Livin' Laughin' Lovin'

Slacker here...

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:37:00 +0000

Wow! Apparently, I've been quite the slacker at keeping up with my blog. I just realized that it's been 4 months since I last blogged. It's not because I've been super busy or anything. I'm guessing it's from lack of motivation. In the next few days or so, I'll try my best to update you on what's been happening in my life. Don't hold it against me if it takes a week. I mean it's been 4 months...what's another 4 days right?

I'm a busy girl

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:31:00 +0000

This week is a very busy week for me. Last night, the girls and I attended the first girls volleyball game of the season at Grace. They won all three games! Tonight was bib assembly for the Marathon. It went so smoothly and we all got home way earlier than last year. And I'm excited for tomorrow night when Angie, Sarah and I head to the River City Roundup. Those of you not from around here, that means a rodeo and a concert. Taking the stage is Rodney Atkins. :) Hopefully, there will be pics to share. Friday is going to a busy day of gathering all the much needed supplies for the Marathon. Saturday is the Marathon Expo and Pasta Party...aka very busy day. And finally, Sunday is race day for the OMAHA MARATHON. So if you don't hear from me for a few days, that is why. :) Here's a pic from after the game last night. Enjoy!

Angie, Tara, Judah (official Grace mascot), Sarah & Me

I'm still here...

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:14:00 +0000

That's about it...I'm still here. Haven't had too much excitement since the last post. Well, actually, the gang and I went to Kansas City in August for our second annual day at Worlds of Fun! That was a great time had by all! Then the next day, I participated in a community outreach project with my church and several other churches in the Omaha area called Step Out. We basically just completed projects through out the Omaha and surrounding communities to clean up our neighborhoods. My group of about 10 people went to a park here in Bellevue. We cleaned out the old mulch from about 30 pine trees, put new mulch back down and trimmed the trees a bit. The rest of my time (well my evenings anyway) has been devoted to the Omaha Marathon. This year an added task of mine is to enter all the offline race registrations into our online database at active.com. The task hasn't been too bad. We're beginning to get down to crunch time. Last week, we stuffed 2500 race packets. So far our numbers are close to 1900 and we are still 2 weeks til race day. September 28 will be here before we know it.

P.S. If anyone is reading this and wants to come volunteer, let me know! I have so much fun and have met lots of great people!

Wolf Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:35:00 +0000

Two weeks ago, I was in Stanton, NE for Becky & Tate's wedding. My friend, Andrea, and I traveled out there together. Since there is no where to stay in Stanton, we stayed in Norfolk 10 miles away. We were supposed to have one room with two double beds. When we checked in, they said they were negative for that. So they gave us two rooms with king size beds for $25/room a night. It was a pretty sweet deal...had the whole room to myself. I don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel room alone before. It was kinda nice and I didn't have to clean up.
Again, here's what you're waiting for:

Becky patiently waiting for the ceremony to begin
me & the beautiful bride (I got to be one of two personal attendants)
Madi & I (a co-worker's daughter)
the happy couple at the end of the night

Thanks for letting me be apart of your special day!!

Garrison Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:21:00 +0000

Sorry it's been almost a month since my last post. It's been a busy month or at least it seems like it.

Anyone who's been reading this knows that I took the train out to Colorado at the end of July for Sam & Mike's wedding. I left Omaha on Tuesday, July 22. My train was supposed to leave at 10:40pm that night. It was running late and I was expecting that. My friends told me that it's always late when they take it. It rolled into Omaha about 11:05pm. We (as in me and the passengers in Omaha) boarded the train shortly after that and finally rolled out of Omaha at 11:30pm. The train was pretty crowded when it got to Omaha. The guy telling people where to sit (not sure what his title is) said there were only 9 seats left on the train. Amtrak has been extra busy since the high price of gas. I found my seat (there are two seats together and I had to share b/c it was so full), put my stuff away and made myself comfortable. I managed to stay awake for a bit, but eventually fell asleep. It was a pretty rough ride going out. My seat was on the end of the car. That meant you felt all the jerking even more and heard all the clanking where the cars are connected. People had to go through our car to get to the dining car to go eat breakfast. So when you're trying to sleep, they are in and out and the doors are opening and closing. This being my first time on the train, I didn't really know what to expect. It took a bit longer getting to Denver that it was supposed to. I was supposed to get in at 7am I believe, but didn't get to Union Station until 8:30am. Once we were there, it didn't take long to get luggage. Then Sam picked me up at 8:50am and it was off to have some fun. The rest of the week was spent preparing things for the wedding and just hanging out. There wasn't enough time to do any touristy things. That just means I have to go back. Here's what you've been waiting for....pictures:

The Garrison's:Dajana, Sam & Mike

Grace U Reunion: me, Sam & Sara (Hackett) Manning

me & Theo (Sara's son)

Jarod, Dajana & Autumn
Sarah, me, Sam, Vanessa, Dajana & Autumn

I was there til Monday night and managed to keep myself occupied until then. My train was almost 2 hours late getting into Denver. We finally left for Omaha at 10:00pm. This time I had a seat in the middle of the car and I had both seats to myself. The Garrison's and I went to Target on Monday afternoon and purchased a book to read on the train. So I read for probably two hour before turning out the light and settling in for the night. Let me just say that it was a totally different experience heading home. We arrived in Omaha about 8:30am and Angie picked me up shortly after. All in all, it was a really good trip. I'd definitely take the train again even though it was so late every time. It was definitely cheaper than driving. Thanks again to Sam & Mike for toting me around. And to Jim and Sandy (Sam's parent's) for letting Jarod (Sam's brother), Autumn (Jarod's fiance), Sarah and I take over their car for the weekend. We were all staying at different people's houses and didn't have our own cars. Can't wait for my next trip to COLORADO. Oh yeah, never really got to see the mountains except from a far. Little bit of a disappointment, but the trip wasn't about me. It was about spending time with friends. Just a quick note, I was honored to attend the guestbook at the wedding, light the candles for the ceremony and attend the guestbook/gift table at the reception. Thanks for asking me to be apart of your special day!

Countdown is over!

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:28:00 +0000

Tonight's the night I leave for Colorado. My train doesn't leave until 10:39 tonight and I arrive in Denver at 7:15 in the morning. I'm a little anxious to leave, but I'm ready. My clothes have been packed since Sunday and only have a few last minute things to toss in my carry-on. My friend, Angie, is kind enough to take me to the train station. Thanks again! Please pray that the train is on time and that I'm able to sleep the ride to Denver. I only wish it was going to be light out so I could see things along the way. Better get things together...don't want to forget anything. I'll post again when I get back. Later!

Countdown to COLORADO!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:47:00 +0000

Eight more days until I head to Colorado. I forgot to mention in my post yesterday WHY I'm going. My friends, Sam & Mike, are getting married on Saturday, July 26, 2008. Sam and I met as freshman in college at Grace University here in Omaha. We were even roommates, along with our friend Marianne, the third year we were there.

Sam & I celebrating my 27th Birthday (2007)

Sam & Mike mini-golfing at my 27th Birthday

It's been a little over a year since I've seen them and their beautiful little girl, Dajana. That's when they moved to Colorado. Can't wait to see you guys!

10 years later...and a little more

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:37:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my last post, I headed home to Kansas for my 10 year high school reunion. We were supposed to enjoy a picnic in the city park with all the old classmates and their families. But in true Kansas form...it rained. In turn, it was suggested we head over to the city library and use a really nice room in the basement with lots of tables and chairs to enjoy our cookout. There was a pretty good turn out for the indoor picnic. To top off the evening, we had a dinner and dance at Celebrity's for the adults only. We enjoyed a delicious buffet. Julie even spent a ton of time on a great slide show. Thanks for all the hard work, Julie! After we closed down Celebrity's, we moved on down to Sundowner's (the local bar). They definitely weren't expecting such a large crowd to pack to place on a Saturday night. A second bartender was even called in to help out! We eventually closed them down too. By then, I was ready to call it a night. It was the most fun I'd had with so many people in a long time, especially ones I hadn't seen in ten years. I do have the pleasure of seeing some of them once in a while when I'm home for a visit. It was so much FUN seeing everyone and catching up on the past ten years. We've all come a long way since high school. Thanks to Julie and Amy for planning such a wonderful event! I believe a great time was had by all! Julie, hope you don't mind, but I borrowed the following picture from you! You can also see a few other pics on her page.

Class of 1998: 10 years later

The other part of my long weekend was spent with family. My mom, Sam and I spent Thursday afternoon visiting with my cousin, Randi, and her boys, Treden & AJ. Friday was spent at home just relaxing. Saturday was the Reunion. Sunday was the day my nieces finally came home. I was sad I didn't get to see them more. Hannah and Jenna have gotten so big since I was home at the end of April. Apparently, it had been a while since I was there though. My little Jenna didn't even recognize me. I guess that means I just need to go back more often. Here's a couple pics of my girls and Sam.

It was such a great time at home. I can't wait for my next trip to see the fam.

Speaking of my next trip, it's not to Kansas this time though. In nine days, I'm leaving for COLORADO!!! I'm so excited! I have never been to Colorado before EVER! It's going to be a trip of firsts. First time to Colorado, first time traveling by anything other than my car (I'm actually going by train), first time seeing the mountains (hopefully anyways!). So that means probably no posts til I get back...unless something exciting happens. Later!

Davin

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:03:00 +0000

This is Davin. He's another little boy that I babysit sometimes. He was at the birthday party, but something happened to the pic I had uploaded on the last post. So I just created a new post. Tanios and Davin are buddies because their moms are friends. It also helps they are both 4 year old boys and have everything in common. Except Davin is an only child and Tanios has two siblings. I work together at the hospital with Tanios' and Davin's moms.

An eventful Saturday...

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:50:00 +0000

I'm a little behind in my posting. Two weeks ago, I spent a very busy Saturday with lots of different people.

The first event of the day: Nita & Phil's wedding

This is actually event #3: Nita & Phil's wedding reception

Emily and Joshua (Amy & Ken's 2 month old son). Aren't they cute?

Event #2: a 4 year old's birthday party

Tanios

(It was a very hot day and he's a little tired. Too bad this was only about 30 minutes into the 3 hour party. He's the oldest of three in the family I babysit for all the time. I'll have to remember to get a pic of the rest of the kiddos when I'm there next!)

If those three events weren't enough, Emily and I even met up with our friend Nathan and went to a movie. The movie was followed up by some socializing in Bellevue. It was a good and eventful Saturday.

That's all I have for now. I'm leaving on Wednesday after work to head down to Kansas. It will be so good to get away. Haven't been home since the end of March. The main reason I'm heading south is for my 10 year high school reunion (yikes it's been that long), but I'm also going to spend time with the fam. We shall see how the whole weekend pans out. See you when I get back.

Together Again....

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:35:00 +0000

Back together again...Over the Memorial Day weekend, Shaunna & Tom (her husband) and Christi & Robert (her husband) were in Omaha visiting. We were able to spend the evening together enjoying each others company with dinner at Spaghetti Works and then a stroll around Heartland of America Park down in the Old Market.

Angie, me, Christi & Shaunna-in front of a fountain at ConAgra

Us almost 2 years ago at Shaunna & Tom's wedding in Minnesota

Two years is a long time. Hopefully it won't be that long before we're all together again. I love you guys!

Story of yesterday....

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:29:00 +0000

So after work yesterday, I drove over to Council Bluffs, IA to gas up my car. Why IA you might ask? Because gas there was $3.58 and it was $3.75 in Omaha. You'd go to IA, too! On my way back, I was driving along and came upon a slower driver. As I came upon this other driver, I saw something laying in the road in the middle of the two lanes. In attempting to go around the driver, I moved over enough so I wouldn't run the object over. Just as I was about the pass him, I start hearing something metal scraping against the road...and it's coming from my car! At this point, I'm not sure what to think except I have to pull over and I hope it's not my tire. I manage to get pulled over on to the shoulder of the interstate. (I think I forgot to mention it was the interstate) When there's a break in traffic, I get out to inspect the damages, not knowing what I'm going to discover. I walk around the front of my car to discover a metal rod or post. I'm not entirely sure what it was. I popped the hood to make sure it didn't puncture anything important like the radiator. Thankfully it hadn't. Then, I attempted to pull it out, but it wouldn't move. It was wedged into the bumper and didn't want to come out. This was tried several times. I even tried wiggling it around. Still no use. Thankfully I had my phone with me. I called Angie at work. While I was waiting for Angie and Chris to arrive, I'm praying that no one else comes along and hits me. My car was stopped on an overpass on the interstate...not exactly the best place to be stopped but could have been worse. I also didn't like the bouncing feeling as other cars drove by me. A few minutes later, Angie and Chris were there to help or at least try. After several attempts of Chris pulling on the metal thing and Angie and I trying to hold the car still, Chris got that stupid metal thing out! THANK GOD FOR CHRIS!! Pretty sure I said "Chris, you're AWESOME!!!". Those darn fiberglass bumpers are tough. I wasn't thinking or I would have taken a picture of the stupid metal thing stuck in the bumper. But this is what my bumper looked like after the metal object was pulled out (please excuse all the dirt and bug guts...I know I need a car wash):

Praise Jesus that nothing more serious didn't happen! I'm ever so grateful to have friends that help in a time of need. Thanks to Angie and Chris for taking time away from work to help me! You're the best!

A day at the zoo!

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:05:00 +0000

On Mother's Day, some friends and I met up for an afternoon at the Henry Doorly Zoo. It was a beautiful day to be outside. Enjoy!

And these are the lovely people I spent the afternoon with: Jada, Tara, Sarah, Chris, Carissa & Angie!

So after I posted all the pics, I realized that they were all from INSIDE exhibits except for the group shot! We really did see stuff outside too. Perhaps I'll post some pics from outside exhibits soon.

Shuffleboard

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:15:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago some of us went out to celebrate our students' last day of clinical at Clarkson. Here are a few shots of our shuffleboard game:

Scott

Tate

my shuffleboard puck

Becky-a multitasker (she claims she'd never even heard of shuffleboard before that night)

Eventful Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:35:00 +0000

Here's what has happened since I last posted:

Friday, April 19, 2008-Katrina & Adam's Wedding

Saturday, April 19, 2008-Angie & I headed to Lincoln to meet up with Nathan & Kathryn to attend the annual Nebraska Red/White Game.

Memorial Stadium (a couple blocks away while we waited in line to get in)

Pre-game warm ups

Angie & I-this was my first time at Memorial Stadium!

Nathan & Kathryn

As you can see from some of the pics, there were lots of NU fans in attendance. In fact, they said there were over 80,000 fans there. CRAZY!!! After the game, we headed over to Valentino's (pizza for those who don't know) to enjoy the grand buffet. YUM!! It was such a beautiful day that we decided to head to Walmart, buy a Frisbee and then go frolic in the park. After wearing ourselves out, we went back to Nathan's for a couple rounds of cards. And because we hadn't been doing enough, we decided to meet up with a few of Kathryn's friends in downtown Lincoln. It was a busy day, but I believe a good time was had by all!

It's almost Friday, so we'll see what happens this weekend!

Congratulations!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:23:00 +0000

My friends, Amy & Ken, welcomed home a little boy this past week on April 10. His name is Joshua Atwood. Isn't that a great name? He's so precious. I was privileged to see the little family on Friday night after work for a bit. Everyone is doing great. No pictures this time, but perhaps next time. Congrats again, Amy & Ken!

O Happy day...

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:31:00 +0000

Today is special for 2 reasons:

Reason #1:
Hannah turns 6 today! Happy Birthday! I wish I could be there to give you a big hug and kiss! (I know I used this pic in a earlier post, but it was too cute to pass up) So hard to believe she's 6 already. She's getting bigger and smarter everyday! I LOVE YOU HANNAH!!

And reason #2:
Today is Mom & Dad's 34th Wedding Anniversary! Happy Anniversary! (I couldn't find a pic of them together except for this one from their 33rd Anniversary) I love you guys! Thanks for everything!

One of those days...

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:49:00 +0000

It's been one of those days. I woke up at 6:40am this morning. And what time do I start work?....6:15am. I didn't even know what to do first. When I saw what time it was, I was up, ready and out the door as soon as I could. Anyone who knows me, knows I hate being late. It only threw my day off a little, but I managed. Let's just hope it doesn't happen again tomorrow.

Travel anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:08:00 +0000

It's here!!! My very first passport arrived today. Let the traveling begin! (can you tell I'm excited?!) Hopefully, I'll be putting it to good use at the end of the year when some friends and I head out on a cruise!

A weekend spent in Kansas

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:42:00 +0000

Two weekends ago, I took a couple days off and spent the weekend in Kansas visiting the family. The purpose of the trip was to see the nieces for their birthdays. Jenna turned one on January 10 and Hannah turns 6 on March 30.

Here are a couple pics from my time there:

Jenna sporting her sister's headband

Hannah...Miss Photogenic

Jenna chilling with Aunt Mandy

Hannah loving on her Aunt Mandy

We look nothing alike :)

A little fun to get you hooked

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:37:00 +0000

4 Jobs I've Had:
1. babysitter as a teenager
2. patient transporter for Radiology
3. Radiology Receptionist-current
4. babysitter for the Ayoub family-current

4 Movies Watched Over and Over:
1. Sweet Home Alabama
2. 13 Going on 30
3. pretty much any chick flick
4. lots of kids movies (between the nieces and my babysitting kids it's hard not to)

4 TV Shows I Watch:
1. LOST
2. Gilmore Girls
3. October Road
4. Men in Trees
5. Brothers and Sisters

4 Places I've Lived:
1. Hepler, KS
2. Girard, KS
3. Omaha, NE
4. Bellevue, NE

4 Places I've Been:
1. Dallas, TX
2. Chicago, IL
3. Marshall, MN
4. Kansas City

4 People Who Email me Regularly:
1. Susie
2. Andrea
3. Angie, Emily, Sarah & Nathan
4. my bill payment reminders

4 Favorite Things to Eat:
1. chips and salsa from Cafe Del Rio
2. pizza
3. chocolate
4. lasagna

4 Places I'd Rather Be:
1. Kansas
2. someplace warm
3. Illinois
4. sleeping

Things I Look forward to This Year:
1. spending time with the nieces
2. babysitting the Ayoub family
3. 10 year high school reunion--yikes...it's been that long!
4. Sam & Mike's wedding & going to Colorado for the first time (same trip)
5. Becky & Tate's wedding
6. Omaha Marathon 2008
7. a cruise
8. hopefully doing a better job of keeping in touch with people

Gone and done it!

noreply@blogger.com (Mandy) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:31:00 +0000

So I've been contemplating starting this blog for a while now. But I guess I- - - gol' darn gone and done it...gone and done it! (I couldn't resist that) I'll try to keep you posted as to what's happening in my life. For those of you who actually read this, enjoy!