random things that make me happy

Ok so I have been wanting to blog on all the new things/deals/awesome stuff going on in my life but haven't had time!

First things first... this weekend my princess turned 6 months old.. where has the time gone?! Seriously I am in utter amazement every single day by the sweet little girl God blessed me with. She is growing and changing every single day and before I know it she will be crawling. It is such a blessing to be her mommy and I wouldn't trade the sleepless nights or trying to study one handed so that I can hold her at the same time for the world. It's a challenge sometimes but she truly has changed my life for the better and I will do everything in my power to give her the best life possible.

On Monday, We got these awesome pictures taken at the Target Portrait Studio! They came out so good that I had to buy the disc so I have them to do whatever I want to! I am so excited about them and can't wait to get on shutterfly and get creative!! I would have already but homework has really been owning my life this week, makes it hard to find time for much else!

 This is the latest Motive's Make-up catelog. I just ordered some stuff from them for the first time and let me tell you it is such nice make-up! A little pricey but if you are willing to spend it you won't be disappointed! I went to a Make-up party a lady at church was hosting for her daughter who just became a junior member and got a make over and instantly fell in love and bought a few things. It's always nice to feel pretty you know!

 These would be my awesome new running shoes that I absolutely love. What makes them even more awesome is that I got them from Khol's on a super good sale with a 30% off coupon needless to say.. they were less than 35 dollars! And, I got 20 dollars Khol's cash (and another 10 from a different purchase) that I went back with another day and got my new favorite thing.  A HEATING BLANKET! Being a SoCal girl I never needed one, but experiencing my first REAL winter this thing is a must! It's like 22 degrees outside tonight! Anyways, I knew I wanted one and knew they were going to be expensive.. Costco had one on sale for 30 and it was hard to walk away, but I wanted to look around and knew I could go back and get it if need be. So I go into Khols and this heating blanket is normally 105 (anyone who knows me knows I am cheap and would never spend this much) on sale for 55 plus my 30% coupon which had't expired yet AND my 30 dollars khols cash.. I got the blanket AND  a new long sleeve shirt for a whopping $17.56!!! I am so super proud of my steal of a deal which makes me love the blanket even more!

So obviously, it's the simple things in life that make me happy and I wanted to throw out there that we got new windshield wipers for the car this week. HOLY COW .. I have NEVER been SO EXCITED to use my windshield wipers... THEY ACTUALLY WORK! I can see out of my front window after I use them!
Which will be especially nice because...

It's officially winter in the Midwest! sorry for the not so great picture it was taken through the window haha as I have yet to purchase my own pair of snow pants or boots I have not spent any time in the snow yet. A lot of it has melted off but it's definitely here to stay until spring! So now those windshield wipers are extra special to my heart!

I also wanted to let you mommy's with little princesses know about some of my favorite online stores (aka women who are amazing and talented and have created their own website and stores etc)

http://www.rockmamapunkbaby.com a fellow navy wife runs this page and it's so awesome! Do not let the store name fool you, yes she rocks but she takes custom orders and has made some of the MOST amazing things that my Kaylee owns/wears!! You can also check out the facebook page HERE
http://http://www.sweetnskullybowtique.com/  a pair of marine wives who set this up for some fun and ended up making a thriving business out of it! I am currently waiting on my order from them but know that it will be nothing short of amazing.. they have one day left on their 20% off sale!! Check out their facebook page HERE
http://www.calleighsclips.com Elisabeth is awesome and makes everything! Hats, bows, dressed, jewelery.. you name it the girl is amazing with crochet needles! I just got a sneak peak at the hat I had custom made for Kaylee and LOVE cannot wait to get it in the mail! Check out her facebook HERE

Isn't it so adorable?! I will post pictures of some of the other goods I picked up from her later!





Lastly, Lil Monster Hats! I've never personally ordered but they have some really adorable stuff for your little girls AND boys! So mama's check it out!!

Anyways, one last big thing to report... This weekend I get to craft! You have no idea how excited this makes me!! I have been desperately wishing to get a break so I could craft, but I just never seem to find it! This weekend our church is hosting something called Hearts and Hands where the women come together, craft on whatever projects you want, and eat a delicious lunch... AND we get to take a class of our choice! Our whole family originally signed up for the pie crust demonstration... until I found out there was a class for learning to Sew!!!!! I am beyond excited as I have been wanting to do this for a while! If all goes well, I will be asking for people to get me amazon giftcards for christmas to buy the sewing machine I've got my eye on! So be on the look out for a post about that!!


XOXO


oh.. and to leave you with one of my my fav pictures from our photoshoot..

No Matter What

by Kerrie Roberts is definitely my favorite song right now. It truly touches my heart and says all the things I am trying to pray but can't always verbalize. I don't understand, I can't understand what is happening why things keep going forward and then backwards again. I just have to know that I'm doing the best I can. I'm trying to be Christ like, praying reverently for God's wisdom, strength, guidance and understanding. That's all I can do right now, I just need to buckle down, hold on to my seat, and pray through the ride God is sending me on. I am strong enough, the Lord is on my side, but it's still so scary! It's so scary feeling like you are in a happy, good places and having it thrown in your face that you're wrong. I just feel like it's always this way.. I feel bewildered and lost after the crash.. What I have to praise God for today is the way I handled it. I've never handled it quite the way I did tonight. And maybe that's why I got the reaction I did because it's hard to know how to respond to kindness and understanding. When you are used to an angry, bitter, self-pitying, untrusting attitude that is how you prepare yourself "for battle".. when someone else changes it up maybe it throws you off.. you're unprepared to respond to love, understanding, kindness, and genuine compassion mixed in with confusion. Everything I said was totally true, I didn't say anything out of anger or disbelief or self-pity. I can only pray that things continue to go up from here. I know that God has His hand in everything, He is the one sustaining me right now and no matter what he is good and I will love him and trust him..


And thus the lyrics..

No Matter What by Kerrie Roberts


I’m running back to Your promises one more time
Lord that’s all I can hold on to
I gotta say this has taken me by surprise, but nothing surprises You
Before a heartache can ever touch my life
It has to go through Your hands
And even though I keep asking why, I keep asking why
No matter what, I’m gonna love You
No matter what I’m gonna need You
I know You can find a way to keep me from the pain
But if not, if not, I’ll trust You no matter what, no matter what
When I’m stuck in this nothingness by myself
I’m just sitting in silence
There’s no way I can make it without Your help, I won’t even try it
I know You have Your reasons for everything so I will keep believing
Whatever I might be feeling, God You are my hope
And You will be my strength
Anything I don’t have You can give it to me, but it’s OK if You don’t
I’m not here for those things
The touch of Your love is enough on its own
No matter what I still love You and I’m gonna need You
No matter what I’m gonna love You, no matter what I’m gonna need You
I know You can find a way to keep me from the pain
But if not, if not, I’ll trust You
I know You can find a way to keep me from the pain
But if not, but if not, I’ll trust You
No matter what
No matter no matter what
No matter no matter what
No matter no matter what


I had a super happy random post about all kinds of awesome things.. but this needed to be let out tonight. having said that all I feel better. Praise God for his strength and love, I'm going to bed. Be on the look out for a fun post soon.

Thankful, grateful, amazed, and PROUD

“With bravery and strength they serve,
with dignity and pride they stand,
with courage and hope they fight,

the life they live is
dangerous,
treacherous,
rough,
and hard going

but when the fog clears they are the one who will still stand.”

  Today, is 11/11/2010, but what today really is, is Veteran’s day. All day long I have had tons of different things that popped into my head about what exactly I wanted to say today. I've been thinking carefully about the words I wanted to say and what I wanted them to mean for me and for everyone else. Sometimes it was happy thoughts, others kind of sad, sometimes a quick remembrance, and sometimes it was angry and full disappointment in lack of appreciation and respect, but always it was proud. I’m not going to vent like I planned once about the people who never said anything or the people who complained, instead I’m going to remember and appreciate those who matter. Today is THEIR day and NO ONE should be able to take that away from them no matter what they say. Not someone who doesn’t believe in war, not someone who doesn’t have a member of the service in their immediate family, not someone so caught up in their lives and their complaining that they have forgotten.

 Today, I want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU from the very bottom of my heart to all of the men and women, past and present who have served this great country. Freedom certainly is not free and the United States is so incredibly lucky to have men and women like you willing to defend our freedom, sacrifice the holidays and special occasions, work the long hours for not so great pay, say more goodbyes then most could take, and put their lives on the line every single day. I honestly don’t care what anyone says, we are SO lucky to have the sailors, marines, soldiers, airmen, coasties and national guard, both active duty and reserve, retired and current, past and present. You truly are not honored and thanked enough for the things you do! So again, thank you.

 That being said, I especially want to remember and thank the fallen soldiers. So many of our men and women signed their names on the line to defend this great country, and often times don’t make it home. While defending us they gain their angel wings and go to be with God. They pay the ultimate sacrifice so that right now I can be laying in my bed, with a laptop in my lap, saying whatever I want on the internet and all the other luxuries. To their families and friends, thank you for loving someone so incredibly much that you stood by them as they defended our country to their grave, we are forever in debt to you, as well. 

 That being said I want to thank the service member’s families and especially the women in the silent ranks, the wives. The wife of a service member is certainly not easy, but one thing I promise you is that it is the most rewarding thing in the world. I wouldn’t trade the times where I’m a temporary single mom, the broken phone calls, the worry over news and safety, the heartbreak watching a ship sail out of site, the frustration when the car breaks down and I know nothing about it, the constant moving, the constant unknown, or the constant change for anything. God made military wives a special breed of woman, and I am honored to be one and even more honored to stand amongst my fellow millie friends. The military has brought me some of the most amazing friends that I will always appreciate and will never forget. We are in it together, we are the only ones who truly understand one another, and we become a second family to one another. Our kids become the best of friends; spend hours playing together, and hours crying together when their daddies leave. Do we have our difference, absolutely, but ultimately we are there when the pregnant woman needs a soda, the new wife needs information on housing, the new mom needs a shower, the friend needs a stiff drink and a shoulder to cry on, and we all just need something to keep us distracted. So to the families, the kids, and especially the military wives –Thank you for your sacrifice as well. Behind every good soldier is his wife to help hold down the fort while he’s gone, we are lucky to have them and they are lucky to have us!

 

Military runs deep in my family and will always have a strong hold on my heart. My great grandpa Campbell was in WWI, two of great uncles (both Campbell’s) were in WWII, my grandpa Wohlford was on the very first Naval Seal team and part of the Chuting Stars, my grandpa Wallace was in the United States Navy during Vietnam, my husband’s grandpa Allen was in the United States Army during Vietnam, my step-grandpa Ted was in the United States Navy, my uncle Ray served in the United States Air Force, my dad was a United States Marine, and my husband is in the United States Navy. (I’m sure I’m forgetting some here.) Along with the TONS of friends who are serving in all different branches, Air Force, Marines, Navy, Army. You name it, I’ve got a friend in it and I am so thankful, grateful, amazed, and PROUD of their answer to the call to defend our country. 

As if my post didn’t scream it already, I am SO proud of be an American. I live in the land of the free and the home of the brave and I wouldn’t have it any other way! I thank God every night in my prayers for the men and women who serve and have served and for this country. We are so lucky to live the way we do because freedom honestly isn’t free, people are paying the price, sacrificing their lives for us. Please, say thank you to a service member. You don’t know how much it truly means to them.

God Bless America. 

SUPER ULTRA MEGA EXCITEMENT!

This is going to be a quick post because I’m exhausted, but I wanted to share my excitement with you guys!!

3 Things:  

1.I have only been on WW for less than a week and I’ve already lost 4.5 lbs! Yeah not a lot and probably mostly water weight but I am thrilled as I want to lose 20-30 pounds! It’s going to be a process, but I’m going tomorrow to turn in my relocated spouse of active duty deployed for FREE YMCA! Didn’t know about it? Me either, check it out at your local Y!! Also, someone finally brought it to my attention that running is probably so hard on me because I still have my cruddy tennis shoes from 10^th grade? Yeah, time for a change! So I’m on a hunt for the perfect pair of running/exercise shoes that don’t make me go broke for a whole pay period!! Any  suggestions let me know!

2.       2. I officially have my first follower!! Her name is Patty and she is FABULOUS! Be sure to head on over and check out her bloggy blog HERE. Thanks Patty!

3.       3. I honestly am so tired I can’t even remember what my third exciting fabulous news was… be on the lookout for a real blog post soon!

xoxo

America's Best Kept Secret... and hopefully a skinner me!

Have any of you been to the Midwest before? I can say that until I moved here on Sept  27, I had only ever landed in MSP on a quick (and dramatic) layover once in Jan of 2009 on a flight to visit my father-in-law in Ohio. Anyways, that being said, my first time was when I was moving here while the hubs is training and deploying. Risky? Absolutely, but hey this is where my family is!  That being said, it is absolutely amazing here! I am convinced that the Midwest with its clean air, beautiful landscape, sweet and welcoming people, farm land, seasons, cleanliness, wholesome small town feel, and water towers is definitely America’s BEST KEPT secret. I think that so many people think, “Bad weather and farms, I’m not interested,” but seriously people YOU ARE MISSING OUT!! Yeah, I haven’t lived through the snowy cold seasons and there is no denying this California born and raised girl is going to have a hard time adjusting, but even still if you haven’t been the Midwest you need to book a vacation ASAP! Minneapolis and St. Paul are both gorgeous cities right along the Mississippi and the metropolitan area surrounding has every bit of the small town feel only 25 minutes from the twin cities. One thing I have grown to appreciate in the small town I’m living in is… Water towers… call me crazy but there is something incredibly comforting and soothing about seeing a water tower and knowing that you are home. I’m convinced that this is one of the most amazing places I have ever been and aside from friends and family being in San Diego, if I never went back again, I don’t think I’d be sad. I’m just hoping now that Maryland, my new home sometimes next year, will be just as amazing to me. But, if it isn’t, we are only required to be there for 3 years, and I know now of somewhere I would love to raise my kids, right here in small town USA –midwesterner style.

xoxo, Amanda

OH by the way... how do you guys feel about Weight Watchers? I started this morning and at first was a little nervous but the more I'm learning.. I am really getting excited. My goal is to loose 20lbs so wish me luck! I picked up the cook book this afternoon and some of the recipes sound sooooo good!!! One thing that irritated me though was today I took my little sis, her friend, and my little bro (and my sweet Kay of course) to Culvers and even though I DREAM about their burgers decided to be a good girl and get the grilled chicken cashew salad with fat free vinaigrette... I get home and log online to enter my points and wouldn't you know.. the stupid salad was 11 points and the burger I wanted was only 9!!!!! what the crap is all I have to say about that!! Also, in San Diego the grocery store was loaded with the weight watchers little pre-pointed goodies etc... here I can barely find anything!! oh well, I'll make it work!!!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

Ok friends, it's that time again.. MilSpouse Friday Fill-In brought to us by Wife of a Sailor  feel free to head on over and check it out and an awesome blog.
1. A different twist on last week’s question. This week, the first question is: what’s the nicest thing a MILSPOUSE has ever done for you? (brought to you from navy_smurfette)
I have learned that MilSpouses can be some of your best friends.. and your worst enemies. In a world that seems to be filled with anger, jealousy, and sometimes a lot of he said she said.. I have had some very refreshing millies come out and touch my life! While I was pregnant I had a friend whose husband was also on my husband's ship help me out countless times. She would bring me soda when I craved it and my husband had the car, check on me when I was alone, and have me over multiple times to eat and just hang out. She was so sweet, and not just to me that's just her personality to everyone. It definitely won't be forgotten!!
2. How often do you drive faster than the speed limit?
Well, in California before my accident I drove way too fast (not Mike speeding but over the speed limit..) basically everyone in San Diego does.. but after my accident and my husband's speeding tickers I was a little weary to drive at all, let alone speed. Here in Minnesota however, all the speed limits are wayyyy higher!! So I am always struggling to keep with the flow of traffic, still in my crazy CA mentality. I swear people are constantly looking at my plates like "really cali girl?!"
3. Did you have a nickname in school? If so, what was it?
Mostly Manda, Amanda Panda, or just plain Panda...
4. If your life was a book, what would the title be and how would it end?
Well, that's kind of hard since I have not lived my whole life! Well, with where my life is right now, I'd probably name is the same name as my blog. I can only hope that the ending would say that God was pleased and I lived a happy, full life.
5. Look back (in your planner if you have one) to September 14th… what did you do that day?
Not entirely sure what I was doing exactly, but it was RIGHT before we had to be out of our house so I am sure I was packing, stressing, planning, and homeworking!