http://bit.ly/1WQOMH

If you fast forward this video to the 19 minute mark you will see Miranda Bailey talking to her father. He says to her, "I have been a proud father your whole life. I have been a proud father. Your mother and I sat in the front row of every dance class, every oboe recital and we cheered. We sat in the front row of every graduation and I was always the first one on my feet and loudest one in the crowd. I have been a proud father."

When he said that all I could do was think of Grandpa Stancle and how much I miss him (and of course my other grandparents). But specifically Grandpa Stancle because I thought of the story he'll tell anyone who will listen, the preschool story. When I was in preschool we went on a field trip to the hospital and Grandpa was working. I went right up to him, gave him a hug and announced to everyone that he was my grandpa. All the mother's thought I was nuts. Here I was a 4 year old white girl who was probably barely 3 feet tall, hugging a 6 ft.+ black man who I said was my grandpa.

What's funny is we don't have any video of that day, but I remember that field trip. I remember hugging grandpa, grabbing his hand and announcing to everyone who he was. That is probably my earliest memory.

I'm laying on my stomach on my twin bed in my very tiny room in my apartment in Boston, Massachusetts. I have made it. When I was little and people would ask where I was going to go to college I use to tell them Boston College. I really have NO idea where my infatuation with Boston began, but it did and it lead me here. I have said I want to own an Irish Pub here, but to be honest that part of my dream has changed a bit. I'm sure it will change a million more times before it actually happens and that's ok.

It's funny, I have dreamed of living in Boston and going to school since forever. Now it has actually happened. Stories always tell you how great things are, never how hard it will be to adjust and how much you'll miss people. But then we move on, although we still miss family and friends like crazy, it becomes bearable because there is an understanding that I am where I need to be to follow my dreams. We realize that when we push ourselves outside our comfort zones and our limits, we head into zones that make us the adults we become. Those zones allow us to prove to ourselves just what we are capable of. Because of this experience, I know I can go live hundreds of miles away from home and be okay. Sure, I might miss my family like crazy, but that is all part of growing up.

And I may HATE my job, but that is life and right now that job that I hate, is part time and it is NOT permanent. It is jobs like that that push me and remind me why I am here in the first place, so I don't end up like my managers (26ish and working as a manager at Aerie). I have hopes, dreams and goals. I want to accomplish things, MANY THINGS!

More than anything else, I really want to get the internship this summer with the USOC or USA Hockey and the internship in the fall with the CCHA. They are competitive and part of me wonders if I have the talent or the credentials to be applying for the opportunities. But then I remember that SOMEONE has to be chosen, so why can't that person be me? Is there honestly anything that stands in my way, other than my own insecurities? They say that many college graduates are applying for internships because the job market stinks right now, which of course adds more competition, but I'm MOLLY FRICKIN' MAHONEY and I got this! (P.S. a guy at work got really excited when he realized that my last name is Mahoney, just like Molly Mahoney from Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium!)

Life is an occasion, rise to it! There comes a time when you have to lead your life, not just follow it! Defy Gravity!

Check my email. Then usually Facebook, LJ and Blackboard.

Check out the video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSILVbnofZM

Okay, so lets talk about it... What the hell are these guys thinking???? I won't lie, I have a pretty strong stomach when it comes to hits and fights, but that literally made me cringe! Everyone in the NHL is waiting for a ruling to be made about hits to the head, but like Justin Bourne stated in his recent article (http://shar.es/azwzT) When will the players speak out about head shots????

Wow. That's literally all I've got. The announcers in that video said the guy who hit Booth is a leader and yada, yada, well now he's a leader and a duchebag! Congrats! Can you imagine what happens when kids see their favorite player make hits like that? Kids are parrots, they repeat everything! I doubt it will be long before we see headshots like this at the lower levels and especially high school hockey, if they aren't there already!

A few things I've come to realize/find out while in Boston...

1) If you are not from here, it is very hard to fit in. Bostonians can be a clique.
2) This city is very dirty and its no ones job to pick it up. Everyone moves it so its someone else's problem.
3) It is very walkable. It makes you rethink driving.
4) Depending on public transportation can be good and bad. Sometimes when I get outta work all I wanna do is rush home, but instead I have to be patient and wait for the right T to take me home.
5) Patience. It's definitely a virtue you have when you are walking Boston, BUT if you are driving you can't have any or you'll get honked at LOUDLY.
6) Everything is expensive. EVERYTHING!
7) Boston's housing market has evened out. Banks haven't. Boston comes out of recessions faster than Michigan.
8) Boston is the HOCKEY HUB... Bruins, Sucks to BU Terriers, NEU Huskies, BC Eagles, Wentworth Leopards, UMass Boston Beacons, etc.
9) There is a lot to explore here: New England Aquarium, Boston Tea Party, Boston Children's Museum, etc.
10) Watching movies that have Boston in them. Looking up the locations, seeing them and/or realizing they are NOWHERE near where the movie is saying they are! Ha ha ha :)

I'm sure the list will grow, but there it is for now!

My Kitchen Aid Mixer is probably the single best Christmas gift I have received, but to be honest the gifts I look forward to the most each year is the ornament from my Mom and the charm for my bracelet from my Dad. No matter what those are always surprises. They are thoughtful and creative and mean the most!

So this chick I went to school with way back when (elementary and middle school) and we were in Girl Scouts together, is a mother of two and a go-go dancer at a bar. She has really inappropriate pictures posted on Facebook. I don't get it... AND on another note, why do underage girls think its okay to come to women's league games wasted with water bottles filled with booze and then deny being drunk?

REALLLLY? I honestly don't get it... If we are the future generations of America, I feel like we are royally screwed!

So, once again I was dreading going to hockey, but there are THREE girls that literally get me out of bed on Saturday mornings for Learn to Play. I got absolutely positively SOAKED from head to toe on the way to hockey today. I was wet and heading into a cold arena... UGH!

Anyways, at the beginning of practice I found out that this is the LAST week for Tessa and Twyla because they are going back to Arizona, where they are from! :( So, they were determined to do everything they could. I had them standing on their toes, their heels, standing on one foot and then the other, I had them skating forwards and backwards, I even had them bunny hop! They did it allllll! I don't know who was more excited about it, them or me. Either way, They are the reason that I wanted to start coaching to begin with.

The practice got better, when I couldn't have asked for anything better! Twyla got off the ice early because she was not in the skating mood. It was just Tessa, Paige and I skating. Paige asked where Twyla was and Tessa told us she was getting off the ice. That is when Paige said, "Why is Twyla not out here? I came to practice today to see her and I don't even get to skate with her and it's her last day. She makes me laugh." Tessa and Twyla ended up leaving early. The whole rest of the practice Paige kept saying, "Oh Twyla would do this or Tess would do that. I wish they were here."

The girls not only learned valuable skating skills, but they gained self-esteem and more importantly, they made friends! I don't care if it's the hockey or the friends they make that bring them back. Either way, I'm happy!

I looked at Paige and Tessa when they were talking and doing everything I was asking of them and said, "This is why I wanted to start coaching! You are the reasons that I come to practice every week!"


Random thing I stole from a friend...
Read Each One Carefully and Think About It a Second or Two
1. I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.
2. No man or woman is worth your tears, and the one who is, won't make you cry.
3. Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.
4. A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.
5. The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing you can't have them.
6. Never frown, even when you are sad, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile.
7. To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
8. Don't waste your time on a man/woman, who isn't willing to waste their time on you.
9. Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one, so that when we finally meet the person, we will know how to be grateful.
10. Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened.
11. There's always going to be people that hurt you so what you have to do is keep on trusting and just be more careful about who you trust next time around.
12. Make yourself a better person and know who you are before you try and know someone else and expect them to know you.

Savage Garden- Affirmation. It is an amazing CD!

Okay, so I know this random, but I just want to put this out there... I enjoy being single!

Today when I was walking to Shillman Hall, I overheard this girl on the phone talking about how all the girls in her class were talking about it and planning it. She and her boyfriend had been together for 6 years and she really wanted to be planning it too. Granted, I know I am assuming, but pretty sure she was probably talking about marriage... Really? You are in college! I'm sorry, but I don't get how anyone would want to be in the last legal form of slavery in their early 20's! Ha ha ... Totally stole that whole last legal form of slavery thing from a movie! 

Sorry to admit it, but I enjoy being single. So, for everyone who continually thinks that someone needs a significant other in there life to be happy, you are wrong. Being single means I can go to the bar, play pool with hot Navy men and not worry about what anyone thinks! Being single means I can do what I want, when I want and not deal with the repercussions of having that other person wondering where I was, what I was doing and who I was with.

Sure, someday I might want that and sure I have my "oh I really wish I had someone to cuddle with" or whatever, but right now I'm going to enjoy life as a single, 20 something woman in Boston! :)

I actually just went through a serious life transition. I moved out of state, 14 hours from home, to go to graduate school. I moved by myself and had to deal with all of the emotions you go through when you move away from everything and everyone you know and love. I definitely started appreciating the little things, like driving my car, having my Dad wake me up for breakfast with Grandma's on Saturday, Mom's home-cooked meals, getting to see my family whenever I felt like it... However, it has been my dream to live and go to school in Boston since I was little. Now that I'm here, I feel like I can achieve any dream I have as long as I work hard and put my mind to it. Now all I keep doing is planning and trying to decide where to go from here!

The opportunities are endless as long as you dream big!

So, yesterday my Mom was fired from a job she has had since I was in elementary school. The reason she was fired was because she and two of her co-worker approached their boss about their checks bouncing on more than one occasion. At that same meeting, the woman handed my Mother and her co-workers letters that said as of December 1st they are hired.

I talked to my Mom this morning and she sounded out of it. I'm really, really, really worried about her. I know this has to be extremely hard on her, not even from a financial standpoint, but because she has developed a relationship with the dermatology office she has been typing for. The transcription company she works for use to be owned by Suzanne and her husband. Suzanne lost her battle to cancer and my Mom had developed a relationship, a friendship with Suzanne. After that there was talk of my Mom taking over the business, but instead this woman named Chery ended up taking over. If Suzanne or Bob (Suzanne's husband who ran the business till just recently) knew what was going on, I feel like shit would hit the fan! Suzanne is probably rolling in her grave right now.

When I talked to my Mom tonight, I told her I couldn't believe she wasn't crying because I knew I would have been. She said she hasn't cried yet. She said she wasn't in a good space, which I understand. She is going to coffee tomorrow with Brenda. I'm glad she is doing that. She thinks that is when she'll start crying. I'm not only worried about that, but I'm worried about her drinking starting up again/getting worse. I just hope she realizes that she needs to be as strong as I know she is. Whatever good karma I have, I want it to be directed toward my Mom.

Just an FYI- she can't type for the dermatology office and eliminate the middle man because it is in her contract. She can't work directly with them for 2 years. IF she does, Chery could sue my Mom. I think, this would be a perfect opportunity for my Mom to start her catering business... I know I joked about it before, but I really think she should consider it for real!

If you have any good ideas for a name for a catering company name, please reply!

My parents. I'd pay off all their bills or just give them money.

So ya know when you walk and there's a little spring in your step? Yeah, well that's been me the past couple of days... I put on my iPod and off I go!

PLUS, today at work was REALLLLLLY fun. We couldn't stop laughing. Marianne and I discussed Dawson's Creek and will be having a marathon cause she owns alllll the seasons! Then I was told I have an accent AND Michigan isn't a state. So, I said well I guess we'll just see which state is the best when our hockey teams meet up next Tuesday!!!! AHHHHH! I'm soooooo excited about the game it is pretty much pathetic!

Also, Marissa and I are going out for beers tomorrow after work... Who knows if it'll actually happen, but it was discussed! Maybe we'll invite the rest of the group, we'll see. So, there is one person at work that I need to work on communicating with. I might use it as my experiment for my leadership class. We'll see...

I am SOOOOOOO PUMPED about my grade in my FIRST GRADUATE SCHOOL CLASS!!!!! AHHHHHH! Also, my new class doesn't seem that bad. I think I was just overwhelmed, but now I think I have it figured out and I will be able to handle it.

I'm crying over Hocus Pocus... Oh jeeeeez!
Binx says something to Max that made me realize how little appreciated my siblings.
We all grow up so fast and time seems to go by faster as you get older.

So, I'm already freaking out about my new class and I know it's premature, we haven't even had a class yet, but it seems like a lot more work than the other two classes... I guess we'll just wait and see what happens. Its ok if its more work, it just seems to be more reading, which isn't exactly my strong point when it comes to classes.

So yeah... Back to homework!

Have you ever played the what if game?
If you have, have you followed the what if all the way through? 
If I went back and did something what would my life be like now...?

I did that today and it was a little scary. I am so thankful I stuck to my guns and went the route I did. If things would have turned out differently I don't know what my life would be like, but I probably wouldn't be in grad school right now.

BUT, on the other spectrum of things, if this thing I'm thinking of would have gone differently, I wonder how it would have effected the other people involved. Would this person be doing this instead of that? Or would this other person not be in the picture anymore? It is crazy how things grow and change, sometimes good and sometimes just different.

I am so thankful for so much. I have great friends and family. We all have our health. My parents both have jobs, sure things may be hard right now, but it could be worse and things will get better. Last night, I had a conversation with someone who told me something I'm not allowed to share with anyone (I know, I'm doing that thing where I say I have a secret, but I can't tell you), but it is really hard to keep a secret of this caliber. I don't usually pray, but I have quite a few things on my "Prayer List".

Okay, so while I was on the "T" today I got thinking about life... The T is kind of inspiring! ha ha ha

Would it be better to live a long life or a short(er) one?

I got thinking about my Grandma. She is 82 years old. She's a stubborn bitch and will probably live to be 100. At first I thought, that's what I want. I want to be stubborn and live to be 100. But than I wondered, do I actually want that? I mean if you live to be 100, most of your friends only live to be 80, at most. You outlive friends and family. That has to be scary. You go from having people you love and care about and that is reciprocated, to not having those people in your life. Those people could have been the reason you were living to begin with.

Or do you live a shorter life. I'm not talking about living to be 21. I'm talking about living to be, lets say 75. You end up dying right along with all of your friends. It's the natural order of life.

Which is easier? Is one better than the other? Obviously we can't really choose, but if we could, which would you choose?

I HATE the stupid Photobucket html code thingy... It isn't letting me do a cut... I dunno what I'm doing wrong. :(

Failure is honestly my biggest fear. I'm afraid of letting everyone down, but more importantly, myself.

UGH... I hate when people are negative. I'm a fixer. I like helping people when they have a problem. But I HATE HATE HATE it when there is nothing I can do or they won't tell me what's wrong. I understand not telling me, because I know I've had things that I don't want to discuss with certain people... I just hate not being able to help the people I love and care about!