I have some pretty exciting news to share that nobody will probably believe me about but I actually met Owen Wilson today! I went on a date with the chief mate (he's a pretty big deal) today and while there, I see this guy eating at another table. "hey that guy kind of looks like Owen Wilson!" (thankfully I whispered this) he says "it is. I actually know him." he then leads me over to the table and introduces me! Owen has a quiet voice actually or maybe he was being quiet because of the other people! he was super nice and rob made plans with Owen to play golf next week. In the car, he fills me in that Owen had a baby with his friend from school and when they were still dating, rob actually got to stay at his house for a couple days! How cool is that? So crazy! I wish I could have taken a picture but everything happened so fast and that would have been creepy I think. But since they are friends, maybe I will get to hang out with Owen! Ha ha! And that is why this blog is private.... :)

I love what my co-worker said today: "I think its so disgusting that we feed so many guests good food but when it comes to the crew, norwegian just feeds us slob. That is so cruel!" I totally agree-I feel that not getting good food on this ship keeps everyone on edge and a little grumpy. Not good for moral! Other than terrible food, the other big thing here is that the mail is evil! I bought an ipad and the mail people are holding it...its just sitting in california doing nothing...its been four weeks already...I am so annoyed! I can't stop thinking about it and how mad I am about the whole terrible situation! If I had just paid more and bought it in the store, I would be so much happier! But there are a couple cute guys here who are making life a whole lot more interesting which is cool. More to go on that later! :)

Some co-worker of mine just chased a turtle around trying to get a picture of it with my underwater camera. He is so crazy! After working since 5am this morning, I got to go snorkeling in kona for a bit. It was so pretty-super colorful fish, the water is clear blue and really warm. If I get to keep doing things like this, i will be living the life. Ha ha. Well break time is over. Time for work.

So I've been trying to blog using my phone, because then I can actually blog on the ship instead of having to wait until I have a few hours off and get somewhere with Internet where I don't have to pay 10 cents a minutes, like on the ship.  Well…I just realized that it HASN'T been uploading my blog entries like I thought, so I do apologize for no entries for a while.

For the past two weeks, no scratch that, for the past THREE weeks, I've been working basically the same schedule. That means my boss keeps putting me on gallery shifts and taking pictures in all the restaurants. That wouldn't be so bad, but I'm getting really bored, which lately has made me extremely grumpy. Several people have come up to me to ask what is wrong and to see if I'm okay.  Not all of the problems is work related, I am having a lot of personal issues since I found out that my brother has cancer and is getting his leg removed.  I decided I should finally tell everyone, because it will explain why I'm kind of faking it. I mean, usually I'm naturally happy, but lately, it's been a struggle.  How do you fake a smile at an angry guest complaining about a photo that costs $12.95 (who is VIP, by the way, meaning they spent thousands of dollars on their room) when your brother is struggling to support a family of five and have his leg removed? I mean, really, is it that big of a deal that the photo is almost $13 dollars? I'm not shoving it down your face-you don't have to buy it. And you certainty don't have to  scream in my face like a big baby. Really lady, really? Just because you think the world revolves around you does mean it does. Get over yourself.

That's what I'd really like to tell these people. Instead, I have to try and smile and say, "I'm sorry, miss, but that is the price." Or something like that. No wonder people are becoming fake. It's what we have to do to survive. "Be yourself." Sorry, but I can't be myself if I'm going to get fired.

Now…it's time to list all the crazy responses people have given me as to why they can't get their picture taken….

"Sorry, I'm running from the police"  (really, did you know we have tons of cameras on this ship? Cause you are going to be in trouble now)
"My husband or wife might find out" (both you and the women across from you sir have the same matching rings, can you explain that?)
"I'm part of the mafia" (I thought the mafia just kill people, not tell everyone)
"I'm allergic to cameras" (I'm the one who is allergic to everything, and even I'm not allergic to cameras, so nice try)
"Your stupid flash is making it hard for me to eat, just get out of my face" (okay, that was just mean)
"I look ugly today" (Sorry lady, I don't think it's just today…)
"Really? Do you know who I am?" (no, and I don't really care)
"You have to talk to my agent first" (my co-worker thinks this is original, well..no)
"I'm on the FBI's Most Wanted List" (is your wife aware of this? cause she is staring at you like you are an idiot)


List to be continued next entry…we've been keeping track at work. Most people use the same excuses and think they are so original and they start laughing like they are sooo funny. Why can't you just say "No thank you"? Really, is that so hard?

I'm sitting at the beach right now, chilling with some people. A bunch of people are drinking, which of course I'm not doing. But there are a few sober people and we are all on our phones texting. Lol. This past week was super annoying because the people were just plain mean. You'd think that people would be nice during thanksgiving but nope. One guy called me worthless, another told me I was mean for taking their photo and some asian guy made devil horns at me. So I'm very excited that the group is gone. Gone. Lol new group and so far they seem nice for the most part. A bonus!

Black Friday…Black Friday…

Every year, I have always went shopping on Black Friday. It has always been an exciting day-searching to get the best prices, looking through all the newspapers on Thanksgiving with my family trying to figure out what we want.  It was one thing as a family we all agreed on-my mom and I would adventure out at 3, 4, or 5 am and try to find everything we want at the best prices. Yes, I was one of those.  But this year…I'm actually going to be WORKING a Black Friday sale…on a ship!  Our ship is holding a big Black Friday deal in the photo gallery, and from what I hear, it's going to be NUTS.  The bad thing…no shopping for me. The good thing? I guess I'll be saving myself some money, right? lol

Thanksgiving is also going to be really weird.  It's strange to be in such a warm place for the second time in a year celebrating Thanksgiving away from my family.  Holidays have always been a bit of an issue for me  because my family is…special. I'll just leave it at that.  I know that the people reading this are my friends (because you had to get the special invite from me) but I still don't want to blab about my family issues on here. You can ask me personally if you want to know about that. It's a long story anyway.    Still, despite holidays not really being my favorite thing, it's kind of strange to celebrate them on a ship with a lot of people who don't believe the same things that I do. Christmas is very special to me…there is a lot of meaning behind it. There is no one else on the ship like me-or in the world for that matter-but there are many people with completely different values and morals than me.  I have had some great talks with people about life, heaven, etc. and for that, I am very thankful.  However, I haven't had the same talk with someone like I could have back home, and I desperately miss it. I miss having Bible study, I miss going to church…there is nothing on the ship except one group who gets together when I'm working!  I did find two guys who wanted to do a Bible study with me maybe, but we have such different schedules, it hasn't really worked out. And with all the bad stuff happening back home right now, I really just need a group of people who think like me…

The cruise this week is full of families, and they have all spent a lot of money to get here. So they are very crazy about their money, and a little snippy.  They are always ready to complain if something isn't the way they want, and one lady tried to kill people yesterday!  Let me tell you what happened…

When we set up for a photo shoot, there is a green screen, and then two light stands on each side with a stand, light and umbrella.  We nicely ask each person to walk around the lights so they don't hurt anyone. This lady came up and tried to skip the line. I said to her, "Miss, you are able to skip the line, but I just need you to wait until your turn and then you can just go on right through."  The lady looked at me, saw me setting up the next family on the green screen, and decided to plow right through, cutting across the light stand.  The light stand tipped over, and almost hit a lady in a wheelchair. I caught the light stand in my hand and said, "MISS! MISS! You can't do that!"  The lady turned around, glared at me and snapped, "YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER" and then kept going!  As though it was my fault she skipped the line!  That's just an example of some of the crazy things people say.

I have to go and pay some bills now, and I'm running out of time. I only have a two hour break all day today, and I spent some of it eating, and I'll have to walk back soon to the ship (we go across the street to Whole Foods to get Internet) where I have to send all my stuff through a x-ray machine and wait in a super long line (there are about 2,400 guests this week or something like that, so the lines are nuts).

Wackiness at its best! I am currently sitting on another photographers lap as we ride to the luau to take pictures. There are so many photographers now that we can't all sit in the car without putting me on someones lap. And I'm in a dress!