7 Tidbits

Thanks to Kaylia over at The Many Colours of Happiness, I have received another blog award...I can't really describe how nice it feels to really connect with readers at some level and to feel appreciated :) THANKS! (And you should probably go check her blog out too, she has some interesting things to say!)

I did just write about 7 things the other day, you can read that one here if you haven't had the chance to yet...

But in the meantime, I will keep your curiosity and slap you with another 7 facts about me:

1) I desperately want to do something crazy, like skydiving or bungee jumping...I have a deep down super thrill seeking side that has not yet been fully tapped into. I took a rock climbing class back in college and found out that I REALLY loved it (other than being super sore in the weirdest places and getting scraped up a lot). We went on a trip to do actual climbing (instead of the practice boards in a gymnasium)...it was totally insane! You really have to rely on the person who has hold of you...on a rope! They are literally your "life line" (no pun intended). I remember being with a group of my girlfriends and we picked out this one rock which had a bit of an overhang you had to climb up...and through all the pain and frustrating moments, I made it all the way to the top...I was completely exhausted afterward but the feeling I had I can't compare to anything else...so I am a big thrill seeker although I don't thrill seek much anymore

ALMOST there...reaching to finish off my climb

Climbing on up...

2) I really want to travel the world! My sister-in-law has been many places (so I am living through her at the moment) and my parents now travel all the time (no more kids in the house!) But I want to be able to travel to places I have wanted to and fully enjoy the history now (something I totally despised back in school). On our honeymoon, we visited Chichen Itza, a part of the Mayan ruins in Mexico, and it was amazing. I was so fascinated by the history and how it was built and all the amazing things and secrets that I learned

Chichen Itza

3) I really hate running. I wish I loved it, but I don't get that "runner's high" and feel like I can run for days. I more or less get the "OHMYGOSH, I have only been running for 2 minutes and I am gonna pass out..." Not exactly good for someone to have if they want to keep active. But I am trying to motivate myself/get up the nerve to join a race (I may need to start off small and just do a 5K to get my feet wet)...who knows, my competitive side may kick in and I may love it and want to up my race mileage...(we'll see)

I feel like Homer Simpson does when I run...

4) I really wish I was better at taking photographs of nature/scenery. I feel like I can see what I want my picture to look like, but the outcome is never quite as I expect it to be...maybe this means I need a much better camera, but I have borrowed some REALLY nice cameras (thanks to Mike's parents) and have had the same bad luck. Maybe this is tapping into my "creative side" trying to come back out-which luckily I have had great success making my own candles (that smell really great too!)

My 1st candle (and also Marisa'a birthday present!)

5) I want to live at the beach. Nothing soothes me more and calms me down than a nice walk in the sand. Something about the sand between my toes just makes life all better for me. I wish I were closer to the beach now, I would probably go for a stroll every night. The ocean isn't too bad either. The sounds of crashing waves and the movement of the water is just breathtaking to me. I have been so at ease that on occasion I fall asleep laying on a beach towel listening to the waves...and I don't take naps very often! Oh, I miss the beach!

Relaxin on our honeymoon

6) I can get lost in a good book. My BFF (E$) gave me the Stieg Larsson series of books for Christmas and I am completely into the first one (I had to finish other books I had borrowed first)...kinda been blazing through the 600+ page book pretty fast...it's the way he leads you on and you just HAVE to know what happens next. I really like mysteries of all types but can fall head over heels for a good love story too!

Check these books out!

7) As the years pass by, I realize I am slowly becoming my mother-and this is not a bad thing :)

Do you ever realize you are also turning into your parents little by little? My no sense of direction is totally from her...we like to give directions with a "turn by the gas station with the big balloon out front"...street names are over-rated and if you don't like my directions, well google it for yourself! I also have this thing about wiping off my glass that I am drinking from as it "perspires" (although glasses can't do that, but it seems like it's doing so)...my mom does it too. I also can't take my feet off the floor at night when I watch tv...it spells G-O-O-D-N-I-G-H-T (whether I am ready for bed or not). My mom has been known to doze off with ease while "watching" tv with my dad. We can also easily pass out in a car ride, just give us some sunglasses so we can make you think we are still awake (watch us fool you now!) She is also where I get my super-organized self from and also the feeling that I never want to let anyone down (which also means working an inordinate amount to please our bosses and make those around us happy despite the fact that it kills us working to the bone and we are exhausted later-possibly why we can easily pass out at night...)

Me and mom on my wedding day :)

Enough of me, onto these amazing bloggers...time to share this award!

Congratulations to:

Adventuresaurus Girl Dating Blog

Ashley...plus three

rockstar diaries

young people in love

Here’s what you do with the award:

•You link and thank the blogger who awarded you

•Copy-and-paste (or download and upload) the award into your own blog post–a teacup of roses!

•Share Seven Things about yourself

•Nominate up to fifteen other great bloggers

•Comment on their blogs to let them know to come pick up their prize

I feel so honored!

I woke up this morning to find that this gal, Melish, had shared an award...with me! How cool! I appreciate it a whole lot! Glad to know that people actually enjoy my tidbits and day to day banter going on in my head! You should check out her blog too, it's very interesting!

So now I will give you the run down on me...in 7 things:

1) I'm totally in love with my high school sweetheart...we had a few bumps in the road(breakup/get back together type deal) but we are happily married and I can't imagine life without him-he is my everything! We met during indoor track season and one of my good friends, Hope, was helping set us up/nudging us together. We started dating back on April 6th, 2000. We actually had a teeny tiny lil wedding ceremony to get officially married April 6th, 2010 since it meant so much to us, but since it was a Tuesday, we figured we would wait til warmer weather and a weekend to throw a big party/wedding for all our friends and family...it was so nice, we went to the courthouse and the weather was AMAZING-my parents and Mike's parents were there as well as my sister. It was the happiest day of my life thus far-I know many happier days are ahead!

2) My dog is totally awesome. His name is Channing (totally named after Channing Tatum who is scrumptious to look at in all those Step Up movies and other films...) but this dog totally gets me...he knows when I am sad to cuddle up next to me and is pretty self contained for a dog. He is also quite smart and knows a bunch of words which we cannot use around him unless we mean it...such as "car" or "squirrel"...the latter of the two sends him into a freak out growl mode and he wants to run outside and chase those furry creatures up trees. He is also funny in that every time a doorbell rings, he growls-regardless if its actually at our house or happens to be on tv (which happens A LOT!)

3) My best friend lives in a different state and I met her in graduate school about 5 years ago now. Her name is Elizabeth but I love to refer to her as E$ (she totally had the $ sign before Ke$ha!) She is the most down to Earth person and we totally got each other from day one sitting in orientation together for grad school...luckily she came to sit next to me in an open seat and from there we were two peas in a pod. We lived together our second year and were practically inseparable! She took me with her to Summersville Lake Marina, which is gorgeous! We went out on a boat and enjoyed our time. She is also Channing's "mommy #2" and helped me teach him new tricks like "spank the booty!"

4) I am totally shy-I guess you may not get that from my blog, but meeting people for the first time freaks me out-BIG TIME! I don't know what it is, but I think my sister totally got all the extroverted genes in the family...she is a social butterfly and knows EVERYONE and can easily strike up conversation on the spot...I more or less feel the need to sit and think about what to say so I don't look stupid! I am pretty sure other than my family, E$ and my husband, lots of my own friends may not even know me that well since I do shelter myself so much...I am trying to change this about myself and is actually one of the big reasons that I started this blog-it's very liberating to say what's on my mind!

5) Volleyball and I were meant to be. My sister, being 5 1/2 years older, was of course a star in my eyes and I wanted to do EVERYTHING she did (what little sister doesn't wanna be just like their older sibling??) She played volleyball and was kind enough to teach me too! My parents got into it and we even bought a volleyball net to set up in our backyard. I remember first starting out back in 6th grade! My sister, Megan, would take me outside and I would wear knee socks ON MY ARMS! If you have never played volleyball before, the repeated passing motion with another person can make your forearms turn bright red, so I did everything I could to cushion mine! Through all her help, I was actually pulled up to play alongside the Varsity High School kids when I was in 8th grade (luckily the Coach was my middle school gym teacher and could give me a ride to practice!). I learned SO much and when I entered high school I was on the Varsity team as a Freshman. I eventually got into a traveling team in Richmond (RVC 18N for 2 years) and my dad would drive me to practice during the week while I did homework in the car...it was a nice hour drive there...and I slept the hour back...it was hard but worth it-I was fortunate enough to receive a full ride scholarship to The College of William & Mary to play for 4 years. Now that college is over, I actually go to RVC and play on adult leagues-I can't get enough!

6) I have broken bones and had stitches and I tend to faint...apparently I am quite accident prone! When I was little (or so my mom tells me) I was running around my grandparents house butt naked after a shower and smacked my head onto a part of the fireplace-stitches! (no fun!) I have also broken my finger playing volleyball (dove for a ball, middle finger stuck to the floor and I kept sliding forward)...I thought it was jammed badly so I pulled at it, kept playing-this game was SOOO long but I think the adrenaline rush helped me get through. I also broke my ring finger on my left hand getting chased about my house by Mike (this was back in high school though) and I was trying to get away faster and put my hand on a ledge to go upstairs quicker when-pop-oopsie, I broke my finger..I fell to the landing in between the stairs and told him to get me ice and that I broke my finger0best part about it is that I had a volleyball game that night after we took team photos-let's just say I didn't play, but waiting until after team photos to get something done about my hand was excruciating! Mike knows better than anyone about my fainting spells...I have had quite a few around him! He was totally freaked out the first time and all I could say before I passed out was "I'm gonna faint!"...not much help, maybe "gimme a minute and I will be fine, I do this often" would have been better! One time we were out at his parents' with the horses and I decided to try to nose nuzzle Roxy (who should never be nose nuzzled-she is a very independent and rambunctious horse!) and she didn't like this, so instead head butted me and I felt woozy immediately, and Mike was there to catch me before I plummeted toward the Earth and passed out for my minute! (He is so good to me!) He knows now to not worry and that I am fine, it's almost like a normal thing when I say "I am gonna pass out"...he catches me if needed and waits to make sure I come back...no problems!

7) I was named after my sister's doll. I get lots of questions if I am actually named "Amanda" or not (Mandy is the nickname for Amanda), but no, I am merely just a "Mandy" and I think it's kinda neat. I guess Megan really liked her doll and my parents were ok with that name too, so it stuck. I do think it is neat that my initials were MGM (like MGM studios!) and now they are MMA (like mixed martial arts-which I started doing kickboxing and jiu-jitsu back in grad school with my E$ and Heather!)

Well, that enough about me...time to share this award with some deserving bloggers!

The award goes to:

1) Hope at BLADAOW!

2) Lara at extreme.food.love

3) Kate at Days Like This

4) Chris and Stacey at Love and Photographs

5) Jasmine at An Experiment in Poverty

6) Sofia at The Brewery

Congratulations!!

Here’s what you do with the award:

•You link and thank the blogger who awarded you

•Copy-and-paste (or download and upload) the award into your own blog post–a teacup of roses!

•Share Seven Things about yourself

•Nominate up to fifteen other great bloggers

•Comment on their blogs to let them know to come pick up their prize