2009 In Review

WOW!! I can't believe I am writing to you in the year 2010! It's amazing how quickly time flies. As I was reviewing my planner this past week at work nearly every day was scribbled in with one type of appointment or another. I meant to bring it home to use it to blog about the past year but I'll try and do my best here. Just a quick recap of a few of the highs and lows of the year.

January

Obama was put into office. Could it really have been a year ago? I was sick most of the month and spent it working and hanging out with Dave most of the time.

February

Flew to Oregon. bought my new Mac! Got to eat Washington apples in the state of Washington.

March

Dave and I are stopped being friends. I guess he got tired of me.

Went to Vegas to enjoy a weekend trip with the girls.

April

Went to a Britney Spears concert. Judge me if you want, I had a great time!

May

28th-30th had a surprise visit from Matthias. He came into town to see the Superbike World Championships and he got me tickets and passes to go with him! I hadn't seen him in over 5 years.

June

Ben & I stopped being friends. Flew to Vegas for Jade's homecoming from Taiwan.

July

Watched the fireworks from the

foothills that overlooked the valley. We got to enjoy 4 fireworks shows from one spot for free with no crowds of people.

6th-Went to Bear Lake for Rita Bita's birthday.

15th- I bought my new car dubbed Fancy Nancy

15th- got a call from the Dr. telling me they thought I had Cancer and that I needed to come in for further testing and to get a biopsy.

22nd-ish my sister Irene flew to Utah/Idaho for a few weeks. I took her to outdoor concerts, the pioneer day parade, and to climb a mountain. Drove her up to Idaho to see our sister Marie and we went to Jackson Hole for the day.

28th- woke up in excruciating pain and spent the rest of the day in the hospital. Spent the next week going to other dr's appointments and getting tested. They found out I have gastritis, and lots of large cysts on my ovaries. There were other things as well but I can't remember.

August

1st- moved into an apartment all by myself for my first time ever. I was done with roommates and just wanted to live by myself not having to move every year because of other's situations. Also the start of having no internet for the next three months.

16th had my biopsy and flew out to San Diego for a care free weekend with one of my most favorite people ever. I also got to see the San Diego temple for the first time in person. My brother was in Utah when I flew back from San Diego and I got to hang out with him for a few days.

September

3rd- I was broken into by a random drunk guy. Decided that living by myself was not a good idea for the time being 5th- I cut my hair into two ponytails. One 12 inches and the other 15. Also, I can't remember if it was August or September but Jade once again displayed her love and devotion to me by brining back BLUE BELL ICE CREAM from her adventures in Dallas. (this must have been august but oh well. September is lacking for pictures.)

October

Moved in with Raquel and Rita. Rita went to Jordan to visit her boyfriend and ended up not coming back to the States once she got engaged. Went to a random Halloween party with Raquel and Brit.

November

Flew to Houston for my 25th birthday and Thanksgiving. I got the Swine Flu as an early birthday present. I was miserable for close to 2 and a half weeks.

December

Flew to Houston again for Christmas. Spent close to 2 weeks there and I was in Heaven getting to see old friends and my wonderful family! Rita also surprised up from Jordan for the holidays. She flies back out in Jan.

Well, it's been a great year! Everyone keeps saying 2009 was bad and that 2010 will be so much better. All I have to say is that 2009 was divine for me... and if it only gets better from here... I am one lucky girl and I just can't imagine the wonderful things that lay ahead in the next 12 months!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas. Here are a few images that describe this year's Christmas to me.

Loved the children everywhere. Loved the parents. Love the whole family and being back in Texas.

Best Christmas Ever...

Why I Love Life: Dec 6-Dec 9

Sunday Dec 6:The chance to start over fresh again with the partaking of sacrament. Fast and Testimony meeting. Hugs from wonderful worthy priesthood holders. Someone calling me cute in my singles ward. A wonderful lesson in a friends R.S ward about how much women need R.S, how R.S. needs us... and how we need to do our visiting teaching. A hilarious discussion on pee cups.

Monday Dec 7: A small box of charleston chews (my favorite candy) waiting for me on my desk when I walked into work. FHE. Up. Good friends and good roommates.

Tuesday Dec 8: A job. electricity. a washer and dryer in my apartment.

Wed Dec 9: Doctors. Insurance. Modern Medicine. PTO so I could take off work because I had been sick all night but still get paid.

Because I want you to know I am thankful

I know the month of November is over, but I want to do something for the month of December most of you did last month. I was in such a foul mood the week week/week and a half I decided that I needed to realize all the wonderful things in my life and focus on them more than I have.

I also know I would go insane if all of you stopped blogging and disappered like I did so I am going to try and blog about this. I dont think people believe me when I say I have the bEST people in my life and everyday is like christmas! I was going to try and blog everyday but we will shoot for once a week. Here are little things I am thankful for.

Dec 1 I flew back to Utah from Texas today. I called Mark last minute and he picked me up from the airport and dropped me back off at work. He also volunteered to pick me up after work and drive me home so I wouldn't have to carry my luggage around. After work he picked me up and treated me to dinner before dropping me off at home. I also had a birthday card and a little treat from McKensie waiting for me.

Dec 2 Raquel and I stayed up for several hours talking about anything and EVERYTHING. Even though we were apart for only a few days we had so much to catch up on. We sat in the living room and watched Charlie do zoomies all across the apartment and laughed until we had side stitches.

Dec 3 Today Raquel showed up at my desk with my korea starbucks coffee mug. She left for work after me and had brought me peppermint hot chocolate for no reason.

Dec 4 A lady at work left the sweetest things on my desk so they would be waiting for me when I got back into work. Because I had been sick and on vacation she celebrated my birthday a week late. She had everyone sign a birthday card and I had flowers on my desk, two loaves of pumpkin bread from hagermanns, a happy birthday banner, and a huge sign telling me to celebrate late because it was better late than never.

Dec 5- Today I was able to run errands with Raquel. We got starbucks before errands and I got a vanilla bean latte because my niece summer talked her head off about them when i was home visiting. They aren't my favorite but I was happy to drink it and think of her. I miss her. I had to go to the bank and the boy teller must have thought Raquel and I were cute because when he sent my receipt in the tube at the drive through I was also pleasantly surprised to find two LOLLYPOPS! It made my day!! As if that weren't enough, Sammy and I went shopping and I got to have one of the most amazing talks with her over dinner. When I got home I opened the belated birthday card and found the sweetest message inside. I nearly cried. 19 positive things about me. I am lucky to have such wonderful friends who love and support me.

There is so much more but these are just highlights. I'm a lucky girl am I not?

Sigh... because I haven't updated...

So I have had several requests to update my blog. I haven't updated because I've felt really negative lately. No one likes a negative blogger. That, and I've had swine flu for the past week. It has been a hard week for me for sure. I wasn't feeling well for a few days and finally decided to go to the doctor's before heading home for the holidays. I was vomiting, running a fever, freezing cold, extremely dizzy, and sooooo much more. I knew I had to have it checked out but I never guessed it was the swine flu! And to think... I had been to work for the previous two days because I thoughtI was just being a baby. Once home I slept most of the time. I sure am glad I decided to spend hundreds of dollars to come and sleep on an uncomfortable day bed instead of being in my own bed asleep... I felt like a stranger in my own home town. Everything has changed. Everything is bigger. There are freeways everywhere and stores everywhere and I hate it. It looks trashy, and dirty, and cluttered. I hate it.

I was only awake for about 45 minutes on thanksgiving day. Friday was about the same. I slept for so long that I decided I would not take my medicine for my birthday because I wanted to be awake. It was the wrong decision. There were several nice people that decided to send me text messages and facebook messages but with the exception of two people... my best friends and those closest to me, those that REALLY know me... failed to acknowledge me and to top it off my own family was rude to me. Bottom line, being awake and sick only intensified all my feelings and anxiety of waiting for people to call that never called. I should have slept!

I take that back... My parents were great!!!! They took me to starbucks and then to sushi for my birthday. My siblings were another story. I decorated my own cake and when it came to my birthday dinner no one acknowledged me or said happy birthday. It was one awkward unhappy birthday for sure.

So on top of the fact that I felt about ten minutes away from death, I felt very alone in a house full of strangers with no connection to the outside world. I felt forgotten, uncared for, and alone and it was the worst feeling I've felt in a long, LONG time. I went to my room and silently sobbed for quite some time.

I felt tired when I finally stopped crying. I wondered why I spend time and money and energy on people who couldn't take ten seconds out of their day to send a simple text message or even a facebook remark when people who barely know me found the time! This really was quite the pity party that finally made me raging mad.

The next day brought some happiness and clarity. Maybe it was the fact it was the sabbath day. I love Sundays. I realized that everyone is on vacation and of course I am the last thing they are thinking about. It doesn't matter that I've thrown people parties or that I've gone out of my way to make their day special.... this is NOT a competition and friendship is not conditional. All I wanted was to be remembered and acknowledged and I know that when/if these people remember.... they will feel bad. And you want to know WHY they will feel bad? BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T MEAN IT . No one meant to forget me and my siblings are generally really amazing to me. No one intentionally set out to hurt me... and if that is the case, why was I mad? You are a fool if you are offended over something that was never meant to be offensive. Even more importantly is that I am constantly grateful for the wonderful people that surround me. They do wonderful things to me every single day, and every single day feels like Christmas. If it isn't a call or a text or a random treat.... it is something infinitely better. So you see, if people are nice to me 99% of the year...does it really matter that they missed ONE day of my life? I would think not.

The overall negative attitude has stayed with me, but I really do feel a lot better. And furthermore, this was not pointed at anyone. I know if you read my blog I trust you to read it. It means I care about you and I know you sincerely care about me too! So... thanks for reading my blog. And thanks for letting me talk about my negative attitude.

World Series

It's no secret my passion in life is baseball. As I sat here watching game 6 I couldn't help but shed a few tears as the Yankees won. Even though I slightly despise the Yankees, I love a few select players and anytime someone wins lately I cry. I cry because I'm happy. Can you imagine how amazing it would be to be a member of a world series winning baseball team? I am envious that I have never done anything like that in my life. There is always a pang of jealousy. Congrats Yankees!!

Pretty Much....

I am in love with Andy Pettite.

Pictures.

Im kind of in a crummy mood but Im listening to wonderful music and thinking of pictures that made me laugh/smile. Here are some of them. There are a million of family that are missing because they are on my other computer and I have yet to transfer music/photos from my old computer to my new mac....but here are some pictures old and new. Most of them you have probably seen before but these are some of my favorites....though the ones of me are not the best...but it's about the situation and who I'm with that counts.

Goodbye October, I hardly knew you

I love October. October makes me so incredibly happy. It brings with it change. Those who know me know it is hard for me to change. I am so loyal to something I'll stay with it forever, even if I shouldn't. Sprint can attest to that! However, when change is thrust upon me I often welcome it with open arms and embrace it. I rejoice in it. October means September is over. I don't know why but September had a bad wrap in my eyes. I don't enjoy it, and as Green Day put it, " Wake me up when September ends." October is there to the rescue. It brings down the temperatures, the leaves start changing, and along with a new season comes a change of clothing. Oh how I love October! And...it has gone too quickly. I barely knew it was here and it left.

It's not that I don't like November, the month of my birth... but with it brings too many holidays, too much chaos.... oh how I long for October again, or at the very least, April.

So, It's been a While

Hey there! Sorry I haven't written... but as I've said I don't have the internet and it takes some time to go somewhere that DOES have the internet. Just wanted to say I am alive and doing well. I am so excited the leaves have started to change colors. Oh how October and fall as some of my favorite things here in Salt Lake.

Blast

So after church we had a mingle. Being new to the ward, I thought mingling could be fun. When I was done mingling I found a member of the bishopric and handed him my tithing. He didn't know me (or i him) so we talked for about ten seconds. While we were talking another member of the bishopric came up. I assumed he was coming up to talk to the other bishopric member. B.M #1 introduced B.M #2 to me.

B.M #1 " This is Mandi."

B.M #2 "Yes. I know. I actually came to talk to her."

Me. "What? I don't think we've met. Do I know you?"

B.M #2 "No. But I know you. I've seen you around and heard you in class. Will you speak on Sunday?"

Me What? .....ugh. Yes.

Blast! I have been really "lucky" in that I spoke twice the year I turned 12. After that I never spoke in church again until I moved to Utah ten years later. When I moved here I spoke almost immediately and haven't spoken since. It's been 3 years. Blast. I don't know why speaking in church has such a bad wrap. It really isn't that big of a deal right? Hmmmm....