'Twas the night before Kindergarten

  And mommy was a hot ass mess. No, but really. If ever there were a definition of an overly emotional mother, it's me tonight. Tomorrow Lily starts her education career. This is the start of what will be the biggest chapter in Lily's life, for over a decade. I know it seems dramatic when you put it like that, but it's crazy to see your kids moving through the motions, the same way you did. Sometimes, you want those motions to slow down. Lily came to me today and said, "Mom, we need to pick something F A N C Y for school tomorrow." that hurt my wallet and warmed my heart at the same time. I know school will be nothing but a thing for Lily, she's the smartest 4 year old that I have EVER met (I know... I'm biased), but for me, it's scary. This is when you send your precious little soul out into the world and hope to god that nothing taints it too much. That her feels will be spared for the most part and that when the time comes to help somebody else out, she knows to do the same. A lot of people think that sending your kid to private school protects them from the outside world, but let's be real, kids are kids no matter what school they attend. I was often bullied in elementary school and middle school, to the extreme that, I failed 5th grade simply because facing the girls that called me names and consistently picked on me and would leave me in tears (this sometimes included teachers) just because we didn't have very much money, was more than I could bare. I would hang out in my neighborhood all day long until I saw the buses come and then I would come home and erase the school messages saying that I was absent.

I can't wait to capture this outfit with my actual camera tomorrow!

  I know Lily has a lot more as a child than I ever did and I know that no matter what, I refuse to let her fall victim to the same things I did, but her actually starting school tomorrow really puts it in perspective that I can't always protect her from the world. I think sometimes my head can't wrap itself around the fact that she's almost 5.... okay really I just refuse to accept that fact. Tomorrow, it's going to be real though. I let her help pick out the colors for our 2nd annual first day of school chalk board and she was more than thrilled. We also made a special trip to target to pick her out some really awesome clothes for school. Thankfully, we don't have to buy a single school supply! Seriously... none. By thankfully I obviously mean that I'm super bummed. I L O V E school supply shopping as much as I love football and fall. I kind of wanted to force Lisa Frank folders and pencils on her, because...Is there a school supply better than Lisa Frank!? No. That unicorn and yellow puppy take the school supply cake.  So there's that... tomorrow is the start of a new chapter for her, as sad as I am, I know she's ready.

  Aside from school starting, a whole lotta nothing has been happening. I had my highest selling Premier show on sunday and that made me feel really good and confidant in what I'm doing. I will say that I need to find a way to branch out my business. It's hard having a direct sales business when you're living in a pretty tight knit military community. There are only so many of us that can have the same kind of party, before we all know the entire routine of the show forwards, backwards and side ways. I think starting school in a career primarily dominated by women, is really going to help, but I still have two months before that happens. Patience is a virtue that I am lacking currently, but I guess i'm gonna have to work on that one.
  Alright y'all, it's time for me to head to bed and get ready to cry my eyes out tomorrow, BUT before I go, I wanted to link you fine people to my friends new blog and youtube channel. She just got it up and running and I know a lot of you are curious as to what in the hell you do with make up/hair and let me tell you, she's a guru. I do a lot of my techniques the same way she does and while I don't have time to document them, this bad ass momma does. So take the time to check her out and soak up the beauty knowledge bombs that she's gonna drop on you often. Trust me, you're not gonna be disappointed.  ALSO! I know a few of us have been discussing the differences between Ipsy and Birchbox, she does an unboxing every month, so that is going to be helpful as well for those of you without either.

This is her brand new blog!

And this is her amazeballs YouTube channel!

  Have a spectacular night, morning and day... until next time. 

<3.

Amanda

p.s.

It's never too early to get ready for fall right? Like... back to school FOR SURE means fall, so decorating is legit. 

This southern piece of perfection makes my heart happy.

Wordless Wednesday (Picture OVERLOAD!)

Our 4th of July babies <3 (could they be any more photogenic?! lol)

I guess it's safe to say she loves her brother and he might have grown an inch or 12.

Who doesn't turn their boring pens into washi tape pens!?! You're doing it wrong if you don't.

Ohio has the most perfect summers ever and really makes having a bitchin' backyard, that much more enjoyable <3

Sometimes being a jewelry lady can be fun... I get to play dress up every time I do a show!! 

Sometimes hitting the gym (check that planet fitness t-shirt!) after an amazing time with friends
is the only way to end the night... until you drink your prework out at 9 pm and you're still awake at 1 am.

And so it begins...

  Oh hey y'all! You know how when things slow down in life and you're finally like, "Oh yeah, relax time!" something A L W A Y S comes along to go, "I got you sucker!", well I basically just did that to myself. Last week I made the informed and very excited decision to make not one, but TWO big life changes regarding a very exciting career path. First! I finally requested information from the local cosmetology schools in the area and I have my first walkthrough/interview on Friday at Creative Images! AAAAHHHH!! I'm very nervous about it. Before Bryce and I were married I was in line to attend the Paul Mitchel school in Charlotte, but alas, marriage and love came first... then a house... then a major surgery for Bryce and then our sweet princess Emory and mommy's school got put on the back burner. I wish I could say I'm sad about that, but I'm not. Not every one is fortunate enough to be able to spend these precious moments with their little ones the way that I am and I know how lucky I am for that. That being said, I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED I CAN'T EVEN STAND IT!!! I'm 99% sure this isn't going to help my recent make up obsession, but hey, you win some... Bryce loses some.

Can we take a second to appreciate how cute Emory's
kissy face is... and that sweet bow necklace!?

  My second life endeavor is that I joined the fabulous and fierce Premier Designs jewelry team! That's right y'all, I'm officially a jewelry lady and I couldn't be more excited/happy/ready to make some money if I tried. If you know me at all, this is hilarious to you. You're probably even laughing at the idea of ME, the yoga pants and tank top queen, being a jewelry kind of person. I too laughed that the idea at first and then I purchased my first Premier piece. It's a bracelet that they make called, "It's a wrap!" It's a super simple wrap bracelet, but my goodness I could NOT get enough. Once I had that bracelet, I wanted more to match it and then Bryce's ALS graduation rolled around and something in me said, "Uhhh... ACCESSORIZE!" and it was down hill from there. I bought my kit and have lots of training in my near future, but with the prospect of me going into a business that deals primarily with women, I think I'll do just fine.
  It's so weird to think that I'm going to get to do something that is 100% for me for once. I'm so used to being MOMMY and WIFE all the time, that I'm almost uncomfortable stepping out of that zone for more than a minute or two during the day. I really needed this though, I needed something to challenge myself and to really push me. At first I had my reservations, I was very nervous and almost talked myself out of it (like I do with everything), but this A M A Z I N G man that I married came along and said, "Amanda, you're going to be amazing at whatever you do. If this is what is going to make you happy, then just do it." It's moments like that one that make me so thankful that I was smart enough to marry my man meat. He's been so encouraging and so supportive through all of this, it really makes life a lot easier knowing that he's Team Amanda no matter what happens in life. I truly am one blessed lady.
  So that's ME right now. Lily is FINALLY home from her daddy's house and back in full swing. She came home her usual outgoing and sassy self, but I swear to you in those two weeks, she aged 2 years. When she got home she did something (lord help me, but I can't remember what it was) that just made me automatically tear up and want to cry. I looked at bryce and he just busted out laughing. I'm such a sap when I comes to these little princesses and sometimes it's borderline embarrassing. She started summer camp at Goddard the Monday after she got home and to our surprise they had a field trip planned for that day to the Dayton Dragons field. She was so excited to tell us all about it when she got home. Naturally, she made Bryce promise to take her to a baseball game and the requested to watch baseball (it wasnt' on) so she said, "Football?".... not on. Okay, cheerleading? nope. Hockey!? no ma'am. She finally settled on soccer, which she watched for a total of about 5 minutes and ran away to do Lily things with her hoodrat sister. Gotta love em.

  Alright y'all, I have more premier studying to do so I can be ready for my debut show on the 31st!! (which also happens to be Harry Potter's birthday... NO BIG DEAL OR ANYTHING!) and about 5 seasons of Doctor Who to catch up on. I'm mildly obsessed, it's becoming a problem. I hope your Independence day is amazing (i know mine will be) and that you take time to really appreciate every one that has sacrificed something in their lives to make sure that we can continue to celebrate the land of the free and every amazing opportunity that comes with it. Now in closing, LET'S GET STAR SPANGLED HAMMERED Y'ALL! OW OW! .... no but really, 'MERIKA!

G'night, Y'all.

-Amanda

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! :)

It's the little things..

.....in life that mean the most. I'm laying here on the air mistress after watching Emory snuggle up to her daddy and fall asleep and I can't help but think about how blessed my life is and how fortunate I am to have so much love for my little family. My heart is so full, I can hardly handle it. . . Until baby Mande #3 comes along, then it'll be just a little more full and that much more perfect <3

Wordless Wednesday y'all!

It's been too beautiful outside to not brag about it being shorts season here in Ohio. Also, iPad blogging is weird man... SO WEIRD MAN!

Night y'all.

-Amanda

P.s.
Having a playground in your backyard is perfect.... Unless your daughters are daredevils, then it's a lot like premeditated gray hair.

P.s.s.
So not "wordless" at all. F A I L!