The Voice

(First off...I know...it has been MONTHS since I posted, but here is a fun one that i think you will enjoy!)

I am living in NYC and two days ago I left on an epic journey; auditioning for The Voice on NBC. My time slot said that I needed to be at the Izod Center in New Jersey by 7 am Saturday. Of course there were no trains or buses to NJ at 7 am, so I knew I needed to figure it all out fast. I ended up hopping on the A Train and taking it to Penn Station where I boarded the Red NJ Transit to Secaucus, NJ. At Secaucus I switched to the yellow line. However, I got on the WRONG yellow line. (They run parallel to each other!)
The ticket puncher looks at my ticket and says, "Umm...where are you trying to go?" I replied, "Rutherford." He then says, "Oh...you are going to have to get off this train at the next stop and go back to Secaucus to get on that train." Haha. After waiting in Delewanna, NJ (honestly, has ANYONE ever heard of Delewanna, NJ??) I headed back to Secaucus. I looked at the sign and it said that the next train to Rutherford was at 3:45 am.

It was currently 11 pm.
I sat down on a bench, got my book out and started reading. I got tired of reading, so I ate some crackers. I finished my crackers, so I played some Angry Birds. I got tired of that, so I people watched. I fell asleep on the bench at 1:30 am. At 2:30 am a guy hit me with a magazine and asked me where I was headed. I SHOT up and yelled, "RUTHERFORD at 3:45 am!" He looked at me and said, "There is no 3:45 train there. The screens have been frozen all night and they just put up the new times." Unsure of what I would find, I walked to look at the sign...

6:40 am to Rutherford.

After talking with my mom I got into a taxi and went to the Izod Center. Right after the taxi left, a Security Van showed up and escorted me off the premises. No one was allowed on the premises until 5 am, and seeing how it was 3 am, I was not allowed yet. They took me to a little industrial area where I walked off the road and fell asleep for two hours between two trees. I had to use my shirt as mosquito netting, but that hasn't been the biggest problem! I have come to find at least 35 bites all over my arms!
Now that it was 5 in the morning, I got in line. I didn't actually count, but I was about the 80th person in line. Two and a half hours went by and the line stretched all the around the Izod Center! Thousands of people showed up and it was only 7:30 am! They finally opened the doors and started ushering the hopefuls onto the arena floor. They looked at our passes, checked our IDs, scanned our codes and put us into groups of ten. Then, ten-by-ten, they brought us into rooms with one judge. This judge would listen to us sing a verse and a chorus from any song and then proceed to give a "Yes, No or Maybe".
My whole group went and I was surprised at how good each person was. Everyone in my group did a really good job, but in the end only three people got a "Maybe." I was not one of them. A maybe meant that you could POSSIBLY get a phone call by 10 pm that night for a call back. If they didn't call you, it was a "No." After filing out of the room, they cut my wristband and off I went on my merry way.

Of course, I was still in New Jersey and I only had $4.75 in cash with me because that taxi took all my cash! I asked a couple people where the bus stop was. Some people said, "There is no bus that runs here!" While others said, "You have to walk over this bridge, go under it, and walk a little bit." I walked under the bridge and got NOWHERE! It took me an hour to find that bus stop! Once I finally found it, I sat down, in the shade of course....I burn easily and I had already been in the sun long enough!
Half an hour goes by.
An hour goes by.
An hour and a half goes by.
At this time, everyone else who was waiting for the bus decided to pool their money together and take a taxi. I, only having $4.75, was not one of them.
After TWO hours of waiting for a bus that should have come twice by then, it arrived. A fresh group of auditioning hopefuls ran off the bus as I prayed that the bus was not $5. I found out it was $4.25 so i paid my fee and skipped down the row to my seat.
Homeward bound at last.

Overall it was a good experience. Even though it was the longest and most exhausting night/day of my life, I am glad I went through it all.
And even though I didn't make it through to the next round...my friend Jamar did! I hope he makes it all the way!!!!

Snowy After-Christmas!

Christmas in New York!
I had a great Christmas. I spent Christmas Eve with friends and had a delicious feast of creamed corn, green beans & potatoes, yams, baked ham, dressing, and pies galore! (There were so many pies!) We finished the night by playing the Kinect on Wii...and let's just say, I'm pretty sure I ended up working off ALL the calories I had just consumed. It's hard work playing that thing!
I spent the night at my friends and went to work the next morning, Christmas day. I worked until 2pm, then went home and got the house ready. Jeremy came over later and we watched a movie, some tv and had some pizza and cheesecake.

Unfortunatly it did not snow on Christmas, but luckily for me we had a blizzard warning...and it has been snowing ALL DAY today! we are expected to get 10-16 inches of snow. I LOVE SNOW!!!
Tomorrow it's off to work again. I work Starbucks from 5:15am-10:30am, then the gym from 2:30pm-9:30pm...and I pretty much have the same schedule Tuesday...so it's a little crazy.
But all is good! I love you guys and I hope you are getting lots of snow!

SBUX & FDA

Wow, if New York City is not the greatest place in the entire world, then it has me completely fooled!

I love this place, seriously! I know a lot of people make fun of it and say it's dirty and there is a lot of trash and there are rats in the subway...but I get so happy EVERY TIME I see a rat.

I'm serious.

I started my job at Starbucks yesterday and it was great...kind of slow and boring because I was training, but I know that I am going to love the job! I have always wanted to work for  Starbucks, but I guess the Starbucks in Oregon are not interested in hiring an outgoing man who is full of passion and loves to interact with people.
At least the NYC Starbucks saw me and understood me. It's nice to be understood. Ha.

I also got a second job as an FDA with Equinox Gym. For those of you who don't know what an FDA is, it's a Front Desk Associate. It sounds more official than it really is. I answer phones, greet gym members, and pretty much help out in anyway possible. (Once again, another job that is PERFECT for me!)

I love people.
Really.
I love them a lot!
I am so glad that for both of my jobs, I get to interact with people and make them feel so loved. I mean, seriously, what an amazing job to say that I just spread the love all around!?

I love you.

Trouble On The Tracks?

I am in New York.
And it is beautiful.
Yesterday my friend Jeremy and I walked from the top of Central Park to the bottom...which, if you didn't know, is approximately 50 blocks. Then, we did a whole lot more walking around ChinaTown and other parts of the city. In all, I probably walked more than 100 blocks. (Yes, my feet were sore.)

Today has already proven to be an interesting day. I went to Target in the Bronx because I needed to get some groceries. I hopped on the 1 train at 181 Street and started riding it, only to find out that it was running express ALL the way to the end of the line!
I ended up on 242 Street in the Bronx. Then I transferred to the downtown train and literally sat there for about fifteen minutes.
I guess what had happened was there was a train on 158th Street that had it's emergency brake pulled...this, in turn, backed up all trains behind it.

When I finally walked through the doors of Target, about an hour had gone by...
It should have only taken me about ten minutes.

Ha!

Let the games begin!!

Oh Wow.

Oh my gosh!
Can you believe that I just completely forgot to blog!? I, honest to God, FORGOT to blog!

Well, it is now eight days away. I will be moving to the wonderful city of New York! Do you understand? This is a dream come true for me!
Yesterday I went to church, and, woah! Hold me back, Jesus...or, rather, DON'T hold me back! I am ready for anything! God is so good and I know He has everything ready!

Another thing, GodSong's first cd, "Pour It Out" has now come out!! I was so lucky to have been asked to do the background vocals on the cd, and I can tell you, it turned out so well. I have been listening to it and worshipping to it for hours and hours.

Gah!! Life is so good. I really hope that all of you guys are doing well. I hope you are finding your dreams and running towards them!
Keep the dreams alive!

Hey everyone! I went to Starbucks this morning and I made the first official count:

23 Days until I move to the BigApple!

Life has been going good and I have been trying to get a little more organized with stuff. I am in the process of writing out a few lists. (1) Phone numbers. (2) Email addresses. (3) Previous work history. (4) Previous addresses.
Did you guys know that I haved lived in SIXTEEN different houses in my 22 years of life!?! What is up with that!?
I figure it would be a good idea to have a hard copy of all that information in case something ever happens to the computer...which, by the way, BOTH of my parents PCs broke down! Yes, I am typing this blog on my iPod... Ha.
I am going to head out for now, but I do have some good news!
I got an interview with Equinox Gym in NYC! They want to speak with me when I move there in 23 days! I am super stooped about it cause I would get a free gym membership!
Alright, love ya!

TOSF

Well, Hello Hello!

As you have already been informed, I am not working for Netflix. I turned the job down because I am moving to NYC next month.
I was able to keep the job with the temp company and I was sent out to Milwaukie, Oregon today to work for The Old Spaghetti Factory!(TOSF)

I was working at the factory that creates all the furnishings for TOSF. It was actually a pretty cool place. They had tons of chandeliers and Tiffany stained glass lamps hanging from the rafters.

We were helping to load a truck with furnishings for a new TOSF in Chandler, Arizona. (Which I guess is near Phoenix.)

Yes, Chandler, you are welcome...even though you didn't ask me.

I did enjoy myself today. I woke up and was expecting the traffic to be bad, so I left real early and, low and behold, was 1/2 an hour early. I stopped at Starbucks and sipped a wonderful cup of freshly brewed coffee. It wasn't until AFTER Starbucks that I got lost...but I still made it on time.

Then I got lost on my way home also.

Ha.

It's all good, though.

I love you.

P.S: The Old Spaghetti FACTORY is not related to The Old Spaghetti WAREHOUSE. The WAREHOUSE is actually a knockoff of the FACTORY. Crazy, huh!?