Grand Teton National Park

Today I realized that I like to do a diverse group of things....okay so we already know that!!!

I also realized that I seem to have a different group of friends for all the different types of things that I do, and that I've kind of gotten stuck only doing those things with those people.

Okay so that wasn't my big epiphany either, it was that very few people know the "Real Mandy", they only know parts of me. It seems that every group of people I know & spend time with each have a different opinions of who I am & about my personality, but in reality they know very little and only know that small part they see once a week or month when we get together......and the opposite is true too.

For example I got an e-mail from a friend today who said "...did you know I wanted to be a Forest Ranger when I grew up? That was my goal in life!" Never in a million years would I have ever guessed she would want to be a Forest Ranger!

I don't think it's a good or bad either way. I think you have to spend a lot of time with someone to truly know them and even then sometimes people will surprise you.

So the reason for the title of this post is that her comment about wanting to be a Forest Ranger reminded me of a time in my life that I don't talk that much about anymore but had a huge impact on me & was one of the best years of my life. I know that some of you will be shocked to learn that Little Miss BlingGirl once was a toilet scrubbing, backpacking, Birkenstock wearing, mountain climber!

I lived & worked at a resort called Signal Mountain Lodge located right on Jackson Lake inside Grand Teton National Park. I worked as a maid cleaning the guest cabins. We were only paid like $100 a week, the rest of our compensation was in exchange for room & board. I lived in a dorm type environment and shared a room with one other girl. I meet some very special people & had wonderful experiences that I will never forget.

While I was there I learned to Rock/Mountain Climb. Every chance I got I was out climbing mountains with my two best friends Scotty & Bubba.

(Yes this picture is of me!)

I was so active that I was always hungry & usually had some sort of food in my hand. If I was no where to be found you could always check the cafeteria and you'd probably find me. Bubba worked at the food mart, the forest service puts out these little cards about not feeding the bears where ever food is sold. So one day he took one of the cards and changed it from

"A Bear's Story" to:

So I guess the point of this post is that getting to know people & their true personality is a little like reading a book. Every time you flip the page you learn something new, and you might find something out on the last page that completely changes the story. And when you think you've read the whole book and that's the end of the story, they come out with a sequel! And just because there are pretty flowers on the cover doesn't mean that the content is all roses so.......

"Be Kinder than Necessary"

.......you just might not know their whole story!