Cleaning Check Procrastination!

Has it really been that long?!  I used to be so good about blogging and journaling, and now... Well, that's the past now, oh well.

Life has been exciting!  I'm just about done with school, I have an awesome job, a few fun voice students, amazing roommates, a ton of really great friends, and so naturally I will tell you about those things rather than finish up for cleaning check right now.  (I am unfortunately a procrastination addict.)

School's been good.  I miss taking a lot of classes.  Just taking voice is a little boring, but I'm doing some really fun stuff, so I guess it's ok.  I can't wait till my masters so I can take more classes...*sigh* oh well.

My job is good too.  I'm one of the top sales people in the store, my new boss really likes me (getting a new boss only a couple months after I'd started was an ordeal, but it's all fun now!)  It was awesome working there on Halloween because I (naturally) got put on candy duty.  I got to talk to all the little kids and gush over their fabulously fantastic costumes.  We ran out of candy so fast tho...it was CRAZY!!!!!!  I loved it tho..especially the part where multiple moms told me how great I was with kids and that with my enthusiasm I should work for Disney!  Now wouldn't that be fun (and so totally me?!)  I'm unfortunately too tall (and out of shape) to be a princess at one of the parks, but I would seriously love to work for Disney...that'd be awesome!

Our favorite quickly photoshopped pic...the only pic of all five of us...and none of us were together when we took it!  hahahaha

My roommates...where do I start?!  Well, I seriously LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!!!!!!  We all have so much fun all the time and we all get along so well.  We've made so many plans, some of which might not ever happen, but a lot of our plans already have!  Two of our things that I'm really excited for is our early Thanksgiving and our early Christmas.  We decorated like CRAZY for Halloween, and now we're going to have a little apartment Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and then an apartment Christmas on December 12.  We have a "family" prayer and scripture study at least once a week where we go through apartment goals and read scriptures, talk about things that have happened throughout the week and all kneel in prayer together.  Just so you can know who and what I'm talking about for future reference here's a little about them all:

Briana (pronounced: BrAI-ana not BrEE-ana...she doesn't like it said wrong...and who could blame her, it's her name) is a freshman at BYU and just about the cutest thing you'd ever see!  She is our FHE mom and is always making sure we're doing ok.  She's super sweet and super social...kind of impossible to not love!

Kassie is Bri's sister.  They share a room and are so so cute in the way they act together.  Kassie's on the BYU color guard, is a junior, and dresses super cute!  She's always so happy and excited about things...it makes living with her absolutely FANTASTIC!!!  Kassie and Bri are also from Spanish Fork..just thought you'd like to know that!

Claire is also a freshman at BYU.  She's from Montana, super smart, was Valedictorian of her high school, applied late to BYU and got in with an almost full ride scholarship (she'd have had a full ride if she were a member.)  She's super cool...like SUPER cool!!!!  I love talking to her about religion because she grew up mostly Lutheran and has a lot of Catholic background too.  She comes with us to church occasionally (which is always fun because then the five of us get to be together at church..yay!!!)  But yeah, she's awesome!!!

And then there's Brooke.  She and I hit it off starting day one!  She is so bright and happy all the time, which is good for me (cuz I tend to occasionally not be those things a lot...sometimes).  I absolutely LOVE my Brooke!  She makes life absolutely fantastic!  She puts up with my crazy, is so loving and nice to everyone, helps push me to make friends (I'd be a hermit without her)...oh wow, I just love my Brookery!!!!

So those are my roommates!  Aren't they awesome?!  Well, like I said, I've got a LOT of friends now...it's kind of crazy, but I'm only going to share a little (a very little) about a select few of them.  There are these two apartments down the hall that are right across the hall from each other and my apartment calls them the "touchdown apartments" (long story, but they are the "touchdown apartment" boys.)  They are pretty exciting.  The Glenwood is doing this big film contest, and their's is probably going to win...once it's online I'll post it here and then you'll be able to see how awesome they are!  hahahahaha...it's fantastic!!!  (We basically love "Hot" Allen, Chirss, the Heeb, "touchdown" Justin, Rad Dad Chad, Josie, and pretty much all the boys in touchdown!)

This is Chirss (he's really Chris, but what's the fun in that).  He dressed as a Zombie slayer for Halloween...he's going to protect us during the Zombie apocalypse!

Starting with the guy holding the spear: Rad Dad Chad, Justin, Josiah (Josie), Shawn, Cody, and then the Heeb is the one being eaten by the gator

Two "hot cops", a hippe, and a zombie slayer...no wonder they're our favorites!

Brooke and I with "hot cop" Allen at the "Unleash the Freak" Halloween dance

So that's life more or less...now I unfortunately really DO need to be cleaning...dang :(

Bye, love ya!

~Manda

Bri, Brooke, and Claire right before True Blue

Bri, Brooke, and Claire after True Blue

The night we stole doughnuts from the Krispie Kreme dumpster and then hung out at Walmart...it was awkward cuz I ran into someone I work with that night...yeah, but fun times!

We had two fish, Waffles/Finn and King Louie...but we ended up accidentally killing them in less than a week...we didn't get new fish, but we did hold two funerals for them.

Bri, Kassie, Brooke, and Claire hiking the Y...I was at work :(

Bri (cave woman), Brooke (Robin Hood), Claire (little Bo Peep),  and Kassie (something awesome) at the ward Halloween party with Brother and Sister Morris (bishopric...Where's Waldo and Carmen San Diego...they found BOTH of them...yeah my roommates are cool like that)...I was at work this night too

Brooke, Claire and I all dressed in black and creeped around BYU on the real Halloween...this was when we turned wild! 

a dinosaur Brooke and I found on our way home from church

Minnie Mouse, Robin Hood, and the infamous pineapple!

Before the creeping and wild woman part of our Halloween creepin'

The day we decided to dress like each other for our ward introductions at ward prayer...we were sad cuz Claire was in Montana this Sunday

Happy Pioneer Day!!!

So today, I did NOT want to get out of bed!!!  When I woke up I had chills, was nauseous, and my head was pounding.  After I opened my eyes and realized that the sunlight coming through my bedroom window and the sound of my fan were making me feel worse I figured out that, yes, I was waking up with a migraine!  I'm just glad I figured that out, cuz now I can finish all the fun 24th of July plans I had.  Namely cleaning my room and deep cleaning my bathroom (I just got new cleaning supplies so I'm actually very excited about this one!)

Not much to report today, this week's gone by sort of fast.  I got a new job at a comfort shoe store at the mall (Tradehome Shoes) were I'll be making minimum plus commission, I hung out with a few of my friends this week, Igot a free pearl necklace, Iworked, had cleaning checks (I passed, yay) and I only had one migraine all week (that's a happy thing!!!)  Oh, and last night I realized I'll be 21 in two weeks!!!!  How exciting!!!!!!  (well, I'm excited anyway!  yay!)  That's all, just wanted to wish you all a happy Pioneer day!!!!!!!

~Manda

HAPPY 11th BIRTH DAY EVAN!!!!! YOU ROCK!!!!!

So basically my little brother, Evan turned 11 today (he gets to rhyme with his age again!)  He's pretty cool...I mean, after all, his is my brother!  He's probably one of the sweetest kids ever, he loves people, he's a crazy good little musician, he's smart as a whip, he always wants to do what's right, he was my model when he was two (he'd let me dress him up in his Looney Tunes letterman jacket and spike his hair and then take pictures...he looked sooooo cute!!!!), but I think the reason I love him so much is that he loves me and thinks I'm pretty cool too (no one tell him the truth, ok?  That'd ruin the illusion.)  So, Happy 11th Buddy!!!!  Love you and miss you!  hope you have an awesome birthday!!!!!!

~Manda

Long Day & The Ever Constant Job Search!

So I'm pretty much WAY tired right now!  I've had the most amazing week, but I'm going to post more on that later.  I've realized through this week how much of a slacker I really am right now.  I was pretty stellar in high school, but I've gotten exceptionally lax as of late and that just isn't awesome.  So, there's something to work on! :)

Marly and Claire...yes, your phones and yourselves made my life so much easier this morning... muchisimas gracias por todo!!!!!!

K, so I woke up at 5:45 today and headed over to TRAX (I was in SLC and decided that the earlier I got to TRAX the earlier I'd get to my apt and the more likely I'd be able to get to work on time)...Well, I got to TRAX, checked the schedule, bought me up a ticket and waited...and waited...and panicked a bit as I waited some more.  I then remembered that because the 4th of July (my favorite holiday second to Valentines Day) landed on a Sunday that today might be a holiday of sorts...and it was, so no buses.  I would've been able to get to Sandy, but not Provo.  I then headed to a hotel and used their phone, but it would only call local numbers which made it hard to even call people in my ward.  I then found a pay phone and called my mom, and then finally came up with the smart idea of heading back to Grandma's condo (the place I had spent the night with my cousins on our way from Idaho).  When I got there I was able to use Marly and Claire's phones (they're my cousins, my life-saving cousins!!!)  And at 9:06 I finally found a ride and was able to get to work only a little late.  

I worked till 5, got home at about 5:30 and returned to my seemingly fruitless job hunt.  I found a few positions open at 7-eleven (mmmm, Slurpees...I want one sooooo bad right now!!!) and Home Depot, and then I was on Facebook with my old KFC buddy, Tyler, and he suggested that I apply where he works: Costco.  So, I did.  And that was my day...oh, and I had a chicken sandwich and some dry cereal (I was too tired to cook...speaking of which....I really need some water!!!)  I also discovered that listening to Lifehouse on Pandora practically SCREAMS high school for me...it's kind of crazy.

Ok, I'm going a little nutty with my sleepiness...have a fantastic night everyone!  Love you all!!!!!

~Manda

yaaaAAAaaawwwwnnn!!!! *long night!*

So I couldn't get to sleep last night.  I've been looking for a new job (not that $7.50/hr isn't great...hahahaha) and  for some scholarships (I started looking into Study Abroad programs....wouldn't that be awesome?!) and I kind of lost track of time till 3:45 AM.  I tried to go to sleep but I ended up just laying in bed staring at the ceiling for 20 minutes instead of sleeping.  So I got up, put on some exercise clothes and went for a walk.  I ended up going a total of 9.2 miles (I Google Mapped it when I got home...check it out!).  For those of you familiar with Provo, I walked from the Glenwood to Provo Canyon and back (you .  I'm tired now, but if I go to sleep I'll miss the incredibly busy day ahead of me.  So instead of sleep i'm going to hop in the shower, go give plasma, go to school, then go and do all the other stuff I have to do...and till then I will nostalgically remember my wonderful bed.  Wish me luck!

The beautiful view I had while walking...except for the ocean, clouds, and lack of mountains, it looked just like this...just kidding, but it was fun to be awake the same time as all the birds and watch as the sun (hiding behind the big mountains) brightened the whole sky before you could even see it.  For a while the sky was this absolutely beautiful cotton candy blue/pink mix...it was pretty...subtle, but pretty!

Oh, and if you hear of any job opportunities near me...let me know, ok?!

Adios!
~Manda

Happy official first day of summer!!!!

Ok, yeah, I haven't posted in forever, but for starters there hasn't been much to post about besides my overly abundant number of shortcomings and secondly my computer was MIA for about three weeks.  But I wanted to wish everyone an absolutely fantastic premier of summer.  Longest day, most sun, festivals at Stonehenge...oh the joy!  So yeah, that's about all I have for today!  Have an utterly fantastic, amazing, awesome day!

~Manda

P.S. Isn't this pic amazing?!  I thought so anyway!

Just a little summer fun!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  My computer broke and as we speak it's on a truck on it's way to Texas to return to it's place of origin and get all fixed up!  (Get better soon "Baby Mac"!!!)

Just wanted Y'all to know, Ruthie and I have started a little jewelry business...it's been fun and we're going to sell our stuff at the Farmer's Market in Provo.  You should check out our blog!  Love you all!

~Manda

P.S. Grandma, if you're reading this, let Grandpa know that Elder Amron Taylor says hi.  I'll expound on that when I have a computer for a longer span of time!  Love you!

The Semester is OVER!!!!

So, today is the first Monday in FOREVER that I haven't had school or plans in the main part of the day (and I just realized that it's the first Monday in forever that I haven't had to be to school at 8:00 AM...ahhhh, bliss!!!!!!)  I have about a week and a half before I have to be back in school so I took today to clean my room (something that still has yet to be done) and dress up in something a little outrageous for my taste.  You see, I bought this AWESOME headband and a pair of HUGE black star earrings, each for a dollar on Saturday (my roommates and I went to the mall....it was a BLAST!!!)  and they both just screamed '80s.  I couldn't help but respond to its pleas.  (Yesterday the same thing happened with a hat, bag and bracelet...it was hard to please all three things, let me tell you.)  So with that I pulled out a skirt I usually used as a slip (it's not a slip, it's just silky and has this weird lace on the bottom, so it works really well as one when I need it to), a pair of leggings, my Converse, my Levi jacket and just about every piece of dark, metallic jewelry I own and this is what I ended up with (sorry you can't see the skirt etc...it really makes the whole thing make more sense):

I was going for Madonna, but I found that my eyes are far too big and my face is too round...to bad!  And really, the tutu-y skirt, leggings, and Converse make the whole thing make more sense, I promise!

And here's my roommates and me at the mall (Fernanda and Carmen...aren't they soooo pretty!!!!?!)

K, one last pic...check out how SHORT my hair was at the beginning of the semester...wow!  (I know, it's still short, but I wasn't even able to pull it into pigtails at the beginning of the semester)

Well, that's all...I'm gonna go now.  Bye!

~Manda

How to Train Your Dragon = AWESOME!!!!!

So I just went on a date...and it was so much fun!!!!!  We saw How to Train Your Dragon and I just absolutely LOVED it!!!  I already love vikings (cuz they're awesome...they're the school mascot for the high school in the book I'm writing...well, most of the time they are...it depends on which back story I'm using...but I'm getting off track) and I love fantasy and dragons and stuff like that.  If you're even THINKING about seeing this movie: GO SEE IT!!!!  I love it!  When the DVD comes out I am soooooooo buying a copy so I can see it over and over and over and over and OVER again!  It's so great!

I'd write more about the awesomeness that is How to Train Your Dragon, but I don't want to inadvertently spoil it for anyone (because you ARE going to see it) and I really need to get back to studying (big test tomorrow) so yeah, adios personas!

~Manda

YAY!!! I finished it!!!!!!!!!!

Picasso's Three Musicians

Munch's Madonna

Lichtenstein's Girl with Ball

Boccioni's Unique Forms of Continuity in Space

So this last week was overly busy...but now I'm done with it, and although I still have a million things to do, but the BIG one is over.  I've been working on this great project for my Art History class where I compare late 19th and early 20th century music and art.  Now, 20 pages and $50+ later...I'm DONE!!!!!  It's a total relief!  Now I have a paper, 5 concerts, juries, and finals.  But for right now, I think I'm going to take a nap!

~Manda

Where I wish I was:

Where I am:

~Manda