East Coast - July 11th & 12th

Wednesday, July 11th:

On the 11th we flew into the Newark Airport, picked up our rental car, and drove to Syracuse, NY. When we landed in Newark, it had started to sprinkle rain, but within a few short minutes, we were in a monsoon-like storm. Check out the pictures:

Picking up our rental car - Notice all the rain.

I know this looks like a river, but it's the road!!

Thursday, July 12th:

On the 12th we drove to Niagara Falls. I had been to Niagara Falls before, but my parents never had. Although I drove to see the Falls in 2004 with some friends, we didn't do much but few the Falls. This time, my parents and I did loads of fun stuff while we were there. Here's a few pictures:

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

My mom and me

(dry before getting too close to the Falls)

Decommissioned Ontario Power Generating Station

For more information, click HERE.

My dad and mom on the Maid of the Mist.

My mom and me on the Cave of Winds Tour.

At the base of the Falls.

My dad at the base of the Falls

(on the Cave of Winds Tour).

East Coast - July 13th

Friday, July 13th:
On the 13th we went to Palmyra to visit church history sites for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I had been to Palmyra twice before, but my parents never had. We also stayed to watch the Hill Cumorah Pageant - this was something I had never done before. It was quite impressive. To learn more about what to do and see in Palmyra, New York, click HERE.

Me at the Book of Mormon publishing site.

Me and my mom at the Palmyra Temple.

Me with my mom and dad in the Sacred Grove.

My mom and me chillin' out
(literally - it was quite cold).

East Coast - July 14th

Saturday, July 14th:
On the night of the 13th, we had stayed in Syracuse, NY. We woke up on July 14th and drove through upstate NY and Massachusetts to the Boston area. We didn't actually go into Boston, but we went to Concord. I love Concord. It is a picturesque town with beautiful country homes and tons of history. Here are a few pictures:

Me at the Minute Man National Historic Park. It was here that the American Revolution began. Ralph Waldo Emerson coined it, "the shot heard round the world." To read all of Emerson's Concord Hymn, click HERE.

The Wayside, Home of the Authors. This home was owned by the Alcott family and Nathanial Hawthorne. While the Alcott's lived there it was known as Hillside. Louisa May Alcott published here first novel from this home. Her novel, Little Women, is also based on her childhood growing up in Concord. Nathanial Hawthorne bought the home from the Alcott's and gave it the name Wayside. To learn more about the Wayside, click HERE.

My mom and I in front of Ralph Waldo Emerson's home. His home was just a short walk from the Wayside. To read more about Emerson and his home, click HERE.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. I love cemeteries, especially old ones. This was a beautiful cemetery filled with headstones that were old and new, simple and elaborate. Below you will find the headstones of Nathanial Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Henry Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

East Coast - July 15th & 16th

I went back east with my parents from July 11th - July 16th. It may seem kind of weird for a 29 year-old to travel with her parents, but for those of you who know my parents, you'll totally understand. We had loads of fun, as only the George's can. I'll be doing several posts over the next few days about our adventures. I'm actually going to start with our last two days:

Sunday, July 15th:
We stayed on the border of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. That morning we woke up and drove all the way through Rhode Island (since it's the smallest state, we were done by noon). We stopped on the way and did some antiquing (I didn't buy anything, but saw loads of cool stuff). We then went to my parents' favorite eating establishment in the world, the Nordic Lodge. Here for $70.00 you can eat all the seafood you want. And trust me, I did. I even ate two lobsters. Yep, TWO! Here are a few pictures.

Me on the deck of the Nordic Lodge.

Me with my Lobster, clam, and oyster!!

Monday, July 16th:
This was our travel day home. Nothing too exciting. We flew out of Newark and I finished reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Finally . . . Lake Powell Pictures

My home during the last week of June.

I finally decided to see what all this 'Harry Potter' nonsense was about.

Again, more reading.

Me eating breakfast.

Mindy, Remi, Christi, and Me playing cards.

Me and Christi getting our morning exercise.

Our afternoon relaxation.

On our way to the marina.

Steve, Jaustin, Makayla, and Me at the marina.

Chillin' with the boats.

Ready for fun!!

Warning

A warning for all my loyal readers - especially those who read at work. I have added music to automatically play on my blog (as I'm sure you've noticed). You can pause the music by pressing pause on the playlist which is located on the right-hand side of my blog. I can change this feature so that music won't automatically play unless you press play, but I kind of like that it automatically plays. Let me know what you think. Also, I will be changing the music selection every week or so, so stay tuned. For now I've listed some of my absolute favorites - some old stuff, some not-so-old stuff, but all of it is fantastic!!

Don't Fret, My Loyal Readers

I will be in Lake Powell for the next week so I will not be blogging. Don't worry. I've left you a few funny YouTube videos to keep you entertained.

Glitter is the Herpes of Craft Supplies

Warning: contains one curse word. (Which one? Watch and find out).


For more stand up with Demetri Martin, click HERE.

Tomaaaaaco

For more information about Black Sheep, click HERE.

Alina's Blog

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Alina, finally started a blog. It's entitled, "Random Ramblings of a Wandering Spirit." The title pretty much says it all. To view it, click HERE.

The Simple Life

Over the past few months I've been trying to simplify my life . . . Getting rid of all the unnecessary things that I really don't need. Now, that doesn't mean that I've gotten rid of everything extravagant. In fact, I've spent a ridiculous amount of money since I got out of school. But, I'm doing okay. Here's some of my accomplishments:

• Canceled my HBO. Definitely didn't need it. In fact, most of the time I don't even miss it.


• Canceled my gym membership. Probably did need it, but definitely don't miss it. The gym membership actually caused a lot of undue stress. I was always worried about when I was going to fit it in, now I don't need to. Plus, I have a treadmill at my house that was just collecting dust. Now it's being used (sometimes).


• Placed several of my bills on automatic withdrawal. This has been very nice especially since postage increased to 41 cents. What a rip off!!


• Cleaned my closet. When I bought my house I intended to go through all my clothes and only move the things I wanted, but I was so stressed about moving in that this didn't happen and I ended up bringing everything with me. Well, almost two years later, I decided it was time to clean. Here are a few pictures of all the stuff I got rid of:

Not only have I gotten rid of several things, but I haven't added several things. Things I've wanted but have restrained from getting:

• Internet. Would make life more convenient, but only allow myself to use internet at work (and now that work is out, at my parent's house).


• Chair in last post. I like it and it would fit perfectly in my upstairs reading area, but I'm putting it off.


• Guitar Hero. This is kind of like the internet. I know if I got it, I would waste so much time playing it. (I'd rather waste my time watching TV).


• Backyard accessories. I really wanted to plant a flower garden in my flower beds and put up a nice border separating my flower bed from my grass, but I've decided not to. I weeded the flower bed and my lawn is neatly mowed so it looks nice, just flowerless.

Summer Fun

Alina with the movie, Dance with Me.

She made us watch it. Thank you, Alina.

Thank you for introducing me to such a cinematic work of art.

Alina, me, Jared, and Matt playing Nintendo Wii.

Jared and Matt are better tennis players than

Alina and me in actual reality and virtual reality.

On the other hand, Alina can kick their butts in boxing.

This is a horrible picture of me - I look pregnant.

I'm thinking of purchasing this chair. Any comments?

Lesli and Me at our stake's Relief Society Circle of Sisters

Me wearing a bonnet. Most of you know how much a love bonnets.

Katrina ditched work on Friday so we could go to Gateway

for shopping, lunch, and Oceans 13.

Flower Child

Last week I told my mom I'd plant flowers in her flower garden. I also had told my aunt that I'd babysit Zack. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and have Zack help me plant the flowers. Now he's only three so he was more a hindrance than a helper, but he was a cute helper. I'd ask him to bring me things and he'd reply, "Coming right up." It was hilarious. Where did he learn that phrase? Anyway, here's a few pictures of us:

The great thing about planting flowers for my mom was that I got all the extra flowers for my house. Here's me planting some pots in my backyard.

Carnival Fun

On Saturday, June 9th, my ward hosted a regional activity for YSA. Usually these are really lame, but my ward hosted a carnival - it was a big success. There was plenty to do - BBQ, concert, volleyball tournament, darts, ring toss, dunking booth, dancing, Guitar Hero, Nintendo Wii, cotton candy. Yep, pretty much everything carnivalesque. Here's a few pics:

Me & Christi

Me & Alina playing Guitar Hero. Yes, I am singing.

Me & Alina enjoying delicious cotton candy.

School's Out for Summer

I finished my last day of school on June 6th. I had been waiting for that day to come for months, but when it did, I found myself a little sad about it. That's never happened before (feeling sad about the school year ending). Although this school year started out very badly (a large part of that was not school related), it ended very well. In fact, I think this is the best school year I've ever had.

I've gotten over feeling bad about the school year ending - now I'm feeling bad about all the money I've spent in the past two days. Without a job to go to, I've been shopping. You may be asking, "What's the damage?" $700.00 - If this rate of spending keeps up, I'll have spent next year's salary before I start next year. Some of the purchases were necessary; most were not:

• Two very expensive lunches - not necessary, but fun.
• Jewelery - Not necessary, but very fashionable.
• Pedicure - Again, not necessary.
• Picture frame - Necessary. It is a gift.
• Clothes - This one's debatable. I'm going with necessary. Necessary because I bought a new skirt a few weeks ago, but didn't have anything to go with it. Now I do.
• Home decor - Not necessary at all; nevertheless, it's mine now.
• Plane ticket to Newark - Now, many of you may be saying, "Mandy, don't you already have a plane ticket to Newark this summer?" The answer is yes. I bought another one. I now fly into Newark on July 11th, back to Salt Lake on July 16th, back to Newark on July 24th, and finally, back to Salt Lake on August 8th. It is crazy, but it will be fun.
• Oil change - Very necessary; I was pretty much driving with no oil.

Have vowed to go on spending fast. Please ask me about it from time to time to ensure that I am keeping spending to a minimum.

Tee/Tea Time

Last Friday I went to the best bridal shower ever. It was for my lovely friend, Shelli, and hosted by two of the greatest party planners, Ali and Sandra. The bridal shower began with Tee Time at Mulligan's Golf Course where we hit a bucket of balls. It was loads of fun. The bad news - After a winter of inactivity, I'm really sore. The good news - After a winter of inactivity, my golf swing still looks pretty good.

After our Tee Time at Mulligan's, we had our second Tea Time at a Garden Tea Party. Cucumber sandwiches and raspberry tea - what could be better? It was an idyllic time.

Nice form.

Me and Shelli

Delicious!!

Good Friends / Good Family

Good Friend: Lesli and me at the Ballet

Good Friends: Val, me, and Alicia at T.J.'s birthday dinner

Good Family: Adam, me, and Louis

I have the best brothers ever. Obviously, they didn't want to take this picture with me, but I wanted a picture with them and since they love and adore their older sister, they cooperated. Kyle (not pictured) is also a fantastic brother. I've missed him a lot lately, even though in the past two weeks I think we've spent close to three hours on the phone.