I was 19 or so when I walked into a cosmetic store looking for acne cream/lotion/wash, anything to get rid of my acne. I walked straight up to the lady and said, ma'am I need your best of everything to get rid of this acne. It's sad, I had beautiful skin all the way through high school, and right after that it went downhill. boooo! The lady looks at me and in her "not so American" accent she says, "Acne will go away, but what you need to work on is your wrinkles". I am 19 and wrinkles are what I should be worried about? Since she was ancient and had very wrinkle free skin, I was convinced she was right! So, instead of acne products I bought the best of all the wrinkle creams,serums and washes she had to offer. As you can see, I am sold easily by anyone who is willing to convince me to buy something (especially at 19).
So, now here I am at age 26 and I use my wrinkle products as often as I brush my teeth (twice daily). I am afraid if I don’t use them the lady from that store will hunt me down and ask me why I am NOT using those wrinkle products. Anyways that brings me to a little story…What had happened was…
I was in the bathroom doing all of my daily rituals, teeth brushing, and face washing makeup and of course applying the infamous “wrinkle cream”. When my four year old niece prances in, looks at me and says…
4 year old niece: “Hey, aunt Mandy. What are you doing?
Me: “Well, little lady. I am putting on my wrinkle cream.”
4 year old niece: (crinkled up nose) “Why?”
Me: “Because aunt Mandy NEEDS it”
4 year old niece: (head moving side to side, the look of disgust on her face in her most know it all 4yr old voice) “oh, you have to use wrinkle cream? Grammy doesn't need cream to make her wrinkles"
As she walks out of the bathroom she gives me a look of – I TOLD YOU!
I’ll leave it at that… I guess at 4 years old they have the world figured out for sure. Ha!
09 June 2010
pinky swear
In the third grade I went to a state fair (where I have no idea), but I was drawn to this one event “racing” potbelly pigs. I saw it in the brochure, on TV and there was a big sign for it, I am a sucker for high-quality advertising. I attended this fine function of potbelly pig racing, and fully enjoyed every moment of it. Children were called out of the audience and allowed to choose who they thought would win, and if your pig won you received a ribbon. I was chosen out of the crowd, AND my pig won! This is where my LOVE for Potbelly pigs began. I have read 100’s of books, I have “googled” it more than any other topic… I am now 26 years old and still find myself in love with potbelly pigs. Before I married my husband he made a deal with me, if there was ever a chance we could not have kids or adopt, that he would let me get a potbelly pig at age 35. Really only 9 more years until my dream may become a reality, I am hoping that kids are in the future but if not at least I get a good consolation prize!
I love all animals (ok maybe not snakes) but pretty much I love all animals. With that being said, we have a dog named Mackenzie and more recently a dog named Molly. Molly came around about 2 weeks ago but she came with a price. I am not talking about a price tag, but more of a deal breaker. I have been going to the local dog shelter for quite a few months, to look at all the dogs. Pedigree dog food is running an intense public notice campaign on TV and every time I see the commercials I cry.
I am lame I know… it tells you to “adopt a shelter dog” and like I said before, I am a sucker for high quality advertising. Molly showed up at the dog shelter 4 days before I visited, and I went there with intention of just “loving” the dogs like I had done several times before. I walked in and saw Molly and fell in love! I called my husband and of course he was not so into it. He made me sleep and pray on it and think about how our lives would be in five years, if we had kids would we be able to handle all of it. So, I slept and prayed and all answers pointed to YES! The next day I walked out of the pet shelter with Molly.
Molly price tag was this…
Husband: (after making me sleep and pray on it) “Amanda, if you get this dog then the deal about the potbelly pig at age 35 and no kids is off.”
Me: (thinking that I could probably change his mind years down the road) “yeah sure of course”
Husband: “Amanda, I am serious… pinky swear over the phone to me”
Me: (pinky swear ahhhh he is for real now!) “ok I pinky swear”
Husband: “one word about the pig and Molly goes back to the dog pound”
Me: ok….
So, molly I pinky swore over you and gave up my 20 year dream of owning a pig! I hope you are worth it…. So far week 2, she is!
-I should state in Husbands defense, he puts up with tons of my “new” ideas. I call him at least 3 times a week excited about a new business, life or house venture. He has to make me think through all my ideas or else we would have house projects, random pets and several different businesses open. It’s a fact I am just bursting with ideas that I can’t finish.
I love all animals (ok maybe not snakes) but pretty much I love all animals. With that being said, we have a dog named Mackenzie and more recently a dog named Molly. Molly came around about 2 weeks ago but she came with a price. I am not talking about a price tag, but more of a deal breaker. I have been going to the local dog shelter for quite a few months, to look at all the dogs. Pedigree dog food is running an intense public notice campaign on TV and every time I see the commercials I cry.
I am lame I know… it tells you to “adopt a shelter dog” and like I said before, I am a sucker for high quality advertising. Molly showed up at the dog shelter 4 days before I visited, and I went there with intention of just “loving” the dogs like I had done several times before. I walked in and saw Molly and fell in love! I called my husband and of course he was not so into it. He made me sleep and pray on it and think about how our lives would be in five years, if we had kids would we be able to handle all of it. So, I slept and prayed and all answers pointed to YES! The next day I walked out of the pet shelter with Molly.
Molly price tag was this…
Husband: (after making me sleep and pray on it) “Amanda, if you get this dog then the deal about the potbelly pig at age 35 and no kids is off.”
Me: (thinking that I could probably change his mind years down the road) “yeah sure of course”
Husband: “Amanda, I am serious… pinky swear over the phone to me”
Me: (pinky swear ahhhh he is for real now!) “ok I pinky swear”
Husband: “one word about the pig and Molly goes back to the dog pound”
Me: ok….
So, molly I pinky swore over you and gave up my 20 year dream of owning a pig! I hope you are worth it…. So far week 2, she is!
-I should state in Husbands defense, he puts up with tons of my “new” ideas. I call him at least 3 times a week excited about a new business, life or house venture. He has to make me think through all my ideas or else we would have house projects, random pets and several different businesses open. It’s a fact I am just bursting with ideas that I can’t finish.
01 June 2010
Coffee Snob
I am a Drinker of Coffee... There are many wonderful things to start your day with, but my favorite is a extremely delicious cup of coffee. Now, I know a few of you are NOT drinkers of the dark liquid I call goodness, but maybe after this you might be willing to take another chance. What had happened was this...
I have been drinking coffee since about the age of 10, my mom used to tell us it would stunt our growth and not allow us to drink it. However, what happens when you tell a kid (in particular me) NOT to do something? You guessed it... Do It! So my coffee drinking started as pure defiance towards my Mom. I can remember chugging big gulps of my mom’s coffee, when she would leave her cups in various spots through the house. The strangest thing is, back then, it was disgusting. I am talking about tar and paint mixed in with cream disgusting. None the less I continued sneaking sips. It took some time, but eventually it was my drink of choice. I never had a preference for any particular brand or type, drip coffee, whole bean, ground, wawa vs. starbucks, iced or hot. I just knew that a cup of coffee was something to be enjoyed, no matter the route it took to get to my hands. My reasons for drinking coffee went through a growing stage with me. I went from defiance, to staying up late to finish “not ever on time” projects in college, getting married and enjoying a cup with my husband and just drinking it out of habit. More recently however, I have been brought to an entirely NEW type of coffee. FRENCH PRESS COFFEE, I have been drinking it for the past 10 months, it’s like drinking a warm cup of delightfulness. I introduced it to my mother-in-law over Christmas, her being a “sworn for life TEA drinker” has drifted over into the realm of French Press Coffee. I have been shown a finer coffee market and it has completely ruined my love affair with all other forms of coffee. It does NOT matter what variety of coffee goes into the French Press, it matters that it is made in the French Press! I had not pegged this as a problem until my recent trip home; I spent several hours on the road and stopped for coffee. I, Amanda, confess… I threw out 3 cups of coffee! The taste of coffee NOT made in a French Press was dreadful. The thing is, my husband and I set aside 20 dollars a month for fancy coffee drinks (since I LOVE coffee so much) and I, in fact, threw 9 dollars of that away! I never thought it possible but I have become a glorified COFFEE SNOB!
Disclaimer: Dear Husband, I was still under budget for coffee this month!
I have been drinking coffee since about the age of 10, my mom used to tell us it would stunt our growth and not allow us to drink it. However, what happens when you tell a kid (in particular me) NOT to do something? You guessed it... Do It! So my coffee drinking started as pure defiance towards my Mom. I can remember chugging big gulps of my mom’s coffee, when she would leave her cups in various spots through the house. The strangest thing is, back then, it was disgusting. I am talking about tar and paint mixed in with cream disgusting. None the less I continued sneaking sips. It took some time, but eventually it was my drink of choice. I never had a preference for any particular brand or type, drip coffee, whole bean, ground, wawa vs. starbucks, iced or hot. I just knew that a cup of coffee was something to be enjoyed, no matter the route it took to get to my hands. My reasons for drinking coffee went through a growing stage with me. I went from defiance, to staying up late to finish “not ever on time” projects in college, getting married and enjoying a cup with my husband and just drinking it out of habit. More recently however, I have been brought to an entirely NEW type of coffee. FRENCH PRESS COFFEE, I have been drinking it for the past 10 months, it’s like drinking a warm cup of delightfulness. I introduced it to my mother-in-law over Christmas, her being a “sworn for life TEA drinker” has drifted over into the realm of French Press Coffee. I have been shown a finer coffee market and it has completely ruined my love affair with all other forms of coffee. It does NOT matter what variety of coffee goes into the French Press, it matters that it is made in the French Press! I had not pegged this as a problem until my recent trip home; I spent several hours on the road and stopped for coffee. I, Amanda, confess… I threw out 3 cups of coffee! The taste of coffee NOT made in a French Press was dreadful. The thing is, my husband and I set aside 20 dollars a month for fancy coffee drinks (since I LOVE coffee so much) and I, in fact, threw 9 dollars of that away! I never thought it possible but I have become a glorified COFFEE SNOB!
Disclaimer: Dear Husband, I was still under budget for coffee this month!
