mandaloo

my coworker, kim, and i left for austin today. i couldn't sleep last night b/c i kept thinking about my trip and all. i'm not worried or even overly excited… it was just on my mind. it was super sweet b/c jeromy snuck his beloved blue cap into my luggage (which i found once he was long gone) and bought me a tetris game thing for me to play while i was riding in the car. it was very thoughtful on his part. i'm a tetris adddict. as if that weren't enough, wizard let me take his laptop with me since my room has internet. so… this blog tonight is only due to his generous actions.

anyhoo – in the afternoon, kim and i met up with makenzie from the austin office and got our company booth all set up. it had all of these different parts and i didn't know what the heck to do b/c i had never even seen the thing set up before. it was like putting together a puzzle that didn't have a picture for you to look at. but it got done and off we went. kim and i checked into the hotel and it's super nice. i love my room and the view is nice – i get to see the bustling going-ons of downtown and such. even the bathroom is super roomy and nice. i'm ecstatic. i called my mom and let her know i was safe. it was funny b/c her and my grandma were both worried. i love them so – they fret over the smallest things. my grandma was so cute b/c she said to me, "watch out for perverts." i had to chuckle at that remark. yes… like i'm just going to be cruising the streets for random people to talk to and hang out with.

during the afternoon, i got a call from my new visiting teacher at church.  i think i met her at church a couple of sundays ago, and if she's the girl i'm thinking of, she's seems nice.  i'm sure we'll be getting together sometime next week.  i need to get more involved in church and try to make it to some more of the activities so that i can meet more people in my congregation.  i'm just really bad at that initial period… i do this every time i move.  it takes me forever to get all involved b/c i don't know anybody and i skip activities and stuff.  but then it feeds into itself until i just get tired of not being as involved as i would like and then i break that barrier.  and then i'm fine and the good 'ol social mandy that everyone knows and loves.  i'm about to hit that point again, i think, which is good.  having some of the girls over from church through the visiting teaching program will be a good start to that.  more familiar faces and whatnot. 

kim and i went to dinner at the rio grande – a mexican food restaurant that used to be the "real world" house for the austin season. pretty cool. after that, kim and i just headed back to our rooms. nothing much going on otherwise. tomorrow, i'll be going to classes and talking to different vendors and companies and whatnot. my boss and other coworkers will be here, too, so that will be fun. i'm going to my aunt's tomorrow night for dinner and i'm looking forward to seeing everyone there.

i should probably get some shuteye soon since i need to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow morning.