One month into school...

One month in. It doesn't seem that short. 

My life is just chaotic nowadays. I go to class, the work, then class, then work, then homework, then maybe eating, then practice, studying, and bed. Sometimes I even have time to brush my teeth!

Oh yeah. I got that job. Yay! I'm really pleased with it. I actually enjoy it a lot. I mostly sit around and make appointments, but sometimes I get to talk to people! I love that!

I have a music history test next week. I am not confident.

If it is possible, I am more tired now than I ever was during the summer. And I'm walking less.

I don't mind being so busy, just sometimes I get headaches from it that won't go away.

Also, the clarinet kind of grinds on your soul a little. Except the low notes. The low notes are rich and buttery. Like Hollandaise sauce. Mmmmmm.

Peace out guys. 

Signing out,

Mandie

So that went by pretty fast....

So that summer went by fast. Maybe a little too fast. Because here I am again.

I'm facing school. Not only that, I'm facing the spending of money. And that is not ok. I don't like spending money. Whatsoever.

I know that money is supposed to be spent, but I remember at the end of last semester and I had $45 in my bank account, and it was so stressful. I don't want that again. And hopefully I get this job that I really want! I got interviewed for it today, and I really really really really REALLY want it.

Really.

Mostly, I'm excited to be surrounded by music again. I really missed that. I'm so excited to start up choir again. I miss those kids, and I miss the rehearsals. Choir is the best class of them all.

I really need that job. I have to pay utilities now.

Oh man.

Also, Oakcrest is over, and that is pretty sad. Best job ever. Seriously though.

Love,
Mandie

Oakcrest Oakcrest Oakcrest! Week 1!

So remember how I got the job as an Oakcrest counselor? This last week was my first week with girls! I got 14 of them! A lot, but nothing I couldn't handle!

There were definitely some trials throughout the week. I had one girl yell at me and say really hurtful things to me. Not to sound conceited or anything, but I really impressed myself with how I handled it. Cause I just stood there, and told her that I loved her and that I was sorry she was feeling so frustrated, and we could try to work to make things a little better for the week. After the fact, I had to go and cry for a few seconds before regaining my composure and going back to being my happy Yoda self.

It was actually quite amazing how much I grew to love these girls in one short week! There were some girls who kept coming to me with drama within the cabin, and it was exceedingly hard to hear about all of that, because I saw the good in all the girls and I wanted them to see it in each other too! Luckily I have a killer roommate who helped me out by praying with me, and giving me some good advice.

Prayer works! Every time I was frustrated, or tired, or saddened by someone's attitude, I would pray. And immediately, I would know what to do. Sometimes, that meant knowing that I had to go talk to the D-Ship, and sometimes, it meant pulling a girl aside and talking to her.

In the middle of the week, I was discouraged. I was thinking that there was no way I could do this, if I couldn't even get one girl to get her shoes on so we could go to dinner without negative reciprocation. But the goods far outweighed the bads, and I am super excited to start a new week tomorrow!

Also, foam slide. I'm P-S-Y-C-H-E-D for foam slide again.

Here is a video of what I get to do everyweek. Be jealous.

Seriously, guys. I have the best job ever.

Also, I got awarded Work Study! Yay!

Signing out,

Mandie

AKA

Yoda

Cars. They're Weird.

They really are.

I'm serious. Last night, I was driving home from Salt Lake, and I was on the freeway going super fast, cause it's the freeway. Anyway, I was listening to some random song and I just kind of looked around, and realized that I was travelling 70 mph, yet I was still sitting down. And then, I thought about the pioneers, and how much they would have appreciated a car. Even for only part of the way. 

So that was weird. And so I fell asleep last night partially thinking of how weird cars are, and also I had just watched a bunch of Ellen clips on YouTube, so I was kind of laughing at those. Cause Ellen is hilarious.

It's also only Tuesday. If I were working right now, time would be going much faster, but it's been so slow. SO SLOW.

Here is a picture, just to make the blog interesting.

This is a sign that the Engineering program at USU put up around campus, and it made a lot of people angry. Not because we don't think that Engineering students work hard (they definitely do. I'm thankful for them, because I could never ever do any kind of engineering, ever) but because it says they work more than any other major. And I spend WAY more than 20 hours/week as a music major. So we were all like "Whaaaaa?" And I took a picture of it. Obviously this was a while ago, as there is much snow all over the place. I'm pretty much over it, I just thought it might be an interesting picture, and it was the first one not in a folder in my pictures. So it was convenient.

That kind of added some pizzazz to this blog, didn't it? 

Anyway, Imma go drink some water, or something, because my mouth is all dry and gross. Moral of the story: Cars are weird. Remember that.

Signing out,

Mandie

So I Passed...

So I am now officially a sophomore. I passed all of my classes with pretty decent grades! Better grades than I ever got in high school for sure. :)

Now this month just has to go faster. I mean, the last few weeks of school flew by, but these days have just seemed to drag, ever since I came home.

I think part of it is  having such a sick person in the household. When you spend most of your day wondering and worrying and waiting, time seems to pass more slowly. Also, I'm in Herriman, and my social life is null down here.

Hey, friends? Remember when you existed outside of Cache Valley? Where did you go?

It's almost Thursday, though. Strike that. It is Thursday. As of 17 minutes ago. Anyway, if I can make it through Thursday, I think I can be ok. I have a wedding to go to on Friday (yay!) and then a partay for Oakcrest. And yes, I did mean to type that partay. Because that's how you say it. And then the day after that we have another training meeting. Which I'm psyched for. I'm excited to actually interact socially with human beings that are close to my age and female.

Also, just getting out of the house will be nice. I love my family so much, and I'm excited to spend eternity with them, but this house is stressful! I don't like leaving my mom to take on so much though. Being a caregiver is a rough job. I've been doing not only half of what she does for a week, and I'm burned out already. Also, my sleeping habits are whack, so I probably should fix that. Especially if I'm going to be getting up at 7:00 am every morning this summer.

So people in Russia regularly read this blog. That makes me feel good, though a little weird. Hello Russian people. I sang a Russian song in choir once. That makes me feel more connected to you. I wonder what you think when you read this? Like, "Whoa, check out that crazy Mormon girl. She be cray-cray." I doubt you say that. I was just channeling my old roommate. That was a little weird.

Sometimes abbreviating words like that scares me. Cray, totes, adorbs, and all that. It makes me think of 1984 and the "New-Speak." I still sometimes talk like that though. Not recently, however. I think it's cause I hang out with my mum and my laptop more than people who might talk like that.

So many people are getting married. So many. I'm happy for them, but I don't know if I can make it to every one! Ah!

Come on, May. Just go faster. Be June already. K, thanks.

Signing out,
Mandie

Freshman Year. It's in the Bag!

I'm officially a sophomore in college. You can congratulate me. Thank you. Thank you.

I don't know how I passed some of my classes. World Music? Pretty much the worst class ever. The professor was terrible. His Power Points were copied right off of Wikipedia, and he was so unorganized. Oh man, I was sure I was going to fail. But guess what? I got an A. Somehow.

I'm still waiting for grades from a couple of my classes. The only one I'm worried about is English. I don't think my professor liked me very much. she never really gave me good grades on my assignments, no matter how hard I worked on them. So, hopefully I scrape by in that class. We'll see.

So I guess I'm not officially a sophomore. I still am waiting on that English class.

AH! I'm just excited to be done with school for the summer. And to get my Oakcrest on!

Also, I'm excited to be back home. I still need to find a place to live next semester, so if anyone has any openings in Logan, let me know ASAP.

Y'all are great!

Signing out,
Mandie

So, this is weird...

So you know how sometimes I forget about this blog? Well, I remembered it again! In the same week! This is a huge accomplishment, and y'all should bake me cookies to congratulate me.

Just kidding.

Ish.

Anyway, I'm coming on here to tell you all that I am famous. Really. I mean, discounting my numerous (2) appearances in local news, and the amount of likes my statuses get on Facebook. Check it out. Me. Being famous.

See? And see how fancy this is, that I am able to put a video on this blog?

I'm not that famous, in reality. I don't know if I ever want to be famous. I mean, I like being in the spotlight, but not so much that I'd have to move to some obscure town in Wyoming to get away from the paparazzi. That would be no bueno for me. Yeah, for sure I wouldn't like paparazzi.

Today was super fantastic anyway, and maybe you'll get details on that later in my life, but for now, we'll just leave it at "super fantastic."

Also, my mom sent me Reese's Pieces for my birthday, and I'm pretty sure I've gained about 22.6478 pounds because of them. Worth it.

That's the end of my post for today. Stay classy, folks!

Signing out,
Mandie

PS. You can for sure bring me cookies, if you really want to.

We are Awesome Human Beings!

So here I am, Skyping with my brother. I am sitting in my bed, fully clothed. My brother wants me to say that I am naked, but that would be lying, and we all know where liars go.

That's right. Oregon.

I don't know why I chose Oregon, but I did. So all you Oregonians out there, you are liars. And that includes my older brother, because he was born in Oregon.

My younger brother was apparently unaware of this fact.

I am really excited for this summer, because it will be warm, I won't have to go to class, and I will be an Oakcrest counselor! Which is something I am SUPER psyched for!

My younger brother says: I have a YouTube channel that you should watch! It has games on it. Also very long vlogs. You don't have to watch those. But I would be very appreciative if you watched and even subscribed! And yes, I am using my sister's blog as a means of advertising. Thanks!

What a weirdo that boy is. Love him though. He's great. Nate, are you seeing this? Are you? Are you reading this? READ IT. Read it and weep. From happiness because you know that I love you.

Nate just did the creepiest laugh into his microphone and it really scared. Almost as much as this picture scares me.

I hate this picture. It freaks me out. I feel uncomfortable. It's almost as bad as Weeping Angels. But not quite.

Anyway, this is my quick lil schpeel. School is good, though I'm super tired of going to class. But it's getting to the point where I only have projects instead of busy work, so that's good.

Have a good month or two! I don't know when I will remember that I have a blog again. 

Bye guys! Here is a funny joke for the road.

"Why did the scarecrow get an award?"

"Because he was outstanding in his field."

Ha!

Signing out,

Mandie

Hey Y'all

So it is a miracle that I even have time to write this. This week has been the week of frantic scrambling because I'm so busy. But there is a lull in my life right now, so instead of making a PowerPoint for my English 2010 class, I'm going to update this.

Other people's blogs are so much better than mine. I really don't blame the people who don't read it (shout out to my sister) because it really is quite pointless. If you wanna know about my life, I will talk to you about it for sure, and I don't think I really need a blog now. But, you know, if people in South Korea and Germany feel so obliged as to read a random girl's blog from the USA, who am I to stop them? Besides the random girl in the USA.

Anyway, this last week was fun because it was Spring Break, AND I got to go to an ACDA conference in Dallas. Choir-geeking out to the MAX. Here, let me show you some pictures.
 So this is me with my badge of glory. It let me get into most of the concerts and events going on at the conference. I took this picture to make my friend jealous, because I'm just that kind of person. :)

 

I also made a new friend at the conference. He is the one on the left. The one on the right I already know, and he's a pretty nice person. :) Also, this is the one and only true duck face I have ever done in my whole life, and I doubt that I will ever do one again.

This is my creeper picture of Eric Whitacre. I wanted to get his signature so hardcore, but the line was forever long and when we came back later, they wouldn't let us come close, cause he was doing some sort of interview. So we snuck up the line and took a super sneaky stalker pic of him. 

My buddy Jordan, and me with Ola Gjielo. (Did I spell his name right, Jordan?) We were volunteering backstage at the opera house, and he came and we shook his hand. We realized only afterward that we really wanted a picture with him, so we stalked him and his sweet wife took a picture of us. I don't think he was too creeped out by us, even though we accidentally saw him a few more times. I swear we weren't stalking you those last couple times, Ola! We just really like your music!

Morten Lauridsen was sitting three rows behind me. He's the old guy right next to my head. He was really nice, and kind of a cool guy. The documentary about him also made me want to visit the beach way hardcore.

This post wins the award for the most pictures on this blog, ever. But worth it, right? I really had a blast.  And I really want to be back in the warmth of Dallas, TX, with my choir friends, geeking out and getting free sheet music. But alas, I have a life and an education to receive.

I am really looking forward to the end of this semester! Firstly, because I won't have my English class anymore, and also because I got the job I wanted at the girl's camp! I'm really psyched. Our first training meeting is this Saturday and I am dying from anticipation! AHHHHH!

Anyway, that's an update about all things Mandie, for the most part.

Signing out,
Mandie

I'm.... So....... Bored

It's Wednesday. Which is good because it means I don't have World Music today. But also bad because I have a 4 hour break between classes and I'm too lazy to go home.

So I'm just sitting here. And I brought my laptop today so I could write some letters to people going into the MTC. But now what? I don't have anything else to do. I mean, I do. I could technically be writing an English thing, but who wants to do that right now? I have tonight. It's all good.

Anyway, so I'm sitting here in the FAC, and it's pretty much where I live. I don't really go anywhere else. I don't think the world exists outside of this building. And then that gets me on an existential rampage of thoughts.

So I'm sitting here, and I'm sitting next to people desperately trying to memorize opera, and that's pretty entertaining. But now, after hearing the same song a thousand times, I officially have nothing to do. What I really want to do is eat, but I have no money on me, and that is lame. And I'm just so BORED.

I really need to bring stuff to entertain me in these times. I suppose I could watch Netflix, but my laptop may run out of batteries, and I hate it when I run out of batteries in the middle of a show. But I do need to catch myself up with the Bachelor. I just don't know.

So I'm obviously bored. And now I'm updating this blog that I always forget about, and don't really care about and I don't want it anymore, but I still have it because when i'm bored I update it.

This blog was really to help me get through my senior year of high school, but now I'm in college and pretty content, except for that I'm bored and I don't have a boyfriend. So I am not going to really update this a lot, except for when I'm bored, so I might update it more often than not. 

Signing out,

Mandie

PS. Guess I get to write an English paper now.

I'm Super Productive

I'm super productive today. Really, guys. I should get into the Guinness Book of World Records. Or something.

I mean, I got up at 9:00, which by itself is a huge achievement. And then I washed my dishes, and made myself a good breakfast, another great achievement. Then, I took a shower. And shaved my legs. And dried my hair. And then straightened it. So that's huge. Cause usually I just go the lazy route and don't shave my legs and let my hair air dry and maybe put gel in it. Maybe. So yeah.

But that's not it! I did my laundry, and practiced the piano, and finished my English paper. And now I'm updating my blog for real, for the first time for months!

I also made a good first impression with an interviewer for a job that I will be meeting with next week.

I really should get an award or something.

And I just realized that I don't have to worry about picking songs for church tomorrow! Woo!

Good day, people. Good day.

Signing out,
Mandie

I forget....

I forget that I have a blog.