The cycle ends right now.

These past few weeks have been amazing to me. My classes were canceled like 5 times because of bomb threats and possible shootings. Ok, so maybe those things weren’t so amazing but the time off from school was:) I’ve been so swamped with school, Roth’s, and nannying that I have barely had time to take a breath! So i finally got up the courage to talk to my boss and give my two weeks notice at Roth’s! I don’t know why it was so hard for me. I seriously was terrified lol! But it was getting to be too much for me. So today was my last day, and let me tell you it is like a HUGE weight is lifted off my chest! Now I can focus more on school more more time to relax now and then…

Another thing that has made this week amazing is Christian:) Holey cow can I just tell you I am so lucky to have him in my life. He keeps me grounded, and when I feel like everything is just too much for me to handle and I am stressed out to the max, he is there to hold me and tell me everything is going to be ok. And honestly, sometimes that’s all I need to hear. He is seriously so amazing:) I can tell him anything and I love knowing that! He is so helpful and I love that about him! He is always wanting to do things for me to make things easier for me, it’s so cute! He is so cute! Seriously, so stinking cute I cant stand it:) I am so blessed to have him in my life and he is so amazing to me.

But now I need to get back to the normal routine and do a little bit of catch up on my homework! blehh. Instead of using this week to do my homework and stay caught up, I decided to relax and do nothing lol. Which is now catching up on me. And even now at 2:30 in the morning while I’m up for who knows what reason…blogging and watching re-runs of Psych…I could be doing homework for the class I have tomorrow afternoon. But Im choosing not to. But oh well. Ill wake up earlier and get 6 hours of sleep instead to do it at the last minute:) Im so bad lol. Don’t judge me ok? I’ll get it done I promise:) But the cycle ends right now because I can’t procrastinate anymore lol. Well I better get off to bed! Peace!

Amanda

Pax Communities

I feel lately like I’m not sure how to explain to people what Pax is. Or when i start to, I lose people with all the questions like: Do you have a building? What about worship? Wait, so why cant you go to church AND Pax?

Being a part of Pax and having people who are going to be there for me and love me unconditionally is such an amazing thing. Something that I have been needing. And i just wanted to let people know what it means to me to be a part of Pax.

Let me just start by saying that I have been a part of the traditional christian church my whole life. Going to church on Sundays, youth group on Wednesdays, etc. And it worked for me for a long time. It really did. I grew so much in high school and fell in love with my savior, while going to church. But for me, it started to become more of a chore going to church. I felt like, I would go to church on Sunday, and forget about everything that I heard about by the next week. Church was boring to me and i would end up falling asleep. Now don’t get me wrong. I loved being a part of church, I believe it works for a lot of people, and it did for me at one point. But honestly, I outgrew it. And that’s not how God intended Church to be…Something that I outgrow, and dread going to. I feel like now a days, the meaning of church isn’t what God intended it to be. People associate church with people who are judgmental, weird, religious, hypocrites. And they have every right to because that’s exactly how we act. Church is considered a “building,” instead of a body of people who love God and people, and strive to know him. We aren’t supposed to criticize people for their sins and way of life and make ourselves seem better when the reality we are just as screwed up as every one else. The only difference is we have Jesus, and are forgiven. Forgiven doesn’t mean better. Again, don’t get me wrong, I think church is a good thing. It just doesn’t work for me anymore.

Though, to be honest, when I first heard about Pax, it scared the heck out of me. I was (and still am) so used to thinking there is a set way you have to do “church”. And being a part of Pax meant stepping out side of my comfort zone and my little bubble that I am used to and I know as Safe. At first I kind of felt obligated to go, or I just wanted to follow Chad because he was my youth pastor. Not to mention most of the people I was close to was following him as well. That scared me too. It scared me that all the people who I knew and loved wouldn’t be at church with me anymore. But I realized this wasn’t something I should just jump into with that mind set. So I prayed about it and asked God to help me to realize what it was he wanted for me. That’s when I honestly felt I needed something different. Something more. I had stopped growing…I had stopped striving to be like Jesus. I needed to change something in my life and step outside of my comfort zone and follow God wholeheartedly. And that meant being a part of Pax.

Pax is a community and body of people coming together to “Love God, Love People, Create Beauty from Ashes” . Were not a church, but were a part of the church body. Right now there is 30 some people squeezed into one of our houses on Thursday nights, and have dinner and hang out. And the point is we don’t just stop there. I love being able to see the people in Pax all through out the week and build relationships with people. Pax is like my second family. Honestly, family and friends is what I think of when I think of Pax. One thing that I love about Pax, is that we aren’t being preached to. We discuss together and all get to talk about God and how amazing he is, and what we think He means by things when he says it in the bible. Its like a discussion instead of a one way conversation.

I love being a part of Pax. It is the most amazing feeling to know you wont be judged and you can talk about anything you want. Raise questions. Disagree. And not to mention eat yummy food I feel like this is how God intended it to be:)

Im still terrified. Don’t get me wrong. A lot of this stuff is really new to me and is going to be weird and hard for me to be able to wrap my mind around because I have been doing it a certain way for a very long time. But that’s why I have these people, to help me and they understand what I’m going through because they are going through the exact same thing. It’s all new but its so refreshing being a part of Pax. I love it.

Tell me what what you think or ask questions:) I would LOVE to answer them the best I can.

Amanda

As far as creativity goes…

So, I havebeen trying to be more creative lately. I always have tried to be creative but am usually lacking the right amount of motivation. I’ve been so busy lately working two jobs and going to school that I’ve barely had any time to myself. So lately, when I can find time I’ve been trying to bring out my creative side!

Kesha had been amazing and shows me how to do some pretty cool things with a hot glue gun;)
She helped me make these cute cloth flowers:)

And this uber cute head band:)

So cute huh? Also, I’ve been a little obsessed with going to goodwill and buying some lamp stands with potential:) So I saw a really cute thing on Pintrest where they hot glued flowers onto a lamp shade….and I fell in love! So I thought why not?

I’m gonna spray paint the gold lamp stand, black. I don’t really know what to do with the white one. I will probably leave it white and find a lamp shade for it:)

I’ve also stumbled upon some blogs thanks to Craft Gawker, that showed me some really cool things to crochet:)

This really cool knotted head band!

And this urban jungle slouchy beanie! (which is still in the making)

But will look like this:

You can find how to make the head band here and the slouchy beanie here.

Amanda

When the sun shines….

The past few weeks the kids and I have been couped up in the house, trying to escape the cold. When I looked outside and saw the sun shining and how beautiful it was, I knew we had to take advantage of it. So I threw on their coats and shoes and buckled them in the car. We had the windows rolled down and listened to “Moves Like Jagger” the whole way to the park (or as Gunnar calls it…”moves like Jack”) lol.

Needles to say it was a beautiful day and the perfect weather for a day at the park with some pretty awesome kids:) Here’s a little how it went:)

Hope you had a fun day and enjoyed the sunshine as much as we did:)

Amanda

Gunnar and Grace.

So I just started nannying for the two kiddos, Gunnar and Grace! I started last month and we have been having a blast! They are so much fun!

We have gone and done so many things together and I wanted to show you all what we’ve sorta done so far!
We went to the Gilbert house:)

We played at the park:)

We played on the snow!!!

And I even was able to get Graces hair into a cute little pony tail:)

And we played dress up (mainly Gunnar though)

We built a fort out of blocks!!! How cool is that?!

We played with the doggie of course!

and don’t forget the carousel!!!

And so much more:) I love being with these kids:) they crack me up!

Amanda

A New Hobby…

So I started a new hobby guys! And its cakes! Not just any cakes…Fondant Cakes:) 

I told my sister I would make her a birthday cake, and I had previously made a fondant cake a year or so back with Jordan. So I thought why not give it another try? This time it was just me though and no helping hands! So I was a little nervous for how it would turn out! But it didn’t turn out too bad…really the only thing I was disappointed about was the bow on the top. It didn’t dry out like I wanted it too, so it kinda wilted ha:) but practice makes perfect! And it was uber fun making it too! 

So I guess you could say its a hobby of mine now, making fondant cakes! Especially now that I’ve sorta got the hang of it! Also, I just ordered this really nifty thing online (yes, people still say nifty!) called The Mat It’s two pieces of specially designed, food safe, easy to clean, plastic mats, and you put your fondant between them, and it makes it easy to roll out the fondant. Then it sticks to the mat, and you can lay it over the cake and peel it of for an easy application. I’m excited to use it:) I’ve already been asked to make a few cake for some more people so I’m really excited to continue with my new hobby:) 

If you need a cake made…you know who to call:)

-Amanda

Photo’s. Fun. &Wierdoness Part II

So, I would have posted these pictures all at once on the post before this, except for they are taken from my phone, and lost my phone for about 42 hours. I swear I lose my phone once a week lol. It’s a serious problem!

After our little adventure to the park/elementary school, we headed home, had dinner, and then headed for the Jacuzzi tub! They love that thing:) and of course the Barbies had to come with:)

But of course, something went wrong. They wanted a bubble bath. So i gave them a bubble bath. Except for I wasn’t paying attention to how much bubbles I put in. And I think I may have went a little overboard….just a little lol:)

At first I was like, okay, not too bad…they’re having fun and its not going over the edges…

But then it kept going….and going…and going. And needless to say I was getting a little worried lol

But it all worked out…we had to turn off the jets so it wouldn’t keep overflowing…but they loved it:)

They kept making silly hair do’s and making me take pictures of them lol. It was cute.

I love these girls! its hard to believe that next year Alexie will be in 3rd grade…and Alyssa with be in the 5th grade. I don’t want them to be growing up this fast…it’s not fair. They need to stay little forever lol.

But I love when i get to spend some time with them:) we get to act like nuts together and laugh about the silliest things that only are funny to little girls and their 18 year old aunt:) Were more like sisters though:) The best sisters EVER!!!

- Amanda

Photo’s. Fun. & Weirdoness.

First, just let me start by saying, yes, I know, I am horrible at updating my blog. But lets face it. No one really reads it anyways. Maybe one (if i’m lucky), or two people tops lol. But hey, I’m sorta new, and I like blogging even if people may not read my posts:) 

Just a quick update…I finally got a job. Roths. I absolutely love it. For now anyways;) And I’m starting Chemeketa in the fall. Its been a pretty exciting year, with lots of changes! But I’m getting used to them!

Since school ended I’ve been pretty busy surprisingly! So when my sister asked if I wouldn’t mind watching my nieces overnight i jumped at the chance to be able to see them:) 

I decided to document our night! We headed down to the park/elementary school near my house with the neighbor girl Kayla, and took some crazy pics:) they make me laugh…maybe they will make you laugh and brighten your day as well:) Take a look! 

) 

Can I just tell you that Alexie’s Popsicle dripped on my head. A lot.

Yeah…we were actually screaming. Were just that cool!  

Well I hope you enjoyed those. And trust me. Those are just a few…you don’t want to see the rest lol.

Have a good day guys:) (whoever even reads my posts…) <3

  -Amanda 

Class of 2011 Graduation!

That’s right! I’m a graduated woman! No more high school for me.

As hard as it is for me to come to terms with the whole thing, it’s so exciting knowing that I’m all done! 

And not to mention, a HUGE relief on my part.

School is stressing, but as the end of the year approaches, things get a little, well….overwhelming to say the least!!! 

And so as i walked across the stage as my name was called and got my diploma

(or the case that holds my diploma), it was such an amazing feeling and

i couldn’t help but smile, and let the relief overcome me!   

 Seriously. Relief. That’s what I felt. Sweet. Sweet. Relief.

 Not to mention that I was so excited i almost peed my pants!! jk

I’m just so excited, you have no idea. But at the same time, its so surreal! I can’t believe I actually did it!

I don’t think it will fully kick in until the first day i start college! 

But anyways…heres some more picture! Enjoy!

 I did it  

My Senior Prom :)

                                                                      

 I met up with Christian at his house so our mom’s could take

pictures! I always secretly dred my mom taking pictures

because she always trys to make me do wierd poses…and it looks so awkward haha

but luckily she wasn’t too bad this time;)

This was my group:) Travis and Celia, Diego and Xcaret, and Christian and I!

Christian looked so sharp in his tux! I really liked my dress…

I got it at Davids Bridal. That’s where i’ve went the past like 3 dances! 

I love love love their dresses <3

He also did a good job picking out the corsage:) it matched really well

I’m pretty proud of him for that!

Christian also cooked dinner for the group!

It was pretty impressive not gonna lie!

 He cooked pork madallions with cranberry pan sauce

and asparagus.

I know right…

It was so yummy! I stuffed myself full!

So i had such an amazing time at prom:)

Even though they played lame songs, it was incredible!

I couldn’t have had a better date!

Christian was so sweet and had lots of surprises for me. Like bowling after the dance!

I’m glad I got to go with my best friend!

-Amanda