randomness

So, since it's been a month since I've posted last, I thought I'd just make this blog entry exactly like my blog sounds...random. Random things I've been doing and thought about

1st...I just like this picture. This is the tree that it outside my office window. I've been loving the fall colors this past week. So beautiful! I could just go out to the blue ridge parkway and watch the leaves for hours during this time of year.

2nd...in college there was a saying that went, "I just pulled a Mandy." Now it was usually when you told a story that you found hilarious, but you were the only one who did so. I did something this week that made me think, "I just pulled a mandy." I was talking to Joe on the phone while cooking dinner. We all know I cannot multitask. A lot of people say this, but for me it is completely true. So, I've got the meat in the oven, the rice cooking on the stove, and I'm cutting up the broccoli. I put the broccoli in my pamper chef steamer that I use weekly. I love this little plastic container that steams your veggies in the microwave in just a few minutes. So easy to use and clean. So, I'm talking with Joe and I look over at the stove and there is smoke billowing off of one of the burners. I lift up my vegetables and tell Joe, wow...there is something really smoking on this burner. It literaly takes me about 30 sec of looking at all of this smoke to realize that what is smoking is....my plastic pampered chef steamer. That's right...in my great multitasking skills, I put it on the stove instead of in the microwave. The situation got funnier from there, but I'll end this little narative here. Dinner ended up turning out pretty darn good if I do say so myself. I love these funny stories I seem to continually supply myself with.

Another thing I did a few weeks ago was run the Chicago Marathon. I essentially ran it with two groups of people. Above is my family group :) I ran it with my brother and two cousins. They all rocked in this marathon! It was Bryan's first, and I really can't say enough how proud I am of him. This marathon for me was not the best. I actually hope to not repeat the experience again. I got dehydrated and essentially had to walk A LOT at the end (I'll spare you the gory details). My brother and cousins waited for me for a couple hours at the finish line. Bryan was so wonderful and had flowers for me. I really am so glad I just finished though. The other group I got to run it with were two girls I ran the Great Wall of China marathon with back in May 07. Brenna lives in Seattle and Judy lives in London. The three of us agreed that this marathon was harder for all of us than doing the Great Wall marathon. Crazy. And, in case you wondering...yes I actually think I would do another marathon. I'll keep you updated on that :)

The weekend after the marathon I got together with some of my dearest, dearest friends...The Appgirls. A group of seven of us girls from college share an email address called appgirls. I am so blessed to keep in touch with them over the years. After college we would meet up in Boone, NC for a weekend reunion once a year, but this stopped a few years ago. Well, we picked it back up again last month spending the weekend in Greensboro together. It was absolutely wonderful. We honestly talked the entire weekend. The TV didn't get turned on once. Have I said it was great?! We've already got a date set for our next reunion...and it's not a year away. I know I can't wait another year before getting together with these girls. Hopefully next time I'll have a picture to share with you of these dear friends.

Okay, that's enough randomness for this email. I'm procrastinating packing for a weekend trip to the mountains. I still need to shower and pack in the next 1.5hrs....

my Friday morning thus far

Wake up suddenly at 5:39am...need to leave the house in 11min (20 min at the latest).
Showering is not an option as I went for a run last night.
Think to myself as I'm knocking shampoo bottles to the floor with my early morning uncoordination, "must move alarm clock accross the room!"

Walking out the door in 20min (yes, I am going to be a few minutes late to work).
In one hand I have my keys and both my work bag and purse on my shoulder (remembering to throw both breakfast and lunch into my work bag)
In my other hand I have the two coffee filled travel mugs I'm taking with me on my drive (since I didn't have time sit and eat breakfast this morning and I have a long drive to work).
Close the door behind me and enter early morning darkness.
Walk down first step...and fall down second step.
Quickly access if everything anatomically is okay, but remember that I don't have time for this. Get up, brush myself off, hope that my clothes are not completely dirty as I cannot see them and don't have time to change anyway.

Arrive to work safely. My clothes are not too scuffed with the carport dust I briefly found myself laying in this morning. As I can observe thus far, everything remained in my purse and work bag, as I didn't have time to even look and see if anything flew out during my early morning calisthenics. Amazingly, I didn't spill any coffee and enjoyed both mugs on my drive to work. Anatomically, the only thing I notice is that the ankle that failed me this morning is a little sore...which I'm going to choose to ignore as I'm running a marathon in 2 weeks.

Here's hoping the rest of my Friday is less eventful.

a day off

So, it's an absolutely beautiful day here...and I happen to have the day off. Our office is offically closed. I was suppose to be hosting an educational seminar on hearing loss and hearing aids, but due to only two RSVPs, the seminar was canceled. I decided to take a personal day instead of driving the 100miles round trip to the office, where there is nothing for me to do. And, it has been a marvelous day! Really, it's unbelievable how happy I get just because of a beautiful fall day with the windows open. I slept in till 7am, went for a run, then spent some quality time with my nephew while Annie had breakfast with a friend. When Annie got back from breakfast Nathanael was down for his morning nap, so she and I sat out on my back deck chatting and drinking coffee. I got to have a good chat with mom too, as it's been way to long since we caught up like that. I know you all probably aren't interested in every single detail...but hey, this blog is called Mandy's Ramblings :) I'm now going to attempt to download a couple videos I've taken of Nathanael recently with my cell phone...hope it works!

The above video is from a couple weeks ago. Annie & Robbie were over for dinner and decided to give Nathanael a bath here. Annie was opening and closing the bathroom mirror, and it happened to be one of those random things that got Nathanael LAUGHING!!! In a different video, Robbie is having to wipe away tears he's laughing so hard. This kind of laughing could be considered medicine it makes you feel so good :)

The above video is from this morning. Nathanael was chatting away (while chewing on his favorite butterfly). I didn't want to move any closer, as I thought he's stop chatting. So, sorry it's so far away.

blogging while listening to football

So, it's been WAY TO LONG since I've blogged. I'm sitting here, with my head phones plugged into my computer, listening to the Appalachian State football game (it's not televised). I thought this would be a good time to catch up on some much needed blogging. Right now ASU is ahead 21-0 after 1st quarter. I'll keep you updated throughout my blog :)

So, life here in Boiling Springs has been great. I absolutely love being near Annie, Robbie & Nathanael. And it's been great to be roomates with Chrissy. I think we're learning how to be good roomates. (ASU just scored 28-0 now)

I was able to drive up to Ocean City, Maryland several weeks ago and enjoy a little bit of time at the beach with Bryan, Tricia, Annie, Robbie, and all the kids. It was GREAT! Below are a few

pictures...

Aren't both of these families SO CUTE! Cute couples and cute kids. Maybe I should be using the word beautiful here...beautiful couples and beautiful kids. Yes, I think that's better. We're all really hoping to plan a family beach week far enough in advance this year that everyone will be able to go next summer. That will be SO fun.

(Half time now at the game. Score still 28-0)

On the work front...well, wish I had raving things to say. It's been a bit of a challenge the past couple months. I haven't minded the drive as much as I was thinking. I've gotten into listening to audio books. Thank goodness the local public library is a little outdated cause all their books are on cassettes...and that's exactly what I need :) No cd player in my car. I've enjoyed some of these books so much that I find myself not minding slow moving vechicles on the country roads near as much. So, it could be safe to say that these audio books are helping to tame my road rage.

Well, I'll tie up this blog. I've just pulled some banana bread out of the oven. A neighbor cut Chrissy's and my grass while were out earlier today, and we're making bread for he and his roomates. I made the bread and Chrissy is writing a witty poem to accompany it. Knowing Chrissy's skills, the poem may be better than the bread!

(by the way...still half-time)

finished up life in Raleigh and moved to Boiling Springs

Well, I just got these pictures out of order and can't seem to fix them...hence this post is going to be all out of order. SORRY! Above is my old roomate, Rosemary. She, Jeanett, and I all played for the week before I moved to Boiling Springs. Here we were going to a place called Raleighwood where we had dinner and watched a movie.

We all dressed up the morning I left and went to a nice breakfast. We went to a place called Mimi's. If any of you have a chance to go, I highly suggest it! They have the best muffins's in the world.

Meet one of my new neightobrs! This is Nathanael. He's changing by the day. I can't believe how big and HOW CUTE he's getting. He's smiling a ton now and giggling when mommy and daddy to do something funny. Have you ever heard anything as cute as a 4month old giggling?!

And, this is my new roomate Chrissy! I have to tell you a secret about her...she hates pictures, but seems to always take the funniest pictures of herself when a camera is left alone in a room. This had to make it on here :) Below is where I originally started this post before I got it all out of order...

Well, I've tied things up in Raleigh and have moved to Boiling Springs, NC. Here are a few pictures about the festivities. Above are two great friends and fellow audiologists, Catherine (middle) and Susan. They have both started their own successful audiology practices. When they left Raleigh ENT we had going away parties for them, and they turned around and did the same for me. We had an authentic shrimp boil! It was delicious. One of the fun times of these parties are all the gifts (white elephant, I must say) that you end up getting. Old things that disappeared from the office years ago somehow show up wrapped. It was so much fun.

These are two good friends (Dave and Dan) who very kindly came over and helped me move all my stuff into this truck. They really loaded EVERYTHING. Several times they would ask me, "is that it?" I would say, "yeah, I think it is." THEN I'd walk inside and notice a coffee table that was mine, an end table, a few boxes. They somehow made it all fit! They were so wonderful. Just a side note, these guys are part of the reason why I've been cheering for Bengals football!

So, after Dave & Dan helped load my truck, I drove it down to boiling Springs. This is the unloading crew :) A couple months ago I wrote about my 2nd family...The Suddreth Family. Well they met me at my new home and helped unload the truck. This is Mr. Suddreth, Matthew, and Mrs. Suddreth. Below is Melanie and her son, William. The Suddreth's definitely did more than they signed up for too! I had hired two guys to meet me at the house to unload, but they called while I was driving down there to let me know they were going to be about 2hrs late. Needless to say...that was too late. We had to get the truck unloaded before the rain. Chrissy and I treated the Suddreth's to a pizza dinner...think that was enough of a thank you? Yeah, I don't think so either.

Melanie and William. William was a big help! He kept us all smiling :) And, Chrissy (my new roomate!) is in the background.

Then I took a week off and finished up errands in Raleigh and played with my roomates Rosemary and Jeanett. One day we drove two hours to the beach and spent all day out there. It was so much fun! These two girls are like sisters to me. I'm so thankful for them.

lost dvd

As many of you guys know, I had an amazing opportunity to run the Great Wall of China Marathon a little over a year ago. It has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I completed it with a team of people from all over the world. Members of the team were from Denmark, England, Argentina, Spain, Holland, France, Italy, Canada, and the US. We all have a connection with the hearing aid company Widex. Widex in our various countries supported us all as we ran the marathon to raise support for the Deaf Olympics. Again, AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE and once in a lifetime training, traveling, and friendships. It's safe to say that I still think about atleast one or two aspects of the entire experience atleast once a day.

So, I find myself packing up my house...and my dvd with pictures and videos that Widex took from our actual time in China is missing. My roomate, Jeanett, is being the complete optomist saying, "it has to be here. we'll find it. it can't be anywhere else." And, as much as I am hearing her logic...it's no where and my doubt is rising by the minute. As a kid I remember praying to one of the catholic saints asking him to help us find specific lost things in our house. (sorry mom! can't remember which saint it is) Isn't it funny how memories come rushing back to you in these moments. Even though praying to specific saints popped into my head this morning, I love the fact that God wants us to go directly to him. So right now I'm actively praying that our Great God will help me locate this dvd that is so special to me. I'm very thankful that we really do have a God who cares about these little details.

Below are a few more pics of my time in China and with my team:

A goat got onto the Great Wall the 1st time we were on it at the beginning of the race. I'm so glad I got to be near it when it happened and then that someone from my team found this pic and sent it to me. This shows how unique this marathon was.

This is me, Judy (middle: from London) and Brenna (right: from Seattle, WA). We spent a lot of time together and are doing a really good job of keeping in touch. The three of us are going to meet in Chicago this coming October and run the Chicago marathon together.

This is some of my teammates posing for a picture wearing our medals after finishing the marathon. All smiles!

This is my coach, Anders, and me. He patiently trained me (from Denmark) through my stress fracture. I really hope to one day have the chance to be trained by him again.

finally followed through on a promise

I had the pleasure of baby sitting for some wonderful friends of mine on Sunday. I went to their house and we spent a few hours chatting and then I watched the kids while they went out to dinner with some friends. Everyone's response seems to be, "that's so nice." But, I need to tell all of you that I have been telling DeAnne & Philip that I wanted to baby sit for them while they went out for about TWO YEARS. So, really everyone's response should be..."well it's about time!" Below is picture of DeAnne with her three kids. Philip was out doing some door-to-door visiting for the church.

Left to right: Ryan (2), DeAnne (mother), Peter (5), Emma (4)

This is a self portraite of Ryan and me. He's good at saying "cheese"

The kids and I had a great time together. I would say the biggest challenge of the evening was the different levels of imagination. Here is one example: Were were accross the street at the church play ground. Peter had turned one of the things into a space shuttle. Repeatedly the countdown would begin for take off. Emma, Ryan, and me would all run and help eachother up into the shuttle. But repeatedly after the countdown "we didn't go anywhere" according to Peter. So Emma, Ryan, and me would get down and play some and then the countdown would begin again. After about 45 min of playing this conversations took place.

Emma: Lets go inside

Peter: We can't go inside, we're on the moon

(I'm pushing Ryan on the swing)

Emma: We're not on the moon

Peter: We can't get home, we're on the moon

Emma: Peter, we're not on the moon. We're accross the street. I can see the trash cans!

I thought this was hilarious! I loved Emma's logic and I loved Peter's imagination. I also loved how Ryan just followed along with everything so happily. Well, Peter eventually fixed the broken satellite on the shuttle and we were able to re-enter the atmosphere safely. We safely crossed back to the house (passing the trash cans) and enjoyed icy pops. It is safe to say that I completely adore and am blessed by this family.

a tradition

The baby of our family graduated from college last weekend. He's going to be spending the summer in Milwaukee with mom and then is packing up and moving to Seattle, WA! Thank goodness for airplanes! I'm excited to visit him out there over the next couple years.

Well, all six of us kids, mom, and one of our in-laws got to be together last weekend in Eau Claire, WI, and we had a blast. Bryan, Meeghan, and Joe got to meet their new nephew Nathanael for the first time and I do believe it was love at first sight for all of them :) We went picture crazy together. Guess that's what happens when we don't get together too often. We definitely acted very silly together and enjoyed one anothers company emmensly. We were sad that Tricia and the kids couldn't be there to make the entire family complete, but they got to hear some of the craziness through phone calls.

So below are three of the pictures from the weekend. Joe and I have a tradition. Every time I have graduated he has put on my cap and gown and we've taken a picture together. Well, it was now my turn to put on his cap and gown. We have alteast two more of these pictures coming over the next couple years...so watch out!

CONGRATULATIONS JOE BUD!!!!!!!

I'm so proud of you!

Under Contract!!!!!!!

So, God and I have been talking about the sale of my house. As I make this move to Boiling Springs, NC, the quick sale of my house in a declining market would be a huge blessing from God that would assure me even more that I'm moving in the right direction. (I know that sounds like I'm not being faithful or that I wouldn't be happy unless His answer is what I wanted it to be...but really we had some good talks. I would have been okay with any answer). But, I'm happy to report that after 18 days on the market my house is offically under contract! I am proclaiming from the rooftops that God hears us and that He is good. My sister Chrissy is here tonight, so my roomates (Jeanett and Rosemary), Chrissy, and me are getting ready to go out and have a celebratory ice cream :)

My Second Family

I have spent the last two weekends with this wonderful family pictured to the left. They have whole heartedly adopted me into their family and I am truly blessed by it. Now, don't get me wrong...I completely adore my true family (and am so excited to get to see all of them next weekend!), but the Suddreths are that second family that I believe everyone needs in life.

It all started when I met Heather (my best friend) at Appalachian State. She invited me to her grandma's place in Boone to have dinner and play games with her family. The countless laughs and stories started that night over a game of Pictonary! I am truly blessed by this great family and so thankful for all the hugs, meals, laughs, and time shared with them.

house on the The Market

I got a great call from my realtor tonight...someone who looked at my house yesterday is very interested! woohoo!!! Now, I've never done this before, so I'm really trying not to get my hopes up, but.....my hopes are up. My house went on the market offically last Monday. I've had about 7 or 8 people look at it already, which is wonderful. All I really need is THE ONE.

I'm making a huge change in life and moving from Raleigh, NC to Boiling Springs, NC. That is moving from a great city to a one stop light town (seriously...one stoplight). I have two sisters there, a brother-in-law, and now a new nephew. Other than some great friends here, there is really nothing holding me to Raleigh...so I'm stepping out and moving. The Lord and I have had lots of conversations about this move, and He is amazingly orchestrating the details. When my house went on the market we had a conversation about how I really need my house to sell quickly, in this declining market, as confirmation that I really am making the right decisions. Looks like our God is really being faithful to this faithless girl. I'll keep you posted.

Let the blogging begin

So, with the encouragment of my college friends I've decided to start a blog. I've absolutely loved keeping up to date on their lives through stories, pictures, and videos. I only hope that I'll be as good as they are at it! So, as of May 6, 2008...LET THE BLOGGING BEGIN!