Mandi's 100

Okay, so I loved reading Amy's & Andee's 100 things about them list, and am still waiting to read JoDee's. It's so fun to think you know someone so well, especially your sister, but you're still surprised by some of the things they write down. So I insisted that Mandi write a "100 Things About Me" as well. Because she doesn't have a blog of her own I've decided to publish it on my own. So here it is, it was a lot of fun to read, she made me laugh and almost made me cry as well. Hope you all enjoy it, she's such a sweet, eternally good soul and you can see it a mile away! Love ya Mandi!

(That's Mandi pregnant with Savannah her oldest daughter, and holding Talin)

1. I want to (will some day) learn how to play the piano
2. I could talk all day about my children, if anyone would listen.
3. I served a mission in the Chile Santiago South Mission.
4. I knew that I was going to Santiago before I received my mission call (thanks to a very special spiritual experience)
5. I received my mission call on my 21st birthday, at 3 AM in a Catholic confession booth turned phone booth in a youth hostile in Dublin, Ireland after a night of dancing at Bono’s (from U2) dance club, The Kitchen, located behind and under his hotel, The Clarence.
6. I love U2
7. I had the best 21st birthday of anyone I know!
8. Nate and I went to the U2 Vertigo concert almost 2 years ago while my mom took care of our kids and London screamed the whole time until she fell asleep, exhausted.
9. Nate knew I’d never seen U2 in concert and so was determined to get the oh-so-difficult-to-obtain tickets for us – what a sweet boy!
10. I was always disappointed that I wasn’t very fond of my mission president because I’ve heard so many people rant and rave about theirs. I wanted that amazing president who says life-changing things every time he opened his mouth. Didn’t happen.
11. My husband, Nate, served in the same country, but different mission – no, we didn’t meet in Chile! We’d like to go back there someday though.
12. I actually have seen more touristy places and landmarks in his mission than mine because my family came to pick me up and we couldn’t visit people in my mission, so we headed south and saw his.
13. It was supposed to be a surprise that my whole family (except lovesick Tyler) was coming to pick me up, but my mission president sent me the flight info along with the letter that my mom sent him, asking him to keep it a secret.
14. The day after we got back from Chile, Tyler got married – I was grateful they waited for me even though I didn’t know Regina.
15. I can’t wait to go on a mission with Nate someday!
16. I got a scholarship to BYU out of high school.
17. I left BYU to get married to Nate and am currently finishing my final 25 hours though they’re independent studies online.
18. I am a humanities major, turned history due to lack of online programs.
19. I love history and humanities – I love the way humanities teaches you how the history came to be, what affected it – the art, architecture, literature, philosophies, religion, wars, music, etc.
20. I believe that you haven’t truly seen a Van Gogh until you have seen one in person - the passion in the paint is intoxicating.
21. I love London.
22. I named my second daughter London.
23. I went to BYU London right before my mission and loved every minute of it.
24. I have always loved English history, something my mother ingrained in me.
25. Henry VIII and his daughter, Elizabeth, have always fascinated me and I’ve read many fiction and nonfiction books about them.
26. I love the Undergound in London – circle line is the best.
27. In England, I attended a ward in Whitechapel – that’s where Jack the Ripper stalked women.
28. I had two mission farewells: one in London and one in Mesa, AZ
29. I still listen to Spanish music – Shakira, Cheyanne, Ricky Martin, etc.
30. My daughter, Savannah’s favorite song is a Shakira song & London’s favorite song is U2’s Vertigo and she asks to hear it constantly – what am I raising???
31. I rented a car in London & spent a Thanksgiving weekend driving around Cornwall with friends. Driving in London traffic on their HUGE highway in the rain, on the wrong side of the road, worrying about running out of gas and about getting the car back in time is NOT fun!
32. I try to be very organized and put together.
33. I annoy myself at how anal I can get – I have to do things a certain way or else I go crazy – all inside my head, of course.
34. I love going to plays.
35. I love plays in London because each one has their own theatre and the theatres are small and cozy so you feel more a part of the play.
36. My last few days in London, I went and saw Les Miserables for the second time in London and cried.
37. I have Amy to thank for how I met my husband – they were ward missionaries together in the singles ward and I went to hear her teach a lesson and sat next to him.
38. Nate went home the first day he met me and told his mom he’d met the girl he was going to marry.
39. It was true.
40. I surprised everyone that knows me a year and a half ago when I started selling Pampered Chef.
41. I think I shocked them even more when I actually kept to it and am still doing it (I am the least entrepreneurial person I know).
42. Wow, I thought I was making up a word on that last one, but spell check didn’t highlight it – go me!
43. I married the most business-success-oriented person I’ve ever met.
44. I like to clean my house – I like the satisfaction of “accomplishing”
45. I get very cranky if my house is a mess for too long – more than a day.
46. I like to make lists and check things off – I’ve even sometimes added things I’ve already done just so I can check them off and feel like I’ve accomplished more – pathetic, I know, but like I said before, I’m pretty anal.
47. I love to cook new things and old favorites.
48. I don’t particularly love food, but we are getting along better as the years pass.
49. I like to work-out – Step and weight lifting are my favorites.
50. I wish I lived by Megan so we could work out together like the old days.
51. I really love children – not just mine, but my nieces and nephews too.
52. I have the cutest kids and nieces & nephews that I’ve ever seen!
53. I write in a journal for each of my girls, but don’t write in my own, what’s up with that?
54. I enjoy doing genealogy and have recently started on the never-ending task – WARNING – all genealogy tasks are never-ending in case you’re thinking of starting one – there’s always something more to do.
55. I want perfect teeth.
56. I love to read and like Amy said in her list, I love when the book envelops you and you become a part of the book for the time you are reading it and then it lingers on you for days afterwards. Those are the good ones.
57. I love the Harry Potter books – the movies are nothing compared to the books and the books get better and better – darker and darker. The first two were more children’s books, but the others get more adult and draw you into a whole other world.
58. My husband and I are complete opposites in many areas, but the same on the areas of life that really matter. This makes our life more interesting!
59. Nate has introduced me to more new things that, previously, I would have shunned. Example: I actually like the Arnold Schwarzenegger cult classic documentary “Pumping Iron” which I never would have watched in a million years had it not been for my Nathan.
60. I love my family and am very loyal to them (siblings).
61. There’s nothing I like better than to get together and play cards with my siblings.
62. I don’t do well playing cards when I am pregnant. One time I had a package of Nibs (licorice) while playing a girls card game and ended up crying uncontrollably because Megan kept eating them and I was worried she’d eat them all! Hormones.
63. I don’t remember my childhood very well. There are few stories I remember.
64. I love to ride horses and miss it very much. I love when you get them out of the gallop stage and into the true running – where it’s smooth and fast – it’s very exhilarating.
65. A boy broke my leg in kindergarten by running by me (he ran with his legs out to the side) & kicking me. Nobody believed me, but it was broken through the whole bone.
66. I still remember that that boy was a pumpkin for Halloween. I don’t know why that has stuck with me.
67. I burned my butt on a slide at school once too. I don’t remember how old I was, but I do remember staying home with Megan and I couldn’t wear panties b/c the skin would stick to them. We sat down and played on the driveway for a while and when I got up, there was skin on the concrete. Gross!
68. I also remember that when I was gone, the school announced that “someone” had burned their bum to warn the children to be careful and Tyler told all his friends that it was me and I was mortified because the whole school knew when I came back.
69. I remember the day the Challenger exploded. My class was in the library at Sandpiper Elementary, Scottsdale, AZ, watching the launch. I will never forget that day.
70. I didn’t plan anything for my wedding – I was at BYU and let my mom do the whole thing, except when JoDee came to Provo and helped me find a wedding dress – that was fun.
71. I love BYU Campus - I love the Fall leaves on all the trees and then the Spring when everyone is out studying on the grass. I even love the testing center . . . beautiful architecture!
72. I had horrible luck with roomies in college – drugs, sex, lesbians, fornicators, etc. if that gives you a good picture. Luckily my room roommate was great. Chevy saved me at that time, even though she was a bit eccentric herself.
73. I eventually got good roomies – oh the good times. . .
74. I want to travel all over the world someday with Nate. I love seeing new places and cultures.
75. I love the Rosa Maria chicken at Carrabbas.
76. I like to be alone and have my own time.
77. I am addicted to renting whole seasons of tv shows and watching them quickly – much less stress when you can pop in the next dvd instead of dragging it out over 9 months! I’ve done this with two seasons of 24 and Lost.
78. I guess I need to get dvr, but then I’d be addicted to everything and I don’t want to be that tied down.
79. I love President Hinckley and actually got to see him “command the elements” so to speak. In Chile, he visited the people in an open soccer arena w/o a roof. The whole day was dreary and it looked like we’d get soaked while we listened or have to cancel the whole thing. The weather held and after the closing prayer, he hopped up and quickly said “Now it can rain.” Immediately the rain started as if it had been waiting for his word. He could move a mountain if he wanted/needed to. Amazing.
80. I received my strong confirmation of my testimony of Joseph Smith in the MTC – amazingly enough, I later read that it was the same way Pres. Hinckley received his – through a stirring performance of the song “Praise to the Man.” It was just a bunch of 19-21 year olds singing, but I couldn’t control the emotions I felt inside.
81. My “dream cars” would be a Toyota Sequoia and a Chrysler 300, but both are out of my price range right now. . .
82. My dream cars are a lot more attainable than Nathan’s Ferrari Spider!
83. The day I got married, they stuck Nate and I in this tiny sealing room to wait and we just sat there and I wasn’t nervous at all – I felt completely at peace and happy and I knew I had made the right choice.
84. We almost got married w/o him taking me through the veil. The workers didn’t know I’d been endowed a few years and it was overlooked. I guess our family had to wait a little longer in that sealing room.
85. I don’t have a favorite color – I like all of them at different times for different purposes.
86. I’m not a decision-maker – maybe that’s why I can’t commit to a favorite color. Nate gets frustrated that he always has to choose where we go for dinner.
87. I hate calling & talking on the phone (except with my sisters) and avoid it whenever possible. I will procrastinate forever.
88. I love being pregnant.
89. I have spent the night on St. Michaels Mount in Cornwall – there’s only a castle on the island and only the grounds workers & tour guides live there in cute little houses (we stayed with a tour guide who was a member of the church). That is where the movie Twelfth Night was filmed & they were all too happy to show us all the things in their house from the movie.
90. I have hairless armpits & legs forever (thanks to lasers & Amy babysitting my children). I LOVE IT!!!!
91. I once broke my arm because Amy & I were play fighting by kicking each other and she kicked my arm. It broke.
92. I have never wanted to go snow skiing because I’m afraid I’ll break my body.
93. I wore glasses my whole life for a lazy eye and in high school just decided to take them off and I’ve never worn them since. Megan thinks it’s my own personal miracle. Maybe it is.
94. My eyeballs have been out of my head. Seriously. When I was 3 months and 3 years old (I think), I had surgeries on my eyes and they had to take them out of the sockets to work.
95. When I was young, the doctors told my mom I had leukemia and wouldn’t live.
96. Turns out it was a bone infection. I have a dent in my right thigh to remind me because that’s where they put the IV for the meds and apparently scarred me for life.
97. I hate westerns (except Lonesome Dove) – that’s one thing Nate loves that he hasn’t converted me to & never will.
98. I (like Kelly) have to put lotion on my feet every night before getting into bed.
99. In high school in Denver, people used to ask my little sister, Megan, and I for drugs because we were so silly together in our racquetball class. We never won because we were doubled over the whole time laughing – must be why we were so skinny back then – lots of stomach workouts!
100. I have fainted in numerous public places including: the YMCA during a step class, the dressing room of the Gap and in a line at Elitches Amusement Park – all back in the day in Denver with my trusty little sister, Megan, there to catch me!