I gotta check my map!

It's time for the annual sharing of the costumes! This year, I went as Kiki from Kiki's Delivery service. But, the fun twist is that my 2.5 year old niece ALSO went as Kiki.

DUELING KIKIS!

Thankfully, I didn't have to actually stand near her or I would have felt really uncute. Because let's face it, she's adorable.

I'm on the right, in case you couldn't tell.

The positive of going as a Studio Ghibli character is that you're adorable. The negative is that people don't get your costume.

Whatever, though. I get to just wear this dress like a normal outfit now, so that's great!

What'd you guys dress up as?

xoxo

Amanda

Happy Halloween!

Just a short post today to wish you a Happy Halloween!

And to share my all time favorite YouTube video which also happens to be a Halloween video. Just open it in a new tab and click play whenever you need to smile today.

Have a 'spoopy' day!

Amanda

The Proposal

It's been a while, eh?

What's new....what's new....

We're engaged!!!!

Yay!!!!

Oh, and we moved back to Michigan. It's been a pretty exciting October. :)

What's that? You want to hear the engagement story? Oh, okay, I'll share it. :)

Last weekend, John and I were planning a very Grand Rapids day. We went to lunch at Perrin Brewery (yum). And then planned on going to an orchard for donuts and cider and then heading downtown for a day of fun. Sounds great, right? Right.

So after lunch, we headed to the orchard and fed baby goats. Oh my god, they were adorable. They just nibble out of your hands. Had the day ended there I'd say it was great. But nope, it got better!

We saw that they had a corn maize and set off to find it by walking around and taking pictures. Eventually, we realized we needed to turn around and ask for directions. Because, of course the corn maize isn't just right there.

On the way back to the shop, we came across a tree that looked like fire and John suggested we take pictures in front of it. Hell yes. I love cute pictures! After we snapped a few and were reviewing them, I noticed John had ended up on one knee and my brain started going a mile a minute.

And then he said, "Amanda, will you marry me?"

And I said something like "Really? Of course! Yes! Are you serious?" And I fumbled with my camera and deciding to take pictures or just embrace the moment (went with the latter). And the rest, as they say, is history!

Now I'm in full excitement mode! And planning! And smiling non-stop! It's just the absolute best thing that's happened in the history of everything.

I hope to blog more soon!

Birthday Bliss

It's Thursday. And my birthday was last weekend and I had every intention of talking about it but then I didn't. So that's a thing that happened.

I'm 28 now. Which didn't seem weird to me until my brother called and told me that he can't wrap his mind around the fact that his little sister (again, me) was "almost 30". So I guess now I feel a bit older. Because I was told that I'm older.

I used to be the type of person that just went crazy for my birthday. I would plan parties and themes well in advance and a bunch of people would come to celebrate me and I was living the dream! Then some annoying BS happened and I stopped loving my birthday to the point where last year I didn't even have people over. How weird is that?

This year, I eased back into things because my BFF was going to be visiting. So we went mini golfing on Saturday at this amazing little place north of the city in Skokie.

The guy builds each of the obstacles and there are ones with moving parts and pop culture references so it's amazing. I mean, I spent my birthday with 2 of my favorite people and the TARDIS. So I don't see how it can get much better (spoiler it does).

We headed home and got ready for my "party". I say it like that because I was really nervous about having people over. So I planned a low key night with a few close friends and board games and beers. And it was AWESOME! I mean it. I'm still not sure how excited I'll be about birthdays future but this was perfect.

Anytime you can sit in a room with people who are really present and want to have fun and enjoy the things you do is just the best thing in the whole world. And then your boyfriend might do something adorable like commission a cake that looks identical to your 101 Dalmatians cake from your 6th birthday. And it goes to a new level of bliss. 

Basically, birthdays are good again. And I love my friends. And I love John. And I love my family. And I love cake. So that's a recap.

5k, baby!

I did my first 5k this past Saturday. Please note, I didn't say that I ran my first 5k. I mostly walked, and that's FINE.

First of all, I sprained my ankle while on vacation, so I couldn't run if I tried. Secondly, I totally jogged more than John expected me to and when we were walking, it was a fast walk. Thirdly, I had a very busy July so my Couch to 5k program was a bust anyway.

But whatever! I did it! I made it through a whole 5k in sunny 85 degree weather and I'm awesome.

Also, it was a color run (technically Graffiti Run). Obviously. So I ended the day covered in colorful powder that took at least 45 minutes to clean off my skin. It was fun, but it definitely wasn't serious. 90% of the people walked (slower than us, thank god). I'd recommend it for a good time but I'd also never do another one. So take that for what it's worth.

Trust me, I'm not the most fit person. So if I can make it through a 5k - YOU can make it through one. You are amazing!