Thanksgiving & Family

so, it was a good holiday! hope everyone else's was also! i had SO much fun with the in-laws i was sad to see them go. really. it was too short! anyway, we had a blast hanging out with everyone and can't wait to see them again!

here's a pic of me and my sister-in-law, Jamie. we had such a good time!

justin and i with our neice, Mallory, and nephew, Mason!! so adorable!

the holidays are quickly approaching!

it's that time...yep, time to give thanks! so, what are you thankful for?!
that's always the question that comes to mind when i start thinking about thanksgiving dinner. my in-laws (mother, father, sister, brother and their 2 kids) are coming down to stay w/us for the holiday. i'm excited...even though we're gonna have a house full! they will all be here Wed, Thurs nights and then justin's parents are headed back to Branson and taking the kids w/them. so, Fri and Sat night we'll just have justin's brother and sister-in-law here. it's gonna be fun! we hardly ever see his brother and sister-in-law and we've never see their newest addition, little 9 1/2 month old Mallory!! so, we're excited. not sure what we're going to do to entertain on Friday and Saturday, so if anyone has any ideas, please share!! also, it will be my first time "hosting" Thanksgiving dinner. and i'm not a cook. i informed my husband that i was not committing to cooking either (i didn't want to embarrass myself and ruin the dinner!). i'm so busy w/work and have not much experience so, i'm sure w/all the women and men here it will get done. Good thing Justin is a good cook! anyway, i'm looking forward to a few days off work and some family time!
hope everyone has something to be thankful for! :)

I've been blog tagged!!! (thanks, Jill!)

so, i've actually never heard of blog-tagging, but now i'm "it." i've been "tagged." so, from what i can tell, i need to tell y'all some interesting/unique/crazy/strange/whatever facts about me :)

minor challenge...not sure i've lived much of an "interesting life." BUT, here goes...!!!

1. I ran a marathon 5 yrs ago. the Rock 'N Roll Marathon in beautiful San Diego. figured i'd at least make it as fun as possible and go somewhere beautiful! and it was. i'd do it again in a heartbeat!

2. I was a swimmer from the time i was 2 until i graduated college. my dad is a swim coach and coached my team...not always fun having your dad as your coach. then i swam at the University of Arkansas. I was even team captain my senior year. (not because i was fast, though :)...just team spirited.

3. i was headed to the Phillipines a few years ago to see the child i sponsor through Compassion International on a mission trip, but didn't make it. i raised all the $$, worked hard for it, but must not have been in God's plan right then. the day i was to leave there was a coup in the Philliipines. some attempt to assassinate the president. so they were declared in a "state of emergency" and finally my dad talked me out of going. i was actually sitting in the airport, ready to go, crying on the phone, when i called my ride to come back and get me.

4. I have 2 aunts...my mom's sister and my dad's sister. Both share the same name, Aunt Lynda Kay, and Aunt Linda Kay.

5. I've never broken a bone :)

6. My sophomore year in college my friends from the swim team presented me w/a bumper from a car (they found it on the side of the road) for my birthday! you see, i had a history...i had backed into not just 1, or 2, but 3 parked cars in 3 months!! eek!! and then that summer i wrecked 2 cars in 2 days!...both within 2 blocks from my house! (the first car was mine and the 2nd car was my best friend's who had come down from University of Kansas to visit!!))) anyone want to go for a ride? :) i promise mt driving record has improved since then!

ok, now i tag Ryan K. and corey smith! and i'll tag cat and amanda since y'all haven't responded to Jill's tag :) come on girls :) we know you have something to share!

fasting...

so, i started a fast. long story short, a group of ladies i used to work w/told me they were fasting b/c one of the ladies' sister's just found out she has end stage rectal cancer. she's 42 and has 3 teenagers...breaks my heart. so, they decided to do a fast and i joined them. we're doing the "david fast." it's a 21 day fast. and it's the first time i've ever fasted and really now, on day 4 it's getting better...but i still want candy, and cheese, and meat..and...yep. lots of praying for me cause i'm dying not having my sugar fix (every hour)!! so, anyway, any prayers would be great for our fast and for our friend's sister.

the long awaited rug :)

so, here it is...the rug. thoughts? my husband isn't so sure about it...says it might grow on him...we'll see. and he still comes home and hates the flowers on the shelves...:) oh, well!

here they are...the work in progress

living room...awaiting much cooler rug!!!

those are the shelves he hates

Dining room

Our bedroom...still in the works

Guest Bedroom...still in progress

here are some pics of my work in progress...my home! my husband has a love/hate relationship w/it...for example he hates the shelves in the living room. you see, he hung the shelves and loaded them up w/crap...lots of stuff. so, i simplified it and he hates it. says he wants "conversation pieces" like pictures and books up there. well, if anyone out there has any opinions, please feel free...we're trying to take a poll! :) oh, and we're also getting a new rug...should be here in a week or 2...will post a pic then of the "completed - for now" living room. the bedroom isn't complete...i'm looking for a great sitting chair to put in the corner by the bed...then will be addiong more throw pillows to the bed to add some life (w/pattern...and maybe a hit of color). then come the curtains...those will be revamped, too! this may take a while though...oh, and the pillows...that will be WWIII. husbands never understand the function of throw pillows!!

workin' for a (pretty) livin'

i really wish i was better at this blogging thing...
yep, i have lots of great creative rambling thoughts, but they seem so much further and fewer between ( and a lot harder to get to the computer to actually write them down) these days! work is WOW killing me :) well, close! i just had the weekend and took monday off to hang out w/my mom and her friend Carri Jo...it was a blast!!! but work called a zillion and a half times. i so wish i could REALLY have a day off!! one day...

anyway, i had a great weekend w/my mom and her friend!! Carri Jo is great at this interior decorating thing. she helped my mom w/her new house and so i usually go to her for all questions. i think she finally got tired of the questions from afar and decided she needed to actually see my house and come up for a visit! it was SO much fun having the 2 of them here!! (my husband, well, he may not have thought it was that much fun, but husbands never do!) so, i got new bedroom stuff!!! and a BIG plan to go w/it! (just need the funds!) and an improved guest bedroom and a great new living room!! i LOVE IT !!! and really, it was a heck of a bargain! gotta love budgets & bargains!!! i will post pictures soon!! (my camera is dead and we have no batteries!)

DMB in OKC

so, we went to see Dave Matthews yesterday in OKC. i like them, but Justin LOVES them! i'd call them his favorite band, but he has really been into the Eli Young Band for the last year or so. funny thing is, they aren't much alike, and the Eli Young Band opened for DMB in OKC!!! Eli Young is definitely up and coming, but they got their start on the Texas/Oklahoma "Red Dirt"ish music scene. you know, the one where Cross Canadian Ragweed got their start (yeah, i know most of you don't know them, but they are my FAVORITE!!!). so, my sweet, sweet husband got to see both of his favorite bands in one night! it was fun, but i'm pretty over the concert gig now. i mean, i'm short. and standing in a crowd for hours on end, staring at some guy's back, and watching the lights on the top of the stage isn't my idea of enjoying DMB. really, i could have done that in my car, while traveling somewhere cool and not staring at some guys back wishing my feet didn't ache so bad....
Maybe i'm just getting old!
it was fun, though, really. just kinda sucks when you're short.

overwhelmed and excited

so, if you've read before, i've been promoted! eek!! yeaaaa!!! um, uh-oh! really, it's been crazy! i'm the new Director of Foodservice at the hospital! my boss decided he didn't love his job anymore and i have been chosen to take his place! well, that's great! but he's also leaving me w/lots to "clean up." to say the least, it's gonna be a challenging next few months! i have just finally hired someone to take my current job as Patient Services Manager. she's fresh out of school, which isn't typical for my job, but i think she'll be great! i am really looking forward to watching her grow! and i think my employees will love her! (they're a hard crowd to please :) so, i hope to get some sleep and some down time in the next few months, but not sure it's gonna happen! i'll take any prayers i can get!

check it out!!

i hate bugs...but this one was pretty cool! i know it's a walking stick, but i don't think i've ever seen one in real life. i know, most people probably have...? it was large, so i thought i'd take a pic to share! :)

FINALLY!!!

hi all!
it's about time!! we moved into our new house on June 20th, and now, exactly a month later, we have FINALLY connected to this cool thing called the internet! amazing, huh?! so, a few news items...we LOVE our new home! i started teaching swim lessons (see my friend Jill's blog) and i'm getting a promotion! so, first things first, yep, we love the house! it's 2 miles from the highway, but it feels pretty secluded and safe and serene! it's over twice as big as our other (tiny, tiny, tiny) house and we love it! (did i say that already?!) we've painted 3 rooms and will eventually paint a few more. justin's been working hard on the landscaping (there was already plenty of landscaping, but he wanted to re-do it all.) and so he's been working hard here at home and i've been working hard at work. cause i'm getting a promotion on Aug 8th. i will be the Director of Foodservice at the hospital i work at. my boss resigned and i'll be taking over. exciting, but it will be a lot of work for the next few months as i try to learn his job, find someone to take my place and then train them to do my job :) all while maintaining sanity! (you all should pray for my husband...and pray that he doesn't get neglected :) and i've also started teaching swim lessons to 2 adorable kiddos! kate and ethan...mommies Jill and Cat have been having fun watching and sometimes participating! it's been an adventure! we've only had 3 lessons and we're looking forward to more! they are so cute (even when they cry) and i have a blast w/them! so...that's it for now...i will be posting pictures sometime soon!

papers, papers, and boxes!

it's here!!!! today is MOVING day!!! so, real quick! we're closing on one house at 1:30 then the other at 4:00 then we're moving! so, i'm off!!! i've seen more boxes than i ever wished and i'm about to sign more papers than ever in 1 day!!! so, wish me luck!

ra.ra.ra..roofing! and moving!

how fun does that sound?! like a blast, huh?! can't contain yourself?! yeah, me neither! so, i did it! yep, all day...i mean from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm Saturday!!! it was a long, LONG, LONG day! so, we had to strip our roof and then re-roof it! so, we had a bunch of great guys over here to help us and we got started! it took us all day, and then justin added another hour or 2 on Sunday and we finally finished...well, kind of. cause, now we have lots of old shingles and nails in our yard that we have to clean up! so...the fun isn't over yet! BUT, we do have a new roof ready for the new buyer!!! who is, by the way, moving in in less than a week! which means WE'RE MOVING in less than a week!!! yippee!!!! but i'll never do a roof again...at least any time in the near future!

E-sittin'

yep, that's what we did on friday night. we babysat our friends kiddo, Ethan! he is SO precious and SO good! get this...he was excited (smiled the whole time) to brush his teeth! now, i'm no expert, but do 1-2 yr olds usually love to brush their teeth?! maybe they do? i just don't know, but you know i was excited that he was excited! really! and you pull a book out and he backs up in front of you so he can sit in your lap to read w/you. it's SO cute! anyway, he was an angel! it was his parents Cat and Chris's 4th anniversary so they got to have a night out! we were happy to do it and even more happy when little Ethan was an angel! :) one day i'll be taking parenting lessons from Cat 'cause apparently she's amazing! to sum it up...he's the kind of kid that makes you want to have one :)

Mandy time!!!

i know, sounds like SO much fun, huh?! well, it is...for me at least. and it was much needed, so i finally got some last weekend. yep, it was Memorial Day weekend and i wanted to stay home. so i did. :) my sweet, sweet hubby went canoeing down the river w/his friends, but i passed. i needed "me" time. it's something i SO cherish! so, i don't really remember what i did, but i had a good time doing not much!

and a happy, happy day

our house...we put it on the market 1 1/2 weeks ago...and we have a contract on it! we're holding our breaths and saying our prayers that it will all go through! we also put a contract on a house we both (amazing that we could agree on the same one) LOVE! so...if all goes as planned, we'll be moving in 1-2 months!!! yippee!!! yeeeehaw!!! but, it's not over 'til the fat lady sings...so, i'll get back w/you when all is set and done! wish us luck!

a sad, sad day

so, last week we had a sad, sad day in the Jordan family. you see, my grandfather owns a swim club (2 outdoor pools, 1 indoor, clubhouse, etc...) it's getting old...the section of town has gone downhill in the last few years, so, therefore, the membership at the pool has. however, my grandfather also started the City of Shreveport Swim Team years ago. now my dad is the head coach and has taken over for my grandfather. so the swim team still works out at the swim club and has meets there. anyway, each year the outdoor pools are drained, cleaned, painted and refilled before the summer season. so, my dad had just finished painting and started filling when Shreveport got 6 inches of rain in 2 hours one night. well, when a pool doesn't have enough water and the ground gets A LOT of water, the pressure of the water that's soaking in the ground forces the pool to "pop" up out of the ground... and that happened... yep, the pool popped out of the ground. a sad, sad day. my dad was sick. and he had to deliver the bad news to my grandfather. not a good feeling. i hate to see my daddy sad and devastated,...so sick (my mom said) to his stomach that he couldn't sleep and waited over 12 hours to break the news to his dad. you see, this is like the heart and soul of my family and now one of the pools is destroyed...it looks like it tilted out of the ground...awful.

T.G.I.F. and our house is for sale!!!

thank goodness!!! i'm so happy the last 2 weeks are over! busy, busy weeks at work! BUT...exciting news...we've put our house on the market!!! any buyers out there?!? :) really, we found a house that we both love (hard to find b/t my husband and me) and we now need to sell our house so we can buy that one :) so...wish us luck on this new adventure!

E.L.F products!!! cool deal!!

so, i was reading my friend, Cat's blog and found an amazing deal... Apparently e.l.f. cosmetics is being bought by Nordstrom's. Nordstrom's is repackaging the makeup with their logo, so they're trying to get rid of all the product with the e.l.f. label. Everything is $1. I bought 22 items for $17.00. Pretty sweet. If you use the password code CAROLINA, you get $7.50 off of your first order of $15 or more. I heard of E.L.F. from a sweet, sweet lady who works for me and i've been searching for them for a few months (she told me she found them in a Target in Florida)...so, now i've found them (thanks to Cat's blog post - thanks Cat, i borrowed :) some of your post for this) and i'm spreading the love!!!

posted by Cat at 5:52 PM on Apr 19, 2008

all my exes live in texas...

so, tonight i went out w/my hot hubby to a new restaurant in town. very cool restaurant. we went to see a friend we used to work w/ at outback...she works there now. so, it was very cool, very classy, and trendy inside. my kind of place. oh, and had an executive chef who was the co-owner. the menu looked scruptious. and the presentation even better. but then we saw an old friend who i new through an ex-boyfriend. it was cool...i talked to him and i congratulated him on his marriage and new baby girl. well, then, a bit later, the EX of mine walked by...(yep we were conveniently located near the bathroom) ... the EX who just got engaged ... so i wanted to show my hubby off. he's HOT and he's HOT. so, i felt better. just wanted my ex to see my hubby. but i'm happy for my ex. glad he finally found someone who can put up w/him. :) really, it was weird. is that how it's supposed to be? no, many of my exes, i would definitely talk to and say hi and not be afraid, but this one...well, he was always a little weird. so, that made for a little bit weird of a night. why? not sure...but i do know one thing. i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my husband more and more every day!

house hunting

so, we've been house hunting the last few days. funny, because a month or 2 ago, my husband didn't like the idea of buying a new house, but now that it's HIS idea he's all about it. he's been crazy about it for the last few days! crazy, i say! but that's cool...i'm happy he's crazy about it!...cause that means maybe i'll be getting a new house soon! we'll all be praying and keeping our fingers crossed so that we can sell our house (we have a potential buyer at the moment, so...?!?) so...that's that for now.

husbands and sun burns

i love my husband! we just had a great day...not really doing much, but enjoying the day outside and then coming home to a movie, Papa Murphy's pizza, and a cold one. the movie...well, it was not so hot, the pizza was good, and of course a cold one after a great saturday is always good. well, all was well, except for the fact that i got a tad sunburned...yes, i wanted a little sun, but forgetting that i have very fair skin and i need SPF 30 even for a little sun wasn't on the brain today. you'd think since i am rounding the corner to 30 i'd know this by now...but!?! anyway, back to our day...i worked out...it was a good one. then we cleaned a bit inside and outside, went for a walk w/our dog, the power then went out b/c a tree fell on a powerline, so we went for another walk w/Maggie, and then we drove around looking at houses and thinking about where we may want to live next. you see...i'm begging to move, but he isn't ready...so i am learning to be patient. and i'm learning that i can't do "what i want" simply because i have to think also about "what he wants." amazing concept! i always think life was so easy when i didn't have to ask anyone or take anyone else's opinion into consideration, but really...life was just me, livin' it by myself. so, even though i have to ask him and discuss things and think about "our financial future" and all, he's TOTALLY worth it :) love him! (but hate my sun burn!)

reality tv...fun!

why do we love it? why do i love it? well, it's reality tv and we're all hooked! well, let me speak for myself...i'm watching American Idol. i watched the Bachelor last night, and i'm about to watch the Hills. and i wish i could watch America's Next Top Model after that! more...sure, i'll take more. anyway, i gotta go...just thought i'd let you know my guilty pleasure, but now, i'm back to reality t.v. ;)

teeth suck...

ok, i'm just a little ticked cause i gotta get my root canal "re-done." RE-DONE?!? seriously?! why? why? why? not happy. well, ok, i'm getting over it, but i'm still not happy to go under to get my tooth extracted for a pretty penny. so, it's scheduled...June 26th... i will go under to have my tooth extracted. at least it'll be gone so i won't have to worry about it again!

in-laws and all

yep, that's where i spent my weekend! it was pretty fun...and different! you see, my family is SMALL!! well, really SMALL compared to my husband's. i have 2 aunts, but my husband, well, he has 15 aunts and uncles. so, does that say anything? well, it was his uncle's 75th birthday party this weekend, which meant a weekend in branson with much of the family. what fun was had! i have dreaded these gatherings in the past because i'm somewhat (ha!) introverted and to be around such large numbers of very talkative people is somewhat overwhelming! wears me out, to be exact! so, this was another BIG event! which means much mental preparation for me and much needed "mandy" time when i get back. BUT, you know what! i LOVED it!! had a great time! it's definitely a reminder about how silence is SO golden, but it's also a blessing to see such a great family come together (and get along) for a beautiful celebration! and believe it or not, even a bigger blessing, the Smith family is such a wonderful family of belivers that you can actually feel the love of God surround you! it's amazing! they all love the Lord and are all very excited and vocal about it which is very different than my family. we're just more, um, conservative, quiet, and subdued. LOVE my family, they are just different than my husbands! so, i'm very excited to be a part of such a wonderful, fun, and extensive family!!! i'm sure there will be SO many more stories to come!

mandy's makin's??? what?!

so, just a little FYI...
the title of my blog came from a photo album my mom made me when i was a toddler/kid/whatever...really young! she was quite the artistic one, so she decided to make her own photo album (scrapbooking was not the hit of all parties back then)! she just used a 3 ring binder and decorated the outside w/cute little drawings that she did in paint marker. she titled it "Mandy's Makin's" so in blogging the thought came to my head and i remember how much i loved that album (cause my momma made it!) and still love to look at it to this day! so...that's that.

Thanks to Ryan

so, i owe my blogging begining to a random (sorry, but i don't "really" KNOW you, but i know you) to someone named Ryan. yep, don't know her, but she's inspired me to start this blogging thing. she's the daughter of a remarkable lady who works for me and i feel like i know her through her mom. and i actually think we're a lot alike? so, i'm pretty excited...just hope i'm interesting enough for people to read. i guess i want to just share my life w/anyone who wants to know what's going on and i want to know for myself. you see, i'm getting older, and more forgetful, and more stressed and more forgetful, and occasionally have one to many and then, well, um, forgetful. so! here i am. thanks to Ryan!