Recycle, Reduse, Reuse.....

Happy Saturday! I have just been chillin so far! :)

Well....I am super excited! In previous posts I have told you that we are redecorating our bedroom. So, last night we were moving some of the furniture we were wanting to sell out to our garage. While we were moving it, we kept saying to each other what a nice piece of furniture it was. How it is was solid wood and still in good condition....etc! Then all of a sudden a light bulb came on in hubby's head! He came up with the idea that we could re purpose this piece of furniture to become our new sideboard/buffet for our kitchen!!! I immediately got excited and and couldn't believe I hadn't already thought of that! (this is why i married that man!!) You see....our tiny kitchen cart has broke! It was a cheapy that we had bought when we got married and it bit the dust a few weeks ago. We have been looking around for something to replace it. Everything we looked at was several hundred dollars!!! We just didn't want to spend that much right now (since we are going to the beach in a few weeks!!!!) So this brings us to....

Exhibit A:

This is our old vanity/dresser! Fun Fact: I got this when I was around 9 years old! So that makes this somewhere around 16 years old! It is still in great condition...it just needs a little love! :)

Exhibit B:

This lovely buffet from Pottery Barn! LOVE! But I don't love the $1,000 price tag! boo! Do you see the possibility of turning our old vanity into a gorgeous pottery barn lookalike?! We totally do. I can't wait. We are going to play with different possibilities....like painting it. I love painted furniture! So, we have a lot of work before us. But I think it will be awesome!

I love the thought that we are recycling and it makes me feel like I'm on an HGTV show or something!!! :) Sorry, I'm a dork! I will keep you posted. Any ideas? Send them my way!!!!

I hope everyone has a blessed weekend!

xo,

Amanda

McCormick & Schmick's!

Well, I thought I would share some more of our mini anniversary trip we took last week! Has anyone been to McCormick & Schmick's??? We tried it for the first time...and it was AMAZING!!! You will not be disappointed. The building was absolutely gorgeous as you can see. Banana Republic will be moving into the store below it soon.

This place is a fresh seafood restaurant. As you might know...I don't eat seafood. So I was kinda bummed when Mr. Tim wanted us to go here. But, I know he loves it and we never go to seafood restaurants. So, I went along! I wasn't expecting to love it.

This is the amazing ceiling we got to look at while dining! So pretty. All of their seafood is flown in fresh daily. And I have always heard that you will know if you are at a good seafood restaurant if you can't smell fish when you walk in the door. Well, the place didn't smell fishy at all! I was so glad cause I hate the smell! :) I was pleased.

To add to the charm of the restaurant....they printed us our own special menus for the night that said Happy Anniversary on the top! And we got to keep them! love that!

Mr. Tim is showing off his menu. He ordered the Wild Sockeye Salmon. Sounds disgusting....but he loved it! hehe! He told me it was the best salmon he has ever had!

Well I got to choose from steak or chicken and I went with the Maple Brined Chicken with roasted veggies. It was awesome! (sorry...i look bald...it was like 100 degrees and muggy and i couldn't tolerate my hair on my neck any longer!!! haha!)

To top off the meal, we had their signature dessert...the Chocolate Bag! What is that you ask? It is a dark chocolate mold made to look like a bag. Inside it is filled with a white chocolate mouse and whipped cream. It is topped with lots of fresh berries. It was divine!

This was after our meal! We were both hot and sweaty monsters! haha!

Finally after our dinner we went to see the new movie Inception!!! Has anyone seen this yet? You must go! It was phenomenal! Sometimes I have trouble following movies like this and I tend to ask a lot of questions. Well, I promised Mr. Tim that I wouldn't ask him a single question during the movie. That I would just watch it and we could talk about it later. I did good and I didn't ask him anything. It is intense...and will blow your mind! lol!

Let me know if you have seen it! Well, I'm off to do some work! Oh, I had a lovely apple muffin this morning from panera thanks to my hubbs!

I'm off to a good start today! :)

Hugs!

Amanda

miscellany monday...

This morning I am joining

miscellany monday with carissa!

My first time! It always looks like fun so here I go....

1) I am HAPPY this morning! I love my husband & pup. This morning I got around in time to chill with them for a little bit instead of flying out the door like a crazy lady!! heehee! That is normally me. :)

2) Praise the Lord....Tim got his schedule changed and now he will have regular weekends off...Sat & Sun!!!! woot woot! We haven't spent a regular weekend together in about a year. I am one happy lady. His new schedule will start in mid August.

3) I am in love with dunkin dounuts coffee. Thanks to a friend that introduced us to it. We are now addicted. We also found a new creamer we love. I think it's called Coffee House Inspirations....low fat vanilla latte or something. It makes getting out of bed a tad bit easier!

4) Last night our church had a special banquet to show the plans for our new church building. We are completely out of room (which is an awesome thing). We also talked about the money we will need to give in order to get the first phase done. Our saying is "YES HE CAN!" I'm so excited to be a part of my church and I know that God can do anything, no matter how big the task!

5) Florida is about 3 weeks away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will be the longest 3 weeks ever. The beach is calling my name.

6) A little funny....my friend teased my hair yesterday (for the banquet). I think I had some major volume going on! hehe! I woke up with CRAZY hair this morning. ;) Funny thing is, Mr. Tim said he really liked my hair today. Go figure! (oh and he also said I looked slender this morning! lol! gotta love him.)

7) Did I mention I love my husband?

8) I wish I could afford things from Anthropologie! Sigh...

9) I am committed to working out more regularly this week! None of this hit and miss kinda stuff. The gym and I are best friends. I love the gym. I love to sweat. Just a little self motivation!

10) I had fun doing my first miscellany monday post! This works for me since my mind is pretty random anyways!

I hope everyone has a great day!!!

With love,

Amanda

Raphael Hotel....

Happy Saturday!!

I thought I would share a few of our pictures from our anniversary trip! I have plenty more....but that would be the longest post EVER!!! I don't want to bore you...so i'm just going to share more pics at random! :)

I told you earlier that we stayed at the beautiful Raphael hotel in KC. I can't even tell you how awesome this place was! It is a really old boutique hotel that has been renovated. The rooms were so luxurious.

This is Mr. Tim waiting for our car! Yes they had valet! I'm a dork...and that is always exciting to me!!!

They even had a monogrammed sticker on the toilet paper!

But of course!!

The room looked very Pottery Barn! By far the best decor in any hotel room I have ever seen!

Last night we went on a date night with some of our friends and it was a blast!! Today I slept in way later than I thought I would. I don't normally sleep late. Oh well, I feel good now!

I hope everyone has a lovely and enjoyable Saturday!!!

xo,

Amanda

Skype, veggies & hotness!

Good Morning!

Well, last night my husband was on Skype for 4 HOURS!!! LOL! He was talking to our friends that recently moved away. I joined him for probably the last 2 hours. Anyways...that means I didn't get to use the computer and get my pictures put on the computer! Oh well! It was so fun chatting with them. I still have to get use to my face being on the skype screen. It makes me feel weird. Mr. Tim loves being on the skype screen though. Last night he was singing and dancing and doing all sorts of stuff. He was lovin it!!! haha!

Oh, last night I made some yummy pepperoni pasta bake that we will be eating on the entire week! And to go with it we had some Focaccia bread that we bought in Kansas City at the River Market. (more pics on that later!) For everyone who loves going to the farmer's market...you would have been in heaven at the River Market. I have never seen so many vendors! It was amazing. We bought several types of bread, peaches, yukon gold potatoes, grapes and some spices! LOVE!

Tonight it is VBS at our church, so the youth group can't meet at the church. So...we are going to meet at a city park! Sounds great...except for the fact that it is almost 100 degrees! haha! I already told myself this morning that I am not going to complain about the heat. I am holding myself to that!

I WILL NOT COMPLAIN THAT I AM HOT!!! :)

This is a test for me...I will let you know how I do! I also keep reminding myself that there are a lot of places in the world that don't even have a church building to meet in or have air conditioning! We are spoiled. But people still meet regardless of the conditions because they love God more than anything! That's me! I'm thankful I have the freedom to go to a city park and learn about God. (i will be bringing my personal water misting fan that i got in Disney World one time though!!!) :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!!!

Hugs!

Amanda

Really quick post....

Hey All!

Well, right now I am at the most beautiful hotel I have ever stayed at! This place is gorgeous. It looks like it was decorated by the Pottery Barn! I just wanted to say Hi really quick since I won't be posting for a few days. I am having the most wonderful time!!! I am taking lots of pictures....of course! ;)

I hope that everyone is having a great weekend so far!

Lots of LOVE,

Amanda

The BEST 5 Years of MY Life....

5 years ago, I married my best friend.

The man that God had specially picked out for me. Wow! I am so blessed to be able to call Tim my husband. We have shared the most wonderful 5 years together. Tim treats me far better than I deserve. I love how he cares for me. How he makes me laugh uncontrollably....all the time! How he puts me before himself. How he puts God before me. I love that he desires to be a Godly man and husband more than anything. I love how he adores our fur baby...Maddie. He is going to be the most amazing daddy someday. He always makes the eggs and jello in our family...but he has other culinary skills too! He just especially likes making those. He would give you the shirt off his back and change your tire in a snow storm. He is the kindest person you will ever meet. Thank you God for allowing me to be Mrs. Tim Shepard!

I am SO in LOVE....still.

These are a just a few random pictures from our 5 years of married life. As you have probably noticed....we love dressing up! haha! We go all out on Halloween. :)

We were tacky tourists!

We are pretty goofy 100% of the time!
We are high school sweethearts. We started dating at the ripe age of 15! We are both 25 now. Mr. Tim was my first kiss, first boyfriend, first hand hold....first and only everything. (i was also his first too!)

Thanks for letting me share. :)

I'm so excited for our weekend get-away to Kansas City!!!

I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend!

Hugs,

Amanda

Dog Sitting!!!

Hello!

This past weekend we dog sat for some of our friends and I thought I would share just how cute she was. Cause you know... I LOVE DOGS!!!!! A LOT! :) Her name was Laylah and she was a mix of a Bichon and a Poodle. She was so sweet and loved to cuddle. awww!! Here she is sitting on Mr. Tim. Every time we dog sit or see other dogs, we always want more! We have a problem.

Speaking of Mr. Tim....

we will be celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary this Friday!!!!!! Ahhhh! I can't believe it. Time has just flown by. I am so majorly in love with him! Words can't begin to describe.

Hope everyone has a good night!

love,

Amanda

Lovin me some froyo!

ORANGE LEAF!!!

It just opened in Springfield! We didn't have any place to get yummy frozen yogurt since TCBY closed. Even then, TCBY was kinda yuck at times. We are soooo super excited. We decided to hit it up last night. It was busy, but it moved really fast. It was decorated really cool. They had lots of different flavors to choose from, plus a ton of toppings.

We enjoyed our cups of goodness while sitting on the bed of the truck.

It was a wonderful night!

I got vanilla, peach and strawberry yogurt. My toppings were too many to remember! haha! I was on sensory overload and couldn't decide on just one or two!

Tim got vanilla, chocolate and coffee I think. He went for a theme and got all chocolate related toppings.

It was sooooo good!

Now we will just have to practice some self control so we don't find

ourselves there everyday! heehee.

Well, I guess I could just get the vanilla, fresh berries and granola to be

smart about it. :)

Happy Saturday!

xo,

Amanda

mmmm quesadillas!

So...does anyone use one of these on a regular basis?

I am pretty much obsessed with mine. Someone gave us one for our wedding....let's see almost five years ago.

(we celebrate 5 years next week!!!!!!!!!!)

I have leaned on this bad boy for many a quick meal. It has been a lifesaver.

Anytime I am rushed for dinner....i look to my trusty quesadilla maker. I keep thinking I'm going to get burned out on them, but it never happens. I do get burned out on things rather quickly....like Subway. Any other ideas for a quick meal? Thank you quesadilla maker! I like you a lot!

Has anyone ever been to this place.......?

We just tried it for the first time last week when we were in Branson for the Diamond Awards. I thought it was delish, but a little pricey.

Oh...is anyone from the Kansas City area?

We are going there for an anniversary get-a-way and would love some cool suggestions. Like restaurants or shops! Please send them my way!!!

Thanks a million!

Hope everyone has a terrific Thursday! :) Sorry I'm feeling cheesy today! haha! Maybe I'm thinking about Quesadillas?? That makes me think of Napoleon Dynamite.....

Anyways...

with love,

Amanda

Do I really have to go back to work today???

Good Morning!!!

So, I'm happy today because even though it feels like Monday, it's really Tuesday...which means we are even closer to the weekend! I always wish our work weeks were two days and our weekends were 5 days! Now that makes sense!! :) I had an awesome weekend. I loved the fireworks and time to hang out with friends and family. Yesterday, I went swimming for the first time this summer! Awesome! We also had slow cooked ribs & homemade mac n cheese & baked potatoes! Then I took a nice little nap. Pretty much the perfect day.

So, last week I told you I sang at the Diamond Awards in Branson. It was hilarious...but a good experience. The Diamond Awards are for the Branson Gospel Music Convention. And basically to be in the audience you had to be 75 or older! haha! We had a good time. I am the third from the left. Our group from church doesn't sing gospel music usually...we were the opening guest performers! lol! I got some SWEET hot pink heels for the awards. We had to wear black, white and pink for Breast Cancer Awareness. So, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get some pink shoes. They were really high so I was very worried about keeping my balance while singing. I was successful though...and didn't even bobble!

This is one of my bestest friends Kim! She also sings in our group. It was fun getting ready. We also managed to make it to Starbucks to get a frappe before the show! :) Very important.

Oh...and I thought I would show off the giveaway I won from Stephanie over at The Crimson Owl! Excited is an understatement when I opened my adorable package! It was super cute. I have already worn the hair clip and earrings several times. My hubby thought it was funny that I got a random gift in the mail...he just doesn't get it! :) Anyways...thank you sooooo much Stephanie! It made my week!

I hope everyone has a lovely, joy-filled day! My heart is so full and I am just so thankful for many many things! God is good!

With Love,

Amanda

Extra GIANT marshmallows!!!

Extra GIANT marshmallows.....

YES please!!!

Just look at these wonderful things my mom found.

My husband loves all things marshmallow! So, my mom stumbled upon these at the store a few days ago. When she presented them to Mr. Tim he was SOOOOO excited! Who wouldn't be? These things are awesome! We have enjoyed snacking on them...but we really want to try making a ginormous smore!!!!!!!

Tim is demonstrating just how giant these mallows really are.

(regular and strawberry flavor!)

Here I thought I would show the size of the mallows compared to my hand. Keep in mind, these are not the jumbo ones you normally make smores with. These are probably 3x the size!

He is thrilled about these mallows.

Don't worry.....we also gave miss Maddie some marshmallow too! ;)

We took this pic last night at the Branson Landing. I had the opportunity to sing at the Diamond Awards last night. I will tell you more about that later...... :)

Happy Friday to you!!!

I hope everyone has a great day.

xo,

Amanda