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Thursday, April 17, 2014

veggie pasta


this isn't really a recipe... 
it was kinda just spur of the moment, toss in whatever I had/wanted.
but regardless, it was so good that I had to share with you!


please leave me a comment, tweet, or even better, an instagram photo letting me know if you make it and if you love it.



Wednesday, April 16, 2014

this IS how it happened

this is quite literally the only picture I have from our proposal. do you like my outfit?
 did you even know that today is the one year anniversary of our proposal?
not you and me. Aaron and I. we got engaged one year ago today in Chicago.
picture it, cold ass Chicago, boy all dressed up, girl in an army coat.
as you can imagine, this was a situation full of swearing, laughing and me being a pain in the ass.

shortly after I wrote this post for Breanna's birthday, a secret plan was hatched.
a plan between Aaron and her that I had no clue about [thus a secret plan].

the craziest part is that Bre cannot keep a secret to save her life.
if I had to guess, I would say this is the only huge secret she hasn't given away.
please weigh in Breanna, tell people the statistics.

she used to ask me to call her and leave the phone next to me when I felt the proposal coming.
she wanted to be the very first one to know and she threatened me about it all the time.
as it turns out, she was one of the very first people to know, long before I knew, that's for sure.

so, Breanna and I were in Chicago for about four days and I was getting pissed at her.
she was on her phone all the time and she kept going to the bathroom.
I was like take an Imodium and lose your phone already.
[as I would later find out, she was on the phone with Aaron]
 I was being an a-hole since I could obviously see her attention was not on girls weekend,
and I texted Aaron that I wanted to come home a day early.
he told me to stop being ridiculous, Bre is just a phone girl, and to have a good time.
I tried. we went to a museum, we went to eat, we walked and talked, it really ended up being a great time.

on that particular Tuesday, it was pretty chilly, and being as we were in "The Windy City" we looked a little rough [to say the least]
we walked around and shopped for a bit in the morning and then went back to the room to "freshen up" before dinner.
we were there for probably 15 minutes when suddenly Bre had a bug up her butt to go see this fountain.
a fountain that we had already been too. who does that? a girl with a plan I suppose.
I ended up texting Aaron again regarding how offended I was that "this individual" was rushing me.
he again told me to suck it up and stop being an a-hole. so to the fountain we went.

we walked for probably five minutes with me trailing behind Breanna.
sure I was going to the dumb fountain with her but I refused to be happy about it.
she turned into Wrigley Square and looked at me with a huge grin on her face.
I literally said, out loud, "what the hell are you so happy about?"
and then I saw him. 
sitting there all fancy at the fountain.
I was shocked but I still had no idea it was happening.
Aaron is that guy. that guy that will drive 6 hours just to surprise you on a random Tuesday.

Bre seemed to disappear while Aaron and I were left standing there, laughing and talking.
I was all, what are you doing here and he was all, oh I missed you.
then it happened. 
he got down on one knee and I kept yelling, "what the fuck is happening? what are you doing?"
so very classy of me.
he swears I told him no a few times and that I wouldn't say yes for him to stand back up.
of course I did say yes! and we kissed and it was magical.

I heard people clapping, which is so awkward that I tried to pretend it wasn't happening.
turns out that it was Breanna, my mom, and Aaron's mom.
I was completely oblivious to their presence and it was another huge shock when they came up to us.

I later asked Aaron when or how he planned this.
he says that on Monday morning he realized that his life would be drastically different without me, and not in a good way.
he left work early, went and bought a ring, drove around to all of our family members,
called in sick to work on Tuesday, and drove all the way to Chicago.
not to shabby for no plan at all :)

all in all, it was exactly what I had always imagined that it would be:
totally random, a complete shock
and I was acting like a jerk right until it happened.

I am an extremely lucky girl to have such an amazing husband,
and a great friend that puts up with my... tendencies.
I love them both and I am so happy to know them.

if you stuck around and actually read all of this,
then bless you. if you just scrolled to the bottom, you are one smart cookie.
here is your reward: the text message in which I refer to Breanna as "this individual"


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

i NEED to buy




I recently found out about something magical.
something that we all should be buying asap.
Eyes Lips Face [elf obviously] has a monthly subscription box!
it is called the beauty bundle and I most literally must have it.

look at all that stuff, each image is just one box. so. many. items.
you can get the box month to month, 1/2 year [6 months], or 1 year [12 months].
pretty much any budget can get this thing, and they most definitely should.

I realize that elf is an inexpensive drug store brand, and most of their items are hit or miss.
but really, that is the beauty of the brand.
you get to try things that you would otherwise probably never spend the money on.
red lipstick, mascara, erase and conceal palattes
so. many. options.

I am planning to sign up with in the next two weeks.
if anybody has it, or is going to sign up with me, let me know down below!

XXO Amanda




Monday, April 14, 2014

things just got emotional


if you have been reading my blog for awhile, then I expect you to know what today is.
today marks the 26th year of life for my best friend [and beefy] Breanna.
celebrating her birthday last year was a lot different then this time around,
I'm not sure if she has noticed, but it seems like things with us have been... a bit distant.

I guess that is probably to be expected when you have been friends as long as we have.
every relationship/friendship has its ebbs and flows, or so that is what we are told.
I know that Breanna knows the exact amount of years that we have been friends...
but here is how I measure the time:

she was there when I graduated high school
she [and her boyfriend] was my first real visitor when I moved away to college
she helped me move into my first house
 we texted through my college graduation
we have celebrated every job I have gotten and lost
she was there and even helped Aaron propose to me
she tried crossfit with me for the very first time
 she was my maid of honor 
she was there when I experienced the best concert of my life [backstreet boys #noshame
she stuck with it and supported me through all of the wedding insanity planning
on my wedding day she climbed under my dress to help me out more than twice
she came to my uncles funeral and my grandmothers retirement party

I know there is more, but lord, we could be here all day.
 the bottom line is, I have never maintained [or even cared to maintain] a friendship for this long.
we have been through so much, and I am sure that there will be more.
even if we are a little distant right now, I have faith that it will all work out.

Happy birthday to one of the best friends I have ever had.
I love you dogg!


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

sexy teller [almost]

okay, so I started my new sexy bank teller position.. probably like a month[ish] ago.
I think the last update I posted was purely complaining - you clearly want to read that
but I think that things are totally turning around.
and by that I mean, things are totally starting to be less boring.

the first two weeks I spent in a conference room, alone, and cold.
then the next two weeks I spent only about 20 hours in the conference room and another 20 out with the people.
the entire training situation has been fairly disappointing.
studying, reading, and taking tests was not really what I had in mind.
plus I started applying at banks and credit unions [for the hours] because I was missing human interaction.
obviously all jobs have pluses and minuses, but I've had enough of the office job for right now.

so I am finally spending most of my time working with actual people.
it is surprising but I think I really like most of the people that I work with.
obviously I don't like everyone, but that is just to be expected.

overall, I think everything is going to work out.
wish me luck!

XXO Amanda




Monday, April 7, 2014

cooking, eating, & working

















it is a new month people. therefore, it is time for goals.
hopefully obtainable and rational goals.. though sometimes not so much.
I'm pretty sure they start off that way, but come May it's another story.
side note: if you come here for pictures, you are shit outta luck on this one.

apologies. apologies. let's get to it.

1. finally finish the training portion and actually get to work - I am so tired of training. I don't want to work full time, I don't want to be alone all day, I just want to do the job I signed up to do. wah wah wah.

2. catch up and then keep up with my statistics class - I am so behind... I think my hate for the class has a lot to do with it

3. maintain a healthy diet - I really want to start eating fresh foods again. I have been super lazy since I started this job and I need to get back to cooking, chopping, and eating colorful food. I want to stay within my daily calorie limit, but I want those calories to be nourishing for my body.

4. get back to blogging consistently (3x per week) - I realize that 3 times a week isn't all that much, but if I don't have time, or if I don't have topics, then I will have nothing of quality to share with you... and who wants that?

5. drink more water!! - self explanatory I would think.

6. finish at least one room "make-over" - Aaron and I have been very motivated to get our house into sell-able condition.  we have already finished one room, emptied out the basement, and totally cleaned out the garage [Aaron was vacuuming in there. it is that clean]

7. exercise at least three days a week - I have fallen off the wagon, HARD. I need a damn goal to work for.

8. cook more meals at home [4 dinners per week minimum] - going hand in hand with exercise and nutrition, I would like to start cooking more at home again.

XXO Amanda