Happy Summer Giveaway!!!!!!

Hello & Happy Monday! :)

Well today I am having my very first G I V E A W A Y!!!!!! 

I have been meaning to do this at the beginning of summer…..but time got away from me!  This is really for no special reason….just cause it’s FUN!  Also, I have won a few different giveaways from blogs in the past and they are so much fun to get in the mail!  I wanted to pick out some fun things to share with one of you!  I just used the word FUN too many times in that paragraph! haha! 

Well, here is what I am giving away to one lucky person:

1.  HOT TAMALES!!!!!!  Only my most favorite candy on the planet.  Plus there is a heat wave moving across the country…..so these were only fitting. :)

2.  Pretty summery blue nail polish!  It’s the Sally Hansen Extreme kind….in the color Blue Me Away. 

3.  Adorable Hallmark note cards.  With cute little apples on them.  (I’m obsessed with fruit!!!) 

4.  Paper-Mate Profile pens!  These pens write so good!  To top it off….they come in pretty colors.

5.  Last but not least a Sonic Drink Buddy!  hehe!  :) A little blue dinosaur that will sit on the edge of the edge of your lemonade or what have you. 

Well that’s it!  I’m sooooo excited to send it off to someone!  I have been wanting to do this forever. 

So here is how to get in on it:

Just be a public follower of this blog……and that’s it! 

I won’t make you do anything else! haha! 

Leave me a comment letting me know you follow & just say hello or something nice….whatever you would like! 

The giveaway will be closed on Friday, August 5th. 

Thank you for reading my blog and sharing life with me!  I love you guys!

Good Luck! :)

Amanda

p.s. (this giveaway is only open those in the U.S.A.)

Floating & another yoga story!

(Via Pinterest)

Hey all!  A very happy Friday to ya! :o)

Well, I am going floating this weekend….hence the floating picture!  Wherever they are floating in this picture looks wayyyyy cooler than were I will be floating.  I am taking the high school girls from our church on a lil float trip!  It should be a blast.  However….I am definitely NOT an outdoorsy person….so me leading this is quite laughable! hahaha!

I once went on a canoe trip with a bunch of people…..and no one wanted me in their canoe!  I guess I made the canoe flip or whatever!  hehe.

I think this float is more up my ally…….

(Via Pinterest)

And can I get a YUM?! :) 

It’s been a long while since I had a root beer float. 

I have never heard of root beer float cupcakes until Pinterest…..

(Via Pinterest)

Those are amazingly cute and I’m sure just as tasty!

So……another funny yoga story for you:

You can read about my first yoga embarrassment here.

***Last night I went to the Advanced Yogalates class at the YMCA. (haha! i am in no way advanced!)  Anyways…..At the end of class is “restoration time”.  The instructor turns out the lights and we get to lay there for like 10 or 15 minutes in the dark.  Then she comes around with smelly good lotion and rubs our necks.  It’s pretty amazing.  Well, this time I don’t remember anything after my neck rub! Seriously!  I just remember opening my eyes and the instructor was talking to the class…..and I was like “oh no…how long has she been talking!!!!”  I’m not sure.  I just hope I wasn’t snoring or anything.  Yikes! 

Maybe I shouldn’t go to yoga?  ha!  I look pretty ridiculous! 

I am really feeling it today!  ouchie! 

Well, that sums up this week’s embarrassing yoga story.  Don’t worry….I’m sure I’ll have another one for ya next week! ;) 

p.s.  There is a new Chinese takeout place that opened up next door to the ymca! 

Cruel?  I think yes! 

Have a super amazing weekend everybody! 

love ya!

Amanda

pedi talk time

So lets talk Pedicures. 

Definitely not for the ticklish.

I got my first pedi with my friend Cori last week.  I really did love it.  I’m anxious to see how long my polish stays looking good. However I am going on a float trip this weekend….so that could cut its life span short. :(

We went to Rainbow Nails.  It seemed like they were very sanitary.  They got brand new files and made me my own box if I ever come back in.  They cleaned the foot soaking bins really well in between customers.  It seemed like everything was a-okay!

Cori was rather ticklish the whole time!  I think more so than me even! :) 

I was really nervous about them working on my heels.  I have some super duper rough heels!  haha!  I blame it on the fact that I was a dancer for many years growing up….and a lot of times we danced barefoot.  Not good on the ole feet! I have the ped egg at home and it almost makes me cry!  I hate using it.  The nail tech really didn’t do much to my heels……

Maybe she got one look at ‘em and thought there was no hope? 

Quite possibly! ;)

When she was cutting my toe nails and pushing the cuticles back…..I really thought she had cut my skin cause it HURT REALLY BAD!!!!!!  I was just sure there was blood.  (but i don’t think so) Everything was okay in the end. 

*truly that was the only part i hated*

Plus, I had already trimmed my toenails before I went in….I didn’t think they needed trimming anymore?  I dunno. 

The foot bath really does feel amazing!  Oh yeah, and the massage chair! I would have liked to have just sat there for awhile longer. 

Cori and I both picked out a shade of purple for our toes! 

*I struggled with the picking out of the polish part!!!!!* 

Way too many choices for this indecisive person! haha! I should have just went with rainbow. 

So my final verdict…..

I would definitely go again!  :)  I can’t believe I waited so long. 

Well, probably cause I’m cheap…..

I don’t think I would get these done regularly….again cause I’m cheap! haha!  I am absolutely terrible at painting my nails, but I LOVE saving money.

Well, I guess if I only got these during the summer months…..that wouldn’t be too bad.  I think that would be worth it to have pretty feet while wearing sandals! 

If you have never got a pedi, you must go and give it a try! 

Everyone should try it once. :) 

I wish starbucks delivered….

I didn’t get any coffee this morning!  That’s right……AND it’s a Monday.  Only the most important day to start out with coffee.  Oh well, somehow I will manage.  Even though I feel ridiculously tired today for some reason. 

Jesus is the real reason I’m out of bed on this day anyway! Rejoice in the Lord always…..and again I say rejoice! :)  I love that part at the end of the verse….*again* I say rejoice. 

I still need some coffee though….   :) 

Well, this weekend was indeed fabulous!  I had my very first pedicure!  Several people have asked my thoughts on it….so I will share that in a post soon.  I really enjoyed it (for the most part!) haha! 

Feet are so weird looking.  Well….maybe just my feet?  I have exceptionally long and bony toes! haha!

I went to a cheer competition!  This is Bethany….one of the sweetest girls around….she is in my small group at church.  They took 2nd place and did amazing! 

I got to pick my mug up that I painted last week!!!!!!!  I was so excited!  I am pretty happy with how it looks……except for a few things.  I always get carried away and I painted too many little twirly doo dads. 

And we saw the movie Zookeeper!!!!!  I cannot tell just how f u n n y this movie was!  I was laughing the entire time.  I thought it was going to be a little too cheesy from the looks of the previews, but I was so surprised!  You must go see this!  It will brighten your day! :) 

We also had an amazing day at church yesterday!  God really spoke to me through the messages.  I’m still letting them marinate.  Also some of our good friends are getting ready to leave this week for deputation.  They are going to be missionaries in Nicaragua.  They will be traveling around for several months raising support.  I am really really going to miss them. 

Oh I almost forgot…..Miss Maddie got her haircut!  They gave her a pink camo bandana!  She looks so presh! :)

Have a very HAPPY Monday everyone!  :)

Hugs!

Amanda

Pedi, Frapp, Gelato…..you know…..

Hey Everyone!  Who is excited for the weekend?!  ME! 

Oh guess what?!!!!  I am getting my VERY first pedicure tonight!  Yay!  I am super excited.  But I’m actually really nervous too. I’m scared that they will hurt my heels……I don’t have the smoothest heels.  Any thoughts?  :)

Attention Coffee Addicts:  Starbucks now has a Mocha Light Frapp for 140 cals!!!!!  It is awesome! :) No whip of course…..but it’s still good.

Okay today I’m going to finally wrap up our anniversary recap.  Tim made reservations at this fancy shmancy restaurant.  If you ever get to visit Springfield….you should definitely visit Flame! 

Okay….I’m not going to say this place is affordable…unless of course your rolling in the dough.  But for a special occasion it is totally worth it! 

From the very start….the salad had me LOVING this place! Oh it was divine. 

This picture ended up blurry, but you can still see the goods.  Their steaks are dry aged and amazing!  That yellow stuff is lobster mac n cheese!

This is a look at the inside of the restaurant.  We got to sit upstairs!  Then I got to people watch….which I love! haha!

It was totally worth every penny!  :) 

After that we walked to a cute gelato place! 

They also had cupcakes!  :) 

We had a wonderful evening out! 

So…..what are your weekend plans?  I will let you know how the pedi goes! hehe! I’m not sure what color to get?

Have a blessed weekend!

xoxo,

Amanda

Pottery painting & stuff.

I’m so glad that everyday is a NEW day!  I had a crummy day yesterday.  Nothing seemed to go right…..and i felt on edge all day.  It was terrible.  I know everyday can’t be perfect. TODAY is a beautiful day and there are soooooo many reasons to rejoice and be happy!  It truly would be a shame to hang on to anything that bothered you yesterday or not allow yourself to be happy today. 

So here is to TODAY!  :o) 

*I get to go to a step aerobics class with a friend

*Grill yummy kabobs tonight with my hubby

*Be healthy & active

*Continue in my Bible study tonight…..i’m reading Esther

*Do my best at my job….and hopefully make someone smile today

*Get some cuddle time in with Miss Maddie before she gets her hair cut Saturday :)

I had mentioned earlier this week that me and husband painted pottery on our anniversary! :)  It was such fun.  I had gone many times…..but Tim had never had the pleasure.  ha!  However, he told me he loved it and wants to go again!  He has always had an artistic side to him.

We picked out our pieces.  Tim chose the ripple coffee mug and I went with the travel mug……it was so hard to choose just one thing! haha!

Next you select your paint colors and your tools…… this is so hard for someone as indecisive as me! :)

Then you get to work!  I was working on a cute little birdie!

Tim hard at work!  He is actually really good at this! It’s adorable. :)

We both painted an anniversary reminder on the bottom of our mugs. :) 

I love that. 

Tim wrote on the inside of his mug…. “live everyday unashamed”  and put 1:16 for Romans 1:16.  

We left our mugs there so they could fire them.  We get to pick them up this Saturday!  I can’t wait to see how they turn out! We are both so anxious to see our final product! haha!

If you have a place like this in your city…..I highly recommend it for a fun date!  We both had so much fun! 

I hope everyone has a lovely day today! 

Lots of LOVE!

Amanda

6 years.

Saturday we celebrated 6 years of marriage.  It was a beautiful day…..but more importantly it has been an amazing 6 years.  I didn’t make a special anniversary post Saturday since I was spending the day with my groom (duh!)  :)  I will share a run down of our day later this week.  We painted pottery, went to this fancy shmancy restaurant and had gelato & cupcakes!  It was perfect. 

Our marriage is not perfect.  Everyday of the past 6 years have not been perfect by any means.  But with God holding us together in the beautiful bond of marriage and the love we have for each other….you can get through the good days and the bad days. 

I am really looking forward to this next year being married to Tim!  We really feel we are on the brink of some exciting things that God has in store for us.  We are just being patient and enjoying our time together now.  Tim is in Seminary (and he is doing a fabulous job by the way!!!), we are excited about growing in our areas of ministry at church, God is working in our hearts and growing us everyday, we are majorly looking forward to and anticipating the day we can become parents.  And of course I’m always looking forward to the little joys that come along everyday in life!  I know sometimes people think I’m silly….but I really try to enjoy and savor every little moment.  Sometimes the little things in life can be the most special! 

Tim surprised me with a fruit bouquet!  These things are seriously amazing!!!!!!

Little pineapple hearts!  So cute and delicious! :)

Thank you for all the sweet well wishes on our anniversary last week!  I really appreciated it!  Our weekend couldn’t have been better!

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend as well! 

Happy Monday! 

xo,

Amanda

Oh what a beautiful morning….da dee do….

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Yay!  What a feeling! :)  I am drinking the most amazing coffee today too.  It’s called Churchill's Sinless Pastry.  It is sooooo good.  I’m normally a Dunkin Donuts kinda gal.  But this might be my new favorite. 

I think it’s going to be a fabulous day!  I woke up early enough this morning to have my coffee, a blueberry bagel and actually put on eyeliner! haha!  Most mornings I will slab on a quick eye shadow and call it good.  But I had time for eyeliner today!  It really does make such a difference for me.  However, most mornings I’m barely making it out the door…..and I finish getting ready in the car.  :) 

I just saw the extended forecast…..and it is going to be crazy HOT next week!  I mean, heat indexes in the 105 range.  I’m loving summer, but that is crazy! 

Just a few cell phone pics of some summer loves.  :)

Confession:  I have never seen Harry Potter or read the books!  Anyone else out there?  Or are there crickets? I do think I’m ready to watch them all though.  I would love to see what all the hype is about.  I’m not sure why I have never watched them…..

Funny story:   Last night in yogalates class…..we were using those bouncy balls.  Well, we had them between our legs doing leg lifts.  And I was reallllly struggling to keep mine stabilized.  (i blame it on my pants!) Well, I lost control and my ball flew out of my legs and almost hit our instructor!!!!! haha!  Probably one of my worst yoga nightmares……except for maybe farting out loud while holding an awkward pose! ha! 

Random:   I am completely addicted to “words with friends” on my cell phone! haha!  Does anyone else play? 

Have a fabulous FRIDAY everyone!!!!!! 

Hugs!

Amanda

I heart surprises.

Well, as I have already stated *multiple* times this week……our anniversary is Saturday.  I have received several fun surprises this week from Mr. Tim. 

I LOVE surprises!  Who’s with me?

Monday when I got home from work, this was on the kitchen table. 

And this was inside!  I have also been blogging about Cherry Berry A LOT! ;)  It’s my new favorite fro-yo place.  Well if I wear this shirt on Tuesdays, they will give me 3 oz. of yogurt for free!!!! yippee!  Plus the shirt has a cherry on it.  Again:  I’m obsessed!

On Tuesday, these beauties were on the kitchen table!  Oh Hot Tamales how I adore you!  Yes that sticky note says “6 boxes for 6 years”.  Thankfully I have shown some restraint and have only consumed 1 box so far.  The other 5 boxes are tucked away in my pantry.  You never know when you might need some Hot Tamales.  ;)

I’m not sure what all is in store for the rest of the week and weekend…..but I’m excited!!!!!  We are planning a few things for Saturday (the actual anniversary).  We are going to wake up early *hopefully* and go for a nice long run on one of the beautiful nature trails in our city.  I’m really looking forward to that.  We have a ton of awesome trails around here.  Then I’m sure we will grab an iced coffee afterwards!  Then I know Mr. Tim has made dinner reservations at an ah-ma-zing place that I have always wanted to go to! 

I have a few tricks up my sleeve…..but I can’t blog about them quite yet!  Mr. Tim reads the blog ya know!  I’m excited about the little surprises I have for him.  hehe!

Lastly…..I really have not been able to WAKE UP today! ugh!  It’s the worst feeling.  I just feel so sleepy.  I am going to force myself to go to yogalates today even though I reallllllly don’t want to go.  

Well, I guess I had better go to yogalates because I still have 5 unopened boxes of Hot Tamales! :)

Hope your having a joy-filled day!

xo,

Amanda

melt your heart….

I have the cutest nephews in the whole wide world!  It’s true! :)  Last week Mr. Tim and I babysat little Landen.  It was so fun and he was such a good boy. 

We snapped the cutest pictures of him (cell phone pics) while he was chillin on our couch.  He got to wear his uncle Tim’s xbox headphones and hold the controller.  And of course Mickey is helping! ;)

  

He is the easiest fella to watch!  He melts my heart!!!!!!!!!

Also, Miss Maddie wanted to say HI on the blog today! 

I knew you wouldn’t mind……

Miss Maddie is going to the spa this weekend!  She is super excited!

A verse I am thinking on today:

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”  Proverbs 18:10

I’m so thankful that the Lord is a strong tower in my life! 

I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far!  Last night I was thinking about several of my “blogging buddies”.  You guys are some of the sweetest people and I’m thankful for you! 

xo,

Amanda

Sugar overload….and a sunburn.

I’m back from our family reunion weekend!  :)  It’s was lots of fun.  I came home sunburnt and a few pounds heavier.  sheesh! 

My body needs cleansed from all the sugary sweet foods.  Tonight the hubby and I are hitting up cross training class.  I’m not gonna lie though…..eating junk food for 3 days was fun!  ;) 

Oh…..husband and I did a paddle boat on the lake!  It was funny!  We wanted to try the kayaks but they only had one. 

I found my new favorite fro-yo place in town.  It’s Cherry Berry!!!!!! It is simply amazing!  It is my dream place because I have been obsessed with cherries my entire life.  There are cherries all over this store.  And they have cherry air freshener too!  Sheer joy.

This is now my go-to spot!!!!!! 

It has been over 100 degrees in our town the past few days! yuck.  And I think the heat trend is suppose to continue this week. 

Guess what?  Mr. Tim and I celebrate 6 years of marriage this Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!  We are so excited.  It is so fun reminiscing about the past 6 years and of course….dreaming about the future.  I LOVE my husband!

Speaking of husband……

He did pose next to a cardboard cut out of Justin B.  :)  Next to the fragrance section. 

And I had to get in on it too! heehee!

Hope everyone is staying cool inside!  However…..my mom is on a business trip in Cali and she said it’s a cool 70 degrees there! wow. 

Summer hugs & kisses!

Amanda