Disneyland!

I am going to keep this short and sweet since I have already typed quite a lot over the past 2 days...not to mention Disneyland doesn't need much explanation. So below are some pictures and quick blurbs from the glorious trip to Disneyland with my mom, sister and cousin.
We rode the following rides/Saw the following attractions:
-Snow White
-Peter Pan
-Little Mermaid
-Toads Wild Ride
-Alice in Wonmderland
-Thunder Mountain
-Toy Story Midway Mania (5 times)
-Soaring over California
-Tower of Terror
-Haunted Mansion
-Pirates of the Carribean
-Indiana Jones
-Monsters Inc.
-Small World
-Captain EO
-Main Street Parade
-TRON
-World of Color
-Fireworks
-Mickey Mouse Pretzels with Cheese
-Aunt Selmas Cookies
-Corn Dogs
-Lots of Diet Coke
-Even more water
-Giant Pickle
-Apple Chips
-Milk Chocolate Fudge
-Tommorowland Breakfast
It is safe to say that we kicked some serious Disney tooshy and had a wonderful time!

I'm not so good at saying goodbye...

After completing my final day of Hospital Outreach on Monday June 13th I spent the rest of the week with the wonderful Vargas family, which I consider my family. The kids are my neices and nephews and Heather is like a sister to me so saying goodbye to this family was more than difficult to say the least. From June 10-15 or so they were at The Painted Turtle for the first session of the summer (Liver,PIDD and TPN) because Jorge is a pediatric gastroenterologist and volunteers his time to spend a week at camp so that we are able to provide medical care to our campers if they need it. Because he gives his week to volunteer in the Well Shell (on-site hospital) he is able to bring his family. The 3 older kids were able to be apart of the entire camp experience because they were able to be in the cabins with the other kids since their was space available. So needless to say the 3 older kids were in heaven. The younger ones stayed with their mom and were still able to enjoy all the fun that camp has to offer, but just under the supervision of their mama. Well while they were at camp I was in charge of taking care of the Vargas family menagerie which includes 2 dogs, 1 beta fish, 1 guinea pig and 1 bird. I was a busy gal, but I really enjoyed hanging out with the little critters and it is always nice to hang out in a house that feels like home and has more space then my wee little apartment.
They got back home on the 15th and they were kind enough to let my stay my last 2 nights living in Los Angeles at their house since I had already moved out of my apartment and didn't want to spend anymore money on rent. We had a very fun 2 days with eachother and tried to accomplish as much as possible and basically just spend time together since it would be quite a while until we saw eachother again...boohoo. Although I was very sad to be leaving camp, California and all of my friends that I have made I was most upset about leaving the Vargas family. As I have said they are more than just my friends...they are my family and I love them with all my heart and will miss them like crazy. On our very last day together we went to a yummy dinner at CPK where we just chatted, caught up and the kids taped little videos saying goodbye so that I could always remember them. We also took some snappers so that I could have some recent pics of me with the kids so that I could look at them as often as I wanted so that I could feel like I was still with them. Although it will be hard not having the ability to just stop on by the Vargas house whenever I want I am excited that when I visit them I will once again be a house guest and I will be able to spend all day and all night with the fam. We will have a grand time. I know that I will be visiting them as much as possible as well as some other families that are also dear to my heart.




Another friend that I was so lucky to see before I left was my sweet little friend Grace and her glorious mom Clare. I met them while Outposting at UCLA and the 3 of us immediately hit it off. Miss Grace and I became fast friends and she and I ended up having quite a bit in common, therefore we were able to chit chat about our experiences and share stories. They were very kind and invited me over to their wonderful home to just hang out and say goodbye before I left for Oregon. It was a beautiful day and we just hung outside by the pool and Clare and I were able to chat and catch up while Grace and her brother and brothers frined were able to enjoy themselves in the pool. It was a very fun day. Below is a picture of me and Gracie Girl. I feel so blessed that I was able to meet this family and also become friends with them. I look forward to visiting them when I come to California for a visit hopefully in the nearish future.

Back to my last day with the Vargas Family: After we ate at CPK and said our very tear filled goodbyes we took a few pictures with me and the kids, which I love very much, and I find myself looking at them a few times each day.


So my glorious Vargas family...this is definitely not goodbye, but rather See you later because goodness knows that I will be visiting soon and will ALWAYS consider all of you as my family. I will never be able to thank you enough for the unconditional love, support and kindness that you have shown me over the past 5 years. I expect you to visit me in Oregon, and I am excited to come back soon and visit all of you so we can just start where we left off. As you know (since I have said it millions of time) I love you all very much and have cherished every second that I got to spend with you.
xoxo
auntie mandy

Final Outpost Hurrah!

Well the day has come and gone...my last day as the Hospital Outreach Coordinator has passed as fast as lightening and after thiis weekend I am on my way back to Oregon with my mom, sister and cousin. My last Outpost visit was on Monday the 13th and was held at Shriners Hospital for Children. During those 2.5 hours my volunteers and I were able to serve 20+ kids as well as their family members through crafts, bean bag toss, fishing and one heck of a BINGO game. We all had a very fun time, and it was exciting to see the looks on the kids faces when they heard what we were there for. Although gathering volunteers can be a bit tricky for Hospital Outreach I was very fortunate to have 4 lovely ladies assisting me. The first was the awesome Hospital Outreach Manager Jessica who pretty much just rocks at whatever she does, then I had the marvelous Misha who is just a natural with kids and was actually my superstar helper last summer (she literally signed up to volunteer at EVERY Outpost visit), next I had the wonderful Evelyn who actually works with our development team, but is a very loved Outpost volunteer due to the fact that she is wonderful with kids and teens, and bonus; she speaks Spanish! Last but not least I had my totally bitchin volunteer Ann who also works for The Painted Turtle in the Santa Monica office with program and development. So as you can see I was stacked with the perfect group of volunteers for my final outpost hurrah!
The day was very bittersweet, and although I felt bummed that it was my last visit as the Hospital Outreach Coordinator, I also had a sense of relief when it was over just because I am looking forward to spending my first summer home since 2004 and I am also hoping that by cutting down on work and getting the rest/care I need I will be back to my old healthier self in no time. I am very much looking forward to sleeping in until my body naturally wakes up, starting up some exercise that doesn’t hurt my joints too much, helping my mom and dad with little things around the house, and spending some well overdue time with my friends and especially family. So needless to say it will be a busy summer, but a fun one if you ask me.
Below are some things that I am going to miss about Outpost as well as some crazy memories that I have gathered over these years:
• Holding and snuggling babies…you try and resist holding a little peanut that is laying or sitting alone in a crib.
• Seeing the look on the kids’ faces while I am talking to them about camp or the activities we have to do today.
• Being able to chat with kids/teens that were recently diagnosed with Crohn’s or Lupus and just being able to be a resource for them during this very confusing and overwhelming time.
• Seeing a teenager start out very uninterested and standoffish in the playroom with our activities, then seeing them after about 15 minutes completely engaged and enjoying what we have to offer with a big smile on their face.
lives on a more regular basis through camp, bedside visits, and camp in a box—I was able to make some great friendships.
• Having separate requests from kids and families to visit them in their room while they are in isolation. Once we arrive they would often request that we sing songs at their bedside and they would immediately light up right when we would start singing their favorite camp song.

Now I realize that I have a lot more glorious memories from Outpost and and camp in general from the past 6+ years, but I just don't have the time to write them all. I would need to dedicate a full week just for the first summer. Ah well such is life.

Pictures as Promised

Phew I was able to get some of the photos from my ipod/computer from my glorious weekend at home...here they are:

Oregon visit!

Well I just made it back to Los Angeles this evening after spending 5 glorious days in good ole' Salem and Portland Oregon. I planned this trip home before I knew I was moving back to Oregon so it came at a rather busy time to say he least. Nonetheless I had a great visit and I'm so thankful that I was able to home for cousin Claire's 22nd birthday and her bachelorette party!

I arrived in Portland late Wednesday night (11:00pm or so) and my ever so kind mom and sister Missy agreed to pick me up so I would home for Claire's birthday on Thursday. My poor mom was exhausted, Missy was pretty wired and I was just happy and excited to be home and see my family. After a rather short but restful nights sleep in my house my mom and I met my dad and uncle Greg for a yummy lunch at lum yens...I hadn't had Chinese food in a very long time so it tasted delicious. Later that afternoon Claire and her fiancé Mitch picked me up and we picked up our cousin Emily and made our way over to one if our favorite restaurants-La Hacienda...mmm. Also there was her brother Ross his wife Katie, grammie Jean, her dad, mom, and aunt Kelly. After dinner we made our way to the movie theater where we watched hrs hilarious movie Bridesmaids. I could honestly watch that movie everyday and still find it hilarious and very entertaining. I'm happy to report that Claire also loved it, and the two of us giggled like little schoolgirls through the entire movie. After the movie we went to the kondetori and bought a delicious poppy seed cake. I have posted some pics of us with the cake...not sure where they ended up but hey as long as they made it on the blog I'm a happy camper.

After a very enjoyable Thursday It was just about time for the one and only bachelorette party for our wonderful bride Claire (yes it was a Claire themed weekend for me which was fantastic!) I made it up to Portland (my mom drove me halfway there-Bridgeport) so that my cousin Brie could pick me up and I could help/hang out with her until the big shindig. Yes indeed we did hit up the store spartacus which was a little shady and akward but we had to get a few gifts from there and a party gamof course. We decided on the ever exciting "pin the macho on the man"-yes it is just how it sounds. All the girls arrived around 7:30 or so and we headed off to our delicious dinner at Henrys. I was so tired from being up late hrs night before making cd's so I found myself dozing off a bit during dinner-whew hose diet cokes really got to me. Dinner was delicious and dessert and games were oodles of fun, but I was quite relieved when it was time for bed because I was pooped. We had a mini sleepover at Bries apartment with McKenna, Katie, Claire, Emily, me, and Brie of course. We were all spread out ready to sleep and I was in Bries room sleeping in her bed...or atleast that's what hrs plan was. Everyone was settled into bed and I went
into the bathroom to wash my face, go to the bathroom and brush my teeth. I was completing thes seemingly simple tasks when I suddenly woke up and found myself sitting on the potty...I thought oh gosh how embaressing I just dozed off on the toilet for a few minutes...until I looked at my watch and realized that it was now 3:30am and I had been asleep for 2 hours on the blessed toilet. Only I would accomplish something like this. The kicker was that I don't drink or use anything that would cause a person to just pass out in the bathroom (in shame). My cousins agreed that at most bachelorette parties someone does generally end up in the bathroom for the night but it's generally because they have had a bit too much to drink. For me I guess it was just one of those lupus moments where my body said I'm tired, time to sleep and bam it did--and it didn't care where I was. Pretty entertaining.

So Saturday arrived and after a bit of cousin shopping at anhropologie and other stores no one can really afford (well excluding the wonderful items on the sale rack) we made our way back home. I got to my house; unpacked my stuff, put some things away in my room and by that time it was time to get ready for the BBQ. In attendance were my parents, aunt Jill, uncle Hunter, nana, sister Missy and nieces Abbie and Sydney. Dinner was delicious, Abbie and I made s'mores in the little portable fire pit (delicious) and Sydney was as entertaining as ever. I have also included a few pics from this fun night...again I don't know where they ended up, but as long as they made it on the page I'm happy.

That mint Abbie spent the night and te two of us had a very exciting slumber party in the backyard clubhouse. For those of you who are unaware of what hrs clubhouse is--it is an awesome 2 story little house that serves as a shed on the bottom floor and a hangout for the kids upstairs. Upstairs is carpeted, painted (chalkboard walls on one side) and not only has heating and air conditioning but also a tv with DVD player. Sooo Abbie and I set up one comfy bed (sorry aunt Mandy can't just throw a sleeping on the ground), made some popcorn, turned on the movie "how to train your dragon" and had a wonderful time. Abbie said that I made the most comfortable bed she had ever slept on and I must say it was pretty fantastic and the two of us slept like little babies until 10:15am. Again I had another glorious day with Tamil which included a lovely Costco trip with Jill and Claire and another delicious BBQ (s'mores and all) with my nana, sister Missy, Brian and hrs two little girls Abbie and Syd.

If you can't tell from above I had a very busy but incredibly wonderful and enjoyable visit home. I wish that all my boxes were already packed and shipped and that I was done with the annoying part of leaving and was able to hang out and spnd time with everyone I love in California.
As of today I have a mere 10 days until my mom, sister and cousin arrive to pick me up and make our journey on home (after a trip to Disneyland of course). I have a busy 10 days ahead of me but I'm looking forward to each and every day.

(lame side note-I can't upload any pics since I'm using my iPod...lame! I will add some pics from my visit home asap...just not right this second cause I'm getting ready for outpost!