Got a lot of catching up to do.

 Now that Instagram is available for Android, I'm pretty much obsessed. I've been busy and busy taking pictures, so here's a little pic dump of the past few days

--A present found at work, still not sure what it is--Taxes done!--

--Lots of rain-- Jellybeans are my favorite part of Easter 

--Four wheeling is more fun than I thought--More rain--

--Three trips to Target in as many days--I need caffeine--

 

--Playing BINGO at the bar--My prize--

--Cannoli pudding--sleeping boy--

--Clouds--late night Slurpees--

--Apparently, I like taking pictures of the sky--

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I'm Afreund2

Just another manic Monday.

Because of my schedule, Monday is technically my Wednesday. But for some reason, that doesn't make them any better some weeks! haha At least it's almost done and hey, only two more days till a day off-there's some positive thinking :-)

Hope ya'll had a good Monday!

Because the night belongs to lovers, because the night belongs to us.

Remember a few days back when I said that March was boring? Well, April has been anything but! I was feeling some live music withdrawals and between the concert I saw last weekend and the concert I saw on Thursday, I would say I've been fully cured (though I have another show next week! Yippee!)

I had been looking forward to this show for months-ever since tickets went on sale and my dad got them. No matter that this is the fourth time I've seen them in concert...

Cause really, can you ever seen Bruce Springsteen too many times?

No, no you can't.


My mom, dad, neighbor and I all headed up to the Palace after work on Thursday which, if you've been, is not exactly a fun drive. But totally worth it!

Like I said, this is the fourth time I'd seen Bruce and the second time seeing him at the Palace. Out seats were in the upperdeck, on the opposite side of the arena from the stage. They were pretty good, especially considering we were pretty much dead center.

We could see everything, but unfortunately, we were too far for any decent pictures so these were the only ones worth sharing. I took a few more, but they didn't really turn out. It was kinda nice actually, because I just put my phone away and enjoyed the show.

Bruce played for a little over three hours and it was amazing - there's really no other word for it. He played lots of stuff off the new albums (which I love) including opening with We Take Care of our Own and Wrecking Ball, then Death to My Hometown, Jack or All Trades, We Are Alive, Land of Hope and Dreams and Rocky Ground sprinkled throughout. He played lots of crowd favorites as well - Badlands, Youngstown, Born to Run, Thunder Road, Dancing in the Dark, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out. My Mom's favorite album got some love too with The Rising, Waiting on a Sunny Day and My City of Ruins, while my dad enjoyed some songs he's never heard Bruce perform live in the 6 times he's seen him- Candy's Room, Trapped, She's the One, Incident on 57th Street.

There's two song that I love that rarely get played live so I was holding out hope that I would hear at least one of them. Not only did he play both (!) but he played 41 Shots into Because the Night. I about died right there!

It was the first tour without Clarence, but his nephew did a great job filling in - it gave me chills when he played the sax solos on Thunder Road, Badlands and of course, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out. They also had a tribute video to him that they played which was so sweet.

One of the highlights was when Bruce brought a little kid up to sing the chorus of Waiting on A Sunny Day. He was adorable! And at the end of the chorus, he yelled out, "Play it, E Street Band!" and the entire band picked right back up-so cute! Then he and Bruce did a slide across the stage-the entire place went wild!

The past few times he's gone on tour, my dad has said that it's going to be the last. And every time, it's not. So my dad said it again, especially after how deep he was going into his catalog, that this was probably going to be it. I really hope he's wrong again!

I left my dear old home for a distant land to roam.

Last Saturday, when Jimmy and his daughter stopped by my work we decided we wanted to go out and have a date night, but weren't quite sure what to do. Jimmy got online and found some live music, so we went downtown to check it out, even though neither of us had an idea of what to expect lol


He really likes the Alkaline Trio so he was pretty excited to see Dan Andriano on the line-up. We pretty much thought that it would be like the Alkaline Trio-punk/pop-ish. It ended up being nothing like we expected! It was definitely more folksy and definitely right up my alley!


They played for almost four hours and it was great! Jimmy was a little apprehensive when he saw the stand-up bass, violin and mandolin, but he ended up really like it-in fact, since last week, he's bought at least one album from everyone we saw that night!We seriously had the best time-good music and better company. Pretty much a perfect night!

One morning when Pharoah awoke in his bed, there were frogs in his bed and frogs on his head.

Last week, my family and I went to my grandparents to celebrate the first night of Passover...
It was fun, if relatively uneventful, but at the kids table (yes, I was at the kids table) we decided to continue the tradition of Passover Haikus....

No soup spoons
Passover dinner is off
But what else is new?

Jews can't have nice things
Historically speaking
I mean, c'mon, man

No China for you
Kids table makes a comeback
But I'm 24

Cousins own table
Amanda cracking up
Are we still age 10

Passover seder

A family tradition
We had Sonic

Needless to say, we kept ourselves entertained haha

The nest morning, I got the sweetest Easter basket from Jimmy and his daughter

So sweet!

I had to work, so the three of us went and got some breakfast before I had to leave. A few hours later, they stopped by and visited me at work so I showed them around the bakery. It was kinda fun to show off my office haha

I know this is late,
but did you guys have a good Easter?

I just can't resist the chance to risk.

Source: gotbyouthblog.tumblr.com via Amanda on Pinterest

I took a chance and it didn't work out quite the way I wanted it to. I wish I could say I didn't care, but honestly, I'm more upset than I thought I'd be. But I took a risk, and I put myself out there, and I really feel like God put this in my life and in my heart for a reason-even if I don't know it just quite yet.

It'll all work out in the end.

I'm moving on.

If you've been around here for a while, you know that I'm part of two amazing communities of writers: The Lightning and The Lightning Bug and Write on Edge.

Since I love participating in them so much, I decided to create another blog just for my creative writing!

So, if you're interested and want to check it out, let me know what you think!


Pretty Good with Words (But Words Won't Save Your Life)

Tony, you're Boston's chosen son

Like I mentioned on Thursday, Opening Day is kind of a big deal in Detroit. I knew that going into it, but I honestly had no idea just how big of a deal it was until I got down there!

The game started at 1:05, but we got down there at 10. Yes, 10am. And we were late! haha There were people who had been there since 8 in the morning!

We walked around for a little bit and watched everyone tailgate, before heading into the park... and walking around some more lol


We watched the Sox take batting practice and Jimmy was running around trying to catch every ball that was anywhere near us. It was nice, but cold!

We mad our way up to our seats to watch them unveil the 2011 AL Central Championship Banner. I know this sounds dorky, but it seriously gave me chills! I just love this time of year and thinking back to last year and how great this year is going to be, I just couldn't help it!

I didn't take any pictures during the actual game because I was too busy paying attention haha They won, which was great- Verlander pitched a gem and Valverde almost blew it, but AJax hit a walk-off single. It was definitely exciting to watch! And there was no one I would have rather been there with- Jimmy and I had such a great time, I don't think either of us stopped smiling the entire time (whether that was because of the company, or because we both love baseball, is still up for debate lol)

After the game, we got some dinner and ice cream before going home to take a nap-sitting outside at the ball park is exhausting! haha

Ice cream and baseball? This boy knows the way to my heart! lol

Did anyone else celebrate Opening Day?
Any baseball fans out there?

I'm scared shitless of what's coming next.

I've seen this on a few blogs a few times and it always looked like fun, so I thought I'd give it a try...

If you were coming over to my house for coffee, I'd tell you about....

All of the changes going on at work and the giant ball of anxiety it has turned me into. Multiple people have reminded me that the outcome of these changes will more than likely benefit me, but that doesn't ease my fears completely.

That even though all the change has me in knots, I've gotten some ego boosts along the way and my adrenaline is kicking into a high gear, which is making me super productive. I guess there is an upside.

About all the big plans I have for this summer. I cannot wait for the nice weather, and cool nights, and pretty dresses, and grilling dinner. And baseball-lots and lots of baseball.

How happy that boy is making me. Honestly, he's just so kind to me and funny and cute and sweet and....I could go on but I'll stop. Just know that it's good-he's making the work drama bearable.

That despite all the uncertainty at work, my life is really, really good. I can't think of one thing I would change. What a blessing.

If you came over for coffee,
what would you tell me?

Draw, draw, drawing, na na na na na

I'm usually not about jumping on bandwagons.

But when it comes to smart phone apps, I have no shame.

Hi my name's Amanda....
and I'm addicted to Draw Something.

Are any of ya'll playing? Find me- I'm AmandaDF (so creative, I know lol)

Any other app bandwagons I should jump on?

Your soul can't be rearranged. It's so hard to understand, so hard to understand a fair weather fan.

In Detroit, Opening Day is basically a holiday-people take off work and hang out downtown partying from the early hours of the morning till, well... the early hours of the morning.

I've never been to Opening Day, but today....

My wonderful boyfriend bought us tickets!!!!!!

To say I'm excited would be an understatement.

You can follow along with my Opening Day shenanigans on Twitter or Instagram-AFreund2 (or just follow me just because ya'll love me :-)


Untill next time...

GO TIGERS!
BEAT THE SAWX!

Reunited and it feels so good.

I feel whole again-after far too long without my car, I finally have it back!

Am I the only one who feels like they are missing a limb when they don't have their car? Honestly, I feel kinda crazy without it! Please tell me I'm not the only one lol

Although, I will say, I felt kinda like a baller driving this...


My wonderful boyfriend let me borrow his truck since he didn't have to work and it was kinda fun to be driving a truck-I felt so big lol

But I'm more than happy to have my Liberty back-now, I'm off to go drive around with the windows down to celebrate :-)

It takes a leap of faith to get things going, in your heart you must trust

Source: dollypearl.tumblr.com via Amanda on Pinterest