Spoiled Rotten

Talking about Spoiled Rotten, I think I am the most spoiled person I know!

A friend sent a pic of what she got for Christmas and asked what everyone else got, so here is a pic of all my X-Mas loot. I got a new computer without even asking for one! And lots of other exciting stuff!

Thank you everyone, I had a wonderful Christmas!

For those of you who don't know,

my birthday is only 13 days after Christmas.

My Mom & Dad give me new SnowBabies to add to my collection every year. They always find ones that are perfect for what is happening in my life, I got two little AuntieM SnowBabies this year!

I love them, thank you!

This year I got to celebrated my birthday with some wonderful friends.

Jackie made me an M (for Mandy) that I put in my den

along with this great Peace Sign from Jerry.

Amanda gave me an "oh so Mandy" Betsey Johnson bag and

Tanya made me an AuntieM diaper bag and beautiful business card holder.

Thank you all so much you all are so special

and made my day a very happy one!



And I got a load of crafty books from Jean, Dave, Mel & Cindy! I can't wait to get started making some of the things in the books!

Troy got me a toy I've been wanting for a while now,

the Xyron Wishblade.

It has not arrived yet hopefully sometime next week,

I can't wait to start playing with it!

I bought myself a present this year, a new cell phone!

The Sprint Samsung Instinct.

It's Sprint's version of the iPhone. This is the coolest phone E V E R !!!!! I've only had it for a week so I don't think I've even touched what it is capable of doing, but I love it already. I went in to buy it and didn't even know but two days earlier they released a pink version, so not is it only the coolest phone ever but it's metallic pink too!


Again, thank you everyone for making

my holidays and birthday extra special this year!
MWAH!!!

Circus Skunk

I told some of you about my pink hair disaster, but you keep bugging me to see some pics. So here they are, they are really bad cause I only took self portraits with my cell phone. When I would pull it up in a pony tail, I said I looked like a "Circus Skunk"; I had a big blond streak down the center flanked by two hot pink stripes.




I got it fixed about 36 hours later & I'm back to my regular hair for the most part, there are still a little traces of pink, but I can live with it.

Take this advise...

NEVER, EVER, NEVER let someone dye your hair HOT PINK!!!

.....I guess I need to add that these photos DO NOT show how bright or how much pink there was in my hair, these photos make it look like there were just little highlights of pink. That was not the case, I had a 4" wide x 1/2" thick chunk of pink on each side of my head.

It really was as bad as I described, you just can't tell in these photos!

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!

Spoiled.....Who, Me?!?!?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I got to celebrate my birthday for about 4 days!

It started on Friday with the girls giving me a birthday celebration, Jackie got me a beautiful white cake that was so yummy I think we only had one piece left!

Troy spent the weekend taking me around town doing pretty much what ever I wanted to do.....he got up early took me to breakfast & he even spent about 3 hours in the bookstore with me on Sunday.

Monday morning these Birthday flowers were delivered from my Mom & Dad! We went out for lunch, went to a movie and then had cupcakes for dinner!

Thank you for all the great gifts!

I am really spoiled, but I love it,

and I love all of you for spoiling me!

Thank you!

XOXOX

Naughty or Nice

I got to sit on Santa's lap this year, he asked me if I've been Naughty or Nice. I told him that I'd been a little Naughty. Troy said a little Naughty is Nice. I guess that means I'm on the Good List, can't wait to see what Santa fills my stocking with...

Jackie's comment made me remember that I was going to point out that it was very fitting for Santa to have a "Diet Coke Throne" for the "Diet Coke Queen"!

Ooo la la....

I love my beautiful pink scarf that my Mother-in-Law, Jean, brought me back from France. It was perfect weather for it the other day & looked gorgeous with my silver sweater and jeans.

I love it!

Thank you!

Metal Clay World Conference

"If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, I will answer you: I am here to live out loud."

-Emile Zola

I attended the Metal Clay World Conference for the past three days. I meet women and men from all over the world; seasoned jewelery makers, teachers & artists. I met people who inspired me & reinforced my belief that I am on the right track in finding my life's passion; and on the right road to living creatively ever after.

I was a little disappointed in some of the classes, however others totally inspired me. My mind is going in a million circles right now, I may not get on here and post much in the coming days. I'm going to try to be busy living out loud!