Graceful Loser

I've now been living in my room for close to two weeks, for those of you waiting for an update and not getting one. It is a burnt orange color with gray and white. I should have included a picture for those of you not connected to me on Facebook, but I'm currently hiding from my great new room as the weather pushes 105 degrees, and my room gets even hotter than that with the sun streaming through the windows. So right now I'm sitting at my sister and brother-in-law's house, directly in front of their air conditioner, enjoying the sensation of cool comfort.

I've been working on a wedding video for friends Sam and Amanda who got married in Michigan, June 13. I think I'm more pleased with their video than I have been with any of my other wedding videos. I'll include a couple clips down below for your viewing enjoyment/critique. I'm finally able to slow down a bit and work on getting my website running with portfolio material. I need work badly, and have very little to work with these days. Some days are brimming with optimism, and other days are laced with pessimism, a sinking feeling that things just won't work. Overall, however, I really need to continue to understand that He's got it all in His control, and that my job is simply to be diligent with what he's given me. I also think I'm learning how to be a graceful loser. There have been times in my life when my handful of talents have afforded me a much greater level of success than I probably should have gotten. For instance, in highschool I could get away with practicing music very little, and still get top placements in bands and orchestras. It was an unrealistic way to learn about success and failure, and I think the last decade has been about learning how to be a graceful loser, as I've done quite a bit of losing. Let's hope I don't lose the lessons learned, no?

So yeah, please pray for jobs, people needing videography in the NorthWest. The leads I've had have fallen through, which is a bit discouraging, but there are other brides and grooms in the sea, so to speak. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Enjoy the video clips.

Cheers.

Sam and Amanda Just Married from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

This is a clip from Sam and Amanda's wedding in June of 2009. It's been a pleasure to work on this for them. Blessings all around.

Get Up Offa That Thing from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

It may have taken a short time for everybody to warm up to the dancing after the reception, but once they warmed up, it was a real party. Kudos to all the friends and fam of Sam and Amanda for cutting rugs with such fervor.

Sam is a Golf Pro from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

Day before the wedding, the boys went out for a round of golf. Sam is the man.

13872

Two weeks away from the blog

A hearty hello to everyone!

Missed another week. But with good reason.

A week and a bit ago I moved all my stuff to Portland, into my new digs. I spent the last week getting supplies (we seemed incredibly, and often frustratingly, unsuccessful getting what I wanted for a good price within certain time constraints), painting the walls, scraping, sanding, scraping, sanding, scraping, and sanding the abused wood floor in my room. The floor had something like 4 layers of paint (who in the heck paints over a beautiful wood floor!?!!!) which made for some real difficulties sanding/scraping. But, I'm proud to say that today I put the last coat of sealer on the floor, and in only one week I can move in! (Slight sarcasm, as I am pretty antsy to get moved in and start living somewhat normally. But beggars can't be choosers and I'm certainly grateful for the way God worked out this living situation. It's funny how we all can look God's gift horses in the mouth, so to speak.

So right now I'm sitting at Albina Press in N Portland, which may become my regular coffee shop as it's only 0.4 miles from my house, and has wonderful coffee. I'm glad to be able to take a step back and figure out where God has me right now. I know I haven't taken any steps backward in my life's journey, but often it seems like I'm taking a lot of steps to the side. I'm sure it's all for preparation for something else, and I'm looking forward to what that might be.

Please pray for patience as I wait another week to move in. Extra special thanks to Fritz and Shannon for putting up with me for a week, and now another week.