31 Days of Thankful, Day 30
I’ve been waiting for the right picture to go with this post, which I’ve wanted to put up pretty much all month, and I still don’t think this is necessarily the right picture for it (I was thinking of trying to put up a picture of my whole makeup kit, but didn’t feel like taking it all out and setting it up for a picture), but this will definitely do!
I am thankful for makeup! Not only do I like what it does to my face, but I LOVE being a makeup artist! So much fun!
Also, all this time I have been whining about the need for a ginger in my port, and I forgot that I actually have two… But I still want to add to that, and still plan to! The picture above is of a model named Nicole, and when she contacted me about doing another shoot together, the first thing I thought was “DUH!” and then of course, I was excited about shooting with her again. And then, I remembered another ginger from my port. Silly!
Also…
Woohoo! I have a shoot tomorrow (as a makeup artist). I am very excited, as I’ve had difficulties lately fitting shoots into my crazy schedule with teaching and grad school.
So yay! It is with a model and two photographers that I have never heard of, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m excited! What a great way to end an amazing year!
xoxo,
Mandie
P.S. Maybe at tomorrow’s shoot I can take a picture of my makeup kit in its entirety. Yikes!
P.P.S. Credits for the picture above are as follows:
Model: Nicole Feltz
Clothing Designer: Tena Her
Hair: Mari Bowring
Photographer: David Gruentzel
31 Days of Thankful, Day 29
Today, I am thankful for LOVE!
I just left the house for a little bit to see my friend Nicole who is in town from Denver with her fiance. They are so cute together! It is so nice to see two people in love, especially since I’ve known Nicole for a long time, and seen the long journey she’s taken to Paul! It was also wonderful to get tons of hugs from Nicole… And they were good hugs… Long hugs, with heart behind them. Not awkward hugs with pats on the back, but nice squeezes. Oh, and I can’t wait to go to their wedding in October in Jamaica! Jamaica is pretty beautiful to think about during a Wisconsin Winter!
I also can’t help but think about how while I was sick last night, Tommy stayed with me on the couch, which is L-shaped. At some point in the middle of the night, I kicked him in the head, which woke him up. Instead of being mad or crabby like I would’ve been, he gave me a big, gorgeous smile and asked me if I needed anything.
*Sigh*
I know it comes in tons of forms, and I know that I get tons of it from many directions… I am so lucky!
So today and every day, I am thankful for love!
xoxo,
Mandie
31 days of thankful, Day 28 (sorta late)
Remember how on Monday, my dearest Tommy had food poisoning?
Well, the theory was that it wasn’t food poisoning, because if it was s stomach flu, I’d be sick too, since we’re always together & we kiss & stuff.
Well, apparently sharing is caring, because now I’m sick!
SO,
even though it is quite redundant, as I have been thankful for being physically ok a few times, I am going to be thankful that I don’t always feel like I do this evening/now morning, which is horrific. I haven’t been sick like this in a LONG time, and I can’t wait for it to be over, and something that doesn’t happen again for YEARS!
xoxo,
Mandie
31 Days of Thankful, Day 27 (on time!!!)
Today, I am thankful for my tattoo. Yes, it is currently my only one (ideas for #2 are currently swimming in my head), and yes, it is eentsy-beentsy, but it has TONS of meaning for me.
It is the Chinese character for “courage.” This may seem cliche, because I know that for a while, everyone was going the whole “Asian characters” route, but judge if you want, I love it.
First, I will explain the reason behind the symbol itself… When I was in college, there was (perhaps still is) a store called Scoshi in Madison on State St. They always had really cool stuff (clothes & jewelry), and it was my goal to buy something from there before I graduated (it was out of my price range). Finally, I did it. I bought this pair of Me & Ro earrings (yes, I may someday have to get the matching pendant and/or bracelet, but that will be another time!). I have worn these earrings almost every day since, and don’t see that changing anytime soon. I love them! So, (and the rest of this blog will explain it a little better), when it came time for a tattoo, the courage symbol was a natural choice.
Anyway, my senior year of college (fourth, even though I was there for five), I broke my foot while riding my Barbie Doll Pink 1988 Yamaha Razz moped (damn, I miss that thing!), only a month before I was scheduled for foot surgery on that foot, and a few weeks before the end of Spring Semester.
This means that I had to walk on crutches for several months in a row - first for the broken foot, then for the foot surgery (followed about six months later with a surgery on the other foot). During the time I was on crutches, I realized that I really took a lot for granted. I was no longer to do simple things, like my own laundry, grocery shopping by myself, carrying a glass of water across a room, etc. I had never recognized how much freedom comes with the ability to walk unassisted.
My stepmom’s brother is a quadriplegic as a result of a motorcycle accident. I am sure that he and people like him are even more aware of how lucky we are to be able to walk.
While on crutches, I obviously wasn’t able to take my moped to class. So, I had to use the free bus passes they gave us UW-Madison students to get to and from class. Normally, I kept it in a holder with my student ID, but for some reason, my ID wasn’t there one particular day. The bus passes say on them that you need to show them with ID, but no one ever asked for it before. On this particular day, which was also rainy, they did, and since I didn’t have it, they wouldn’t let me on the bus. I had already “crutched” two blocks to the bus stop, and since the bus comes every seven or so minutes, I figured I would just wait for the second bus and hope for the best. The best did not happen - the second bus didn’t let me on either. I continued to wait, and the third bus driver let me on without asking for my ID.
Now I know they were just doing their jobs, but who doesn’t let a girl on crutches on the bus and leaves her standing in the rain!? I had a bus pass, just didn’t have my ID with me. I was irate. I vowed to never take the Madison bus again (and I didn’t… for awhile). I know it is stupid and stubborn. I know that I did not “show” the Madison transit authority anything. But I crutched a couple miles home from class that day, in the rain. (I told you it was stupid).
Even though it was dumb and pigheaded, I don’t think I ever felt stronger in my life. During the “walk” home, I had a lot of time to think, and I thought about how I didn’t want to forget how strong I felt, and how I didn’t want to ever take the ability to walk for granted again. I decided on that walk that I wanted to get a tattoo to remind myself of how lucky I am to be able to walk.
So I did. Right on the left foot that was broken, and right next to the fresh scar from the surgery.
Does it work? Not always. Of course I still take things for granted, but at least I sometimes get the reminder!
So today I am thankful for my tattoo, which reminds me that I am thankful for my ability to walk.
xoxo,
Mandie
P.S. Please ignore that I tried to make the picture look more exciting than an ugly foot, and ignore that my big toenail is still all jacked up - it’s growing back after falling off during my 3-day, 60-mile walk to fight breast cancer.
P.P.S. Sorry that was so long!
31 Days of Thankful, Day 26 (A day late… Again!)
Last night, Tommy and I came back from celebrating Christmas with his family, because I was supposed to do a promo (but it was canceled at the last minute). With our new time off, we decided to go out and enjoy a Sunday Funday. And fun it was! (And yes, Jack Roman, I am thankful for JoCat’s!)
Unfortunately, we ate at weird places all day (and all around the Midwest, practically), so now instead of going to the museum like we had planned, to see the Frogs exhibit (maybe Friday, instead), we haven’t left the house.
So, I have been in bed with my Macbook (soon to possibly be replaced by a real book) all day. Not because I’m sick, or necessarily tired, but because I can! I might go work out, and I will definitely be leaving at some point to get Tommy some Gatorade, but I am thankful for the fact that since I am a teacher, I have a great vacation schedule - about ten days around Christmas time, and then Spring break, Summer vacation of course, and the random other days we get off.
I mean, it would be pretty nice to be able to take two weeks off whenever I want, but since I can’t, I am thankful for the pre-scheduled vacation times. =)
So, despite our new superintendant’s glaring typographical error, I guess today I am grateful for my vacation days.
xoxo,
Mandie
31 Days of Thankful, Day 25 (a day late)
Yesterday, I was thankful for my family situation. This is not the same as the first post, when I was thankful for my family, but is a little different.
I don’t know what is considered “normal” anymore, but when I was growing up, my family situation definitely could not be described as normal. My parents are divorced, and both have re-married. Outside of that, there was a lot of crazy stuff, too.
No, of course not all of it was ideal. There was some pretty messed up stuff that I went through.
However, I don’t think that many people would describe their childhoods as ideal, and I know that it could’ve been WAY worse.
All of the rough stuff that I went through as a child made me who I am today, and I am pretty proud of that person. They say that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” and that is definitely true. I wouldn’t be as independent or as tough as I am if I had an “ideal childhood.”
Another benefit is that there are more people to love… Especially on holidays! Both for Thanksgiving and for Christmas, Tommy and I got to have three feasts - one with my dad’s side, one with my mom’s and one with his family (who is awesome, which is why I put their picture in!).
I am so lucky. =)
xoxo,
Mandie
31 Days of Thankful, Day 24
To me, it is not late, because it’s still Thursday to me because I haven’t gone to bed yet! Oh, you didn’t know the world revolves around me? For shame!
Totally kidding.
Anyway, I am going to try to make this as short and as sweet as I possibly can, but I am not sure how that will go.
Today, I am thankful for days that I don’t have time for Tumblr.
At first I felt guilty that so often, these “31 Days of Thankful” posts were coming a day late, because I felt like it made me seem irresponsible, or showed that I lacked focus, or even somehow made me seem less grateful, but these things couldn’t be further from the truth. As some sort of Christmas gift to me, I found a new perspective.
Until about five minutes ago, I was wrapping presents. Last minute, yes, but that’s how I do things. Right before that, I was making Tommy his Christmas present (more on that later, though not in this blog), which was clearly also last minute…
And I thought about it a minute.
Today, I didn’t have time for Tumblr, and it wasn’t the first time.
But every time I didn’t have time for Tumblr, something else (something for which I should be and am thankful!) was what was stopping me.
Whether it was spending time with family and/or friends…
Buying or wrapping or giving gifts…
Being at school (either as a teacher or a grad student)…
Or really anything else, something amazing was going on in my life.
Cheesy, yes, but gratifying as well.
In case you haven’t noticed over the last few weeks, I am a severely lucky lady.
And I feel like this is the most poorly-written blog entry ever (it sounded better in my head!), but I am also a very tired lady! And my brothers are going to wake me up soon to tell me that Santa was here, so I better go to sleep!
I am so thankful for everything!
xoxo,
Mandie
P.S. I’d say “Merry Christmas!” but as you remember, it’s still Christmas Eve right now for me! ;oP
31 Days of Thankful, Day 23
Today I am thankful for a couple things…
First of all (in no particular order), I am thankful for chocolate. I just had a turtle for dessert, and it was divine. Chocolate really can change my mood from bad to good, good to great, etc! The picture above (a delayed #GPOYW?) is a picture of me enjoying a piece of chocolate… Well, I guess “enjoying” is being used pretty liberally here, since the photographer asked me to smear it on my face!
Secondly, I thankful for positive thinking… I am letting holiday shopping stress get to me (since I had nine credits of grad school this semester while working full time, I didn’t get the early start I usually get), and now, of course, is last-minute crunch time.
I was all crabby about it, and of course Tommy was all positive about it. Fortunately, his positive attitude prevailed (as it usually does), and I’m excited again!
Between chocolate, positivity, and the adult hot chocolate I intend to drink while eating ice cream after my promo tonight, I have much for with to be thankful!
xoxo,
Mandie
31 Days of Thankful, Day 22 (a day late again)
How am I still a day behind? I didn’t have time in the evening last night like I thought I did, I guess!
Well, anyway, a while back, my sister asked me to come in and speak to her Applied Communications class about my jobs, and yesterday was the day I came in and talked.
It’s funny, because I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time stopping and looking at the big picture sometimes. I am very detail-oriented, and it’s very easy for me to get caught up in the details of life and lose sight of what is really going on.
It’s not until I’m asked to make a power point presentation about my life as an Immersion teacher, model, and makeup artist that I realize that I am lucky to be employed, and have some pretty sweet jobs…
So today’s day of gratitude is dedicated to my pretty awesome jobs - both seen through my eyes, and through the eyes of the high school students who seemed pretty interested when I was talking yesterday.
xoxo,
Mandie
31 Days of Thankful, Day 21
SWEET BERRY WINE!
Ok, not specifically sweet berry wine, but wine in general is what I am thankful for… And for this video, which I have always found hilarious.
Yes, I am a day late… Yesterday was another day on which I never touched my computer. I will post today’s gratitude post later in the day.
But for now, enjoy the video!
xoxo,
Mandie
