So Sorry...

Well it has been a while to say the least and I am truly sorry for that.  Things have been busy.  Starting my new job and getting into the flow of things.  I have so much to write about that I am not really sure where I should start...  Things are still going good at work.  I have no complaints though I do really need a full time job so I am going to start looking again.

My Birthday and visit with Matt was amazing.  I couldn't have asked for more.  Having Matt here was the best present of all of course.  We had four amazing nights together and I am missing him like crazy already.  He got me all Batman themed gifts which was awesome!  A Batman ice cube tray, Batman earrings, and a Batman shot glass since I turned 21.  My Mom, Jim and little sister all got me a new laptop which was amazing and a journal that I have been drooling over for a while now.  I have no idea how they knew that I wanted that particular one.  It is beautiful.  I will have to get a picture of it to show all of you.  Matt cooked me an amazing birthday dinner.  Home made chicken Alfredo with home made garlic bread.  It was delicious.

On the 24th I got my braces off which is friggin sweet.  I have to admit for a while I felt like a piece of my face was missing, but I love not having them.

I am hoping soon to have my own place with my friend.  Actually the condo that I am in now only it will just be Sarah and I here instead of the whole family since they are looking to move into I house.  So that is pretty exciting.

Can I tell you guys a secret?

I know my Mom wouldn't be too thrilled hearing this.  Not that its a bad thing I just know she would be bummed like any Mother would be.  I have been thinking a lot about moving to California.  Of course its not anything that could happen immediately.  Its just... the distance for Matt and I of course sucks.  We want to take our time as far as our relationship goes though.  Do it the right way and make sure we are ready when taking steps forward in our relationship.

He just got a job opportunity which is awesome.  We won't know exactly what for a little over a month but whatever happens its an upgrade from the position that he has now. He pretty much gets to duke it out with another co-worker for a month trial bases and whoever does the best will get the better position.  Its a really good opportunity for him. =)

Not sure why I just told you that just small details of all the decision making I guess.  Anyways like I said its not something that can happen for a while.  Its definitely on my mind though.  Its nerve wracking.  I have never lived with anyone I have been in a relationship with and its definitely a big decision.  It just feels right, if that makes sense. Like I said though we both want to do this right and make sure we aren't moving things to fast and that sorta business.

Things here have been a little stressful.  Specially the last few days.  Just a whole bunch of not so good news thrown on our shoulders.  Things we have to do that are not going to be pleasant. =/

Enough of that though.  Anyways I promise to try and write more and be better about it.  I am not going to have any set specific theme posts for days, though I might do random ones just for the heck of it depending on time and mood.  Missed you guys and hope you all are well again I am really sorry for the disappearance.

-Nadine

Change of plans.... again XD

Ok well I am sure you guys noticed that I missed my Friday Favorites post.  I am really sorry everyone. =(  So just to make things a bit easier I have decided to take away the set scheduled posting.  I hope that you guys aren't terribly disappointed.  I will still post my Mandalas and Musical Finds, the works.  Just at random when I do get on here to post.  No set day of the week.  There may be times when I just get on to leave you short messages and other times when I go full on blog-tastic.  Things other than being busy have been great.  I had an amazing day at work yesterday.   We were super busy all day long.  Which makes the day go by super fast.  I also got to work with all my favorite COSs. Jackson, Cherri, and Felix.  I worked 24 minutes longer than I was supposed to but I seriously didn't mind.  I know this might also sound bad but yesterday and the day before I received quite a few compliments on my work and just being one of the new employees.  I guess so far I am well liked.  It just made my day end on that much greater of a note.  Its always nice to know that your work is appreciated.  I am hoping that if I continue to have my positive attitude and volunteer when they need that extra hand like yesterday that they will see that I want to move up and forward.  Its the plan at least.

Last Saturday we went to Snowflake to go to one of our family friends weddings.  It was a ton of fun and it was insane to see everyone together.  People from my childhood who I haven't seen all together well.... since I was little were all there and it was great.  I was really happy for our friends Russ and Gretchen.  Russ I have known my whole life.  Him and My Mom have been friends for a very long time.  His daughter Nikki was my best friend growing up.  Her and I have definitely had some hard times in our friendship.  We aren't what we used to be but I still love her with all my heart and it was great getting to see her.  Her Mom, Dev, passed away 3 years ago.  She had swine flu.  Bizarre I know.  It was a really hard time for everyone.  But it was great to see Russ so happy and starting a new and wonderful chapter in his life with Gretchen.  I know that it was a hard time for Nikki but I am glad she and her brother were there to support their Dad.  Caitlin and I were being goofs on the drive up there, hense the pictures.

I am pretty sure I might have mentioned this before but Caitlin is really loving her new school.  It is great to see her actually excited to go back to school again.  My sister has always been the type that loves going to school and loves excelling.   Last year was a really rough year for her though.  Her teacher was.... well to put it nicely... she has just been doing her job way to long.  Ugh fine there is no nice way to put it she was a down right horrible teacher.  There is no excuse for screaming and throwing books.  Specially in a second grade classroom absolutely ridiculous.  Oh the joys of living in a small town with no options.  Caitlin also went through a lot of bullying.  Which no one did anything about.  We did everything we were supposed to told Caitlin to just walk away, never start or pick fights, don't say mean, unkind words, get a teacher... When none of that worked we went to the school ourselves.  We tried talking to anyone and all we ever got was "kids will be kids" or "there is nothing we can do".  Caitlin actually had another child spit in her face and the teachers still refused to do anything about it.

Ok.... ok I am done I am sure you see what I meant.

So having her in a school, excited again, making friends, a nice teacher, and all sorts of extra programs is really a blessing.  Caitlin is in two after school programs now.  She goes to each once a week.  One is an art class called Young Rimbrants and the other is a Karate class.  While the.... physical? aspect of the Karate class is nice and all we are hoping more for it to be a confidence booster.  Help her build her self-esteem and also (though she doesn't really have an issue with this) but help her learn respect for others as well as herself. She had her two first classes last week.  I am excited to see how things turn out.  It is nice finally living somewhere that offers these kinds of opportunities.  Where we used to be the only things they offered were, sports which was track, basketball, volleyball and football which aren't even an option until middle school.  And lets face it not everyone is the sporty type I never was.

Anyways so this Monday I do have a Mandala for you.  Its actually the one that I couldn't find last week lol. Its not my all time favorite but I hope that you guys like it.  Let me know what you think.

I didn't ever realize until after I had finished that I had really focused on the pinks and blues in this one lol.

I have to go pick up Caitlin from school here soon but before I go I wanted to share one musical find with you guys.  I am sure you have heard this song up and down also.  At least I know that it is way over played where I am.  Don't get me wrong I like the song but.... lol anyways...

I just really liked Ingrid's version.  I think that she has a beautiful voice and style.

So here is "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Ingrid Michaelson Gotye cover



Anyways I hope that all of you guys are doing A-MAY-ZING. =P

Let me know how you are doing. lol I miss you guys!

-Nadine

Mandala Monday and a little Craziness...

Hey everyone I am sorry that I haven't been around much lately.  Things have been a bit ... scattered since starting my new job.  Still trying to get into the flow of not having an over abundance of free time.  Things are still going really well I really like my new job though my feet are killing me.  Note to self:  When you can't find your work shoes.... try harder.  Convers are not 5hrs+ standing friendly.  Mah feets are killin me. lol

Most of my time now is spent at work and then when I do get home I skype with Matt.  My computer is so lame I can't actually run anything else while running skype.  I promise I am going to try a lot harder to set some time aside to blog.  I don't want this place to die again I have made so many new great friends here and blogging is something that I really do enjoy.  I think that I might make Monday nights and Friday nights my blogging time.  That way we still get the FFF post along with Mandala Monday and I will also just include whatever else along with them.  Try that out and see how it works.

I am getting more and more excited about September.  It is officially less than a month before Matt with be here for 4 nights.  I can not wait to have him here with me.  I could careless that its going to be my 21st birthday.  I am just excited to have him next to me.

So this Mandala Monday is a bit different.  I am just going to post a few of my favorite Mandalas that I have found around the net here this time.  I do have one colored but I can't find the darn thing.  I don't know how I misplaced it.  I hope that you guys like these designs though.  Let me know what you think.

I love the colors in this one along with the design.

The browns and pinks are amazing.

Very pretty.  Such vibrant colors.

I want to colors this one so bad.

Not only is the design pretty but its very unique.

I haven't seen anyone with a tattoo like these.

All of these images can be found on my pinterest.

There is a button in my right sidebar.

That is all for tonight.  Sorry that this post is so late.  I didn't get off of work until 9 tonight.  Will be the same tomorrow and Wednesday.  Happy to be working though. =)  Hope that you all had an amazing Monday.

-Nadine

Work wooooaaaah!

Well everyone I am super tired right now so this will be really short.  I wanted to give you all an update of how things are going at work.  I have just about finished with all of my cbl's (aka computer training) today I was actually out on the floor shadowing another cashier who let me work the register more than half the time.  It was nerve wracking but not boring.  Everyone so far has been super great and Flo who I worked with today was amazing.  She was very patient with me and all the little mistakes I made.  Well anyways like I said super tired.  So I am going to get going.  I have tomorrow off so I might write some more but really I plan on just using the time to catch up on a lot of the blogs that I follow.  Hope that you all are doing well and having an amazing week.  =)

-Nadine

Mandala Monday

So I know this picture is really rough.  I just couldn't get a good picture.  I figured this one let you see the design best and color.  I hate that you can see all the of the border though lol.  Anyways I am not really sure what inspired this one other than I wanted it to be bright and fun.  I had a lot of fun with this one.

When I first looked at it before coloring the design in some sense reminded me of spring.

Sun in the center and blooming in the rose.  

Oh and look what I got!  With Autumn knocking at our doors and up and coming Le Mysterieux Carnival parties coming up I couldn't help but get myself this little treat.  I am not that far into it yet but so far I am really enjoying it.  Driving me a bit bonkers with the character hopping.  One of those "Wait no go back what happened with Celia???" kind of moments.  I am very excited to see where this story leads.  Great inspiration for booth ideas as well. ;)

So today is my first day of work.  I don't have to be there until 3:30 this afternoon but I am still very nervous.  Even if all I will be doing is sitting at a computer testing for who knows how many hours.  I actually think that is all I am doing today and tomorrow.  I have never had a job like this before its a bit nerve wracking.  I mean I have had jobs but nothing so.... serious?  I worked out at the race track but it was under the table pay, and my Aunt and Uncle ran it, and while they were the "bosses"  I never really answered to anyone.  I ran the concession stand.  Now that I think about it I could have very well been considered a manager or at least head of the concession if anyone had such titles there lol.  

We had to get there and be open by 8 in the morning but there was no set time for when we would leave sometimes it would be as early as 4 and other times as late as 6.  I never had to take breaks when working there.  Which might not seem like a big thing but I am actually very nervous at the idea of having to catch myself and be "Oh I have been here for a while time for my break I need to go clock out."  Our boss made it perfectly clear that if we attempted to skip our break we would have to deal with her and we would not like it.

Silly isn't it?  To be so nervous...

Anyways I hope that today goes well.  This week I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.  Two 5 hours days and two 8 hour days.  Well actually one is 8 and a half.  So some pretty decent hours though after this week it will go down to part time.  Wish it was full-time though it actually works out for me a little since I have so much going on late September.  Matt will get here on the 18th and will be leaving super early in the morning on the 21st, then on the 22nd is Ashley's wedding, then on the 24th I have to go to New Mexico to get my braces off.  Really hope I can work it so I don't have to miss any work.  I know I will have to work while Matt is here which super sucks but oh well.  I can't wait to see him September needs to hurry up and get here.

Well I am going to get going I hope that you all are having a great Monday.  

-Nadine

Back

Hey everyone well I am back from my trip to New Mexico.  It went great I had an amazing time visiting with my younger brother and my Dad.  My orthodontist appointment went really well also.  I am scheduled for a de-banding on September 24th. WOOT!!! No more braces!  I am so excited.  Right now they have me wearing few new little elastics connecting the top and bottom braces I am a bit sore.  Never any fun but its an amazing pain knowing that it just means I am that much closer to being done with them.  My Dad and brother are both doing really well.  My Dad is a little lost I guess you could say with my younger brother leaving for college.  He isn't really sure what to do with himself or the idea of living alone.  I was also able to see my cousins Jessica and Steven before I left which was great.  I hope I can see them at least once more before they fly back to New Jersey.  Who knows when I will get to see them again!

So I didn't really do any net surfing while I was gone but for my late FFF posting I figured I would share two songs and one of my favorite photographers.





What I Am by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians and A Case of You by Joni Mitchell.  Just two random songs that I really like.  I hope that you guys enjoy them.

So on of my favorite photographers/artist is Lissy Elle.  I am pretty sure that a lot of you have probably seen her stuff floating around the net.  

I love how mysterious yet fun all of her photos are.

This one I just thought was amazing.  Very simple but beautiful.

The rose makes me think of Beauty and the Beast.

This one is definitely one of my favorites.

You guys know how I love my autumn colors.

But I also like just how oddball this is.

This other than the leaking water lol

Could actually be a really cool decorating idea.

So I hope that you guys liked the photos.  Here is the link to her facebook page for those of you who want it. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lissy-Elle-Photography/149581815077770

I am going to post the Mandalas from this week tomorrow.  At least I hope because tomorrow is my first official day at work!  Yesterday we had orientation and did a whole ton of paperwork and got our schedules figured out.  I am so excited that it is finally here and that both my Mom and I will be working now.  Very exciting.  While visiting my Dad I got to go up to Portal.  I love it up there the forest area is great and I have a lot of amazing childhood memories there.

Not the greatest pictures ever but I am glad that I remembered to take a couple.

Near the top thought that it was a really pretty view.

Oh and look I bought my first purse EVER. 

Yes about to be 21 and have never owned a purse.  Not the biggest fan of them.

Just couldn't fit everything in my pockets anymore and it really is starting to grow on me lol.

Anyways I have to get going I do have a bit more to write about but will probably be busy the next few days.  I hope that I can write some more tomorrow.  Really need to catch up on all my blogs that I follow.  

-Nadine

NM trip

Well everyone I just wanted to get on here and leave you guys a short note.  Tomorrow around 6:30ish in the morning I will be making my way to New Mexico to go visit with my Dad and younger Brother.  Also I have an orthodontist appointment that I can't miss.  Bleh.  I am going to be there until Thursday and will not have a computer and even if I did I probably would not be spending any time on it.  So I just wanted to make sure you guys didn't think that I just up and disappeared with the lack of posting.  Likely on Friday I will take the time to not only post my FFF post but also include Mandala Monday, my Butterfly Effect project and an update on what I was up to while gone.  I hope that you all have a wonderful week.  =)

-Nadine