Thanksgiving in September

So this is from last Thanksgiving, 2007. Thought you might like to see some of my family.

Most Boring Blog EVER!

To all of you who eagerly look at my blog every day in hopes that maybe TODAY will be the day that Mandy FINALLY posts something new--well, today is your lucky day! Wow, it has been a while, so for your patience and patronage, I offer you my very first BLOG PICTURE. Enjoy!

This is a picture of me and my friends at Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah, aka "the mini Grand Canyon". It was a really cool place where bristlecone pine trees grow.

(left to right in picture: Kim, Jenny, Debbie, and me)

Sleep? Who needs sleep?

I finished my organic chemistry take-home exam just in the nick of time today, after having stayed up nearly all night to finish it. Wow, it's been a long time since I tried to pull an all-nighter, and I have to say that these old bones don't take it as well as they used to. On the other hand, there is something intriguing in being awake while most of the city sleeps. Kind of like you have a secret identity or something. I don't know what I'm saying. One hour of sleep in a night'll do that to you.

School is going well, my last final is this Wednesday. Then I'm off to San Diego to visit my sister Alicia, who lives there all the time, lucky girl. Though with the recent deadly shark attack that happened in San Diego, maybe I'm glad that I live in a place where the most deadly thing to contend with in the water here are the brine shrimp and the lake stink.

Life in Utah

Good morning all! It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything, but I think the only people who ever check this site are members of my family so I'm probably safe. My life has changed pretty drastically since I last wrote: I quit my dreaded job at the window factory, I sold my house and moved to a little apartment in West Jordan, where I now work with troubled teeenagers, and I started going back to school to complete some prerequisites for P.A. school. I quite like my new job, and I am working with my sister and brother-in-law so I get to see one of my adorable nieces almost every day. I only wish I could see all my nieces and nephews as often! I work in the afternoons, which leaves mornings free for school. I am taking Organic Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Biology lab. I am really enjoying school for the most part. It's really too bad I can't make a living going to school. I don't have a lot of free time between working and school, but I like the feeling of accomplishing things that make a difference, both in the lives of others and in my own life. I'd like to find a way to be a little more balanced as far as exercising is concerned, so I plan to particpate in a triathalon sponsored by my work in May. This could get a little scary...