Reunited...

...and it sure does feel so good.

That's right, ladies and gents.  Mandy is jumping back on the blogging bandwagon.  And it shall be glorious.  Prepare yourselves for some exciting, thrilling, exhilarating posts detailing my soon-to-be a-little-bit-more-interesting life.

I'm in love with Jesse Pinkman.

And I really shouldn't be.

Every time I watch a new episode of Breaking Bad, my heart completely shatters for Jesse.  I have a ridiculous amount of sympathy and love for his character.  And, unintentionally, I have formed this tiny, little crush on him.  Alas, there are a few unfortunate reasons why, if he were a real person, I would never, ever even consider liking him.

1. He does drugs.  That is a definite no-no in my book.  And it's not even like he does "soft" stuff like weed--no, he does crystal meth, the same meth that he cooks, which leads me to number two. 
2. He sells drugs.  Maybe I'm just a little old-fashioned, but I always imagined my future husband's career as something meaningful and creative.  A writer or maybe an architect.  I don't really want to have to drive my significant other to the hospital when he comes home after being beaten up by either his crazy drug lord boss or one of his methhead clients.
3. He's a wannabe white-boy-gangster.  Ew, Jesse, come ON.  You're totally adorable; why are you wearing those heinous baggy pants, shirts three sizes too big and chains around your neck?  Mind you, this bullet point has gotten better throughout the seasons.  But I wouldn't even have looked twice if I saw him on the street during the first season. (Does that make me shallow?)
4. He'll never get over Jane.  For those who don't know, Jane is Jesse's ex-girlfriend who OD'd.  Actually, now that I think about it, she didn't OD.  She choked on her own puke.  And died.  (And Walt watched the whole thing.)  That seriously messed up Jesse, as it should, and he went to rehab right after.  But the point is that Jesse still loves her--he always will.  
5. He's breaking bad.  Walt isn't the only person on the show who is changing to the point of no return.  Jesse has changed just as much, and that's saying a lot, since he didn't start out with the best morals or intentions.

And yet.

And yet I can't deny that he still is a good person.  Jesse has this incredible caring heart, and frankly, it's just broken.  Walt used to be the person I cared about, the person I rooted for.  But now, Jesse's struggle is one that I'm entirely invested in.  I kind of, sort of love him.

To teach or not to teach?

(Sorry, I'm currently in a Shakespeare class, and we just devoured Hamlet.)
It's a fact commonly known that I've always wanted to be a high school teacher.  While I can't ever explain it very well, I have this strange obsession with high school.  Not that I'd ever want to go back as a student.  Ew.  But I believe there's a reason why there are so many shows/movies/books that involve high school students--those four years in a person's life are pivotal.  Because when you're in high school and you make a fool of yourself or you get dumped or you deal with lame girly drama, you really do feel like the world is ending all around you.  And although years later you recognize that few things were truly important in high school, the fact that, at the time, everything was everything does not change.
So, why have I always wanted to teach high school students?  The idea that I could be a part of those years for people who are going through exactly what I went through?  The idea that I could ingrain a love of words into my students?  Utterly priceless.  (Well, not actually. I would get paid to do it. But I digress.)
(Just writing those few paragraphs makes me all giddy and excited.)
But now, for some reason unbeknownst to me, I'm questioning the fate that I created for myself.  And I'm not sure what I should do.  I made my career choice so long ago that it's like I never actually made it.  Teaching was just written down in the books for me before I popped out of my mother's womb.  Or so it seems.  I'm finally looking around, though, and I'm seeing that a plethora of choices are still available to me, and I honestly don't know how to choose.  How does one go about making huge life decisions like this?!

I need to take a page out of Rory Gilmore's book and make a pro/con list.

alternate endings for my favorite movies

(I honestly have no recollection of writing this...apparently I did in 2010.)
Never Been Kissed

Josie has been waiting for five minutes on the baseball field for Sam Coulson to come and kiss her for the (not actual) first time. The scene cuts to Coulson inside his almost empty apartment. He is actually reading the article Josie wrote with a quizzical look about him. When he finishes, he sets the paper down and begins to stroke the tiny hairs on his perfectly manly chin. Meanwhile, Josie drops the microphone she has been holding in her left hand and tears start to flow down her cheeks. She's devastated. A small puddle of salty water starts to form around her feet. A close-up on her puffy face. Then, a close-up of Coulson. Josie. Coulson. Josie. Johnny Depp. Whoa...Depp? Where did he come from? The crowd is yelling and clapping and we see Johnny Depp strut gracefully down the stairs toward Josie. He is to her now and instead of kissing her, he bends down and slurps up the puddle. Credits.

Road Trip: Friday through Monday

Daddy at Bella's restaurant in Mesquite

Bella's menu! We had stromboli!

Camera whore? And how!

Ahem...

Obsessed with this purse

Um...don't ask?

On our way to Loa, Utah!

Aunt Glenna and Uncle Heber at their 50th wedding anniversary!

What she wore on their first date...I want that dress!

What he wore!

Hahaha, Grandpa was a little sleepy.

Dad and Grandma!

Auntie Michele and I are crips together.

Hmm...mental note: that outfit looks like ketchup and mustard.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone

on the road again

Drive, check-in, eat, sleep.  Rinse and repeat.

I'm currently road-tripping it with my dad.  We've gone through Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and we're now in South Dakota visiting my brother!  I don't have lots of time to write, but prepare yourself for lots of photos in the next few weeks!

le target

Pronounced: /leɪ tɑrʒeɪ/ 
 (Go here for the pronunciation guide.  Gotta love linguistics!)

I don't know if Target is the same way for you as it is for me.  When I enter Target, I usually have absolutely no plans to buy anything.  After an hour, I leave with at least $30 worth of merchandise.  It's horrible.  For some reason, every time I go I decide I need ALL the things.
Well, on Monday I went there with my best friend, Lee.  I thought I might buy a few simple t-shirts because I was in desperate need of them.  I ended up buying three shirts (one of them is in the picture above) and that to-die-for skirt.  To my surprise and satisfaction, I unintentionally bought my first favorite summer outfit for the year!
I don't know what makes it so cute to me...the color combination?  Who knows?  But can I just say that I now want to buy that skirt in every color they have?!  Oh my, it is so comfortable and flowy.  I absolutely adore it!  I paired the shirt & skirt with a gold bird necklace from H&M and a cute white belt that I thrifted awhile ago (not the ones in the picture above).
Well, I had to say goodbye to cardigans last week...but now I'm saying HELLO! to Summer!

Have you found any cute summery clothes yet?  Leave a comment!

so long, sweet sweater

Cardigan Love by mandy-hope-godard featuring j crew cardigan

Where's the "good" in goodbye?

Over here in California, I have to say goodbye to blessed Spring and face the fact that Summer has arrived.  And with this blasted season, I also must say goodbye to my favorite thing to wear--the handy and stylish cardigan.  You know what I love about cardigans?  They turn normal, somewhat boring clothes into an automatic outfit.  They're so easy and comfortable to wear, and it's one of those things you can NEVER have too much of!  Alas, California summers come with way too much heat to wear them every day.  Sigh

Fare thee well, knitted goodness.  I shall see you in September.

morbid taxi for an adorable person

Or in other words Death Cab for Cutie!
The concert on Monday night was a spectacularly beautiful eargasm.  Of course, as always, Ben Gibbard, Chris Walla, Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr played a perfect set of songs, each one building up to the next.  But what made this concert so much better than others I've been to was the addition of the Magik*Magik Orchestra and the incredible venue known as the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  Isn't that building lovely?  It was specifically built to have unbelievable acoustics, which made the sound of the band and the orchestra that much better.  Here are a few photos of the concert as well as photos of my besty, Leanne, and I in LA!

Mmm, me right after froyo!

Lee and I in the car!

We're ready for Death Cab!

Ben said that because they were playing with an orchestra
he wants their genre to be changed to "baroque-pop."

Magik*Magik Orchestra

Delicious pineapple drink! I got a free glass, too!

And now for the video I took of them playing Transatlanticism! Gorgeous.

roses and shrimp

What a combination, eh?

Last night I had the amazing pleasure of seeing Death Cab for Cutie with the Magik*Magik Orchestra at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with my best friend, Leanne.  (Don't worry, photos/videos will be posted tonight!)  Neither of us worked or had school yesterday so we drove down to Los Angeles a little early and spent the windy, sunshine-y day at Universal City Walk.  I had never been there before, but truly, can you ever go wrong with cute little boutiques (where I wanted to buy ALL the clothes), tons of delicious places to eat and my new favorite place ever?
That's right, I might have a new obsession.
It's called Lush.
Now, I normally buy all my bath products at Bath & Body Works because I'm in love with their scents.  Also, they're surprisingly cheap, and we all know (or you do now) that Mandy loves a good deal.  (I love talking about myself in third person.)  Anywho!  The minute I entered this store:

1.  I started sneezing.
2. My nostrils were filled with such delightful scents that I knew I'd end up splurging on something. 

It wasn't the scents that made me give in, however.  The guy who was helping me--I can't remember his name...let's call him Tony--showed me their shower scrubs, and I instantly fell in love.  (I totally wanted to buy a bath melt.  Alas, I don't have a bathtub.)

Tony lathered up my arm in this creamy mixture that smelled like roses after rain, and I (awkwardly) couldn't stop smelling my arm.  Or touching it, for that matter.  My skin was incredibly soft for the rest of the day.  The lovely thing about this body scrub is that my skin is so smooth after using it that it basically works as lotion, too! Epic.
After spending at least a half hour (and a little over $30) there, Lee and I suddenly felt famished.  I mean, the only thing I had eaten that day was froyo...I needed sustenance!  It was a toss-up between the Hard Rock Cafe or Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.  My love for shrimp and the movie Forrest Gump totally won.  I had a delicious pineapple drink and the shrimp po' boy...oh goodness, just thinking about it is making my mouth water.  I can't even tell you why but lately I've had this craving for shrimp.  I seriously want it all the time.  Like right now.
Despite spending almost half my checking account, I'd consider the first day of the week an epic success!  I'll upload pictures most likely tonight.  I can't wait to tell you all about the concert!

Mandy

cancer or no cancer

And the answer is....

NO CANCER!

What a shocker.  A Nick Spark's book/movie without someone dying of cancer.  However, The Lucky One did include the following usual aspects:

• The girl (let's call her Buttface) immediately dislikes the boy (let's call him Sexy) despite his sexiness. 
• Just kidding, Buttface falls in love with Sexy pretty fast.  
• Hot, hot, hot sexy time.  (Or in some cases, a fairly innocent kiss during a high school theatre performance.)
• Oh snap, something happens so Buttface and Sexy don't speak for awhile (i.e. he realizes he's poor and she's rich, she finds out that he's sort of a stalker, she has cancer and he freaks out about it).
• Someone dies.
• A kind of/sort of happy ending.

And there you have it.  Now, you have a detailed outline of how to write a harlequin romance.  If you want, you can add some cancer.  A little bit of cancer can't hurt!

hear it.

So, my best friend, Isabella, and I have this thing (which I've slowly integrated into my relationships with my other best friends).  Let me tell you what it is.
We both have something that we need to hear everyday.  It's a phrase or a paragraph that gives us hope or happiness, and in order to function semi-normally, we need to hear it.  Mine is that I'm her best friend.  I constantly need reassurance that my best friends love me.  Isabella needs to hear that she's beautiful and just all around amazing.  And we totally switch off sometimes, because truthfully, there are a lot of things we need to hear. Almost every time we see each other, we just say these things...it's become a sort of inside joke, but we completely mean whatever we say.
And I can't even tell you how nice it is!
You have that something, too.  What is it?  What is the one thing that you need to hear everyday to keep you going?  Find out what it is, and get someone to say it to you.  I'll say it to you, if you want.  Because I know how important it is to hear it.

the ways in which I suck

1. School: Kate and I had two mottos this quarter: apathy and "Cs get degrees!" We had two classes together, which we missed on numerous occasions. We were both anticipating the end of the quarter, and now that it's here, we both can breathe a little easier. Scratch that last; no breathing until we've received our grades. Yikes.
2. Blogging: My mom has been getting on my case lately because I haven't been blogging. I've missed you, blogspot! I'm sorry I left you for so long. I promise--I'll try to write as often as I can during Spring break and during next quarter. Oh, and they'll actually be interesting posts. About fun things. And food.
3. Eating healthy food: Let's be honest, I've always sucked at this one.
4. Keeping a budget: I don't think I can suck at this one, technically, because I've never done it. But last week when my checking account was depleted to -$7.25, it sort of made me realize that I need to be careful with my moola.
   
5. Photographing: Can that be used as a verb? (Mom?) Anyway, I have a nice camera and a cute little plastic one, and I need to take more pictures AND actually post them.
   
6. Being cool: Just kidding, I don't suck at that.
   

love and stuff.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

I'm sick and tired of people claiming that today, Valentine's Day, is a made-up holiday by card companies, florists and See's Candy. What is so wrong about showing a little extra love on a mundane Tuesday? Does anyone remember the good ol' days of elementary school where everyone got a valentine from everyone? It's like...people are so focused on being loved or whining about love on Valentine's Day that they forget to love.

To quote Pogo, who is actually quoting the movie Carry On, Cruising, "Go out and love someone."

And stop complaining.

Neww Hurrr