repeat here

With T minus 3 months to the big 3-0 I've been asked a lot of the same questions. What am I going to do to celebrate? Do I feel old? Am I going to start lying about my age? Is it all downhill from here? My answers: I'm not sure... Italy, Greece? :) Nope, I really still feel like a kid trying to figure out what to do with my life. Yeah right, people don't believe me when I tell them how old I am, so why lie? I'm turning 30, not 40. Ask me in 10 years ;)

So reading my friend's recent blog post only confirmed my belief that I'm still young and have plenty of life to live. Thanks Kim (and Jodi)... Cyndi really knows what she's talking about. So here's the re-post of the re-post.........

"....It was during a dramatic scene of Celebrity Apprentice that Cyndi revealed that nothing happened for her until she was 30. She said, 'Sometimes life begins AFTER you're 30.' A quick Wikipedia search confirmed this. Cyndi Lauper was 30 when her breakthrough album was released, resulting in a previously unprecedented (for a female artist) 5 consecutive Top 20 singles. The multi-colored hair, outrageous apparel, tassel bra worn OVER her shirt, her romp with the Goonies and the release of her iconic anthem of "girls having fun" were all done by a woman 30+. Hurrah!! Not that I have aspirations of becoming a pop icon or that it would even be a possibility. If anything, it validates my current behavior and future desires to adventure and experience life and new opportunities. So my friends 30+ or close to it, enjoy this video with the thought in mind that most likely ALL of the women in this video are over 30. So dress up, run wild, dance while cruising the sidewalk, pursue your dreams and be free because I don't think we should ever grow out of wanting to have fun nor actually having it. Middle age .... bring it on!!"

Now don't get too excited, people. I won't be releasing a breakthrough album for my 30th (or ever), but more good things are on the way.

As a quick side note, doesn't this video make you miss the days when MTV actually played music videos and not just trashy reality TV. I know there's MTV2 for the actual music videos, but it's a little ironic that they had to create a second channel for that. Uh, isn't that why MTV was created in the first place?

a little thailand

Yes, there are plenty more pictures of Thailand to come.... for now, you can enjoy this video of me SNUBA diving at Siam Bay off Racha Yai Island. I'm pretty sure the photographer was interested in the anemone and skunk clownfish in the foreground, but you can also see me and my frog legs searching for my hair elastic in the background. I found it, but it was way down in the coral and rocks and I was too afraid of breaking the coral or getting stung by a hidden creature.

Too Much TAL

I've been listening to podcasts of This American Life while working in the office and when knitting in the evening, watching episodes from season 1 and 2 on Netflix. I realized last night/early this morning that perhaps I've been watching and listening a little too much.

I had a dream that Ira Glass took me and some girlfriends to NYC (why NYC? I'm not sure - it should've been Chicago, but obviously dreams don't always follow logic). He wanted to interview us and do a story on Mormon dating culture. I woke up before Ira started asking questions, but I'm sure the questions would have been highly entertaining. Maybe I should let Ira know I've got a great story for him.

Ben Folds', "The Luckiest", also made an appearance in my dreams at one point. I don't remember the details, but there was something about a man who was born 50 years before the woman he loves... it was a crazy night.

I'm in a club

It's the Sugar Free Club (at least for the month of March)... check it out here. My cousin's wife, Shari, is amazing when it comes to eating healthy without all the weirdness (you know what I mean by weirdness.... tofurkey, spend-your-life-savings-at-Whole-Foods diet, raw diets, paleolithic/caveman diets, etc...)

I just started yesterday and although cookies, caramels, milkshakes, chocolate milk and raspberry lemonade are all quite tempting, I like the challenge. I don't think I'm going into "sugar withdrawals" yet, although I do have a headache today (but I think it's resonating pain from my ribs, I'll save that for another post after I visit the doctor tomorrow). It's going to be a good month of self-control and body cleansing and will really jump start my goal of eating more fruits and veggies. So if anyone else has been dying to try the new Red Velvet cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, please wait until April when we can share a slice. Until then, join me, I dare you.

a good cloudy day

Today marks 23 years since my little brother passed away. It's crazy to think it's been that long. Sometimes the memories feel so fresh and that everything just happened the other day. But mostly it feels like another lifetime.

This picture was taken when Anthony was really sick and he passed away a few months later. My parents have a better picture from this sitting when the photographer was able to get Anthony to smile. He had a great smile with cute little dimples.

After he died we'd pick a cloud that was his. We'd usually look for those big billowy clouds where the sun was breaking through and decided that's where Anthony lived. As I was driving home from work today it was stormy and grey in the canyon, but as I approached the mouth of the canyon the sun was breaking through. There were big, billowy clouds everywhere. It reminded me of my sweet Tony.

(I'm the one in the purple plaid, if the big eyes didn't give it away. Also, I think my parents must have found the fountain of youth, because I swear, they still look the same.)

my welcome to arizona

I was going through some files and found this fantastic picture of me and my cousin, Tara. I can tell it was taken shortly after I moved to Arizona by the lovely shiner on my right eye.

Here's the story: I'd been to my new singles ward once where I heard that the following Saturday was the ward lake trip.

Tara and I went for some fun at the lake and to make some new friends. I was also able to make a new discovery.... if you catch the tip of your wakeboard and hit the water at the right angle with enough speed, you'll end up with a bloody nose, a black eye and a killer headache. It was embarrassing. For weeks, no months after, people remembered me as "the girl that got a black eye at the lake".

Being that I was in Arizona, most people assumed I got hit playing softball. One old guy at the gas station even stopped me and asked if I was okay. I'm not sure if he was expecting me to confide in him about domestic abuse or what, but it was cute that he was so concerned.

Yes, Arizona welcomed me with a nasty black eye (and it was nasty, half of my eyeball was solid red due to broken blood vessels).

my valentine

I came home from work today to find this on my front porch. It's my cute Valentine from my awesome parents. I seriously have the best mom and dad!

happy friday to me

i love shoes... and after months (no exaggeration) of waiting... these finally came. i ordered them, received them, needed a larger size, returned them, waited, waited, waited... and then my online tracking showed they were delivered... but not to me. so someone in town is probably (dishonestly) walking around in these. but thankfully, they sent me a new pair after filing a claim, blah, blah, blah and now they're here. i love shoes (even if i might be mistaken for a european or a wrestler or a breakdancer in these)

Seattle, anyone?

You want to win a trip to Seattle ($800 value)... just go here and check out the giveaway details.... http://www.rachelthurston.com/blog/

You're welcome!

I just have to brag

Check out this video of my niece, Siena.

Isn't she so cute!!!

http://nicknjenna.blogspot.com/2010/01/sing-long.html

The Happiness Project

This is going to be a part of my new year's resolutions. I know a lot of people like to post their resolutions or goals publicly but I like to keep mine to myself. I write them in my journal and review them periodically. But here's one I just came across and am willing to share. http://www.happiness-project.com/

It's not that I think I'm a particularly unhappy person (right?), but I really want to make this more of my focus in life. Life will always be filled with ups and downs, some are more predictable and others just catch us off guard. No matter what, I am going to be happy. Even though I'm home alone this week :( and it's winter (I love summer and sunshine) and my heart feels extra tender lately, I'm going to be happy. So learning more about this new project is what will keep me busy this week, along with ballet tonight, my new museum training class tomorrow, a friend in town this weekend, knitting, using my new Bosch mixer, continuing the organization projects I started a week ago, sending off my SIL's b-day gift (sorry, it might be a bit late), "calendaring" the next few weeks and we'll see what else comes my way. And of course, getting enough sleep.

Sometimes I wish...

that this could be my job http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=9267880.

I went to the wild mustang auction earlier last year and although I know little about horses and round-ups (especially of wild mustangs), sometimes I wish I knew a lot. And had a horse of my very own.

My company is currently building in a small-ish town and I think about moving up here some days. I think I would like it. Shopping wouldn't be an issue - I like shopping online. They have a few cute restaurants, for days I'd like to eat out. More than one grocery store. Multiple gas stations. I think they have a movie theater, if not there's one within a 20-25 min. drive. They even have a store for boots and jeans. And yes, I did stop to look for my perfect pair of boots. I'm still on the hunt. They didn't have any that said "Mandy". I'll find 'em.

Here's another great reason - I took these pictures on my drive to check progress at the lot.

A fairly large herd thought the middle of a field would be a cozy place on a wintery day.

Another herd was looking to find more cover above the golf course.

Side note - maybe I should change the name of my blog to "Title... Post" - I seem to exhibit a pattern here.

an idea for my knitting

hat by me, cute little girl by my brother & sister-in-law

I've been debating about opening up a little Etsy shop to sell my knitting projects, but obviously just haven't made the commitment (or kept enough of my projects to sell). So here's my latest idea, let me know what you think.

I found this website before the holidays and knew that I could definitely do something like this. The hats are simple, classic and definitely something I could make in mass quantities. But I also don't think it's something I could make a living from, nor do I think I would want to anyway. I like my job and I also like the idea of not having arthritic hands by my 35th birthday.

This leads to my next idea for this venture. Since I'm not looking to really make money from this venture, why not use the money I would earn to help others. I've been thinking a lot about my little brother that passed away from cancer almost 22 years ago (wow, that sounds like a really long time). I think about him a lot during the holidays, the anniversary of his death (that's approaching next month) and I have dreams about him sometimes. I know there are a lot of races or other such events that people dedicate to lost loved ones, but maybe I could use this talent of mine to dedicate to my little Tony's memory. I could knit hats for kids going through chemo, or use the money from selling these hats to donate to families to help with their expenses (as meager as it may be).

So what do you think?

Now I just need to figure out the logistics of it all. I know someone I could ask for help in creating a website, or I could even just create a blog with a little paypal store. But I'm not really sure how it would work financially. Do I need to set up an LLC, or a charitable organization, or how do I report this money to the govt., etc., etc.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, I also need a name for this little shop of mine.