A Day In The Life

Helllloooo! So, my friend Holly (I love love love her!) and her awesome friend Amy are hosting a  "A Day In The Life" Link up party.  I have so enjoyed reading about every one's day and I decided to join in! I hope you all don't die of boredom...but here goes! :)

   I am in total awe of everyone who wakes up at five or six.....not this girl (you know unless I have to, then I can do it, just not on a regular basis!)   I roll out of bed (slowly, like after hitting the snooze about four times) sometime after seven.  I hit the bathroom first, I can't do anything until I brush my teeth. I'm weird like that. I put in my contacts, do my hair and makeup and get dressed.  Exciting I told ya!   I start my day by spending time with God. I read my devotion for the day and my bible and pray. This is the best way to start my day. :)  

  After I have my morning time with God I knock on my daughter's door and tell her to get up. I'm her back up human alarm clock.   Then I usually have some breakfast and unload the dishwasher.   Then I will yell at my daughter if she is not already up (Does anyone else have teenagers? Do you have to beg them to get up? Or just my kid?)   Once my daughter is out the door then my morning's are my time. Right now I am working an afternoon/evening shift. I will eventually get back to days, but right now I am actually really enjoying this shift.    On some morning's I walk  

  Today was not that day.   It varies how I spend my mornings, but usually I catch up on reading blogs and watching TV shows that I have missed.  I don't have a lot, but I never miss Parenthood, Army Wives (I just watched the last episode-I hope for the season, not forever!) Big Brother or The Voice.  I straighten the house and usually do a load or two of laundry.   Still with me? :) I really hope you haven't died of boredom, that would be sad! :(   After lunch I head in to town to work. I have a beautiful drive and I enjoy my commute.  I tried to take a picture so you could see, but evidently I can not take pictures and drive at the same time.  Trust me on this. :)   Some days (like today!) I come to town early and swing by my favorite thrift store before work.  

  Then I go to work.  I work in customer service, and I love it.  Really. I do! I usually eat dinner at work.  

    After work I usually do some crafting (often in front of the television...or the computer)  I take my shower at night and I get everything ready for the next day (clothes, lunches, dinner) and make sure my purse and work bag are ready to go. I straighten the kitchen and start the dishwasher.

  I usually read and wait for my daughter to come in, we converse for a bit, and I go to bed, usually around eleven.  Before I go to bed I write down my days blessings and what I am thankful for in my joy journal.

  Then I say my prayers, turn out the lights and call it a day!:)    Thanks to Holly & Amy for hosting this link party, it has been so fun to read about every one's days and meet new blog friends! :)  

Bling a Ding Ding Ding

Helllooooo Friends! Oh my how time flies, did you know it is already September???  For real!  

If you follow me on FACEBOOK you might have heard how my laptop crashed. It was sad. I don't have it back yet (still waiting to see if it can be fixed or if a new laptop is in my future.)  In the meantime I am stealing moments on my daughter's computer and crafting up a storm!

While I was thrifting I picked up this cute little spice rack. I paid a quarter for! I ♥ thrifting!

 

 I didn't really have anything in mind, I just knew I would find a use for it. My daughter asked me if she could have it and if I would paint it turquoise. I agreed. The next thing she asked made my heart ♥ happy! She asked if I could "bling it up." My girl is not a blingy, sparkly kind of girl. I was a little surprised, but I pulled out my big bucket of bling, thanked God that she really is my daughter :) and got to work!  

(FYI-I bought this during a half off sale, I don't buy anything full price!)

First I sanded the spice rack, then gave it a good coat of primer.

 

 Next I spray painted it turquoise.  My daughter wanted it a little more"turquoisey" so I did another coat with craft paint. 

 

Once I had it the color she wanted I started blinging it up. I hand glued each and every bling on there. It was little tedious but I love the end result!

Bling a ding ding ding!!!!!

I don't know if you can see all of the sparkly bling very good in this picture but in person it is super cute. So are you wondering what my daughter was going to do with her blinged out spice rack?

 

Ta Da!!

 

A great place to store nail polish! I need to make me one now! :)

 

This was just the first of several items that the "bling bucket" is going to be featured in!  I bet you can't wait for me to say bling a hundred more times! :)

Sharing this project with Thrifty Decor Chick, Keep Calm & Link Up, Vintage Wanna Bee, The Kurtz Corner, Tatertots & Jello , Live.Laugh.Rowe & Elaine at Sunny Simple Life

Back to School Wreath

Is everyone ready to get back to school?  I have always loved the beginning of school, it makes me happy. I love, love, love the first day of school, when you can see all the kids wearing their new backpacks waiting for the bus or getting dropped off.  Too cute!

As I have mentioned before, I ALWAYS decorate my front door. I was getting ready to just put out some flowers in a cute little holder when I saw this cute back to school door decoration at The Diary of Daves Wife.  I was inspired!  ( I think I even used the same apple she did!) I love her super cute polka-dot blog! (You know how much I looooveeee polka-dots!!)

I grabbed my supplies, some of which I had and some of which I purchased at my most favorite store ever...Hobby Lobby! (At 40% off of course!)  

I started by wrapping my polka-dotted ribbon around the wreath form. 

 Next I took my handy dandy chalkboard paint (I love this stuff!) and painted the small piece of wood to make my chalkboard.  My plan was to border the chalkboard with pieces of ruler.

Once I got the rulers cut apart I changed my mind..mostly because cut up rulers just look...well silly!

Then I had the bright idea to make my chalkboard border out of popsicle sticks.

Ends up, I wasn't crazy about that either. In the end, I just decided no border.

I like the way it turned out!

My daughter will start her senior year this week. I am trying to figure out where the time has gone, and I'm trying not to cry. Seriously though, this is almost as emotional as the first day of kindergarten. Another milestone, for her and for me. I've begged her to let me drop her off on her last first day (tears again.) Can you imagine she said no? Haha! :)

Happy Back to School Time Friends! :)

Linking up with Elaine at Sunny Simple Life, The Kurtz Corner,Vintage Wanna Bee ,Live.Laugh. Rowe & Keep Calm & Link Up

Me by Me

So let's go back...waaayyyyy back!

Last week when my mom brought stuff over for my garage sale she brought me this book. I vaguely remember having this book as a kid and filling it out. It has brought back quite a few memories and I've had some laughs this week so I thought I would share some of it with you! :)

Yes, that says 1985.  

1985...I turned 11 that year and I was in 5th grade. Sometimes it seems like it was a long time ago, and sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday. Life has a tendency to do that. :)

One of these statements is still true...I bet you will never guess which one ;) Ha ha!

Nice....only this isn't my birthday. My birthday is in November, it just isn't November 11. It's not even November 1. I don't know. Maybe I was just excited about turning 11. Maybe I was thinking 11 for November. Maybe I just didn't know when my birthday was. (My mother says that is highly unlikely since I liked to tell everyone about my birthday for months leading up to the day-that must have been delightful.)
Who knows? :)

What amazed me most about this book was how some things stay the same

 I still like those things.  Art, crafts, reading, hanging with friends, going on vacation and of course having Christmas! :)

Oh, but how some things change

(The bottom three say She's So Unusual, Julian Lennon, jeans, polos, hightops)

Ha ha! Just for the record none of these things are my favorite any more, well except for jeans. I still really like those. I also never even owned a pair of high tops, I don't even remember wanting a pair of high tops! Too funny.

Some other funny/interesting things in this little book were that when I grew up I wanted to be an author or a marine biologist. For the record I am not a marine biologist (I live in Missouri!) but I do like to write. For the place I would most like to visit I put Disney World.  I didn't know then that I would get to visit Disney World...twice!

It was kind of fun to look back into the mind of 11 year old Amanda. :)

 I'm so glad my Mom is so sentimental and keeps everything. :)  She sure kept it safe!

Sharing this with Elaine at Sunny Simple Life :)

Garage Sale & Good Friends

Hello Friends! How was your weekend? If you follow me on Facebook then you know I had a garage sale this weekend.  I love going to garage sales, and I love how clean and organized my garage is now, but I forgot how much work having one is!

I was lucky enough to have a beautiful day of weather (It has been over 100 degrees here every day for weeks, so to have a nice day was awesome!!)  This sale wouldn't have been possible without the help of my Mom, and my awesome friends Lori and Elizabeth.  Let me tell you about these amazing ladies.

My Mom helped me get ready for the sale all week last week, pricing, organizing & setting up.  She stayed and helped me all day of the sale. I love her. Lots. :)

My friend Lori is one of the most generous people I have ever met. She has a huge heart. I am so lucky to be her friend. Lori gave me tons of stuff for the sale, told me to keep the money, and then bought something from the sale. I love her too! 

My friend Elizabeth was there first thing in the morning. She stayed with me all day. She also bought something. She helped me chase down all of my garage sale signs that had blown down. We laughed together as I dodged cars to get one sign in the middle of the road,  and one that was blowing away as I was running after it. Elizabeth and I laugh together a lot.  She is a great friend. I love her too! (But I won't hug her, Elizabeth does not do hugs! hahahaha)

So, how did my garage sale go you ask? Well, not great. I didn't make as much as I wanted too (even with my friends purchasing my unwanted junk lol.) I still have a garage full of stuff that I need to pack up and giveaway.  But here are the reasons it was great...I met some of my neighbors that I didn't know, my garage is organized & clean (yes I know I already said that, it makes me reeeealllllyyyy happy), I made a little money, and it reminded me how blessed I am to have a wonderful Mom and great friends!

My sale wore me out, so I think I'm going to stick to going to garage sales instead of having them! :) 

Have any of you had a garage sale lately?

Thrift & Thanks

Let me start off by saying a big THANK YOU!!! to all of my new followers!!  I want to give each one of you a big hug!!      

This Little Light has tripled in followers in the last three days! I am so excited you are here, and I may have even shed a few tears of joy...ok, I did shed a few tears of joy! My heart is so full right now ♥ and I am so thankful! I cannot wait to get to know each and every one of you! :)

Now I would like to tell you about my most recent thrifting trip. I am blessed to have quite a few thrift stores in my area, but I have one that is my favorite. It is in a big old house with a wraparound porch, and all of their proceeds go to support a local Christian High School. When I talk about my "favorite thrift store" that is the one I am referring to.

The first thing I saw was this!

And I fell in love. I knew I wanted a desk for the future craft studio (aka the current garage.)  I knew I wanted it to be on the smaller side and have character.  My desk is a little rough around the edges, but I love the size, all the drawers, and the lines! I can't wait to show you what I am going to do with it!

Guess what I paid for my desk?

Give up?

$7.00!!

I also got three cute tops on this trip.

I came home, washed them and wore the one above the next day! I don't know if you can tell but it has ruffles coming down the left side. I love ruffles!

Really, I love ruffles.  Here is the second shirt I picked up.

The third shirt I picked up is my favorite I think,

This picture does not convey how cute this shirt is. It is a really pretty green and the material is dotted-swiss. 

So are you  wondering how much I paid for each of these cute shirts? 

 I'll tell you!

$ .75 cents apiece!  :)

That is right-I went thrifting with a $10 budget, and came home with a desk and three cute tops for $9.25!! :)  

I looooove thrifting!

What have you thrifted lately?

Sharing this with Elaine at Sunny Simple Life :)

A Birthday, Bible School & Busy Times

The past week and a half have flown by, as they often do, but this time every minute was filled. 

We started out by celebrating my beautiful niece, Miss A's 7th birthday!

Per her request Aunt Amanda made strawberry cupcakes with strawberry icing. :)

Miss A is beautiful inside and out. She lives her life with so much joy, people are just drawn to her. She has a megawatt smile. She is my oldest niece and is the one most like me. We are social girls, we love to talk...to pretty much everyone....we are emotional...we wear our hearts on our sleeves.  We share the same middle name and have the same initials. (Which is very cool to a seven year old, we will talk in ten years, I'm sure it won't be near as cool!) 

Speaking of cool...

My nieces think my 17 year old daughter is a rock star, so anytime she graces us with her presence is a big deal.  She gave up a Saturday night to celebrate Miss A's birthday, and a week of sleeping in to be a group leader at bible school. 

I think I'll keep her...and her giraffe...:)

She is a good cousin, and she is great with the girls!

Miss A and her sisters, Miss K and Miss T, don't live in Missouri. They live in another state, about 4 hours away. Miss A's birthday wasn't the only reason they made the trip though.  My older two nieces, Miss A and Miss K, stayed here for the week and we all went to bible school! I was the bible study teacher, my mom was the director, and my daughter was a group leader. It was so fun!

I love bible school, I always have! It is one of my favorite things about summer!

Miss T was not very happy that she didn't get to stay.

Miss T is my youngest niece. She goes 90 to nothing the entire time she is awake. I have no idea how my sister ever gets anything done! She hardly ever smiles for pictures, but she smiles all the time in real life! Miss T loves all things Elmo, and I love the way she says my name, "At Mana." :)

(The only "smiling" picture I got of her-and I had to trick her with food!) :)

Miss K is my middle niece, and she is a hoot. You never know what is going to come out of that child's mouth! She is witty and has great timing and she is only three!

All week I heard "My mom said" followed by some of the funniest things! I should have written them down! By the end of the week just hearing "My mom said" made me giggle!

Miss K also loved Aunt Amanda's high heels. Every time I turned around she had on a pair.

Who doesn't wear heels to bed? :)

The week with Miss A and Miss K flew by... bible school, visits to the park, swimming, playing Barbies, just playing. Miss A did some fishing with my dad while Miss K and I did some ice cream eating. (I think we got the better deal!)  On Saturday morning we packed up and headed to their home, where I stayed the weekend. (Miss K kept telling my sister, "Aunt Amanda is going to spend the night!")

I came home late Sunday night, and I think I could have slept all day yesterday if I had the chance. I was exhausted! But it was that life is good kind of exhaustion, so it was worth it.

I love being an aunt, and I love those girls so much! I treasure the time I get to spend with them. My sister is such a great mom. My nieces are three of the sweetest, most loving girls.

This week is going to seem super boring compared to the last one I bet! :)