My New Hair

So, I was a little bored last weekend and I thought I would dye my hair. I had a dream that I did it blond and it was freaky so I decided to go darker. The only thing is that it went way darker than I thought it would.

Then I got bored again and decided to take some pictures with dark eyeliner and lipstick on and viola! Scary pics of Mandi. Anyway, I thought I would post some pics of my new hair since I realized that I haven't added new pics of myself to anything in a long time. Anyway, enjoy!

Pre-Three Day Weekend

So it is Friday and upcoming is a three day weekend - hooray! I am way excited to have a few days to relax. I was thinking about not answering my phone at all during the time off but that is a bad idea. But I will be checking my caller ID - haha. So I am over the stupid guy at work - he is a jerk. But apparently he is always a little bit unhappy so at least I know it isn't personal.

I am not really sure what else to write about - I kinda have no life. Well that is not true. I guess I have some kinda cool news - last weekend I met Mormon Royalty. On Sunday Elder Richard G. Scott came and gave a talk up near Portland somewhere to the young single adults and I met him afterwards. I even got my pic taken with him but I look really bad in it - so I will post it, but I have a little bit of photoshopping to do first. You know, red-eye removal and shiny-ness removal (it was ridiculously HOT in that building!) Other than that I have no life.

But I was thinking about something else that relates back to my Disney post. I was thinking about other movies that aren't Disney and I realized that if you really think about it almost all movies have the same effect as Disney movies. There is almost always a happy ending where things happen to work out just right, even if it is not what the characters thought they wanted, it turned out to be what the actually wanted deep down or needed. But life isn't like that. Sometimes in real life, the good guy doens't get the girl and bad guy does sometimes win. How many movies have you watched lately where things didn't turn out okay? There aren't too many! And I think that with all the hype about movies nowadays - lets face it everyone watches movies almost all the time. Honestly, if you don't know what to say to someone one of the first things you ask is "seen any good movies lately?" I just want to see a good movie where the bad guys win or everything else doesn't turn out okay.

Aaarrrggghhh!

So I am at work now and I just wanted to vent for a second. I was going about my business and I went to do something in a different part of the building and this guy had left a nasty note there about the last time we used that same thing - so he says. He said we left it a mess and it had to be us because no one else does the same thing in that area. Anyway, I am pretty sure that we haven't been over there since last Tuesday and if he didn't notice it until Friday then it probably wasn't us. But the worst part about it is that he was such a jerk, and I am so mad - mad at him for being a jerk without any real cause (even if it was us, this was the first time so get over it!) and I am mad at myself for letting him get me so worked up about basically nothing. Stupid Jerk!

How Disney ruined my life!

Basically the way that Disney ruined my life was that it ruined me for love in the rest of my life. Disney taught me that falling in love would be magical and perfect and ... well ... easy. But nothing in life is ever like that, is it? But I think that somehow I am going to meet some guy and our eyes will meet across the room and then he will sweep me off my feet and tada! LOVE! Why can't I just think that I will meet someone and we will get to know each other and then we will start to like each other and it will go from there? It has to be some perfect thing that happens and some awesome story that to tell my kids. Another thing that Disney did to me was to make me think that it is okay for women to be owned (so to speak) by men. Belle, for instance, went straight from her father to the Beast. Arielle too. And they were supposed to be the feminists! And how come all the women are beautiful, but the men are allowed to be hideous (beasts)? Grr! Stupid Disney, ruining my life ... grumble grumble grumble!

In other news, I know I haven't updated in a while, but it is cause I suck. I was told that I am not a true blogger since I don't update everyday. And although that is never going to happen, I can NOT update every day, but I can try to update more often since it has been almost a month. Work is going great - it is busy in a good way (most of the time, sometimes the days are long but ... it's work right?) I am way excited that I will be going to Utah in a few days. I only have two and a half days left at work before then! Yay! My bestest friend is getting married and I am flying in for the shortest trip ever so I can be there for it. Also, my mom will be there and my bro and his girlfriend I think, so that will be good. I won't get to see half the people I want to, but I am going to try my damndest!

I imagined that I would be happily dating someone by the time I went to the wedding so that my firned and I would have lots to girl talk about ... but still nothing. Probably because I don't make the effort to go and meet new people very often. I have went to church a few times but I keep hanging out with the BYU students that I work with so I am not really meeting any new people. I try to, but obviously not too hard. What am I going to do when they all leave? I have no friends in Oregon, and all the other people I work with (the ones who are staying) already have friends and family and lives around here so they don't want to hang out with me. Any thoughts on where and how I can meet new people?

Anyway, I have lots of things I could be doing - cleaning out my car, taking out the trash, taking out the recycling, getting groceries, working out - but I will probably go to bed instead and try to get a decent nights' sleep. Wish me luck. Maybe tomorrow I will have the energy to do the things that are on my list o' things to do. Not to mention I still need to get a few things before I leave to go to Utah that are going to come with me, but that will take a while, and I am trying to decide if I should find someone to drive me to the airport or if I should park'n'fly. Oh well, night time! Ugh, I also have to wash out my nose because I am getting phantom monkey smells! Blech!

Hard Days Night

Well, I have been quite boring lately ... well more than anything, I have been busy working all the time. Or at least that is what it feels like. It is hard because I feel like I never get to get out and meet new people or anything like that since I am always at work. Blech! But it is good because I am actually having money come in, and not just part-time custodial wages either, but actual, real money coming in! Yay! And now I can start paying off all my accrued bills!

Anyway, I am really stinky - I smell like monkey almost everyday when I come home from work! You have no idea what that means - it is bad. So anyway, I am going to shower now, I was just procrastinating. I feel really tired so I needed to do something while I got up the energy to shower. I am stupid and stayed up until like 2am last night watching 'Psych'. If you haven't seen it, it is hilarious. Luckily, I don't work until noon tomorrow so I can sleep in a little and then hopefully I won't be so tired! I am almost done my newest blankets for my friends babies - she had twins, Ryleigh and Jorja - and when I am done I will post pics on here. Well, until then!

Harry Potter and Other Updates

Well, I know I suck at updating I have gotten yelled at for this (figuratively because it was a message) and I am going to try to repent and do better. I am going to see the new Harry Potter movie tonight at 12:15 which is going to be exciting I think. I talked to my friend Chelsea who said she liked it and would recommend it. Even though she hasn't read the books and I have (several times) so she might feel different about it than I will, it is a good sign. I have liked all the movies so far, so I think this one will be enjoyable as well. Yay!

In other news (I love typing that, I feel like a newscaster!) I have been super busy at work lately. I have had a few long hard days which sucks because I come home with sore feet and stinking of monkey but I am usually too tired to try to shower. I do because I stink like monkey's but I have enjoyed less of my showers lately. Which is sad 'cause I usually enjoy showering. Oh well. Also, it sucks working for almost 12 hours in one day when I don't really get compensated for it (I am on salary). Blech!!


Other than that, work is going well. I am learning lots every day and I think they are glad to have me there. I am going to work my first weekend alone this next weekend though so we will see how it goes. But before that I get three days off which is nice.

One thing I did on my last days off was paint a picture. I will post a pic on here but it isn't going to be very good since I had to take it with my phone because my camera software is not on my new computer yet and I think it will be a while before I upload it since I am pretty sure it is in Utah. But this is the pic I took with my phone. So anyway, this is not a very good painting but since it is the first thing I have painted since I was twelve, and even then that was watercolor and this is acrylic I think it is pretty good. I am going to keep painting and hopefully improve, but that is what I did so far.

I haven't been knitting at all lately, which sucks, but I am planning on working on it soon. I have a couple of things that I want to make sure that I finish before I go to Utah in August, so I guess that means I should get working on it! I do have a few days off, so that is actually perfect.

Speaking of going to Utah in August, my best friend is getting married! Christina (there are pictures of here on here) is engaged to Matt Munyan and they are really good together. They are getting married on August 18th in the Manti temple in Utah. I am really happy for them and I am way excited to be there for it and to visit everyone in Utah. Mind you, it is going to be the shortest visit ever so I am going to have to go back some other time when I can actually take time and see everyone that I want to see. I miss all my friends in Utah :( But I am having a great time in Oregon. I love it here so far and things are going well (although lately it has been ridiculously hot and I don't have air conditioning).

Also, my brother and his girlfriend who are pregnant (which I mentioned a few posts ago) are now promised to each other too (I am not sure if that is the right terminology but whatever). Jessie's grandma gave JR a ring to give to Jessie as a sort of promise ring (I think he will want to pick out his own engagement ring for her) which is really cool. I always thought it would be better to get an heirloom ring from a guy than something he or I picked out. Anyway, that is cool news I thought. Congrats to them! I am way excited to be an Auntie and I think it is officially going to be in January sometime (I think on the 8th but I am not positive).

That is it for now. I will try to update more often .... but we will see how it goes. Maybe I will start paying for internet and then that will make it easier to update.

NEWS!!

Okay, so I have lots of little bits of news that are actually big bits of news. For one, I haven't updated in a while, and I know that, but it is because my lappy died about two weeks ago - just after I accepted a job offer in Oregon and right when I was in the middle of moving. So I had to come to Oregon, find an apartment and get all settled before I even thought about taking in my lappy. Then I finally did take it in and I find out that on top of the hinges being broken (which was an obvious thing that was wrong with it) the hard drive crashed. I decided that with all that being wrong with it that it would be more worth my money to buy a new one than it was to try to fix the old one. So, I spent a bit more than I want, but I got it for a pretty good deal. Here is a website with the specs (that isn't what I paid though - I paid less!) Here is a pic --->


In other news, I love my new apartment, even though there are some nasty lookin' spiders - blech! But I still like my apartment. It is a weird feeling to know that I live alone and there is no one else around - I am never going to have anyone walk in on me - not that I do anything that would be awkward to walk in on, but you know what I mean.

My job is okay. It is a little hectic right now since I feel a little bit lost, but I am sure that I am going to figure it out, I just need to get into the swing of things. I like it, there are just days when it is a bit overwhelming.


Lastly, I have a bit more news that is kinda in a different vein - and I am not sure if I should share but since I really don't think that many people read my blog I am going to include it anyway. I am going to be an Aunty!! My older brother JR's girlfriend Jessie is pregnant!! It is way exciting. I am planning on knitting so many little things for the baby - he/she is going to wear nothing but hand-knitted garments for the first two years of its life! Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get it. Anyway, I am off to do more things with my new lappy. Unless something happens to this lappy (I got the warranty though so it won't) I will definitely update sooner.

(Almost) My Birthday!!

Well, the title makes it obvious, but it is almost my birthday. It is actually tomorrow, which kinda sucks since it is in the middle of the week, and who wants to do anything fun in the middle of the week? No one! Everyone is always busy with work and stuff so it makes it hard. It also sucks because my mom works nights so she never wants to go and do stuff during the day (which is understandable). But is all turns out okay because my mom's birthday is two days after mine on friday, and then my younger bro's girlfriend's (Chelsea) b-day is on saturday so I think we are all going to do something fun this weekend for our collective birthdays. So that makes up for not doing anything on my exact birthday. I already got my mom and Chelsea their presents so now all I have to do is wait. Anyway, I just wanted to tell anyone who might be reading this that they should send me a present. Or money. Money is always good. Just kidding, but that is what is on my mind right now so ... yeah. And I should soon have updates up future life moves and jobs, so stay tuned!

Lost and Confused

So, I am a little lost and confused right now (hence the title). Not in the literal sense, since if I was lost literally why would I be writing in my blog, but in the more abstract sense. I am lost in my life. I am not sure what I want to do with my future, which consequently makes making decisions very difficult. For one, I have been offered a job doing research in Oregon, but I am not sure I want to take it. There are a few reasons I am not sure about this: 1) I don't think I want to do research for the rest of my life; 2) I have heard from several of the current employees that the work environment is not always ideal (to put is kindly). But if I am not going to do that, then what the heck I am going to do?? That is where the lost thing comes in. Should I take the job until I decide, or should I try to find something else that is closer to home? The thing is that I think I want to maybe go to PA shool and so I would need some patient experience, but I am having a hard time finding a job that I actually want where I could get that. I mean, I could probably work in a long term care facility, but the problem with that is that the nearest one I would have to stay at home to work at (okay, I wouldn't have to, but I wouldn't want to get an apartment in Vulcan). But if I stayed home and did that it would be good for the pocketbook (to use an old term) but it would be crappy for my social life. I wouldn't meet anyone who I think would be worth meeting (no offense to anyone in this area, but I want to meet a good mormon boy and that is hard in this area). I just don't know what to do. And I hate having to make a decision. I HATE IT!! Any thoughts or suggestions would be great!

Knitting

Finally, I was able to upload pictures of my most recently finished knitting project. What I did was I took this pattern from Knitty and I modified it a little bit. For one, I added a zipper, and pockets at the front, then I added a collar because I don't feel like learning how to crochet around the neckline. I think it turned out okay, but I am not sure how I feel about the neckline. I will have to wear it a little more and see if I get used to it. It is really warm though - the day I took these pictures I was roasting!! Anyway, I said I would put pics on here and now I did. Yay for knitting!

Grad!

So, recently I had my graduation ceremonies from BYU and it was a lot of fun. On Thursday we had the commencement ceremony and we had to go a whole two hours early for security clearance because Dick Cheney was speaking. I was a little miffed at having to go so early and sit there forever, but I am really glad I did. It was a great time. I got to visit with my best bud Christina (in the pic with me above) and then we got to listen to a few really good speeches. The valedictorian speech was way good and then Dick Cheney was way good too (you can watch the speech here). I am so glad I went. Then on Friday we had to walking ceremony. This is when we all got to accept our little diploma holders and watch another few speakers (a little more boring than the previous day's, but still good). All in all it was a good few days in Utah. We are back now and it is over, but I enjoyed visiting as many friends and family members as I could. I have more pics I was going to post but I am having trouble loading them, so I will later. Also, my sweater is finally finished, but seeing as I am having problems loading pics I will have to post those later too. Oh well.

Mysterious ticking noise ...

My friend sent this to me on facebook and I thought it was catchy so I decided to post it here.

Time passes strangely ...

So I know I haven't updated in a while, but it is because pretty much nothing is different than the last time I posted. Well, we don't have steak and shrimp leftovers anymore, but other than that it is the same. Haha.

I haven't finished my sweater yet or the afghan I am knitting for my friend Shara. I haven't written my letter for the family newsletter (it is just what is sounds like - every person in my family writes a letter and it is put into a book by my grandma and we all get a copy). I haven't got a job yet. I am living with my parents (which is boring).

Mostly I end up watching a lot of movies (we only have three TV channels) and taking lots of trips to Vulcan or Lethbridge for things that my dad wants like gas (we live at least half an hour from a gas station and he doesn't want to go all the way there in his truck so I go in the car with a jerry can). That is pretty much it.

I went for a walk twice yesterday - once with my bro and once alone. It was nice and it helped clear my throat and lungs so I could breathe correctly which is nice since I have been having a hard time breathing since I have been home due to all the dust and smoke.

On wed we are leaving to go back to Utah so I can walk for graduation and get the rest of my stuff straightened out. Grad should be interesting for a few reasons. One is my bro JR is coming with us. Originally we were going to pick up the rest of my stuff from Utah, but since he and his girlfriend Jessie are coming I don't think it will all fit now. But he hasn't been to Utah for a long time because he didn't think he could cross the border (for reasons I won't discuss right here) so it will be good for him to be able to visit my family who are there. Another reason grad will be interesting is that Dick Cheney is speaking at our commencement. A third reason is just that I will finally get all my stuff moved and packed (even if it doesn't all come home with me yet) and then I officially won't live in Utah anymore which is weird since I have lived there for five years now. There is so much I want to do for the short period of time we will be there that I am sure I won't sleep much. Oh well, it will be good to have something to do.

Well, I am going to go for now, but I will try not to take so long next time - as long as something happens. I actually plan to work on my sweater in the next few days so I should be able to post a pic of that soon. And I will put grad pics up after that too. Just a little something to look forward to!

The deed is done ... mostly ...

Okay, so I have done it. I moved home. It was really good actually. I had my cleaning check Friday morning at 9 am (it turned out to be more like 9:45 because they had some sort of emergency) and then I left! I took a quick stop at Cabela's to say goodbye to my cousin who works there so I didn't really leave until about 10:30. Then I drove and drove and drove. I got to Great Falls around about 8:30 pm and all in all the weather was perfect for driving. It wasn't too hot nor too cold. Really nice. Then mom and I had some dinner and went to bed. The next morning we transferred all my junk from the rental car to her car. I was afraid it wouldn't fit but it actually fit great! Then we drove back to Canada. Another worry we had was that the line at the border to get into Canada would be long, but it wasn't too bad either. And I was very happy that they didn't ask for ID because I don't have my birth certificate at the moment since I applie for a passport and still haven't gotten it back. It was great. Then we got home and both my bros were here and so was Dallas' g/f Chelsea who is awesome. We said hi and then they all helped me bring my crap in the house. My room was full! But I put some in another room and now I can actually make it to the bed without killing myself.

Today, Easter, we visited again and then we made a very strange Easter dinner indeed - it was steak and shrimp and asparagus and ceasar's salad and pasta salad. Strange, but so very very good. I am still full and it has been several hours, but at the same time I can't wait until I am hungry again so I can have leftovers!

This has been good for me I think. I needed a change of scenery and I needed to do something different. It doesn't feel totally real yet, more like some kind of holiday except that I brought way more stuff than I would for holiday. I am still looking for a job, either in Calgary or Lethbridge, so I am doing the same thing I was in Utah - knitting and watching TV (only on less channels). I have to start getting things figured out tomorrow - the first thing being to get a job. After I do that I can find an apartment and get a new phone number and stuff. I don't want to unpack too many things so I am going to try to be quick about the job search so I don't have to.

That is all for now. I am almost done my next knitting project and when I am finished I will post some pictures. I do miss all my friends in Utah too - but it isn't that far away and I know this is what I needed to do. Wish me luck in the job search and if you have any leads let me know!

Alanis is hilarious!

Okay, so I have MSN messenger and it scrolls through different clips you can watch at the bottom. I like to watch the different clips that it features sometimes in case there is anything good. Well, it had this one that said "Alanis Morisette - My Humps" and I was like -WHAT?! Anyway is has the link to this video that is just really funny. It is this slow song but it has the words to Fergie's "My Humps". If the link doesn't work then you should search for it. It is totally worth it. So funny!

In other news, I am moving home. I tried staying here after college and getting a job, but nothing has come up that I have been excited about. And every job that sounds at all interested finds out I am from Canada and that I have all the international issues and they don't want me anymore. So I figure I will go work at home for a while and then maybe come back for more school or something later. It will be a nice change for me and I am way excited - even if it will be sad to leave all my friends. But this is sort of a trial seperation at first because I am coming back in a few weeks to walk in graduation and so we can pick up the rest of my junk. It will be way exciting. Wish me luck!

Fun Weekend!!

So this last weekend was really fun. First, on Friday I went with my cousin to Cabela's because they had people from bear world there and you could hold a little bear cub and get your picture taken. It was so great. So here is the picture of me with the cub. He was soooo cute and soft and I wanted to take him and make a break for it! But the problem was that there was lots of security ... blech. Also my scanner kinda sucks so my shirt really doesn't look that weird in real life (just in case you were wondering ... not that you were).

So then on Saturday a few of my friends and I went to the colorfest at the Hare Krishna temple near Salem. Then we met a few of our other friends there and we took this picture as we were waiting for them to burn the demon. What they do is that they have this little cultural program that has some dancing and then there is a little skit and then they burn a demon and throw colored flour everywhere. It was really cool! Here is a pic of us all colored. There are some pretty cool pics from above at the colorfest here.

Okay, so I have still been knitting up a storm, and the result is on this post! It was my old roommate's birthday a while ago and so I decided to make her some little slippers.

Then, I finally finished the sweater I have been working on for so long. This is the picture of my roommate in said sweater. I think it turned out really good. I took another picture as well, but Christina is making a weird face in it and I think that she might not want me to put a picture of her with a weird face on my blog, so I decided I would be nice. I might have to take more pics later to put on here with her not making a weird face.

As for the job search, which has been going on for 2 and a half months now, things are not looking good. I have another interview on this coming wed, but I am not sure how it will go. The thing is that all the places I have interviewed so far have liked me until they found out that I could only work for one year, then they seem a lot less interested. And Christina said that I don't HAVE to tell them that legally, but I feel dishonest not mentioning it. Also, this job interview is for the U of U, which is great except that I live in Provo, which is like an hours drive away and I don't even have a car. And I am not sure I want to live in SLC ... so I am just not sure what I will do, even if I do get the job. I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens. I just hate waiting an not being able to plan for my future. Grr!!

So although it has been over a month not a whole lot has changed. I am lame! I have been knitting up a storm - I am almost done a sweater for my roommate - just a little bit left. Also, I have a job interview on Tuesday that I am really nervous for. Other than that my life is the same as always. Oh wait, one other thing, I got a new phone! It is so pretty! Maybe I can include a picture ... let me figure that out. I really like it. I got it pretty cheap too, so that is nice. I really needed a new phone because mine was dying a lot and it was just crap, so now I have a new one. I love it! Not to mention the guy who helped me pick it out in the store was kinda cute, so bonus there! Woohoo. This is the phone:
Another thing that is new is that last week we did a "How to Host a Murder". Here is a pic from that:
It was a way fun time and I think it was probably the best group we have done it with. I enjoyed it immensely - Christina was the murderer (surprise surprise! haha!) and I even had it figured out. Go me. I am a genius!

Also, I am going to include a picture of the couple of things that I have knitted so far. Man I really like including pictures! Here are a few of those.

Wow! Adding pictures is so fun! Anyway, this is the scarf and the afghan (the afghan is on our new leather couch, which is really cool too!)






Well, I will update again later, hopefully I will be able to add more pics of the stuff I have knitted and done. And hopefully I will be able to tell you I got a job. Let's all cross our fingers!

Long time no post ...

Well, I suck at this blogging thing. I guess I am about as good at it as I am at writing in my journal. A lot of things have been going on lately. Where to start .... ? Um, I think I will start with Christmas.

I did end up going home for the holidays. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to because of legal issues, but I did end up going. It was good. I was home for about 3 weeks, maybe a bit less (I can't remember exactly) and it was a nice break. The only thing was that it was a little bit long. The only excitement happened on New Years - my brother was his usually annoying self. I love him a lot, but he drives me crazy. He doesn't trust his girlfriend (I guess she never gave him a good reason, but still) and so whenever we are trying to have fun and he gets a little bit of alcohol in him, he gets jealous, moody, and tries to pick a fight with everyone in the room.

On the way home I thought I was in trouble at the border. I flew, and it is the first time I have ever flown home and back for the holidays. It was fine on the way there, but the way back the guy at customs took me and put me in this little room by myself for about 20-30 minutes without telling me why. I was getting nervous thinking I was in trouble, but it turned out that it was only becuase I got a new I-20 and it had to be varified. He could have told me that was the reason before he made me wait in the room for 30 mins!!

Since then not much has happened, but a lot has happened at the same time. It is weird how that happens. Anyway, I have been job hunting, but because of legal issues I can't start working until Feb 22, so I think that makes the job hunt a little bit more difficult (stupid legal issues!!). The only upside is that in the spare time I have learned to knit - and I love it!!!

So then a few days ago my phone stopped charging. It was because the place where the cord plugged in in the bottom wouldn't make the connection. It was scary. I am up for a new free phone on Feb 15 so I didn't want to have to pay for a new one now. Luckily, there was a second hole in the bottom for a different kind of charger - so all I had to do was buy a new charger for $19.99 +tax and it is working fine. Thank goodness!!!

A few other good things that have happened include: 1) I got my diploma in the mail. Yay! I am now officially graduated! 2) It turns out that from my work this summer I was listed as a coauthor on an abstract that was submitted to a national meeting. That is so cool (I think) and it is something I can add on my resume to make me more hireable.

Well, anyway, those are all the updates for now. I will re-update again later - hopefully sooner. Maybe once I figure out what I am going to do for the rest of my life.

Blah

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

There. I had to get that out. Don't you ever just have a blah moment? I do. But now I am good.
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