Electric blue for me

Me untangling about 5 ft of wire and wrapping it around a spool while Jimmy reads the directions and puts parts together for her electricity science kit. His daughter? She was coloring haha

Why do the parents always end up with the hard fun parts? haha

I'm linking up with Mrs. Three in Three for Wordless-ish Wednesday!

We going coast to coast

Have you all seen this yet?  Shane at Whispering Sweet Nothings has a Bloggers Coast to Coast map up so you can find other bloggers in your area! Isn't that awesome!?!?!
Go add yourself to the map and link up!

Sunday morning, rain is falling.

This was fun, so I'm doing it again! Go link up and share your answers!

Favorite movie of all time?

It's kind of embarrassing, but I love love love Big Daddy! I love Adam Sandler and this is my absolute favorite movie of his. I could (and probably have) see it a million times...it never gets old!

Favorite movie quote?

"What do you want to eat, Frankenstein?"

"Thirty packets of ketchup!"

That's probably not actually my favorite, but it's my favorite from Big Daddy lol So funny- I'm seriously laughing to myself right now

Best movie to watch for a girls night in?

I'm not big on chick flicks, but whenever I'm having a girls night in, that's what we always seem to watch so I'm gonna go with Love, Actually. It usually turns into one, big cry-fest, but that's kinda the point, right?

Best breakup movie?

I have no clue, honestly! When I was going through my last breakup, I watched the World Cup nonstop lol

Favorite celeb eye candy?

Charlie Hunnam from Sons of Anarchy... I die every time he comes on the screen. Yum. 

Source: Uploaded by user via Amanda on Pinterest

Which movie stars closet would you want to raid?

This one is so hard! I dunno if she counts, but I kinda love Lauren Conrad's style... super simple and chic. 

Happy Sunday!

You're not that social, just a good drinker

I saw this on a few other blogs and I though it looked like fun so...I'm gonna try it out!

How did you come up with your blog name? 

 The title of my blog is actually a song lyric that I really like. I've just been drawn to it since I heard the song for the first time and it's a good reminder to be grateful :-)

Here's a bad video of the song, in case you're curious...

What is your favorite thing about blogging? 

Honestly, I love being able to look back on my life. That's why I keep doing it-so I have a digital scrapbook of everything.

What is one thing you have discovered because of blogging and now cant live without? 

Does Pinterest count? lol I seriously don't know what I do without all the great ideas on there. I get so many recipes and gift ideas and maybe one day, I'll actually attempt one of the DIY's I've pinned...maybe haha

Facebook or Twitter? and why? 

Twitter for sure! I stopped using Facebook a while back because of some drama and never really got back into it. But I love love love Twitter-its so much easier to talk to people and interact! (Psssttt...follow me!)

If one celeb read your blog who would you want it to be? 

Oh lord, I have no idea!

What is something you want people to know about your blog? 

That there's really no focus-it's kinda random and all over the place, but that's how I am too... so if you can follow along, then I think we'll get along just fine :-)

It's Friday, it's Friday

Dear Tigers Baseball, tonight you're looking good-don't blow it.

Dear People Who Use Hashtags Incorrectly, you don't need hashtags on Facebook, nor do you need 72843472 for every picture you post on Instagram. Let's get it together.

Dear Bathing Suits, I'd like to find some middle ground between teeny-tiny porn star two piece and full on grandma. Why is this so difficult?

Dear People At Work, we're all adults, right? So why, for the love of God, can we not make it in the toilet?!?!?!

Dear Weekend, I'm glad you're here. I missed you-I take it you feel the same.

Happy Friday, ya'll!

My baby, she wrote me a letter

I've seen this link-up on quite a few blogs and it looked like fun so I thought I'd join in!

Friday Letters

Dear August, Are you here yet? I'm ready for a vacation. 

Dear Jimmy, the notes you leave me in the mornings make my day. You're the best <3

Dear Pay Day, you have no idea how happy I am that you're here.

Dear Sunshine, You're nice and all, but I could do with out the 90+ degrees and 100% humidity. Let's work on this-Thanks.

Dear Jimmy's New Grill, you're my new best friend. You make me delicious foods and I love you for it.

What Friday Letters would you write?

Go link up and check 'em all out!

Paint me a picture and hang it on your wall.

I saw a post on Karly's blog about a Self Photo Challenge and was instantly intrigued. I followed it over to the Paper Mama, who's hosting the challenge and I just loved what she shared about the challenge. It was really sweet and inspiring, and definitely struck a chord with me.

A few weeks ago, a friend was looking through the pictures on my phone and noticed the distinct lack of pictures of me-it's al just pictures of my stuff. He asked me why and I told him I always thought I looked awkward in pictures. He just rolled his eyes, and wisely didn't argue.

So, I thought I should probably start getting over my fear of pictures of myself. And no better time to start than now! So here we go...

(If you want to check out the other entries and link up yourself, go check out the Paper Mama's blog!)


Obsessing over…

All the things I have to do... work, school, friends, boy... homework, concert, party, eyebrow wax. So much to get done. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Working on…

My actual work-inputting orders, taking care of customers, answering questions. I've had a few breaks throughout the day, which has been nice, and the day has flown by.

Thinking about…

Honestly, a whole boat load of inconsequential things-what dress should I wear to my party? What should my nails look like? Should I do some Valentine's nail art? I want to wear my new shoes. I wonder if I can wear them for my Valentine's date.

Anticipating…

This spring. Baseball is back, I'm seeing a bunch of awesome concerts, school will be done before I know it. And maybe a boy...

Listening to…

Gaslight Anthem radio on Spotify, which is right now playing Springsteen "Streets of Philadelphia". This is my second favorite station, right behind Drive By Truckers

Eating…

Just finished some rice cakes and an organic fruit peel. And drinking water...lots and lots of water.

Wishing…

That all the fun things I have coming up would hurry up and get here-I hate wishing time away, but man, do I have some fun in my future.

The clock's running down The team's losing ground

It's time for another round of Eff.Marry.Kill-I love this link-up! It's so much fun!



I was having a hard time coming up with what I was going to do for this one, but when I was watching SportsCenter this morning, I had a stroke of genius haha

So here's the three pro athletes I'd like to Eff.Marry.Kill!

Eff-Blake Griffin

Dude's a monster. There's really no other way to put it. And even though he used to be kind of awkward looking when he played college ball, those NBA workouts have been good to him and he kinda grew into his head haha


Marry-Joel Zumaya

I've always maintained that him and I were basically perfect for each other-he likes baseball, I like baseball. He likes Guitar Hero, I like Guitar Hero. That's pretty much where the similarities end, but I'm pretty sure we're a match made in heaven lol


Kill-Tom Brady
(PS-Have ya'll seen this photo? Cracks me up every time!)

I know this is probably an unpopular choice, but he just bugs me. Ever since he played at U-M, he just kind of struck me as a d-bag. And that Beiber hair he was sporting for a while there did him no favors.

Who would you Eff.Marry.Kill?
Go link up with The Vintage Apple and Blonde, Undercover Blonde to share yours!

Got her toes done up with her fingernails matching

It's time for my new favorite link up again! Yay!

Go link up with Fabulous but Evil or My Vikilicious Life to check out all the other fabulous entries!

For this one, I started off with OPI Funky Dunkey.

I love this color on it's own, but I wanted to try out a new polish that I recently picked up and I thought the two would look great together

And they did!

I used Finger Paints "Twisted". "Twisted" is a multi-colored flakie polish.
I loved this combo and couldn't stop staring at my nails when I was wearing it!

What do you guys think? What are you wearing on your nails?

Nails done, hair done, everything did.

Today I'm linking up with Fabulous but Evil for....

I was so excited when I found out about this-I'm a little obsessed with nail polish! My collection is embarrassingly huge and I'm stoked to be able to show some of them off and see what everyone else is wearing too!

So this is what I wore this week...

Essie Mint Candy Apple
I used this tutorial by Kayla Shevonne to do a cherry blossom accent


What are you guys wearing on your nails?
Go link up and see what everyone else has on their nails!

It's time to beat dat beat up.

Yay! I'm sooooo happy The Vintage Apple is going this link-up again! I just think it's so much fun and so funny to see who everyone else picks! If you wanna join in, or just look at everyone else's, head over to check them all out! (Also, if you want to see my last one, go here)

So with out further ado, the latest edition of....




In honor of Jerzday (please tell me I'm not the only one who's excited for the new season haha), I decided to use the boys from the Shore!

Eff:
Vinny! He's adorable and seems like a decent guy... plus Snooki had some, um, interesting things to say after their fling haha

Marry:

Pauly D, of course! I think he is just too funny-seriously, he has me cracking up every time he's on screen. And he's not too bad to look at either hehe

And finally...
Kill:
(AKA do away with)

Ronnie. Ugh. Could he be a bigger D-bag? It was a close call between him and Mike...honestly I wouldn't mind getting rid of both of them lol


Anyone else ready to watch the Shore house back in action tonight?
Who would you Eff. Marry.Kill?

Does the way I wear my hair make me a better person?

"Seriously?" she exclaimed, exasperated. She had been standing in front of the mirror for what seemed like hours, making no progress what so ever.

Another spritz from the hairspray bottle left a fine mist covering everything in the bathroom. Everything, it seemed, except the flyaways that insisted on doing their own thing, refusing to fall in line with the rest of her mane.

For years, she envied the girls she grew up with-their long blond locks, falling pin straight down their backs. She used to roll her eyes when they complained how hard it was to style.

"They have no idea," she would think.

She had tried to iron out her curls, spending money she didn't have on expensive products and tools, only to watch her curls creep back in before the day was done.

Now, she tried to embrace her curls, if only because she finally realized they weren't going anywhere.

Her mother always told her they made her unique-her curly hair was different, she stood out from the crowd. The dark, deep brown was mysterious. But what if she didn't want to stand out? Couldn't she once just blend in, fit right in line with the rest? Between her hair, her height and her hips, she knew she would never look like them-but it didn't stop her from wishing.

She flipped her hair over and scrunched her curls some more-adding more product and hoping they would keep everything where it was supposed to be.

She flipped her head back and examined herself in the mirror.

"Hmm..." she thought, "not too bad."

She flipped the light and walked out of the bathroom, laughing to herself. "Let's see how long it lasts."

This post is in response to a prompt at Write on Edge-Hair-So many of us have a love-hate relationship with it. For some of us, it’s our defining feature. Whatever it means to you – or to your characters – we want to know about it. But we don’t want you to simply describe it. We want you to use it as a vehicle to tell us something about your character, a situation, you or your life

'Cause it's turkey to eat. So good.

Seeing all the delicious pins on Pinterest lately has gotten me even more excited (if that's possible!) for Thanksgiving! I love seeing my family, but let's be honest, we're all looking forward to some yummy dinner, right? Here are some of the things I'm looking forward to chowing down on haha

Source: myrecipes.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Source: myrecipes.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Source: barefootcontessa.com via Jenn on Pinterest

Source: kraftrecipes.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: recipegirl.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Debbi on Pinterest

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Are you on Pinterest? If you need an invite-let me know and I'd be happy to send you one!


Go check out The Vintage Apple to see all the great things people have pinned!

And we’re travelling on this road to somewhere, try to get this message home if your still there

She always assumed road trips happened like they did in the movies- a car load of friends, barreling down the highway as the wind blew their hair back. Loud music, lots of laughs, hanging our feet out of the passenger side window.

But that cliche was not her reality.

She was alone in the car, and had been for hours, with hours still to go. Her eyes were heavy with sleep and her legs were aching from sitting. With a deep breath, she willed herself to get though Chicago rush hour traffic, with the promise that on the other side, eventually, there would be rest.

She looked at her Ipod and noticed a tiny red mark on the battery-She had only moments left before it died. She searched the console for a cd, but nothing she found sounded like something she wanted to hear. The Ipod sputtered through the first half of a song, before the screen went black.

Silence it was.

Well, as silent as a major highway in one of the biggest cities in America during one of the busiest times of day can be.

The hum of thousands of cars lent its self well to daydreaming, which, as had been the case lately, led to more anxiety. More than once she cursed the traffic, not because it kept her from moving forward, but because it prevented her from turning around, abandoning the whole trip.

She was seeking closure, and she knew she must seek it alone. No one could force her to feel it, and she was the only one who knew where to find it. And so, when the traffic started to move, ever so slightly, she kept her hands on the wheel and continued forward, no matter how badly the urge to turn back called her.

This post is in response to a prompt at Write on Edge-we’d like you to take us on an actual journey, specifically a road trip

The crow flies straight, a perfect line.

When I was in high school we used to play "Eff. Marry. Kill" so I was soooo excited when I saw The Vintage Apple was hosting a link up!



Basically, you choose three male celebrities and then you have to decide which of the three you would...well, eff, marry or kill make disappear, it sounds less violent haha


Since I'm catching up on my DVR today and have three episodes of Sons of Anarchy to watch, I figured I'd pick three of those guys to play with...I just have a thing for boys on bikes ;-)

Eff...

Opie-Yea, he's a little crazy and pretty grungy, but I feel like those could add up to a fun night... Plus, his voice....yum.

Marry...Jax-no questions asked. He seems like he's got his head in the right place (for the most part), is genuine and, obviously, looks pretty good with his shirt off hehe

Kill...Clay-Now, it's not that find him to be terribly unattractive...but he's just been so horrible this season! So. away he goes!


So....
Who would you
Eff, Marry, Kill?

Go link up with The Vintage Apple and Blonde...Undercover Blonde to share yours!

When you go would you even turn to say "I don't love you like I did yesterday"?

It started with a text.

"Can you come over around 6? We need to talk."

I leapt from my seat on the couch, rapidly pressing the "send" button on my cell phone. Every call ending with his voice-mail.

"Hello?", he asked timidly, as if he were unsure about who was on the other end.

"So that's it? We're breaking up? I'm not waiting till 6. If we're doing this, it's on my terms," I spat. "Oh, and make sure my stuff is packed."

"Fine."

I hung up and jumped in my car. My heart was pounding; I had so much adrenaline pumping, my hands were shaking. I raced across town, coming to a stop in front of his house. I let myself in and made my way upstairs.

"At least you listened," I snarled, as I entered his bedroom. We had been here before- last time I had arrived to find my things still strewn around the room. Seeing everything in a neat little box, collected from various spots in the house, made it real.

My eyes boring a hole through him, as he stared at the ground.

"Well?" I asked, tapping my toe impatiently, waiting for him to speak.

He tried, but I interrupted, "So you go away for three days and all of a sudden you're over me? It only takes three days of not speaking for you to forget about me?"

"I tried, Amanda," he began, "I really did. I just can't anymore."

He finally looked at me. In turn, I raised my eyebrow, daring him to continue.

"This isn't working for me. I just..."

"Just...?"

"...just don't love you," he flinched, as if threatened, his body recoiling from me.

I didn't move.

"What? You think I'm going to hit you?" letting out a small, sarcastic laugh.

He was silent.

A final eye roll and I grabbed the box; I was ready to leave, ready to be done.

This post is in response to a prompt at Write on Edge-we’re writing about pivotal conversations. The goal was to focus on body language, word choices, and the pauses between the words to create meaningful, powerful dialogue

I feel the life, Oh I feel love.

I haven't linked up with Jaime at this kind of love for a few weeks so I thought I'd show ya'll What I'm Loving today!


I'm Loving Yogi Tea! Seriously, I've been addicted to the ginger tea for like 3 weeks and I just bought a box of the caramel bedtime tea that is delicious! Yum!

Plus they have cute little sayings on the tags that I just love lol

I'm Loving Jalepeno Cheetos. I rarely eat them but when I do...oh man...watch out. My mom and I ate an entire bag in the time it took us to drive home from Target (hence no picture lol)

I'm Loving that it was my turn to fill the candy box at work! My mom told me no one would like the candy I bought, but I liked it so I bought it anyway, because that means more for me! Althought maybe that's not a good thing...

Case in point: There used to be some Dots in here...but I ate them all

I'm Loving Shea Moisture curling products. I've been using the same hair products for *years* but recently read a review of this stuff and decided to give it a try-I'm still getting used to it, but so far I really like it! Plus it smells good and leaves my hair sooooo soft!

What are ya'll loving today?

Go link up with Jaime and see what everyone else is loving!

If there's one thing I can't take, it's the sound that a woman makes about five seconds after her heart begins to break.

He had just gotten out of a long relationship, still reeling from the fiance who had left him a few years earlier; a serial monogamist at it's finest.

I was in the midst of being single for the longest period of my adult life. Still not quite sure what being an adult in an adult relationship was all about and holding on to the last of my insecurities with all my might.

It was doomed from the beginning.

Our first date culminated in our first kiss, which brought me to my knees and left me unable to be anywhere but his side for as long we were together.

There was no dating, no courting-we had a date, then we were official and, soon thereafter, deeply, terrifyingly in love.

We broke up for the first time and I begged for another chance. Not sure why, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time.

It worked. And as we both cried and hugged and made up, he kissed me.

"Surely, you can feel I love you when we kiss," he prompted.

I nodded, but it was a lie. Whatever passion I had previously felt had vanished-we had an expiration date, and we both knew it.

It was cyclical-we fought, we made up, we argued, we worked things out. I was usually the one who backed down, he won the fights and I nodded in agreement, holding back for the sake of the relationship, no matter how doomed it was. Yet still, every fight we had killed me-rendering me a useless mass on my couch.

But out last fight was different. I stuck up for myself-I knew it was the end and it going to be on my terms. I drove across town, my top heavy Jeep swerving precariously in and out of traffic, heart racing, palms sweaty.

We tried to make up one last time-dinner and movie were our band-aid for a relationship broken beyond repair. It didn't work and I stormed out of his house for the last time.

Even though I knew it was coming, even though I knew it was doomed from the beginning, my heart ached. I laid on my mothers couch for days, willing my heart to catch up to the feelings my mind had known for far too long.

This post is in response to a prompt at Write on Edge-Doomed Relationships.

Now I don't claim to be an "A" student, but I'm trying to be.

The hum of her laptop fan on her lap was almost enough to put her to sleep. She had been sitting in her over sized, brown plush chair for what seemed like days-laptop perched on her knees, papers and textbooks spread on the table and floor surrounding her. Piles of notes, notebooks band more pens and three ring binders than anyone should own in a lifetime added to the clutter, making the already small room increasingly claustrophobic.

The beginning of November always brought the worst of the semester. She was far enough into it that it had lost the novelty and excitement of the beginning, but not close enough to being done to be able to see the end. The parties many use to ring in the start of a new semester have subsided, and the street in the tiny student neighborhood she lives on is quiet. Even the least studious among them is holed up in a similar position to what she currently finds herself in.

She rereads the assignment. A rebuttal. 2500 to 3000 words. Any topic. It should be easy-2500 words is barely anything. It was the openness of "any topic" that was tripping her up. Her brain was too tired from the other tests, papers and projects she was either working on or just finished to even see straight, let alone pick a topic from the seemingly infinite possibilities.

Opening up her browser, she pulled up Google, which she had formed quite an attachment to this semester.

How did people even do homework with it? She often wondered.

She typed in "rebuttal essay paper ideas" and within seconds was provided with close to 500,000 links. She breathed a sigh of relief and clicked the first one. The page began to load and in bright red, bold letting across the top, the headline read "ANY PAPER, ANY TOPIC! Just $9.99!" It blinked enticingly, the long list of papers for sale organized by topic and word count waiting patiently underneath.

For a second she considered browsing, just to see what they had. She may be broke, but $9.99 seemed a small price to pay to have this paper off her mind. And would her teacher really know? She's probably grading hundreds...thousands even...

But her conscious kicked in and she went back to the previous screen.

She opened a word document and stared at the blank, white, simulated piece of paper, willing a topic to reveal itself and for 2500 words to come pouring out of her fingertips.

Unfortunately, it doesn't happen and the paper remains blank, save for the tiny black cursor, blinking rhythmically, tauntingly.

She gets up and walks over to the hanging wall calender. Every box is filled with something- birthdays, assignment due dates, the occasional social gathering.

Today is November 4th, definitely not the first Friday night she's spent in front of the computer and, she's sure, not the last.

She counts the days by number of assignments until she gets some time off. Three papers, 4 tests, 4 quizzes, one project.

Then... it's Thanksgiving. A glorious week long break from the stress of school-they only thing she will have to concern herself with will be the amount of turkey she can eat before the tryptophan catches up with her.

But for now, she must get back to work.

She stares back at the laptop, taking her place in the middle of the large chair. She tries to take a step towards it, but her feet keep her rooted.

First, she thinks with a yawn, I'll just take a nap.

This post is in response to a prompt at The Lightning and the Lightning Bug-Flicker of Inspiration #23- Time of the Season

Cause tonight, you know it's not forever

The sun is barely peaking in the window, but it is just enough to catch my attention. In my fog, I sit up and survey the room.

My clothes lay in a pile at the end of the bed-a sequin top and mini skirt crumpled to the point of being unrecognizable, my stilettos lying pitifully next to them. The sequins pick up the few stray rays of light bouncing around and at once, turn the room into a glittering, headache inducing disco ball.

My hand reaches to cover my eyes and wipe the hair from in front of my face. My perfectly coiffed mane from the night before is now thrown on top of my head in a knot. A sweatshirt from a college I’ve never heard of has replaced the sultry outfit I had on not even twelve hours ago.

On the other side of the bed an alarm clock blinks “8:00”. The boy next to me starts to stir, bringing me back to reality. I jump out of bed and grab my clothes in one hand and heels in the other.

“Hey…” I hear him coming to, but by now my hand is on the front door. “Hey… Wait… You’ve got my sweatshirt!”

This post is in response to a prompt at Write on Edge-8 -am or pm, fiction or creative non-fiction- but 8:00. In 200 words or less.