Sunday, August 16, 2009
Weight Loss - So I hit a plateau for a couple weeks there. I would fluctuate between 3 pounds, neither going over or under but somewhere in between on each day. I started a exercise routine and wondered if that was it. I was on the verge of being discouraged when I measured and weighed last week and had lost 1 pound for a total of 28 pounds. I measured and went down 7 1/2 inches, which the time before I had gone down 10 pounds and 7 1/2 inches. So I was happy to see that even though the scale wasn't showing a difference my body was. Well I've stayed consistent with my exercise routine and have officially lost 34 pounds and 41 1/2 inches all over as of this morning! :D I feel fantastic! What's more surprising is that 3 years ago when I was a couple pounds lighter then I am now, my measurements were bigger then they are now! So I may weigh more by a couple pounds but I'm smaller physically. It feels great and has made me even more determined to keep going. I understand that plateau's happen and will happen in the future but I'm going to stick them out. The reward is so worth it! Another interesting fact is that the last time I lost this much weight I did it over a span of 10 months. I've currently been working on losing weight since early June! Only two and a half months! :) It makes me feel my next big goal is very attainable! I've reached my first goal which is to lose 32 pounds. My ultimate goal is an additional 50 pounds but my next short term goal is 25 pounds. So I'll keep you posted! Birthday Plans - I'm not sure if these plans are going to happen yet but... I want to have a BBQ on my birthday which is September 4th. I picked Friday because I'm going to BootieLA on Saturday September 5th with a big group of friends and that's always a late night so I figured I'd be too tired to do anything on Sunday September 6th. So we'll see if I can pull this together. Right now the financial side of it is what's concerning me, even if I have everyone bring something. But I haven't had a big party at this place yet. I've had a dinner party of about 20 people but this would probably be bigger then that, at least I hope so. :) Oh and I plan on going to Disneyland the day of my birthday if that works out. I signed up for the free birthday pass but since I already have a season pass I hear they give a gift certificate in its place. Job Search - I've been pretty discouraged about the whole job hunt thing. I've gotten confirmation that doors are staying shut for a reason, just haven't figured out what God's reason is yet. That might seem a little odd but it's true. Things have happened that there is no other explanation then God shut the door. I'm trying to stay positive about that. It's hard to understand when I don't see the bigger picture. But that's what faith is all about, trusting in what you can't see or understand. Unexpected Honesty - Right now I feel so torn between being a good Godly woman and being completely unrestrained in opportunities of the worldly nature. There's a song that fits where my hearts at. Satisfy - Tenth Avenue North
Before the sun has touched the sky
Colors bursting from Your eyes
Before the flood of the morning light
Before the earth has felt Your heat
Before I stand up to my feet
Before I begin to feel this weak
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
I'm begging You, help me see
You're all I want, You're all I need
Oh, satisfy me Lord
When the day is closing in
Like the stars in the night I am falling
Into the pull of the earth and it's affection
In me, oh lord, can you create
A pure heart cuz I'm afraid
That I just might run back to the things I hate
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
Yeah, I'm begging You, help me see
You're all I want, You're all I need
Oh, satisfy me Lord
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You're more than all this world can give
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You're love is all I need to live
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You're more than all this world can give
You're beautiful, more beautiful
You're love is all I need to live
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
I'm begging You, help me see
You're all I want, You're all I need
Oh, satisfy me Lord My relationship with God has become stronger in this time of having to trust His plan for my life but I also feel the draw to do things I've always been against in my personal beliefs or what I have always felt was morally unacceptable. It's been quite a challenge! Especially when the opportunities keep presenting themselves at the most unexpected times! Of course, that's when it's the hardest to prepare yourself to fight against the temptation! Those of you who understand where I'm at, please pray for me to have continued strength. A Chair's Photography - I'm almost afraid of sharing this because I've said it so often. I actually have made steps to moving forward with the business plan. I am happy to say that the signs that God wants me to move forward with starting my photography business are too great to ignore anymore! I have to get it up and running and right now is the best time! So hopefully I'll be sharing updates in regards to this very soon! I woke up at 3:30 this morning to make my way down to Pasadena for another photography group outing. This one was organized by my friend James. James' friend Jon ( 2Factor Photography Smug Mug page) joined us, and I had a great time learning new things about how he started his business and what he uses. Our photography group is planning on getting together every 3rd Saturday of the month with a new photography project or location each time. If anyone is interested in joining let me know! This next month we've decided we wanted to play with nighttime portraits and I'm going to use my friend Andy as my model (he's already agreed)! I wanted a rock star look and he's got it! I'm really looking forward to playing with lighting. Jon has some external lights and Septembers project all started when I asked if I could just go with him when he's shooting a portrait with external lighting. I am really happy about this group. I hope it grows because it’s a great way to gain more knowledge and it's so fun to talk to people who have the same passion as I do about photography. Here is a couple of my favorites         Depeche Mode - I'm going to Depeche Mode Monday night at the Hollywood Bowl! I love Depeche Mode! I'm a little nervous because Dave Gahan has been having voice issues and has had to cancel a couple shows this week per doctors orders! The last email I received said the two shows at Hollywood Bowl would still be happening but I'm still nervous! That would totally suck! Especially since a couple of the people going with me have never seen Depeche Mode live before! It seems crazy when I've been to at least 1 show per tour in the last few tours. :) I love the Hollywood Bowl as a venue so it should be very cool! Labels: A Chair's Photography, Beliefs, Birthday, Disneyland, Inspiration, Parties, Photography, Rambling, Updates, Weigh In
posted by Charity at 8/16/2009 02:48:00 PM
Monday, September 08, 2008
Fender Bender - So I got into an accident this morning. Luckily the damage was minimal and to my car only. I met Mike at Starbucks this morning and was backing out. There was a delivery truck in my way so I was being careful to not back into it. Sadly this girl was on the side I wasn't watching as carefully. I barely bumped her but she was a total bitch about it. I guess she honked but I wasn't able to hear her because of my music. And honestly it wasn't that loud! But I felt horrible. I looked and her car was perfectly fine. I saw a slight scratch on mine but she said she could feel something fold so she checked her entire front end. She was exasperated! It ended up that my bumper got pushed out of place. I was totally shaky. She wasn't very nice about it even when she realized I had the only damage. I pulled back into my spot and Mike checked it out. He knew it was something he could push back into place. Mike agreed the lady was a little oddly pissed off considering I had the damage. I felt a little better but honestly this was the first accident I had gotten into in YEARS (I got into one a year or so after I got my license but it was the other guys fault) and this was the ONLY one that was my fault! I think that's what made it so hard to let go. I knew I looked from all angles before backing up but I was so cautious about that delivery truck and the idea that I couldn't hear her honking really bothered me. So it took me a few hours to let it go. Anyways there's a lot to share! So I will probably just give quick updates. My Birthday - My birthday was pretty awesome! On the actual day I was so surprised at how many people made an effort to wish me Happy Birthday. :) I felt totally special! I went to work and after work went to my parents for a special birthday dinner.    Saturday, September 6th BootieLA- I went out to dinner at Red Robin with my sister and Andie. Rachel sadly couldn't make it because she was sick... I mean REALLY sick. I felt so bad. And I was bummed she wouldn't be apart of my birthday celebrations like she has been pretty much since we became friends in Jr High. After dinner we drove down to pick up Russ and made our way to Echoplex for BootieLA. Yet again I had an absolute blast! I love that event! I will be going again soon!     AAP Conference in Vegas September 8th - 11th - This was my first business trip and I was oddly nervous about it. But it was actually A LOT of fun! We got to Vegas at about 5pm and my friend Debbie met up with us and we went to dinner. After dinner Debbie and I decided to go hang out and catch up.  Tuesday I was able to sleep in a little since my first class didn't start till noon. I was one of the only people in my class taking the AAP test this year and so the teacher called on me a lot. I was happy to say I knew all but one question he directly asked me. After the class they had a reception dinner. It was interesting to be able to talk to people who have taken the test. I felt more comfortable. After the reception dinner I called Debbie to come meet up with me again and we just hung out at the hotel. We ended up hanging out at Toby Keith's bar in the hotel. It was pretty rowdy and they had a band playing country music, and normally I would say that wasn't my thing, but I was highly entertained by it all.    Wednesday was my long day in classes. It was a lot of information but I was able to talk to more people about the AAP test during our breaks and in one session we broke into discussion groups and at lunch one of the people in my discussion group said I seemed knowledgeable! lol that made me feel pretty good. :) And the end of the day I just wanted to get out of there. My brain was fried. I went to dinner with Jody and my friend Armando met me at the hotel at about 9 and we went out to bowling and then to Freemont Street. He kept asking if I'd done different Vegas things, most of them I hadn't. He was bummed we hadn't been able to hang out before that night but that's how it worked out.     Thursday I was able to sleep in a little because my teleseminar didn't start until 10am. I had to be packed before the teleseminar because as soon as it was over we had to check out. We left Vegas and stopped off at State Line to grab some lunch. I didn't get home till about 5pm. But was thankful for all the information I got and also for the opportunity to go! Photoshoot - So my friend James came up with this cool idea for a photoshoot. It wasn't the first time I had heard of the concept and thought it was a great idea for a photoshoot. Basically it's been said if you take a fluorescent light and stick it in the ground under power lines it will light up. There are a few different factors that we knew by the article James read. So we decided to test it. We met out in the Oak Hills area and we stopped at a spot and stuck a fluorescent light into the ground and sure enough it started to glow! We decided to try another place that's a little further out that James remembered off the 395. It seemed brighter and we made the choice to set up a photoshoot, but there are a lot of technical things we need to work out so I'm not sure how soon this will be happening.  Labels: Birthday, Car, Photoshoots, Pictures, Rambling, Random, Travel, Updates
posted by Charity at 9/08/2008 11:34:00 PM
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
(the below portion was written mostly on 9/21) Wow... Life has been chaotic! I had a post started about my birthday excursion but it's outdated now. I really wanted to share early on about the entire day and how I felt but it seems that it would become one of the longest posts I've written so far! There are just too many things to update. But I will do my best to sum up. I am currently at work composing the bulk of this blog but I also think I will have to do most of the finalization at home. Who knows when this post will actually get published! My Birthday Excursion 9/8/07 - Rachel and Andie picked me up in Rancho where I was housesitting with Starbucks in hand! I got to Andie's car and saw that they had decorated the windows with 'Happy Birthday Chair' and a big old '30th Birthday' sign on the passanger seat so everyone could know as we drove around! hehe It was cute. I get in the car and find out that I would get clues (more like riddles to figure out) where we were going next.   The first stop I figured to be a garden. Descanso Gardens to be exact. It was beautiful there! And it helped that the sky was particularly clear all day! I took tons of pictures. I felt completely special that the day had been planned around my love of photography!      Next clue led us to the Griffith Observatory! We had a bit of a hike up there but we laughed, had a good time and got our excersize in at the same time! I loved the Griffith Observatory and will make sure to go back when I can spend a day there! We were running short on time apparently and the girls stopped at one point to figure out which of the remaining stops we needed to skip.      The next clue took me a while to figure out, but it was the Mann's Chinese Theater and we realized it was a place I've been to plenty of times and we chose to skip it. The next clue should have gotten us to a cemetary called Hollywood Forever but ended up being an accidental skip since we drove right past it! It looks pretty cool so I'm gonna have to go back and check it out sometime. We ended up at the Huntington Beach Pier! Andie had NEVER been! I was quite surprised but we walked the pier. It was more crowded then I've seen it in a LONG time and I think my moodiness with crowds made for a short stop.    Apparently my sister was going to meet up with us at the last stop and we needed to head back. I was given my last clue of the day which was spelled out for me. :) We were going to Dave & Busters for dinner! The traffic back kind of sucked so we were late in meeting Heidi. I got to Dave & Busters and saw my sister who said she put our name in so after a quick stop to the restroom we'd go to our table. Turns out in the end they did plan a surprise party for me! I had suspected it but as the day progressed I thought that wouldn't be happening. I walk through and my sister brings me to a table filled with a bunch of my friends! I had a great time hangin out! My friend Russ was even able to make it, he and I rarely get to hang out. I felt so special! Rachel and Andie really knew how to make my 30th a memorable one! I found out while we ate all that had conspired to make the day happen! Including Rachel stealing my cell a couple months prior to write down all the numbers she needed to invite people! I had NO CLUE!!!!           The entire day was all about me!! A full day of photography and an evening hanging out playing games with my friends! I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday! Rachel and Andie, you made me feel very loved! Thank you so much guys! African Benefit Dinner 9/15/07 - The dinner was a success! But lets not get ahead of ourselves! Once we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would only have about 100 people there, the rest of the planning of the dinner went relatively smoothly. We already have people interested in when the next one is going to be. I heard only positive feedback, at least from the people that mattered. hehe They loved the decorations, which I was happy with as well. They enjoyed themselves and were entertained. My church had gone down to Faith Community Church in Buena Park which is a Kenyan church. I met Henry Karis who was an amazing guitarist! After the service I went up to him and asked him what he was doing the next saturday and booked him to play a couple of his own songs in Swahili. He did an amazing job and I hope he'll be able to come up for our next dinner. He and my brother hit it off and I knew they would. I specifically sat them at the same table. I only had one issue and that was with the photographer. Maybe it's because I was expecting something different and so was she. But our personalities clashed a bit. And to be honest I was a bit dissapointed. But other then that the night was awesome! Later we found that we had a profit of over $2,500! My friend Jerry was impressed because he does the taste of Arcadia and the first year they had 600 people there and made 3000 profit. As the years have passed they have increased the profit but also the number of people in attendance. We only had 100 people there and made that amount. I'm nervous about planning the next so soon but we have the interest for it. People were impressed and we want to keep up the momentum. We can't wait another 3 years to have another dinner. But it's something I can chalk up to experience. When I get married I'll be prepared to plan the reception! hehe Alliance - I've started training for some tasks in the Accounting Dept. It's a slow process because the lady training me only wants to train me on one portion of my future tasks a month. Also this month I had my 1 year anniversary with Alliance! A few things have changed in a years time... Mike is one the newest employees at Alliance. He's pretty cool. I've enjoyed getting to know him. He just got married earlier this year and they both have never been married before and are in their late 30's. They are an adorable couple too! Both are good looking people, it was nice to hear how they connected. Gave me a bit of hope of a late courtship being possible, one worth waiting for. Reflection - Once the benefit dinner was over I thought I would have all sorts of time on my hands. This whole week has been filled! Something going on every evening! Saturday is the first day to relax in what feels like forever! I was already invited to dinner at Ludek's and I'd love to go but I'm feeling like I really need to get a full day of "me time". I've done a lot of reflection in the last week. I spent a little time working through some thoughts and insecurities that arose in the last week or so. There are phases where God reveals things that need to be changed. One being that I tend to enjoy flirting and I find that in some respects I get my affirmation in the amount of flirting that is done. Whether with one individual or multiple. The flirting is not the issue, but the concept that I get my affirmation based on how much I flirt is. This is a slightly odd revelation but none-the-less true. There has been a lack of men to flirt with in my life, at least ones that I'm crushing on. Yes, there is a difference when there is an attraction involved. Part of the old me started to surface with wondering if I was attractive. Its amazing how an old part of me can still sneak in there. I'd love for a guy to let me know how attractive I am. It's been a while since I've heard that. But I need to accept my beauty for myself. Another thing is my finances. I've let them get out of control. I paid off all my debt while working at linkLINE. When I was laid off I didn't change how I lived. I continued to live like I had no debt and could buy anything I wanted. I'm living beyond my means right now. Especially having bought a newer car this year. I finally sat down and went back to a strict budget. It's not fun but for now it's what I have to do. It's only for a time, it's not permanent, I won't be here forever, this too shall pass. Yes, sadly I have to keep reminding myself of that when I want to go out and buy something. I was in a similar situation when I worked at linkLINE and it didn't take me very long to get out of it. So I know I can do it now. And finally time management. I've come to the conclusion that I am going to have to schedule "me time" every week. A night where I can do what I want! No phone calls, no guests, nothing but time for me. I can update my blog or online album, organize/clean my room, watch movies, read, whatever! Also I have started doing morning devotions. It's been nice but it hasn't given me that quality time to meditate, time for me to hear that "still small voice". I know I'm hearing God, even in some of these revelations/reflections this week. I know He's been a big part of the revealing aspect. But my heart is draw closer, to hear His voice more clearly. I also have a few projects that friends have asked me to do. I may use a night for those types of projects as well as my own, like achairsphotography.com which has been majorly neglected! Sunday Update 9/23/07 - Well a lot was accomplished in the last couple of days! I found out Friday that I get a raise starting next pay period! Seems like perfect timing now that I decided to stick to a strict budget. I still plan on sticking to the budget but it just means my debt will get paid off faster. How cool is that!? Also Saturday came and went and it was wonderful! I used the day to clean the entire house. Yes, Mike, my roommate, seemed unsure of how that constituted as something I'd want to do with my first day off. But it was sooo rewarding to see how clean everything was when it was all said and done! My brother Brian has a jammin session going on with Forrest and Strav and I'm not embarrassed of how the house looks. In fact I'm proud of the way it looks. And cleaning is so theraputic! I put on Anne of Green Gables and cleaned away. Brian and Mike had some work they had to do so they were out of my way the whole time! I turned my ringer off and even left a message stating I would be away from my phone. I am looking forward to making a habit of that! Labels: Birthday, Parties, Photography, Pictures, Rambling
posted by Charity at 9/28/2007 12:16:00 AM
Monday, September 03, 2007
I'm house sitting in Rancho Cucamonga for my friends Doug and Sasha. I'm sitting at Doug's computer upstairs unsure if I'm in the mood to actually blog or not. In roughly 12 hours I will have officially been on this earth 30 years (don't get technical on me peoples!). Today is the last day being in my 20's. (insert side tangent) And oddly enough I will be in the same town my parents lived in when I was born! I always thought I was born in Rancho but I found out when I got my passport (needed a birth certificate) that I was technically born in Upland, but my parents lived in Rancho so they always told me that's where we were when I was born. hehe Either way when I wake up tomorrow I'll be in Rancho on my birthday 30 years later! Kinda trippy...(/end side tangent) As I celebrated my birthday with my family today it hit me where I was a year ago and it was not in a good place. I was pretty depressed about a lot of things. Mostly the loss of my relationship with Sam in August which (at the time) I was uncertain we'd ever talk again. Thankfully we are still friends and talk/chat at least once a week which is more then I would have expected under the circumstances. Jesse had passed away that May and that was the most difficult death I had to face in my life so far. I had lost my job at linkLINE in July and had yet to find a new job and had gone through a lot of interviews only to be told I wasn't picked for this reason or that, and each one felt like a whole new rejection. To be honest, I was pretty self focused and miserable. Jason was there to encourage me to get past my beliefs and the feelings that held me back from growing though it all. He was my counselor and friend and well it always helped that he was so darn cute! ;) hehe Sometimes I wondered if my infatuation made it possible to hear all the harsh things I needed to hear. Man... so much in so little time. It's amazing to look back! Especially when all the inner reflection and changes, though difficult, really brought me to a better place. God knew what He was doing... Who knew? ;) haha I guess I needed to go through it all to be prepared to hear and realize things about myself that weren't easy to face. Life changing. One year, so much happened in 1 year! Actually it was more like 6 months! I keep changing but from September through March was the biggest portion of my transformation. Things that held me back, even from childhood... Faced... Accepted... And let go! Yes, turning 30 tomorrow is a new leaf. I want to say a new chapter but honestly I feel like it's a new series in the miniseries of my life. I have nothing but excitement in my heart about my 30's. Heidi pointed out that she hated turning 30 because the people in their 40's still consider you too young to know anything and the people in their 20's think you're old. I'm not sure if I agree. Though I have felt a little bit of a challenge having friends in their 40's. They do seem to bring up my age quite a bit. It doesn't help that I look like I'm in my early 20's. I still giggle like a schoolgirl, especially if I'm flirting or crushing. haha Well I guess we'll see. My brother Brian is going to take me to lunch tomorrow afternoon for my birthday. :) That'll be cool. We'll be going to see Bright Eyes at the end of this month for my birthday present to him as well as for myself. My parents gave me money for my birthday and I plan on buying a couple pieces for my camera. My dad made me one of his awesome cards, he even put a picture I took from Fiji as the cover. It's such a sweet card. He seriously needs to sell them! My sister did my hair as her birthday present to me! It needed it sooo bad. Here's a picture of it. It's hard to see the length but it's a bit more layered and more blond. I like it.  Rachel, Andie and Heidi are taking me out this Saturday. I've mentioned it before and it's a surprise. I still have no clue what we're doing. I just know that they are going to pick me up around 8 or 9 Saturday morning, I'm supposed to dress cute/casual and shouldn't expect to be home till at least midnight! I'm excited. I enjoy keeping myself in the dark. My mom almost let it slip but I didn't push it. I've played a couple games to get more information only to be more confused then ever! hehe So I'm letting it be and waiting patiently to find out Saturday what we're going to be up to. Well I think that's it for tonight. Happy birthday to Jimi and Doug who both share my birthday! It's so odd that tomorrow I won't have a commute! I can leave for work at 8:40 and still make it before 9! I have more to update but I think I'll leave this as a birthday post. Goodnight Labels: Birthday, Inspiration, Rambling
posted by Charity at 9/03/2007 10:30:00 PM
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
One week... Why am I so excited about turning 30!? So many other people I know have taken turning 30 as a negative thing, feeling like they weren't where they expected to be in life. Yet I feel like it's a new beginning; a fresh start! I mean the last 10 years of my life were filled with so much! I can only imagine all the wonderful things that are going to happen to me in my 30's! I've also always been a late bloomer. Maybe that's why I never worried about having a set idea of where I'd be when I turned 30. I'm very happy! So, my part in the benefit dinner seems to have slowed down. I have a bunch of stuff to do on the weekends but the majority of my role has been accomplished. I just need to keep people focused. I'm a little nervous about ticket sales. We haven't sold that many tickets yet and the time is running out. But I just have to accept whatever happens! I've done my part... God will do the rest! I had a relaxing weekend. I finished the last Harry Potter book on Saturday. I baked a lot of cookies this weekend. Some for church on sunday and for Hector at work. He felt that his 3 year anniversary with Alliance deserved some of my homebaked chocolate chip cookies hehe. I wrote the above while waiting to confirm no one was showing up for training. I just got home from an unexpected night out with my brother and our friend Jesus whom we affectionately call Chulo. hehe Anyways, they were at Yardhouse and called me while I was still at work and told me to meet them there when I got off work. I did. My brother bought me dinner and then they decided to go to the movies. I'm flat broke but Chulo was nice enough to pay for mine... We went to see Superbad. Which was a really funny horribly wrong movie! hehe Either way it was a great time hanging out! Chulo and I never get to go out! He's buying a few tickets to the benefit dinner so he rocks all the more! hehe And that's about all I have to say about that... :) It's getting late and I want to get to bed. Labels: Benefit Dinner, Birthday, Rambling
posted by Charity at 8/28/2007 10:55:00 PM
Thursday, August 16, 2007
In remembrance of my time in Fiji I selected this ticker for the countdown to my big "3" "0"! :D I'm really looking forward to my 30's!
 Anyways, there are plenty of updates but no time to write them at the moment... Maybe later. Labels: Birthday
posted by Charity at 8/16/2007 10:48:00 AM
Thursday, June 21, 2007
*Pictures will be posted tomorrow sometime* **Did I say tomorrow? ;) I meant whenever I get around to it!! haha Sorry it's been crazy busy and I actually tried to upload pictures the next day but blogger was having issues uploading. And well I have a moment since our phone systems at work just blew up. hehe And since you've been patiently waiting I think I'll post WAY more pictures then I should to make up for the delay! Enjoy!**Life is good isn’t it?! Right now I’m at work and I don’t expect that I’ll have a lot of time to write up this post. But I have a moment to spare so I’m going to at least start it. We’re understaffed today. One girl is on vacation and another had to leave early because of some flight issues. And later today I have a training class. Once all that is done, I honestly hope things will mellow out some. Birthday - So my friends must love me! Rachel called me this morning to see if I was free September 8th. I told her yes and then asked what for. Apparently she and Andie have planned a surprise day out for my 30th birthday! I’m excited! And I feel special! So all I know is that I need to be ready by 8am and expect to be out till midnight. I’m looking forward to it! You guys rock! Well like I said I didn't think I'd have enough time to finish a post at work. I’m now at home. Man today started out so dismally and now things are so different! Lots of great things are in the works! Fiji - The main thing is the possibility of my entire family going to Fiji! Can you imagine!? Well my brother Shawn who lives in North Carolina is moving to Texas but has a lot of work to do in Fiji over the summer and he's decided to pack up his family and let them hang out in Fiji with him over their summer break before making the move to Texas. So it was mentioned that it would be great if we could all go out there! I thought for sure it was just one of those passing thoughts that never come to fruition but apparently today I was asked to put some serious thought into going. Financially it would be a burden. The tickets are pricey. My brother has connections so he’s going to see what he can do about getting cheaper tickets. But if it came down to my family going out there whether or not I could afford it, well I couldn't afford to miss the opportunity really. This is FIJI we're talking about here! One of my first thoughts was being in 7th heaven taking pictures. I have seen some of the shots my brother has taken and I know what I could get! haha Cool huh? I may have another place to mark on my map of visited places. Passions - Lately God has been showing me a lot about myself, especially my passions. You’d be surprised as much as I love photography I’m realizing my passion is not completely in that, which may change. But right now my passion is people! I *love* people! I enjoy meeting new people, learning more about them, laughing and interacting with them. I’ve been putting some thought into how I can use these passions in a career. I know my current job is not the career choice I had in mind. But I genuinely LOVE working with the customers. I find myself laughing more and more with the customers. I’m not sure what type of career to get involved with that allows a lot of interaction with people. I don’t think there is a lot of money in customer service/support. At least not that I’ve seen. I know there is joy and pride in the work I do with my customers. I just honestly can’t afford to keep working for what I get paid and I’m just not sure what to do about that. I would really enjoy being able to interact and take pictures of people but I find that I’m not a good portrait photographer. At least not that I’ve seen in my current collection of pictures. So, I’ve come to the conclusion that though I may realize that I have a passion for people, at this point I have no idea where God is going to take me in that. Luau Aftermath - So I survived the luau! If you have myspace you’ve seen my pictures. If not then sorry it’s taken me so long to post any! It was an amazing night! Non-stop craziness but oh so much fun! I can’t wait till we do a whole church one! It was a great time with all my friends. I was snapping pictures all night. I ended up staying over at my parents till about 12:30 in the morning talking to my friend Andie. We haven’t hung out in a while and its funny cause we always seem to be experiencing similar things at the same time. But really it’s hard to explain the whole evening so I’ll just let you see the pictures (which will be coming soon).                             Vegas Aftermath - I stayed up later then I would have liked for the luau but I still got up early for my drive to Vegas Saturday morning. I was on the road by 8:15 but had to stop by my parents to pick up stuff I forgot over there the night before and then had to fill up with gas and was actually on my way by 8:45am. I was shocked how easy of a drive it was! I remembered it being so long the last time I went. But honestly that was before I had gotten accustomed to a 45 min commute to and from work daily and 1 ½ hour commute on Friday nights because of “Vegas Traffic”! I’m just glad I didn’t go Friday night! It was smooth sailing when I went Saturday morning. I got up to the Jeska’s place at about 11:15. So it only took 2 ½ hours!    It was so nice to hang out with the Jeska’s. They have a nice place and I found myself easily relaxed there. The weather was gorgeous! Debbie and I went and ran a few errands and decided to go to a mall out there. It’s kind of crazy because we haven’t really hung out since we were kids! But we seemed to click and we had no issues keeping the conversation going. Hehe Later we ended up hanging out with her parents discussing all sorts of things! We didn’t end up getting ready to go to the strip till after 10pm! But I didn’t really have any desire to go gambling or anything. I just wanted to see the fountains… We stayed in front of the Bellagio for about an hour or so and then went back.           I got up the next morning and slowly made my way out the door. It was a bit more crowded on the roads so it took a little longer then 2 ½ hours but not too much and I even stopped to help someone on the side of the road! Father’s Day – I made back in town Sunday at 2pm and looked over my pictures. I went over to my parent’s house to spend some time with my dad for Father’s Day. I ended up going out to Best Buy to get him the 5th season of Seinfeld. I started to get them for him but stopped at season 4 so I now have a good idea of what to get him for the next few gift events, his birthday, Christmas, etc. hehe I was happy to see he’s still really into the Microsoft Flight Sim X game I got him a while ago! Well it’s actually later then I’d like it to be. I have to get up early for work. I’m supposed to be at work between 7 & 7:30 because we’re understaffed and need the phone coverage so I was asked if I’d be willing to come in. And well I am… It’s Friday. It shouldn’t be too bad. Just means I should be in bed right now! So goodnight and I’ll post pictures tomorrow. Labels: Birthday, Fiji, Parties, Pictures, Rambling, Travel
posted by Charity at 6/21/2007 10:21:00 PM
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Happy Birthday to me... (and my brother Brian hehe) - So I bought tickets to go see Bright Eyes in the end of September at the Hollywood Bowl! I got them for me and my brother Brian since 1) he was the one to introduce me to them 2) we both are into their music and 3) his birthday is a month before mine and I never know what to get him and I knew this would work. hehe I'm really excited! I haven't ever made an effort to see live bands other then Depeche Mode, even though I've wanted to. But I've been talking to my friend Jimi and well his interest in live performances made me realize it's something I've always wanted to do but never made the effort. I did as he suggested, signed up for some of my favorite bands mailing lists and as I did that (yesterday) I happened to notice that Bright Eyes presale tickets were going on sale this morning at 10am. So at 10am I went to ticketmaster and at 10 they still didn't have tickets available. So I called them up and bought the tickets over the phone! If you want to see where I'll be sitting click on the image and I'm in the first section over to the right (I marked the estimated location with a red check mark). Not too shabby huh!? hehe  Luau 6/15/07 - So I helped my mom plan a luau for the ladies of the church. I had so much fun shopping online for decorations! There are a ton of great things to buy for a luau! I'm really excited. It should be really cute and it'll be fun to get all the ladies together. I'm even setting up a little photo op display and am making cute little frames for the pictures I'll be taking. People can put them on their fridge or something. Not sure why I've gotten into it as much as I have. It's not like I'm planning on wearing a grass skirt and a pair of coconuts or anything! :'-D Anyways, it's gonna be fun. Vegas 6/16/07 - I'm making an overnight trip to Vegas Father's Day Weekend. So I haven't decided if I'm going to drive up after the luau friday night (doubtful), or just wait till Saturday morning to drive up (more probable). I was originally making the trip out there to go see Roger Waters Saturday night but my friend flaked on me. His mom, whom he hasn't seen in 5 years, is coming into town or some lame excuse like that. ;) haha Honestly, I thought it would have been a cool experience but I'm not too disappointed. I had already set it up with my friend Debbie that I'd stay with her and her parents who live in Vegas (obviously). She lives in Utah and is going to drive out for the weekend. Total girls night out! I'm not a huge partier but if I know Deb this is gonna be a blast! We'll be having a grand ol' time! I will have to drive home Sunday morning though as it's Father's Day. This will be my first big road trip with my new car. I'm gonna have to make sure to get all my music picked out and ready to go. :D Alliance - So I've gotten pretty comfortable with the concept of conducting the webinars for our new customers. At first it was such a foreign concept that it scared me to death. I know there are things I need to work on but I know in time that will all work itself out. I don't feel I'm leaving the customer with less information, it's just how I present it. At first I sounded too much like I'm reading a script or I run through the live demo's too quickly. They've just set up surveys (this is new so I'm not even sure if it was set up for my last class) for the customers to give feedback on how they thought I did. So hopefully those come back as positive as the merchant support feedback has been. The CEO is taking my department out to dinner tomorrow night. We had a large project handed to us and we had to complete it along with our daily tasks. I was actually in the middle of training to become a webinar trainer so I don't feel I had a big role in helping other then taking on a lot more calls while the others worked on the project. But hey, I'm not complaining... Free dinner at a nice restaurant. I can handle that! :D Well I think that's all I have time to update for now. There's more of course. Till next time... Labels: Birthday, Parties
posted by Charity at 6/06/2007 11:09:00 PM
Thursday, May 31, 2007
 So am I excited? I guess so! :D Labels: Birthday, Inspiration
posted by Charity at 5/31/2007 01:10:00 PM
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