It's OK.

Okay:

So I'm not a sun-kissed blonde boho beach-bum.

So I live paycheck to paycheck.

So sometimes I skip my workout routine to watch Netflix.

So I currently have a perma-mullet.

So what?

I'm rocking it. 

I might not know what I want to do with my life,

but I'm living. Breathing. Doing.

I scored a sweet solo in choir,

because I prepared. Practiced. 

(That's an uncommon thing for me..)

I may or may not have had two major panic attacks today:

A fly landed on my eye. Landed on my eye.

(I even had the city bus driver laughing at my frantic screams)

I was forced to walk in front of a downhill facing dumptruck, 

nearly dropping my guitar and jumping behind a guy nearby

when the truck's driver chose to pump the brakes, 

lurching the truck toward me.

(The guy laughed as well, but at least he tried to hide it)

In review, 

I'm okay with me. 

I'm not perfect. I'm not cool. I'm not even halfway consistent most of the time.

But I am obsessive about a clean kitchen. I am getting much better at the guitar. I want to do well in school, at my job, and with my church calling. 

It's OK.  

A few of my favorite things

MD 21770

Welp, it's real. 

No longer a dream, or a wish, or a place in the far distance.

Monrovia, Frederick, 

Bethesda, Washington D.C., Baltimore..

It's all really here. And it is more beautiful than 

I could have imagined. I truly think the family I 

am staying with makes everything beautiful. 

5.15.13

My first day working in the Residential Appraisal Services LLC office.

What a wake up call.

They tried to ease me in, but in a home-owned business office you've really got to

jump right in, ask questions, and do everything you are ordered to. 

It gets easier every day, and Charlie says I am learning

faster than most people he trains. He already has plans to 

let me keep working for him when I return to Logan.

Maybe I have a future in appraising.. we'll see.

That evening, I wanted to get out and see Monrovia. Becky, the nanny, 

said she'd take me on a walk to the park nearby the Rohn's home. 

We took Ally and Cal, the youngest children.

On the way to the park. 

We dragged the stroller down a 

giant hill, then up an even 

gianter one. 

obvi, at the park. cute.

sweet Calvin, who would NOT turn around for a photo, so all I could

get was a shot of his little behind.

5.17.13

Baltimore, Maryland. Capitol. Extraodinary.

Inner Harbor, behind a shopping center. Not even kidding.

So, Becky and I decided to take the night off and head to Baltimore to find some legit seafood. We were thinking fresh, right out of the net.. but we ended up going to a fancy restaurant, Phillips. 

My dinner was incredible. Crispy spicy shrimp on an arugala salad with cranberries, seeds, and feta. Also, I don't know what dressing they put on it, but it was to DIE for! Heavenly. Really.

I like selfies, but not loner selfies. Meet Becky, my compadre.

We came across this walkway made from beautiful pavers, and I noticed words along the path. They ended up being groupings of homonyms, spread out

in the sidewalk. I was having a lot of childish fun reading them, and taking

many pictures. how obnoxious. and touristy. but, I don't care. 

5.18.13

Sleep.

I desperately needed to catch up from my jet-lag, so I did.

At about 1:00 pm, Becky and I headed to Frederick

to find a Walmart and a hair dryer. Who knew I would need

one so badly out here..

Then we drove to Bethesda (the city most 

of JAG ((one of the shows we used to watch 

as a family)) is based out of. felt super cool)

and met up with some LDS guys Becky had contact with.

She's got my back.

Paul, diggin' on the sweet cars we saw.

Me, creepily diggin' on him diggin' on the sweet cars we saw..

uhhh. yep. creep.

Picture perfect market/living area.

Someday I'll live in a place like this. 

5.19.13

Sunday. Even with four adults, the six children don't leave 

much time for dull moments. I'll leave sacrament meeting to your imagination. :)

After church, we went to Valerie's parents'

house in VA for dinner and a birthday celebration. 

I got some nice shots of the house and 

surrounding orchards, but pictures of 

the boys are the hardest to get. They don't exactly 

hold still for very long..

Austin is a Charlie clone.

This little one, however, is a

very willing model. I have more

pictures of her than I'd 

like to admit.

5.21.13

There is a 5-foot black snake that lives in the Rohn's front yard.

Great, right? They warned me about it, but thought it must

be gone for the summer already. 

HAH.

Dylan claimed the full snake-skin someone found in the yard

as his own trophy. I want to be afraid of it, but if a 5-year-old

isn't afraid of a snake, neither am I. 

5.22.13

Charlie decided to play match-maker a little tonight, 

and asked Becky and I to make dinner. He then 

proceeded to invite some boys from the ward over for dinner

to sample our cooking. :)

We also invited a guy who does odds and ends for Charlie

to join us for dinner, since he had no other plans.

He isn't LDS, but has great potential. I invited him to come to institute

with Becky and I tomorrow night, but he kindly refused.

When I let him know what we do there, and that we are currently

studying in the Bible, he seemed more interested.

If not this week, next week I'll talk him into coming.

Right before dinner, the kids started to play a game that they love.

They write conversation questions on slips of paper, and you have to read

the one given to you during dinner. They are supposed to be

good questions that help us get to know each other, (secretly

invented by Val to help dinner last longer than 3 minutes :)

but with the young adult.. men.. guys coming over, they got a little excited

about the kinds of things they were writing on the papers. 

(I actually had a lot of fun reading these out loud. immature.)

Whew! I think we made it through my first week. 

I'm in the office from 10-6 every day, with a little 

bit of nannying here and there. Until the boys are out 

of school however, I'll be working for Charlie full-time.

Which, if I'm honest, is really interesting work 

that I feel competent in, and want to continue.

It's a win-win.

All I have to say now is...

Amanda. Come to me.

(favorite summer experience.)

Curveball

Good people of the world,

things are not always as they seem.

I am learning that everyone carries heartache.

Some allow it to consume their every thought, tearing them up inside and out.

Others seek escape--in substance abuse, or depressing moods.

I, however, have made a choice. 

I allow my God to soothe my heartache, my pain, and my griefs.

I am learning to fully let Him in, and trust in His care. 

I know that my God will never leave me alone--whether I am full of joy or sorrow.

I have faith that someday, someone will take my hand and walk with me on the path of life.

My footsteps are guided. I will never walk alone. 

Agency is the most powerful gift given to mankind.

I can achieve peace in my heart, soul, and mind through the miraculous power of a loving Heavenly Father.

I am worth more than anyone could even hope to comprehend, 

for one simple reason:

I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father,

who loves me. 

And I love Him.

-- a few of my lessons learned --

Christmas

Welcome to my blog, where everything is special. And different. 

And it's Throwback Friday.

On first look, you could label this blog as a wanna-be Pinterest, 

but it's so much cooler than that. Let me tell you why.

I come up with an original idea. 

Something I want to create, whether for myself or others. This idea rolls around in my mind for a long period of time. I think about it every once in a while, and every time I do it gets better.

More inclusive. More complete. 

Eventually, the idea comes exploding out of me.

I create.

This Christmas, I chose to create a wall hanging for a great family that I have come to know,

The Wilson's.

They have lived in several places across the country. 

Naturally, a piece mapping all of these places seemed like an appropriate gift.

 Here's how it started. Cool, right?

I found some awesome, old, weathered pallets in the corral and went 

to work measuring, cutting, and sanding them to perfection. 

Well, artistic perfection. 

The map itself came next. I printed an outline of the United States, taped it onto the wood, and easily filled it in.

Genius.

 The next step involved making sure this piece would stay together!

My friends at Home Depot supplied me with brackets and hangers. 

Love those friends..

Chris and Abby supplied me with the cities

where their family had lived, and Google Maps

helped me find them.

Still not sure whether I got

all of the cities correct,

but hey. 

It's the thought that counts.

All that was left was to package it, and ship it off to its new home in Louisiana. 

I heard it arrived safely, and now hangs in the Wilson home. 

I love Christmas.

OKAY all, Throwback Friday is over. All over. 

Look forward to this tradition every Friday!

Actually... probably don't. We all know I'll forget about it. 

(my favorite past time)

Junior Year.

Is this real? Am I seriously old enough to be in my junior year of college?

Yep.

Last week, I worked on putting my room 

together in my new apartment. 

I love finding (or more often making) decorating 

items to fill space efficiently, and stylistically.

This year's theme? Bright, but not bubbly. Feminine, but not girly. Peaceful, but not traditional. And, of course, a theme that represents me.

 It began with these innocent looking circles. 

Okay, so it really began with these cute animals that Chris helped me cut out. 

What a nice guy he is.

I decided to have all the major animal groups represented. 

You know. 

Land, air, water, cats. Perfect.

In the end, I'm really happy

with this set up. I finally

get to display my tea cups and

painting/quotepaintedonacanvas.

Admittedly, it looks like a child lives here. 

Or at least a cute 12 year old. 

I'm 21. Nbd.

--a few of my favorite things--