The Oscars

So, as many of you know, I worked at the 81st Annual Academy Awards (The Oscars) today. The company I work for does the press room for the event. They allow people from the office to come and run microphones and hand out headsets to people. All this happens in a big room at the Renaissance hotel right next to the Kodak Theatre.

I arrived around 1pm. The room was pretty empty. There just a bunch of chairs, tables ant TV screens around. My coworkers and I went to our table where the headsets were waiting to be picked up. The headsets are used by the press to listen to the show when their is someone being interviewed in the room. At the front of the room there is a stage with 2 Oscars statues on it. It's elegant, but not over the top. There is a microphone in the middle of the stage for the winners to answer the interview questions from the press. Anyway, as the afternoon went on the room filled up with different press people. There were about 350 people in the room.

Once the show started the four us that were mic-runners got into place. One in each corner of the room. The press people all had a paper with a large number written on it. When the winner came into the room they would hold up their numbers signifying they wanted to ask a question. The moderator would then list off some numbers and we would run to those people and give them the microphone. Pretty simple stuff. Now for specifics.

Overall it was enjoyable, but my feet are so sore. I should wear more comfortable shoes if I do it again. I was very happy that Slumdog Millionaire won so many awards. Anyone who had an Indian Accent said, "Filum" instead of "film". I thought it was adorable. I love their accent. For the rest of the foreigners a lot of the press questions were asked in their native language so I didn't really know what was going on.

Kate Winslet was beautiful. I was probably within a foot or less of her at one point. Strangely enough it didn't feel any different than being that close to anyone else I don't know. She's beautiful and talented, but she's also just a person. She was very funny while being interviewed. She is a charming woman. I'm happy that she won.

I wasn't too thrilled with Sean Penn. I've found him quite annoying for many years now. Tonight he mostly talked about gay rights and how people who supported Prop 8 are all filled with hate. I don't know, I just don't agree with him and I don't think he's very attractive either. I really wish someone else had one.

They tried to get Hugh Jackman to come up to the press room, but for some reason he couldn't. That was just too bad. I would have loved to have seen him.

The last to come in was the producer, Christian Colson, and director, Danny Boyle, of Slumdog Millionaire. They were also very charming to listen to. They really do make you think dreams can come true. Danny Boyle is a great director. I recomment Slumdog to anyone. It was amazingly good. He also directed a movie called Millions. That is a good movie as well.

One last note, the Oscars are incredibly shiny in real life. Like, not just a little bit, but bright gliming gold. Pretty cool to see in real life. I'll post pictures later with this as they become available.

Family

Today Eric and I went to his grandpa's funeral in Mesquite, NV. Strangely enough I cried, Eric didn't. (Well, that's not strange since Eric never cries. He has emotions, but doesn't express them through tears like I do.) Anyway, I just wanted to say how moved I was by the service. I'm saddened that I didn't have more time to know Grandpa Hughes. He was a good man, but from the memories that were shared of him he was clearly a better man than I ever understood.

As I sat in the congregation feeling the love of his family I just felt so blessed to be part of it. I didn't know it when I married Eric, but I know now how lucky I was to marry into this family. There is just so much love and support for one another. It's not that my family isn't great, but it's just different with this family. They are unbelievably loving and kind. From the moment Eric and I were married I was part of the family. This drove me nuts at first because they were all strangers to me, but now I love them as though I've known them my whole life too. I'm grateful to have the rest of my life to know them and be embraced by their love.

Thank you Eric for letting me a part of your family!

Gray Skies

Today is a gray day in LA. It started raining late morning yesterday and hasn’t really stopped. Sometimes it’s hard and sometimes it’s just a misting. The thing is though that I like it. So many people around here, Native Californians mostly, absolutely hate this weather. They are just so used to the sun shine. I however, love this weather. It’s a nice break in the monotony of all the sunshine and busy chaos. Does like this make me feel like I can just get warm and cozy with the one I love. It’s a nice feeling.

In another way this gray weather is kind of an example of our lives right now. We are working hard to survive and pay our bills. However, it’s not so easy. Like the rain’s blessing for the current drought conditions I have a good job that makes it bearable, or better yet survivable, for us to live out here while Eric finds a job. He’s had some decent leads but nothing has really come to fruition. I’m starting to feel very desperate for him to get work. It’s taking a lot of faith and prayers to get us through this. We’re sure he’ll find work, but it’s hard to keep waiting, especially with the economy being what it is.

The one thing though that gray skies have taught us in years pass is that they change. One day gray and the next the prettiest blue. When it rains here the air is actually clean the next day. So, maybe all this difficulty for us and for Eric to get a job is just preparing for something greater and better. I suppose we’ll have to wait out the storm to find out.

Friends

Eric and I went to Utah this past weekend. It was much too fast, but it was so enjoyable. Everything was perfect. We were able to see so many of our friends. Seeing them has made me realize what I'm so homesick for while living out in LA. I miss my friends and being able to see them. Starting a new life is hard especially without the support system of friends. Of course, Eric and I have made some friends out here, but it's not the same (yet) from friends you've known for years. I want my friends in Utah to know that I love them and they really do mean so much to me. For those of you we saw I'm so happy that we could work out the timing to get together. For those of you we missed I'm really sorry. Next time we'll plan more time so that there is enough to see everyone.

The Office

I found out the other day on accident that The Office is filmed in some actual office buildings behind the one I work in.


If you look at the picture to the left you can see the arrows I have drawn. The green on is pointing to some set pieces from the show. The blue arrow is pointing to the building I work in. That part of the building is our warehouse, but I still work in that building.





If you look at the picture to the right you can see the green arrow pointing at a sign that says, "Scranton Business Park". Below is a close up of the sign. I can assure you though that this is not in Scranton. In the wide shot you can see some of the cars for the parking lot. They're all covered to keep them nice.


Anyway, I just wanted to share with you all about how random it is to work and live in the LA area. Everything can be used for films or television. I just love this show so it's way cool to have it so close to my work. I'll let you know if I end up seeing anything cool.

California vs. Utah

Eric and I have lived in California for 4 months now. It seems though it has been much longer than that for us. We're comfortable here and it's home now. One thing I have found interesting since being here is that every time someone finds out we moved from Utah they ask, "So, do you like it here?" The thing about this is that it's usually preceded by a comment about how different California and Utah is and what a shock it must be too live here. I don't know if they expect us to say that we don't like here or that California is so much better. I usually just respond that they are so different you can't compare them. And it's true, nothing about Los Angeles and Provo are the same, but they both have so much to offer. However, we are very happy here. This is where it seems that our life really begins. Just to show that there are good things about both places that are so very different from each other I will list my "Top 5 Pros" for each location.

Provo

1. Mostly everyone was the same religion. It made an instant connection with other people.
2. It was smaller, so it felt like a cozy place to live.
3. I lived there for 5 years, 3 of them with a local, so I knew my way around.
4. Parking was always free and pretty easy to find.
5. We lived near family.

Los Angeles

1. We can see the Hollywood Hill from our front door and the beach is only 30 minutes away.
   
2. It's so big that there is always something to do or another place to go. No boredom!
3. Eric is able to work in the field he loves and we get to do so many cool things.
   
4. My skin looks way better here. That's always a good thing.
   
5. We will start our family here and this will be our home for years to come.

I could go on and on about how great both places our, but L.A. is the right place for us to be and we are so happy here. It is always hard to let something go that makes you feel comfortable, but that happens in life. The possibilities here are endless and I can't wait to see what is going to happen for us.

Update

Okay, so it's been forever since I posted anything worth reading. About Twilight, it was alright. The script was written as well as the book. Take that statement for what it's worth to you.

Moving on now. Since then was Thanksgiving. We had a nice day with friends. Work was good for me the day before and after. It was so quiet and slow, but I totally enjoyed my work. I still really like my job and I'm so happy I found it. Things are getting busy with sending out holiday cards. I'm sure after this week it's going to slow down quite a bit as lots of people start heading out on vacations and what not. I like it when it's slow, but I like it being busy too.

Right now we're just preparing for Christmas, which is going to be simple this year. Moving out to LA was really a gift to ourselves, which has left us with little to spend on other presents. We're happy though and just looking for the time off to spend together. Right after Christmas Eric's parents are planning a trip down here. It'll be fun to see them. I really miss having them around and talking to my mother-in-law. It's also nice just to have family see where we live and what life is like for us.

Eric finally finished up his internships... kind of. He's still going and will continue to do so until he finds a permanent job. He's looking for work as an assistant to a literary agent. It'll be great for him and his career. However, I'll just be happy for him to have a job, which will make paying our bills a little less stressful. No one is hiring until after the first of the year though. And, with the impending SAG strike no one might be hiring until it's decided if they will or won't strike. We're just being prayerful and diligent that he will find something at the right time. I'm feeling very hopeful right now and that makes it much easier to work through it all.

Alright, that's a general update for what we've got going on right now. Let me know if I forgot any information you'd like to know more about. Thanks!