little bit happier now

Every day on my 2 hour round-trip commute I get to drive by this cute little house.
I'm so lucky!
Enjoy your smog, suckers!

There are only so many tomorrows

I can't thank you all enough for your kind words.

happy posts to come soon.

love you all.

luvluvjub,
Mandee

“You can shed tears that she is gone,
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,
or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her only that she is gone,
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back.
Or you can do what she'd want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.”

David Harkins (British Poet and Painter b.1958)

the picture is of Sheryl's grave site in Rockland, Idaho

sweet sherylyn

For those of you who don't know, I'm not sure how to articulate it so I'm just going to come out and say it. Late thursday night Josh's little sister was killed in a car accident.

see her obituary here.

I just want to thank everyone for the large amount of support our family has recieved since the accident. Because of all the love from our friends, family and neighbors, our grief has been reduced a considerable amount. In the words of Mother-in-law:

we can feel your prayers, they're like little drops of rain that grieve with us and help wash away our pain

luv lub jub,
mandee

tears of sorrow and cries of pain from wounded souls

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27

Ode to Claire

this is what Claire and I used to do instead of listen during sacrament.

Clairington my friend
This is a haiku for you
I might write you two

You are a true friend
Haikus put limitations
on syllables used

You like these pictures?
I had to include me too
it is my blog... girl

Thank you for my prom
That's right Claire threw me a prom
you didn't have to

That's why you are friend.
Excuse my poor grammar please
Not creative, me

I miss you all day
And every day as well, friend
please come visit me

things I miss doing with claire:

taking pictures together
whining to each other about everything
wearing pink on wednesdays (can we start this again please?)
assassinating our hair
snuggling :D
eating sushi and burritos together
eating whole pints of ice cream without even glancing at the nutritional information
writing haikus in sacrament
casting MAGIC MISSILES!
eating lots of things in the past that we are much too smart and attractive to eat presently
stalking people we dislike
making out with the bathroom door painting in Ichiban
handing out each others numbers to strange men
knocking people off our hit list one by one
coming up with really dumb band names together
thinking about how MAHvelous boring tables would look with severed heads as centerpieces (how indecent!)

Claire, thank you for being the bestestest of friends. You are the most beautiful person I know and I'm not just saying that because I want you to come visit me but I hope it persuades you a little. Happy birthday to you (on friday) Please say hello to my soul. I luv lub jub you,
Mandee (your heterosexual life partner)

^our contract where I gave you my soul. ^

bad news everywherez

I'm not one to stress out, but all this bad news has been getting to me. I don't want to give too many details on our most recent bad news so I will keep it vague. Lets just say it affects our future big time. On the bright side we are thinking of moving as far away as possible. Trunk Bay anyone? I wouldn't mind this view every day:

i need your HALP

Josh and I are getting puppies. But not just any puppies. Puppies that we are going to love and squeeze and snuggle and coo at and call POOPPIES because that's just much more cute.
Josh is pretty dead seat on getting a male Rottweiler. Who can blame him when they're this adorable?


But I have yet to make up my mind on what breed I want to get. I'm partial towards yellow labs. The only problem is they're way too lovable and snuggable. Problem, you ask? Why is that a problem? Well, we live in the middle of nowhere and the only neighbors we have are a bunch of stinking coyotes. They are vicious creatures and will maim any poor unsuspecting lovable lab in their way. I am still considering a lab, because I can always keep him safe (with my big mama bear biceps and chain link cages). Plus, look how cute they are! I am left in snuggle mode just by looking at this picture

Option number 2: German shepherd. This might be what I end up getting. Really cute as puppies and good with the livestock on our ranch. I don't know much about them and don't have a lot of experience with them so if you have horror stories/happy stories about them to sway my opinion, please share. In the mean while oggle at how precious dese wittwe guys awee....

awwww

Some other breeds I'm considering are huskies, samoyeds or golden retrievers. I just can't decide. Oh and by the way, once I saw this giant fluff ball of a dog in the back of a convertible. He was huge and furry and kind of looked like a giant samoyed. any help in identifying this breed would be appreciated, as I would do anything to get my hands on one. Thank you.