervisor called me up and told me the great news. Not terribly thrilled about moving to Salem (my priority was in Portland), I still took the job. It was almost late September at this point, and I never expected to be hired as it had been over two months since the interview.

Back track to late August -- things had progressed so much in my job search, I made a decision to downsize my business; to move it out of the nearly 1000 square foot office space (pictured), to the back two bedrooms of my house. Without any word of a new job, the plan was to just keep running it 'business as usual.' That's when ODOT called, and it was all over.

I informed my employees of the good news (for me, but not for them). To my absolute surprise, one of them offered to buy the business prior to my departure. It was all set, and I started my new life on October 29th, working for the Oregon Department of Transportation. LB Productions became Simply Digital October 1st, and the web development portion was split off, and renamed "LBSITES."

In the midst of this all, I discovered a exterior bump on my right foot. Being a long time sufferer of a very rare condition called Lymphomatoid Papulosis, I assumed it was just another outbreak. After a trip to OHSU's emergency room, and a biopsy, I found out for the second time in my life I had cancer. For the first three weeks of my new job, I drove or was driven by friends to radiation treatments. This added an extra challenge to my already changing life.

By the end of November, the cancer was history -- the effects of the radiation were not. I spent ten days off from work recuperating from "collateral damage" caused by the radiation. My entire body swelled up and my foot was still a mess. It is still unknown at this time if I received too much radiation.

At the beginning of December things began to bounce back, my body was healing. By the second week my spirits were lifting. The third week my sister married her sweetheart in a small ceremony in Las Vegas. The final week of the month, I made a quick trip back to Joseph for Christmas. I received numerous comments on my weight loss and how good I was looking. For the first time in my life, I have become virtually stress-free. Who knew in one year I could reach my goal? Who knew I could recover from the worst so quickly? Though I miss my family and friends in Joseph... I have goosebumps thinking about my new life here in the valley. My new friends and my former skinny self returning are enough to make 2007 'my year.'

-LB