SO many emotions and exciting memories are overflowing my head right NOW.  I am on an ultimate HIGH and I don’t know when it will stop.  I left Miami and the Bahamas with not just another workshop and wedding with amazing imagery, I left with more amazing friends and a closer family.

Scott Robert Bahamas Workshop (Missing a few in this picture!)

I am so thankful for being able to fly to Miami and the Bahamas, help assist world class photographer, Scott Robert Lim with a wedding, and be able to attend an amazing, unforgettable workshop!!!  When I first go to Miami, I blogged about the beginnings of my journey up until that moment, December 14, 2011: http://www.michellenicoleblog.com/2011/12/how-did-i-get-here/ .  Since I got back, my younger brother’s birthday came and went, Christmas passed, and now I’m wrapping up things for the new year – 2 0 1 2.

**W A R N I N G** This is an ultra LONG post, and it’s only Part 1!

Rewind the cassette tape for a few minutes, er… several hours, let me share with you the journey-

I took American Airlines SFO > LAX > MIA > NAS.  Yes, tons of layovers, but it was one of the cheapest flights at the times I wanted.  I knocked out on my way over from SFO to LAX, but from LAX to Miami, I sat next to a really awesome girl.

It was fate – an elderly took her spot, and so she was stuck sitting next to me for the next few hours.  She was very apologetic for the mixup, and I was extremely tired – all I wanted to do was sleep.

I kept assuring her that “it’s ok!!”.  After napping for a bit, we both kind of woke up, and turbulence started to settle in.  As I tried to help ease her fear, she also offered her shoulder to sleep on.  I learned that she’s currently attending UCR and she’s on her way to spend Christmas in Panama.  She didn’t have anything else on her, so I offered to let her play with my iPad.  Things led to another, and I just showed her some of the work that I do.  And then, she saw my name and as like “omg, my name is Michelle, too!”.  Long story short, her name is Michelle Stephanie.  🙂  Wishing you the best of luck in SD, Riverside, and Panama – and I’m waiting for your email to send you a pic of Hawaii!  xoxo

We arrived at MIA, and with the “big sister” mentality that I have, I wanted to make sure everything was OK before we parted ways.

I met up with Scott at MIA, we caught up from the last time we saw each other, and then we took a mini plane to NAS – Nassau, Bahamas.

On our way!!!!!

One hour later, we were finally in the Bahamas.  After baggage claim, passing customs, getting to Atlantis (btw, thank you Kathy + Rob, I love Atlantis!) we went out to eat dinner.  We went to the Marina Village, where we had some Bohemian food and some fried conch – conch is one of the seafoods the Bahamas is known for!  It’s kind of like a glorified calamari.  We experienced the Junkanoo (pictures of a Junkanoo later in this post) at the restaurant, extremely loud, fun, exciting, all smiles.  Scott and I discussed my next passions and where I want to take my photography career.  For my fans and avid readers, that, I will share for another blog entry 😉  STAY TUNED!.  We also discussed the photography industry and where it looks like it’s heading.  Looks like 2012 will HAVE to be the year!  After, I was stoked and I ordered new business cards to have by the time I returned home.

Sunday, December 11th, was fun filled and awesome.  While waiting for Gurm to arrive, we ran into the wedding party for Kathy and Rob, and we all headed to the Cloisters for their rehearsal.  The location was breathtaking and beautiful.  Loving.  Amazing.  Gurm arrived and we all met up with the wedding party for their rehearsal dinner at Poop Deck.

Monday, December 12th was Kathy and Rob’s day!  I am so happy for these two – learning about their families in the past few days really brought more meaning to the couple.  The family was also very accommodating and fun!  Tuesday, December 13th, we did a session for the two.  See more in one of my next blog entries!

Wednesday, December 14th, Scott, Gurm, and I had a little bit of time to hang out at the pool and we rode ALL of the rides at Atlantis.  ALL.  It was great!  Here’s a video of what it’s like to go through their Shark Tank ride:

You’ll see that Scott and Gurm are in this video.  So are the little sharkies all around the tank!  Hi Sharkies!

Evening came and we had to say goodbye to Atlantis and we headed back to Miami in the evening.  We stayed at the Beacon Hotel, owned by Gloria Estefan and also ate at her restaurant, Larios.  Delish food.  We met Diem Nguyen from Texas here at the restaurant.  I also met Ashleigh Wells and her husband Bryan on the way out.  This is when we began more deep conversation and talked about life.  (cassette tape pause!)  I know it’s not likely for everyone to just travel places as they please.  Even when I was working, well, my time off was when I took it and when it was available.  Accommodating to my coworkers and peers, my travel itinerary was based upon what I saved up for my trip to ________ (you fill in the blank).  I honestly still can’t believe I’m here and I thank every one, every moment, every step, financial support, and everything I have. (cassette tape, un-pause).  After Larios, we wandered around South Beach Miami.

Filled with the awesome neon lights, South Beach was nothing like I imagined.  Although there were tons of tourists missing, I could understand the hustling, the aggressiveness, the sexy, beautiful people that flourish this city every year.  The weather was still great, yet a little chilly.  Great enough to enjoy some drinks at Ocean’s Ten for their HH.

Thursday came, people were still arriving.  The party was still rocking.  Lunch was there, B (Bandele Zuberi) from the UK arrived as well as Heather Ou from New York.  Joseph Abenhaim from SF, Marie Lyssa Doremus from Montreal and Toronto, Canada.  Pretty much everyone was there.  Dinner was at Oceans Ten and we enjoyed a live band, food, and some coffee.  The night ended with some Salsa dancing where we danced the night away until 3:30am!

The next morning, we all had some breakfast, and packed our bags and left the Beacon Hotel in South Beach Miami.  Onward to the Carnival Cruise!!!

While we were checking in, we had one issue.  It wasn’t good either – one of our members, Diem, lost his booking.  Lyndsey went to go help him out while we all sat around waiting for the two – the whole entire ship was booked.  Every.  Single.  Room.  We didn’t know what to do – he had his confirmation number and everything – and Carnival dropped his booking.  So we waited, and waited, hoping for the best.  As we realized that one of the girls had a room to ourselves, we were able to bring Diem in.  As we all celebrated, Diem, relieved, we went onto the boat and enjoyed lunch together.  Yum, first buffet lunch! (pause – so… there were so many different life events that pressed against Diem.  You’ll read them as the story unfolds.)

Shortly after, we started lecture.  Had dinner, and then we started shooting for a bit afterwards.  Here’s Scott teaching us how to use OCF (Off Camera Flash).

When we finished, well – the night was not done after dinner, or even after shooting.  The night continued on as we hit the one and only cruise ship club!  Danced the night away, grabbed some pizza and called it quits for the night around 4am.

Then next morning, we were in Nassau, Bahamas!  YAY!  We were just here!

Well, we started off with an early morning lecture.  There, we had an early morning wake up by a surprise NEW lecture!!  All new material, all fun and exciting, and all… ALL BRAND NEW.  Did I say it was brand new?  BRAND NEW!  Anyway, that started off our day.  We got to hear Gurm, B, and Tauran speak over the past two days and hear their journeys from how they started until where they got to – today.

Once lecture was over, we headed off onto the island!  We went to Cloisters (again) because it was so beautiful!!  While heading out to our next location, Diem started walking backwards.  I, obviously was goofing around and didn’t pay attention to where he was walking.  Flailed his arms, fell down a few steps and almost tumbled down a mountain of stairs.  I was in shock.  Luckily, Diem was fine, just another heart attack #2.  Then headed to the Ocean Club on Paradise Island and shot on their beautiful luscious beach!  We had a lot of fun on the beach.

The girls also enjoyed their Sports Illustrated photo shoot!

Lyndsey, Diem, and I left a little bit earlier after the shoot.  Carnival broke Lyndsey’s luggage, but fortunately, Carnival was willing to reimburse her – so we went on a mission, it was almost 5:30pm.  The “touristy” shops were closing and we had no idea where to go.  Our Taxi Driver, Abraham (Yes, Diem, that is his REAL name), took us to a nearby local mall.  It was great.  Diem, Lyns, and I were immersed in the culture.  We got to see the local homes, go so shopping, and find a luggage – score!  As we headed back to the ships, we didn’t want to go on just yet.  We decided to mess around with some OCF in front of the boats.  Lyns was OH SO SEXY, and we were all coming out of our shells after we went to the mall.  Lyns also hurt herself on a rope (actually, I think the one right above her).  What kind of water did they feed us?  *wiggly fingers*

We got in, safe and sound.  Got ready and made our debut at the Captain’s Dinner!  We had… lobster tail!

And of course, no night is complete without dancing!

Lecture the next day was great.  Lyssa finished the day with a remarkable talk.  I watched her speak in NYC (her part 1), Paris (her part 2), and now Bahamas (Part 3).  Hearing all three different aspects of her story, life, and inevitable growth makes me feel inspired to try everything new.  She created an exercise during her talk to help us understand ourselves better.  She also had a giveaway, “Creative Thinkering”, by Michael Michalko.  Everything was all into play, and Lyssa was now giving back things that her mentors were teaching her.  She was using her learnings to help all of us find our own paths to extraordinary.  Amazing and beautifully done.

The evening ended with sadly, one last dinner.  A magic trick.  Fish that wasn’t so yummy.  A re-order of new food.  More food.  Appetizers galore.  And so forth.  Laughing continued – actually, I don’t remember a time when I’ve ever laughed so hard (and cried from laughing too hard!) in an entire weekend.  These friends sure know how to bring it out in me!

So we shot for a little bit with our models.

When we finished, we all hung out.  Then Tauran, Gurm, and B started to get into a big debate about morality, all started over Disneyland.  Tuned out, Lynds and I were destined to do a project.  She suggested to plank earlier in the evening – and so we continued until 6am.  Yes.  6 AM.  26 and 28 year olds went planking.  All over the boat.  You name it, we did it there.  😉

With a wink of sleep, we all packed and said our farewells.  We knew this wasn’t our last and only farewell, this was just a farewell until the next time we saw each other.  It was an incredible weekend, with so many memories, it was really hard to say goodbye.  These people hit home for me, they are inspiration, joy, friends, and family.  And Scott is like our photography father to all of us – he mentored each and every one of us.  He gives us a taste of the extraordinary life by taking us on these workshops.  Look at where we are now.

I really have to give a HUGE shout out and thank you to Scott Robert Lim.  Had I not found him and stalked him since 2004, and started to take his workshops in April 2010, I would not be here today.  I definitely wouldn’t have this loving family, and I wouldn’t have had a crazy ab workout this past weekend.  You know where you’ve taken each and every one of us – I wish more people could realize and see the potential and light you bring to each and every one of us.  It’s a gift from heaven.  If this journey to greatness is going to be long, dark, but yet, life changing in the end, I’m in for it 110% of the way.  I’m invested.  I’m there.  Ok, I’ll do it.  I’m taking the risk.  What more is there to lose?

Your life is fulfilled life in the end with all your dreams come true.  Just like going to Disneyland, except you don’t have to wish upon a star anymore – you’re making it happen.

I’ve learned that this journey is going to require a lot more of me for 2012.  I don’t know what – but I know I’ll be working with beautiful Brides in 2012!  Will you be one of them?

And for my fans, friends, family, and everyone else out there – it’s never too late to pursue your dreams.  I know every single one of you is 1) either achieving your dreams now or 2) working somewhere that isn’t towards your dream.  Do you have a dream?  I do.  I have big dreams.  I know some of you (friends) have dreams too.  I’ve talked to you about them and I enjoy hearing about it!  I encourage it, just like I encouraged my old team members to grow and hit their potential on the Moxy Team.  You begin to see reward, and then, you achieve more.  It may take an entire lifetime to get there, and maybe financially unstable, but you will be fulfilled every step of the way.  I guarantee it.

Here’s the theme song to our trip: