I Can't Believe It

Well, Here we are. The day after Christmas. I can't believe it's over.

Christmas is one of my favorite Holidays. Each year Thanksgiving and Christmas battle it out for "Best Holiday of the Year" for me.

This year was quite a bit of a struggle for both holidays. I was laid off on the 18th of November, just a week and a half before Thanksgiving. It sort of came as a shock although I knew our company was thinning out. So I was put in a funk right before Turkey Day. But I was not saddened for long; I picked up a job almost immediately after getting cut. I started on Monday, December 2nd.

So, Thanksgiving was my last Hurrah!

Thanksgiving was grand, as always, my mother made the most declious Turkey ever and the family gathered and we had a great time. We even took tons of family photos for the record books. My husband and I took our 4-day weekend and went to Temecula the day after Thanksgiving and drank wine and ate good food. We relaxed and enjoyed eachother's company.

So with Thanksgiving over, December Starting, a new job under my midst, Time flew from my grips. It has been almost 4 weeks and I still feel like it's only day 2. My new job as an Events Manager at a hotel is right up alley in skill and expertise, but it sucks the life right out of my hands. I barely had time to shop, with the loss of the job and starting a new one, I didn't get my first paycheck till 3 weeks into work! I felt like I didn't put enough time and thought into the presents for my friends and family. Although I got them what they wanted, I didn't go the extra mile this year - like I do every year.

Christmas Eve lunch was spent with my mother & sister at Umami Burger - Truffle yum yums! Husband and I saw "American Hustle" *rental*, and spent the evening with his mom's side of the family; aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces/nephews. A Trade-a-Gift gift exchange and 3 pies! (I didn't have any)

My mother-in-law came over Christmas morning and we opened presents and caught up. Then we went to my mother's house and had a full breakfast with fluffly eggs, smokey bacon and country friend potatoes! My whole family was there and it was great. We opened presents, had some laughs and had our annual wrapping paperball fight - I think my brother won this year...We hung out all day, went and saw "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" which was adorable! Had a Christmas feast for dinner then said our goodbyes.

I can't believe it's over. Like a flash of lightening, Christmas has ended and now we carry on into a new year.

I Did Not Audition

So.  I was signed up for an audition to be on The Voice; a fantastic singing show on nbc.  I had my song selections picked out memorized and mastered and even did my hair.  I packed a bag of snacks and reading material and with my husband, drove to Los Angeles.  I wanted to make sure I got there before my 2:00pm audition, so we left early and arrived at the LA Convention Center around 1:00pm - an hour early.  Upon arrival we had to drive around the convention center and saw about 3,000 people in line outside, wrapping around the building, and in addition, people waiting in line on the second level: There were too many people everywhere.

I was behind a number of cars all eagerly waiting to park their cars and it dawned on me, parking was going to cost me $30 (I hate LA)!!  It was then I had a horrific Flash Back to my X-Factor audition experience and I made the decision to turn the car around and go home.

//////FLASH BACK\\\\\\

February 2011
X-Factor Audition
LA Sports Arena
All participants who were there to audition were told to be at the sports arena at 6:00am.  As a responsible person, I woke up at 4:00am, woke up my (then) Fiance picking him up at 4:30am, and arrived to a crowd of thousands at 5:00am.  It had rained that night and there was a bit of a drizzle, weather was a warm 55degrees.  >:\ and it was dark.  They packed us in like cattle headed in for the slaughter as we stood in the cold, wet parking lot for 5 1/2 hours!!  They had an entire section blocked off with porta-pottys, and by the time I gained the courage to use them, they were the most disgusting, horrible, dirty, wet, stinky, stained, slippery, out of toilet paper pieces of junk I ever in my life used!! GROSS - I hate LA

Eventually around 11:00am they guided everyone into the arena and we were sat in a section according to our number.  I was sat in the 3rd level at the end.  It took them a good hour to finally start auditions - which were just 20 voting booth sized sheeted off sections where people sang at people.  We got hungry and spend $24 on 2 hotdogs and a bag of chips!  This was incredibly ridiculous and made me angry as we were poor and planning a wedding.

by 4:00pm they had finally made their way through listening to the 1st row of singers...I started doing the math, I was not even going to be heard for another 5-6 hours if I was lucky.  So I thought about it, talked about it with my man, and decided, this isn't the way.  So we packed up our bags, said our goodbyes to those around us, stretched out our legs and went to Titos Tacos!



//////FLASH TO NOW\\\\\\

See.  I love to sing, I love to perform I love loving life!  It has always been a dream of mine to make a living doing what I'm passionate about - music.  As Americans, the modern frame of thought is "Immediate Satisfaction", the search for the "Quick Fix" in all things.  I know I can sing, I know I can play guitar and I know that only 1 person out of a crowd of 10,000 people will make it to the end - those are HORRIBLE odds!  I also am sound minded enough to know that "this" isn't my only or my last chance at a music career.

I'm reminded lovingly by my husnand that I can make my own EP at home on my computer, sell my music on itunes, Amazon, Google Play.  I could also post my songs & create videos and post them on YouTube.  We are in the era that anyone can be "found" anywhere!  How amazing that we have all these different venues to showcase ourselves, our talents and our dreams. I can do this on MY terms.

Another part of my thoughts that encouraged me to not even park my car and leave is that, my time is far more valuable to me at this point in my life.  I work 50+ hours a week, with a commute of 1 hour each way, each day!  That's 10 hours in drive time a week.  I have commitments to my church during the week, my friends and family during the week and myself (gym) each week.  My husband and I were kindly invited over for dinner to a friends house that evening and I knew we wouldn't make it when I saw that line.  Building relationships and nurturing friendships is more important to me than waiting in line behind 3,000 people, for just a chance to be heard, for just the chance of getting a call back, for a just a chance of making it to the group, for a just chance to be in the group they narrow down for TV.   Just for a chance.


We write our own future!
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson