Thanks for Indulging Me

Tonight was an important evening for the stars and starlets of Hollywood: The Oscars! I've always had this strange fascination with awards shows...any of them. From the Oscars, to the Grammys, to the Golden Globes etc, etc. Maybe it's the pretty clothes, the red carpets, the overall "star studded" night, I don't know. It's fun to be a part of awards shows, (like our beloved Dorland Awards at OBU, the end of the year awards show for the theatre department) and to watch them, but I'd never been a part of an actual watch party. I usually watch by myself, or maybe me and one of my friends, which is of course, a fun time...but this year, I decided I wanted a party. And thanks to my friends, I got one.

A few days ago, I casually mentioned the idea to Dpad, who thought that sure, it might be fun. I invited our wonderful group of friends over and Dpad printed off the Oscar ballot so we could vote on everything and hopefully win and have the bragging rights from it all. Sadly, two of our friends, Angel Cole and Smart Musician could not make it to the event due to food poisoning. =( And they were truly missed. But the night still turned out well. Dpad won the bragging rights of choosing the most winners, I'm sure he's oh so happy thanks to his competitive nature. Overall, I think this is something that this particular group of friends either never really wanted to do, or just never really thought about it, but to all of you, I thank you for indulging me. Thanks for helping me have a fun night watching the Oscars. Maybe one of us will be on that stage and we can be there for real!!! Hey, I can still dream, right?! =)

Possible Changes...?

I've been working at my current job for over a year now and I absolutely love it. I enjoy the people I work with, there is always something to do and it is a fast paced environment which I love. I never really pictured myself sitting behind a desk for the rest of my life, although I gladly would if it was a good environment and paid the bills!

Anyways, my job as a pharmacy technician, however much I love it, can probably not go on forever. It isn't a career for me, which is hard for me to really even think about because I enjoy it so much. For right now, I'm single, living on my own and don't have an insane amount of bills to pay or a crazy amount of debt to pay off (yet! Student loans are coming...I can feel them lurking around the corner!). Therefore, it's a great job for now...but times will be changing soon. I can feel that almost as much as the loans.

My current boss, who is wonderful, sees the great potential I have. I'm a college graduate who really wants to use my degree at some point. And The Pharmacist would love to see me excel in my field of communication. Without me even asking her, she found an open HR position for the company that lines up with what I want to do in life! It was so exciting to hear about and when I read the job description I got even more excited just thinking about. I am almost 90% sure that I am not even remotely qualified (to work in HR, you have to have HR experience...and this position requires quite a bit...which I just don't have yet), and yet for some reason, The Pharmacist truly believes that I am destined for this job.

Of course, there are always downsides...for example, the job is in Dallas. Dallas...is about four hours away from home. I would be leaving my family and some amazing friends behind for this job. And for those who don't even remotely know me, I don't know how I could survive without my family or friends. However, Dallas is not so far away that I could never visit and what not.

Sigh, I don't know why I am even thinking about it so much yet. In all likely hood, I won't even get this job. But I won't know until I send my resume in and just try. If anything, it's at least me taking that step towards my future, whatever my future holds!

I have another quote to end on:

"Don't be afraid to give your best at what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves." - Dale Carnegie

I like to look at it like this: even if I have a job that I won't be doing for the rest of my life, I am going to do it as if I will be there forever, constantly striving to be better at what I do, making contacts wherever possible, coming up with ideas to improve the atmosphere, making things easier and better. If I can accomplish even the small things, I can move on to do better and greater things, whatever they may be. And that...that's what will keep me going. No matter where I end up or what I do with my future, I will be happy and accomplished, making life easier for at least one other person as I do it. =)

Best Surprise Weekend Ever

I had been waiting on this past weekend for so long. My dear friend, Disney, has been stuck far far away in her home town and hadn't had the opportunity to see many of her friends for months. Our friend, Red Head and I decided what better way to throw a birthday weekend than throw a surprise party for her?! We'd been planning for about a month. The basic plan was that Disney and I would both drive down to Dallas (where Red Head lives and a great central location) from our home towns and spend the weekend doing girl things and just having a good time. Both Red Head and I have been fortunate to spend time with Disney a couple of times, and we're always thrilled to spend time together. But, we both thought, what if we invite a few more friends down for the weekend but not tell Disney about it?! Surely that would be a great idea...and oh how it was.

Dpad and I drove down Saturday night. When I arrived at Red Head's, I asked Disney to come outside and help me with my bags. She happily agreed, opened my car door, where Dpad joyously yelled, "AHH!!!" Disney responded in kind with another "AH!!!" then burst into the happiest tears I think I've ever seen. Hearing her cry "What?! What are you doing here?! Are you actually here? What?!!" over and over again with such excitement made me even happier about events that were still to come.

Sunday morning we all decided to go shopping at Target to pick up a few things that a few of us had left behind. As we're looking through the store, a gentleman walks up behind Disney and says, "Can I help you with anything?" She jumped, turned around and saw our friend San Antone standing there, to which she jumped again, cried out in happiness and started yet another great cry.

That afternoon we saw Red Head's play and then had a fabulous dinner at a fancy restaurant. As we got there, our friend Mr. Rational walked out from behind a statue, adding even more surprise to the weekend. I can't even explain how wonderful it was to see Disney so happy. Talking to her on the phone for months on end, I knew how down she was at not getting to see some of her friends, so I know how much this weekend meant to her. Seeing her happiness meant everything to me. It's what the entire weekend was about and I believe it was achieved successfully!

So, my challenge to all of you today is to surprise someone. Make someone smile. Send an old friend a "I thought about you today and that funny time when we..." email. Call your mom just to say hello. Show up at your friend's work place with a sonic drink! =) Think about someone else and just make them feel good. It will make you feel a little good too.

How Does an Inactive Lifestyle Cause Me to Be SO Busy?!?!

And I mean inactive. I literally work....and hangout with friends. I'm starting to realize that this might be what life is all about. Before "real" adulthood kicks in and you have to think about living with your spouse and caring for your kids...you're just an adult working...and living. There's nothing too interesting to say about it. And yet, I feel as if I have things to do all the time. Spent some good time tonight with friends: Angel Cole, Smart Musician, Dpad, Fallout Boy, and Daddio. (Sadly, the only nickname I made up out of those is Daddio...and it's because he's my dad...I'm so creative!) Tomorrow is my day off and I already agreed to make a scrap book as a gift for Army Party, a coworker who is getting deployed to Afghanistan. So that will basically take up my whole day. It seems as if little things like this constantly take up my time, and for that I am so grateful. I am starting to realize it's really the little things in life that are keeping me sane. When I stop and realize that I have no exciting stories to share for anyone whom I haven't seen in months, I have to also realize that I have been blessed with great friends who are at least willing to give me things to do...and if anything I can create a crazy story about it... =)


With that being said, I need to go to bed. But if anyone needs some tunes to rock out to, check out The Spill Canvas' album "Formalities" or you can check out the LP from The Cab "Lady Luck"...just if you wanna... 

Boldness has Genius

Continuing with the same idea as yesterday, I was emailed another quote that I have decided I absolutely love! 


"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."  - Goethe


Again, I feel as if this is one of those quotes that makes me want to go out and do something magical, something grand, something I never really thought I could do. Of course, I also realize that tomorrow I might not feel the same way, or I might completely forget that I ever read so fun a quote. Whatever the case, I still think it is a good quote to reflect on. 


I seem to know multiple people who have had so many dreams, like traveling around the world (maybe that's just me!), being cast in a Broadway show, making it in the NBA, living it up in Hollywood...and for some reason, I feel like no one ever really tries to make that happen. I have one friend, who is on her way to stage managing every show on Broadway. She graduated with a theatre degree and has worked her butt off stage managing in small theatres around the U.S. She is now working in a professional level theatre in Tennessee, and the more I talk with her the more I realize how hard she had to work to get even that far. She hasn't met her dream goal of course, but she's working at actually doing it.


So why don't we do that? The examples I gave before about people who have had these dreams, they were all real examples. I talk almost daily about how I want to travel back to Argentina, backpack around Europe, take a cruise, teach English in Spain, etc etc etc...and what have I actually done to make any of that happen? Not a whole lot. I suppose that I could always claim money issues, and it is true that I don't have the funds to just fly across the earth right now, but it's not as if I am saving money to do so either. Right now, I am too focused on making my next car payment or paying off student loans, rather than trying to figure out how to save up for a dream journey.


I have many friends who dream. And we all dream big. I yearn for the day when we can all accomplish at least something on our list, then we can look back on our accomplishments and just be proud of ourselves. 


So, new challenge for you! Dream big, but don't just dream, do something! Do anything, take at least one step closer to accomplishing something you've always wanted to do. Find that perfect hotel, find that next audition, save $10 out of your next paycheck to go towards whatever it may be. Be bold, and be relevant in the world. Go out there and DO SOMETHING.

A Little Love for Yourself, Please

There are some days where I just enjoy reflection. I hear a quote or lyrics from a song and it speaks to me something fierce. It's always been hard for me to explain why a particular song or why particular words touch me. I'll hear something and feel like it completely describes my life and yet I later discover I just wanted it to describe my life because it was so beautiful...does that make sense or happen to most people?! Luckily, there are a few quotes that I have enjoyed for years now, and I always am able to relate to them regardless of what is going on in my life. I'd like to share one with you all today!

A few years ago I fell in love with the movie "Into the Wild". For those of you who do not know the story, Chris McCandless was tired of the material world. In a nut shell, he burned all of his money, social security card, and drivers license, donated all of his savings to charity and drove as far as his car could take him west. Once he lost his car he tramped (walked/hitch hiked) across the US, with the end goal of living in Alaska in the wild. He had many crazy adventures a long the way (which you could read about in the book "Into the Wild" written by Jon Krakauer). Spoiler alert! He eventually makes it to Alaska, and lives a few months before dying of starvation or from eating poisonous plants (by the time they found the body it was hard to tell).

Many people think that what Chris did was stupid, irresponsible, wasteful, etc etc etc. And I can agree to a point where I think that there was no need to completely separate himself from society to the point where there was no where for him to go for help when times got tough. He even admitted in his journal that loneliness was far worse than he had even imagined, and I am sure that he possibly regretted leaving his family and life behind at some points. But when I think about the adventures he had, and the life he lived, I can't help but wonder in awe of the things he experienced. He went out and did things, lived life. He met numerous people, all with their own story who fell in love with his spirit and his views on life.

While there are many things he wrote in his journal that I completely agree with and would love to share, there is one thing in particular that has always stood out to me:

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"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservativism... The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences... there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." - Chris McCandless "Into the Wild"

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Okay, did you feel it? Did you feel that slight rush come over you? Do you all of a sudden feel yourself wanting to go and do something amazing? Maybe climb a mountain, go camping, or finally talk to that old friend and forgive them for whatever stupid thing they did ten years ago? Do you just want to live life a little differently? If not, then you didn't really read that quote. It's such a beautiful way of looking at life. So many people....so many are just stuck in the rut that is their life. They hate it. They hate where they are, they hate who they've become, they hate that they didn't graduate college or hate that they have a dead end job or they hate that they have a great paying job and yet have no love for it. Whatever the case may be, so many people are stuck in this "eh" of a life. They're quick to complain or even quick to admit that this is how they live, and yet they do NOTHING to change it! Even if life is "eh", they'd rather hold on to it than actually reaching out and embracing life.

For me, it has always been more about being happy with what you have and who you are rather than trying to change everything around you. I don't think that you have to completely take the quote to heart to still get something from it. These past few months have been really difficult, with me being a college graduate, and yet I have a job where I don't really use my degrees. I love my job though and it's taken me awhile to realize that even if I don't use that education right now, it doesn't mean that I won't! I just want to be happy with who I am and I want others to be happy with who they are. I know that I personally have friends who struggle with this daily. And all I can say to them is: One day, you just have to force yourself to think positively. You have to wake up and be okay with who you are. You have to see that new sunrise and love it and realize that things could always be better, but could definitely be worse.

I guess this could be taken as a challenge. I challenge you to wake up and face the new sunrise with a smile. Even when things are going horribly wrong, you are the ultimate decision maker on what you're going to do about it. You decide if you're going to be happy or if you're going to barely make it through another day in your "eh" of a life. So I challenge you to at least think happy thoughts! Try it for a week straight and see what happens...see if you don't start actually feeling happy. See if you don't start to find some sort of contentment with who you are.

Always strive to be a better person, but love who you are in the process.

It Usually Takes a Year...

So today, after almost a year of ignoring the fact that I have a blog, or that others have a blog or that blogging is even still something that happens...i decided to post one. This could be largely due to the fact that I discovered one of my dear friends Angel Cole has a blog that she posts on regularly, or because my ex-boyfriend Dpad started blogging which reminded me that I should as well...

Whatever the case, here I am, blogging once again. Sadly, I have no fun anecdotes to share and haven't been able to travel out of the country since Buenos Aires. I did make a trip to NYC last November and got to see the Rockefeller tree all lit up and purty. However, don't let the television fool you, the tree is not as it looks...I mean, if it were in a house then yeah, it'd be huge, but it looks so much larger on tv...hmm...

Anyways, I just wanted to stop by and have a quick hello. Maybe this will lead into more posts more often, maybe you won't here from me again until next February. Whatever the case, I'm still alive, still striving to do interesting things, still striving to find the meanings of life, love and the pursuit of happiness, realizing more and more that it's hard to find the meanings of all at one time...