Wanderlust

It's that time of year again, where living in the snow-globe I call Wisconsin is getting old. 

Don't take that wrong. I love  Wisconsin, it's beautiful year 'round. I just get realllly sick of the cold. I'm not, and never have been, a huge fan of winter.

Once the Christmas spirit has faded, I get bored. I don't know if it's my dislike for the cold and snow, or the lack of outdoor activites, or that I can't stand to stay in the same place for so long but I just want to escape.

My friend Emma is very much like me. She was bitten by the wanderlust bug young and one day when we were having dinner we were talking about who we just want to travel. So there an idea was born, that she and I would plan a trip to another country for this year.

We got coffee about a week ago and started planning. We decided we were going to go to Italy and Greece. And after working on it for two hours, we left Panera and decided we'd rather go to Australia and New Zeland, because the weather would be nicer at that time of year.

So here I am, budgetting and planning a trip to Australia and I couldn't be more excited. But I'm nervous, and that's where I'd like you guys to come in. I've never really researched Australia before now and don't really know what the best places to go or things to do would be. Also, this is going to be my and Emma's first time traveling solo without a group so I don't know what the best way to get around would be. Do you guys have any tips or advice? We would really appreciate it.

On Movies

Film. Cinema. Movies. 

Whatever you refer to it as, watching films is one of my favorite things to do.

Growing up, I watched quite a few movies but once I found a movie that I fell in love with I would just watch that one over and over and over again. I could probably quote Beauty and the Beast, Music & Lyrics, Without A Paddle, and The Social Network (just to name a few) from start to finish, which is kind of ridiculous, I know. But that's how much I love them.

I find film so interesting. 

The editing, the casting, the music selection, everything.

But the one thing that I find the most spectacular is how one little film can connect people. 

Jamie, you're crazy, how can you say films connect people.

Let's, for example, look at Guardians of the Galaxy which was one of the best movies of 2014. 

If I were to ask you when Guardians was released, and you live in America, you'd probably say August 1, 2014. Which isn't the wrong answer, but what a lot of people don't think about is that August 1, 2014 is just one release date. 

Guardians of the Galaxy had 78 different release dates last year, ranging from July 21st to October 22nd. The film was released in approximately 69 countries/territories.

You've watched the same movie as thousands of people all over the globe. 

How fucking awesome is that, the same is true for music but we won't get into that.

I think that everyone realizes that there are thousands of other people all over the world talking about the same movies and how they connect people, but no one ever really thinks about it. 

I know I never really thought about it until about a year ago when I started working at Carmike and watching more YouTube.

I love movies, my friends love movies, their friends love movies, their family loves movies, ect.

You go to the theatre. You watch at home. You watch trailers online. Then what?

If you're like me and my friends, we talk about them. We talk about what we've seen, what we haven't seen, what we think the other should see. We talk about what we liked, what we disliked, what we think will happen next.

I do this with customers too, when at Carmike, especially the regulars that have seen all of the movies when I haven't seen any of them. 

We talk. We share. We connect.

Take a look at some of the videos uploaded to YouTube so far in 2015. 

Jack & Dean, Angry Films Production, and Neafcy (just to name a few) have all uploaded videos about films released in 2014. 

If you could pull out a map and put a dot on it where I am, where you are, where Jack is, where Paul is, where Dean is, and where Zach is, we wouldn't be in relation to each other at all. We are worlds apart from each other and we've all seen some of the same films. 

That's awesome. 

If I bumped into Paul Neafcy on the street tomorrow, he and I could have a solid conversation about films that we both have seen.

That's awesome.

It's so cool to think about how you're connected to people. It's so cool to think that something as little as a movie can connect you to so many other people. 

A New Step

I love my job at Carmike. 

It's awesome to work at a place where everyone gets a long, loves movies, and is as just as nerdy and quirky as you.

Carmike is a theatre chain here in America. 

I'm not going to go into the pros or the cons about working there, because that's not really what this post is about. However, I am going to say that, since we have a large number of employees, haven't been getting very good movies (because in our city the movies a split between the two theatres), and it's been a frozen tundra outside our business hasn't necessarily been booming lately. Which, unfortunately, leads to people getting sent home during their shift and causing some of us to need another job.

I'm one of those people. I needed another job, and soon. 

So, after a little poking around, and not finding anything; I said to my manager one day that he should tell his girlfriend to get me a job at the local Credit Union. Little did I know, he'd actually say something to her.

The next day, he told me that his girlfriend told him that RCU was going to be hiring and that if I was truly interested I should go to the job fair that they were going to be hosting. So I did.

I was a nervous reck. 

It had been over a year since I had had a job interview and I have no banking experience. But, I went anyway. When I arrived I was greeted by Amy, who told me about a Member Service job that didn't require financial experience, but customer service experience, and believe me I have that. 

So I applied, got an interview (which I cried during), and miraculously ended up getting hired.

That left me again, a nervous reck.

I've never had a proper, professional, dress in business attire job before.

I was going in without knowing anyone, which I've never done, and was going to start 6 weeks of training.

And I'm loving every second of it.

I'm off of training and on my own in only 2 days- which blows my mind- but I'm so happy to be surrounded by another wonderful group of people. People who live RCU's core values, are always happy to help me when I need it, joke around and laugh with me, and make me feel at home in a strange place. 

Although I am still working at Carmike, I'm so excited to see where this job takes me and how everything folds out in 2015. 

Hello 2015

Good-bye, 2014. You were pretty great. 

I laughed, I cried, I traveled, I met great people, I disconnected with people, I reconnected with people. I did so much, thank you.

Hello 2015, it's nice to meet you.

So far you've been awesome. Yes I know we've only been together for 5 days, but first impressions exist and I'm looking forward to getting to know you. 

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Last year, 2014, was great and I wouldn't change anything for the world but that's not going to stop me from making some hopes for 2015.

I've never been one to make resolutions. I didn't even know that people did that 'till I was about 12, and since then whenever I've tried to do so I've failed.

That being said, I've decided to follow in the steps of my friend Emma and make some hopes for the new year that is upon us. 

So here they are, my hopes:

Travel: I was bitten by the wanderlust bug really young, thank you mom. It's all I ever want to do, I'm not fully content if I'm not day dreaming about the places I want to visit & planning trips. Even if I don't go, I think it's fun to plan with the hopes of someday being able to go. So in 2015, I hope to make the effort to discover the world. 

Stay Focused: No matter if it's writing a blog post every week, uploading a video every week, going to the gym more, eating healthier, reading more books, or saving more money I suck. I suck at staying focused and getting shit done. There's always an excuse as to why I shouldn't or can put it off for one more day. In 2015, I hope to stay more focused on the things that are important. 

Friendships: I've lost contact with a lot of people that use to be very important to me and I've reconnected with some people that use to fall in the previous category. I want to keep the people that I love active in my life and I want to be active in theirs. In 2015, I hope to make a better effort to be more involved in my friends lives. (And not be so selfish and self centered)

Romantic Relationship: I've had the same boyfriend for 3 years. Don't ask me if we're getting married or not, I couldn't tell you. There are things that he does that drive me up a wall and there are things that I do that drive him crazy. Some of the things that I do can be fixed, though. In 2015, I hope to be a better girlfriend. I don't hope to change who I am as a person but I hope to annoy him less and love him more. 

Appearance: I am comfortable in my skin. I don't feel like I need to wear make-up every day/ every where I go, but I will be the first to admit that on the days that I do (wear make-up) I feel a certain air of confidence in myself. It makes me feel good to look good. So, for my last hope for 2015, I hope to put my hair down, put on the lip stick I've always been too self-conscious to wear, and rock it.