Somewhere Only We Know

“The Tao Te Ching says, When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need. Have you ever struggled to find work or love, only to find them after you have given up? This is the paradox of letting go. Let go, in order to achieve.” – Mary Manin Morrissey


In my seemingly never ending insomnia these days, I've been quote searching for the past 20 minutes.  I stumbled across this one and it really resonated within me.  Proof can be seen when I'd been job searching since January and in March I became so incredibly frustrated.  Subconsciously I suppose I "gave up" for awhile, and as soon as I did, the job I have now came through.  Same thing with Kyler: back in December of last year (probably even before) I was outwardly frustrated with boys and decided to just concentrate on school and do me for a little bit.  And then he came along and completely rearranged my life for the better.  For the best!  I'm still trying to figure out how to apply this quote to schoolwork though... If I start letting homework assignments and papers "go," will I then get straight A's?  Somehow I think my logic is not completely accurate this late at night.

In light of recent events that have taken place with my roommate, I can truly say how much I appreciate my life and everyone in it.  After the numerous birthday wishes from friends and family I felt so loved.  I spent the entire morning and afternoon with Carly at Red Rock.  We went hiking and took some fantastic pictures, singing "Solo" the entire time.  We went out for a late lunch at Chili's where... dun dun dun... I had my FIRST drink.  It was a fruity margarita something-er-rather, so it tasted delicious.  But there wasn't enough alcohol for me to even feel anything.  Then we came home and we were both so pooped and I laid in my bed and took a little nap.  Then I met up with Kyler and we spent the rest of the day together, but didn't do any drinking.  In one way I think I'm glad that I didn't have a typical 21st and drink just for the sake of drinking.  That's just not me.  Maybe one day I'll be into the drinking scene, but not right now at this point in my life.  Ashley and Gordon got me a bottle of whiskey that is just sitting on my desk, unopened.  I think a part of me doesn't want to start drinking because then I will like it too much and will want to do it all the time, resulting in suffering grades and such.  I'm just so concentrated on finishing school on time that drinking doesn't even phase me I guess.  One day I'll jump on the wagon.

SHUUUSHI

I got a job! Yay!  Well it actually happened last week, but I'm finally getting around to posting this now.  So I've been applying to multiple ads on craigslist for random jobs.  I found one that wanted a videographer for a wedding chapel (and I had to re-learn how to spell that word this week).  The guy who wrote the ad, Mike (my current boss), responded to me and asked when I could come in.  I went in the next day and checked the place out.  Now whenever I would think about people "getting married in Vegas" I always retreat to the image portrayed in movies and on tv, with Elvis as the witness, souvenir t-shirts and drive-thru vows.  But this place is actually really nice.  I got the grand tour, meeting photographers, limo drivers, wedding planners and ministers.  Then this past Saturday I had my first official day of training.  I did two videos and got paid $10 for each.  At first I stand in front, next to the minister and capture the bride walking down the aisle, the vow and the candle ceremony.  Then I have to get around them and capture the couple walking out of the venue, so I have to walk backwards.  I have this plastic contraption that lets the camera rest on my shoulder.  So now all that "roll your feet!" from marching band has come back into play, so that the camera doesn't shake while I'm walking.  After the ceremony, I'm supposed to ask the couple to give a testimonial.  I haven't done this yet, but I will now because I'm done with training.  I basically have to have the couple tell who they are, where they're from and about their experience at our chapel.  Then, I get paid $5 for each testimonial.  Now that I'm done training, I get paid $25 for each video I capture, which lasts between 8 and 15 minutes each.  Only in Vegas I guess...!  So I don't get paid per hour, just for however many weddings I do per day... which is awesome!  There's a lot of down time, so I just read my book (currently The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks*) or work on homework.  It's definitely an interesting job, and business is currently pretty slow.  But wedding season is picking up in May.  Currently Mike is taking all the videos home and editing them, but we're getting in a new computer so that he can teach me how to edit the videos too.  I'm just so ecstatic that I finally got a job and that I don't have to work in retail or clean up throw up (knock on wood).

In other good news, my loan should finally be getting here this week or next.  It's been such a constant source of stress for me these past 3 months that I really hope that it comes sooner rather than later.

Well, my 21st is creeping up on me pretty fast here.  My roommate Carly is going to take me out during the day while Kyler is in class.  *We're going to see The Last Song, so I hope I finish the book before then.  We don't have any set alcohol plans, and I think I'm just going to see how I feel about it when the day comes.  Then I have plans to hang out with Kyler all night, and then go get all you can eat sushi with Chase, Tamara, Ashley and Gordon on Friday afternoon.  Because we <3 sushi!!  I'm very excited for the day all in all.  Just one more class to go tomorrow and I'm home free...