No Fear

So... it has been about three weeks since I decided to change my entire outlook on life, live by a new mentality, and just go with it all. Let me just say, these last three weeks have been quite possibly the best three weeks of my life. I feel like I somehow have erased this mountain of stress that was constantly looming above my head and that I am finally - for the first time in my life - free to do whatever the heck I want, without worrying about any of the trivial things that once consumed my life. Like an idiot, I used to unknowingly live by the "I can't do such&such because so&so will think ___." Seriously, how dumb is that? I was talking with a friend of mine about all of this and she reminded me of such a good quote that I think everyone should take into consideration: Why are you so worried about what others will think when all of them are worried about what YOU will think? Seriously, it doesn't matter. 

Something else I've noticed is that I have become a lot more witty in the last three weeks as well. Why? Because even if I had something funny to contribute before, I was always so *worried* that others wouldn't think it was funny and I would then feel like an idiot for saying it. But now? Well, now I don't care anymore. I guess you could say it's less thinking or filtering than before, because now if I have something to add, I say it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and when it doesn't, I just say to myself "well, better luck next time!" because honestly, 2 minutes from now, who is going to remember the not-so-funny joke you told at dinner? No one! 

The point here though is that you can't live your life in fear... fear of yourself, fear of others, and fear of how others perceive you. The number one thing I used to worry about was whether or not a guy liked me. If he was a guy friend - whether I was interested in him or not - I had to make sure he thought I wasn't interested. And let's be honest - how DUMB is that? Isn't that the whole point? If you like someone, you *want* said person to think you like them! No wonder I was so bad at that thing we call "flirting"! I let my fears control me and life was not nearly as fun!
I just have no fears and no qualms about anything anymore. If I find the stupid old mindset seeping through, I remind myself "it DOESN'T matter!" If I get a 60 on a test, I say "well, at least it's still passing!" because 10 years from now it's not going to matter if you aced History of Music Literature... as long as you got that degree! That's all that counts in the end. So sure, I still try to get good grades, but if I don't do so hot on a test, OH WELL. 

Gosh, life is so much more stress-free this way! I am ALWAYS in a good mood now and somehow find it a million times easier to see the positive in things now. Not that I wasn't an optimistic person already, but now I don't even have to *try* to see the good things that come from the bad - it's just obvious what good has come of it! Oh my gosh, I just can't believe it took me over 22 years to figure this out! But hey, better late than never!

"I Don't Care!" (The New Outlook)

Well, many people have been asking me what my new outlook on life is and how it has begun to work 'so quickly' ... so after quite a few requests, I have written a more detailed version of what exactly I meant by my 'new outlook.'  At the bottom, I've included a quote Karie showed me today that fits so perfectly with my new mentality.  Enjoy!

I don't care.  That's my new mentality!  And yes of course, this requires some explanation or else it might sound a little harsh.  Well for years, I have annoyingly cared FAR too much about what other people think.  "But if I do this, then people might think ___ about me!"  It's dumb, but it's something nearly everyone has to go through and figure out at some point or another.  For me, it took a while, and things just recently clicked in my head.  I unknowingly limited myself in the things I could do or say simply out of fear of how others would perceive me if I were to do a certain thing.  I have never been "quiet" but I most certainly have not be the "loud and out there" one either.  I am out there juuust enough to get noticed on occasion, but no where *near* enough to get heads to turn or anything like that.  I lived life and had 'fun', but lived it VERY cautiously... and doing that isn't fun.

I've always had friends, but they're usually people I've met in some friend-of-a-friend situation or they're just ones that I've known forever.  And while there's nothing wrong with that, it's a heck of a lot more fun to meet people in all sorts of different ways - and without the help of others.  I've usually kept to myself in classes with this skewed mindset that it's somehow easier that way, and so I hardly ever meet people through any class; but this semester I've met all sorts of people that way, and it's great!  I also decided to throw all those stupid 'cares' out the window and basically do what I want.  If I want to sit next to someone, I'm gonna do it.  If I want to meet someone, I'm going to go talk to said person.  Life is too short to live it out in worries and fears!  So... that is EXACTLY what I've started to do!  

Yes, for those of you curious about my facebook status this past week, this mentality is exactly what I'm referring to!  I am going to live life how *I* want to and I am throwing all my cares out the window... heck, if I want to do something, you better believe I will!  Even if it's something that might result in weird looks from passersby, I'm still gonna do it! 

And another thing... how others view you is entirely dependent upon YOU.  It's all in your head.  If you think you're something, then that is exactly what you are and how you appear to others.  So if you think you're fun and exciting and a blast to be around, that will transfer to others and they will believe exactly that.  But if you constantly tell yourself that you're boring and no fun to be around, I hate to break it to ya, but you've just doomed yourself to misery by your own mentality.  That was my other problem: self-confidence.  I definitely didn't have enough of it.  Sure, I have plenty when it comes to jobs and networking, but with regards to everyday social life?  Yeah it sucked.  So I decided that I was just going to TELL myself that I'm the "fun, exciting, blast to be around" person and just live by that and see where it takes me.  As it turns out, it is now more apparent than ever before that people will view you based on the way you view yourself.  I can't even remember the last time I had this much fun this often in the span of one week!  Everywhere I go - even in my classes - it's just a blast.  I'm always talking with lots of people, joking around, playing pranks, and loving life.  

If you have a poor view of yourself, I highly recommend you make a conscious effort to change that and see what happens if you really stick to living by your NEW view of yourself.  I promise you it works!  Believe that you are already how you want to be and stop worrying about how others might perceive you or the things you do, and just run with it.  And I mean run with it.  Don't start with a slow jog - take off with it at full speed and before you know it, you're suddenly living the way you've wanted to live for so long!  :D

And now, the amazing quote that I now love...

"Fearless is not the absence of fear. It's not being completely unafraid. To me, Fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, Fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death. Fearless is falling madly in love again, even though you have been hurt before.  Fearless is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again...even though every time you've tried before, you've lost. It's Fearless to have faith that someday things will change. Fearless is having the courage to say goodbye to someone who only hurts you, even if you can't breathe without them. I think it's Fearless to fall for your best friend, even though he's in love with someone else. And when someone apologizes to you enough times for things they'll never stop doing, I think it's Fearless to stop believing them. It's Fearless to say "You're NOT sorry," and walk away. I think loving someone despite what people think is Fearless. I think allowing yourself to cry on the bathroom floor is Fearless. Letting go is Fearless. Then, moving on and being alright...That's Fearless too. But no matter what love throws at you, you have to believe in it. You have to believe in love stories and prince charmings and happily ever after. Love is Fearless."     -Taylor Swift

Life Is Funny

It's funny how one day you want one thing, and another day you want something completely different.  And I literally mean the time span of just one day.  That instant where everything in your brain somehow rewires itself and suddenly your thoughts, views, or opinions on something are completely different than the day before.  And of course, I suppose it's a gradual process that eventually leads you to that "insta-switch" but it's still a switch that ultimately happens overnight or that you just suddenly realize one day.  Heh, this probably isn't even making sense to most people but oh well.  I'm pretty sure no one (except maybe you, Karie ;-) ) reads these anyway!  I've just noticed that in the last week and a half or so with my own life and it's been so weird.  I keep asking myself "when did that happen?" because until I was forced to re-evaluate everything, I didn't even realize that anything inside of me had changed!  But two choices were presented to me and the choice I thought for so long that I wanted was suddenly no longer the choice I desired!  I just think it's weird how quickly things can change from one thing to another.  

Everything Happens For A Reason

It's that age-old phrase "everything happens for a reason." And while that phrase is indelibly true, it is sometimes hard to find the reasons in things until after the fact. Without going into detail, that phrase has been proven true time and time again in my life, and I just have to be patient to figure out what the heck the reasons are for certain things happening. And, in time, I figure it out. But the most frustrating part is always the present - trying to figure out why certain things are happening to you NOW when you don't have that magic crystal ball to tell you what lies ahead in the future. I guess there wouldn't be much point in that, though, if you could always see 5 miles in front of you. So instead, I try to come up with all sorts of crazy stories and reasons for why current things are happening to me. "Maybe this happened because I needed to do this, and run into this person, to connect with these people, and get this job, to do this thing..." It has actually turned out to be a really good mindset to have, because that way I am constantly learning as I am going, instead of taking years to finally look back and understand how all the puzzle pieces did eventually fit together in time. I am currently putting together quite a few puzzle pieces from last year's events through the things I am going through right now. It really is crazy to see how everything is connected in some way or another, and how you can learn from any experience you have if you look hard enough. I think part of the reason it's so important to see how the past and present relate to one another is to ensure that you don't allow yourself to repeat history time and time again. I am just now realizing that I might have begun to repeat history within my own life and so now I'm trying to stop that from happening in the coming weeks or months. But without those past experiences - good or bad - I wouldn't be prepared for the present; so there's yet another truth to that phrase. Well, in short, everything really does happen for a reason. It's my life's philosophy and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Post-Graduation Plans

Okay so I'm still not used to this whole blog thing. Summer ended, and I therefore don't have any new and exciting gigs lined up because I have to decline due to stupid school. BUT, at least it's my last semester! I worked it all out and I finish officially in December! Oh gosh I can't wait. I know my whole life has been about getting the best possible grades, but this semester it is seriously good enough for me just to pass the class. So, needless to say, this will not exactly be my best semester!! But as long as I finish, I'm good. The big question everyone has been asking is "what are you going to do afterwards?" Well... the answer I've grown accustomed to saying is simply "eventually, LA" or "I'm moving to LA next year" because it takes too much time to explain the whole thing. Well, in case any of you want to know the full answer, here it is. Yes, I *am* moving to L.A. next year - May to be precise. And yes, I am graduating in December. So the question of the year is "what about January-April?" Well... that was the question *I* was struggling with all summer. I eventually came to a point where I realized that I for whatever reason was not supposed to go to L.A. until May at the *earliest*. So, if that's the case... what do I do from Jan-April? I thought "well, I could go home... save up some money, and be more ready to move out to LA..." But that never felt quite right either, so I remained in a period of limbo for quite a few months. Then one day suddenly the idea of staying in *Utah* popped into my head. I was SO set on getting OUT of Utah asap that I didn't want to even allow that to become a possibility. But... it was made overwhelmingly clear to me that I wasn't allowed to leave Utah just yet. Dangit. So I still don't know what the heck I'm going to be doing in *Utah* for 4 months, but... I know it's where I'm supposed to be! So who knows, maybe I'll end up working on some film that's being shot in Utah or something. I have no idea, but all I know for now is that I am sadly stuck in Utah until further notice...

American Idol and Other Stuff...

Well, in case any of you wanted to know the 411 on how American Idol works, I now know. :P I'm not so sure they try to keep it so dang "hush hush" but it's not like it's a national secret or anything. I ended up working in the "Winner's Room" and it was actually pretty cool. The weird thing though was that we weren't allowed to say how many more rounds there were after today, though plenty of people already know. Just in case anyone's wondering, there are three rounds before Randy, Paula, and Simon...I think. haha. The initial audition is one month, and the second and third rounds are another month later on down the road (example: the SLC auditions were the 29th of July, and the 2nd round is in September). I actually still don't know if the next two rounds are at the same time, and whether or not the three main judges are there then, or not until a third visit to the city. BUT, it makes sense now, how they have all that time to get their cover stories on certain people auditioning.
So, the break down of it. I woke up at a sleepy 3am on Sunday morning in order to get to Salt Lake by 4:30am. We were there until 6:30pm the first day. Long story, but we didn't work on Monday, and on Tuesday we had to be back at 4am, and we finished around 7:30 or 8pm. The wonderful part of it though was that I got to stay at Roger and Teresa's (my great uncle and aunt), so I at least didn't have to drive the 45 minutes there and back every day... it saved a ton on gas too. It was really fun to catch up with them too.
So... there were about 12,000 people there Tuesday morning (you actually go 1-2 days prior in order to register, and then everyone comes on the third day), but only 6 or 7,000 people actually auditioned (each person auditioning is allowed ONE guest). And one of my favorite comments of one of the producer's was "I don't know what it is about Utah and PREGNANT women..." haha it was hilarious - and he only said that because probably 50+ of the people auditioning were pregnant. I'm guessing they don't usually see that very often. Another thing I think is dumb that I'm not allowed to say is how many people made it through to the next round. I'll just say this - it's not a whole lot. Out of the thousands that audition, only a few hundred continue. As for the audition process... they have 10-12 "booths" set up, one next to another - with only a black curtain separating each of them. They line everyone up in sets of four, and each of them steps forward and sings 15-30 seconds, and steps back in their place. After all four have done that, they have all four come up to the judges' table. Aaand... they usually send all four home. Every now and then there would be one they would want to hear once more, so they'd send the other three away, and have the fourth one sing again. Those ones usually ended up with their first "golden ticket." They were all quite upset though when they get to the Winner's Room and find out that not only can they not keep their wristband, they can't even keep their golden ticket. Many people were quite distraught about that.
I had to miss two days of school for it, but it was so worth it. The only problem though: it just gave me senioritis all the more. I had THE hardest time getting up and going to classes afterwards. All I'm focused on right now is passing and getting out. Oh, and I think my sister Rachel might explode in the next year if I keep working with all these sorts of people (SW2, HSM3, AI). haha. Ryan Seacrest was there too. I forgot to mention that. Oh, and they were really impressed with my 'work' for the three days, and asked if I would work again when they came back in September. So that's a good sign! Although, I don't think I'd want to work on it for a full season. --ESPECIALLY if I'd have to be a PA. PAs are at the very bottom of the food chain with the worst pay... I passed that phase a while back, and I'd like to keep it that way. haha. (By the way, I find it weird that the only 'big' stuff I've ever worked on has not been an original. Singles Ward TWO, High School Musical THREE, and American Idol EIGHT...)
OH, and one thing that has nothing to do with American Idol but is just a promising thing that happened... a few weeks ago I got this random call from some guy in Oregon who got my name from someone in Utah who got my name from someone else who said I would be interested in working in this film. The rate was $250 a day and was going to be filmed somewhere in Price. The only problem was that he was trying to fill an AC position (AC=Assistant to the Camera)... a position I've never had or done before. So they ended up going with someone else (which ended up to be a good thing, because I would have missed a full week of summer classes... after missing almost that much for HSM3 and AI), but he asked if he could call me the next time they needed someone. So hey! My name is getting all the way out to Oregon already!! I must be doing something right! Okay this thing is long enough...

Doppelgangers

Have you ever met someone who looks exactly like someone you already know? And it weirds you out because they look so much like said person that you have a hard time calling them by his/her real name? That happened to me the other day. I've met people before that I thought reminded me of someone I was already friends with, and while some of those similarities between the two different friends remain, the big resemblances eventually fade. I'm hoping that this trend remains the same for the newest doppelganger I have met. I have never met someone who reminds me THAT much of another friend of mine. Usually it's just a few different aspects... the facial features, personality, or sometimes mannerisms. But when you meet someone who looks, acts, talks, *and* sounds like an already existent friend, it starts to get weird. You know how in the movies when they show it from the main character's point of view, and s/he sees someone and all of a sudden it does the weird flash thing and it's suddenly a different person s/he sees? And then s/he has to rub his/her eyes and make sure s/he's not seeing things? That seriously happened to me. It was the weirdest thing ever, because *that* had never happened to me before.
It's just a weird thing to think about though. I mean, how many of you have had someone tell you that you look exactly like a friend of theirs? Or that you act like some former friend, or have the same personality, or remind them of whoever their old friend is? I've had that happen to me at least twice. So that means that I have at least two doppelgangers... according to my friends. But if I met these girls in person, would they really look just like me? Or would it have been more just the personality or mannerisms that made my friend think I looked like their friend? Why do we end up meeting people who remind us of old friends of ours? Is it to make sure we become friends with them, and if they didn't remind us of an old friend, we never would have made the effort to become friends with them?? Or is it just some random thing that has absolutely no correlation whatsoever... Anyway, just my weird thought for the day...

Things To Do Before I Die

Alright, so I said I was going to post my new list of things to do before I die. Here's part of it!

*Work on (and/or be in) films with A-list actors and directors

*Compose at least one film score

-Conduct it myself

*Write a book

*Be a music talent scout

*Swim with dolphins

*Learn to dance

*Build a house

*Go to Hawaii

*Visit all 50 states

*Learn how to play guitar, clarinet, and saxophone

*Work with Habitat for Humanity

*Watch a sunrise and a sunset overlooking everything

*Be kissed in the rain

*Go scuba-diving

*Be in a food fight

*Ride in a hot-air balloon

*Learn how to ride a horse

*Sleep outside under the stars

*Go to Egypt and Jerusalem

*Visit Machu Picchu

*Go on a safari

*See the Northern Lights

*Stand on the equator

*Basically, travel the world!

*Build a tree house

*Bury a time capsule

*Go to and/or work the Olympics

*Be a motivational speaker at least once

*Learn how to pick a lock

*Learn how to throw knives

*Become a black belt

*Drive a stunt car

*Become fluent in at least 5 languages, possibly more.

And I'm sure there will be more to come!

Unknown Artists and Life's Lists

So I am having an absolute blast searching for the obscure artists that no one knows of yet.  I did it last summer too, but didn't put too much thought into it.  Had I paid more attention to it, I would have realized how many of those 'lesser knowns' have actually climbed a little bit up the ladder.  I don't know how I even found her before American Idol, but my friend was looking through the list I made last year and said "Brooke White?  As in the one that was on American Idol this year?"  Haha, she was probably connected to some local Utah artist (the whole 6 Degrees of Separation thing) and I'd found her stuff and thought it was good.  She was on my list of "Artists to Keep My Eye On."  Too bad I didn't!  I had another couple like that on last year's list, but I hadn't kept up with everyone I found from last summer, so it wasn't very meaningful when I "re-looked" them up and found that they'd become popular.  Sooo, this year I'm going to keep up with the ones I've found so far.  I have really high hopes for a lot of them.  It's all I listen to these days...except for when I'm on campus and myspace is blocked by BYU... boo.  So far, two of my biggest favorites are Jonathan Clay and Todd Carey.  Oh and Eric Hutchinson.  I saw him in a small concert last week and ended up buying his CD because his songs were so catchy.  That's another thing I would love to do part-time: be a talent scout.  That would be such a fun job!  Who knows, maybe I'll do that as well as everything else on my list.  

Speaking of lists, I updated my "list of things to do in my life."  I think I'll post that on here soon.  I highly recommend it to anyone - it's amazing how much of my list I made in high school has already come true... and BIG things like "go to Australia" and "be in/work on a movie."  I didn't think at a ripe old age of 22 I'd have already completed those!  We'll see how much more of my list I'll accomplish in the next 5 years, before I revamp it again (I think a revamping is due about every 5 years).  Okay, I'm still getting used to this blog thing, so that's all I'm going to put for now!  

Oh, and go check out some of the artists on my page... seriously! (plus, I want to know what other people think!)

High School Musical 3!

Well, I had a crazy awesome weekend! I wish I had pictures to show ya, but they were SUPER strict about picture-taking until about the last day, so I only have a couple and it's on someone else's camera, so I'll post the link for the pictures as soon as I get them.
So if you couldn't tell by the title, I was indeed on the High School Musical 3 crew! Only for the last four days, but still... it was AWESOME! I went on Thursday as an extra (so yes, I'm technically in the movie as well. haha) and just hung around the sound cart all day and apparently 'proved myself' enough that by the end of the day, the boom op Joe started taking me seriously and gave me a comtek and headset! (a pack to listen to the dialogue they were recording). He was asking who all in the area that I had worked with and I would tell him and he knew all of them. Then he asked if this guy Travis taught any of my classes. I told him yes, and he said "Travis is the one to make friends with. You should start hanging around MPS and talking more with him." He was surprised at my response: "Actually, I worked at MPS last summer, and the infomercial that I boomed for last summer was through Travis. He was the mixer." That really surprised Joe, and I think after that he realized that I wasn't messing around - I really wanted to do this, and was well on my way.
When we broke for 'lunch' (FYI no matter what time of day it is, it is always called lunch. So 'lunch' that day was actually around 9pm) the extras were done, and Joe invited me to come back for the rest of the show! It was awesome to see how the sound mixer (Doug) warmed up to me as time went by. When I first got there on Friday, he seemed to think "what is this girl doing here?" but after I had talked with both him quite a bit, he realized that I knew my stuff and was quite serious about getting into the business. After that, he started talking to me more and more about different things, gave me tons of tips and pointers, and by the end both he and Joe asked for my contact info for future projects! I didn't even have to ask for their information! They were so impressed that I was in it for the long haul, they knew I would do a good job if they ever needed anyone in the future. Doug said that after this show everyone would be so drained that there probably wouldn't be anything for a good two months, but come September/October, they'd probably do another one and he said he'd give me a call when he finds out the details on that one.
By the way, the reason they were so impressed that I stayed for the entire duration of the shoot each day was because Friday's call was at 4pm and we didn't get done until 7am. Saturday's was 6pm-6am, and Sunday's was 6pm-7am. So, as you can see... not exactly an ideal schedule for most people. haha.
The pictures are of me with Corbin, Zac, and Vanessa. My 15-year-old sister Rachel told me "if looks could kill, you'd be dead 10 times by now." haha. She was quite fried that I got a hug and picture from Corbin (he's her favorite). After meeting them, I'd have to say that Corbin is my favorite too. He is SO cool with the fans. He actually goes out of his way to talk to ones he knows he hasn't seen or talked to yet. One of the sound guys told me how the day his niece and nephew came to the set, they were sort of off in the distance, and really wanted to talk to Corbin but were too scared to go up to him. Corbin somehow managed to pick them out of the crowd and walked right up to them, talked to them, signed autographs, and took pictures with them. And he had no idea the kids were related to anyone on crew. He just saw two kids that he knew he hadn't seen before and went up to them. That really impressed me. Oh and Zac and Vanessa were real cool about making sure any of the crew who wanted a signed poster got one. So they signed tons and were handing them out on the last day. Kenny Ortega (the director) gave each of the crew a wristband as well, that says "HSM 3" on it. Oh and I got a sweatshirt and hat as well. AND... the second night they even put me up in a hotel in Salt Lake! It was called Little America. The cast and director stayed in Grand America next door. I can't even imagine what Grand America must look like, because Little America was probably the nicest hotel I've ever been in. haha I even took pictures of the room.
So all in all, I had quite the weekend! I made two awesome connections and they are going to let me know next time something becomes available! AND... the boom op is also a personal trainer during his spare time, and he charges $50 a session but you can have up to 5 people in the group, and it will still cost only $50. So basically, $10 a session! And he specializes in at-home training for women. So all you need is five weights, an exercise ball, and two months! He's a nutritionist as well, so he gives you proper eating habits to stick by as well. My friends and I can't wait, because one of our goals this summer was to get in shape, and now we can!
Oh yeah, and last night they had this end-of-shoot dinner at the nicest restaurant I've ever been to, and the sound mixer paid for everyone. I'm not sure I've ever been to a restaurant that had two forks, two knives, and two glasses! It was called Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in SLC. Afterwards, Karie and I went to a concert in SLC and got to talk to the artists afterwards (Eric Hutchinson and Marie Digby) and get pictures and stuff. I'm not sure I've ever met/gotten pictures with so many 'famous' people in one weekend before! haha. Eric and Marie may not be super famous yet, but I have high hopes for them! Only time will tell!
Anyway, that was the short version of my crazy long weekend! If you want to know specifics about what went on, let me know and I'd love to talk about it some more! haha.

Summer 2008 - The Beginning

Well, these thing seem to be popular these days, and I think posting on this will be easier to do more frequently than my family's one... so here it goes. The first couple though are from my family's blog, but they're sort of "big news" things, so I'm going to use them anyway!

Australia and Graduation:

On April 26th, I left for Australia with the 44 other Young Ambassadors, plus about 6 faculty members and their spouses. After an incredibly long flight (a stop in L.A. and New Zealand as well), we finally arrived – the morning of April 28th. Yes, Sunday did not exist for us. It was kind of cool, actually…to have a day entirely disappear like that. Anyway, throughout the trip we went to the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Albury, Hobart (Tasmania), Lanceston (Tasmania), and Melbourne. It was a busy 3 weeks! We had the same bus driver for the entire trip minus the few days we were in Tassie (as it is called by locals). He wasn’t a member, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes one eventually. The last night of our trip we had two firesides and dedicated the last one to him and presented to him a Book of Mormon signed by all of us, and he was so choked up he couldn’t even talk. The 4 days we were in Tassie he said he was going crazy because he didn’t have us to wake up to every day. In Brisbane I randomly ran into a from the Prince William ward (Kyle Curd) who is currently serving his mission there. Small world! I was in Hobart on my birthday and the YAs got me this little cake and almost everyone in the group wrote a little note to me too. It was pretty cool. We got to go to a wildlife sanctuary and feed and pet kangaroos! They ate right out of our hands! We saw koalas and Tasmanian devils too. We walked past an emu as well – it was in the same area as the kangaroos. You could walk right up to them if you wanted. By the way, kangaroos are really soft. They are also the Australian deer and are a common hunted animal because they are overcrowding the land. In Tasmania we went to this place called Cataract Gorge that was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my entire life. I took plenty of pictures, and don’t worry – I’ll include the link. If there’s anything specific any of you would like to know, let me know! There’s too much to include in this one little thing.

One more quick update. As many of you know, I’ve gone back and forth quite a few times on what exactly I plan on doing once I graduate. Well, I finally figured it out, and it is definitely sticking this time. I discovered that if I take classes this summer, I can graduate in December. So I’m going to walk in August and be officially done mid-December! Then it’s off to L.A. I have high hopes for it. I’ve already been connected with one sound mixer out in L.A. thanks to a guy I met on the Singles Second Ward set; and through my job I got to sit in on my boss and this other audio guy named Mike (for anyone who may know audio stuff, Mike has mixed tons of stuff at Skywalker Ranch in CA. That’s pretty much the best studio in the country. He also mixed movies like Star Trek – don’t know the actual titles, but two different ones) and watch them mix this movie called “The Jerk Theory.” It’s kind of like…I don’t know, 10 Things I Hate About You or something. Anyway, throughout the 2 days I got to go (it only took 3 days for them to mix), I met the producer, director, writer, and film score composer. The producer told us to keep in touch and let him know when we graduate because they always need more audio people. The composer gave me and this other audio guy I work with free reign to drop in any time we want and watch him work and watch how he composes stuff and even mentioned that he sometimes gets bogged down with projects, so hinted that we might actually even be able to help him out too. Anyway, those are just a few new developments. I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted! Below are the links to some of my Australia pictures. If you want to see any of the videos, you’ll have to get facebook. ;-) Hope everyone is doing well!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2187112&l=09111&id=17800076

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2187118&l=e9326&id=17800076

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2187225&l=bc283&id=17800076

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2187231&l=19993&id=17800076

-Marisa