Oh man today was a good day. I had the opportunity to assist my first wedding and it was amazing. Originally I was drawn to event planning because of the design aspect. I loved looking at color schemes, themes, decor, flowers, music, food, etc. The company I am assisting for is classified as wedding consultants and deals directly with the bride on the day of in addition to coordinating the actual event. Up until today I wasn't really attracted to this aspect of the job. It's not that I had a problem with it, I just thought creative design is what would really get my juices flowing. Well after today there's a whole new aspect of wedding planning that I'm in love with.
My day started in the bridal suite at the downtown hotel. I met the brother of the bride who instantly recognized me as Daniel's wife because he shops at the store Daniel works at. We chatted enthusiastically with one another for awhile and then he told his sister, the bride, who I was and she came and chatted excitedly as well. In an instant the bride, her family, her friends, and the groom appeared to me as real people with a real story who were in the midst of one of the most memorable and happy days of their lives. No longer were they just names on a paper or clients or the bride and groom. My day changed at this moment and I became all kinds of emotional. She brought out her dress and her bridesmaids poured into the back bedroom to gush and giggle. If I would have let myself I could have cried good and hard in that moment. If you know anything about me, you know I cry at life's "good stuff" especially spiritually intimate moments where the depth of life's even ordinary moments is revealed and I get a glimpse into the beauty of things at their sweetest. The knot in my throat was a good indication that this is the place for me. This career could be a great fit.
During the father of the bride's speech, I shared teary eyes with a clan of people who only a few hours ago were strangers. The wedding planner and the other assistant I was working with both were a weepy as well and I knew these were "my people". The two of them have been doing this for years and they still get choked up. Could it really be true that this sweetness isn't just a product of my first wedding but that I could actually experience this appreciation for beauty on a regular basis? I could get teary pretty frequently working for Young Life. We encounter profound moments a lot. I think the wedding business could potentially give me this same experience too only in a different way.
I don't want to speak to soon. Maybe I'm just hormonal or something. I never want to jump the gun on something, especially when I write about it publicly for anyone to see, but this job today felt really good. I don't know exactly what my role or situation will continue to look like, but if today was any indication as to where my heart lies, then I'm sold on it. I'm hooked. It could be a fluke since this first wedding could be described more as a gala for 424 people than a simple wedding reception. So we'll see. But if this keeps up, then yes this is most certainly what I want to be doing for the next few years.
Saturday, September 11
Friday, September 10
I Miss My Grandma
I grabbed a bagel at Panera today during my break and as I was walking out I noticed a little old lady eating her soup and sandwich. She was tiny and sweet, perfectly content just sitting there enjoying her lunch. Something about her reminded me of my own grandma Elsie. A moment like this hasn't occurred in my adult life yet. My grandma passed away when I was still in school. I have a terrible memory so I don't think of her often, but I have lots of pictures! During the summers my sisters and I would spend a lot of time at my grandma's house and the pictures make it seem like we had a blast. I'm sure we did. I have a good handful of memories that still make me giggle about things she said and quirky things she did. I wish she were around now so I could know her in a different way, an adult way. I'm grateful for having her while I did though as a kid. She was good to us and I miss her.
Thursday, September 9
My First Day
When I began this blog I never anticipated all the ways my life has changed in this past year. I certainly didn't see a career change on the horizon, but here we are and I just finished my first day of work at a new job. Did I mention how grateful I am for a job? It feels good to join the living again. My feet aren't so grateful after standing upright for 7 hours, but they'll toughen up and get used to it. Thank you to everyone who wished me well today. I felt like my little team who carried me through the lows of unemployment got to celebrate this first day of employment right along with me. Thank you little blog community for helping me to never feel alone in the lows and the highs!
I folded A LOT of shirts today and had to fight my perfectionism on each one. I am not an expert on folding yet. The fold on each shirt differed from the one before it in one way so I compiled stacks with buttons slightly off centered, pockets leaning to one side, then the other. It was all I could do to keep from tearing apart the pile and starting over again. When your main task for your entire first shift is to fold, you want to do a good job. Thus I felt like I was going to be measured by my button alignment. Obviously no one is evaluating my folding technique so I just told myself to let the imperfections go and that I could only get better with practice. No one is expecting me to be perfect, so I don't need to expect that of myself either. Who knew I'd face my perfectionism during my first day on the job. It's funny how it rears it's little head. Looks like this will just be another way for me to conquer it as I embrace my human error and askew folding.
I folded A LOT of shirts today and had to fight my perfectionism on each one. I am not an expert on folding yet. The fold on each shirt differed from the one before it in one way so I compiled stacks with buttons slightly off centered, pockets leaning to one side, then the other. It was all I could do to keep from tearing apart the pile and starting over again. When your main task for your entire first shift is to fold, you want to do a good job. Thus I felt like I was going to be measured by my button alignment. Obviously no one is evaluating my folding technique so I just told myself to let the imperfections go and that I could only get better with practice. No one is expecting me to be perfect, so I don't need to expect that of myself either. Who knew I'd face my perfectionism during my first day on the job. It's funny how it rears it's little head. Looks like this will just be another way for me to conquer it as I embrace my human error and askew folding.
Wednesday, September 8
Snack/Nap Time
The link to this picture has been circulating amongst my family. It is a picture of my niece Callie at daycare. She is the bald one wearing pink...asleep at the table while the rest of the kids eat snack! It just gives me the giggles every time I look at it so I thought I would share it. I love her.
Monday, September 6
The Oatmeal Gospel
We had our annual MuckFest for Young Life tonight and it remains in my Top 5 favorite ways to spend 45 minutes. It's awesome and encapsulates so much of what I love about high schoolers and the "me" I want to be. I know when we started doing the event a few years ago that we had a purpose/strategy. It was a means to an end. I think it had something to do with a fall kickoff and spreading the word about starting up our weekly club meetings. I'm sure it still does this, but even if it didn't I think we should still keep doing it. I'd be perfectly happy if it were the end in and of itself. And that end being a night to just play.
The night is basically a giant food fight. The second portion consists of the 4 teams attacking each other first with flour bombs, then shaving cream, and finally oatmeal. Like I said it's awesome. When's the last time in your adult life that you've cupped your hands together in an attempt to hold as much oatmeal as you can before smashing it into your friends face, hair, nose, ears, and anywhere else you please (for the record I learned tonight that down the pants is a fun option). When's the last time you had a rubbermaid tub of gluey, heavy, slimy oatmeal dumped on top of you to the chorus of shrieking freshmen girls? Have you thrown an onion at your husband recently? Have you whipped noodles of spaghetti at the back of someone's head in the past few months? I think there's something very magical about this kind of "letting loose". I think I will remain a YL leader because nights like this are a spiritual experience for me. I know I'm not the only one, but if I told many people this they would think I'm crazy because I think oatmeal and shaving cream in your ear are a thing of beauty.
I think we'd all be better off if we played like kids every once in awhile. (And not relied on alcohol as an excuse to act silly. I think we can play without it too.) I was talking to a friend this weekend and commenting about how as I get older I am drawn to people who are 1. laid back and 2. positive. I wish I were more laid back and I wish I were more positive, so I love being around people like that as they bring it out more in me. My peers can be so negative. A casual hang out with my friends can turn into a b@*#% fest within the first 5 minutes. (If you're my friend and you're reading this I'm not talking about you. My blog readers are only the most lovely of company to keep. wink, wink) I leaned over to Daniel tonight and said, "I think one of the reasons I like hanging out with high school kids so much is because they're so positive." He remarked, "Oh yeah, they're just excited about life." Yes they are. Everything is new and exciting. They're not cynical or jaded yet. One of their biggest concerns is having fun. They don't look at a tub of oatmeal and cringe with disgust, but instead see the possibilities and potential for fun and dive right in. I want to hang out with oatmeal people. I want to be an oatmeal person. I don't want to sit on the sidelines and watch because it would be too much trouble to wash the oatmeal out of my hair. I want to be an oatmeal person.
The night is basically a giant food fight. The second portion consists of the 4 teams attacking each other first with flour bombs, then shaving cream, and finally oatmeal. Like I said it's awesome. When's the last time in your adult life that you've cupped your hands together in an attempt to hold as much oatmeal as you can before smashing it into your friends face, hair, nose, ears, and anywhere else you please (for the record I learned tonight that down the pants is a fun option). When's the last time you had a rubbermaid tub of gluey, heavy, slimy oatmeal dumped on top of you to the chorus of shrieking freshmen girls? Have you thrown an onion at your husband recently? Have you whipped noodles of spaghetti at the back of someone's head in the past few months? I think there's something very magical about this kind of "letting loose". I think I will remain a YL leader because nights like this are a spiritual experience for me. I know I'm not the only one, but if I told many people this they would think I'm crazy because I think oatmeal and shaving cream in your ear are a thing of beauty.
I think we'd all be better off if we played like kids every once in awhile. (And not relied on alcohol as an excuse to act silly. I think we can play without it too.) I was talking to a friend this weekend and commenting about how as I get older I am drawn to people who are 1. laid back and 2. positive. I wish I were more laid back and I wish I were more positive, so I love being around people like that as they bring it out more in me. My peers can be so negative. A casual hang out with my friends can turn into a b@*#% fest within the first 5 minutes. (If you're my friend and you're reading this I'm not talking about you. My blog readers are only the most lovely of company to keep. wink, wink) I leaned over to Daniel tonight and said, "I think one of the reasons I like hanging out with high school kids so much is because they're so positive." He remarked, "Oh yeah, they're just excited about life." Yes they are. Everything is new and exciting. They're not cynical or jaded yet. One of their biggest concerns is having fun. They don't look at a tub of oatmeal and cringe with disgust, but instead see the possibilities and potential for fun and dive right in. I want to hang out with oatmeal people. I want to be an oatmeal person. I don't want to sit on the sidelines and watch because it would be too much trouble to wash the oatmeal out of my hair. I want to be an oatmeal person.
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