Fill In the Blank Friday...with the Funk

there are blanks to be filled!

(see)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Well friends, its friday, but that's not as exciting to me as it normally would be since I have been at home in bed for the last three days. Seems i have somethin' funky goin' on in my throat. And since i loathe the doctors office, i am just now realizing that i need to go in before the tiny white bumps in the back of my throat swell up so that i can't breathe and i will never be able to blog again because i will be dead. (drama).

Its not even that bad. I'm just teasing. But really, I hate going to the doctor for such things, because 9 times out of 10 its "just a virus"...and they tell you to come back in a week if its not better, which it always is..and you just wasted your money for someone to stick a stick on your tongue when your mom could have told you the same thing. Ya know? God bless doctors...i just neglect going too often. In fact, I have not had a regular doctor, aside from my one "lady doctor" visit before getting married, in about 4 years. sheeesh.

Anyway, that is just to update you on my absence from blogland...i have also been absent from work, gym, cooking, and doing anything productive except popsicle eating. But its Friday morning, and therefore I shall fill the blank with my lovely friend Lauren. Who i hope to still be able to make my coffee date with in the morning..that is if i don't have strep throat (and collect my sweet giveaway winnings as a bonus ♥)

Here we go, fillin it in...

1. When I'm nervous I talk really really fast and loud and frantically play with whatever is in my hand, which usually means intense pen-clicking.

2. My favorite item in my closet is my lovely new black and gray polka-dot romper from target. I'm still deciding if i have the right body type for it..but its so cute i don't know how i can NOT sport it as soon as the sun comes out.

3. Going in my room, closing the door, being by myself, sitting on my bed cross-legged with a cup of coffee and a lamp on, reading my bible or listening to music is my favorite thing to do when I need to relax.

4. My favorite childhood memory is going on summer trips to Tennessee to visit my relatives and staying at my Nanny Marshal's house and drinking sweet tea and sitting on her lap.

5. Something you may not know about me is when i was little I would not eat anything red or anything green. I hated almost every food that was not a meat or a starch. I made my mom give my spaghetti with butter and rice with butter and sugar. Oh, and i hated breakfast. Now i want to eat everything in sight. Besides onions, olives, and bratwurst, that's disgusting.

6. A true friend will be your friend for the rest of your life. Even when your lives change, you friendship will change right along with it. You can be attached at the hip on day and not see eachother for the next year, and pick up right where you left off. A true friend is not mad about the way life changes your relationships, but is happy to see where life is taking you next. I heart my bff. Oh, and its also important to share clothes. that's essential friend material.

7. Something I hope people think of when they think of me is joy. I hope people look at my life and see joy in any circumstance and wonder where it comes from...and ask me!

So since I copied and pasted Lauren's questions, i can't figure out how to get it un-underlined...and I'm too tired to try and figure it out. So underlined it will be for the rest of the post...which is almost over. Now off to nurse my throat!

If you do your own Fill In The Blank, don't forget to link it HERE so we can see your answers!

Happy Weekend Y'all!

Two Things I Love Around My Home

Haven't done this one in a little while. From Kassi at Bacwoods Fern.

Two things I am tickled by(aka love)today.

1 ♥ this little set of curtains i picked up at one of my favorite shops on Fremont called Vestiges Storefront. It used to be this big 'ol two story place with the greatest prices, and the last time my mom and I went, they were downsizing and clearing out the whole upstairs. Very sad, but very lucky for me I scored these guys for I think 8 bucks. They are perfect in our kitchen and they remind me of my Nanny Marshall.

2 ♥ My yellow chair. We got it in great condition at a place off Sandy in the Hollywood District called Hollywood Reruns. It was a steal, and no spots, stratched, or strange odors. Now it has kind of become Tangle's perch, but I still get a little territorial about it. We've sort of wrapped our living room decor around its sunny yellow color. I heart it dearly against the gray walls.

There you have it. two things I love today, among many others. If you want, share your own two things and don't forget to link up.

Happy Tuesday!

Confessions

.I need grace.

At our church, Solid Rock, John Mark (one of the teaching pastors) is doing a series on Jesus. Sounds funny since its all about Him anyway, right? He is digging into Jesus, who He is and who He is NOT. The result- I don't know about others, but for me, its making me fall head over heals in love with Jesus...who I THOUGHT i already WAS head over heals in love with.


This is all taken from John Mark's teaching yesterday, you can listen to the whole thing (which is way better) here.

Yesterday I remembered that I need grace. Please read the story and think about it. Think about who you are in the story.

Luke 7:37-50

And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that
He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster
vial of perfume,
and
standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her
tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and
anointing them with the perfume.
Now
when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man
were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is
touching Him, that she is a sinner."
And Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have
something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher."
"A moneylender
had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
"When
they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them
will love him more?"
Simon
answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him,
"You have judged correctly."
Turning
toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your
house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears
and wiped them with her hair.
"You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time
I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.
"You did not anoint My head with
oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.
"For this reason I say to you,
her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is
forgiven little, loves little."
Then He said to her, "Your sins have
been forgiven."
Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say
to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?"
And He said to
the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

How do you feel right now? Do you feel like Simon, or do you feel like the woman (by the way, the woman being a "sinner" means she was a prostitute)? I know my answer. I think I used to feel like the prostitute. I KNOW what grace means. But more often than not, I am the snobby, stuck up, prideful Christian named Simon.

Whether you have been a prostitute, or you have been a "good Christian girl or boy" you whole life. You need grace. I need grace. When I compare myself to others...yeah, i'm okay. But when I compare myself to Him...i'm the chiefest of sinners.

So really, We're all the prostitute, right?

disorganization overload=failed attempts at blogging

Brace yourselves children...

Ok, so I'm aware that I have only posted twice in the last 7 days. I feel overwhelmed. Not with blogging...with the immensity of junk overtaking my house. And by junk i mean me not cleaning up after myself due to lack of time, as a result of lack of ability to say no (to good things and good people), because of desire to please people...caused by not enough desire for things that really matter...resulting in bratty sass-mouth to people i love.

gasp.

see what i mean? yeesh. At work i'm super organized and on top of my "to do" list...but at home its kinda getting out of hand.

*side note...this happens to me sometimes. It always has. I forget to worry about things like doing laundry, picking up my clothes from the floor, vacuuming the living room, taking out the empty boxes from moving...six months ago..things like that. But then all at once, about every couple months, i start to get insane about the things that i forgot to worry about earlier...and then I have to take a whole day off, wake up early, do a mad 12 hour sweep of the whole mess, forget to eat all day long and want to pass out and get a pedicure at the end of it all.

With all that said...this is my notice of a blog-break until my chores are done. That's right...I just grounded myself. I know all 5 of my readers will be wildly disappointed. :-)

I don't mean to be a downer...just a little glimpse into my momentary lack of grace as a professional juggler of tasks.

........

♥ This girl promises to have a better attitude the next time you hear from her...and also to not talk in third person anymore ♥

Reasons I love my life #3...

.weekends.

Mostly last weekend, not just because it was Valentine's Day, but because it was spent in the most amazing way. I'll get into the recap in a minute.

When Ben and I first met, we never had normal schedules. He worked on the weekends and I was living in a different city, so we spent time together whenever we could fit it in. In January, when I started my most recent job, is the first time since we met that we have been able to take weekends off together. REAL weekends. Man, its been a long time coming. We are kinda going crazy with the possibilities of all the things we can do on the weekends, simply because we can! Its such an important time to have when you're newly-weds and before you have kids. Its something to look forward to and work towards all week. We feel like we're dating again.♥ I sound old, don't i?

..........

So this last weekend was incredible. Our dear friends let us stay at their lodge on The Riffle, a famous fly fishing stretch on the Deschutes River. Pretty much in the middle of nowhere...but beautiful. I don't know what I was picturing, but I was pretty blown away when we got there. It was so secluded, and the lodge was amazing...heated floors and all. :-)

the lodge driving in

huge fireplace

the view form the balcony

Old fashioned toilets...

the chain is the flusher. so fun.

beautiful. notice the stuffed cougar.

fierce.

The weekend was filled with card games, cooking, laying on the couch in sweats, listening to owls, watching bald eagles, napping in the loft, horseshoes, looking at stars, throwing knives at trees (Ben's idea), and lots and lots and lots of time falling in love with the Lord in His creation. MUCH needed time. It felt like a retreat away from the rest of the world.



Three funny highlights of the weekend:



1. Me waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, finishing, and turning the corner out of the bathroom to go back to the bedroom, and there is Ben..with a knife...he thought I was a bad guy...he was ready to pounce. HAHAHA. That is not a joke. He really thought I was a "burglar".





2. Me being SO excited to do tons of crafts and even spending a pretty good amount of money on supplies...packing them up and putting them by the door to pack...getting halfway there and Ben asking me if i remembered to bring them....



...no. no, i did not remember to bring them. I cried a little. seriously. I was pretty disappointed, but turns out I did not miss them one bit. Maybe I forgot them for a reason because someone else wanted my attention. (Jesus)




3. Us getting a little bit stir crazy around 4:00pm on Saturday night, it was raining outside, we had read all the way through our books, played thirty games of "thirteen" in a row (28 of which i killed Ben), and eaten wayyyy too many chips and salsa to be ready for dinner. So we decided to take a little drive...through Madras, the bustling metropolis...and straight on through to Redmond, where we stopped at a Wal-Mart to ask for directions to a movie theater. We pulled up just in time for the 6:30 showing of Valentine's Day at the 4-plex. awesome. ghetto. romantic. stupid movie though. It was still fun..Ben kept turning to me and saying.."we're in Redmond."




And to top off an amazing weekend, I came home to find out I won Lauren's giveaway at The Little Things We Do. I was so happy because i love Lauren and i love the thrifty little find that she was giving away. hooray!

here it is. cute!

So, no crafts to share unfortunately..But i did have an amazing weekend. Now looking forward to picking up my new shelf from Becca this week, and getting started on our office while Ben is gone snow caving this weekend. Manly.

Longest post everrrr. sorry. Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Fill In the Blank Friday

Well, you know I have to join miss Lauren and

Fill In The Blank.

It is becoming my favorite little post of the week, afterall

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

1. I am hoping my Valentine's day this year includes,lots and lots of relaxation and quietness.

2. My biggest guilty pleasure is eating cereal for two out of three meals a day WAY too often, and not feeling bad about it usually.

3. I am most proud of My job that I have worked really hard for, although on the scale of whats most important to me, its way at the bottom...meaning I could give it up in a second. Close second would be sticking it out through the EXTREMELY challenging times with our puppy. Seriously, the dog is like a human. Everyone told us he was not the right dog for us, but there were some people who encouraged us to stick with it, and now we could not love him more. He is the best dog. :-)

4. If I could choose one outfit to live in it would be my favorite jeans (which happen to be from forever21, go figure, my hunter boots(even when its not raining),a plain solid fitted shirt of some kind, and some headband or hairpin i made...and my wedding ring, of course. ♥

5. People are mostly all looking for the same thing. To love and to be loved. Which is why I'm confident when i say that I believe all people are looking for Jesus. Not just "God" they way people think of God, as some force to believe in...but JESUS...the only One whose plan from the very beginning was to give himself for a people who had yet to turn their back on Him. Jesus was not plan B, He was the plan all along. That is love,and that's what people are looking for. Did you stop reading yet? :-)

6. I would rather have something old and classic than something new and trendy.

7. I love my life more than I ever thought I could.

Do your own Fill In The Blank Friday post and don't forget to link up here!


Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day.

See you again on Sunday!

Obessesed with the Sweetness.

Valentine's Day

=

Sweet.

(see)

I love valentines day.

yes its cheesy.

yes its silly.

yes its an excuse for girls to get presents.

yes its pink and red and white everywhere.

so?

To be honest, this year Ben and I are not doing any gifts at all. We are going away for the weekend. Finally. sigh. Its much needed. Some friends of ours are lending us their lodge on the river. I can't think of anything I would rather do on Valentines Day then wake up in the morning and have a cup of joe with Ben in our slippers and sit on the porch and watch the rain. Then go make breakfast and do nothing all day. We will be there Friday-Sunday and there really is nothing to do besides fish (its not fishing season). So he is bringing a book and I'm bringing....crafts! I have a couple in mind, which i will share once completed when I get home...but THIS, I fell in love with this morning. I will attempt it over the weekend.

SO sweet and lovely.

(see)

Any plans for Valentine's Day?

Have you seen any cute lovey-dovey projects that you want to try?

How-To Tuesday

How To:

Tie A Messy Scarf

(one of the million ways)

So, my sister-in-law Allison always tells me that i need to teach a class on tying scarfs. I don't know. But I thought I would share with my friends here how I like to tie a really long scarf in a messy little bundle. I'm sure there is a technical name for this, or maybe a way simpler way to do it. But anyhoo, here it is! my very first tutorial! :-)

Step 1: wrap scarf around your neck once, making one end a little longer than the other.

Step 2: take one corner of long end of scarf and wrap it around, spreading it out as your wrap it around your shoulder...

......

Step 3: Tuck the end you just wrapped around underneath so it is not laying on top of the loop.



...Now it should look like this...with one end still a little longer than the other. Now your scarf should be wrapped around your neck twice.

Step 4: Now take the longer end, tuck it underneath the lowest loop and back through, poking out just a little bit, so the corners are peeking out from in between the two loops.

Voila! (creepy "a-ok" face optional)

I would love to say that I will do a "How-To" every Tuesday, but I'll have to figure out if i know how to do that many things :-) We'll see if this one catches on first!

Have a splendiferous Tuesday my lovelies.

I Declare Today.....

...What's with me and being one day behind....day.

(see)

I think my days are off? Its Monday already? I woke up feeling like it was Sunday, which is probably why I ignored my alarm and my brain and body did not tell me,

"its 6:30 which means time to get up and go to work, ya lazy bum."

No, my brain and body told me...

"you may lay there and be cozy with your hubby and drool on your pillow and sleep allllll you want, Amanda."

I finally realized it when my coffee pot started beeping at me to wake up and drink its fueling goodness and get ready. Thank you, timed coffee pot. Anyway, I am joining in with MannLand5 and having some Getting to Know You fun.

The questions...

1. How many piercings do you have?
I have my ears pierced three times, one hole has a
tiny tiny set and then i only wear one other pair at a
time, and my conch is pierced. If you don't know what that is, its the inside of your ear basically. The thickest part. Where your mom always tells you to clean out. I did it in college for some reason and it was silly because literally 3 people have ever actually seen it because i NEVER...ever...where my hair behind my ears. In fact its one of my biggest pet peeves...my hair behind my ears. So i guess that means 4 if the pairs count as one each?


2. I love the sound of..?
birds tweeting their little songs in the morning.

3. Favorite city?
Favorite city I've been to is New Orleans. So much history, music, art, architecture and FOOD. Such yummy food. Cafe Du Monde Biegnets, and crawfish etouffee. Its the coolest city. Someday maybe I will post my story about being there and running from Hurricane Katrina. No joke.


4. Colts, Saints, or could care less?
Obviously the Saints, based on my last answer. WHO DAT!!! (i don't really care that much)

5. Frozen yogurt or ice cream?
Depends, Ice Cream makes me feel like I need to drink ten gallons of water afterwards. I tend to lean towards frozen yogurt, the real kind. Nice and tart. Skinny Dip original with mangoes is my favorite.

6. Favorite appetizer?
I love me some hummus and pita bread.

7. What item in your closet currently makes you the happiest?
Oh dear. I think right now I have to say my newest most comfiest jeans, but that's only based on the way I am feeling today.

8.Favorite facial moisturizer?
I don't know, its different every time. I don't have problems with my skin other than the fact that its kinda sensitive to fragrances.

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Fillin it in..on Saturday :-/

I'm a little behind the times here.

(see)
Well friends, I know its late. Am i allowed to do this? I must say yesterday was so busy, I actually made it my goal to not even attempt to blog because i knew i had so much to get done.
pretty productive day though. Trust me, I would have much rather been doing fill in the blank with Lauren on the correct day :-)

1. If I had two hours to myself today, I'd like to say i would go to the gym, which would make it one time for the week...yikes!..but in reality i would probably go home and enjoy my newly arranged living room in peace and quiet.

2. If I could travel anywhere today, I would go to the amazing hotel in the movie Mama Mia ♥ .

3. Ben asking me to marry him is (one of) my happiest memory.

4. Sometimes I'm perfectly content, other times i wanna move away and start over with Ben.

5. Beauty is two old people in love, holding hands, on a date .

6. I would be embarrassed if anyone knew how much i cry at the most ridiculous things...commercials, songs, billboards, you name it. Sometimes i love a good cry. Who's with me!?

7. Love at first sight is something that you feel when you meet someone that makes you want to love them. And then you choose to do so.

Well, that's still fun on a Saturday! Now I'm off to the grocery store to get my ingredients for Corn and Crab Fritters for game day tomorrow. The day will begin with a good LONG trip to the gym.


get the recipe at
CookingLight.com
Are you watching the Super Bowl tomorrow? Do you love the game or are you just watching for the commercials, or are you just over it in general? Be honest! (I only like it for the food).


P.S.I make myself sound like a big 'ol glutton on this blog sometimes don't i? i promise i'm really not, i just like to eat, its joyful.

i want to live in never never land

Side note before I begin...

Like my new header!? MY beautiful and creative friend Echo made it for me. What a peach. Thanks Echo!

For some reason lately I have been falling in love with kid stuff. Baby rooms, kids toys, books, artwork. Such things. Maybe its because of my precious little niece who is about to turn 2 months old (tomorrow!)...see, here she is. Avery:


..or maybe I wish I were a kid still so I could experience these lovely things.

.Look how sweet.

...

(see)

(see)

(see)

(see)

(see)

(see)

(see)

OR...

Maybe I should just have one soon?

(see)

Did I just say that outloud?

help

Dear savvy blog friends,

I need a new header. I want a long one that actually fits up there. Who can help me and my lack of blog knowledge?

Any ideas?

.please help.

love,

Amanda

Dos (2) things I love Around My Home

Happy Tuesday!

Today is already off to a better start than yesterday for three reasons:


1: I got to sleep in until 6:15 :-)


2: Tonight is the final season premeire of...

dun dun dun...LOST.

any lost fans out there?

3: Today is Tuesday, and that means I get to share

Two Things I Love Around My Home.

Thanks to the lovely Kassi at Bacwoods Fern. Share what things around your home are making you happy today, and link up here!

K, here goes.

The first thing I love today is this spice rack that we registered for when we got married. Its Martha Stewart and I am in love with it. I always loved the spice tins, but this one has the tins with cute little antique looking labels and a sweet little wooden frame. Also it has some spices that wouldn't normally come in a standard set, like ground fennel and tamarind. In all the last places I have lived we have had a kitchen peek-a-boo window where they would sit. Our current place does not, so I was a little sad, but I still have them proudly displayed on the counter where you can even see them from the living room. I looooove.

mmmmm.

And secondly, I am loving my (free) dresser. Yes, I said free. I told Kassi I would post about this one, because she got one for her daughter's room that is very similar...also a steal.

see it here. This we got from our church when we first got married. I don't know why they had it or what they were using it for, but they changed their minds and were getting rid of it. So here it sits, in our bedroom, full of love and socks and pajamas. Our bedside tables match it (we also got those for free, by the way). I would include them in the picture but then you would see the 4-5 half full glasses of water that are cluttering my side of the bed. Did I tell you i'm kinda messy sometimes?

Anyhoo, I love this. And if you look closely in the mirror you can see our lampshade from Ikea that we flipped upside down and turned into a pennant lamp. Just a side note.

That is what I love today, along with many other things! Maybe I should do a two things I love around the office post...but that would probably be waaaaay harder. :-) Right?

what a day..

Let's all take a deep breath..

So, I'm not gonna lie. Today was not a good day. Work was not the greatest to say the least. You know those days when you come home and you can't really unwind at all? That was one of those days for me.

Man oh man.

Soooo... Here's what i did on my way home...

here they are all pretty on my mantle.

sigh.

..it made me feel a little better. But not as good as the french truffles I bought to go with them! :-)

But i felt eveb better because we had my parents over and made up a little of this. Honey-Soy Glazed Salmon with Ginger Spinach and Peppers.

(the picture is horrible, sorry)

Delish, and super easy.

You must try.

So delicious. Here's the recipe courtesy of Real Simple.com

Ingredients

.1 tablespoon honey

.3 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce

.1 skinless salmon fillet (1 1/4-pound piece), cut into 4 pieces

.kosher salt and black pepper

.1 tablespoon canola oil

.1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

.1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

.3 bunches spinach, thick stems removed (about 12 cups).

.1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Heat broiler. In a small bowl, combine the honey and 1 teaspoon of the soy sauce.
2. Place the salmon on a foil-lined broiler-proof baking sheet and season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Broil for 5 minutes. Spoon the honey mixture over the salmon and broil until the salmon is opaque throughout, 2 to 5 minutes more.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper and cook, tossing occasionally, until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes; stir in the ginger.
4. Add the spinach and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, tossing, until just wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of soy sauce. Serve with the salmon and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

My family always makes me feel better. And you know what, at the end of the day, all truffles and flowers aside, I have a lot to be thankful for. So who am I to complain? :-)

AND, whats even better...my most favorite of all cheesy holiday is coming up! That's right. I love it. Get excited people...

(see)