really rusty.

what? i'm blogging for the first time since june 30th? yep, it's happening. i was inspired because i should be studying and don't feel like it. also, alabama vs ole miss is about to start so let's be honest, studying won't happen for quite some time.

great few days in atlanta with hill. (p.s. he is a better shopper than i am and finds much more reasonably priced things.)
awesome restaurant everyone needs to try: Dante's Down the Hatch. fondue fondue and more fondue. plus crocodiles. no this is not disneyworld, rather a very highly rated restaurant hidden behind a huge old house.

in a matter of months i will have a career path (january 25th, let the countdown begin!). hallelujah and big thank you Jesus.

i'm about to eat a hot dog, yum.

i'm not as good at this as i used to be.

last post for who knows how long,
roll tide.

summer stuffs

i was given a PURPLE star-shaped magic wand today that i will probably start carrying with me everywhere.

i would really like to acquire a sharpie "twintip" marker.

i am learning an everloving ton at the hospital (i put in a catheter all by myself!) thanks to a fantastic teacher.

i want to take another trip to new york pronto.

God's forgiveness is astounding, and He draws me closer to Him daily.

i lost TWO pairs of sunglasses in one day.

i miss my best friends who are spread all over the place for these three months.

i love goldfish now more than ever.

songs of the moment: "out loud" by dispatch and "waking up in vegas" by katy perry.

i'm thankful for my bf who makes me laugh all the time.

SOMEONE GET A PUPPY THAT I CAN PLAY WITH!!

i haven't blogged in light-years so i decided a list would make for the most effective post.

oh and i have finally learned how to braid my own hair!!


ta da!!!!!!!
the end.

cold, cold water, bring me round. now my feet won't touch the ground.

why do i always blog in the early early morning? right now my clock says 3:17 AM. yikes.
anyway, i'm back in my very own queen size bed, and i'm so happy! i have clean sheets, a clean room, and this city almost totally empty is one of my favorite things about summer. it's my first time back since school let out, and i'm loving it.

it's been a while since i've blogged, and i always get overwhelmed when i let things pile up like this, but i'll try to keep it brief...

i saw coldplay last night. holy smokes it was the best concert i have EVER attended. until now nothing could top matchbox twenty in fourth grade and front row dave matthews in charleston last summer, but coldplay was better than both combined!! the way they involve the audience is amazing, and they even let us do a group sing! at one point chris martin ran by my seat so close i could have literally stuck my arm out and grabbed him. i was whoa starstruck. on top of this there was confetti and big yellow balloons and seats on the thirteenth row thanks to my wonderful boyfriend and superb new songs (see lyrics to strawberry swing in title) i had never heard before and a great dinner date with some of my favorite people before. i couldn't have asked for a better night.

also i got a haircut so my hair is quite short again. and has lots of choppy layers. we will see how i feel about this in a few days.

before all this i also saw matt nathanson and erin mccarley and jack's mannequin in atlanta. listen to gone by matt nathanson. and if you like that listen to still. both are pretty fantastic, and erin mccarley is just cool. she will be at city stages and i simply cannot wait to see her again...she sang tom's diner (doo doo duh duh doo doo duh duh, look it up you know it i promise) while her keyboard guy beat-boxed the entire song. it was seriously cool.

besides all this i have a family vacation to look forward to for an entire week starting this saturday!! but when i return...yates i can't wait to see your apt all done up!!! katie k i'm praying for you in haiti! and same for jt in london and katie b in vermont and sarah/chris soon to be in africa and cj in nashville and all my friends everywhere who seem to be traveling the world...you all add so much joy to my life!

i feel undeservedly blessed all the time. i'm fortunate that my God's love is shown at its strongest through my betrayal, and i'm so thankful that where i am weak my God is strong. i have felt extremely convicted lately that my purpose on this earth is to bring others to His heavenly kingdom, and if i'm being honest i'm not always sure the best way to go about that. i'm praying for guidance, maybe even a challenge in this area...God does not call me to be content here. this is not my home.

i need to blog more often. this is now unbearably long so for those of you who are still reading, you are super awesome.
it is now 4:08 AM and you all know how embarrassingly long it takes me to type one of these things.
the end.

i've decided i might get a twitter!

it is almost three o'clock in the morning and i should either be asleep or studying. but alas, i am doing neither. so i blog!

i have a new love affair with hgtv, and this glorious channel has taught me so many things. for instance, i would like to one day live in a house with a windy/curly staircase, gigantic bathtub, porch complete with swing, loft (perhaps that the windy staircase leads to...), and a bedroom that somehow involves the color "leaf green." how long will it take me to afford such a house? probably my whole life, but i'm optimistic!

furthermore, i attended my third dave matthews concert last night (yes, THIRD, i'm becoming one of those people i'm afraid), and he opened with "everyday." this song used to be quite overplayed and i never liked it too terribly much, but in concert, it is probably my all time fav. there's one line in particular, "a good love fights for, everyday," that always sticks with me. i want to apply this to all relationships in my life, whether that be romantically or friendly or family. maybe it's because my parents are divorced that i'm so determined to fight for lasting love of all kinds, but i want it and won't settle for anything less. so to those whom i love already, like all my wonderful friends, beware because you're stuck with me... see dave is so much more than just a musician! he is a life-counselor of sorts. plus he is now partnered with tom's shoes so he is also a giving philanthropist!

anyway, from dave to the Lord, a far superior life-counselor, who also has LOTS to say on love, here is one of my favorites....

1 John 4:16
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."

and that is the best kind of everyday love.
happy weekend!

let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance.

i have felt so undeservingly blessed these past few days (as i should always but sometimes i forget), and i felt it worthy of a post!

exhibit a:
there is nothing like two glorious days by the pool to remind me of the perfect design of my Creator. seriously not a cloud in the sky, perfect breeze, working on a base tan that will take me the entire summer to achieve (i now have a sunburned chest and stripe on my right shin). oh and the slide! despite the fact that i slide like a grandmother, according to some (ahem, hill and john michael), it still makes me so very happy.

exhibit b:
new music. the ingrid michaelson song you and i. see above title. thanks roommate for that one. and i came around by amie miriello. thanks one tree hill and yates. and two concerts coming up in the next two weeks that i could not be more excited about!

exhibit c:
new movies. the movie seventeen again. i'm going to sound like a dork here but let's be honest i have a blog so i already am one...the movie was hilarious. good clean fun + zac efron + a happy ending involving a vortex(yeah you want to see it now...)=my kind of movie.

exhibit d:
(this is the last one i promise!)
my summer has worked out even better than i anticipated. i have a job that i'm actually excited about. i have a beach trip planned with my four best girl friends. another beach trip planned with fantastic high school friends. and family vacation to hilton head, one of my favorite places ever.

i have messed up so many times and only continue to do so, but my God still provides, and i should spend so much more time on my knees thanking him for that.



oh and happy happy birthday katie k! i'm so glad you came into my life this year...now back to my studies.

good news

weekend at home with the fam was the best, minus the fact that my brother couldn't come home and almost every Easter egg i touched i somehow also cracked/dropped. even better than that was the sermon i heard sunday morning. i will not recap the entire thing but there was one point made that rocked me so i felt the need to relay to the few who may actually read this...
the gospel reading was the one you would expect for Easter, the chapter of Mark where the women go to the tomb and find Jesus's body missing, only to learn that miraculously Jesus has been raised from the dead! however, my priest provided me with some new perspective: so the ladies come upon the empty tomb and are met by a mysterious figure who tells them Jesus is risen! go and spread the news, tell the disciples and Peter, Jesus is risen! (keep in mind i'm not quoting so this is rough kate translation). reread that now.

go tell the disciples AND Peter.

Peter, the one who denied Christ three times, the one who was at times cowardly and selfish, the one who hit walls in life and his walk with the Lord, Peter who at times reminds me so much of myself it is scary, go tell the disciples AND Peter. my God reaches for those who constantly mess up and and wants us to know He loves us just the same. He wants us to be His "Easter people" too, those who go and keep spreading the Word, keep telling the story of how Jesus saves and was raised from the dead. so while i was expecting the traditional Easter sermon about how this is the day of the greatest miracle, and certainly nothing can undermine the magnificence of this holiday, but those extra two words that i had never even paid attention to added so much to the meaning of this particular Easter sunday and my faith in general. to say God is cool is such an understatement. happy belated Easter!

utterly random

i sent my watch through the washing machine. that pretty much sums up the state of affairs in my life at the moment. if you could see my room, it too would vouch for the craziness that always seems to be this time of year. fortunately, i have wonderful afternoons with sarah and katie filled with summer snow. this, however, led to a perplexing discovery. summer snow has ice cream shaved ice. katie ordered it. i figured surely that meant it had the consistency of ice cream...i could not be more wrong. as she explained, it is shaved ice merely flavored like ice cream. next followed my seemingly natural follow-up question: so what flavor of this so called "ice cream shaved ice" did you get? her answer, stated with a pitying look in my direction: kate, it is actually shaved ice with the flavor of ice cream. HOW CAN SOMETHING (that would be ice cream) THAT ONLY COMES IN OTHER FLAVORS HAVE A FLAVOR ALL ITS OWN OF SHAVED ICE?

think on it. you're prolly going to have to read this a few times to understand. and get back to me.

hip-hoppity

i'm breaking the rules and blogging twice in one day. hip hop was FABULOUS. sarah and i were by far not the worst people in the class, and we had a blast. we will be going back regularly and anyone/everyone (katie k that means you!) should come with. oh and then we ran into anna! and dude you're coming next time too. anyway, sarah and i came home and attempted to do our new dance for chris in our teeny tiny den, but he just laughed and laughed...we are hip hop goddesses.

i'm watching hgtv right now (house hunters is my new favorite show, yes i'm an 80 year old woman) and avoiding studying. go figure.

now download the song day day 'n' nite by kid cudi and imagine my roommate and i blowin yo mind with some killer dance moves.

i'll be forever yours. love always, mandy

i was mini-roadtripping back from home today and rockin out to some fantastic music, hence above titled lyric from mandy moore's candy, and i mean like the kind of rockin where people in the cars next to you stare. me singing/screaming loudly and dancing, which really means shimmying my shoulders since that's all you can do with both feet still on the pedals, and that was when it hit me...i miss dancing SO much...it is something i've done since age 3 that all of a sudden stopped when i went away to school. not okay!! it used to be one of my greatest passions, and yet i've been ignoring it for three years. this ends now! i will be taking a hip-hop dance class this very evening with my ghetto roommate (you know what i'm talking about if you've ever seen her get down to rap), and i'm going to be really rusty but seriously excited. more on how all this goes later. that's all for now

i will never let this many things pile up to blog about ever again

i am overwhelmed with the amount of blogworthy things that have happened in the past couple weeks. spring break, friends figuring out life plans, bowling birthday parties, and everything in between. so i delayed the inevitable and have spent the last thirty minutes reformatting my blog. i like green! oh and i changed my pic due to numerous complaints about the pain gemina (my previous giraffe with the neck disorder) appeared to be in, but i will remember her always...

okay spring break. seriously there are no words. people ask how it was and i stammer through something about broadway and shopping and a homemade video, but honestly it was one of the best weeks of my life. such great fellowship with friends, receipts igniting and burning holes in tablecloths(thank you yates), tearing up sweet little anna (patagonia, tanning bed, etc...not really sure why this happened but you know we love you), getting peed on by fancy followed shortly after by kmac actually gagging as we scooped her poop off the sidewalk, subway adventures, the brooklyn tabernacle (i can't begin to describe its wonder, just go if you are ever within an hour radius of new york), heavenly body scrub, and constant laughter. thank you mollye and ross for providing the place for such a phenomenal trip. my eight days in nyc confirmed that i plan on spending some part of my life in this city, and i cannot wait.

then i come back and it is WARM here. such a nice change of pace. yeah school is stressful as always, but people seem so refreshed and just generally happier in the spring. the stress thing is something i'm working on. sarah and i were talking the other day as she has been quite stressed as well with all her documenting justice stuff (yay she is done with her string-out!), and she offered me a radical thought: if Jesus came back tomorrow, would it matter? the answer, absolutely not. i want to focus on relationships, my time with the Lord, my precious family, and all the good stuff instead of the minutia and stress of everyday life that is just so unimportant in the little time we spend down here. yes school has it's place, and i certainly desire to be the best nurse possible, but everything in moderation. i simply cannot do it all. and i apologize to those i complain to so frequently; please know that i'm working on it!

a seemingly perfect follow up to that conversation was church today, where pastor bill provided a totally new look at the story of Jonah. i was reminded of something that should be so simple...prayer, no matter the circumstance, is always a good thing. God breaks Jonah down to the point where he is surely facing death inside a whale for three whole days so that Jonah has nothing left but to cry out for help, and even though He was Jonah's last resort, God gladly rescues him. whether it is about the tiniest insignificant thing, you're desperate on your knees, or maybe your motives even seem selfish and impure, God listens anyway. He takes me just as I am. He calls me His Beloved, and that will never change. how great is my God?

also, charlie's bday party (happy 22!) last night was fantastic. we ate cookie cake, went bowling, it turned cosmic. enough said.

my friends really are the best.

oh and go see i love you, man.

and monsters vs. aliens.


i mean it.

come on over

this weekend was fantastic. exactly what i needed. a perfect escape from the craziness that can sometimes be regular life. plus it reminded/taught me several significant things!

1. i really do LOVE goldfish (seriously. fav snack eva)
2. my friends are the best in the whole wide world
3. bourbon street will ruin shoes (and turn your feet scary black, yates...)
4. just because a bar is called the bourbon cowboy doesn't mean it has to play country music
5. do not have pillow-fights with boys. girls ALWAYS lose (and maybe even break the bed)
6. i would like a jukebox in my house one day

five days till i get on a plane with four of my most favorite people to one of the best cities in the country, hoorah!!



yes, the title does reference the christina aguilera song. highlight of my weekend.

this post has a lot of shoutouts to a lot of people

i just created my official resume. like for big girl jobs and stuff. while on the one hand i now feel kinda accomplished and one step closer to being completely on my own, whoa, on the other hand i'm honestly freaking out a little. it's a bit frightening to type up these two pages of information to hand someone and say here is my life that i've only been working on for the past oh twenty one years, so am i good enough? the impending judgment is slightly ominous. i guess this is my first glimpse into what kmac and yates have been feeling these past few months. mad props to you both

i know it has been a while since i've updated this thing but there just hasn't been much to report. except my little sister turns fifteen on monday!! gracie if you read this i seriously can't believe you are so old now and i'm slightly terrified in the most optimistic/excited way possible to drive with you...

also! everyone needs to see the movie definitely maybe. and don't cry chick-flick and say no because it is most certainly not! even those sometimes chick-flick haters (love you yates and young) thoroughly enjoyed it! and if you need new music to go with your new movie try blessed to be a witness by ben harper (thank you jameson, i can't take credit for this one) or come as you are by nirvana (the movie reminded me of its awesomeness).

i'm headed to eat sushi with the roommate so that's all for now! enjoy your weekend

there are no words...

ah monday.

i nailed a curb today. like seriously i destroyed it. i thought i had hit something way huger based on the scary loud noise it made, but nope, just a stinkin yellow curb.  i hit curbs quite frequently (most of you know this) so i just kept on my merry way until i was about one hundred yards from ato when that bad noise started. the "thump thump, thump thump" noise. honestly? i had a test in twenty minutes. i pulled over and what i found was just  fantastic:  not only did i have a flat tire, but i destroyed the thing. according to robby, the "sidewall" of my tire (who knew tires even had walls?) had a rather enormous rip in it. crap.

so after a near meltdown this morning, here i am, in much better spirits because of triple a and the fact that mondays=best tv in america night. thank you gossip girl, one tree hill, big bang theory, how i met your mother, and THE BACHELOR. go jillian and molly!

also shoutout to kelly clarkson whose new song turned my day around. 

peace out for now

oh and if you see my debit card running around anywhere, i kind of need it...

cause i'm real, and i can't go on without you

today i just felt like writing. i have a lot going on in my head right now so i have no idea where this post is going to take me. my apologies in advance for its lack of entertainment value...i think it's funny how quickly God can change your plans. i can have so many ideas of how i imagine my life should play out, and those can be so quickly pulled out from under me.  obviously this has happened to me recently, like it has so many times in the past, but this time i feel differently. usually i get angry and resentful. i question and doubt, but for some reason at this moment, i actually feel okay about it. am i scared of the future? not going to lie, yeah i am, a lot. but i am finally starting to get a better grip on my own faith and can rest completely in my Savior.  my relationship with him is the most important.  on top of that, my friends rock. seriously ya'll are the best in the world, and each one of you means so much to me.  no matter how crazy life is or how stressed i get ya'll are constant. thank you for that precious gift.

i know this post seems really serious, but i'm actually kinda relaxed. i am ready to do whatever the Lord has planned.  for example, right now that would be singing way too loudly as i type to j lo and ja rule, and let's be honest you really can't beat the "i'm real" (murder remix).  hence my post title.  kmac and i are about to go on one of our car ride adventures, and i'm not even that worried about all the work that's coming my way in school.  thank you for your peace, Fathergod.  all my praise to you.

an enriching evening

tonight consisted of a fantastic date/adventure with kmac, gymnastics, and spending my night sitting on charlie's futon for 4 and a half consecutive hours crammed into his tiny room with fifteen or so of my bestest friends. it was exactly what i needed. for some reason i seem to have turned into a worrier these days, and i'd really like that to stop.  God will do all my worrying for me, if i let Him.  i can trust His perfect plan rather than try and force my own.  next time i start complaining about all my mess, remind me of this, please!  

SO, on top of that comforting revelation, i also managed to learn several other slightly less significant life lessons thanks to an unexpected, highly intoxicated guest who graced us with his presence for the last hour or so of the night...

a.  if you wake up one morning and the girl lying next to you is far less attractive then she was the night before, slipping out without speaking to her is actually the "nice" thing to do

b.  the phrase "white whale" refers to a girl who you chase and chase but can't "nail" (thank you moby dick)

c.  to "clowndown" means waking up with a girl so unattractive it's funny, i.e. a major downgrade

d.  a couch strategically placed in the bed of a truck can make for the ideal hookup location

e.  an IHOP must be built immediately adjacent to the fraternity house. it would solve so many late night dilemmas.

oh the wisdom.

p.s. today is my half birthday!!

hallelujah

"Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?  You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.  You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."  

Micah 7: 18-19

i take great comfort in the fact that no matter how many times i fall short and can't seem to get all these earthly things right, the one thing i can't mess up is that my God will love me forever.

i wanted to do it too!

i'm thankful for (in no particularly order)...

1.  loving family

2.  my guilty pleasure, the Taylor Swift song "Love Story"

3.  making it through second semester nursing school

4.  Jesus

5.  hilarious friends

6.  Christmas lights that stay up all year round

7.  Patrick the now squished dog whom I've slept with the past ten years

8.  the hundreds of pictures around my room plus my supercool roommate's painting with all my favorite colors

9.  kmac for making me think about this

10.  giraffes (duh)