I got hired!

Yay! *Pats on back*

I went through 3x interview, HR, hiring managers, and peer interview.  I thought I was not going to get it and half way gave up hope already. This process took a full month. I told myself I was only going to wait until next Friday as the last day and I will start applying for other jobs.  But thankfully HR called me back and offered me the position at the wage that I had wanted.  I told myself if they offer me lower, I would still accept the position anyways, but I had a specific wage that I had wanted. I remember talking to the HR person and she asked why I wanted that wage and I told her it is negotiable based on my experience and what they are looking to offer.  She told me in advance that it would be somewhere around what I had wanted. But now that I am offered that wage, I wish I had asked for a higher number.  My sister told me not to be greedy though.  She said that I should be grateful and appreciate it because I had called and prayed for that wage so now that I received what I had been wishing for, I need to be thankful and not be greedy.   She is right.  I am thankful.

I will officially start on the 29th of this month.  I am excited and scared.  I have about 2 weeks and 2 days to relax and enjoy life (finally after almost 3 months of worrying about being jobless).  This new journey, I will appreciate and enjoy every moment of it.  I hope on staying with this place for a long time since it is something I have been wanting to so and a place I have been wanting to work for.  I'm ready.  I hope to save enough money and be able to buy a house next year.  I am finally starting to feel like I can breathe and dream again now that I will be employed and bringing in income again instead of just living off my parents like the last 3 months.  I am ready to give back and help those who had helped me during hard times.

All in all, I am excited. Congratulations to myself.

And before I leave, I guess I should also mention that Trump won election.  It will be interesting.  To me, it didn't matter too much because both parties did not appeal to me. The next 4 years will be interesting regardless if Clinton or Trump had won.

XOXOMNT

Solicitating and Confrontation

My cousin asked me to go help her do Lit Drop which means walk blocks and leave an informational card at the door of each house. She is part of the Senator Foung Hawj campaign of 2016. Since I couldn't go yesterday, we went today for 3 hours.

I skipped all the doors that had signs for No soliciting and no trespassing and all but towards the end of the final hour some dude followed me for several blocks and handed the flyer back to me.  Get this, the flyer basically just tell people the voting date, locations, and who Foung Hawj is and his background since he is representing the Eastside.  So the guy confronts me and said his door had a sign that said no solicitating and whatever. So I apologize and said I must have missed it.  I reached my hand out to retrieve the card back and he wouldn't let go. He continued to hold it tight and said I shouldn't be stealing flower seeds because in other countries my hands would be cut off.  I was confused and asked him to repeat himself again which he then proceed to repeat what he had said that I stoled his flower seeds off his lawn.  By this time, I was starting to get furious because, yes maybe I had missed his NO SOLICITING sign, but no way did I grab anything off anyone's yard or touched anything at all.  He was clearly just a jerk and an asshole of a jerk.  I defended myself and said I did not touch anything off anyone's lawn or even hold onto anything.  He repeated himself that my hands would've been cut off.

I don't think he realize I was with my cousin until she turned the corner and he then proceeded to blame her. He went on to say that if it wasn't me then it was her. Smh. I asked my cousin after the jerk left and she said she didn't touch anything either or "steal" seeds off flowers as he claimed.

That triggered it for me.  I was done. I didn't want to go door to door anymore.

The entire experience wasn't bad, didn't run into any issues. We weren't breaking the law or damaging property. We didn't even walk on people's grass, we walked on path and didn't harm anything.  And plus we didn't ring doorbells and bothered anyone either.  The campaign team had already sent out half the cards to the Eastside residents but since it cost money to do that they figured they can have volunteers walk and drop cards at the walkable blocks.  But oh well. There's always someone who just has to have their opinions released or else they can't go on living their life or something.

I repeatedly ask my cousin if what we were doing was actually solicitating and she said no because we are not asking or forcing anyone to vote for him, we are just letting people know of his experience. Idk. And according to the definition results from google we were not soliciting. Idk.  I am probably just too bothered by the fact that the dude had accused us of "stealing seeds from his flowers" which is extremely pathetic.

Anyways, hope everyone had a great Halloween last night and remember to vote on November 8th.  Have a very blessed day.

XOXOMNT

Another photoshoot.

Hello!

I've been busy the past couple of days running errands and prepping for interviews and such.  I had two interviews this week, but one was rescheduled for next Monday.  The other one went quite well.  I pass both phone and first person interview.  I just need to pass the panel interview and I will be set.  I'm desperate.  I don't remember the last time I was this desperate to be working.  Broke girl status.  My bills are definitely piling up and up and up.

Also, this upcoming weekend is my sister's 21st birthday bash.  She won't actually turn 21 until next Wednesday, but celebrating early because some family members will be in town this upcoming weekend.  So much to do in so little time.

Anywho, my cousin asked me if I can do a quick shoot of her and her boyfriend so we went out today to Afton State Park to shoot a few simple shots.

XOXO MNT

Confession and Root Canal Treatment

I have a confession to make.

I... think I am addicted to nitrous oxide or laughing gas.  I'm addicted to being put to sleep.  My addiction may become a problem.

My left molar had a crack back a year ago and I waited this long to finally get a root canal after experiencing painful sensations.  I am very nervous when it comes to dental procedures just because I have been to dentists and dental offices that left me in pain and horror.  I got my first painful wisdom tooth removed under IV sedation which knocked me out cold and I paid $1200 cash for it which was worth every penny because I have no memories whatsoever of it.  I was in and I was out.  That was what it seemed like and I was in no pain whatsoever even during healing session.  But the day after my root canal treatment exam my lower left wisdom tooth was giving me so much pain I was not able to sleep and no matter what pain medications I took or how many I took nothing helped so I went into a different dental clinic to get it removed.

What I like about that clinic is the fact that they were willing to pull my tooth on my first visit so I did not have to keep making multiple appointments for every little thing. When I got there, the doctor said he can do multiple things on just that one visit which I got a basic cleaning (tar tar removal), fillings for my cavities, and my wisdom tooth extraction. And must I say, cavity fillings hurt so much!!!! Even after receiving numbing shots, it still hurted so bad in some places.  What I hated about this clinic is the fact that the dentist told me to just hold on for a bit when he was doing my cavities. To just hold in the pain.  It was extremely painful and that was what I was most scared about--- being ignored when I am in pain.  The wisdom tooth removal was quick and painless though because I was so scared I asked for another shot of those numbing medications. It was less than a minute and painless compared to cavity fillings.

Now, back onto my addiction and confession.  I got my root canal treatment done this morning at 10am. When I went in for my consultation, I made it clear that I needed help for anxiety.  I have a severe fear of any dental procedure just because my teeth are so sensitive. The nurse reassured me that I will get laughing gas to calm my nerves.  Fast forward to a month which is today.  I walked into the lobby extremely nervous and was afraid I was going to still feel all the pain.

I got hooked up to the gas which had a piece that went inside my right nostril and blew the nitrous oxide in.  I started feeling whoozy and got a little scared because I was not sure on how I was suppose to feel. My legs and arms started to feel a bit numb but I remember during my consultation, the nurse said if I felt numb they would turn down the gas and I absolutely did not want that. I wanted more so I could forget everything. I started to drift off into my own world as I was inhaling more of the gas. The nurse then started to put lidocaine gel on my gums to get it number before the doctor came in to give me shots to numb my nerves.  When he came in and talked to me all I could do was nod yes or no because I was slurring my words already when I was responding to the nurse.  He proceeded to give me shots at the back of my mouth and I felt a slight pinch only as the nurse had previously said so too, like a mosquito bite. And she didn't lie. He gave me about 4? Shots or so because my mouth was numb and I was really high off the medication it was hard for me to concentrate on counting.  I felt pressure but no pain.  After about a minute or so he started putting these things in my mouth to hold it open and to block everything else but the tooth.  I didn't care anymore at this point because I was so relaxed. Some patient had called so he stepped out for a few minutes to take the call and I was still high on the medication that I did not care much either.  By the way, my eyes were closed the entire time.  If I opened them I would see the instruments that he used so I chose to close my eyes and not see it.

He came back in and asked me to lean towards him more which I did and he proceeded to go in and continue the procedure.  I felt slight very very slight coldness/pain like a 0.5 out of a scale of 10.  I was considering telling him but I figured I can just hold in the pain because it was so slight. So the pain lasted about... a minute at max and I believe that was when the medication completely numbed my nerve and gums.  The rest of the procedure went extremely smooth.  I was in my own world thinking ALL sorts of thoughts.  The entire thing took about 1.5 hours but to me it felt like 10 minutes. I was extremely sad when it was done because I was brought back to reality when the nurse turned off the gas and just gave mr straight oxygen.   I felt so many different emotions I have never felt in my life before during that 1.5 hours.  My body was very calm, my heart rate was very slow, and I thought about all sorts of things.  The room felt like it was spinning at a comfortable speed going clockwise.  At one point I panicked a little and thought about how I was not fully breathing in the nitrous oxide because I was breathing through my mouth.  Then realized I was trolling myself.  Then at another point, I completely blocked out the conversation between the doctor and nurse and thought about the moment before death.  Since my heart was beating very slowly, and I was only faintly hearing their voices I thought about how this must be how people in comas and right before death feels like.  To hear people talk but not being able to respond. To feel so light and calm and relax and ready for death. Wow.

Crazy, but I was happy. To feel all those emotions and to think and be so calm in my life for once.  It is crazy.  So I think my body and mind is craving for that sensation again.  I would do it again.  I got over my fear of root canals and now I know I can always do any dental procedure as long as I can be that calm.  I still find it unbelievable to feel that peaceful and relax in my life.  It was amazing and painless.

Of course, all thanks to that dentist and nurse.  That's all.

XOXOMNT

Another Senior Photo session.

I had another senior photo session with my other little cousin.  They are all growing up too fast!

Again, I do not claim to be a professional photographer or anything.  I just simply have a simple DSLR and a few cheap lenses.  And I only enjoy shooting here and there just because it makes me content when I see people I love happy. 

They were suppose to go take their senior photos together but things came up so I had to do both of their shoots separately which was perfectly fine because with two different locations, their sessions were completely different and each had their own different vibe.  Regardless, I think both sessions turned out decent.  I have so much learning to do and so much equipment to upgrade, but since it is just a side hobby there really is no need to get upgraded equipment, I feel.  I think this might be my last shoot of 2016.  A distant friend asked for a shoot, but I don't know.  I usually don't pick and choose who I want to shoot, but the problem is, I don't have an assistant to go out with me and hold my additional equipment so it is hard to shoot.  Sometimes, just sometimes, an additional light is needed and I cannot extend my arm out to hold that and hold my camera at the same time.  At the same time I am afraid to ask for anyone's assistance because I, for one, do not get pay to shoot so I don't have money to pay that assistant therefore I feel bad and do not ask anyone to help.  I sometimes force my sisters into going, sometimes they agree sometimes they do not.  So that's also a bummer.  Another thing I hate about doing shoots is that if I don't know the person I'm shooting, I don't really want to go alone and nobody wants to go out for 2-3 hours just to stand around and wait for me either. Ugh.  I'm telling you, the struggle is real.

Oh and of course, my photoshop skills are thumbs down.  I don't know how to manipulate photos and such because my photoshop program is the older CS5 and now they have the photoshop CC or whatever that is a monthly/yearly subscription that I obviously cannot afford.  So sad.  I also do everything by "mouse" and not an editing pen in which one of these days I wish someone would buy for me as a gift.  Only $90. :(  But the main thing with taking photos is lighting in my opinion.  Lighting is EVERYTHING.  Does not matter how beautiful a model is, if photos are dark and grainy............. then the photos will not turn out.  And even if a subject is not top notch model material, if there is a good light source, the photos will become beautiful and will require very minimal editing.  As you will be able to see below, I am very new at this lighting stuff so my photos are all over the place.  I learn as I go, I experiment and remember what works and what does not.  Life of a hobby photo taker.  Wouldn't consider myself a photographer because it is deathly embarrassing.

Fall really is here and the leaves are changing fast!  I wanted to do a big girls photo session, but.... there's like no one to shoot. So I guess it will have to be next year when I find people who are interested.  Let's hope by this time of next year, I would have improved significantly in photo taking skills along with photoshop skills.  

Enjoy.

XOXOMNT

Senior Photoshoot

Double post tonight! *pats on back*

The little cousin is all grown up now and needed senior photos so we went out to shoot a few photos.  Not a professional photographer nor do I claim to be one, but out of the 500 shots, I'm sure there is at least one she will like enough as her senior photo.  *Crossing fingers*

Here are a few shots from our session today. 

XOXOMNT

MB2 Raceway

Hi! Welcome!

Tonight, since it is already 8:10pm right now as I am keying this blog away.. I will be continuing my California trip and this will probably be the last part of it since the rest of the remainder of our family vacation was pretty much with family and really laid back, there aren't many photos.

My uncle and aunt paid for everyone to go racing at a place called MB2 Raceway and we had A GREAT TIME.  After racing for 2 rounds, we went to a Korean restaurant and got our fortunes read there.  I almost cried.  Mines was right on and I was so sad.  And of course we enjoyed the delicious food there also.  Right after eating, we headed over to play laser tag which was my first time and VERY FUN.  It was quite amazing actually.  I didn't know such things could be so fun.  We have tons of those places where I live, but I've just never actually went or had friends or people who were interested in going..... so it was a great first time for both.  Thanks so much Uncle and Aunty!  I'm sure they easily spent over $1000 for everything since there was quite a few of us who went.

The entire group.  With my aunts, uncles, and cousins from North Carolina.

A goofy one this time.

While we were waiting for our turn on the track, everyone headed to the mini arcade.

Silliest uncles! These two always make me laugh.

Uncle, cousin, and brother really focused on their game.

LOL!!!! Getting ready to give his best shot.

Ugh, I had the biggest head and had to go XL! So embarrassing!

First to be out, and first place during this round.

The guys getting ready to go.

Yup, first place.  The key to winning and becoming first is to distance yourself from others so you can go fast as hell.  

Round 2, I took third, baby sister first, and aunt (my uncle actually went her turn because she was too scared after round 1, and they cut his speed because obviously he was more experienced than any of us. LOL, so she ended up getting 2nd place.  He also won first for the guy's rounds.)

Exhausted and food coma after Korean food and racing.  Waiting for our laser tag team turn.

The experience overall, was A+++++++ I would love to do it again one day except this time around be the one to treat my uncle and aunt.  It was waaaaay too much money.  I think I was born to be a racer because the adrenaline was AMAZING, I felt like I was flying through the courses and it was so awesome!  My two sisters crashed and went under the course and when someone crashes, ALL carts are immediately stopped and nobody can move.  I missed them crashing, but I turned around in time to see the workers run fast as hell towards both my sisters to make sure they were not injured or anything.  It was scary at the same time and amazed.  I should've been worried, but I was not the oldest within the group so my worries lessened.  Usually back at home, I'm the oldest wherever I go so I always have to make sure everyone was safe, but this time even though I was still worried, I had my uncles and aunts who were way older to depend on so they were the ones worrying.  I know there is one a little far from where I live but still under an hour, one of these days, I will go out there and drive to my heart's content.  It was amazing.  I don't know how many times I will say and use the word amazing, but it cleared up my mind while going at such a fast speed... I think I will be and have an addiction if I ever get into racing forreal or ever be in a racecar with me controlling of course.  

I am so thankful for the experience and feel so bad for letting my uncle and aunt pay for the entire thing for us.  I owe them so much for everything they have done for me.  And by that, I mean they have done more than what I deserve and more than I should be receiving.  I am very thankful.  One day, I hope to repay their kindness and to allow them to have fun with expenses on me also.  One day.

XOXOMNT