The Seventh Child

Video of my day

2011-09-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine wanted to see a little bit of my life here in the Mid West...so I threw together a little video today. It's random and boring, but I enjoy living in it!

Starbucks

2011-04-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on, I haven't logged on in quite a while!! There isn't much new with me! Last time I updated was right after I had been hired to work at Starbucks, but I didn't really talk about it!

You pretty much all know I don't drink coffee at all. I never have, and even though it smells nice and homey...I find the flavor repulsive. I get free drinks on the clock, and I thought that would be a waste of a benefit since I would never make myself a latte. I didn't realize how many amazing, non-coffee, fattening drinks they had there!! If you think about getting a job there, be prepared to gain 5 lbs in the first 2 months. Literally! I had to diet for a little bit to get myself under control! I thought I'd post my favorite non-coffee drinks!

Since it's getting "warm" (here that means...40-50 degrees), I'll start with cold drinks!!

Frappuccinos! These particular fraps contain no coffee (although you can really order any flavor and just ask for no coffee base. These are specifically creme based, non-coffee drinks). All are delicious. When I make them for myself, I typically use non-fat milk and I don't use whipped cream. I will admit that using whole milk and adding whipped cream makes them FAR more delicious, though.

Double Chocolately Chip.

Strawberries and Cream

Vanilla Bean

Then there are iced teas for all you disgusting tea drinkers out there. If I had to drink one though, it would be the passion fruit iced tea. It's the only one that doesn't smell like grass clippings when I pour it.

There is also this blended strawberry lemon drink, that is good but SUPER sweet!

Okay, now for HOT drinks...I actually don't' really like their hot chocolate. The chocolate is just a little too bitter for me (I'm a milk chocolate girl if anything). I LOVE their white chocolate though. MMMMMM.

White Hot Chocolate. Hello.

My favorite winter drink is by far the Caramel Apple Spice. I make it with sugar free syrup, because otherwise it's just a little too sweet for me. I do NOT skip the whipped cream on this drink, it is not the same without it.

I sometimes blend this into a frappuchino, and it has more of a slushie texture. My oh my...so yummy either way.

OH, I forgot to mention that I occasionally get "steamers", which are just steamed milk with flavored syrup (I get the Cinnimon Dolce syrup, the same kind used in the Caramel Apple Spice), and whipped cream or caramel drizzle. Yum...I haven't made one of those in a while.

Oh! I almost forgot the "healthy" choice, which are the Vivanno Smoothies. They only contain fruit preserves, milk (you can substitute soy for any drink, by the way), protein, and a whole banana. The flavors are strawberry, orange mango, and chocolate. I think chocolate is nasty. I have these for lunch sometimes and they are wonderful.

This is not me trying to pimp out Starbucks. I think they're doing alright. I just used to go there with friends and I only knew two non-coffee drinks to order. Now I'm craving them all at once.

Shoveling etc...in the snow

2011-02-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

I might make a better video of the snow, but I recorded part of my BlogTV broadcast I was calling "Blizzard Watch." There is supposed to be a crazy storm tonight so I wanted to capture it in the making. Web cams like mine...don't capture the falling snow very well. So I decided to go shovel and play in the snow, which of course is wildly entertaining. No sound...heh. So exciting.

playing in the snow - Broadcast your self LIVE

2010

2010-12-31T21:34:00.000-08:00

I personally always enjoy reading year recaps, so I'm going to go ahead and recap the year in this blog. A lot of these are cell phone pictures, so I apologize.

I went to four states I hadn't been to before (IL,LA,AR, and OK), bringing my state count up to 10!

In Arkansas

I saw some awesome shows! Wicked, Tegan and Sara, Miss Saigon, and Paramore

I joined the Sears family.

I owned my first car (though it's rough trying to get rid of it!!)

My niece Dottie was born!!!!!!!

This is not the best picture of her, I just love it!

I got to watch Duggle become an adorable toddler.

I read over 20 books, which I hope to continue to do every year!

I went to the gym religiously for MOST of the year.

Don't remember why I took this...

I saw Sarah and Ryan graduate college!

I auditioned for Glee and nothing came of it, but I got a ton of votes and it was so fun!

Screenshot of my final vote count. I felt loved!

I decided my next move would be to Glenview, Illinois. I will be living with a family I adore (temporarily), in a place that is different from anywhere I've lived before. I'm very excited to see what this adventure brings!!

Bean Reflection

Got to spend the holidays at home with the family, I was very lucky!

I'm an obscenely lucky human being, and I hope 2011 is half as awesome as 2010. It wasn't a perfect year, I don't mean to imply that at all. When I step back and look at a FEW of the highlights (this is just a small grab bag) of my year, I feel very privileged to have my life. I don't deserve it! I hope everybody has a great new year, and I encourage you to at least write down some highlights. I guarantee everybody has a hand full of blessings from 2010.

I'm not huge on New Years resolutions, but I don't mind setting goals for myself. I will read over 20 books (I'd like to be at 25) this year. I will take some classes. I will also see at LEAST two more states this year, but I'm aiming for 4. I will continue to be active and not over eat. I will have a good time and be responsible! I will, I will, I will!

I Want to See Americaaaaa!

2010-07-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

If you've spoken to me at all within the past week, you've probably heard about my new goal! That is to go to all 50 states! Most items on my life list involve travel, and I saw a few videos from people who have done this and I knew it would be worth the time and the effort. I'm not going to try and do this all in one shot, I'd like to do it over time and not just run over the state line and run back. There are a lot of international places I'd love to visit as well, so if I can, I'd like to complete my goal in under 10 years. I don't exactly have an endless amount of money so there will be gaps, haha.

I made my first trip specifically to fulfill this goal yesterday. I drove a little under 3 hours to Lake Charles, Louisiana and spent a few hours there. For some place so close, it definitely had it's own separate identity! It was pretty old and very Southern, I loved it. I would've enjoyed going to New Orleans, but it was a LOT cheaper to go somewhere closer (the grand total was around $60. Gas and a meal.) and I still liked it. So this is my current map I'm using to keep track. I have a long way to go! (I'm not sure whether or not to include PA and NJ, because I literally ONLY drove through there from those airports.)

I Want to Run a 5k!

2010-04-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Most people who've known me within the past few years, know that I was pretty heavy for a while! Over the course of about a year I gradually lost 30lbs. Thankfully, having it be gradual has made maintaining my weight a lot more natural.

I've hit a plateau and I haven't really been able to lose more, but I've been doing my best to maintain an active lifestyle and not eat too much (although the contents of my diet could use some serious work). I work with a trainer around once a week and I try to either go to the gym or take long walks 3-5 times a week. My goal has been nothing more then to firm up and to improve my overall health.

I never thought about working towards any physical goal other then maybe an amount of weight lost or just "having toned arms" (ONE DAY I will!). Then a Youtube vlogger I watch started a blog about her weight loss journey. She also lost 30 lbs recently, and she recently completed a 5k race. I never really thought about it, but a 5k is only 3.1 miles! Sadly I'm still not quite in the shape to run more then about one mile currently...but I could DEFINITELY work my way up to 3.1. I haven't really done anything slightly athletic (other then just straight working out) since I was a kid, so this would be a cool accomplishment for me! What's funny is that the DAY I had decided I wanted to do this, there were a bunch of Races for the Cure in my area. Oh well, there will be more! I hope I'll be ready for them when they come!

I'm going to really focus on spending more time on the treadmill at the gym and work on doing 4 miles straight while jogging. I honestly probably wont post a lot about my progress unless I have a major breakthrough! It will be a while...haha.

Since this is boring and mostly writing, I decided to post a sort of "before and after" type photo (although I never really took proper ones) because those are always fun!

(Click on it so you can really see...it posted so small!)

Mexico!

2009-10-30T08:44:00.001-07:00

I went to see my sister Meredith in Puebla, Mexico from October 22nd-26th! It was amazing to see where she's living and what she does every day! It's a total different life down there and it was completely different then anywhere I've been. I got to stay with her host family so that saved me some money plus it was just neat to see everything!

As always, I took videos!

Part 1:

Friday Night, Our Date With Fernando:

Part 2:

This last one is a video of her opening a care package that her friends/family from home sent her.

Texas Tour

2009-10-15T21:38:00.001-07:00

So thanks to Sarah I've seen pretty much all of the big cities in Texas! Funny enough I haven't explored a lot of Houston though..I can tell you where Wal*Mart is though! Here are my videos from these little awesome road trips, even though you've probably watched them on Sarah's blog already. My favorite place was probably San Antonio, though they all had something awesome about them!

Lyrics to "Chemanda"

2009-09-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

I wrote this song for my friend Amanda and her new love...Chedda Boy.

Her life wasn't fair
This single girl
Wanting to be happy
But the man brought her down

His life wasn't fair
This one armed man
wanting to make a living
but the man brought him down

There was magic everywhere
In that New York City air
Millions of people around
In the heart of Times Square

They both needed a break
They'd get more then that
When they took the train
To the city that night

There was magic everywhere
In that New York City air
Millions of people around
In the heart of Times Square

Two girls walking
Just enjoying the night
One man standing
Avoiding a fight

He saw her walking by
Placed his one hand on hers
He asked her to stay
And she stayed forever!

There was magic everywhere
In that New York City air
Millions of people around
In the heart of Times Square
Only two people mattered that night

Here's the song:

New York City!

2009-09-09T08:10:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted in a while, because I've been posting video blogs on my Youtube Channel instead. I thought I should start posting some of the videos here, so you/I don't have to navigate through my channel in order to watch certain videos in order.

This post is really long, but it's mostly for me so I don't forget my awesome trip!

I went to New York City from August 11th-August17th! I had been planning a trip there ever since I moved back to Redding in 2006. It was absolutely wonderful to go back, and it still feels like home!

Day 1:
The flight, the taxi, and the check-in all went smoothly! I'd never checked into a hotel as an individual so I was nervous, but I didn't need to be. I stayed at the Wellington Hotel, which wasn't exactly full of amenities, but the location was AMAZING. If you had a window facing the street (I didn't but my friend Amanda did), you could see Times Square to your left, and Central Park to your right. I couldn't have asked for a better location! I would stay there again for that reason.

Speaking of my friend Amanda! She lives in NJ but booked a room in the Wellington for a few days so we could hang out. It was really awesome of her to come, I had way more fun with somebody to run around with! We spent a long time looking for the brand new Jcpenney in Manhattan but I realized I didn't know the address, so we ended up just wandering around. I was pretty tired but we went out to dinner and wandered Times Square (it's WAY MORE FUN there if you don't live there..you're more willing to put up with annoying stuff). I was super happy to be back!

Day 2:
Amanda and I went to Kew Gardens, where I used to live when I was 18. It was so awesome to see it and all the same people worked at the same stores and everything! We went and saw (500) Days of Summer and it was super charming and cute! We went to a cheap store to get an umbrella since it started raining, and I bought that and a really weird version of Guess Who. We went to a diner for lunch and played while we waited for our food. We then went to Forrest Hills Park and did some reading before we took off to Sam Ash Music Store. I had too much fun there! I used to spend a lot of time there when I was 18! Amanda was extremely patient with me as I banged around on the drums, and pulled guitar after guitar off of the walls. We ended the day with Dinner at Austin Street Steak House! It was a really cool and nostalgic day, and it was fun to have somebody there to take pictures of me in front of stuff!

Day 3:
Amanda was still in the city for the first half of the day, so we had lunch at Planet Hollywood and just enjoyed each other's company for the last little while she was there. I started feeling really sick when she was getting ready to leave so I felt pretty bad about that! I tried to walk it off a little bit before I saw The Little Mermaid on Broadway. It was a nice show, but it didn't live up to the expectations you have when you go to see a Disney show. Honestly, you expect magic. It had some really cool moments and the performers were talented, but it's not one I would recommend, and apparently I'm not the only one who thought so! It closed at the end of August, but I'm glad I got to see a show that not a lot of people got to see! Then a musician friend of mine met up with me in The Village, so it was really cool to see her...even though it was really really late at night.

Day 4:
My amazing friend Dominica came from upstate to visit me! I knew she was coming, but she pranked me a little by texting me to "come to the lobby" and then she was AT MY DOOR when I opened it. She's sneaky!! It was so wonderful to see her! We saw "The Proposal", took a limo back to the hotel, and ordered some rockin hamburgers through room service! The day went by way too fast, but it was an awesome one!! After she left I found the brand new JcPenneys and drooled!

Day 5:
I still wasn't feeling all that great, but I went for a nice walk in Central Park that morning. I then walked around the area where my church's temple is, and I went to the Barnes and Noble that was right next to it. I got a smoothie there and relaxed while looking out the window of the 4 story B&N. Then I got ready to go see 9 to 5 the musical. I was REALLY looking forward to it because it featured Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, and Megan Hilty. I had high expectations of THEM but not so much of the show. It really shocked me how much I just LOVED the show! It had so much energy, and the talent was just ridiculous! I had amazing seats and it was just one of the greatest show-going experiences of my life! I don't understand why it's closing, everybody there was cracking up and loving it. I'm so happy I went to see it before it closed.

Day 6 (Final Day!)
I went to a little bit of church, then I went for one last Central Park walk! I wish I was feeling better because I really miss venturing into the nearly 850 acre park! I spent quite a bit of time there. At one point I just laid in the grass, relaxed, and absorbed the feeling of being there, because I knew it was almost over! I went to a book stand where they had SO many books, but they weren't as cheap as I was hoping so I ditched them. I really wanted to make sure I got around a bit before I left, so I took one of those cheesy tour buses. It was okay, not something I'd want to do again...but it got me all around town and I got to rest my feet. I walked around Rockefeller Plaza for a little while. I wanted my last dinner to be a nice one, even though I didn't have a friend to go with me. I went to the village on the search for a nice, relaxed, restaurant with outdoor seating. It really took a long time to find the perfect place, but I found a place called Garage that was nice (even though it took FOREVER to have dinner there). I just enjoyed my last moments, hoping I'd make time for a trip like this again. I think I will!

My Music Store!

2009-04-30T22:13:00.001-07:00

I am making my studio-recorded songs available for purchase! They're $.99 a song, so it's not a lot if you want to put these on your ipod or if you want to put them on a CD. Enjoy!

Don't panic if it's says songs are currently unavailable, I literally JUST created this so it will be a few days before they show up!

No Time For Books

2009-03-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think I'd be better off if I didn't have access to a computer, an ipod, a Wii, a television, and a cell phone all day.

Don't get me wrong, I adore all of those things, I'm blessed with my possessions! I just realized I have this stack of books I keep saying I'm going to read, and I never read them. I'll start reading them and then I hear my cell phone buzz with a text message, so I answer it and go back and forth for a few minutes. Then I usually forget about the book and sign online. Maybe I'll carry it around on me in hopes that I'll read it on my lunch break or that I'll take it out when I go on a drive. I usually don't! I usually listen to my ipod or text during this time. Then the book ends up laying in my car, on my desk, or on my shelf..only having partially been read. They then represent failure, and I resent them. I fear starting books sometimes because I hate the feeling of not finishing it. I think reading is such an important part of life so having this short attention span and this sea of distractions is truly troubling to me.

Then my friend showed me a vlogger on Youtube named Merry who does vlogs about just silly stuff, her own music, but most importantly, book reviews. She has a goal of reading one book a week from the Time Magazine Top 100 English Language Novels and reviewing it on Youtube. Now..I'm not proposing that I do the same thing, because that would just be copying! It did put a spark of interest back in the whole reading thing.

I finished my first book of the year (I'm embarrassed to state that since it's already March) after seeing her videos. I loved it! I love the feeling after you hold a book in your hand that you've completed. Knowing that you read all of the pages of that book is just kind of a cool thing. I feel more intelligent when I read regularly, even if it's just a silly fiction novel. Why have I not done this more often? Oh right..I've been busy IMing and texting and Wii-ing! Not that those are bad things, but I just realize I need to take more time out to spend with books.

I'm setting a goal to read at least 25 books this year. It doesn't seem like a lot but I'm pretty sure it's more then I read last year. I have unread books in my possession already, and I'm hoping to complete them this year.

- The Thirteenth Tale
- Lovely Bones
- The Catcher in the Rye
- If You Could See Me Now
- Me & Emma
- The Moviegoer
- The Ultimate Guitar Book
- A Complete Idiots Guide to Music Theory
- Peace Like A River
- Twilight (maybe....)
- The Kindness of Strangers

I'm sweating just looking at that short list of 10 books!! I'm admitting to being a pathetic non-reader here..but I'm going to try and be better.

I just finished "To Catch a Predator" by Chris Hansen from the Dateline NBC show of the same title. It was disturbing to a very high degree, but it's the kind of disturbing you know you should probably read if you want to truly be aware of the dangers kids can face. The language is extremely explicit, but it's 100% reality, it's real life stories that just happen to be traumatic. It's an important and surprisingly unbiased publication.

I'm not really going to try and review this book or any of the books I read, because I don't have that great of a memory, so It would take me forever to write a full page review. I can do a quick blurb on them though (see above blurb)! I'm not sure why I decided to blog about this, I was just thinking about it a lot lately.

Let's all put down our gadgets and try to read more, shall we??!!

Melody Gardot

2009-02-24T19:37:00.000-08:00

I was visiting Ramiy Rosendufts blog (I don't know her, she's just a bottomless fountain of awesome musicians and cool information) yesterday or so and found a gemstone. Though I always enjoy the bands or musicians she's recommended, I've never been so INSTANTLY smitten by somebody's music as I have by Melody Gardot's.
I'm not kidding when I say, from the very first NOTE I was mesmorized. It's beautiful, soulful jazz music that just enchants me. Her voice is like velvet, and it's paired perfectly with the skilled and sexy instrumentals. What is even more impressive then her music is her story.

When she was 19 years old, she was hit by a car while riding her bike. She suffered body and brain injuries. Her doctor was concered about her cognative impairment caused by the accident, so he reccomended that she had music therapy to help rebuild her mind. Through this music therapy, she not only rebuilt her congnative ability, but she discovered a hidden talent for music in the process. She made bedside recordings, and released an EP entitled "Some Lessons - The Bedroom Sessions." She has severe photosensitivity, so she always wears sunglasses when performing. She also walks with a cane and wears earplugs a lot of the time. I love how she went from being nearly braindead to being a brilliant jazz musician. It's an extremely inspiring story, proving that we can overcome our challenges and come out of them with something beautiful.

After visiting her myspace page, I immediate purchased her album "Worrisome Heart" on itunes. It's the type of music you put on just to kick back and relax to. It's very romantic, very soothing, and very entrancing. She has a new album coming out April 28th called "My One and Only Thrill," released by Verve Records (Norah Jones). I really hope she gets more reconition, because I can't get enough of her voice and the music!

Valentines Day = Klepto Day?

2009-02-15T11:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Valentines day, robbery is apparently the new way to spend the day of love. Maybe they figured since the day is considered so commercial, they should "stick it to the man" and rip a bunch of major stores off? Today there was a couple who hit about 8 stores in the mall. Mall security had their eye on them the entire day. Once they ended up in our store, they apprehended them and they were arrested. Justice is served, hooray! One heart-breaking downside; they had a one year old child. How pathetic must a person (not to mention TWO people!) be to use their own innocent child as a distraction while they commit a crime? How bad are things really, where you need to rob THAT many stores in order to get by? How can you justify this? If you're broke, get a job, get on unemployment...there are WAYS to keep yourself afloat without committing a crime, and without having to send a crying one-year-old home with his ashamed and embarrassed grandmother. Based on the fact that they were robbing game stores and cheap jewelry stores, I'm pretty sure this isn't the sort of case where you may feel sorry for the criminal..because they were just so desperate to have clothes on their back that they made a poor choice and faced the consequences. No, these were shop lifters, nothing more. It's a shame they happened to be parents too.

SO many things are wrong with this picture! I could go off on so many tangents, I don't even know where to begin!

I think shop lifting is pathetic. I know people personally who have bragged to me about shop lifting and I wasn't sure why exactly they were bragging. Are you bragging because you can't afford to pay for your own stuff? Are you bragging because you're dishonest? Are you bragging because you are willing to break the law? I don't get it. A good friend of mine once said (paraphrased quote from Amanda Purdie), "If you want stuff, get a job! If you want an awesome story to tell, do something awesome!" Seriously people, grow up and take care of yourself. Don't rip people off, there's no excuse for it.

I think putting your children in a spot like that is unforgivable. Doing something you could be locked up for when you have a young child at home? Really? Even worse, you have a child right NEXT to you! This child is too young to have a very vivid memory of his parents being cuffed and driven away in a police car, thankfully. Does that make it any less disgusting? I'm tired of parents KNOWINGLY putting their children into a bad situation. What mind set do people have where they think having what they want is more important then their child's comfort and safety? By the sound of it, they stole quite a bit of merchandise, meaning they may actually serve some time. It's just STUPID. It reminded me of a much more extreme example of this behavior. On the Dateline NBC show "To Catch a Predator", one potential predator brought his young son to the home where he was hoping to meet a young teenager. Seeing that put an intensely ill feeling in my stomach, and I know I wasn't alone. How dare a parent be selfish enough to put their own selfish desires in front of their child's well-being. It's my personal opinion that if you bring a child into this world, you have to stop being horrible in some ways. Maybe that's easy for me to say since I don't have kids! I don't know, I think most parents would agree that you just don't put your children in certain situations, and you don't do stupid stuff that could screw up their life or their mentality.

What lessons have we learned today? Stealing is pathetic, and some people just SHOULDN'T be parents.

Article on why shoplifting has increased.

Charging is Lessening

2009-02-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

There isn't a lot of GOOD coming out of this economic slump. For the most part it is causing unemployment, it's causing stores to shut down, and it's made the word debt even more terrifying then it already was. I've worked at a retail store for over 2 years, and I've noticed a big change in the spending behavior and attitude of our customers.

I've noticed a lot of people canceling their store credit cards lately. I figured that had something to do with the fact that along with money being tight in general, our interest rate has increased, our finance charges have increased, and billing dates now rotate instead of being the same day every month. Not a bright move when you're trying to keep customers coming through the door and using our credit card.

I then realized that overall, people are charging their purchases a lot less. More and more people are paying with cash, checks, and ATM then before. People are doing a great deal to AVOID debt right now, and I think that's one positive thing that's coming from this recession. Many of us are spending what we HAVE instead of spending money we don't have and paying for it little by little down the road...while paying the interest that accumulates on top of that.

It has always frightened me when I see a balance on somebody's STORE CREDIT CARD that's over $1,000. My store doesn't sell much more then clothing and bedding, and those aren't things that one should be charging to that degree. I understand that when it's necessities, but I don't think all $2,643 of their balance was a necessity..just a hunch!

So I would like to applaud those of you who are now choosing to PAY for what you buy, it's not always easy to do when you're offered 10% off for applying for a store credit card that has a 22% interest rate...but you're doing it! Way to go!

California's Calling and Greentruck Records

2008-10-20T01:36:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I made a fun trip to Chico, CA and recorded one of my songs at Heirloom Studio. Chris Keene from Surrogate performed on guitar, and bass, plus he was the engineer (click the above picture to watch a video from the studio!). My brother Cayle from Armed for Apocalypse performed on drums and also assisted in producing the track. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

Click on the album cover that Julia Warren designed (thank you!!) for me to go to my music page and listen to "California's Calling"!

NEXT!

Cayle, Sarah, and I have officially started a new record label: "Greentruck Records" and we are now taking submissions from unsigned bands and artists! You can visit our myspace page, our blogspot (http://greentruckrecords.blogspot.com) or email us at greentruckrecords@gmail.com for more information!

Happy 19th Birthday Alex!!

A Chunk of Emazing History

2008-08-30T01:23:00.000-07:00

Some fun fluff to get my bloggin ball rolling.

10 years ago...
How old was I? 11? HAH! I must have just entered Sequoia Middle School and become the shyest individual known to man. Also I learned how to be a truly terrible student. I played drums in beginning band and I would go to orchestra before school every day with my sister Natalie, and then take the bus to school. That bus ride SUCKED.
5 years ago...
Again...remind me how old I was? 16..ahhh. I didn't get my license until I was 19, so that right of passage wasn't taken advantage of. I was a junior in high school! So that means I was in the musical "Hello Dolly" and I made a couple of friends because I learned how to talk. I payed more attention to choir then I did school, of course. I was in A Capella and we went to LA and I saw Ty Pennington from "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" as well as a few other designers. I'm not one of those people who can act normal and cool in front of people from TV....I was a moron.

5 months ago...
I had just recently been hired as an Optech in my store! The transition was interesting, but rewarding. It's been a challenging experience and I'm very fortunate to be given such a neat learning opportunity. I'm learning about glasses and such of course, but I'm also learning a lot about business and sales. I never thought I would be a sales person in this form. It's truly a CHALLENGING job which is good for me, since I tend to go for things that take little to no effort..and this is ALL effort. It's hard work and I've made a ton of mistakes that make me feel like an idiot..but I hope to become GOOD at that line of work before leaving, so I can take fully developed skills with me.

5 things on my to-do list tomorrow:
1. Wake up before the double digits. It's harder for me then it should be.
2. Dress in Hawaiian attire because we like to have fun at work sometimes.
3. Work
4. Work on a song
5. I don't have 5 whole things to do

5 things people don't know about me...
1. I can't stand being barefoot. I actually freak out when I walk.
2. I would rather be really buff then really skinny
3. In my mind I have played every part there is to play on Broadway...and I've excelled.
4. In reference to Sarah's dislike of chess...I get verbally abusive when playing that game. I SUCK at it, and when I play against my younger brother, I threaten him with murder and I'm DEAD serious...because without even thinking about it, he beats me. He laughs at me, as I tell him I'm going to force the King through his eye socket.
5. I'm physically attracted to most musical instruments.
5 bad habits...
1. Spending too much time on the computer
2. Poor sleeping patterns
3. Eating like crap
4. I'm lazy
5. Texting when I really shouldn't be.

5 places I have lived...
1. In the Easter Egg room
2. In this room
3. Kew Gardens, NY
4. In the living room
5. YOUR MOM

AMANDA'S TAGGED

The Customer is Always Surly

2008-08-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

Okay maybe ALWAYS is an overstatement. Maybe.."a lot of the time" would've been more accurate. Oh well.

As somebody who's worked in retail for about 2 years, I've enjoyed and loathed many parts of the experience! I have a lot to say about all of the positives and negatives regarding this line of work, so I'm going to focus on my current annoyance. This annoyance is those customers who come in to a store and take out their bad day on somebody who's already unhappy (they work in RETAIL!). There are some people who have to blame somebody for the poor day/life they've had, so why not blame some kid because a shirt they really like is out of stock? Sure it's annoying, but do you have to go out of their way to make them feel bad for something that is completely out of their control?

I work in the areas of my store that place orders for people, and that's impossible to always get right. The warehouse/lab where these orders come from can screw up, the delivery company can screw up, and in the end, I am the lucky person who gets to call these customers and report the news that their merchandise is delayed or out of stock! I understand that it's annoying and you have to express that, but there are some people who just take it too far.

Example: A lady came into my department looking for a pair of glasses, and since she paid for express she expected it to be there. The express service we have takes an estimated 2-3 business days, but the associate had told her "2" and so they HAD to be there. Of course the associate who had told her it would only take two days wasn't there that day, and so my other co-worker got to break the news that they hadn't arrived and there's honestly nothing we can do to fix that. We just get yelled at and accused my making excuses for saying "it really is a 2-3 business day service, I'm sorry you were mis-quoted.." I really do understand this womans frustration, she has a right to be upset with her glasses not coming in, but did she have to attack our integrity and make us feel bad for something we have zero control over? So most likely this woman will demand money back, even though the glasses did come the third business day. We're expected to take this attack with a smile, and to cut off our arm and give it to them. What else can you do, really? This is a very MILD example. I've been around when customers make people cry, and do everything in their power to get people fired. I don't feel like getting REALLY angry right now, so I'll just stick with bitter.

IT BOTHERS ME that any person can walk into a retail store and demean another person just because they work there. If you do everything in your power to do things the right way and it's not enough, they'll call a manager to give them a gift card for making their life so horrible, and if they DON'T they're going to tell everybody what horrible service they received! Maybe they'll write a blog about it?! Well here's my blog to customers who are JERKS and overly demanding just because they can be. Grow up, and treat people with respect! We're there to help you, we're not your slaves. I understand we should do our best to fulfill your needs because we wouldn't have a store without customers, but you're not royalty...sorry to break it to you. If you were royalty, you'd be shopping somewhere else.

Bars

2008-07-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

I don't really like bars so far. I've actually only been to one, and we had a decent time just because of who I was with. Why couldn't we hang out somewhere that didn't have the music too loud, booze, and people who are too close for comfort? Oh right, because I'm 21 and it's the law. Who wants to dance with somebody who will only talk to you because they're cross-eyed drunk?? I honestly don't get the appeal, but I suppose it's difficult for somebody who doesn't drink to understand.

I'm perfectly fine with never understanding.

Random thoughts on dying

2008-06-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

My 15 year old cat died the other night. It was surprisingly upsetting. I haven't had a pet of mine DIE in years. I've also been fortunate enough not to have many people I know pass away. It will happen though, and the death of my cat got me thinking about it more then I usually do.

Life isn't forever. If you're somebody who, like me, believes in an after life...you understand that life is just a TINY portion of our entire existence. Be proud of what you do in this small window of time. You will regret wasting too much of your time here on meaningless activities. I'm probably the biggest time waster I know, so I think I should take the time to accomplish more or love more or something.

It makes it a little easier when somebody leaves this earth and you're not seeing them around like you used to. They didn't stop existing, their spirit still lives...they're just not physically with us anymore. When we follow suit, we will see them again.

I'm too tired to actually make this sound meaningful.

Cloth Bags: Helping the Environment While Helping Shoplifters?

2008-05-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

Lately, we've all been trying to do what we can to try and help the environment. So what if we waited until we were told the world is on the verge of destruction before we really started caring? Now we use energy efficient light bulbs, we turn off the water when we brush our teeth, and one of the most popular ways of "going green" is the use of re-usable cloth/hemp/recycled materials bags in grocery stores. Instead of the wasteful plastic grocery bags we used to use (which are starting be to outlawed), we now bring in our own bag to tote our groceries in. This way we're not overflowing the landfills with these plastic bags which are not biodegradable, and we save energy by not producing plastic bags. It really is an easy way to help out, and many times the grocery store will take a few cents off of your total if you use these bags!

I myself have several bags for several different stores, and I try to keep them in my car, otherwise I forget them and end up having to bring my purchases home in a one-use bag. They really are nice to have, and there aren't as many plastic bags balled-up on the floor of my car. However, while I'm shopping, I can't help but to think how easy it would be for somebody to come in the store with one of these bags and shoplift. Instead of using a basket I actually put the items I intend to buy inside my shopping bag. What if it was a busy day and I just walked out of the store with a bag full of items I didn't pay for? How easy would that be for somebody to either pretend they're just browsing and leave with small items hidden in their reusable bag, or to act as if they've already been rung up? This is against my nature personally, but we all know in the end, we end up paying for the dishonest people in the world. I predict that the loss prevention teams at these stores will be tightening things up quite a bit once they figure this out. I see more places checking receipts at the doors, and putting security tags (that cause the alarm to go off when leaving the store) will be put on more items. Also, more stores may have reusable bags that are net-like, in order to make it more difficult to hide items in the bags. Who knows what they'll resort to, but I'm sure they'll figure out some way to make suspects out of people just trying to be more efficient.

I'm definitely not trying to encourage criminal activity, but I'm just pointing out a crime waiting to happen. If you ARE somebody who takes advantage of re-usable bags in such a way, I think you're a loser.

Recycle!

Don't get stuck

2008-05-19T23:50:00.000-07:00

It's too easy to get stuck in your current situation. It's too easy to go about life living in a way that just gets you by. It's too easy to go your whole life without even starting to reach your potential.

Many people I know, myself included, still choose to live life this way. Why? Maybe because it doesn't require as many risks or as much effort, though I know I personally use a tremendous amount of effort to constantly explain why I don't do anything special. Why not just go for it and make the effort to become somebody I'm proud of? It's a product of extreme laziness in my case, but it differs from person to person.

I have a friend who is an excellent example of somebody who works hard and takes risks. This is a girl who has worked her BUTT off her whole high school career with AP classes and extra curricular activities, and still ended up having to go to a local community college for financial reasons. She's wanted nothing more then to break out of the small town we live in and do something important and meaningful with her life, but she kept being weighed down by various set backs. FINALLY she had completed the classes she needed in order to transfer to a university, and she started slaving over the applications. This isn't a job application when you answer a few questions and fill in the blanks, these take an enormous amount of time to complete. She decided why not shoot for the stars and apply to some amazing schools? She had put a maximum amount of effort into her education, so she felt she may have a shot. She took a risk and applied to Harvard and NYU. These schools were like a fantasy, so ideal and out of reach. She had heard of a new financial aid initiative that Harvard had taken on, so she felt like it was a golden opportunity to only be judged by the hard work she's put forth and the grades she had earned. She spend weeks writing essays, and getting credits from her current schooling transferred, and financial information for these schools. She was so excited about the opportunity to do something huge.

When I saw her a week or so after she had submitted both applications, she looked gloomy. She told me that Harvard wasn't accepting transfers at this time, so the application she had slaved over and put her blood sweat and tears into wasn't even read. She felt defeated. Why had she worked so hard her whole life to end up in the same place as those who hadn't? Why was she going to have to settle on state college she didn't want to go to? I was asking the same questions in my head. It was discouraging to see somebody like her continue to be knocked down, when all she was trying to do was make something of herself. I knew no matter where she ended up she would thrive, and I told her that. I still felt saddened by the fact that she was stuck in the place of an average person, when she's clearly above average. I knew her hard work would pay off, but I wished it would've been in a way that proved to her that she's intelligent and a hard worker.

She and I hang out about once a month, and lately I've been helping her plan out her vacation to New York City with her sister. She's made a few trips there and she adores it, but she's never gone without meeting up with a friend or boyfriend who knew their way around. We were planning on going on a picnic tomorrow and discussing more details of her trip, so I was surprised to see her walk into my work earlier today. She works nearby, so I figured she must've just gotten off and maybe she wanted to check on our plans for tomorrow. After saying hello and all that good stuff, she smiled and said "I got into NYU." My heart almost lept out of my chest and I freaked out! Luckily there were no customers because I kept yelling "WHAT???!!!!! THAT'S SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!" FINALLY, after watching her struggle to find validation for her efforts, she had received it! Of course she immediately expressed worry about the cost, but even with the thought that she may not have financial aid, she was clearly beaming with pride that she'd been lacking. That look on her face, and the feeling she gave off, is worth all the setbacks she faced. She had earned a place in an extremely difficult school to get into, in a place that's like a dream land to her. I couldn't be happier for her.

I learned a lot from her experience. You can put forth 100% effort consistently, but your results may vary. It will always pay off in one way or another. At least you know you did your best during life to live up to your potential, which is more then many of us can say.

Personal Space!

2007-11-17T18:46:00.000-08:00

Everybody has a personal space bubble, but our rules are different. Its difficult to be sensitive to everyone's personal space needs, but sometimes all you needs are eyeballs to realize somebody doesn't want to be bothered.

Here's an example. You're on lunch at work, so of course, you want to use that time to kick back and relax. You've been talking to a bunch of annoying and whiny people all day, so you're savoring this time for various self indulgences. These require attention, and therefore it's considered dangerous to interrupt you while enjoy yourself. It should be obvious to outsiders when you are armed with the following items:

1. A good book

A good book is much different then a magazine. You can look up from a magazine mid story and look down a week later and be fine because it only requires 3/4 of a braincell to process. In a book, it's so important to pay attention to everything that's going on, otherwise you may be confused later. If somebody is really reading, don't distract them for more then a few seconds.

2. An ipod

Your ears are plugged up and omitting a much more pleasant sound then somebody's voice. Enough said.

3. A microwave dinner

I may be alone here...but the point is...it's YOUR dinner, AND it's another thing you're doing. You're obviously not doing nothing!

I think it should be apparent to most people that your in your own little world, and enjoying yourself. What one EARTH would possess somebody to sit directly across from you (when there are many other places to sit) and start blabbering?? Somebody you're not even FRIENDS with! Somebody who's name you barely remember! Talking about crap! You do all you can without actually uttering the words "please leave me alone!" You don't look up from your book, you grunt instead of actually answering the questions, and you let the awkward silence to linger. This is difficult because most of us spend all of our time trying to avoid awkward silences, but I'm suggesting you use this particular one to your advantage. In this instance though, NOTHING worked. Your personal time has been violated by an outsider. You've lost.

Most people would say to either take out the earphones and talk, or to be straightforward and let the person know that you're really into the book and you can't talk right now. I think these methods or overrated. I'm trying to educate people out there who may be ruining somebody's personal time to think before you interrupt. Some people can't read words, listen to words, process words, and speak words all at once. Especially with music playing, and the aroma of freshly microwaved pasta in their nose. Please allow us our time, otherwise we will never get along.

Broadway strike!

2007-11-14T10:23:00.000-08:00

Broadway Strike Weighs on New York City

Great, now I really do have to start reading books. Before I'd just pretend I was reading so I'd look smart.

Couldn't they wait until one massive strike was over before they started another one? I know they're not related, but aggghh. I feel horrible for all the people who flew to New York for a vacation and to see a Broadway show, that would put a massive damper on my trip. Apparently they're all making the best of it and using the time to explore the city, go ice skating, and to see some off-Broadway! The city must be SO crowded, that's thousands of people who are wandering around the city instead of singing along to Wicked in the crowd.

Despite my empathy for the tourists, I'm all for people standing up for unfairness when it comes to their compensation. Too many people work too hard for not enough money. I like participating in theater, but it's not easy, and I can't imagine doing it 8 times a week.

Give the writers and the stagehands their money and nobody will get hurt!

Initiation

2007-11-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

Is having a blog putting me on a new level of geekiness? I sure hope so, otherwise this is a waste.