Studio Hell

This week at work has seriously been the week from hell! Sorry for the language, but no other word fits what I have been through this week! My manager announced that she was quitting, without even a week's notice. I am pretty sad about this because this is the first manager that I have had that has not totally driven me to insanity. She is respectful of us, knows how to do her job, and keep the studio running efficiently. She also cares about us, which is a definite first! And then I find out that every other employee is quitting too! Every singe one! .... Everyone that is, except me. I am so sad because my co-workers is the only reason I even like my job at all! I feel like I am losing a ton of friends! Its also going to be very stressful to be the only one there who knows what they are doing. Getting so many new people, with a new manager, is going to be a very hard change indeed! So I know that all of this stress is coming as I start the week off. I try to gear up for it, get myself ready, but there was no way I could have ever been prepared for what was about to happen!
First off, let me explain how scheduling at the studio goes. For every appointment we have in an hour, that's how many employees have to be there. We have a lot of on call shifts when our schedules are written, because we don't know how many appointments we will have that day. A lot of times only one person is needed, so the rest get called off. This schedule can sometimes be inconvenient, because you never know when you are actually going to work. Well, my manager was scheduled every single day last week, but every day she would come to the studio, look at our appointments, see that someone would need to be called off, and then call herself off since it was her last week anyway. That was fine and all, except I was picking up most of her slack. I opened and closed for her. I covered her shifts. I handled the call off schedules. Basically, I was playing manager. It was super stressful... until Thursday.
Thursday was supposed to be my one and only day off. However, one of my co-workers wanted to go snowboarding so I told her I would cover her shift for her, wanting the extra hours. Thursday was also supposed to be my managers last day, but once again, she called herself off and asked me to open instead. When I got there I saw that we had two appointments an hour and that the night shift had already done the call offs for that day. I was glad to see that I would be working with Haley. She is one of our top photographers and one of my favorite people to work with. I was also kind of relieved because I knew that with her there I would most likely not be in the camera room, but be on enhancing and sales. I like being the photographer, don't get me wrong, but day after day with no day off, it can get pretty tiring. So I was pretty excited to get a break. Well Haley calls me and tells me that she is way sick and is not able to come in that day. I tell her that I can't handle it by myself so she needs to get her shift covered. She ends up coming in anyway. She works for a little while, but is just too sick. She is fortunate enough to find someone to come in right away so that she can leave. I thought that would be fine because we had enough people to handle the appointments. However, Haley was supposed to work the entire day, and she only got her morning shift covered. The morning shift is there from 10 to 2 and then we close the studio down for an hour, and the next shift comes in at three. Well, I realized that Haley had not gotten her whole shift covered, so call her and leave a message that she needs to come back in at three. We have three appointments in that hour, but Jessica won't be here until 3:30 because she has class. Wayne will be there at three, but he is not trained in photography, so it is pretty vital that Haley be there.
So anyway, I go home at two when my shift is over and just hope that Haley got the message. I figure that if she hasn't Wayne will just give me a call and I will run back down there and cover for Haley until Jessica can come in at 3:30 and handle things from there. Well, I didn't get a call so I figure everything went alright. That night Heidi called me and told me that she had to run to Salt Lake City the next day or else she was going to fail her class. I tell her that we have about five appointments the next day, and without her help only four people to do them. I tell her to try to find someone to cover her shift, but if she can't then we will just have to make it work. The next morning I wake up to a text from Haley saying she is too sick again to work and asked if I would go open for her. I tell her about how Heidi is not coming in, so that leaves us two short, but apparently she was throwing up all night so there was nothing she could do about it. I am sorry she is sick, but was seriously getting worried about how we would survive that day being so shorthanded. I get to the studio earlier than usual, just to try to make a game plan for how to handle things. As soon as I walk through the doors I am instantly bombarded by a J C Penney's manager. She informs me that NO ONE showed up for the Thursday night shift. Not Haley. Not Wayne. Not even Jessica. The studio was never re-opened after lunch, and we had six appointments show up to a dark and deserted studio. The J C Penney's managers got all of our complaints, and none of them are happy with us. This particular manager starts yelling at me.... as if it were my fault?!... but I just listen and take it and apologize that she was inconvenienced. I then make my way to the studio and look up our appointments for that day.... and literally start to freak out. There are SEVEN appointments in the first hour, not five like I thought. And without Haley and Heidi, there are only two of us working, not three like I thought. I seriously start panicking! We have two appointments at 10:00. One at 10:10. One at 10:20. Two at 10:30. And one at 10:40. I started a calling frenzy. First I called a manager and asked her what to do. All she said was that Haley would be written up and to just do the best I can. It didn't really help. I start calling every single employee, trying to find someone to come in and help us out. Three people are out of town. Two people are sick. I finally get a hold of Ashley P. and Megan and they are willing to rush down and help us out, even though neither of them were even scheduled that day. They literally saved our butts, I don't know how we would have done it. Ashley M. and I are the photographers that day, so we take turns in the camera room, we were a little behind schedule, but all things considered I think we were surviving fairly well. However, that day I had three J C Penney's managers come and yell at me for Thursday night and Angela the district leader call and yell at me too. I don't really understand why everyone thinks this was my fault or responsibility, but I was pretty close to breaking point with everyone talking to me like that.
So anyway, we get our early morning shift appointments taken care of and send Ashley P. and Megan home, thanking them profusely as they leave. We think we have everything under control, and are starting to breath easy again. Little did we know.....
One of our appointments shows up 15 minutes late.... that is a HUGE problem at the studio because it really, really puts us behind. I rush her into the camera room, but am kind of worried because we are starting to get backed up and Devil Woman (that's what I call her) has six kids under the age of twelve. She wants individuals of all of her kids. Then she wants to change everyone's outfits and do the girls together, and then the boys together. I already know it was going to take forever even before we started, and Devil Woman is so agitated and ornery that I know I am in for a real treat. So I start taking the boys individual pictures, everything is going pretty smoothly. We then start taking the one year old's pictures. Devil Woman brought in some flowers to be in the pictures for the babies, but one of the flowers had popped off its stem and she started looking for it frantically. We can't find it anywhere, after searching FOREVER, so I say we just need to move it along because we are getting really behind now and it was cute with the flowers she did have. That really set Devil Woman off. She gets mad at her oldest son because she thinks it's his fault that the flower is missing. She grabs him by the shoulders and starts shaking him and calls him a stupid idiot. She then tells her four year old to stop being such a dumb ass. I was shocked at how she was talking to her kids. It was so uncalled for. Tensions are running pretty high, and I am doing the best I can to move things along because we have two appointments already out waiting for their turn. Devil Woman changes everyone's clothes and we start on the group shots. We get the boys done and start on the girls. Then the oldest boy finds the missing flower, and Devil Woman says she wants to change the babies clothes back so we can re-do the pictures we have already taken. I nicely, put my foot down and tell her that we just don't have time to do what we have already done again. She then throws, and I mean literally throws her baby to the ground, a drop of about five feet. The babies teeth jam up into her upper lip and she starts spurting blood everywhere and is screaming her head off. Devil Woman yells at the baby to "shut the hell up", then yells at her other kids for being no help, and by then I had had it with her! I tell her that she does not need to take her frustrations out on her kids, it made me so angry that she just abused her kids, and felt no remorse for it. She then runs to me, puts her face an inch from mine, and says as loudly as she can "Don't tell me how to raise my kids, you bitch!" I was appalled! She had NO right to talk to me like that or to abuse her kids! I was furious. I started enhancing her pictures, and Ashley came in to set up for the next sitting, when she saw my face she asked if I was ok. I started bawling. I couldn't take it anymore. I had had enough. That was the final straw to the worst day at work I have ever had. I spent the next twenty minutes going in and out of the bathroom, trying to gain some control, but I was literally having an emotional breakdown. I was hyper ventilating and crying and shaking so bad I couldn't even hold a pen. Ashley finally just told me to go home and she would handle things. I had no choice. I had no control, and had to leave. I don't know what came over me or why I couldn't handle that. I seriously lost it. I made the biggest fool of myself that day, I am so embarassed. But enough was enough, and I had enough!
I am going to re-pay Ashley for being so sweet to me that day. I don't know what I would have done if I was forced to stay. I am still pretty upset with all of my other co-workers for being so irresponsible about their shifts because the people who actually show up to work are the one's who suffer. What makes me even angrier is that there won't be any consequences to deal with for them. They are all quitting their jobs anyways, so pretty much couldn't care less. My job just keeps getting more and more stressful every single day. I am at the point where I dread going to work. I dread the customers, the appointments, working with people I am so angry with. I am stressed. I am tired. I wish I was done too, but I unfortunately need the money. I have been frantically looking for another job, but so far nothing has come from anything. I wish with all of my heart that I could quit. I have never wanted anything more. Life at the studio is hell.... always!

General Conference=Happiness!

I don't know about you, but I personally thought General Conference was AMAZING this time! Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk was by far my favorite! I seriously did not want him to stop talking. He left me wanting more and more and more! I probably could have listened to him all day long. And not gonna lie, I was pretty much crying through the entire thing. I just can't wait until the Ensign comes out and I can read it again and again and again! So that talk was my favorite, and here are all of my favorite quotes . . . . .

-- “You cannot do a Google search to gain a testimony.”
M. Russell Ballard

-- “Our obligation is to love and to teach and to never give up.”
Quentin L. Cook

-- “There is no tragedy in death, only in sin.”
Rafael E. Pino

--”Don’t complain. Be thankful the Lord puts trust in you to overcome.”
Richard G. Scott

--”We have to stay with it. Its not a sprint to eternal happiness. It’s a race of endurance.”
-- “ Heavenly Father loves us even with our flaws. We may give up on ourselves, but He never will.”
Dieter F. Uchtdorf

--“Our knowledge should not make us feel superior, but bring us to our knees in humility.”
-- He does not ask us to keep our distance, but asks us to come unto Him.”
Neil L. Andersen

--”When you feel like grunting, laugh instead.”
Steven E. Snow

-- “There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us.”
-- “Your future is as bright as your faith.”
President Thomas S. Monson

--“You can’t be a lifesaver if you look like all the other swimmers on the beach.”
Dallin H. Oaks

-- “You are never lost when you can see the temple”
-- “You might need some home improvement, hopefully not an extreme home makeover.”
Gary E. Stevenson

The Curse of Public Laundry!

I have needed to do laundry for . . . um . . . ages now! I have seriously avoided this for as long as possible. It was getting to the point where I was either wearing really old clothes, like clothes I had in high school, or just semi-stinky clothes. It was disgusting.... and sad. So I had to work today and decided that last night I had better get my act together and do some laundry so I would not stink at work ha ha. You just don't know how painful it is to watch so much of your money go to a machine that you can use for free at home. So anway, I load up my basket, get the soap, and a gazillion quarters of course, and head over to the laundry room. When I walked in there was a boy and girl sitting on the counters pretty deep in conversation, and you can tell its a serious conversation too cause the girls eyes are all red and puffy like she had been crying. So basically awkwardness hung in the air when I walked in and interrupted this deep conversation, but what's a girl to do? I needed cleanliness to come back into my life! And it would have been even worse if I walked in, saw them, and then walked out again. I just decided to be as quick as I can. Well, between putting my laundry in. Leaving. Coming back to put my loads in the dryer. Leaving. And coming back to pick up my clothes, they did not leave the entire time. I really was not trying to eaves drop, but come on, it echoes in there! So between all that, this was the gist of their relationship... oh yes, I got the dirt. And it was uncomfortable!

So basically the guy is LDS and the girl is not. They are boyfriend/girlfriend and of course, having problems. From what I could tell, the girl swears a lot and the guy is uncomfortable with her language and has asked her not to swear around him anymore. She said that she has respect for his language and so he should have respect for hers. She has grown up with that all of her life, and should not be expected to change just because she is dating him. This was all in the first time I was there.

The second time I was there the boy was talking more deeply of what we beleive. He said that when you know the truth, your desire to do good is a pretty much constant thing. He sounded like he was trying to convert her. She looked exasperated. She told him that he treats her like she is unworthy of him and that he is somehow abover her and better than she is. Ouch.

The third time I was there they were trying to decide what to do now. Do they break up? Do they work things out? Well, whatever they decide, I wish them the best. But seriously, one of the most awkward moments of my life. This is the curse of laundry!

Cali Baby!

This year Disneyland is letting you get in for free on your birthday. What a wonderful idea! My older sister Cassie and I were talking about how we should take an opportunity like that and go. And well, her birthday was coming up next, so we did! By the time we really decided to go we had about a month or so to start saving every single cent that came our way. I literally survived off of No Breakfast, Top Ramen for lunch, and 99 cent Tostina frozen pizzas for dinner for about a month or longer. And even though I will never be able to eat those food items again for as long as I live, it was worth it!!!

It was a pretty short trip but oh so much fun! We left on a Wednesday at about 6:00 am. We drove all day, me and Cassie switching off and Jessie sleeping in the back seat. We got to Cali at about four and checked into our hotel. After getting checked in and unpacked we decided to find a beach. We came across Seal Beach not to far away from the hotel. We walked down the pier, played in the sand, and took lots of pictures

The next day we went to two more beaches. First was Venice Beach, which was my favorite by far. We walked along the boardwalk shops, met some VERY interesting people, ate lunch in the sand, played in the water, took even more pictures, and even had a little spat with some seagulls. Then it was off to Lahoya (I don't know if I spelled that right). This beach is the beach where all the seals come. There were probably about 60 or so seals lying on the beach, and they were a ton of fun to watch. There were even some really cute babies that totally cracked me up. After watching the seals we went to the other side of the pier and watched the sunset. It was so beautiful!

On Friday we went to Disneyland and I don't think I have ever felt like such a little kid in a really long time. It was amazing! My favorite rides were: Splash Mountain, Submarine Nemo, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Its A Small World, Teacups, and Buzz Light Year.... Wow, I have lots of favorites, but they were just SO MUCH FUN!

On Saturday we went to California Adventures. None of us had been there before, and it was definitely different than what I expected, but very fun! My favorite rides there would have to be Soaring over California, Toy Story Ride, The Roller Coaster, The water ride similar to Lagoon but like ten times better, and of course, The Tower of Terror!

On Sunday we drove home. Not gonna lie, by the end of the trip I was exhausted! I seriously don't think we sat down for two seconds the entire time! I had so much fun! I am so grateful I got to share this time with my sisters! We got along great and I am so happy we decided to do this. Except next time I think we need to bring along Brother. I think he was a little disapointed that we left him home. Whats worse is while we were gone he broke his wrist.... poor baby brother!

Bye Bye Charlie

Charlie died. He is gone forever and will be sorely missed. Charlie may not have always been reliable, but he always got me from point A to point B. He may have been loud, shaky, and at times smelled like a dead cat, but he was mine. He may not have been beautiful on the inside, but on the outside he was.... alright. We sure did have some good times! Road trips to SLC, Bear Lake, Park City, Provo, and once even to Rexburg. And you can't forget those thousands of trips between Fruit Heights and Logan, Logan and Preston. Yes, he was a good first. I will forever miss my Charlie, even if he was just a hunk of junk. Goodbye Charlie. Goodbye.

Some Fond Memories:
-- Scraping Both Sides of My Windshield in the Winter
--My First Flat Tire
-- Pulled Over by the Cops..... Four Times
--My First Speeding Ticket
--Door Leaking While in the Car Wash
--Using a Spatula to Stop the Rattling Noises
--Getting Booted Twice, and Towed Once
-- Those Many DHS and USU Parking Tickets
-- My First Car Accident
--Running Over a Dead Deer, and Having It's Eyeball Hang On My Bumper
--Getting Chased by Two Crazy Mexican Ladies
-- Running Over a Boat Anchor on the Freeway
--Stalling in the Middle of an Intersection
--Being Unable to Turn Off My Emergency Lights For 15 Minutes While Driving in the Canyon
--Doing Donuts in Church Parking Lots
--Paying Thousands of Dollars to the Mechanic. Over and Over and Over Again.

A lot of updating to do...

I haven't been good at keeping this thing up to date, so I will try to catch up a little now. I last left off at Thanksgiving, so will start in December. The month of December I worked like a crazy man! The portrait studio was pure insanity the whole month. I don't understand why people seem to think that December is the perfect month for a family photo. Sure you need Christmas cards, but why wait to the last minute people? There are twelve months in the year, why not go when its less busy?? Just a thought. Anyway, the Christmas rush sure kept everyone on their toes. My manager was stressed that whole entire month, and it definitely carried over to the rest of us, and probably to the customers as well. But somehow we got through it alright. While I am talking about work, I will take this moment to say that I had the most uncomfortable sitting in my history of working as a photographer. I had to take pictures of a gay couple.... gross. I had to sit there and take pictures of them kissing and holding hands and hugging each other. I was pretty much throwing up in my mouth the whole time. I may sound closed minded.... and you would probably be right for thinking that. But this blog is not about gay rights, so I am moving on now.

My manager was considerate enough to group our days off together in the week, so when I had a break I went home to Fruit Heights to spend some time with the fam. I don't know what it is about the month of December, but it sure makes me homesick. I went home a lot! Having some of the highest seniority at my job I was one of the lucky ones when it came to working the holidays. I worked the morning shift of Christmas eve and was done by three, and the day after Christmas off (we were closed Christmas day). It was an amazing Christmas! We had the Paulsen party at my house this year. My tiny house was practically bursting at the seems, but it was good to see all the cousins, especially the ones that I haven't seen for a real long time! Christmas morning was pure insanity as well. My parents said they were definitely cutting back this year.... those liars! I was so spoiled! My favorite gifts this year were the wii, guitar hero, tickets to Brian Reagan, my ipod speaker, and my vacuum. And yes, I did in fact ask for a vacuum. If you saw my apartment, then you know why... sick. Speaking of the wii and guitar hero, come over and play with me! Seriously!!!

Jess and I in our matchy matchy pj's

After the opening present extravaganza we went back to bed of course. Brother insisted that Christmas starts at 5 am. We woke up a few hours later, ate breakfast, and drove to my grandparents house in Preston, Idaho. That day we opened even more presents, ate grandma's good cookin' until we were sick, played in the snow, and had a wicked awesome Disney Scene It game with the cousins. That game is so insanely intense! My throat hurt from yelling for like three days after that! ha ha so much fun!!! We got to spend the night there and that is always a riot. I love my Butt cousins!! {Butt is there last name just so ya'll know =D}

Let's see.... other December adventures include Gardener Village with the whole fam, having a brutal snow fight with my brother where we nearly killed one another, going to Preston with my sisters to help Pa and Grandma with their tree and Christmas decorations, making toffee and sugar cookies with my mom, and lots and lots of shopping! December was a GOOD month!!!

Zach and I playing in the snow


Cass and I at Gardener Village

New Years Eve.... ah.... that was....awful. Not gonna lie, one of the worst I have ever had. I had to close at work so didn't get off until about seven. I went home to a completely empty apartment, which I cleaned from top to bottom getting ready for a new roommate to move in. Using the new vacuum was fun though. I think I might have been doing dishes at midnight. I looked up and it was 12:15 so I kind of missed the whole midnight thing. I then thought about how utterly alone I was and cried for the next 15 or 20 minutes, missing him so much it hurt. When the good cry was over, I felt much better. I hurried and got ready for bed because I had to open at work the next morning. Yup, New Years sucked butt. The end.

So January.... what a bummer of a month ya know? I swear EVERYONE has the January blues right now. And everyone is going through some of the hardest trials right now! Of all the months of the year, I am pretty dang sure January is my least favorite. Last week I had surgery on my foot. It was a minor surgery, and one that I have needed for a while... but still.... bummer. I got really nervous before it too. See, doctors always seem to have a really hard time numbing me. At the dentist they have to give me about five shots before I am numb enough. When I had my spinal tap I was not numb at all which pretty much led to the worst hell I have ever been through. So yeah... I was nervous for the numbing part, and I was absolutely right to be. The numbing shots were horrible. Getting five inch needles shoved up the tenderest parts of your foot is not my idea of a picnic if ya know what I mean. The doctor gave me the usual amounts and then started cutting with the scalpel..... holy heck ow! I screamed out in pain, he gave me another shot. Started with the scalpel again, another scream, another shot. He would say every time "I am fairly certain you will be numb now." Um... excuse me.... but can you make absolutely sure that I will be numb? I would highly appreciate it! Duh! So anyway, it took about seven or eight times the shot that an average person would need to get me numb. After that, it was pretty much smooth sailing from then on. Boy what a difference it makes when you can't feel the sharp blade slicing your foot open!! Sheesh!

This is my beautiful foot, which I am sure you all wanna see

Well, the tough part is over and thank heavens for that! Recovery time is about two or three weeks depending on how fast I heal. I was on crutches for about a week, but today was the first time I walked, so I am happy to be rid of them! On Saturday I got the best surprise ever!! Kelsey, Daphne, and Lorissa drove down from Logan to see me! It was the sweetest thing any of my friends have ever done and meant the world to me! They brought me High School Musical balloons and cheesecake (boy do they know me or what?!!) We crammed on my bed, each with a fork in hand, pigging out, sharing gossip about old roommates and boys, and laughed so hard we cried. It was the perfect pick me up for my lame pity party I was having! I am so blessed with such amazing friends! I definitely don't deserve them! The Fabulous Balloons from the Fabulous Friends

Well, as you can tell I have the January blues just like everyone else. So here is my attempt at being positive. Some good things about this month are 1. I get a nice long break from work 2. I get to spend time with my family, I'm pretty sure that's a good thing anyway ha ha j/k 3. January means a fresh start, and after last year, I could really use one 4. I got a new roommate, and from what I can tell, we will get along great! 5. (the best for last) January 23 is the one year mark of when he left! That means I survived an entire year without him! I never thought I would be able to! I can now begin to start counting down months instead of years until he comes home and that is just all sorts of happy!

Well, thats all for now. If you yourself are suffering from the January blues just know that I love you and February is just around the corner so hang in there.

Thanksgiving FFF (Forced Family Fun)

Thanksgiving this year was off the charts amazing! I don't even know why! It was just SO good!! This year we had the dinner in good old Fruit Heights. I have never had Thanksgiving at my house and I was really stoked! This year was spent with the Wright side of the family....always good for a laugh or two! We had an amazing dinner of course, and afterward had an ugly sweater contest, complete with a runway walk to show off the ugly! You should have seen my grandma! Wow can she model a sweater! ha ha it was awesome! After that everyone went out back to play some mean basketball lightning games. And man did it get intense! Unfortunately my basketball skills were kind of lacking, and I never won a game. Surprisingly my dad won a lot! Who knew the old man still had it in him?? And Brother won a lot too! Guess the basketball court is really paying off! They have got some seriously mad skill!! We then gorged ourselves with pie....mm mm, pie! Then comes my favorite part. The Turkey Run! This is one of my favorite family traditions! Its a way to honor the bird by giving him one last flight around the yard. We stuff the carcass of the Turkey on a stick, and line up at intervals all around the yard. You then run the turkey around the yard, passing it from person to person. The last person puts it in its final resting place, a.k.a. the dumpster. Its crazy fun! I know it sounds weird, but hey, my family is weird! And I wouldn't prefer it any other way!!! Everyone kind of split up after that. There was some guitar hero going on. Some serious story telling. Some games, some tv. And then me of course who had to get that "after eating so much I want to die nap" in there. So really nothing too exciting, but tons and tons of fun! By far one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever had!!

The Dinner


The Sweaters

Lightning!

The Last Hand Off of the Turkey Run