Vacation, All I've Ever Wanted!

  So here I am, back from vacation/sleeping after vacation/cleaning due to unpacking from vacation and I'm ready to tell y'all, ALL about it!! First let me start by saying, the next time I say it's totally fine for my mom to steal my kids for two weeks and then for Lily to go to her dad's moms house for summer camp for two weeks.... somebody hit me really hard in the head and say, "No, bitch." 'cause that was an awful idea on my part. Yeah, me and the man meat had A LOT of alone time and more date nights/hang out sessions than we ever thought possible (and I loved every second of it!), but man did I miss those tiny little feet pitter pattering around my house and their grimy little finger prints on everything. All is well now though. Emory is back with me and Lily is enjoying her swim/gymnastics/dance/play camp at her daddy's house. You ready for the adventures in Mande Land? Of course you are, you were BORN ready!

this is the best shot that I have for now; I'll have to take a new
one soon!

  Basically the last time I wrote was to brag about my main man being made a main man haha since then we just got A LOT done around the house. We did a total revamp of my dining room and now it's a southern themed paradise. We also discovered Ikea while the girls were away and if you know me at all you know that I'm all about saving money as opposed to spending it, we dont even have credit cards for Christ's sake because I think they're pure evil. Well, Ikea proved to be my one weakness (other than Bowtique goodies, but who can say no to those!?) in the money spending department. Essentially, we used Ikea to update the girls room and make it a little more storage friendly and we also went a head and bought some new stuff for their play room. Lily now has a really cool stuffed animal organizer to help maintain the obnoxious amount of stuffed toys that she has managed to acquire. She also has a magnetic board to hang all of the pretty art work that she makes on. The girls used to have this REALLY old Dora table and stool set that I had moved out of the house and into the garage to be disposed of and then it hit me, why throw it away when I can revamp it and make it functional AND pretty for them. So I, being the crafty cheap queen that I am, bought some simple spray paint and chalk board pain and voilà! they now are the proud owners of a really adorable and totally fun chalk board table. I'm pretty proud of how far our house has come since we moved in. I love nothing more than making each room feel a little more like home every day. Especially since where we are is the black hole of all military bases. Thank God I love it here... my friends help a lot with that though.

bad ass, right!?

  After finishing cleaning the house up and making it prettier than it already was, I packed my things and got ready to say, "See ya later, Ohio!" and "Hello, Florida!". The flight to Pensacola was actually not bad at all. It went really quick and there were no delays. I think more than anything, I was just so excited to see my babies that it seemed to move a lot faster than it did. When I got in the car leaving the airport, I'll never forget the look of pure excitement on Emory and Lily's faces! That made me feel really awesome knowing that they missed their mommy. Once we got back to my moms, pretty much the first thing I did was get into my parents GLORIOUS pool. They have an 8ft. pool in the middle of freaking paradise I tell you. I didn't realize it until I was there that my parents actually get to live, where most people go to vacation. How lucky are they!? Really lucky. Basically I spent the next 10 days eating my mom's home cooked deliciousness, listening to my dad's band play and just spending a lot of time with my sisters and my girls.

beach beauties!

My dad taught Lily how to swim in less than an afternoon and after that, it was pretty much downhill from there. She refused floaties if we were in the pool and wanted to swim all by herself. Uhh... can I have my baby back now? Who is this big girl that has replaced her!? I did manage to night swim quite a bit and if you know me at all, you know that I am absolutely BEYOND horrified of snakes. They scare the living shit (literally) out of me. So I decided that night swimming would be the perfect way to relax, naturally. My dad lit all of the tiki torches for me and turned on the pool lights (ummm their pool light changes colors, it's like swimming in a freaking rainbow) and I headed out. Then as I'm peacefully swimming I remember my mom telling me about how coral snakes, three to be exact, have fell from the trees and into the pool. In that moment, I don't think that I've ever paid more attention to every single splash ever made in a pool. Every time a random splash would happen I just knew that was it. That was the night I was sure my worst fears would come true and my obituary would be written as so, "Long live Amanda, she fell to the might power of the snake. She shit her bathing suit and then she died" I'd say that I'd never live that down, but if I were already dead, it wouldn't really matter. Needless to say I only went night swimming one other time and that was after Bryce got there.

....amazing. I miss it already haha

  Once Bryce was there we finally got to visit the beach and the girls LOVED it. Perdio Key has some amazing beaches and I'd know, I grew up at the beach. It was very nostalgic teaching Lily to jump waves and trying to teach emory that the wet sand makes a better sand castle than the dry sand she was insisting on using. It feels like not that long ago that I remember my mom/aunt/brother/cousins/uncle/dad teaching me the way of the ocean and how much fun sand castle building can be once you know how to do it. Truth be told, I miss everything about southern living. I complained the whole time I was there about how hot it was and how much better the weather is in Ohio, but once I was there I made sure to tell the man meat that Eglin needs to be #1 on his dream sheet, because I could get used to being a bronzed goddess all the time.
  Saying, "Goodbye!" to my family is never easy, but luckily I see my mom at least 4 times a year and that makes it a little easier. Being there really just solidified that my mom is my best friend and that my sisters are brat faces that I love more than life itself. I swear I need to lock them up already, they're too beautiful for words, but then again, they are related to me. (that was a little ego humor for you... i know i know, i'm hilarious.) I hated leaving them, but we had places to be and people to see, so off we went in the direction of the great state of North Carolina. The car ride there really wasn't bad, we had to stop in a hotel at around 1:30 am to sleep, because we left late after spending the day at the beach, but we didn't mind. Lily loves hotels, so all in all, totally worth it. As we were driving it had been predetermined that the SECOND we came across a Bojangles, we were stopping. To say that I have a mild obsession with Bojangles, is really putting it nicely. I don't want to say that eating Bojangles the entire time I was in the south was the highlight of my trip, because that would be really kind of hurtful to everyone I spent time with, but the truth hurts and that's the truth.

  We eventually mad it to Lily's dad's house and as much as I hated that I had to leave her, I love that she's getting to spend 2 weeks of quality time with him. Unfortunately, he was stationed in California for the past 2 years and didn't get to see her much. Now that he's officially out of the Marine Corps, I really hope that he'll get to make up for lost time with her. She was SO excited to see him and her mom-mom (she calls his mom that) it just melted my heart. I love that we can be on such good terms with each other and not just Matthew and me. Bryce and Matt totally bro down when they're around each other and that might confuse some people, but to us, it's not about us. It's about Lily having one unified support group standing behind her and loving her unconditionally as a whole. We see no reason why, just because Matthew and I went separate ways in life and weren't happy together, we should all be miserable. I love that about us. I love that I know Matt backs me in all of my decisions regarding Lily, just like he knows I'd never keep her from him. It's a really good feeling. I hope one day Lily realizes how lucky she is to have so many people that love her so much, to include her two daddies. ANYWAYS, sorry for my sappyness, we left Lily that night and she basically was like, "PEACE OUT HOMIES!" and went on playing with her dad. It was hard and it's never easy being away from her, but she's having one hell of a time.

  After that we stopped in to see my very best friend, Ashley and spent the night/morning at her place. Then woke up and went to see her at work, which proved to be another spending disadvantage of mine. Ashely, in all of her make up loving glory, works at the Benefit counter in the mall. I am not one to buy expensive things, I will always tell you I could by myself this and this and that OR I could buy a billion things for my kids. I just don't buy myself stuff.... BUT when it comes to Benefit makeup and a 20% discount, what's a girl to do? Buy more Benefit product, as if I needed any more. Let me just say that if you're not using their "They're real!" mascara, you're really missing out. Yes, it's a bit pricey ($23), but my god it's worth every. single. penny! Since I started using benefit in January, there is NO face make up, in my opinion of course, that compares to it. My face is naturally pretty flawless, but this stuff just perfects it. HOWEVER, that's for another post another time. We left NC and literally drove to Ohio and STRAIGHT to Chipotlé, because yes, i have a problem.
  We just spent the next two days chillin' and enjoying each others company. On Father's Day, my best friend here and her family had a cookout for Bryce and that was amazing. I'm starting to realize that I really do have some really great friends here. I mean who goes out of their way to have a cookout for their best friends husband to honor what an awesome dad he is!? My friends. That's who and they rock. I'm a very lucky lady.

I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always <3

  Sadly, I must leave you now. I have an hour to inventory the pantry and fridge so we can go shopping when Bryce gets home and try and squeeze a bow or two in for my ready to ship album, it's a good thing I love what I do so much. I know I wrote a novel, so if you read it all... you rock and if you didn't, well I don't blame you. I'm pretty boring, I know.

  Have an awesome day, y'all!!

xoxo,
Amanda.

p.s.
How super gorgeous is my mommy!?! I never realized it before, but I guess we really do look alike and I'm okay with it! :)

Let's hear it for the boy!

  No but really, let's give MY MAN a hand!! After 5 very very long weeks (and almost 6 years of service over all) for Bryce, he finally graduated Airman Leadership School and picked up Ssgt.! Not only did he graduate, but he graduated and won the award for distinguished graduate, which is a pretty big deal. Don't get me wrong when I say this. I am ALWAYS very proud of Bryce and how much he's willingly taken on in his life and how much he's endured and rose above; I was an exceptionally proud wife when I watched him receive his award and diploma though. He really worked his butt off every single day that he was in that class and it really paid off for him. We had a blast at his graduation ceremony with our friends and his colleagues and MAN did he look handsome in those blues. That's one thing about ALS that I'm going to miss, blues Mondays. Maybe I can talk him into just wearing them around the house for me or something. Bryce actually picked up Staff Sergeant on Friday since he was supposed to pick up in January, but couldn't due to him being deployed. Today was his first day back to work since and he came home from work and said how weird it is to have people calling him "Sergeant" and "Sir", which I totally understand. The idea of having Bryce be somebody's boss makes me giggle a lot when I think about it. . . He plays with lightsabers and owns a Golden Tee game.... come on now people. I did tell him he should get used to, especially since it's his dream to go officer after this and he's one step closer. No matter what he does, I'm extremely proud of my man meat and I wanted y'all to share that with me, because you're my people and I figured you're allowed to be proud with me.

I was the luckiest lady in the room, no doubt.

  Aside from Bryce's exciting news, we've just been spending a lot of time with the girls before they left for Florida for 2 weeks. Yesterday we dropped them off and that was NOT an easy task for me. I have no idea how to be without my kids, which is sad and funny at the same time. I woke up this morning to a completely silent house and in that moment I realized that being a mom is the best job I could ever ask for, no matter how hard it is from time to time. I missed the noise, I missed having to make a million pancakes and I even missed our early morning Super Why! cuddles on the couch. Naturally I called my mom as soon as it was an acceptable hour (I deemed 8 am as acceptable) and she reassured me that they are just fine and are having a blast road tripping with Nanny and aunt Kaity. I know Lily is more than anxious to make it to Nanny's house and get in "Nanny's HUGE pool" as she refers to is and spend some time at the beach with her aunts and sissy. I know I can't wait to get down there and spend time with my family and their bar in the back yard.  SPEAKING OF AUNT KAITY! My little sister graduated from high school yesterday!!!! I could not have been more proud if I tried. Unfortunately we missed the graduation, but I got to stop by her graduation party and give her a gift and as many hugs as acceptable. I feel like it was yesterday that she was following me everywhere and tattling on me and now she's all grown up and off in to the big world. It's so crazy to think that not long from now, my other little sisters will be on their way to graduation and all grown up too. I hate even thinking about that. I want them to be little girls that worship the ground their big sister walks on forever. OH MAN then my kids will be graduation and too cool for me too... EVERYONE NEEDS TO JUST STOP GROWING UP OKAY!?! I CAN'T TAKE THIS!!! *cries* *done crying*

the girls in their new elephant pool and adorable matching
suits!

  I know this wasn't very long, I just wanted to share the good news of my favorite graduates and my little loves. I'm off to do some cleaning and maybe napping, because I can do that now that the only things I have to care for are Winston and our NEWST ADDITION CHARLIE!!!! That's right, we got a blue tick coon hound and I love his droopy little face and long ears more than anything else. Not to mention, he's one heck of a smart dog. He already whines at the door to be let out. I'm a pretty blessed fur baby owner. OH! and he loves his sisters, like a lot. Now if only they'd take his puppy playing as him loving them rather than thinking he's trying to eat their souls, all would be well.

Charles Xavier Mande

  Y'all have a good day now! I'm sure I'll be back several times this week with date night stories and complaining about missing my baby girls.

-Amanda

Weekend warrior!

  It's Monday and let me tell you that after this weekend, I'm totally welcoming this bad boy with opened arms. I think the last time I blogged was Wednesday and since then a whole lot of crazy has happened. By crazy I of course mean a lot of fun (and some not so fun), but mostly crazy awesome fun... naturally. This is my and my crazy life we're talking about here.
  I had the honor of attending my very first Pinterest party last week! It was A LOT of fun to be around the other wives, just enjoying each other's company and getting to know on another on a more personal basis. The awesome crafts and delicious pinterest inspired food/drinks didn't hurt either. I actually wound up making an absolutely ADORABLE twine and felt flower wreath for the front door.

Cute, right!? Right!

Not to mention, three other wives have husband's in ALS with Bryce and we all made plans to go dress shopping for their graduation! Can I get a woot? How about two woots? K thanks. My friends Ayshia also tasked me with making a head band to match her little girls flower girl dress for a wedding that she was in this weekend and it came out SOOOO much better than I thought it was going to, especially since it was my first flower head band. All in all the party was a great start to the week.
  Usually I leave the yard mowing and weeding eating to Bryce, not this week. This week I had an extra surge of energy and decided to help out my man meat and take the yard into my own hands. We have an old school manual lawn mower, no engine on it (Bryce says its better for the grass and I love me some pretty grass... #grownupproblems) Who else just laughed at me calling myself a grown up? Good, you should have. The whole having no engine thing makes it a little difficult to mow, but it also made for one great workout in the sun and to be honest, I'm looking a lot like Casper, so the sun was much needed. Blah blah blah, i mowed the yard, moved the 6 million yard toys that we have, weeded the yard and called it a day. I then hopped in the shower and when I got out, what did I discover? I discovered the Prairies outside mowing my front lawn and running the mower/weed eating my back yard. -_- Bryce forgot to tell them that he's home from deployment so they're still doing my yard work for me. Usually I'd be really pumped about having their awesome services, that day, I just laughed... and really hard. Go figure the one time I trust myself to mow the yard and NOT take any body parts off in the process, somebody else would come do it for me. Oh life, life you are so funny. Thanks life.

It looked so amazing and apparently the Bride loved it!

  My Friday started out bright and early with none other than a... DUN DUN DUN.... puking Emory. She woke up at about 3 am throwing up and it was all mostly down hill from there. I camped out on the floor next to her bed so that when I heard her about to get sick I could catch it in a puke bowl (....oh puke bowls) and all in all it was a miserable 6 hours. After a solid nap and lots of water, she was back to her normal self. You know... trying to ride the dog, bugging her big sister and running from room to room calling for her daddy. Even after almost 5 years of being a mom and 18 of being a big sister, I can't stand when little kids are sick. It makes me feel so helpless, but my girls make it a little easier on me by reassuring me that they're okay even while they're sick.
  Let's see, what else? OH! On Saturday the family and I (after Bryce got back from volunteering at an MS walk that morning... he's kind of awesome) went to my friend Madeline's house for a Bunco/Girls night and let me tell you blog readers, these crazy women that I have the privilege of calling friends are something else! Maddie's awesome husband grandpa Ray played bartender for the night and made us one hell of a drink called a "Sex on the Driveway" and I'm pretty sure it was concocted to make sure that a night of drinking those would wind up in just that way. Quite a few jell-o shots later and A LOT of laughs had, my whole body hurt from laughing. The next day it felt like I had done 6,000 sit ups and my face was sore from smiling. All in all, no Bunco got played, but that's okay. I wouldn't have changed anything about it. Bryce was really awesome that night too, he played babysitter to all of the kids in the basement and everyone was pretty impressed with him, including me. I don't know what I did to deserve somebody as awesome as him, but I'm really glad that I did. NOW, I'm just ready for the next "bunco" night and hopefully Madeline brings the jell-o shots again!

We're an elite bunch, we are. 

  Alright y'all I'm verging on this being a mini novel and there's a treadmill in my garage calling my name. 3 miles won't run itself and June 1st and that Dirty Girl Mud run is right around the corner! Our team is making our shirts now and bless my southern little heart, they're too precious!

  Here's to hoping this week is as eventful and goes as fast and last week did!
  Have an excellent day y'all!!

-Amanda

p.s.
  I'm starting to finally see some results in the working out area and let me say, it feels really good too :)

This just reminded me that I need toilet paper.