Tag - You're It!

The Rules

• Link to the person who tagged you



• Post the rules on the blog



• Write six random things about yourself



• Tag six people at the end of your post and let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog



• Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Facts About Manda

• I used to attend culinary school and had for a short while. It was a lot of money which indicated I wasn’t able to stay. At that time, my grandparents’ health and wellbeing was deteriorating so they required more attention and care. Me, being away at school, didn’t help even though it was only for a few hours. It didn’t pay either because the distance was extreme and the neighborhood wasn’t that glorious. In fact, any neighborhood in this city comes with its hazards and dangers. I was aiming for a degree in Baking and Pastry; although, now that I look back I’m glad I stopped attending. I would rather gain an entire culinary degree but even that isn’t as cracked up as it could be. Certainly, you would learn how to properly julienne a carrot, prepare the mother sauces effortlessly, create flawless sponge cakes, and never have an emulsification break on you. Even if I hadn’t ceased attending for the sake of my parents, not long after I found out about my own withering health so it just wasn’t meant to be. That’s okay though. I look to Alton brown as a role model because he doesn’t even have a culinary degree; he has a bachelor’s of science in food and nutrition. He also has a tattoo that states “Eat to Live”; one of the reasons why I admire him a great deal.
  
  



• I’m currently partaking in a home school program of Health Information Technologies. After I receive my Associates degree, I’m going to take a second degree in Nutrition because my aspiration is to become a nutritionist. After everything that has occurred in my life, from being very heavy, to super thin after getting a very unexpected ailment, nutrition has become an important part in my life as has cooking. I love to cook but I love to cook for my friends and my family and others who are important. I don’t need to be yelled at by a man with a large hat and masters and I don’t have to prepare Steak Tartar for a total stranger hoping that the person who never experienced the flavors beforehand would enjoy it. I want to cook what I want, for who I want, when I want and leave an enormous amount of room for inspirations and experimentation. Having a background in the science of what makes food work in the body would benefit me and my dreams. I was also quite interested in science as a child so it all fits together in a perfect puzzle.
  
  



• I was raised by my grandparents since the age of three. My mother had bad addictions and my father left home one day without word. Ever since then, my mother has been my grandmother and my father has been my grandfather - and I couldn’t be anymore happier. There are something’s I have never experienced as a child in comparison to those whom were raised in a “normal” household but I never complained because my grandparents spoiled me. Well, not really, but they knew that it was horrible for a child to endure such a past. That’s why when I got to high school, I mothered the younger kids who had similar broken homes. I was a shoulder to cry on, I was a friend who was there, and I know I made a difference in a few of their lives. Doing those things, not only helped them, but me too. My grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease a year ago and he has progressed to stage four. I haven’t seen him in six months because he’s been placed in a facility in New Jersey near my relatives. He wouldn’t even remember me if I went there. My grandmother’s cancer reoccurred as of December last year and the prognosis is that she only has a few more months left to live. That’s why, every day now, I go to her hospital and stay with her for six to seven hours a day to spend nearly every moment I can with her before her time is up. On some days, I hate going because I know what may happen at any point any day but if I don’t go I find I miss her terribly. I guess that’s a simple case of mother-daughter relationship.
  
  



• Phil - where do I begin? I met Phil at Otakon 2006, I believe. I saw him there the first time and thought he was very attractive. He was cosplaying (dressed up as an anime character) Asuma from Naruto and looked dead like the character himself. I didn’t know much about him but I felt the need to know him. Ever since that moment, as weird and creepy as this is going to sound, I had dreams about him. The guys who were interested in me at the time, asked me out continuously and I gave them all shots because I felt a little something for them too - but I still had dreams about Phil. I’m not superstitious but when you have consistent dreams of a person that you hardly knew, something has to happen. So, I started dropping hints that I was interested. Well, after six months of getting to know him better, I finally gave a rather blunt hint since he never got the picture - and it turns out he was interested in me too! He just thought that I always had someone else in mind or someone like me wouldn’t be interested in someone like him. As of now, we’ve been together nearly a year and a half, knowing each other for nearly two years. We plan to spend the rest of our lives together. Once my grandmother passes - the sole reason why I still reside in Philadelphia - I’m going to move in with his family in Virginia until we later tie the knot and so forth. He’s my rock, he’s my life, and if I didn’t have him I think I would be at a loss. Everyday I wake up, remember that he’s there, and find the ability to smile and go on. Even though he’s miles and miles away, I know he’s there and probably thinking of me as much as I think of him.
  
  



• Second to my passion of cooking, comes my passion for sewing. When my nose isn’t buried in school work or I’m slaving over a hot stove, I’m usually at my sewing machine - or I used to be. If I still had the time, I would continue to sew. I miss attending anime conventions. Anime conventions, to me, are like an adrenaline rush. It’s a huge amount of people from everywhere collected in one area who actually know their shit and can hold nerd and dork-tastic conversations about episode 20 of a particular anime, part two after commercial break. Its these conventions that gifted me new friends and the love of my life.
  
  



• My attitude towards life varies from day to day but my main mindset is that everything happens for a reason. I find myself stating that often. I’m not hardcore religious but I do believe God influences the events which occur from day to day. Many people say I’ve been through a lot in my life despite my many years still ahead of me. I guess that’s why I’m “level headed” according to a few of my relatives. I don’t know if I’m a huge brain-child, but I do know that before I jump into anything, I weigh out the situation, look at all the possible outcomes and make a move judging on what I find. Sometimes I get tired from day to day, wishing that I could get a break but in the end once everything blows over, I know - and Phil promises me - that I’ll live happily ever after. I believe him. Plus, I’m a tough girl so anything thrown at me, I can take!