♥....manda's memories....♥

Getting a little bit stronger.

2010-11-01T22:14:00.001-07:00

If I've learned one thing recently, it is that life is always changing.
Just because you believe one thing, doesn't mean everyone is going to be on your side.
Just because your life is going great, doesn't mean it is going the same for the next person.
Just because you have something planned for life, doesn't mean it's going to happen. Either right then, or even at all. People will enter your life. Some will stay a day, a week, a month or even years. People will change your life for better or for worse. People will teach you lessons whether you realize it at the moment, or even years down the line. Struggles will come into your life to test your faith in yourself,God and others. Struggles will either make you weak and pull you down or they will make you stronger. No matter the struggle, battle or twists and turns life throws you, you have the ability to take that event and learn from it and grow from it. I'm not the best person to come to when it comes to asking about an easy life. I've had my share of twists, turns and emotional rollarcoasters to make anyone queasy. If anything else I've learned in life, i've learned that "Life is a balance of holding on and letting go". Hold on to the good. The memories, people and lessons. Let go of the regret, hurt, grudges, bad memories and well... people. I know I use that little quote a lot, but it's one that holds true to so many things. There will be times when life hits you blindside and turns your world upsided down and you're left lying there feeling like nobody knows what you're going through, feeling like there's no way you can ever make it through the next hour or the next day or the next week or month.It doesn't happen over night, But you'll turn around and a months gone by and you realize you haven't cried and that you've grown because of the trial. And then later on in life, whether its for a friend, family member or even future children, you'll run into somebody who is going through, dare I say it... the same exact thing that you yourself have once gone through. And guess what? You'll be able to help them through the same thing. Your heart may never be the same, but tell yourself you'll be okay. Cause even on your weakest days, you'll get a little bit stronger.

LIFE: UPDATED

2010-05-14T15:12:00.001-07:00

wow. kinda spaced the fact that I have a blog.

These past few months have been SO busy for me that I have barely had time to think, let alone remember I have a blog! So here's the run down on what's been going on since the last update.

1- Moved out into an apartment down by UVU in Orem. Had a really good time but moved back home for the summer to save some money so I can A) Buy a car and B) go back to school in August! The goal is to start at either UVU or SLCC in August going into Business with focus on Sports Management.

2- I started back as a Massage Therapist working back at Alpine Spinal Rehab with Dr. Clark in Provo. I've LOVED being back and having an awesome clientel. Its VERY busy and high paced with crazy work hours but i've gotta admit, I'm SO greatful to have a job and to be as busy as I have been! It's been busy enough that I get to hire another therapist under me to help out which will be great! :)

3- During the first week of March me and Ben had a chance to go back to Virginia where he served his mission for a few days and it was one of the neatest experiences to see where he had served, the people he had worked with, hearing the stories.... everything!! My sister Emily is serving back there right now so it was neat to see what she's seeing. Sadly though... we didn't see her but mission rules right?! :)

Flying over NYC at sunrise.... epic!

The Youngs.... nicest family!
Virginia Beach...♥ love!

4- If you remotely know me at all, you've probably caught on the the fact that I LOVE .... okay more like I'm a lil obsessed with country music. I've grown up listening to it, go to countless concerts, download to much music, geek out over artists and bands... you name it. On April 1st (yes... april fools) I won tickets to the Montgomery Gentry Country Showdown Tour when it comes to Utah this summer. I was stoked and then they told me I was qualified to win a trip to the Academy of Country Music Awards and to listen the next morning when they drew the winner. I honestly almost didn't listen cause I figured the chances were slim to none but at 7:15 April 2 the DJ goes "If your name is AMANDA HAWKES you have 9 minutes to call in, you just won an all expense paid trip to the ACM AWARDS". Pretty sure both me and Ben lost it about then. We both started screaming and I couldn't compose myself and barely remembered the number to call. But long story short I won the trip the the Academy of Country Music Awards. Holy crap. Dream come true! It was honestly the 4 best days of my life! We got put up for 4 days 3 nights in the MGM GRAND HOTEL, Roundtrip Airfair, Tickets to the ACM AWARDS, After party, Brooks and Dunn : The Last Rodeo concert, the Kenny Chesney 3D Movie... which he came to and tix to the concerts on Freemont Street! It was seriously the biggest dream come true i loved every minute of it!
our awesome hotel!!
heading out to the strip!!
Front row for Luke Bryan Concert on Freemont Street!
Ran into Justin Moore on the way back from the pool! (Backwoods.Smalltown USA)
All dressed up for the ACM awards... incredible night!
J.D Haas our awesome trip host!!

Lady Antebellum and Luke Bryan singing "DO I" at the after party!
Eli Young Band at the after party... so good!

James Otto@the after party pretty sure I FLIPPED when he walked out total surprise love him!
I meet James Otto! This man is one of my all time favorite singers and he's pretty freaking hot too. Pretty sure I was total star struck and could barely talk to him!

Kenny Chesney came to introduce his new 3-D movie...kinda cool!
I dragged Ben to Toby Keiths Bar and Grill...it was closed for the night but o'well! :)
Our last "Bucks" before heading home. We lived on these things in Vegas.... yum! :)
5- My brother Luke graduated from UVU last month and will start med school in August! Congrats Lukie we love you!!

So yup. there's what's been going on over the last few months. Upcoming events : LOTS of Concerts. Bear Lake. Reunions. Oregon Coast for a WEEK with Ben's Family. Camping. BBQ's!!

Busy Busy Busy!

2009-12-10T12:48:00.000-08:00

Don't worry, I didn't run off with Tiger Woods, I'm just horrible at remembering to update my blog...whoops!I think more has happened in the past month than I have room to write about, but for kicks and giggles we'll see how much I can fit in. I'm about a month behind schedule so don't mind if some of this is out of order.

~*~ BEAR LAKE~*~
Last month Me, Ben, Brian,Krystal,Carmen and Kassandra all took off for the weekend to my Grandma's cabin in Bear Lake for a little get away and had a pretty stinkin good time. We all got up there late Friday night but ended up just playing games,eating dinner and watching movies.

Saturday we got up and attempted to head up to the Paris Ice Caves. Attempted being the keyword. We got about halfway up the canyon, but due to the fact that mother nature dumped a load the night before we ended up getting Ben's explorer stuck and just ended up turning back around.-Don't let this picture fool you... I was totally helping push-

On the way back to the cabin, the girls wanted to stop and try out the lottery, and seeming how we had nothing else to do...We all decided to take a chance and try
and win big. Yet again.... Try being the key word.

-products of our EPIC fail-

Sadly Carmen and Kassandra had to head home Saturday afternoon so it ended up just being Brian and Krystal and me and Ben but we still made it fun. We played Imagine If, which got interesting to say the least. Found out WhipCream kisses rock. Made dinner, and then Krystal made deliciousness in a pan, and basically just relaxed, but it was way fun to say the least. I don't think anyone really wanted to go home or the weekend to end.

-whip cream kisses-

-playing imagine if-

-last picture picture before heading home-

~*~ BEST FRIEND BIRTHDAY DINNER ~*~
Every year me and Dani celebrate our birthdays together by usually going to dinner or getting people together. This year we decided to check out Pirate Island Pizza in Orem with a bunch of our friends and it was so fun! Granted there was a pretty good sized group of us so we didn't get to visit with everyone very well, but after pizza and some arcade games..... we had fun!

-Best Friends.Est 2004 (ps dani I stole your pic)-

-Dani and Alex totally took home the loot of tickets-

-Lea and Hayley bug at dinner...thanks for coming girls!-

-Me and Ben once he finally got there-

~*~ IN THE NEWS~*~
My little sister. Yes. I said little sister announced a few weeks ago that she is getting married this coming January to Austin Soderquist. They meet over the summer, and started dating the end of summer beginning of fall and are perfect for each other!

-congrats kids we love you-

BYU won the "Holy War" this year against University of Utah in overtime. It was EPIC!

-the field after BYU won...woo hoo!-

Last night me and Ben went to the Kbull 93 Low Dough Christmas Show and it was SO much fun! Tickets where only $10 bucks and we figured for Phil Vassar, Bucky Covington and Bomshell that wasn't to bad! Origionally they had us seated in the Wheelchair section but there was a bunch of empty seats down lower so they let us move. All of the artists did awesome, sadly my camera sucks at zooming in so the pictures sucked...boo.

-Phil was AMAZING live... I was way impressed!-

-just waiting for the show to start-

So anyways..... that's my life as of lately. Busy Busy Busy!! Have a fabulous holdiay season and don't forget to test out the mistletoe! :)
♥ love ya kids!

Pet Peeves.

2009-11-30T09:40:00.000-08:00

Okay so I've had it brought to my knowledge lately that I have some of the oddest pet peeves.
There are the littlest things that don't phase other people but drive me completely bonkers.

BIGGEST Pet Peeve.
Plastic water/soda lids that you have to twist, and crack apart from the small plastic piece to open. That little piece that breaks off, oh my lanta. Drives me INSANE!!
Texting Peeves.
1- I hate stupid forwards. I'm pretty sure if I forward this text to 10 people an angel isn't going to appear magically and grant me three wishes
2- If you are older than 12 and texing me, don't text me "wat up yo?" or anything even close to being spelled like you're just learning how to spell. You're a grown adult. Use your big kid words and spell correctly! Seriously. text me like a retarded. I'm not replying.
Driving Peeves:
1-Drunk Driver. I don't frankly care if you drink. But if you do, don't drive. Stay the night, call a cab, I don't care. But when you start putting other peoples lives in jeopardy... yeah don't get me started.
2-Slow drivers. Seriously.....Green means GO!!

Random Peeves:

When people continually don't follow through with plans. Yes. I understand if something occasionally comes up, or something comes up last minute. But if every time something is planned, you bail... you're officially on my list.

When at a restaurant and somebody feels the need to be on their cell phone and talk at the top of their lungs so everyone can hear their conversation. Seriously.... go outside and take the call. We don't care about how annoying your mother in law is or how crappy work was. Leave it at the door buddy.

So there's a few random peeves of mine. Just a little vent session.

Halloween 2009... BOO!!!

2009-11-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

I think I celebrated Halloween this year more than any other year.
I'm not usually a huge Halloween buff but for some reason this year I had more to do with it.
The Halloween season started off with a couple haunted houses towards the beginning of the month. I'm a complete wimp when it comes to anything scary but when a cute boy invites you to go to something you naturally say yes and go. And man am I glad I did say yes!! Mine and Ben's first date was The Haunted Forest in American Fork and it was SO much fun!! We kept getting lost and back in the places you're not supposed to be, but it made the night interesting! Ben is a huge "Haunted House buff" so he was all over the chance to go out to Tooele to the Haunted Hospital a few days later. So again naturally when he asked if I wanted to go... I said yes! Both Haunted Forest and Hospital were way good and scary!! I'm not going to lie though I kind of just held on to Ben and let him lead the way... I hid behind him the whole time... bhahaha :)

Okay so this picture wasn't taken at either of the haunted houses but I just really like it for some reason. Trust me to screw up a picture!

Ever since my mom married Dick, "Fred" has been a part of our Halloween Holidays. Fred is a lifesize dummy that sits in front of our house sometimes year-round but usually just around the month of October. Dick will move him every few days, and it's always fun to watch people look for him as they drive by. Sometimes he's on the porch, front lawn, tractor or randomly on the roof. When Luke and Marie got married Luke carried on the tradition for his house. In my opinion Lukes "Fred" is a little more realistic and creepier... I LOVE ♥ it!!

First thing I think of when I hear Halloween is homemade Spudnuts at Grandma Tami's house. Pretty sure I go into a complete sugar coma after leaving her house cause i completely fill up on them! Okay..... so I know alot of you are asking "What the heck is a spudnut?" It's hands down the best doughnut you've ever had. Better than Krispy Kreme! And yes... Spud= potatoes.
I went over and somewhat helped on saturday make them and they where a dream come true.
Some how I didnt end up with one stinkin picture though...ugh!!

I was really lame this year when it came to a costume. I'm not one of those girls that use's Halloween as an excuse to dress like a slut and prance around showing what their mama gave them. I was a little bit more conservative with my costume. My BYU jersey, two black lines on my face and blue sparkly fake eye lashes and called it good.
I went to a couple different random parties with friends and it actually was all pretty fun, plus people had some pretty rockin costumes!!
Mikela and Spencer rockin the witch and vampire style.
Baiey and Chris off the Hillbilly Hook!
I love my lil hillbilly Juanita!
Devin kept freaking everyone out with his mask.... it was epic.
Abby from NCIS and the Firefighter

Pinocchio What do you know... he is a real boy!!!
apparently zombies dont appreciate kisses????

So anyways.
That was Halloween 2009. Nothing to exciting but hey. It made for an update!!!
♥ love you kids!!!!

Q:"Why couldnt the boy ghost get the girl ghost pregnant?"
A: " Because he had a "HALLOW-WEENIE"

bahahaha... that came from my mother of all people!!

♫♥Framing Hanley Concert♥♫

2009-10-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night was yet again another concert night in my books,shocking I know.
Dani introduced me to the group Framing Hanley a little over a year ago, and I fell in love with their music. They're a five piece punk rock group and luckily for us, not very well known yet. We went to their show back in March and had a blast! The venue was packed, and we ended up grabbing front row, chatting with The Veer Union (opening act) after and grabbing pictures with them and a few of the guys from Framing Hanley. So needless to say when we heard that both Framing Hanley and The Veer Union where coming back to Utah and for $10 a ticket, we where stoked!!
I ended up going up to Murray Theater around 4 to wait in line so we could make sure to get front row and was like the second person in line so we where good there. Okay so basically we could have shown up 20 minutes before the show and still have got front row if not really close. There was literally less than 100 people at this show.... depressing!! Needless to say though we had an AWESOME TIME!! I dragged Ben along, later to find out that was his first non country concert. And Dani and Alex, and Rylie and his date Amber came so we had a pretty good group.

Waiting for the show to start!!
The first opening act was called Transmit Now and actually weren't to bad.

The second group, JANUS? JONUS? We're not really sure what their name was but none the less I dont think ANYONE was impressed with their stuff.

Entertaing outselves between sets!

Third act, The Veer Union. I actually dont mind a few of their songs, and honestly they are some of the nicest guys I have ever meet! Looks can be decieving, so don't judge a book by its cover! :)

BEST FRIENDS! Honestly, I think I've lost count on how many concert's we have gone to together!!

I just really liked this picture for some reason!

Nixon from Framing Hanley.
Kind of a cool action shot!
Nixon right above us. Yeah dont mind the fact that he was all sweaty and it dripped on my face...yuck!!!!

Overall it was a really fun night and great show!! Hopefully they'll come back soon!! :)

♥ love you kids!!!

♫..packin my bags...making a runaway..♫

2009-10-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

Lately life has been so crazy and I've felt like I just need to kind of "runaway" for the weekend and take a break from everything and just relax. This past weekend ended up being the perfect time to "runaway" for Bear Lake for a day or two.
Last weekend Ben (the guy I've been dating lately) asked if I was free for the following weekend, and we had planned to go up to Idaho for his family shin dig, but a day or two after planning that trip plans fell through, but we still wanted to go do something so we decided to just go to Bear Lake with my family for the weekend. My family was going up to build a roof over the stairs up to the cabin over UEA weekend. So after we both got off work Friday we headed up, by the time Ben and I got up there Friday night it was kinda late so we just ate dinner, talked with the fam and watched a movie. Now this weekend was kind of interesting cause it was Bens first time meeting my parents, and at least part of my crazy family, but it went GREAT, and the weekend was SO fun!!

We headed down to the Lake and crazy boy decided to go into the water... it was freezing!!
I think he finally defrosted later that day.

Beach Bums!! :)

♪....toes in the water ass in the sand....♪ I love ♥ this place!!!

Thumbs up for his first Bear Lake Raspberry Shake!!!

Up at Paris Springs, so pretty!!

Ice Caves with McMarvin!
(side note: he LOVES the UofU) He was a little too excited when he saw this. haha :)

Bear Wheeling at 4 Lake... oh man. good times :)
The 4 wheeler wouldnt work Saturday, but with Ben's mad skills he got it working Sunday in no time, so we had to take it out to make sure it would work okay!

Up Fish Haven Canyon, it was so pretty!!

And the whole reason for the trip, the new roof over the stairs, it still needs to be painted but it looks good! :)

Needless to say this weekend was just what at least I needed!!
♥ love you kids!!!

Livin for the minute and loving every second of it!

2009-10-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

Loving life? Check yes please!
Can I just say that lately I have been LOVING my life!!
Since I last updated which was forever ago... but lets be honest.
Does anybody actually read this thing? Probably not but I do it randomly for kicks and giggles.
The summer is over. Fall is here. Which means its FOOTBALL season.. GO cougs!

As of lately. Here's my life:

We had the annual Pugmire Family Reunion in August and it was a BLAST!!
I love going to this reunion, its always so much fun!!

Me and Coop playing around with the camera. such a cute lil kid!

June Bug rockin the glasses. Teresa your kids make for some cute lil stinkers.

I hit up a few more concerts, which where all AMAZING!

Toby Keith, Trace Adkins and Trailer Choir put on one heck of a show!!

We where SO excited to finally see him again! Keith show #5!!
After 2 long years my all time favorite KEITH URBAN returned to Utah. Little Big Town came with him this tour and I was actually really impressed with them!! :)
One word for this show : EPIC. It was by far the best I have ever seen him!

Lastly Me, Krystal,Brian and Michelle hit up the Brad Paisley,Jimmy Wayne and Dierks Bentley show a few weeks ago. Between the drunken fights behind us, the show and a mix of good friends it was a really fun and eventful night!

Sister Emily Marvin headed off to serve a 18 month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints serving the Richmond Virgina Mission. We got a call early last Wednesday morning from the airport saying she was on her way.Im not going to lie, i miss her like crazy but she'll be such an amazing missionary!

.... Rise and shout the cougars are out..... Thats right! Its officially football season!!!!
I cant get over how happy I am that it's that time of the year again. Honestly, I wish it was college football season year round. It would pretty much make my life complete! So far my boys have been playing really good, hopefully they can keep it up!

It helps when your best friend marries a football nut, it means she comes to games and likes football too! The boys making their grand entrance!!

Lastly, Miss Bailey face one of my best friends started getting hand cramps in her left hand due to the fact she is now carrying a rock on the ring finger. She will offically become Mrs. Gibbs December 19 2009. I'm so happy for her and Chris!

welp! That's my life for now. Now that I'm on the computer 40 hours a week for work with lots of time to blow, I may actually get around to updating this thing more than once every 3 months!

♥ love you kids!

♥ manda

My life as of lately:

2009-07-23T22:04:00.001-07:00

This summer has been SO crazy and SO busy for me lately.
Between work, weddings, concerts, friends, vacations and trying to get some rest and not melt away in the heat... I have totally spaced my blog. Surprise I know!!
Well so far this summer... here's whats's happened.

For starters:
Josh Gracin/Darryl Worley Concert with the girls for Dani's Bachelorette party.. such a blast!
dont mind the fact we pulled front row and buddied up with Josh's guitarist Brad the whole night!

Secondly:
My sister Emily recieved her mission call, she will be serving in the Richmond Virgina Mission and leaves this september, i'll miss her, but she'll do amazing!!! :)
Third:
My bestest friend Dani married Alex and now is officially Mrs. Long. I'm so happy for her! :)

Fourth:
I hit up another Josh Gracin concert with a couple girls I work with Maygen and Sarah.. We had CRAAPPPY seats but hey.. we meet Josh so it was okay!

fifth... hmm whats next?
oh yes. 4th of July. Kind of different this year. not the usual "party with the Dixons". I went and hit up the Sandy City events to see Carolina Rain in concert. I was probably 1/20 people out of the 5000 that where that that actually knew who they where and the music. really relaxed and fun show. Went and talked to Rhean after the show.. such a good guy, no boob signage this time though!! ;)
Sixth... George Strait/Blake Shelton concert!!
Not going to lie. one of the best shows i've been to. I know I go to ALOT and say that ALOT but this was just classic goodness!! Nothing gets better than George Strait!! Plus my mom was as giddy as a school girl! Between Krystal, Me, My mom, Grandma Tami, Renee, Sonja, Roger,Johnny and 2 of krystals friends.. we had a good crowd and good time! Traffic.. was another story!

seventh: Bear Lake 2009 Singles Ward style!!
our singles ward headed up to Bear Lake for a little R&R. 83 people ended up coming.. it was insane!! I was only there about 50% cause I came down for the concert but it was still a blast... minus the ticket I got on the way back... whoopps!!

well theres an update for now. I may update sooner than later... bhahaha.. who am i kidding. It'll be a few months before I'm back on here! :)
love you kids!
♥manda

♥.. heres to wishing things had never changed...♥

2009-06-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

Its been seventeen years today June 2 1992, that I lost my Daddy.
Yes, even though I'm 21 he'll always be my "daddy". I know some people cope and grieve different ways, some cry, some laugh, some have "happy death day", some scream, fight, go into a quite corner or room. For me, I think I kind of go through every stage. This day every year is always quite "emotionally draining". I love to look back and remember the good times:
Remember the little things:

He was always smiling, and had a very contagious laugh and sense of humor!!

We would have "Daddy Daughter Dates" consisting of Loony Toons and Colored popcorn when Mom had to go to meetings.... one of my favorite things to this day!!
I still think of my Daddy daily, Everytime I look down and see my "LIVESTRONG" band It reminds me of him and my Grandma Bev who I also lost from Cancer this past Christmas.
I miss him so much sometimes, I hate that I was so young when I lost him cause from what everyone tells me he was an amazing man!! Thank you to everyone who tells me stories and memories of him, they're greatly appreciated!!
I love and miss you so much Daddy!!
♥ always, Amanda Joy

HERE COMES GOODBYE : Rascal Flatts
This song seemed appropriate today!

picturse are worth a thousand words.

2009-04-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

SOOOO...... Here's the deal.
I'm just giving an update of oh the past two months or so.....

1: Started a new job at Alpine Spinal Rehab in Provo and LOVE ♥ my job!!
I'm their massage therapist, and also go help teach lunch lectures with our marketing guy which is always fun!!

2: I've been having a GREAT time with friends!!
Went to the Framing Hanley and The Veer Union Concert with Bailey, Dani, Alex and Rylie
Me and Bailey Meet the band....

Went to the color fest the next day:

My Friend Dawna came into town and we had a blast....

3: I bought the new Jason Aldean album "WIDE OPEN" this week and am officially in love.

4:got hooked on WILL AND GRACE, from a friend who has all the seasons, and have been having a "will and grace marathon"... its seriously the perfect show to help you feel better on a bad day.

5: I love my family.. just sayin.

And I've realized... its okay to move on. Its hard.. but so worth it! :)

uh yeah.. so i'm not the best "blogger" lets face it. but pictures are fun!
love you kids!
♥manda

Just need time to vent... argh.

2009-03-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

I'm not writing this for sympathy and to mope, I'm more writing it for my sake, to get this all out of my system and well I have a blog... so put 2 and 2 togehter and this is whats going on.
These past few weeks, have been some of the hardest weeks ever for me. I did something that I didn't want to do, but in the end knew I had to do, and in the end I know I'll be okay, it just sucks going through it right now. As many of you know, I have been with Taylor for the past year and a half, and have been writing him on his mission. He gets home this August, and I have been getting so excited knowing he would be coming home soon and being able to see him once again. I was even more excited cause he was writing me saying how much he loved me, wanted to be with me, couldnt wait to get married... the whole sha'zam. everything thing I wanted to hear. I was thinking, "hey... this is all turning out pretty great". but then over the past few months, he has been getting more and more distant. Now I know his password to his accounts, but would rarely check them over the past months cause I decided that wasnt being very trusting on my end. ((Now a side note.. me and Taylor meet on an LDS website)). Well about a month ago, it started saying Taylor had been getting on Linkup.. the site I meet him on, and it was pretty frequent. so curiousity got the best of me and i logged into his account. He was writing all these other girls, setting up dates for the summer,telling them how cute and pretty they where, while in the mean time... failing to tell them he was on a mission!! I wrote him and basically said "If you want to date around when you get home.. i totally understand. but I dont think you should be getting on and doing it while you're on your mission, on the lords time" he wrote me back saying that it was somebody else on his account, so dont worry about it. well Long story short. I check its him. I look in his email, and he's beeing talking to his EX girlfriend on Instant Messanger, telling her everything he's telling me!! Saying that he loves her, wants to marry her.. the whole shaz'am. When I found this out. I was hurt. and didnt know what to do. Well I knew what i HAD to do... I just didnt WANT to do it. but last week, I wrote him and basically said, I dont think we should write as much blah blah blah. he wrote me back asking how come and if we could s till be friends. I went and talked to my bishop the other night for guidance about the whole thing, and we came up with a good idea of what to write.
I wrote him last night, one of the hardest emails i have EVER had to write. Scratch that... it WAS the hardest email I have EVER had to write. I wrote him and let him know that I would rather him be honest with me, instead of lying behind my back. I would still love to randomly write, but just not as much. He wrote me back today saying he had prayed too, and didnt think we should write anymore, that it really wasn't him on the account, and that I was the only girl.. he just needed to concentrate on his mission.. THE FREAKING LIAR!! Well.. for some reason I coudlnt stop, I looked at his email and he was talking to his mission buddy saying "dude.. I got a dear john, its kind a relif to be honest... maybe you should date her!" his buddy responds "uh...wouldnt that be kinda weird for you?" Taylor: "Are you kidding me man? I wouldnt put you through that kind of misery!!". Oh pretty sure after that, I was furious. Dont go telling me 3 weeks ago you want to marry me, than tell me, at least lets be friends one hour and then go back stabbing me.... freaking jerk.
I'm not going to lie, its hard and I've been pretty blue the past few days, but with the help of great friends and family.. I'll make it through!! :)

*Sighs*... I'm done for now.
the end :)

♥

2009-02-17T00:20:00.000-08:00

The MG video! :)

2009-02-10T10:24:00.000-08:00

So here's just one of the lil projects i've been working on lately.
As many of you know, I'm in a group called WAITING FOR A MISSIONARY and am very close with quite a few of the girls. I asked the girls to send in pictures of them and their boys and made a video!! Not my best work... but i tried!!
Enjoy!!
♥manda
Songs: * LOVES LOOKING GOOD ON YOU-Lady Antebellum
*YOU CAN-David Archuleta

and the winner is.........

2009-01-14T20:54:00.000-08:00

so basically.... here's how it goes.... *drumroll please.......*
I WON RASCAL FLATTS TICKETS!!!!!
Yes.. its true.
February.26.2009 Me and Dani will be having a fabulous time and yet.. ANOTHER concert!!
This will be like my...4th time seeing the boys and well.. I'm pretty stinkin excited, they put on an AMAZING show!!!

so yeah.. seriously. i'm stoked.
the end.
♥manda :)

bah.. Month in Review.

2009-01-12T23:06:00.000-08:00

Wow... I honestly space that I even have a blog sometimes! Hence why I rarely update anymore.
Well in the past month... ALOT has changed and happened.

I spent lots of time with family:

Made some new friends:

Lost my Grandma Hawkes... she was such an amazing woman!!

My Best Friend Dani got engaged... (I helped set them up... go me!)

I got laid off from work.... poo.
BUT.. have a few jobs i'm looking at so BONUS!! :)
*sorry.. no picture for this one*

Had some crazy adventures with friends....

night sledding with these crazy kids... Trevor,Emily,Bailey and Kyle

goofy moments with the girls...

Adrianne offically became Mrs. Young... so cute! ♥

Some of my favorite girls!!! :)

Well... there's an update. enjoy! :)
love you all!!
♥manda

♥ christmas without you. ♥

2008-12-24T19:27:00.001-08:00

so I've loved this song forever... but found it pretty fitting for a Missionary Girl this Christmas. :)
Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton = old school. but its still amazing!! I love it!!
♥manda

few days late but...

2008-11-03T20:28:00.002-08:00

okay. I know its a few days late but....
HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!!

.... to explain the picture.

Krystal, Marie, Emily and Me went
"costume shopping" about a month ago and I ran across this lovely little mask at Partyland. and had some fun with it...
I kept going up in a deep scratchy voice " Hey kids... wanna balloon?" ... I guess I scared a few people! bahaha... hahaha.
good times..

♥manda

Update: Its about. TIME! :)

2008-10-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

Okay. I know.... I know. Time for an update
But this time. I have a legitimate excuse why I haven't posted for a while.
Last Wednesday. I had surgery and have been a little drugged for the past week.... (woo hoo!!)
I've had a thing called Osgoodshlatters disease (yeah... try saying that one 10 times fast) since like 6th grade in my left knee. It really hasn't bothered me for the past few years since I quit growing but whenever I kneel on it, when I do massages and what not its really sore and tender so I went and saw an Orthopedic Surgeon last Tuesday to see if we could do anything about it . He did an X-Ray and showed us there was a bone "chip" there causing most of the pain and I would need a surgery to remove it.... Joy. So he said "go talk to my secretary and schedule a day when we're both free. So we go talk to the scheduling chicky and she says " how about tomorrow morning? ya free?". i Kinda looked shocked and looked at my mom... "well uh.. I'm supposed to work tomorrow but I guess I can move clients back a week." So I call the company *bless their lil hearts*. and go back to the chicky.. "schedule me in I'll have it tomorrow!!!" So I get a lovely little call later that day " YOUR SURGERY IS AT 9:30 AM. see you then!!".... "welp.. guess thats, that!!". wow. thats alot of info for one day!!
So the next day... I show up to the surgical center. bumb in the waiting room for a few. take a lovely shot of my retarded knee... see below.
Then this lovely little nurse comes out
"Amanda Hawkes!! Come with me dear."
.... sweet little lady I tell ya.
Nurse Lady: Here's a cup. pee in it. We need to make sure you're not pregnant. Put this gown on.
(yes.. the ones where your butt shows if you dont do it up" Heres some socks. a hair net. (it was hot I tell ya!!) and a pen. Draw on what knee we're working on. write yes. If there's two of anything we have you write on which one we're working on. Come out when you're done!"

So I come out a few minutes later.. and me being the smart ass I am did as was told. I wrote on my knee like they told me to, I just didn't write "yes". guess they didnt think it was funny cause they came and wrote "yes" for me... and signed it.
Owell she was nice.
I bet you're wondering right now to yourself:
"Self. I wonder just how goofy Amanda looked with her hair net on."
well just to help your curiosity.. here you go!!

Well after sitting in the little bed thingy for a while and getting some IV's started and blood drawn the cute little nurse lady comes back.
"Well, your blood Iron looks good and you're not pregnant."
my thoughts: GOOD TO KNOW I'M NOT
PREGNANT CAUSE IF I WAS..... WELL I HAVE
NO FREAKIN CLUE HOW IT HAPPENED!!"
haha.
Well finally Dr. Jackson came back. and looked a little surprised to see me there so soon, but explained the surgery and all that jazz. then the guy with the "good juice" aka anastesia guy comes back talks to me. and then him and some nurse guy comes and get me and wheel me into the OR. I lay on the table. and the Anastesia dude says " okay Amanda. I'm going to put the anastesia in. Take some deep breaths for me and count backwards from 10."
Okay seriously......... does anybody ever get past 9? I swear that stuff nocks you out solid, I love it. seriously.. I guess it only took like 3o minutes solid before I was in recovery and waking up to my mom and grandma laughing at me cause I guess I was pretty hilarious. ( and yes.. my mom has it on video on her phone if you ever care to see this..). I slurp some Jello. fell kinda bleh. and go home. Before I leave though.. they hand me a little cup with my bone chunk in it! and I was thinking like a bone "sliver" no this thing is like the size of a dime people!! No wonder it hurt!!

I got home and one of my really good friends Lea brought me a little package.. and Krystal brought me some yummy coffee and heath chunk coldstone! :) (thanks guys!) Plus I got to talk to Taylor for like 20 minutes online.. the day was turning out okay... well until later. I took more lortab around 330 and crashed for a few hours and came out around 630 to eat some dinner... well try. I sat on our barstool and proped my leg up on the one next to it and well... thats the last I remember. Next thing I know my head is killing me and i'm on the ground bawling. I guess I passed out. fell on the floor and had a seizure and Emily and my mom where trying to help.. scary! Well besides that surgery went great! I was Miss Hob-a-long for a few days. I rocked the cane and a wheelchair for a few days. Today I went in for my check up a week and half later and he said it looks good and I dont have to come back!
I just cant kneel for a few more weeks but I should be good! But I figure its pretty good if I can have my first and last appointment in less than 2 weeks! :) Here's an after shot:
I still have a little bump but its not to bad.. yay!! :)

Happy Halloween Kids.. love you all!
♥manda

bahaha... cheater cheater.

2008-10-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

everynow and then a song comes around and you fall in love with it... you know you shouldn't but you. and you can't figure out why you do. but still the same. you do. anyways. I found this song and I freaking love it!! I love their style and that they're actually country!!! :)
Just listen to the lyrics... you'll get what I mean!! bahahah...hahhahahah
enjoy!! :)

... laughed until we cried.....

2008-10-10T00:54:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here.. all red and puffy eyed.
but this time... its a good thing.
I don't have many, but the ones I have... I cherish.
I have 2 old photo albums with pictures of my Daddy in them. I ran across them tonight and have looked at them over... and over again and have laughed and cried over them.. and loved it!!
I've laughed until I've cried. I found this picture of me and my daddy, I think I was maybe two... and I'm thinking it was after church one sunday based off the stickers on my forehead (.. I know. I've always been a goober!!) and our attire. But it just made me smile... for many reasons.
I dont remember a whole lot about my Daddy, but I definitely remember his smile... and his laugh!! Both of them very contagious!! :)

Gosh. I miss him. ♥ ♥

... My song for him.....

Randomnicity!! :)

2008-10-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

Ok I stole this idea from Adrianes Blog. I thought it was awesome so I did it too. Here's how it's done.

1) Go to Flickr

2) In a separate tab go to Mosaic Maker

3) Set up your mosaic criteria by choosing 4 columns and 3 rows

4) Go back to Flickr and type in the search field the answers to the following questions.

5) Using only the first page of search results, find and click on a photo that best represents your answer.

6) Copy and paste the URL into the spaces at Mosaic Maker.

7) Save your finished Mosaic to your computer and post it on your blog. Don't forget to explain your answers!

Now here's the questions:

1) What's your first name? Amanda

2) What is your favorite food? Olive Garden

3)What college/high school did you go to? Utah College of Massage Therapy

4)What is your favorite color? Hot Pink. Lime Green

5)Who is your celebrity crush? Keith Urban

6)Favorite Drink? Coca-Cola

7)Dream Vacation? Tonga

8)Favorite Dessert? key lime pie... yum!

9)What do you want to be when you grow up? Massage Therapist! :)

10)What do you love most in life? family and friends

11) One word to describe you? adventurous

12)Your Flickr name? I dont have one.. but LIVESTRONG is on everythign. so we'll use that! :)

Lifes lessons...........

2008-09-25T00:11:00.000-07:00

I've learned alot of things over my life time.
-How to tie my shoe.
-How to ride a bike. drive a car.
-My ABC's and 123's.
-My address. My Phone number
-How to make cookies.
-Who you can count on
The simple things. Those are obvious things your going to learn during your life. Life doesn't give you a step by step manual on how to run your life, and it doesn't come with neon flashing lights saying "heartbreak ahead... skip next turn". If it did, we wouldn't take that turn. and we wouldn't experience that "something" that needed to happen in our lives.every obstacle that life throws you.... will make you stronger. even if you may not think so at the time.
Over the past month or so I've learned alot of new things
-Family is ALWAYS there for you. Even if the smallest problem in the world. Seems like a HUGE ordeal. ( but I already knew that one :] )
-There's two ways to say goodbye to relationships. One way is holding on. and One way is being strong.... I pick the second. (thank you Pat Monahan for that lesson)
-Friends are put in your life for a reason. Even if it doesn't end in a lifelong friendship, they where your friend for even that short while... for a good reason.
-A pint of BEN and JERRYS ice cream, a tissue and pillow and a listening ear or two while you whine about life, is one of the greatest things... [[EVER]]. Seriously. take note. and overall.. I've learned this awhile ago, but remembered it more so over the past week.
" LIFE IS A BALANCE OF HOLDING ON AND LETTING GO "-Keith Urban.
sorry if that was so random...
love ya kids.
peace out. take care.
thanks for reading! :)
♥manda joy!

Happy Birthday Bailey.. (and Lance)

2008-09-18T16:03:00.001-07:00

Today is one of my best friends birthdays.. and i love her oodles and oodles! :)
Amanda Bailey aka "Bailey" has been one of my closest friends over the past year, and we've been through alot together, she's always there for me and is one of the greatest friends I could ask for!
We're going to Chilis tonight for dinner... YUM! And then I made and decorated a cake for her and we'll chow down on that later :) ( Hopefully its edible!!)
Happy Birthday Bailey face, I love you!!
♥ hawkes

ps. Happy Birthday to Lance Armstrong too... (I'm a goober I know :])

Let Me Fall- Josh Gracin

2008-09-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

I LOVE.. LOVE... LOVEEEEEEEEEEE This song..
the lyrics are incredible. Not the best quality.
But its Josh Gracin. So its good!
enjoy!
♥manda
ps.. i've touched his butt!! :)

theme song...for today

2008-09-17T01:04:00.000-07:00

My theme song right now.
the end.
enjoy.

ps. things are great with Taylor (my missionary), this does not pertain to him. :)

♥manda

My addiction... continues.

2008-09-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

okay. if you all havent figured it out by now.
I have a slight problem. an addiction if you will.
My weakest moments come when I hear the word "concert".
I dont know what it is about concerts but I LOVE ♥ them a whole bunch!
Seriously people. I go to WAY to many. and lets just say I love them... but my bank account doesnt.
Just since the beginning of summer till now I've gone to
-Charlie Daniels. Shooter Jennings and 38 Special
-American Idols Live Tour
- Josh Gracin. Joe Nicholes. Collin Raye
-Secondhand Serenade. Ferras.Allred.
-Carolina Rain.Charley Jenkins
-Secondhand Serenade. My American Heart.The Graduate.Rookie of the Year. PlayRadioPlay
-Chris Cagle
That's just since the end of May!!
And now tomorrow I'm going to Lady Antebellum and Charley Jenkins and next weekend I'm going to Toby Keith and Montgomery Gentry!! I love concerts. what can I say :)

Just some fun videos of who I'm seeing tomorrow! :)

♥ ~ Lookin For A Good Time ~ ♥

♥ ~ Hero At Home ~ ♥

anyways.. enjoy. I'll give an update on the show.... another time.
peace out kids. i love you all .
♥manda

Best News... EVER! :)

2008-09-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

So pretty sure I just found out the best news....... EVER :)
Drum rolls please. Are you ready for this. okay the big news is...........
LANCE ARMSTRONG IS COMING BACK TO CYCLING!!!!!
My life.. is now complete.
I love this guy... ALOT!!

*sighs. Its going to be a good day :)

♥manda

New Hair

2008-09-01T01:32:00.000-07:00

It was time for a change.
Hair wise that is.
Its quite different from what I usually do.
But its fun for now.
Not many people like it. or so I've been told.
but who cares. this is me. live with it :)

the picture is kind of blurry.
but you get the point.

love ya kids.
peace out.
♥ manda

concert junkie weekend

2008-08-30T01:10:00.000-07:00

Holy time to update.
you all should remind me about this thing.
no joke.
well. last weekend I had probably one of the funnest weekends of my life.
As most of you know. I'm a concert junkie. so Friday I dragged my best friend Dani
along with me to see Charley Jenkins and Carolina Rain up at Salt Lake Community College.
Okay so more like SHE dragged ME along cause for some reason they dont let you drive
when your on muscle relaxers and pain killers but thats beside the point.
So we went to the show and meet up with my friend Roger who kinda runs Charley's
fan site on myspace. I've seen/meet Charley twice before and he's such a nice guy!
He walke right up to Roger, Me and Dani and was like "Hey Roger!" and talked to him for
a minute or two and then came over to me and Dani and was like "Hey ladies! I'm Charley Jenkins!". Of course I'm weak at the knees at this point and am thinking "oh i know who you are!" but we (we meaning I) kept myself together and we introduced ourselves and went to find our seats... the show started at 6 and we got there at like 545 so we're thinking "its a free show.. its going to be packed and we'll be in the back" yeah... complete opposite. More like 2nd row. 80 people tops at this show!! So we had a GREAT time watching Charley and went and talked to him between acts and grabbed a picture. and went back down for Carolina Rain. Well Carolina Rain came on and put on a really fun show and then we got to meet the band after and oh my goodness... I havent laughed so hard in a LONG time!! We talked to Marvin.Rhean and Jeremy for probably 15-20 minutes and asked if we could grab a picture with them and they did and then Marvin just walked over with a sharpie and signed our arms.. we decided what the heck and told the other two guys they had to do it to. Well I was wearing a V neck shirt and Rhean walks over and acts like he's going to sign my chest/breast area and looks up at me and goes "nah.. just kidding I'll sign your arm" so I started laughing and then he goes " oh hell.. i'm sigining it!" and next thing I know ... he signed my chest/breast area!! haha and then Jeremy the other singer came and signed my arm. It was such a great night and so much fun!!

Me and Charley Jenkins Charley during his set!

Carolina Rain
Marvin.Dani.Rhean.Manda.Jeremy The boys rockin out!

That was Concert #1 for the weekend.
#2 was one of my all time favorites Secondhand Serenade Saturday night at the Murray Theater.

So its kind of weird. John Vesely is one guy. but goes by a band name. Secondhand Serenade.
his first album was all acostic just him stuff but once he started getting bigger he now has a few guys that play with him. I'm in love with his music and he's not to bad looking either! Me and Dani went and saw him the first week in June and had a great time at the show and like 3 days after the show he had another show lined up in utah! (3 shows in 4 months!) So we again bought our tickets and waited for another 3-4 hours in the sun to get in. If seating is ever General Addmission.. me and Dani will wait hours to get good seats! Well we had just got in line with maybe another 15 people and been in line for not 20 minutes and randomly.. John Vesely comes walking down the street!! So of course we ran and grabbed a picture with him :)
Needless to say. we where right next to the stage for the show (front and center). I got stepped on. almost hit in the head with a guitar and sweat in my mouth... yuck!. There where 4 bands that opened up for Secondhand and now Im in love with all of the new guys. THE GRADUATE. PLAYRADIOPLAY!.ROOKIE OF THE YEAR and MY AMERICAN HEART :) good freaking weekend in my opinion!! :)
yeah... thats John Vesely aka Secondhand Serenade. I'm in love ♥ the end :)
haha

As for this weekend... one of my all time favorite things ever comes into play for the season

Thats right... BYU football :) GOOOOOOOOO COUGARS!!!!!
♥manda

Soundtrack To My Life :)

2008-08-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

If your life had a soundtrack, what would the music be?
1. open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, Zen, iPod)
2. put it on shuffle
3. press play
4. for every question, type the name of whatever song comes up
5. press the next button to get the answer to the next question
6. don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool

SOUNDTRACK FOR MY LIFE …
opening credits: "That Kind Of Day"-Sarah Buxton

waking up:"Living It Up"-Josh Gracin

first day at school: "Song In My Head"-Julianne Hough

falling in love: "Party For Two"-Shania Twain and Billy Currington

breaking up: "The One In The Middle"-Sarah John

prom:"Blame.Blame.Blame"-Ferras

life’s okay:"Got It Right This Time"-Keith Urban

mental breakdown: " Let Me Be Myself"- 3 Doors Down

driving: " Where The Blacktop Ends"-Keith Urban...... whoa. that worked good!! :)

flashback: "How Do You Like Me Now"-Toby Keith

getting back together: " Achy Breaky Heart"- Billy Ray Cyrus.... bahhaha...ahhahaa... hahah seriously!

wedding:" Your Call"-Secondhand Serenade

birth of child:" Hollywoods Not America"-Ferras

final battle:" Over You"- RED

death scene: "Piece of Me"-Brittney Spears

funeral song:"I'll Never Smoke Weed With Willie (Nelson)"-Toby Keith

nice one: " Innocent"-Our Lady Peace
end credits: "Shine"-Keith Urban

Well that was entertaining!! :)
So I found this new artist Matt Nathanson and I'm pretty much in love with his stuff... no joke.
Check him out :)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE ♥ this song..
the end.

love Manda

MG WEEKEND

2008-07-31T22:46:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to lie. I love these girls. A few of us had met here and there but for the most part,we all came together for a weekend for one of the funnest nights of my life. We all have one thing in common, we all have Missionarys!! All of us are part of a group (on facebook) called WAITING FOR A MISSIONARY. Its probably the best thing that has came around for me since Taylor left. Its good knowing there's other people out there going through the exact same thing you are. its fun to talk and hear stories.drama and so on!!
This is only an inth of who could've been there but it was TONS of fun!! Friday night... Dinner at Cafe Rio and games at Annika's house. Saturday night... Dinner/talent show at Bonnies house!!

Manda and Kellie...
I love this girl!! We love our blue airheads... oh yeah and our missionaries too!!

Stephanie... Jamilynn and Manda!!

Terri and Manda

Lindsey... Terri..Kellie...Sarah

~Manda Joy

Seeming how Jen set me up for this....

2008-07-31T22:37:00.000-07:00

Well seeming how my darling cousin Jen set me up for this... and it is time for an update here goes nothing!! :)

6 Unimportant Things About Me

1- My BIGGEST pet peeve EVER is the little ring that is on water/soda bottles that breaks off after opening.. I cant drink out of a bottle if one is left on!

2- 9/10 guys i've dated or gone on dates with I've either meet online or through wrong numbers.

3- Most of my money goes towards concerts. I'm a Concert Addict its true.

4- One of my best friends Rachael lives in Kansas. We've been friends for 4 years, talk daily about everything. but yet. we havent meet in person yet. But this November she's finally coming to Utah! :)

5- I'm obsessed with LIVESTRONG/Lance Armstrong

6- I would rather go to a football game than shopping.

okay... there it goes! :) Now I guess I'm suppose to tag 6 people to do this.. but um.. I just vote you all do it!! :)

♥ love ya kids!
~Manda Joy

A sunburn.A loss of Voice. AMAZING memoires!! :)

2008-07-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

TRIPPER AND TONY DURING SOUNDCHECK!!

JOE NICHOLS!!

COLLIN RAYE

MY FAVORITE: JOSH GRACIN

I LOOK NASTY BUT THATS TONY LOPACANINSKI! LOVE HIM!!

MANDA TRIPPER AND DANI!! LOVE THIS PIC!!!

BEST FRIENDS :) This was after being in the sun for like 5 hours.. Yes.. a sticky/sweaty mess we are.. woot woot! lol

Oh my goodness.... Monday night. I had the time of my life!!
Utah Valley State College was made into a University and is not Utah Vally University.
To celebrate they hosted a day full of events.. Big blow up toys... food venders. a dance and an AMAZING concert!! (the whole reason I went...) Who was in this Amazing concert you ask? Well let me tell you It was:
JOSH GRACIN.(Stay With Me aka Brass Bed. Nothin To Lose.I Want To Live. We Weren't Crazy)
JOE NICHOLS.( Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off. I'll Wait For You. She Only Smokes When She Drinks)
and Collin Raye.(Thats My Story. One Boy One Girl. I Can Still Feel You)
Three AMAZING artists!! Josh Gracin just happens to be one of my all time favorite artists! This was the third time I've seen him and honestly he gets better and better everytime!! Me and Dani (my best friend) went and saw him last fall and where right next to the stage the whole show.. we touched Josh countless times and after the show we meet Josh's Manager/guitarist Tony Lopacaninski and Bassist Tripper Ryder, total sweethearts might I add! They posed for pictures with us and Tripper talked to us for probably 20 minutes and invited us to party with them.. Did we go? Sadly no.. we were'nt 21 but owell! Anyways... back to THIS show. We waited in line for 3 hours before gates even opened and got wicket sunburns. When we ran to the stage for seats. we where about 3 rows back and Tripper and Tony where doing soundcheck so of course. me and Dani got all sorts of excited!! We love Tripper and Tony so we started yelling " GO TRIPPER AND TONY!! WE LOVE YOU!!" and goofy things like that and they both just got huge smiles on their face and kinda looked confused on how we knew their names. We went and talked to Tripper after soundcheck and he talked to us again for 10 minutes and took pictures with us.. and then Tony was still on stage working on something. So we yelled " TONY WE LOVE YOU!!" and he kinda looked around and was like " ME??" so we nodded our heads and he motion
ed for us to come up and talk to him
Tony: "hey girls!!"
Manda and Dani: "Hey Tony!! We pretty much love you.. you're awesome!!! " *giggles*
Tony:"Thanks girls.. but uh. how do you know my name?!"
Manda and Dani:" We meet you last fall when you came"
Tony:"oh ok!! Thanks for cheering me on, it means alot!!"
so he sat and talked to us for a while but the stage was like 5 feet up so it would be hard to grab a picture with him but he told us to find him after the show for a picture but probably 5 minutes later we're sitting there back at our seats and we hear " hey girls!!" and we look over and Tony's on the side of the stage motioning for us so we go over and he took a picture right then for us! It was awesome! Anyways... so Josh did an INCREDIBLE show!! He ran right by us and we touched him again. Then Collin Raye came on and rocked.. and then Joe Nicholes came on and closed the show and was so much fun, I even caught his guitar pick!!! :) YAY!!!!! Anyways... there's my lil concert review! I have no voice now. a sunburn and GREAT MEMORIES!!! :)

someday i'll figure out how to put the pictures AFTER the story!! lol

♥manda

♥ how strong do you think I am...... .♥

2008-06-25T00:39:00.000-07:00

So Ive had some sort of an "awakening" over the past couple weeks.
I guess I've just put up this perception that everybody around me is invincible. Nobody else has problems. Nobody else struggles with things. Nobody else has flaws.. you get where I'm going with this right? Anyways.. I guess I just think that I'm the only that struggles with things and has to deal with the "Real world" (and not the TV show kids...) and has issues with different things. I think growing up in the LDS church also.. I think that if people go to church... they don't struggle with things, well I most definitely have realized... nobody is perfect and things that I struggle with.. somebody else is struggling with 10 times more than I could even imagine. I know I'm not perfect and I've definitly had my down falls.. i'll be the first to admit that. I think that I just didnt let myself see that EVERYBODY struggles with things and that I'm definitely not alone with things... and that nobody is as strong as we think they are.

~*~ " How Strong Do You Think I Am " ~*~
By: Alexz Johnson.

"How Strong Do You Think I Am?"

If I don't cry, Do you think I don't feel?
If I look away, it doesn't mean I don't see,
And just because I want someone when I'm alone,
Doesn't mean I'm helpless,
That I can't stand on my own.

How far can we go before we break?
How long can I wait?

How strong do you think I am?
How much can I take of this?
Am I a rock, or a rose, or a fist?
Or the breath at the end of a kiss?
How deep do you want to go, because I'll go there if I can,
You make it harder than it has to be,
How strong, how strong do you think I am

It's so hard to tell,
What's in your heart,
What you keep to yourself,
Is tearing me apart,
And should I be afraid,
To dream about you?
And if you feel the same,
What you going to do?

How far can we go before we break?
How long can I wait?

How strong do you think I am?
How much can I take of this?
Am I a rock, or a rose, or a fist?
Or the breath at the end of a kiss?
How deep do you want to go, because I'll go there if I can,
You make it harder than it has to be,
How strong, how strong do you think I am

If I move in any closer,
If you let go and give yourself away,
and if we let this happen to us,
Everything will change.

How strong do you think I am?
How much can I take of this?
Am I a rock, or a rose, or a fist?
Or the breath at the end of a kiss?
How deep do you want to go, because I'll go there if I can,
You make it harder than it has to be,
How strong, how strong,
How strong do you think I am?
How much can I take of this?
Am I a rock, or a rose, or a fist?
Or the breath at the end of a kiss?
How deep do you want to go, because I'll go there if I can,
You make it harder than it has to be,
How strong, how strong, how strong, how strong do you think I am?

MUSIC!!!!!! ♥

2008-06-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

Random Rants

2008-06-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well... I did it. I signed up for a blog!
I guess this is kind of the adult version of "myspace/facebook" but I dont know how much I'll actually be on here!
I've became a pro by now over the years of signing up for accounts and then forgetting about them. So kids... its your job to remind me randomly to post an update if I fail to do so!! :]

So I just got the new 3 Doors Down CD.
And if you're even the smallest fan of them... get their CD.
Its AMAZING!! I saw them live a couple months ago and have
been in love with them since!!

Brad.... From 3 Doors Down. We had front row right in the middle.. oh gosh. I was in love ♥

Oh.. in recent news.
I started a new job about 3 weeks ago as a Massage Therapist doing corporate massages.
I work with a guy and we go to different corporate businesses doing 15-20 minute chair/table massages for their employees. So far it's seeming to be a great job and I'm loving it! To be honest I didn't know how much I would enjoy it cause I wanted to work with athletes but for now.. this works and this is where I'm suppose to be! :]
well kids.
I'm out for now
peace out

♥manda
~*~ LIVESTRONG ~*~