Amanda's Sweet Tea

in my house growing up tea was a major drink. hot. cold. anyway you could get it. blackberry, mint, apple cinnamon, plain, a combo of flavors....any would hit the spot and could make any day better. come summer time my parents both would make pitcher after pitcher after pitcher of sweet iced tea. the sweeter the better. now living in SoCal finding sweet tea is like finding a unicorn. people would look at us funny whenever hubby or i ordered it. even in BBQ places!!!! GASP!!! NO SWEET TEA!?!?!? WTH!?!?! so....i had to make my own. now when we have friends over or go to friends bbq's my tea is always asked for. so with the temps in the grossness and just plain yuck i wanted to share my extremely simple "who knew!?!" sweet tea. super crazy, no brainer easy .

4 tea bags ( i generally use Lipton, but will mix it up with 2 Liption, 2 Earl Grey)
water (i use about almost a full gallon depending on your pitcher size)
2 cup measuring cup
sugar to taste
a pitcher
ice

fill up your 2 cup measuring cup with water and add 4 tea bags (5 if you like your tea stronger) and stick all the in the microwave for 4mins. while that's brewing dump the sugar in your pitcher. i used about what looks like 3/4? of a cup. when i mix flavors of tea i back off the sugar and let the flavors take over.


ding! microwave is done! it'll be hot (duh lol) so be careful. pour the hot tea OVER the sugar in the waiting pitcher. the hotness will melt the sugar and let it all blend together better then pouring the sugar straight in after the tea is already mixed with the water. give it quick little swirl around with a spoon then pour the rest of the water into the tea/sugar mix.

TADA!!!! awesomely yummy, refreshing sweet tea! stick the pitcher in the fridge to chill for awhile but before you do, grab your fav glass, fill it with ice and pour that yummy sweetness over it and go find a shady spot and go chill yourself!

Enjoy!!


what are some of your favorite summer time drinks?

xoxo
-amanda

something sorta crafty

in our home we have a special treat that we like to get occasionally when we hit up our fav place to get sandwiches. it's a chocolate drink called Yoohoo. if you've never had one.....you should. they're awesome. goes great with a roast beef/turkey/american cheese/mayo/lettuce/tomato sub. just sayin.

so i had some bottles sitting around waiting to be recycled. and the more i looked at them the more i thought....hmmm.....these would make pretty, simple vases. so that's what i did with them. soaked off the labels, washed the goo off, and rinsed them out. picked up pretty carnations up at the grocery store and taaaaadaaa!!!! easy peasy simple pretty vases. and i recycled! bonus!

then later i remembered i had a book i hadn't read yet just sitting around waiting for me to remember....shocking i know!!! i can not believe that i forgot a book!!! shame on me. so i mixed up a quick iced coffee in one of my new fav cups (it's actually A's cup...shhhh) and started to read. not too shabby for an end to the day.




what have you been reading? anything interesting? funny? romantic? sad?.....i'll read them all!

xoxo
-amanda

Hotel Doggieville

we recently watched our friends dog while they flew over to the east coast to visit family. they have a beagle named AJ. my friend's nephew had the honor of naming her and AJ stands for "Apple Juice" isn't that cute!!! miss AJ is our dog Max's bestest friend. they LOOOOOVE each other!!! they will sleep next to each other.....well......that is when AJ will share a spot on the couch....tho most times we find her like this:

they love to play together. chase games, tug-o-war games, sneak up on each other games.....it's the funniest watching them. and they're both so ok with being around kids that they pretty much let A do what ever to either of them....things like this....


maaaarvulous ms. aj


and mr. max feeling most faaaaboulous today.


these dogs are awesome.


xoxo
-amanda

Summer Break

on wednesday june 13th at 12pm it will officially be SUMMER VACATION!!!!!!!!!!

so excited for not having to wake up to an alarm clock!!!

but summer break always comes with mixed emotions. every other summer A and i get to travel back to FL usually for a good two week visit with family and friends. this is an off summer so to me it brings a bit of sadness. as much of a pain it is to travel, i do love going "home" and seeing everyone. it's only the 3 of us out here in CA and it can get lonely at times. there's no family to just pop over and visit or they visit us. no big family sunday dinners or holiday dinners. but during our time out here we've created a bit of a "misfit family" of others whose family is also on another coast.

so with no traveling this summer, we've signed A up for a few day camps that should keep her from being too bored and from her and i "killing" each other ;)

the last two weeks of june, A will be joining a few of her friends in a band "camp" (no jokes...they're 10). she'll be learning to play the alto sax and she's pretty excited about it. dad plays the tenor sax so this will give them something even more to bond over. i can't wait to get pictures of them together! it's going to be so cute!!

she's also take a LEGO animation camp where, in a small group, they will be creating the sets, scripts, directing,....everything and making a stop motion movie. she's grown up watching her dad animate on the computer so she's developed a love of animation. this will give her a chance at doing something like dad. they'll be receiving a DVD copy of the movie they make at the end of the week. i can't wait to see what her creative mind comes up with!!

her last camp of the summer is a marine biology camp. all of these camps are put on by our local parks and rec and are really awesome. at this one she'll get to touch a shark's egg, see different smaller sea creatures and learn more about our oceans. all of this will take place in a building here in town, not at an aquarium or the beach, but it should be really interesting for the kids.

as for me and my plans between carting her around......i plan on going to the gym daily, working on some craft projects i've got planned and pinned on Pinterest, working towards my Goodreads book goal and relaxing.

what plans do you have for the summer? any trips? projects? please share! i'd love to hear about them!

xo
amanda

me at the gym?!? heck yeah!!!

i officially joined my local YMCA back in march and have been going pretty consistently since then. especially on tuesdays and thursdays. those are kick boxing days. those are days that i've grown to L.O.V.E.

WHO KNEW!!??! i freaking LOVE this class. it KILLED me in the beginning when i first started going, but now i can last through a whole hour of class without stopping a ton of times. i take water breaks and moments to regain my balance, but other then that.....that whole hour is an hour of constant movement and therapy! it's fun punching and kicking my stresses away! i haven't seen many physical changes yet, tho i am down a pants size and don't have to suck in my tummy when i'm pms-ing, but i know that all my extra fluff didn't come on in a day and it's not going to go away in a day. man i wish it would tho.....but.....sigh. it's not.

on june 1st i signed up for another program that's offered through the Y that sets you up with a routine through the weight machines. with the end of school activities, i haven't been as faithful as i could have been, but this summer will make up for that.

i just bought new workout shoes today and man....are do they feel amazing! they cost me my spleen and a kidney, but i know it'll help eliminate potential issues. i'll let you know how they work after a week.

i'm slowly working up to running. and i will admit here.....anywhere really....I LOATH RUNNING!!! with a passionate fury do i hate running. BUT. i'm going to work up to it. maybe even grow to have a mild distaste for it. who knows? i've come this far in liking the gym and working out that anything is possible.

any advice? tips? routines that have worked for you?

xo
amanda

where i've been.......

alright....sheesh. haven't been on here since MARCH!!! good grief! so here's a quick re-cap

march: hubby and i did end up going away for our 10yr anniversary. we took a weekend trip up to Santa Barbara and stayed an a great b&b and we also took a great wine tasting tour of the Santa Ynez Valley. if you ever get the chance to stay and take the tour, it's very very well worth it!

april: CRAZY MONTH!!!! the 2nd our baby girl hit the big double digits. we had some of her friends over as well as some of ours to celebrate. the kids slept over and were up half the night. hubby's mom also came out from NY to celebrate the weekend with us and that was fun. on the 28th, i turned 31 and we celebrated that with friends, good food and plenty of laughs.

may: so far it's been quiet....just random things winding down the school year and starting to plan summer activities. over the past Memorial weekend our little town hosts a Cajun Festival. our family looks forward to it every year and can't wait to go!! there's such great food, vendors, amazing music and it's such a great time. we get to get a small taste of food from "home". Southern Sweet tea, bbq pork ribs, gator tail, sweet potato pie.....oh man.......just so so so good.

june starts tomorrow. A will be done being a 4th grader on the 13th. i am still not ready mentally for her to be a 5th grader. but i've got time for that. we've got a few end of the year things to help out with at school then it'll be a few summer camps over the next couple of weeks and i'm sure endless days with friends and sleepovers.

june will also bring something pretty big in our family. our very first NEPHEW!!!! my hubby's brother and wife are expecting their first baby and he will be joining us sometime this month! we're all crazy excited but the distance is killing us! they're in FL, while we're all the way over in CA. But we'll be seeing them this December and will be there to celebrate his very first Christmas!!!!

with this arrival you'll finally see me being crafty again! i've been in such a horrible creative funk!!! i've even considered re-naming the blog because of it! but i'll be busy with some projects that i'll be sharing soon over the summer break.

hope all is well with everyone! i've added an email contact to this site if anyone has any suggestions, questions, thoughts, links to share....anything!

xoxo
amanda

dark days

some days it's really easy to sit here and say "yeah i'm totally cool with it....no biggs" and continue on my day/life like i totally mean it. other days my brain is telling me something completely different. along with my heart. those days suck ass. no other way to really say it. sorry. those days punch you in the gut and take super small pieces away from you.

i'm not talking about depression. i'm not talking about a serious disease or something like that. today i'm going to open up about something only a few of you may know about me. it's not even really that serious....just something i really don't like talking about to many cause it hurts and it comes off complainy and whiny and i'm not cool with that.

i really want another baby and my hubby doesn't. i know that i will never have another child unless there's some freak accident with my birth control which i know won't ever happen because it's really not that hard to remember to take a simple little pill every night. so yeah there it is.

to you it may not seem like a big deal. "oh you already have a beautiful daughter....be thankful...be happy" or i get those other lovely comments "oh...you're still both really young, you totally have time left." umm.....she's already 10. time has passed. in 8 extremely short years, she's legally an adult. ADULT. then there will be college. then grad school (maybe) then she'll meet some guy (or girl who knows?) and they'll want to start a life together. then the life may bring me grandkids........

i didn't have a "normal" pregnancy. A was born 6wks early via c-section. i never got as far as Braxton Hicks, or having my water break, or anything "normal" women experience. didn't even have a baby shower or time to really mentally prepare....it was "ok....you're going to be a mom today by 4pm" and out walks the doc and in walks the nurse to prep for surgery. after 2wks in NICU we brought home our little 3lb110z preemie. at 20 years old i dealt with all of this. i had hopes of having another child. but those hopes never happened.

i can talk big game about being "ok" with everything. that i'm totally happy with only having one child who is so completely awesome, and i am totally happy with one child who is so completely awesome. but i would have loved to have had a sibling for her. one that's not walking on 4 legs, completely hairy and answers to the name "Max". but there are days when seeing women pregnant that it kills me. that i just want to cry because i'm so completely jealous and envious. days when seeing friends pregnant make me feel that same way, even tho i'm so completely happy and excited for them! and even knowing that their kids will bring such happiness not only to them, but to me as well, because i can help out and snuggle them anytime i want......but it still hurts.

i know that when A is out of the house it will be just weird. so quiet and empty. and hubby and i have grand plans of travels, but doesn't everyone? no more waking in the middle of the night. no more dirty stinky diapers. no more worries about playdates, which preschool is the best, which teacher is the right one, silly school age drama.......none of that. it'll be different worries.

did i do the best that i could for A while she was little? did we spend enough time together? did we teach her how to be a good adult? did we show her how a happy marriage works so she knows how hard it is to work at it? these will be my worries when she's grown. but not now.

 now there are others that come and go. there will always be those. along with an empty feeling some days. 

so yeah.....i can talk big game about being "ok" and "everything's fine".......but some days.....it's not. and that's ok. i know these feelings and am working on them. i'm so thankful for what i do have in my life. i love my lil family so amazingly much. even my extremely fuzzy lil boy, Max.