Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Warm fuzzies on a dreary Spring day

I just got this Recommendation on LinkedIn from the VP of HR for Burt's Bees.
Completely unprompted!
I am honored, flattered, and a bit nostalgic for my days at The Hive:

“Mandy was an incredible inspiration to Burt's Bees Marketing as she captured the essence of the brand: natural, high quality, spunky, smart and spontaneous. Mandy was creative and insightful as she portrayed the exact public image of Burt's Bees in her communications with Burt's Bees customers.” -April 29, 2009

Awww.....

Monday, April 27, 2009

JonnyCakes on YouTube

El Gato speaks about Athens Twilight Criterium and crit squads.

New family members!

It's babytime in my family. (Of course, the SundtZano family remains anti-reproduction)
1. My sister! A baby! Due in October! Very excited to be Auntie Mandy.
I promise not to let it party until it's at least 15. I am calling it "JJ" for now, after its uncles Jay and Jonny.
2. Jonny's brother had a baby. Asher. Pic below. I need to learn who these people are if I'm to be a good daughter/sister-in-law. (I am trying, Jan...I'm trying!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

One of the best weddings ever

Our weekend trip to the Bahamas for Vika & Rafe's wedding was incredible.
Lots of maxing by the pool.

Smiling with friends. Pretending I was on Baywatch.
Looking stylish the whole time.
Oh. And did I mention that the married couple is THE HOTTEST EVER?
Gross!
(all pics by various members of the Osipenko family, BTW)
...and if you didn't figure it out already, this post is mainly about me and how awesome I look with a tan.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Last doom-and-gloom post of the year, hopefully

Our cute little Typhoon was stolen this weekend.
Assholes.
However, I feel strangely at peace after watching the conclusion of Zeitgeist.
Good stuff.

Breaks my little heart...

I know that fate will bring me back to my hometown (that I left at 150 mph in 1995). It's stuff like this that reminds me of the importance of "where you are from":
Dear Butte Falls Alumni,
I am writing you today for your help. Your high school, my high school, needs you now more than ever. We all know that right now is not a real positive time in many lives, at home, at work and at school. Financially, people everywhere are just too strapped to make it. As far as our country goes, schools are not quite a priority. So many things have changed since we all went to school. Traditions that we had are no longer. Kids now days can’t even imagine the times that we had. To be quite honest, boys don’t dress up in cheerleading outfits anymore to put on pep assemblies (that is if we have cheerleaders), spirit week has no meaning, there is no initiation, juniors have no clue what to do at prom, they don’t know what prophecies and wills are about. To me this is very sad. Somewhere we forgot to teach our kids about spirit because the world beyond the cattle guards got to busy (you can’t even mention lighting the cattle guards on fire, that’s a felony now for goodness sake). It feels like some of our own history is being lost.I now have my own child in Butte Falls High School, along with some of my fellow classmate’s children, and have had the privilege of either coaching or helping them at school. As aides at the high school we reminisce about our own past. Of course, you understand I have to let all the kids know that “yes, we did take state in football! In ‘86” and that Fred was better than Chub” (just kidding).
For many years in Butte Falls, we have had the existence of a “Booster Club” filled with many volunteers who really did make a difference and made an impact on many of our own lives, my mother and father being two of them (Sherri and Neal Ellis). We seem to be hitting bottom. Many people are too busy to donate time anymore and as I said donating money, right now is not even an option for some of us. This is where you come in. There was a time when Butte Falls threw an annual Sports Awards Banquet, do you remember? And it was a big event. Last year the Mac Field Boosters brought it back. We are hoping to do the same this year on May 29th. The way I figure it is that if every one who receives this email donates just a little bit, we could throw these kids a great sports banquet and show them what spirit is all about.
-Angie Ellis

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

There will be no blogging

this weekend. Because I will be here:
I need a Bahamavention like nobody's business.
So, I'm using Vika & Rafe's Bahamian wedding as an excuse to sit on the beach for 3 days and read magazines and perhaps a few trashy novels.
Plus, this gloomy weather is reminding me too much of college in Tacoma, and we all know what my extracurricular activities were as a result of the perpetual cloud cover...
(IE: not terribly upstanding)