Unintentional Family Affair

Life has been exciting, and I keep up more on a daily basis here. I have never been stuck on a concrete life  plan because I didn’t know what I was going to walk into with moving home and what opportunities would arise. I had a moment where I almost did a complete 180 to go back to school and chase another dream: nutrition and fitness. God had others plans when 4 brides called me and wanted me to plan their weddings. I decided to take it one step at a time and continue chasing both dreams. I plan on pursuing further education whether it be online courses, certifications, conferences, or workshops. I want to become a personal trainer and become either a licensed RD or just get a nutrition and wellness certification. I love the idea of adding training to my bridal packages because what bride doesn’t want to get in shape before her wedding? And I can only imagine the amount of people that take unhealthy and dangerous routes to meet their physical ideal for their special day. I also feel like teaching them healthy ways to manage stress through exercise and a healthy diet would be beneficial. 

I’m going to be honest. There are other reasons I started backpedaling on event planning. It terrifies me doing it on my own and in the market in Yuma. The events here are so different than the events I have experienced in Orange County and will be much harder with so much more to think about. In Orange County I had venues to choose from that all included tables, staff, dinnerware, bathrooms, and most importantly some kind of venue manager to lean on.  I am also speaking as if I didn’t shadow Blair and Constance and had them to follow and simply take orders from…not give orders

 Here, for the most part, it’s a whole different ballgame because there are fewer venues and more outside, backyard-type events. That means you have to take into consideration: where are we going to get power?; how are we going to create a parking lot?; who are we going to hire to help set up all these tables?; who is going to clear the guests plates?; what are we going to do about trash?; how are we going to hang our décor in the trees?; do we need to hire security?; where can the bride go to the bathroom?; will we have enough light?; are we going to bring in catering or are we going to hire people to cook; and so many more. Even though you save on venue usage fees, you end up having to spend it elsewhere.

These questions are all answered by drawing in different resources, and it really depends on whom you know. I don’t have a problem with this, but my issue is that my dad is my #1 resource because he is my connection to every resource, and he is a golden resource! He is pro with all this stuff given he puts events on all the time whether it be for the high school, rhino conservancy fundraisers, events for my brother’s college football team, his company events, and so many others. He has the answers to all my questions and solutions as well. My mom is also another resource especially when it comes to crafting, decorating, logistics, she's a hard-working very assertive helper, and just a seasoned  know-how...seriously this woman knows so much. 

 I think I ask them an event related question at the very LEAST once a day and sometimes hundreds of times a day. I am going to learn the ropes around here ASAP so that I can be big and confident enough to do this on my own. My dad loves this kind of stuff but he has a lot of other responsibilities not to mention a company to run. I will try my hardest to not tempt him into turning his attention to my events. For now, I will need their assistance until my feet are on the ground and will do my best to force them to take my paycheck, but one day I will be just as valuable of a resource.

My parents have not missed  helping me with any dance I have ever planned whether in high school or in college for my sorority. They even showed up at midnight to help me tear down! I am so blessed, but I refuse to take advantage! 

Winter Formal Set-Up Crew 

He decorates too!

Formal on a yacht

Set An Example

I have a love/hate relationship with social networking. It definitely has its advantages for business and communication, but it also has it’s disadvantages. Don’t get me wrong, I, like the next person, spend way too much time catching up on the Facebook newsfeed rather than the world newsfeed. That’s one problem: it can be a big time-waster and many often spend more time in the social networking world as opposed to the real world. Also, when choosing to have a site such as Facebook, anything you post is on display and more people than you know are watching especially the younger crowd, which looks up to you.

 

I feel that the tween and teens watch and mimic everything of those a few years older than they are. Facebook and other sites didn't exist when I was in junior high, but I kept a close eye on  my brother in high school and wanted to be just like his girl friends and had big crushes on most of his guy friends. The girls liked to give me advice about boys, do my makeup, and I wanted to copy the way they dressed. 

No, there is nothing wrong with this but if I had actually being a part of their social lives on the weekends I may have been exposed me to things I shouldn’t say or hear at that age, and it could have altered my actions, and I may have tried to grow up too quickly.

Facebook allows this kind of access into our lives depending on how much we put out there. The things we post—comments, pictures, statuses—all are a reflection of who we are and will cause others to make snap judgments of our character. Many things can easily be taken out of context and can be detrimental.  If I had access to something like Facebook in junior high and saw pictures of the things that the cool high school kids did on the weekends, how they acted with their significant others, and was exposed to more than just hanging around them every once and a while, I may have tried to mimic them in my younger junior high days, and my parents would have had their work cut out for them when it came to holding the reigns. 

The older generations have a responsibility to set an example. Junior high kids have elementary aged children watching them and high school kids are watching the college crowd and older. Social networking and the internet in general is exposing kids to things exponentially.

Facebook is virtually permanent and even if things are deleted, you never know how many eyes see something before it is removed. As I said, anything can be taken out of context. Picture of you holding a glass of wine? Someone may turn you into a wild partier in their head. Make a crude inside joke on someone’s wall? You never know who you influenced, what people think of you, or who you offended because it is not a joke said in a small circle for select ears. The entire virtual universe was exposed to it. 

Along with the things we post, how we approach life also sets an example. Our successes of graduating from high school and going to college...then graduating from college and getting a job is a positive example for people to follow. Life hit you hard and you don’t have a Cinderalla  story? How you come out of it and conquer hardships will let the younger crowd know that anything is possible.

Facebook and other social networking sites are amazing, but they have their disadvantages. Don't let these cons outweigh the positive aspects of them and be responsible about what you put out there. You never know who is watching, admiring, and mimicking your every move!

 

In order to keep it short, I will write another post later on how Facebook can ruin relationships and even marriages.

Summery Wedding

I mentioned before  that I was assisting Blair Britt with a wedding with 2 months notice! It happened to be the night after my graduation so the week before the wedding I wasn’t much help!

 Planning a wedding in two months was a first for both of us, and I must say Blair pulled it off with flying colors! And I am not kidding when I say colors because this was a bright, fun, colorful wedding. We themed it “Playful Summer.” The bride and groom had very fun personalities, and Blair used this to create a vibe for the whole wedding. It took place at the beautiful Virginia Country Club in Long Beach, and the setting for the ceremony could not have been more beautiful. The trees there are huge and framed everything perfectly. Blair and our favorite florist Jayne of Bits of Whimsy (seriously, there isn't anything this woman can't do) created some fun décor, which included bright orange and pink flowers and Chinese lanterns. We covered some of the lanterns  with petals to dress them up a bit, and used them throughout the wedding. Blair’s signature piece, ribbon, was also used to adorn the tables and dress up the white linens.

To Whomever I Marry: I am sorry for taking over our future house with wedding projects

Love the Pops of Color! 

These Pomander Balls Are Surprisingly Heavy! It took everything I had to not start a softball game during clean up :) 

The lanterns look much better here than hanging on my pull-up bar!

Table Ribbons: Simple and Fun! 

I love the escort cards in the wheat grass. All the paper goods were created by Blair

Blair Also Comes With An Assortment of Rentals to Use  for Your Events 

Such a Fun Way to Display Anything From Menus to Instructions for Guests

The desserts created by the amazing Sweet and Saucy were to die for as usual. You can always count on those girls to create a fabulous spread. It included mini pies, which is the groom’s favorite dessert, cake pops, desserts in cups, and some other fun goodies. They also had a gorgeous cake. My favorite were the carrot cake pops! 

The country club has a no cell phone policy, which is a staple for us to communicate. We turned to radios and had an interesting experience. We kept intercepting conversations on our channel which included kids that were playing with walkie talkies. Besides the fact that we couldn’t keep the earpiece in our ears, I like using them as opposed to cell phones because it is a little more professional, but I think we still need practice to learn the proper radio etiquette! All in all, it was a very successful wedding!!

Thank you Jeremiah Bonjean for capturing some fabulous images and helping everything go so smoothly! A cohesive vendor team is the key to success! 

Little Girl in a Big CIty

One of my many life plans (I take after my dad)  was to attend UNLV’s graduate, hotel administration program after I had graduated from Chapman. I decided that my parents already sent me to a good undergrad school and didn’t need to be spending that much more money. As I spent time in Vegas this past week, I was biting at the bit to apply. What a cool opportunity it would be to experience that side of events. I have been doing weddings, but I have always wanted to learn event production from every angle to make me more valuable. This fall, as I’ve said before, I will hopefully be learning all about nonprofit and fundraising events.

Anyway, a friend of the family, Steve, is the general manager of the equestrian arena at the South Point in Vegas. He was very excited about my career goals and offered to let me shadow him at a concert this past weekend. It was a big event called Junefest that hosted the bands War, Three Dog Night, and The Fixx. He also said that I could shadow his staff anytime I wanted! I am highly considering taking him up on that! He took me on a tour of the arena as well as the stables. Since it is an equestrian arena, they have 1200 very high-class stables to house the horses that come through for rodeos and other similar shows. Next week they will have a jousting competition…pretty intense! I think I'd fit in quite nicely in the equestrian center being the farm girl I am and having grown up raising pigs..wait, what?? Yep, I am a true blood former 4-H member. 

I got to hang out with him as well as the general manager of the hotel (No big deal, right??)  and watch how things were run during the event. He took me back stage and showed me where they put the artists and how they take care of them. He was very relaxed and laid back through the whole thing, which kind of surprised me. He told me that if he did his job ahead of time, that he could just hang out and enjoy the event. As a very successful event planner, all he had to do was press “go” and everything he put together in advance went to work. Any problem that could arise, would quickly be mitigated by his staff whom he has already prepared. For example, the fire alarm went off during the concert and as soon as he got on the radio, he was alerted by an employee that it had already been taken care of and within minutes the alarm was off. I asked my family about it, and they never even noticed it.

Whether it be weddings or other type of events, I aspire for mine to run this smoothly. I want to be able to push “go” and have everything run just as planned without any stress the day-of. 

Arena 

Horse Stalls 

A-List Horse Stalls 

Watchin' the Concert

Walking around Vegas, I felt very small and intimidated, which is why I would love to intern with Steve. I feel like I would learn so much and realize that I am capable of more than I think. I may just have to take him up on his offer to come anytime! :) 

Goals

It’s only fitting that at the end of my college career I make some goals. Blair Britt, a very inspirational person in my life did this, and I am following suit.

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific with a result that is either measurable, or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of stretching on your part.)

Starting Date: June 6, 2010

Completion Date: Umm when someone figures out that math, be a pal and let me know ;)

This was surprisingly hard, and I still have some completing to do, but I wanted to get it posted. There is also no specific order. I wrote as they came to mind. Some are goals and some are simply wishes because I would be incredibly blessed if some of these things actually happened. I know that most of these don’t fit the criteria of being measurable, but they are necessary. I also know that some of them are lifelong, but as I said, they are necessary.

1.     Get through all of the event planning books I bought

2.     Reorganize all the files on my computer

3.     Plan my first successful wedding and then some

4.     Start my own business

5.     Get more experience from other places before I start my own business

6.     Learn to sew

7.     Learn to build things

8.     Become a Crossfit trainer

9.     Go to San Francisco

10.Take culinary arts courses and try a new recipe once a week

11. Learn to be more “crafty”

12. Learn to always have a positive attitude

13. Learn to be more compassionate and understanding

14. Be healthy, but don’t obsess…live a little

15. Learn how to play tennis

16. Save up a lot of money by day 1001 and keep saving

17. Learn how to graphically design things

18. Get a vizsla

19. Get a concealed weapons license

20. Give something back to my high school

21. Play in a softball game

22. Visit my friend Janelle in Texas

23. Learn to wakeboard

24. Go visit my family in Missouri

25. Drive a Bentley

26. Go hunting with my dad

27. Convince Dad it’s not unethical to let their kids get cosmetic surgery if it’s something that has bothered them since they were 9 years old thanks to more than enough teasing

28.  Convince AC/DC or Van Halen to start touring again so I can watch their concert

29. Learn to let go and boldly step into the unknown

30. Join a Bible study group

31. Learn to be content with the fact I can’t make everyone happy

32. Go back to Europe

33. Hike the Grand Canyon

34. Play with exotic animals…chimpanzees, baby bears, baby tigers, etc.

35.  Watch a number of old movies

36. Go to Venice Beach

37. Go to the Santa Monica Pier

38. Go see the heart of Nashville and my family there

39. Go to a Cubs vs. Cardinals game at Busch  Stadium

40. Give my parents site seeing tips on a trip they will take to Europe…then hop in their suitcase

41. Learn how to throw a punch

42. Learn how to hook up, pull, and back up a trailer

43. Reconnect with old friends and keep in better touch with people

44. Learn how to draw

45. Fulfill one of my best friends metaphors of taking my old shoes out of storage and letting them go, try on new ones, and trust that God will know when the time is to start shopping.

46. Run a half marathon with Elizabeth preferably one that ends with a Nike/Tiffany’s necklace and firemen

47. Get my own website

48. Become a more efficient blogger and inspire and teach people through them

49. Thank people more often and let them know how much they mean to me

50. Go visit my sorority sisters 

51. Watch as many of my little brother's football games as possible

52. Send my big brother off to dental school

53. Be a more valuable friend, daughter, sister, granddaugher, niece, godmother, etc. 

54. Be a role model for my little cousins

55. Spend more time with my extended family in Yuma

56. Find enough goals to fit the 101 criteria.

Open to suggestions especially from those who know me well and know things I should be working on! 

Barefoot

Have you ever known something would eventually happen or a day would actually arrive, but completely surprised yourself by your reaction when it actually happened? You thought you had complete control over your emotions and thought that you would accept it as part of life, but you lost complete control? I’ve had that happen to me a lot recently since going through so many life changes over the past six or so months. I knew I was going to graduate from college, and I was ready for it. I was sick of all the studying and ready for the next phase in my life, but as the day drew nearer I began to feel uneasy. What’s next? Then before I knew it, my best friend had her whole room in boxes, and my roommate was knocking on my bedroom door to say goodbye. No, not just for the summer as we had done for the past 3 summers, but for a while.  It was extremely hard to swallow. Then when I realized I was leaving my brothers for who knows how long, I completely lost it. As I packed my car, I had to forget the few errands I had on my list on my way out of town because I was an emotional wreck.

Moving back home included a flood of emotions. Yes, I’m home with my family where my heart is and loving it, but it just feels different this time. Things won’t be as they always have, and cruising around town just has a different feeling. Maybe it’s because I’ve adopted my dad’s big bad Sequoia and have been driving in style. J I almost feel like an outsider because I don’t know how long I will be here and what life will present to me here. I feel like all my friends have got their lives in order with big kid jobs, and know exactly what is next. I think until I am settled into a career and way of life, I will feel unsettled and uncertain, but I also think this is completely natural. I’m pretty sure I feel this type of vulnerability every time I enter the unknown be it traveling somewhere or even going to a small function where I know no one. I think this is God’s way of telling me that I am not  in control. He is, and I just need to trust that he is leading me exactly where I need to be. He’s telling me to slow down and not be so impatient with life to get here. I need not worry about what others are doing and to stop searching for a comfort zone. Sometimes we have to be out there completely uncomfortable and naked in order to find that perfect fit.

That reminds me of some of the best advice I ever got:  old shoes are great, but new ones are even better and sometimes it’s even better to just be barefoot for a while and feel the sand between our toes. We can’t be complacent about life and stuck in our comfort zones! We have to try new things and welcome the unknown with an open heart. 

Caught Up!

I have failed as a blogger! I forced myself to refrain from blogging until I had written all my thank you notes from graduation. I feel so incredibly blessed! I really received some great letters from people wishing me well and congratulating me, and it has made me determined to approach the next step in my journey with vigor! 

The graduation party was an absolute success despite the 35 mph winds! I actually am secretly glad it was windy because it kept everyone inside and closer together, it kept 23 tables empty, and we got to return the tablecloths and get some money back! It’s a good thing I had decided not to do any center pieces! I was so excited to see everyone that came out…all 150 of them! It was so overwhelming, and I wish I had more time to chat with and catch up with everyone.

The food was fabulous. We served pollo asada (I’m the chicken queen), carne asada, salad, beans, corn, melon, and other goodies! And even though my dad said people wouldn’t drink my favorite cocktail, everyone raved about it! I also snuck in a batch of my favorite dip! I did a little bit of decorating, but as I had said, it was getting to be the size of a wedding without the budget of one! 

The best part of the party is that my family and a few other families stayed and danced until 2am! I couldn’t believe it, and since I was up at 5am that morning setting up, I could not move all day Sunday. It was so much fun and everyone keeps saying it was the best party we’ve ever thrown. That says a lot since we tend to throw them on a regular basis. I am one lucky girl and the last few weeks have been very nostalgic and jus… reminiscent. (That is not correct grammar but you get my drift!)

On another note, I have some really exciting news! My dad and I flew to Tgen today to check out an internship opportunity and a cool one at that! It is an innovative, nonprofit medical research facility and they invited me to work with their events team and learn the dynamics of throwing large-scale fundraising events. It is something I am really intrigued by because I want to learn more than just weddings so that I can be more valuable and have the skills to do anything. Their team is unbelievable and I know I can learn so much from them. I just have to figure out a way to live in Phoenix for a few months!  

Thanks for stopping by!