MOVING!

I am no longer using this blog...please visit my new blog @ http://tofallintolove.blogspot.com!! I will be using my new blog to write about all sorts of things that inspire me on a daily basis...as well updating friends and family on the happenings in my life. Enjoy!

engaged to my best friend.

I am engaged! I can hardly hold back the tears and the excitement at the same time because saying those words means more than anyone could ever understand.
I fell in love three years ago, with the most amazing person I have ever met and will ever meet in my entire life. Charlie changed my life in ways I will never be able to describe in words. He is my best friend, my soulmate, and the person that God placed into my life. I knew from our very first date that we would spend eternity together. It is not very often in life that we are able to truly say something is perfect, but when I look at Charlie, I only see perfection. He has no flaws in my eyes, nothing that ever needs changing, and I know when I look at him, what love really means. As I type this, tears flowing all over the keyboard, I know that this is real and that in one year's time I get to walk down the aisle, with everyone I love watching, and marry the man of my dreams.
Last wednesday, May 20, 2009 was the happiest moment of my life. We rode in a limo to coronado and ate dinner at Peohe's, our favorite restaurant. Charlie told me that it was all to celebrate my graduation from college, because he was so proud of everything that I had accomplished. After dinner, we started walking along the boardwalk that overlooks the breath taking skyline of downtown San Diego at night. Charlie suddenly bent down, saying that he needed to tie his shoe. I turned around, and there he was, on one knee. I was in complete shock, I didn't know what to say, but at the same time I could only think of one word. Yes. Charlie talked about how the past three years have been the best years of his life, and that he thanks God everyday for bringing me into his life. I just stared into his eyes and tried so hard not to cry. The moment Charlie opened the ring box, I said Yes, cutting him off during his speech. I was so excited that I didn't even wait for him to ask me. I had been waiting for this moment for three years and I didn't want to wait any longer. With Charlie and I, it has always been about the simple things in life. We enjoy sitting at home or just being outside, with our puppy and eachother and watching movies and being young. The way that Charlie proposed could not have been any more perfect.
This is our story. I wanted to share it on here so that friends and family could possibly get a glimpse into the life and love that we are about to embark on for eternity. We want to live together in Christ and accomlish our biggest dreams and aspirations, together. We hope to travel the world, begin a non-profit organization, have a big family, and spend time with the people that we love. Forever.



Dinner, pre-engagement, at Peohe's!



Downtown skyline view, pre-engagement!



After I said YES! Obviously you can tell by the extreme excitement!

xoxo
Mandi

i have come too far.

I have come too far to stop now. I am 21 years old. I am quite possibly at the brink of endless opportunities to do with my life. I am mature, I am not a child. I have been thinking about what I want to do with my life every day and every minute since I have been old enough to read, which was pretty young. At some point I have wanted to be a dentist, an architect, a model, and a teacher. I have dreamt of finding the one opportunity that will define me and my life. But something has always gotten in the way of these dreams, I have always changed my mind. I am a christian, I was raised in the Lutheran church with my family and I believe whole heartedly in Jesus Christ and God. My own interpretation of faith has grown with age and I am at a point where my relationship with God and my faith are set in stone. We have an understanding and I put my life in his hands. I also have an agreement with the universe that it will always work itself out and my path in life will eventually come. Well it has. I have always known that my purpose here on earth was unique and I think that everyone has their own unique purpose in life. I have always had compassion, too much compassion. I have gotten my heart broken and my feelings hurt by less compassionate people over the years. But when it comes down to it, I know that helping people has been rooted in me for a very long time, but I have yet to do anything about it. Well the time has come for me to do something about it. I am going to take action and I will not waste anymore of my life dreaming about what I will do in the future, because the future in now.

All over the world, there is hate. There is hate in the form of genocide, war, abuse, poverty, rape, and abandonment. In every continent of the world there are people who need help. I want to help. I am motivated by faith, compassion, and love. I am taking this opportunity in my life to do something about it. I read the stories and watch the news about people suffering all over this world because of hate. Hate is not who we are, love is what we strive for. I am not sure what this empowerment is going to lead to. I would love to start a non-profit organization eventually that promotes education and literacy to children all over the world. But right now, there are people suffering in countries all over the world because of war. Organizations such as Invisible Children and Enough are trying to promote the fact that war and genocide are taking place in Africa, right now! Millions of people are being killed, kidnapped, and displaced because of war and hate. I will no longer sit back and do nothing. Please follow me on my journey as I decide how to spread my compassion and love throughout the world. We are all created on this earth as equal beings with unique destinies, and this is mine. I have never been so sure of anything in my life. Æ

stars.

The band STARS is literally my favorite band ever. I am such a music fanatic that stating I even have a favorite band or even a top 10 is really hard for me to stomach. But in all honesty, STARS music moves me and makes me think more than anything else, right behind Terminal and matt pond PA. It's the voices, the tones, the rhythm, the words...everything. I have every song they have ever recorded and have yet to find a song that I do not like. They are the type of band that just sort of "clicks" with my life and I hope everyone can experience finding music that can change their life. There are so many amazing musicians out there but it is really about finding the tune that leads your life and makes you think more than you have ever thought before. I listen to STARS when I am driving, when I am working out, when I am happy, and when I am sad. They hit home for me. This is what music is ultimately about. It runs through my blood and it puts a smile on my face, even a teary eyed one at the worst of times. All in all, everyone should give STARS a listen if you have already not. They really brighten up my life and they just might possibly take you on a journey you have yet to discover. Æ



http://www.arts-crafts.ca/stars/starsindex.html

love is what we strive for.

First, I am planning on updating about my 10 day trip to London and Greece very soon, but suddenly I have been compelled to write about love. This probably comes to no suprise considering I have been watching Love Actually and Notting Hill today as I recover from massive sickness and jet lag. Watching these movies and all of my beloved so-called "chick-flick" movies (I would say an award winning collection of about 35 of only the best) has always seemed to heal me in ways I never thought possible. As I delve into the reasons as to why I am so totally overwhelmed by these movies, I can only think that its because love and relationships with people are really all around us. It may never be a story on the news, it may never be the most obvious thing we think about every day; but love is probably the only true thing that exists inside of us. I think it is almost impossible for human beings to not know love.

Love is what we strive for. It completes us, it moves us, it changes us, it makes us crazy, it makes us sad, it makes us happy, it makes us scared and it is the feeling inside of us that is unbelieveably impossible to describe. It's not easy, yet, it is not hard. It defines us. The people we love are what make life worth living, without human connection and love, we fall short of what human beings were created to do. This is, of course, my personal opinion and I am sure there are loads of people that will disagree with me, but I believe without a doubt that it is love that is the driving force behind almost everyone's feelings, actions, desires and lives. This is definitely the case for me, having found the one person I never dreamed of finding at only 18 years old. I have so many people in my life rooting for me to fail, thinking they are looking out for me by warning against falling in love so young. I am not a fool, I am not runing my life, I am not settling in any way; I am doing the complete opposite, I am living a life people only dream of, wrapped up and devoting everything I have to love. It the most amazing feeling in the world, and I have a guy that loves me more than I could ever imagine. I am not afraid of putting everything I have towards loving him, because even under the worst circumstances, it is worth it. Being open to love, no matter how long it lasts, or how much it hurts, is the only truthful way to live your life. I am not an expert on love, but I know that it changed my life. I watch these movies and they are so truthful, not the stories or the characters or the drama, but the love and the relationships that people strive for, they are what define us. If the only thing I did in life, was love the people I care about, it would be worth it and my life would be fulfilled. They are the juice that is worth the squeeze.

london town.

Tomorrow morning I will be boarding a flight to London, UK to visit one of my dearest friends, Kate. I have been waiting for this trip for some time now and now that it is practically at the tip of my fingers, I am scared. Don't get me wrong, I am going to have a fabulous time and do London Town up right in all its glory. But I am scared and nervous at the prospect of entering a entirely different culture. London is quite possibly the closest culture to America in all aspects, especially when compared to say Africa, where some of my loved ones are right now; Nairobi, Kenya to be exact. When I compare the trip to their month long excursion to visit family living in Kenya, mine does not quite compare. But I realize that it is my own hesitation to fall so deeply in love with another country that I will not want to return to America. I have everything I have ever cared about in my one little bubble here in the U.S. and I am nervous that it will not add up to the greatness the rest of the world has to offer. The U.S. will always be home, but I am thinking that I might possibly fall in love with the rest of the world unknowingly. I know that this is entirely okay and I would love to travel and even live in different parts of the country someday. I am excited and scared at the same time, and thats okay with me. I am embarking on a new experience that could quite possibly change my life, or at least open my eyes a little more. This is going to be great. Æ

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."
- George Moore


Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:London_Eye_Twilight_April_2006.jpg

why.

Why is it that my tiny little fears about everything are causing me to rethink the future? I want to go to graduate school, I want to get a great job, I want to travel abroad, I want to move to a foreign country, and I want to live life without having a panic attack or anxiety because I am an introverted person. I have been thinking a lot lately about the fact that these little things do not scare me as much as the thought of missing out on great things in life does. I know that I was put here for greatness, we all were in one way or another. I think that it's the hope of this that gets me through the day. I am pretty sure the introverted part of me will never go away, but if I keep the mentality that missing out on great things in life could happen, I can make it through. It's weird to think that I have been here for 21 years now and have pretty much done nothing. If you think about it, what have I accomplished? I have so many dreams, goals, and aspirations to make the people I love and the world around me a better place. I don't need to be remembered as someone great for a million years, but I want to leave my footprint on earth, that I did everything on earth that I wanted to, that I helped every person I could, and that I lived a life I will never regret. I think that if we think about this everyday we can all be inspired to start living the life we want...Now! I know it's going to be an instant when it is too late to turn back...and I cannot live with that! Æ