a first

So yesterday I experienced "a first" in my life. Yesterday I fired a gun for the first time, and it happened to be a shot gun no less! Here's how it happened:

I walked to one of my neighbor's, Caroline, house after work to visit for a little bit. She happens to be one of my dearest friends these days and is actually getting married this coming Saturday to a wonderful guy named Nick. Her fiance was there moving in some of his things so I offered to help him carry some of the stuff. The following conversation then took place

Nick: Any of the camoflauge bags can come in
Mandy: Um, are all of these guns?
Nick: (chuckling) Yes
Mandy: I don't know if I can carry these
Nick: why?
Mandy: I've never held a gun before, well other than a bb gun at camp
Nick: WHAT? Are you serious?
Mandy: Yes, I'm serious. And, why does one guy need all these guns?
Nick: they all shoot different and are for shooting various things. And, this isn't all of them
Mandy: Devon was talking about all the guns he has. I don't think Devon even hunts
Nick: (chuckling again) oh, he doesn't hunt. you just need to know that guys are gonna have guns...

(nick proceeded to say more about this, but i can't remember his explanation as to why guys have and like guns...so, i'm just accepting it for what it is...that some of them do)

We (Nick, Caroline, and I) finished carrying everything inside. Caroline and I were chatting in the kitchen when Nick walked out of the bedroom with a shot gun in hand. Don't worry, there was some special lock over the safety of the gun. He said that we were going to have to remedy the fact that I've never shot a gun before. I proceeded to argue that we couldn't just go outside in the neighborhood and fire a gun, to which Nick responded, "sure, why not." I was positive that someone would hear the shot and call 911. Yes, we live in a tiny country town and not a big city, so I know Nick was right. So the three of us walked out on the future Mr. & Mrs. Lewis' back deck and Nick explained all the parts of a shot gun, the type of shell that was being used, and what happens to that shell once it's fired. I can't remember the specifics of the type of shell we used, but I do remember that Nick said something about "if I stood by that shed over there and got hit with it, it would sting, but it wouldn't really hurt me." Again, I took him at his word and believed him. I trust people so easily, don't I? So, Nick showed me the proper way to hold a shot gun, with my elbow up and it in the pocket by my shoulder and not actually on my shoulder, and where I place my cheek. He was great and supported the gun as well, since it was my first time shooting it. I clicked the safety off...and fired. The gun definitely kicked back and made a crazy amazing sound! The sound of a shot gun fire really lasts for at least a full second or second and a half...that's a long time! I must admit...it was a lot of fun! But, please...don't tell anyone I didn't wear ear plugs when I shot it! :)

3 months away

Well hello to those of you who would even venture to check out my blog any more. With 3 months with nothing, I'm surprised if anyone checks it out. My loss definitely. So, I'll write about a few exciting things that have gone on the past few months and then try and get back into "normal" blogging. (I won't ask you to hold your breath though, cause I don't trust myself).

To the left is sweet, precious Nathanael. I really cannot say enough how much of a blessing this season of life is, getting to live next door to Annie, Robbie, and Nate. I don't see them every day, but I sure do see them several times during the week. This is a picture of some time Nathanael and I had together this past Friday while Annie & Robbie went to a Valentine's day dinner. So, cute to see him playing and inspecting the bubbles. He's walking and babbling up a storm. Amazing to watch babies grow and develop. Again, such a sweet season in life, and I'm thankful.

On another note, I'm almost done with school!!! I offically graduate on Saturday March 7th from A.T. Still University in Arizona. I've been "in school" though an online program for a little over two years now getting my clinical doctorate in Audiology. A lot of people don't even know I'm doing this program cause I try and keep quiet about it, as I feel like it seems like it's a bigger deal than it really is. I guess now I'm shouting it to the blogging world, aren't I? I'm just so darn excited to have ZERO SCHOOL WORK! woohoo! I can read with no guilt and I can plan my weekends with no thought for quizes, exams, papers, or projects! I have one more online class chat next Monday and my last final due next weekend, and then I'm home free.

Joe Bud...I need you to meet me in Arizona on 3/7/09 so we can take our normal graduation pic! (see link to interpret that code language) http://mandyleighrambles.blogspot.com/2008/05/tradition.html

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.