Just take me with you

Day 30 – A photograph of youself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days

Lets see... 3 great things that have happened to me in the past 30 days... hmm... Well...

1) I met an incredible guy who not only makes me really happy and feel special (he was so great to me on my bday and vday) but also my kids like him as well, and he's a brave soul for venturing out with us to OMSI and the Zoo haha.

2) I lost 4 lbs this month. Not a lot... but every little bit counts. Defintely a plus to not have gained any, and the weight loss journey continues... 39 more lbs to go!

3) Got a big income tax return and was able to pay off my car, my medical bill, and half my credit card debt. So I'm almost debt free which is a nice feeling!

Some people fall in love and touch the sky

Day 29 – A photo of something you could never get tired of doing.

Easy one! READING! Haha :)

Won't you please surprise my eyes?

Day 28 – A picture from your favorite movie.

Ah... my fave movie... Roman Holiday... gotta love Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck!

A brave new world

Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?

Kind of already did this... but will go over it again. I have changed A TON since last year, not only physically with losing thus far 61lbs, but also emotionally, spirtually, intellectually, as well. I've had to grow up a lot, face a lot of fears, deal with a lot of hardships. And yes, it has changed me, but I think, for the better. I've shrunk physically, losing weight, but I've totally grown as an individual. I am still in the process of finding and discovering Amanda, the real me, because I've found for so long I was holding myself back. But no more.

A year ago I was married, at that point, somewhat happily, or so I led myself to believe because I had a 3 year old son and was 5 months pregnant with my 2nd son. But looking back, I wasn't really happy with my myself, or my marriage. The only thing that kept me going was my kiddo, and my soon to be other kiddo. You can tell by looking at this pic that I was forcing myself to be "happy".

Now I'm very happy, and feel very free! And you can totally see in in recent pictures. It's amazing to go back through old pictures and see how unhappy, sad and miserable I seemed. Smiles looked forced or faked. Nowadays... theres always a real, genuine, very much happy smile on my face! :)

I take a look around

Day 26 – Photos of the favorite places you've visited

I haven't traveled much, or very far, mostly because of cost reasons. I still am one of the very few people who has never flown on an airplane. That is defintely on my bucket list, as is visiting Italy. I have quite a few places I love here in the great state of Oregon in which I reside. And since Washington, California, Idaho, and Montana are nearby, those are also the only places I've really ventured out to. So here is my photo compilation of all the places I love :)

Here in Oregon I of course prefer visting various beaches, falls, creeks, rivers, and lakes. I love hiking/camping, so that has given me the chance to explore a lot of beautiful places here.

My favorite beaches are Cannon Beach, Seaside, Lincoln City, and Newport. But it is my goal to visit them all, because I'm sure there are even better ones I've yet to discover.

Cannon Beach

Lincoln City

Newport

Seaside

My 3 favorite lakes are Crater Lake, Timothy Lake, and Suttle Lake. But again, sure theres many more worthy lakes out there I'd like to visit!

Crater Lake

Suttle Lake

Timothy Lake

There are so many great trails to hike on, and falls to see in Oregon, especially in the Columbia Gorge. My favorite place to hike/falls to visit are Silver Falls. But Eagle Creek Trail with all the various falls (Fairy Falls, Punchbowl Falls, and Weeping Walls) you can see on it is a close second. The only reason it probably isn't my fave is because the hike is kinda scary at points haha, whereas Silver Falls is super safe/easy. And of course Multnomah Falls is always great :)

Fairy Falls

Punchbowl Falls

Weeping Walls 

Multnomah Falls

Silver Falls

My favorite place to visit in Washington is probably Seattle, with the Space Needle, Safeco field, Pike Place Market, and the Aquarium, you can't go wrong :)

Pike Place Market

Seattle Aquarium

Safeco Field

Space Needle

In Idaho I like Rose Lake and Couer D'Alene :)

Couer D'Alene

Rose Lake

In California I like San Franciso and Disneyland!

Disneyland

San Francisco

And finally in Montana there are lots of great cities, rivers, and springs to visit!

Big Spring

Cone Butte

Judith River

Lewistown

Missoula

Missouri River

The world is a joke when out of love

Day 25 – Photos of you and your family

Right now my family consists of me, Charlie, and Timmy, and it is a wonderful family :) Maybe someday someone will want to join our family, but for the time being I'm comptely happy with just me and my 2 kiddos!

Charlie and I

Charlie... my grown up kiddo... 4 years old now!

Timmy and I

Timmy... my growing baby... 8 and a half months old now!

Silly girl

Day 24 – A photo of the most interesting thing in your purse/wallet

So before you start thinking I'm some kind of ho-bag, lemme first start by saying that these same 4 condoms have been in my purse since November.... so yeah... it's not like I'm out at the club/bar picking up random strangers and need to use them lol. And really the only reason I keep them in my purse now is b/c it's a good conversation piece. A lot of my friends think it's funny that not only do I carry condoms... but 4 at once. Hey go big or go home, right? Haha... but no really... a single girl should always be prepared... and for my single girl friends that aren't.... they know they can always come to me because I'm "packin". Besides... now that I'm dating someone "exclusively"... I really have no personal need for these anymore :)

Put the pin back in the grenade

Day 23 – A photo of something or someone  that means a lot to you.

My kiddos! Of course... they are pretty much the only thing in this world that means anything to me. I mean besides my friends, and some of my family, and a certain *guy* of course. I'm not hugely sentimental... and honestly I haven't exactly had the kind of life that's worth getting all sentimental about. Shitty childhood with a shitty mother... 9 years spent in a shitty marriage... but my kiddos... now they are my saving grace!

An open book

Day 22 – Another photo of you and 15 facts about you.

1- I love doing yoga and pilates. One, it's a great workout, but two, my goal is to also become more flexible... helpful in a lot of scenarios *wink*

2- I used to love to dance when I was a little kid. I took tap dancing, jazz dancing, and ballet. These days, you couldn't PAY me to dance haha.

3- I'm only 26 and yet I found my first gray hair a few days ago. And I've been noticing wrinkles... sigh... getting old sucks!

4- I'm a bookslut. I will read anything and everything. I love reading that much. Well, I guess I do draw the line at the Twilight and Harry Potter series, I will NEVER read those.

5- I've discovered that I'm probably gluten intolerant. And I tried for a few days to cut gluten... but although physically I felt better... damn... I dunno if I can give up pasta and baked goods forever. Although it would be rather helpful to my diet considering I've plateud at 61lbs lost and have been unable to lose more lately.

6- I like to wear Crocs to work. Even though I KNOW they are hideously ugly, and everyone makes fun of me for it. They are the most comfy shoe I've found... and I need that for being on my feet so much!

7- I love to laugh... and my fave comedian is Mitch Hedburg... may he RIP.

8- I used to think I was bisexual. But I've come to realize that it was just a phase that a lot of people go through. Not that I have anything against gay or bisexual people... it was fun while it lasted, but in the long run, not my cup of tea.

9- I hate my teeth. I'm constantly having to use whitener on them, and even still, they aren't as white as I'd like. Plus I could really benefit from braces... but can't afford them. But I tell myself it could always be worse, and all in all, my smile is pretty decent.

10- I have a habit... it depends on the person whether you think it's bad or good, of going out and buying things for people if I think they need them. Sometimes it offends people, and sometimes it really helps them out. It's because of the people that appreciate it, that I keep doing it.

11- I hate my nails. I can never get them to grow out nice, so I end up cutting them short. And my cuticles are always a mess, nothing I've tried seems to help. I've gone out and gotten manicures/french nails before... and I like the look... but it's just so hard to maintain with little kiddos.

12- I took 4 years of German in highschool, and of course aced all 4 years. And yet, if you were to drop me in Germany right now,  I doubt you would even notice I had ever learned a single phrase, I'd be so lost!

13- My favorite color is blue. And I wear alot of it. But I also wear a lot of pink and purple so those must be pretty high on the list too.

14- Because I started reading at age 3, and was up to reading at a 5th grade level by the time I was 6, I found out a lot of things I shouldn't have at a young age. I was a bookslut even back then and read anything I could get my hands on, including a book that told me about Santa Claus not being real. Sad times haha.

15- I used to be deathly afraid of heights. Until I did a ropes course. Most fun thing ever!

You're dubbed insane

Day 21 – A photo of something  or someone that  has hurt you.

As sad as it is... yes The Douchebag hurt me quite a bit... but maybe not as much as my own mother. Because with the Douche, yes, he was my husband so there was some obligation there to treat me right, but less astounding that he failed at his task. But with your own mother... they gave life to you, they are supposed to do their best by you, and be there for you.... mine just didn't know how to fill those shoes, so that failure, hurt the most, I think.

It's better than I ever knew

Day 20 – A photo of something that makes you happy

No brainer... my kiddos! Timmy is really starting to get in the "fun" stage now. He's 8 months old now... so he's sitting up, scooting around, eating baby food, getting a tooth... and Charlie's really into helping out as much as he can with his brother. Hence this pic of Charlie trying to feed him haha.

Meet me in outer space

Day 19 – A photo that shows the meaning behind your blog name.

Well the meaning behind my blog name is pretty self explanatory. One, it is of course an Incubus lyrics, like the majority of my blog titles as well. And of course, at the time I started this blog over 3 months ago, my life was still very tumultuous, very much like a roller coaster, and all this bad things kept happening to me and I really felt like I was riding a roller coaster, not strapped in, about to plummet out at any moment. Things are, completly better and different now... but life will always be an adventure, and I'm sure this ride has quite a few more bumps along the way... so maybe you should strap yourself in, eh, and come along?

Don't stop, get it, get it

Day 18 – Another picture of yourself.

So I fell a few days behind this week with the blog... oh well... I've found it's because since I'm oh so happy now with my new... um yeah, yet to be determined guy I'm dating, I don't have as much time for blogging... but I have not forgotten you haha... As you can see by this picture... I truly am very very happy... for the first time in almost 8 months... so thank you... you know who... if you even read this blog... which, I don't think you do... haha.

Seemingly possible with you

Day 17 –A photo of  something you crave a lot.


As I already mentioned, PF Changs, is one of my fave restaurants. And one of the many reasons why is a particular dessert they serve there. I crave it all the freaking time! Whoever thought fried bananas would be good... but oh my...

Luckily I got to have them Thursday night, because I took my... um, for lack of a better term since we aren't officially a couple yet, just dating, my um, lovah? Beau? Lol... special man friend? Hmm... whatever you want to think of him as haha. Anyways... I took HIM there for his birthday :)

Take me to your leader

Day 16 – A photo of your celebrity crush.

Other than Brandon Boyd? Haha... hmm. Well my other big celebrity crush is Brendan Fraser. Maybe I just have a thing for boys named Brandon/Brendan, eh? Nah... but even though most people can't understand why I think Brendan Fraser is oh so hot, because I'll admit he's kind of goofy and not handsome in the typical sense. But for me, looks have always come second to personality, even with celebrities, and I think Brendan Fraser is hilarious! So that makes him oh so attractive to me haha.

Dreaming of your face

Day 15 – A photo of  something you don’t leave the house without.

This is a no brainer... my cell phone! It's my lifeline to the world haha.

Um, so yeah. Not a whole lot needs to be written about that... but if I know my friend Jenn, she will tell me... more writing! So I will write about last night :)

Last night was Valentines Day. And it was quite wonderful! It was my first VDay without my ex, who with him, VDay was always just another day. Much like my birthday was always just another day.

He never liked to make a big deal about my birthday (but I was expected to make a big deal about his of course) or VDay. I'm now realizing that this is because he never cared about ME.

It was always about him. So now, to be dating someone that actually cares about more than just himself... it's such a change... a welcome change... he made my 26th birthday, which was like 2 weeks ago, the best ever.

He took time out of his day to come visit me at work and bring me dinner and flowers. Nobody's ever done that for me before.

The very few times my ex ever got flowers for me was when he did something terrible and he was trying to smooth things over. So to get flowers, just because... was nice.

And then last night for VDay we went out to dinner and it was simple... but so perfect. I've never been with someone who was just content being with me... talking to me... spending time with me.

I'm pretty sure I make him happy... at least I hope I do... because I know he sure makes me happy. The happiest I've felt save for the days my babies were born...

Neither one of us wants to rush things... but I have a feeling.... well yeah, I'll just leave it at that :)

Of a confession

Day 14 – A photo from a TV show you’re currently addicted to.

I soooo rarely watch TV so I can honestly say there are no TV shows that I am addicted to. There are quite a few I find funny/interesting, but I'm just not so into TV watching that I care whether or not I catch an episode... but there is one show that I always seek out on the rare occasion I do turn the TV on... and that is "Family Guy". Stewie cracks me up haha. 

Close my eyes and go numb

Day 13 – A photo of your favorite musician and why they are your favorite

This is an easy one. And everyone that knows me and/or reads my blog already knows who this is and why and has already seen the pictures I've posted of him. But for those of you new to the game, it is, of course, Brandon Boyd of the band Incubus. No real explanation needed other than he's hot and talented haha.

One away from the good one

Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.

For privacy reasons, I will not say which town I live in.... but heres a photograph nonetheless :) I love the town I live in... especially my particular area... it's very beautiful. I have a pond behind my aparetment, and then this one right across the street!