mandaloo . com

had a great and fantastic weekend. on friday, we (jeromy, me, jenny, josh, lori, sarge, and hambone) all went to beaumont ranch for the weekend. when we showed up, we saw that there was a choir banquet going on in the main hall. we got our rooms and took our things inside. jeromy, hambone and i stayed in an amazing room called the “red room”… it was beautiful. all of the rooms were, acutally. everything is decorated and looks super cute. jenny and josh’s room was in the town part of the ranch… i’m hoping to post some photos soon.

we went out to the hog lease later on that evening and met up with shannon (who goes to jenny and josh’s church). the poor guy was out hunting and had the church van. when he got back, the door to the van was wide open and the keys were gone. shannon, jeromy, and i met up with shannon’s wife in burleson to get another key while the rest of the gang kept eye on the van. craziness.

on saturday morning, we woke up and enjoyed a great breakfast (and boy - it was good!). the boys went off fishing, shooting guns, etc. while us girls spent the day at the spa. we all got pedicures, manicures, a massage, and lunch. it was fan-tab-u-lous. LOVED it… and much needed from what the massage lady told me. the moment she felt my upper back, she was all like, “what do you do for a living? you are way knotted up!” i was happy that she actually got deep enough to work out some of the lumps and bumps and i can honestly say that i feel so much incredibly better now that i’ve had it. i had a massage back in february around the time of the wedding, but this was so much more intense… aaahhhhh! after that, us girls walked around the little town. lori and i both almost got attacked by a bird… must have been too close to a nest or something. we met up with the boys, who were down the way shooting. after that, we went to dinner and hung out. the boys went out hunting and us girls unwound in my room and read issues of glamor, cosmo, etc. probably one of the best days i’ve had in a long time.

on sunday, we enjoyed yet another great breakfast (i love the cooking there) and packed up to go home. i forgot to mention that there was a wedding at the place on saturday night… it was cool because the bride and groom left in a helicopter. ultra nifty. there was a multitude of drunk people late saturday. pretty interesting. as we were leaving on sunday, i guess the place was the location for a muslim retreat of some sort, as we saw like three or four buses of people dropping people off. i had a blast and i hope that we can go back to the ranch sometime soon.

i’ve been mega productive today (monday). woke up - cleaned, did laundry, and organized stacks of paper that have been sitting around for months. after that, i worked on some edits, worked out with jenny, cooked dinner and dessert for jeromy, took a shower, and am now catching up on the blog. i would love to have a couple of more days off to accomplish some projects around the house, but alas, the three day break is over. i’m supposed to have field work tomorrow, so it’s time to get to bed.

jeromy, sarge, lori, jenny, josh, hambone, and i are all going to beaumont ranch this weekend. three days of outdoor/indoor fun. there is hunting, fishing, a spa (us girls are doing a half day package with massages, manicures, and pedicures), etc. and it’s going to be SO NICE to just get away from everything and have a good time. the break is badly needed for both jeromy and i and i’m mega excited. the only bad thing is that i have not packed and am trying to get laundry done… and i’m still trying to get stuff done for work and have a lunch meeting. bleh. i seriously need two of me today. but as the time is drawing nearer, i find myself getting almost downright giddy. i’m taking the camera, some useless girlie magazines, and t-shirts and i’m going to be all set.

i need more tshirts… anyone got some cool tshirt sites to pass along? buying tshirts online always seems so risky to me. i can buy shirts and range anywhere in size from a medium to an extra large …. all bc they are cut/sized differently. bleh. i’m hoping to find one tshirt line i looooove online and find the perfect size and then just order to my heart’s content. it’s a plus if the shirts are all soft - and not the scratchier, stiffer material. i buy from woot from time to time but i’ve found that it’s just as easy for me to order a boy size from there.

i need to get ready to go (and finish up work)… i’m ready to get this weekend started.

1. gel inserts for shoes (heels) rock my face off. my feet have been throbbing for weeks now that i’ve been wearing cuter (more uncomfortable) shoes. bought some little gel insert things yesterday and there has been much improvement today. hooray!

2. my car is smart. obviously smarter than me. i was driving along the other day and i hear non stop beeping. i check the control panel to see if any warning lights were on. nope. i looked all around to see if there was a problem. nope. was my seatbelt not buckled? it was. the beeping would not cease and proceeded to drive me insane. i looked over and i had my laptop bag and purse in the passenger seat next to me. my bag had shifted just right while driving to make the car think i had a passenger next to me and was telling me that they weren’t buckled. very smart, eh? (yes - but very annoying when one is navigating 70 mph traffic and doesn’t know how to stop the noise)

3. i’ve had some post it notes from god recently. nothing crazy… but just little things letting me know that i’m being watched over and cared for.

4. went to a nice sit down dinner with jeromy tonight and talked. it was nice. it felt like a date. i think i even blushed a couple of times. silly, perhaps - but much needed. ’twas fun.

5. i have woken up for the last couple of nights hacking up my lung. i’m hoping tonight will be an improvement.

6. i wore a pink shirt to work today. many compliments were received. the color that is so not my favorite suits me best.

7. joshua turned one yesterday. crazy… i so remember him being brought out and me flipping out inside when i saw the nurse do all the initial stuff to him right after he was born. he was crying and all upset and cold and all… broke my heart. it’s been super neat to see him grow into such a fun, rough-and-tumble little boy. he makes me feel all soft inside.

8. stars lost last night. hockey season is over. and to be honest, it always leaves me feeling a little empty inside. but the following quote from bob sturm soothes me: “In 1997, the Stars lost a painful game 7 in Round 1. In 1998, they lost in the Western Conference Finals to Detroit in 6 games. In 1999, they won the Stanley Cup. Hmmm. In 2007, the Stars lost a painful Game 7 in Round 1. In 2008, the Stars lost in the Western Conference Finals to Detroit in 6 games. In 2009…”

9. there is hope for me yet.

10. jeromy is going to have to get a mri done soon. his migraines are not getting better, so it’s possible he’ll get a mri this week or early next. we are both hoping that there’s nothing serious wrong and that a series of stressful events over the last few months are the cause of this constant source of pain for him.

11. i think i’m the klutziest human in the world. while walking to a meeting yesterday, my heel found a hole in the median and i fell across the darn thing and almost into the street. lame.

Mom has been scanning in a bunch of old photos and this one spoke to me. My grandmother (”Dee-Dee” as I call her… even though her name is Sandra) is the stunning lady on the left. This photo is when she and her best friend, Mary, went to Amarillo on a trip. These two were super close - Dee-Dee even introduced Mary to the man that would eventually become her husband. I love this photo and thought it was fitting to share. It’s a fun and spunky side of a lady that means the world to me. I’m super close to my Dee-Dee and love her so friggin’ much. She has had so much impact on me and my life and it’s through her I’ve learned what “unconditional love” means. Something was very familiar in this image - even though the youthful, energetic energy is not something I would automatically attribute to my grandmother today. Sometimes we (aka - I) forget the life experiences that shape the people we look up to. This simple photo is cool because it kinda makes me think that my Dee-Dee and I have more in common than what I would ever imagine. She’s as beautiful today as she was then - and I hope I can follow in her footsteps.

been fighting a sore throat the last two days… it’s all gross-sinus-drainage related and i think it’s on the upswing of getting better (thank you, tylenol allergy/sore throat medication!). worked and came home … and managed to crash for four hours straight. man oh man… i sure needed that. plans for tomorrow include going to my brother’s cosmetology school and letting him practice doing stuff on me, going shopping for clothes, and dinner with pam. plans for sunday include church in the morning and then joshua’s first birthday party in the afternoon. should be a nice weekend.

jeromy takes his concealed handgun license class tomorrow with daddy and hambone. all three of them cooped up in a class for eight hours spells trouble. heh.

i’ve been down this week. not totally depressed by any means… but just battling some internal issues. i’ve been seeing nothing but mandy flaws lately and it’s been discouraging. i don’t want to become a person that i’m not and it sometimes feels like an uphill battle when certain events are all clumped together. but then i remember that some of the people god utilized most in the scriptures were some of the most unlikely characters that were anything but perfect. and that alone gives me hope that maybe this is just an interim and learning experience to take me to the next level (assuming i do my part to grow).

jeromy’s been having tons of migraines and headaches lately. i knew it was bad when he told me that he made a doctor’s appointment (something that is usually never done). he went to the doc today and got some medicine that should hopefully help the poor guy out.

i’m going to san angelo in a couple of weekends… jeromy’s coming, too. it’s for a wedding we’re shooting (for an old friend of mine, actually) that should be tons of fun. i’m also looking forward to just getting away and being on an open road and stuff. when jeromy and i started dating, we would pile up in his truck and just drive. we had many awesome conversations in that truck and we’d go all over the metroplex on any given night. the new car is going to get broken in soon…

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long time since i’ve updated… lots of stuffs going on.

big news… i am no longer a vw bug driver. well… technically, i haven’t been one since early january since it decided to pop a timing belt. i’ve been driving my mom’s car since (a late-90s toyota camry) and have missed having my own vehicle. last weekend, jeromy and i got a 2008 scion xd… it’s a sweet little thing and i looooooooove driving it. i usually hate driving but everything in this car is just so friggin’ fun. we got the upgraded sound package, which means my tunes sound sa-weet. pics to come. it was nice to give mom’s car back to her. she never complained once and it meant the world to me that she let us borrow her car for four months. i gave the camry back to her with a full tank, fresh oil change, and it had it washed and detailed. she was pretty tickled and said that it hadn’t been that clean since they bought it. heh. i seriously love that woman. i hate taking help from people, and it’s bugged me that i’ve had to do it this long… but her chipper attitude and non-keeping-score-of-the-situation touched me. i don’t think she realizes how much it meant… but that’s what good moms are all about.

i’ve been working hard and have been tired lately. but there are a lot of big items (not having a car, etc.) that are quickly getting checked off the list and it’s nice to have a little mindspace freed up so i am not stressing as much. the only odd thing is that i’m so sleepy all the time. i’m wiped out by 9 most days and it takes me less than two minutes to fall into a deep sleep. i’ve been having reoccurring nightmares, too, which has not helped. i just need to refocus on my health and start eating better/moving around more so that i’m not so physically spent at the end of every day.

this weekend is mother’s day. we’re going to head to mom’s on sunday and have dinner with the gang. tomorrow, i have a senior portrait shoot in the morning and then a birthday party for a friend in the afternoon. i think we’re having a stars watching cookout on saturday evening. hopefully, the stars can pull out a win and not repeat last night’s disaster game. man… that was painful to watch.

the album i ordered came in this week and it looks amazing. i love it. i was able to bring it along to a consult this week and the potential client had a positive reaction to it as well. hooray! i’m hoping to get on the stick and maybe make one for jeromy’s and my wedding… which i actually need to print photos from soon.

i had my trash the dress session with our wedding photographer last weekend. from what i saw on his screen, the shots are going to turn out ammmmaaaazzziiinnnggg. they were so pretty, i couldn’t believe it was me. we went to grapevine lake for the session and the wind was all crazy - which whipped up my long veil into a frenzy of activity and made for some killer pictures. i can’t wait…

not much else going on. jeromy’s taking a chl class next saturday. i think daddy’s going to go, too. alan is liking cosmetology school. i’m actually going up there next week for “free family day.” he has to do certain procedures a certain number of times before he can get certified in it, so mom and i are going to go and get things done like pedicures, brow waxing, etc. i’m glad that he’s doing so well at it so far and that he seems to really like it.

that’s all i know so far. i hope that everyone has a great mother’s day!

i’ve been toying around with ordering a blurb album for a while now and i finally got on the stick and ordered one today. i have taken a mix of red brick photos and combined them with lyrics of some of my favorite love songs… and voila! if you want to check a preview of the book out, you can go to:

Lyrics of Love

By Red Brick Photography

Book Preview

it should be here in a couple of weeks. if i like the quality and all, i’m hoping to do one for jeromy’s and my wedding. it’d be cool to combine it with some of the lyrics from songs we played during our wedding/reception and all.

today jeromy and i took it easy. well… kinda. i’ve been working on photo edits and red brick stuff all day. i’m trying to take things to the next level… improve my services and branding. i’m going to have a friend work with me to develop a good logo so i can do a better job of making a consistent image. my welcome packets are going to get an upgrade as well. crazy fun.

it was nice to just bum around and stay in. i’ve been exhausted by interactions lately. over the last two months, there have been several events in which i’ve had to just “get over it.” it has ranged from things outside my control that were clearly wrong and crossed the line to more minor issues that i’ve tried to clear up before they got worse. i’m starting to feel that i must be an ineffective communicator. there have been a couple of conversations lately in which i have been unable to clearly convey my feelings and where they were coming from. in any case, there have been misinterpretations and i’m left with not much of an option but to just move on once the situation nullifies itself. and it’s fine… but it has left me feeling a bit anti social. nothing seems simple anymore.

i’m a big believer in “say what you mean and do what you say.” when the two start to conflict, i become confused at what someone’s intentions might be. there are some actions that i have seen this year that have clearly shown me the character of those behind them. and i have let things stew and the resulting frustration took a toll on me. so when other experiences have come up, i had decided that it was best to nip things in the bud and be completely up front and honest so that i’m not holding in negativity and can give someone an opportunity to show me how i might be misinterpreting a situation. it has become very apparent that i suck at this. as someone who grew up hating any type of conflict, i haven’t had much practice expressing my views when it comes to situations that arise that may cause for hurt feelings. it leaves me wondering if the old, silent way was better - by the time i come up with the right words to say, it’s always too late and it feels like i’m beating a dead horse.

my little brother starts cosmetology school next week. i’m keeping my fingers crossed that he finds something he truly loves doing - whether it’s skin, hair, etc. he needs confidence and some sort of sign that life really can rock. he’s a special guy with a heart as big as can be. i hope that this opportunity will give him a chance to shine.

jeromy’s making a rocket. yes… think lots of pipe, a two-liter bottle, and an air pump. i’m anticipating that he’ll need to go to the emergency room tomorrow. i’ve already had to get on to him for shooting it in the house. silly boys…

i ended my last post saying that i was bummed that i didn’t spend more time with my family. jeromy left for out of town last wednesday and that evening (technically early thursday morning), there was a massive storm that came through the area. trees were knocked over, signs down, electricity out, etc. i heard that there was a confirmed tornado less than a mile from my house. whether there was or wasn’t… there was sure a lot of damaging winds. the schools were closed and when i drove through the streets, it looked crazy. powerlines down, glass… everything. thankfully, our house is fine. jeromy’s sister’s house had their fence knocked down, so that sucks. the electricity was off and on during thursday, so i decided to spend the night at my mom’s on thursday and friday night. it was really nice to hang out and be with everyone. there were some pivotal conversations and a touching moment between me and my dad. i really love my family and when i left on saturday, there were actually tears in my eyes. i miss them and i feel bad that i don’t make it over there more often. i’ve always loved my family but i’ve been especially touched and impressed with them in the recent months. i feel their love and they genuinely love jeromy. there is a peace that i haven’t really had before and it’s nice.

the dallas stars have won their first two games in the playoffs. i can only hope that they will maintain their momentum. the next game is tomorrow night… i hope that they show it on the tvs in the bowling alley tomorrow night (since we have league nights on tuesdays).

jeromy is at his second training for the citizens fire academy right now. i’m glad that he’s getting to do this and look forward to hearing what he learned tonight. poor guy worked his butt off last week/weekend. he was exhausted when he got back into town saturday evening. i know he’ll be pooped when he gets home tonight. it’s so great to have such a hardworking guy in my life. i am smitten and it seems like things between us just get better and better (even though it’s hard to imagine an increase on what we already have). we live for each other and we both know it.

i’ve been mildly nauseated all day today. this morning, i woke up feeling like i had to throw up (but thankfully never did). nothing seemed appetizing and the thought/smell of food made me want to lose it today until this evening where i managed to get down a sandwich. i hope i feel better tomorrow. i was wired all last night and couldn’t sleep so that probably contributed to me not feeling well. i’m not as bad as i was earlier today, but the constant lull of nausea is still there. blech.

have you ever felt like god was tugging at your heart but you didn’t know why? i’ve been feeling that way lately and i’m trying to examine what it might be related to. i need to do a better job of leaving some quiet space in my head and heart so that god’s influence has a little more wiggle room to be heard. i’m super good about crowding my life with distractions and noise and such and forget to leave pieces available for higher things (although i don’t intentionally mean to do this). but there’s something going on that i need to be paying attention to…

you know the charmin toilet paper commercials with the cartoon bears? they freak me out and make me uncomfortable. i don’t know why… they’re harmless animated bears but if i could ban one type of commercial, that is what it would be. yep.

i need to hit the sack soon… i have a breakfast meeting in frisco at 7 a.m. tomorrow… which means i need to leave the house by 6 a.m. yikes. nighty night. hopefully i’ll wake up not feeling so green…

somehow, i’ve been lightening emotional loads over the last couple of weeks. it seems that slowly and surely, some clouding issues are clearing up and sunny days are ahead. simple things like getting out of my apartment, doing taxes, clearing up communication issues, etc. have all been concentrated in the last week or so. god has given me some interesting opportunities to improve my character and instead of focusing on certain situations (like i have been), i finally manned up. somehow, the looming feeling or “overwhelm” is melting away and it’s pretty awesome.

jeromy is going to be out of town for a while and i already miss him terribly. i think i’m about to head over to jenny and josh’s to hang for a bit. i’m aiming to get to bed early since i’ve been falling to sleep past midnight for the last few days.

tv sucks and rots my brain. really. i am a horrible daughter. i don’t see my family nearly as much as i would like. i need to do better at that. it’s the next thing on my list.