Nine & Ten

#9 Music

Music is a wonderful thing. A simple song can put you back a decade to a specific place in time and evoke a feeling that you had at that time. It can make you feel sad, happy, giddy, compassionate and a slew of other feelings. It is a great thing. I tried to make a list of my absolute favorite songs of all time but it was a complete fail. So instead... I'm going to do that thing when you are stumped in creative writing class where whatever idea comes to your head you write down. So my "brain dump" of favorite songs are below... in no apparent order.

1. Love Shack by B52s
2. ALMOST any song by George Strait
3. Old Alan Jackson - definitely not the new
4. KISS by Prince
5. Rollin with the Flow - Mark Chestnutt
6. We Believe in God - Amy Grant
7. The River by Garth Brooks
8. Old Reba
9. Most anything by The Judd's
10. Journey songs - (Faithfully, Don't Stop Believing)

If you notice a trend... I tend to like 80's and 90's and a lot of old country. I know... kinda uncool. :)

#10 Friends

I'm a lucky girl. I had the chance to hang out with two of my very best girl friends on Friday. Molly and Rachel. I'm always surprised and glad that we can spend the day or evening together and not do a lot but still be so completely happy to have the time together.

I met my sister in Lawrence on Friday and took her to lunch, then met up with Rachel, who was having lunch with her brother. Rachel and I walked down Mass Street for about 20 minutes then headed to Kansas City to meet up with Molly. When we got there, we played with her almost 6 month old, Olivia and discussed what we were going to to that evening. We ended up wandering the Plaza for a bit, grabbing dinner at BRGR (which was amazing if you are ever around Prairie Village), and watching a movie. We were in bed by midnight. It was perfect. There is something to be said about being able to say and do whatever you want around the people who you love the most. It was a great night. Too bad it won't happen again for another couple of months!

Seven & Eight

#7 Prissy

This is a little silly and superficial, but, I'm glad I'm not a prissy person. Yesterday it was pouring and I forgot my umbrella in my car. I had to make a run for it... but my run was about 3 football fields away. :) No big deal though... I thought my hair looked better afterward anyway!

Now, Jeremy would probably call me "prissy" but he used to call me "dainty" back in high school. I prefer that term. I am girly when the time calls for it but I'm not afraid to be seen not looking perfect and certainly don't worry about it often!

#8 Jobs

Jeremy and I are both lucky to have good jobs to support our family and that we actually enjoy. Part of my job is overseeing the recruiting for the college and handling one of the department's recruiting. It's amazing to me the amount of over-qualified people applying for positions. It makes you very thankful for what you have.

I also have a job where I get to work with people I enjoy. I have a few close friends at work and a boss who is understanding and allows all of her employees to work independently but provides guidance when needed. I made a stupid and somewhat big (by my standards) mistake today and when I told Priscilla about it, she was not upset with me and helped me recitfy it the best I could. She let me know that yes, it was stupid, but in the grand scheme of things, it was not a big deal and that I was already beating myself up about it without her even needing to say anything. It was exactly what I needed. It is definately nice to work for someone who understands their employees and understands that a reaming isn't going to fix anything.

SO - I'm thankful for my job, boss and co-workers. And I'm sure Jeremy will agree... we have it pretty good in the job arena.

Five & Six

#5 - Our Kiddos Grandparents

Jeremy and I are very blessed to have the most wonderful parents. Not only are they great parents to us, but they are they also are great for the boys. It's so nice because David really loves them and always wants to go see Grandpa & Grandma's to "swing" "feed cats" "see Witch" "play Play Dough" and "Cheetos". He also loves going to Grandma and Papa's where he loves to read books, paint, have all sorts of yummy snacks and play on the computer. I'm sure Dillon loves to go too... but Dave definitely talks for both of them!  It's amazing and I'm sure it has something to do with being a grandparent, but, I swear - all four of them have some MAJOR patience. Richard, Jeremy's dad,  will swing Dave on the swing for an hour if that's what he wants and Betty, my mom, will read book after book for hours. They always want to see the boys and we always have someone waiting in line to watch them if we need a night out.

I don't have a lot of memories of my grandparents growing up... a little here and there... like watching Wheel of Fortune with my Grandma Bert and eating cereal out of those individual cereal boxes at my Grandma Voorhees' house. Jeremy, on the other hand, always has a story about some kind of trouble he and his cousins got into and I love to hear them. I hope our boys will remember a little better than their old mommy... we'll just have to remind them often of all the fun they get to have with their grandparents.

#6 - Leilani/Mike/Miranda/Laken

If you know me well at all... you know I'm adopted. I have some of those great parents (mentioned above) that talked to me about it growing up anytime I asked. They would always say... your birth parents loved you very much and that is why they believed they needed to give you to us. And you know what? Those great parents were right.

Enter The Wagner's. Leilani and I met shortly after I graduated from high school.

Long story short, you have to be 18 to search for birth parents. My parents always told me they would like for me to wait until closer to graduation because they didn't want me spending my senior year worrying about it. Jeremy took me to meet her at Olive Garden in Topeka. We talked there for a few hours and walked around the mall. It was very low key and comfortable. When I got back in the car - Jeremy just couldn't stop from smiling - he kept saying how alike we seemed and that we even walked similar! Ever since that day, we've been close. Mike has accepted us as family and so have the girls. I have two sweet sisters, Miranda and Laken. Grandma Carol is a grandma to me. My parents get along well with them and it's really just an extension of family now. How lucky am I?

Leilani, Mike and Laken watched the boys today while I attended a bridal shower.



The boys and Granny Lolly



The boys and Mike

I stole those pictures off of facebook - so thank you Leilani!

The girls and me in June... the weekend before Dill was born!

There is much more to my story of being adopted. Hopefully I'll get around to telling it all sometime in the near future!

Thankful Month

My friend Emily has a blog and had a post the other day about Thankful month. So... I decided to join in and post what I'm thankful for every day!

Since it's November 4th. I have a bit of catching up to do.

#1 - Jeremy

I'm lucky to have a great guy who helps out around the house, takes me to football games, and even doesn't care when I don't "completely" understand what's going on! Plus... he's a super dad.  Love you pookie!

#2 - My Boy - Dave

His silly personality and sweet nature make me smile every day. I can't believe how fast he has grown up. I love hearing his jabbering and seeing the things he picks up without anyone teaching him. He's such a smartie... not sure where he gets it! He has very average parents! :) I'm so surprised at what a wonderful and caring big brother he has turned out to be... I know the boys will argue soon enough... but it's nice to see him comforting Dill when he's upset and "helping" his momma when she needs it.

#3 - My Boy - Dill

Little Dilly Dawg is the most laid back baby I've ever been around. His smiles melt my heart and his giggles make me giggle. He laughs at my dancing around the house and lights up when his daddy or I come in the room. I can't imagine our lives without him. I know I'm constantly being a "mother hen" to him, as Jeremy would say... but it's just because he's my little boy and growing even faster than Davey Dawg did!

#4 - My Brother - Troy

My mom and I were talking the other day about the changes that have taken place in Dave's life since Dillon was born and how he's rolled with the punches. My brother and I are 11 years apart and I can't imagine how me showing up affected him! I hear I was a pretty needy baby and child and I'm sure Troy put up with a lot! Plus... I really put a lot of effort into being the "annoying little sister" during his high school years, so I'm sure he was more than annoyed with me. BUT... I remember so many things about him then... even though I was pretty young. I must have really looked up to him. Still do... he's a great dad, father, son and a "special" brother!



You've got to be kidding!

Jeremy always bags on the blog because I'm such an infrequent and sporadic poster... because of that - I have LOTS to share. So to catch you up...

Last time I "really" posted, it was right before my birthday and I was sharing my resolutions. An update:

• Woodworking - I finally convinced Jeremy to let me build these oak shelves I've been eyeing of Ana White's website. This picture is from her website... definitely not the finished product. My project is going a little slow. I've sanded the oak down but was trying to get one piece glued together while Dave was napping one afternoon and glued it wrong. I'm currently trying to figure out exactly how to go about "detaching" my mistake!
• Take time for myself. Not so much - yet... Jeremy and I have had some alone time which has been great but I haven't had much time for just me. Next Friday I'm meeting up with Rachel and Molly and I CAN'T WAIT!
• Think before speaking - yeah right. I'm a work in progress.
• Give up Chips. I made it one day. :) Dave was eating some Cheetos at Richard and Lori's and wanted me to hold them. I was doing pretty good until Jeremy leaned over and said "Amanda, everyone has a vice. Yours is just chips. You can eat one." So I did.

The night before my birthday we went to our friends' house in Dwight, the Talley's for a quick visit. Jeremy snapped this cute picture of the two boys, Jacob and Dave cruising for chicks. Jacob will be in David's class as they are only a few months apart! I hope they are good friends and the girls are not too busy fighting over them- but they are handsome boys now... so who knows! :)

On my birthday, Alta Vista had Old Settlers Day. There were lots of activities.

There was a parade.

This was a "homecoming couple from years ago! It was so cute!

My Birthday Pic!

Trike Races!

Foot Races!

Softball throw!

Turtle Races!

And a bounce house!

Old Settler's Day also had a volleyball tournament and horseshoe tournament but as I don't play sports that involve a ball... and know nothing about horseshoes - I was out.

My friend Rachel came down while Jeremy was fishing one weekend and we went to the Pumpkin Patch in Alma. The patch had all kinds of activities like a tree house, jumping into hay, tube slide, walking trail, smores, etc. and of course, pumpkins!

 Dill was a good sport for his big brother.

We took Dillon to a couple of football games. We didn't take Dave because he would have been all over the place. Maybe in a couple of years the whole family can start going!

We had tummy time. :)

Dave took a nap with Mommy.

And one with Daddy. Obviously he really likes his Sponge Bob blanket.

And last but not least... we did some Halloweening!



Dave was a football player and Dill was a horse.

We did a Halloween Parade in AV.

Richard and Lori and my parents, Sam and Betty, handed out candy on the street as well.

We went to a carnival they held at the Baptist church here. Dave loved the cake walk!

But pick out Skittles instead of yummy cookies! I was WAY disappointed!

Now that I've caught up on my posting. I promise to try to be better in the future!

More to come...

I do have a huge pile of pictures to post so those will be coming soon but... I just can not keep my mouth shut about this...

Seriously do people not believe in the sacrament of marriage? What happened "to death do us part" and "for better and for worse?" I am just completely floored at Hollywood these days. I realize there is a certain stress that comes along with those jobs but really? Kim Kardashian was married for less than 3 months, Ashton Kutcher cheats on his beautiful wife and Arnold Schwarzenegger has a child with another woman and keeps it from his wife for 17 years. SERIOUSLY??? I realize this sort of thing is not exclusive to celebrities but just more widely publicized.

There have been days where I'm sure Jeremy and I have not liked each other much in our 3+ years of marriage but it has NEVER crossed my mind to just throw in the towel. What happened to letting things go and treating your significant other with respect?

Now I'm by no means saying that divorce isn't sometimes okay. If you put forth the effort and put some real time into making it work and you still aren't happy then it can be a good thing for all parties involved. I just feel like it's too easy to get out of what should be a "binding" contract for lack of a better term.

Two quotes I will never forget...
My mom always told me that her mom said, "Sometimes there aren't bad days in marriage, there aren't bad weeks in marriage, sometimes there are bad years in marriage." I know that sounds like a horrible thing to say and I remember being appalled when my mom told me that over 5 years ago but... my grandparents were married for over 50 years, lost a child, had children in the war and made it through all of that. As a married couple, you are supposed to work through your issues, be there for each other when the other has had a bad day and share in the exciting parts of life. Which leads me to the next quote.
When my friend Libby got married, we were chatting before the wedding and her mom said this, "Some days you will give your marriage 50% of you but your husband will give 100% of himself. Some days you'll give 100% and your husband will give 50%." Marriage is a give and take. I know I'm not the easiest person to live with, love, and parent with. But I know that Jeremy accepts me and still loves me on those days that I'm just not 100%.  There are days when Jeremy drives me crazy and I know he's not putting forth 100% of himself to us, but I accept it and know that tomorrow could and will be a different day.

I guess what I'm getting at is... put your whole heart into the person you want to marry, think about it before you jump in, and once you are married, work at it like it's the most important job on the face of this earth. Because the payoff is pretty cool.

'Kay - I'm climbing down from my soapbox now. :)

My babies

I heard this song today on my Pandora. It's by Plumb and called "In My Arms" and made me tear up just a little... Dillon moved on to a new size of diapers (I know kinda silly) but it was just a reminder of how fast they grow and although I'm so excited to see who Dave and Dill are going to be as little boys, adolocents, and adults... I just want to hold on tight to these young years.

It might be a parent thing... but Jeremy tells me I'm a mother hen over them. I just want to protect them from any harm or anything bad that could happen to them but need to remember that the bad and the good and how you handle both is what builds character.

Your baby blues
So full of wonder
Your curly cues
Your contagious smile
And as i watch
You start to grow up
All I can do is hold you tight

Knowing clouds will rage in
Storms will race in
But you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down
Waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms

Story books are full of fairy tales
Of kings and queens and the bluest skies
My heart is torn just in knowing
You'll someday see the truth from lies

Knowing clouds will rage in
Storms will race in
But you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down
Waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms

Castles they might crumble
Dreams may not come true
But you are never all alone
Because I will always
Always love you

Clouds will rage in
Storms will race in
But you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down
Waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms