Orange pants are the best pants.

shirt, earrings, & pants: Forever 21, blazer: Kohls

Remember me? The lady that posts outfit pictures on here once in a blue moon?

My life is so exciting right now, yet so busy and full of change. 

In a few days, I am off to Washington, DC to visit three graduate schools I plan on applying to. The real crazy part about this is that I decided to do this last week and within 30 minutes, I had spontaneously bought a plane ticket. Now, if you know me, you know that spontaneity is not AT ALL my strong suit. I am a planner to the extreme but something came into me and I decided that right now is the time in my life to travel and do things I've never done before.

I'm also moving into an apartment with one of my best friends mid next month in a different part of town and I am so excited. 

There's a lot of other changes going on in life and although I feel a little lost at times, I know it will all fall into place. Everything happens for a reason and I'm glad to have the opportunity for change.

A little best friend appreciation.

Recently, I've been even more grateful for my incredible friends so I thought I'd share some appreciation for those lovely ladies here today.

First, there's Laurel. Laurel is Jake's sister and my soon to be roommate. From the time we met, we just got along so well and next thing we knew, we were two peas in a pod. We're so different yet so alike. She is that friend who has seen me at my absolute lowest of lows (uncontrollable sobbing) and my highest of highs. And through it all, she has loved me just the same. She is such a thoughtful and considerate person and let me tell you, the guy that gets this gem will be one heck of a lucky guy.

Then there's Sam. Interestingly enough, Sam and I met through Tumblr. We quickly started texting, Skyping, and talking on the phone. Next thing I knew, she knew me better than a majority of my friends from "real life." Last year around this time, she came to visit (she lives in Colorado) and it was just as great as I imagined. Sam is such a sweet person and she is constantly reminding me what it is to be a great friend. I can't even imagine what I would do without her.

There's also Devyn who happens to be my current roommate and my brother's girlfriend. We've been friends for about seven years now but in the past few years, we've grown much closer. Devyn and I are basically friend soul mates. I'm constantly surprised by how alike we are. She is easily one of the most beautiful and intelligent ladies I know and I'm so blessed to have someone around so often that just "gets me." 

Last but certainly not least, there's Chelsea. For whatever reason, we hardly have any pictures together so here's one of her precious baby girl and her at the park on my birthday last year. Anyway, Chelsea and I have been best friends for 8 years now. Basically, she knows me inside and out. I know I can come to her with absolutely anything and she will not judge me in the slightest. She is such a strong and loving individual and I love that I have been around to see her grow into a really incredible mom. 

So those are the ladies that inspire me on the daily to be a better person and I cannot thank them enough for all the love and support they have given me throughout the years. 

Cheers to best friends.

What do you believe in?

I believe in a loving, almighty God.

I believe that everything happens for a reason. 

I believe in doing things that make you come alive.

I believe that the little moments in life are what make it all worth it.

I believe that there's a silver lining in every gray cloud. Even if you can't see it at first glance. 

I believe that the quote "Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air" is one of the truest I have ever heard. (Quote by Sarah Kay)

I believe that there's beauty in everything if you just look close enough.

I believe that laughter can heal a multitude of things.

I believe that there's nothing quite like family.

I believe in love.

Realizations.

As you probably know if you've been reading my blog for a while, I'm big on being positive in even the suckiest of situations. Yesterday, I had a pretty sucky day and as I sat there feeling sorry for myself for everything ranging from the two hour test I had to take to the pesky pounds I can't seem to lose, I realized that sometimes, hearing positivity in sucky moments just makes you want to punch a person in the face. Now, I realize that sounds a little extreme but it's simply the truth. Fortunately for me, it had been a while since I was on the receiving end of a sucky day or situation. I've always been the friend that told you it would all be sunshine and flowers in the morning. But you know what, it may not be. You may wake up in the morning and feel even worse than you did the night before. And you know what else? That's okay. You have a right to be sad. You have a right to be angry. You have a right to eat too much chocolate in hopes that it will drown all your sorrows. You have a right to not want to hear about how better things are yet to come or how it will look better in the morning. So, if you're having a sucky day or in the midst of a less than ideal situation, let me tell you this. Go ahead and cry. I mean full on ugly cry. Go eat your weight in carbs. Go complain about every little thing that'd going wrong. I understand. I've been there. It sucks. And no positive thing that I say right now will take that hurt away so let yourself be sad. For a day. Or for a week. Or even a few weeks. But the trick is that there will come a point where you will have to get up, dust yourself off, and accept the positivity. You can't feel sorry for yourself forever because although you don't want to hear it right now, it will get better. Maybe not today or the next day but eventually. 

Blazin'

blazer and skirt: thrifted, shirt: Target

This weekend, I decided to drive down to Phoenix to spend the weekend with some friends. I drove down on Saturday around noon and was planning on coming back Sunday afternoon. Little did I know there would be an accident causing the entire freeway to close down for hours. The hour and twenty minute drive took me four hours. It was certainly not the best time with it being above 90 degrees out but I am definitely grateful to not have been the one involved in such a horrible accident. 

The weekend was cut short because I had to come back home to finish some work for my summer class but it was nice to spend some much needed girl time with some of my favorite ladies. 

How was your weekend? 

An update.

Well, it's no secret I've been a horrible blogger lately. I was on a roll with blogging and then next thing I knew, I got myself back into a big ol' blogging rut. 

A lot has happened in the past month or so that I have just failed to document properly so here's a little update on the exciting (ha!) life of Amanda.

I've started really working on challenging myself fitness wise and made some pretty good arm muscle progress.

Just the other day, I did 80 push-ups. Which is more regular push-ups than I've ever done in a single day, much less an hour and a half. I can also do a half a mile or 827 walking lunges now. Crazy stuff.

My future roommate and I found an apartment for the fall... and then it fell through. Luckily we picked a new one.

I finished yet another semester of college. And with a 4.0! Which now leaves me only 6 months until I receive my bachelor's degree.

I scored another cupcake order for 7 dozen of these babies.

I started shadowing my mom at work which I love for many reasons. One of which is the fact that I get an excuse to wear blazers in this Arizona heat. 

I made it through year one of mission "Longest Hair Yet"

And last but not least, we booked our usual summer trip to Puerto Rico. In which my dad spelled my name wrong and left the first half of my last name out...

Now that I think of it, I have been a lot more busy than I thought. 

What have you been up to this month?

Wild Summer 2013

shirt: Target, dress: American Eagle, belt: Forever 21, shoes: Mix No. 6

I have been in the strangest mood the past few days. I know summer is supposed to be what we all look forward to but having been doing such a heavy school load for so long now, I feel lost and frankly, bored having no summer job or school work. Luckily, I have been shadowing for a few mornings a week and I am loving it but I definitely still have too much time on my hands. I probably shouldn't speak too soon because two of my online summer elective classes do start on Monday so I may regret this post come a few days from now. Rather than continuing to ramble, I will leave you with this outfit and some great quotes.

"Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive."

-Hafiz

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand."

-Philippians 4:6, 7 

"You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should’ve behaved better."

-Anne Lamott

"Things end. People leave. And you know what? Life goes on. Besides, if bad things didn’t happen, how would you be able to feel the good ones?"

-Elizabeth Scott