So, the first two weeks I was here were.... shall we say, not fun. I was sick, I was friendless, and bored out of my mind. I went from designing and directing full-on shows, totally loving it, to being surrounded with cardboard boxes and no incentive to do much of anything. I knew that I would get involved in things in time, eventually make friends, etc, but sloshing through the empty time was not enjoyable.
Then the heavens opened.
That first weekend I was dying to go to church-- to have that structure I've always had (even when I was 6,000 miles away and speaking Chinese). We had sacrament meeting first, and when it was over, a whole family immediately walked over to meet "Eric's darling wife". I'm so happy that Eric is a nice person, because everyone treated me the same way he treats them. They were so kind, so super friendly, and so cool, and I felt at home. After chatting for a bit, Eric and I went to find the bishop to make sure our records had transferred correctly. As we were standing in the bishop's office and doing paperwork, one of the bishopric asked me what my plans were, if I was going to school, working, etc. I answered that I was finishing up school and looking for a job, so if anyone knew of a group that needed an ASL interpreter or a makeup artist, I'd be grateful for any leads. A guy standing in the room perked up and said, "Wait, makeup artist? My wife's a photographer, she's looking for one."
*Haaaaaaalelujaaaaaahhhh!*
When I got to Relief Society, aforementioned wife walked right up and said, "You must be the makeup artist my husband told me about." We sat next to each other for the lesson, she pointed out who people were and explained when the teacher made references to members' backgrounds or attributes that I didn't understand. At the end of the lesson, her two daughters ran in and climbed on her lap, and she invited me and Eric to dinner at their house the following week.
I was so happy. It was a cautious hope about the venture being successful, because a lot of the time things never seem to get off the ground, or something doesn't work, but I had a glimmer. The rest of the week was still pretty boring, although Eric and I made some really good progress unpacking the house and getting the kitchen, bedroom, and study set up. Nothing much happened with the photography stuff that week, since the photographer (named Kiwi Ashby) was really busy, so I set about finding other things to do on my own. I contacted a few local theaters, photographers, talent indrustries, etc. and found a photographer who was willing to trade his photographs for my portfolio in exchange for a session of free makeup for his subject. (That's actually still in the works, we're going to try to do a photo shoot next week if I can find a couple to be our models.)
We had dinner together the following Sunday, and BAM, things started happening. After dinner we chatted about her business, and talked about how she booked sessions and what kind of people she usually works with. She does mainly high school seniors' pictures, as well as newborn & mom photos. I volunteered to do a free trial-type makeup for one of her sessions, and she had an idea to ask 2 girls who had already booked a session that coming week if they would like their makeup done then. Soon after, she found another client who was interested in having a makeup artist, and willing to pay for one! So this week, I did 3 girls' makeup for their Senior Portraits, and it turned out beautifully. *happy grin * I was actually really nervous the day of, because I didn't want to goof it up, and I didn't have the regular makeup supplies from Janet's class closet that I normally used. Matching foundation to skin tones can be really tricky, and if that doesn't match, it doesn't matter what you do to the rest of the face, because the whole thing will look weird. I had 3 bottles of foundation, and a couple cakes of creme foundation, and that was it. After I tried one mixture for the first girl, I realized the color was wrong, and I tried something else, and after that everything went smoothly. Yayyy! The girls are cute, absolutely adorable, and super nice, and their pictures looked great. I'll be posting stuff for you guys to see when I get the final pictures back.
- - - - - - If you're on a time crunch, you can pause here - - - - - - -
Posting:
Speaking of posting..... They'll be posted on my new website! Eric has been working tirelessly to help me build a website to feature my portfolio, and he's done amazing work. It's SO awesome to be married to such a smart guy. He's really dug in and worked out what needs to be done, and how to do it in an organized way. If he doesn't know something, he's super good at finding documentation and teaching himself how to do it. I love my hubby :) .
Thus, MarieSteckJohnson.com is in the process of being built. Eric is working on the behind-the-scenes programming, and I'll be designing the front end. When it's all done, you'll be able to see the artistic mischief that I've been up to :). (As I was talking to various artists and photographers, everyone kept asking to see my website, so I finally decided I should get one. I started using one of those free template-sites, but the elements they had weren't robust enough for the format I wanted and the amount of pictures I needed.)
In other slightly related news, I have decided upon a mantra: "Good things come to those who volunteer." It's amazing. I've been volunteering to do lots of various kinds of things, and every time I have, good things have happened without me doing anything. Volunteered to do the makeup for the 2 senior girls: Their moms both tipped me. Did another senior's makeup for a reduced price: her mom gave me an incredible idea. Took that idea and volunteered facepainting at the Harry Potter midnight premier: Got 4 free movie tickets and an invitation to come back. So awesome! Eric and I had really been wanting to go see Cars, but decided that we should wait so that we wouldn't push our budget after moving so soon.... and now we can see it for free!
Story continues in the next post "Potter Mania"
Story continues in the next post "Potter Mania"
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