HOW I MET YOUR FATHER~

Me & Bob at a friends wedding in '97

It was 13 years ago this night that Bob and I re-met. 

We were both home from college, me OSU and Bobby RIT.  The night before Thanksgiving is the best party night for college kids and 20-somethings, as everyone is home from school and it's like a huge reunion wherever you go.

Back in 1995, the Flats in Cleveland was a hot spot.  I was at Oconner's Irish Pub (underage, but my friends Mom owned the bar.)  I still remember what I was wearing...black pants and a white belly shirt.  I had just done a shot of Jager and in typical Amanda style, I spilled half of the shot on my shirt.  So there I was, in a white shirt with a dark liquor spilled all over the front of it.

I saw Bob as I was walking back from the ladies room.  I had not seen him since I was in high school, so it had been a few years.  I was now 19 and he was 22.  

He walked over to me with his big, gorgeous smile and said "Hey, remember me?"

I acted like I didn't because I was playin' the game.  After he "reminded" me how I knew him, we spent the rest of the night catching up.

As I was leaving, he walked me outside and gave me a kiss.  My heart melted.

For the rest of the Holiday break, we hung out as much as possible.  I was falling hard and fast and I knew it.  But I never knew we would make it through the years of separate colleges in different states, Army life and deployments, and lots of stupid mistakes in between it all.  We did a lot of growing up together.

Now here we are 13 years later.  We have eight years of marriage under our belts and two kids.  It is still hard to believe it all.  

So now that I am a 30-something wife and momma, this night is still one of my favorites.  Thankfully I don't hit the bars anymore.  Instead, I spend it with my hubby and kids, prepping everything for Thanksgiving, drinking some wine, listening to music and being truly thankful for what we have.  

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  

Our 1st New Years together...we went to Times Square

BE OKAY~

Inspired by Nina, this is to my girls who need it most. 

 There is a lot of hurt in my circle of friends right now.  It seems like everyone has some stuff going on that is making for some heavy hearts.  

Also, in a couple of days will mark the two year anniversary of the loss of a dear, dear friend.

This is and now will forever be a hard time of year as we remember the life of Mike, who touched us all in so many ways.  

Click  here and know we will all be okay!

CH-CH-CH-Changes~

Well our day and night without kids is over and it is back to the daily grind.

We went to Stacia's party on Saturday but only stayed for a couple of hours.  She lives kinda far away so a lot of people wanted to get closer to home the later it got.  So we were back in our neck of the woods by 9pm.  Everyone wanted to go out and usually going out is going to a bar.  

I have to realize that when we are kid-less, we don't need to go to a bar, there are other things to do.    For some reason I am still programed that way.  

I am sure it didn't help that I was in a bad mood.  So as much as I didn't want to be around people, I'm sure they didn't want to be around me also.

It's hard to explain, but I feel like a lot of things are changing around me.  I always thought that I embraced change, but now I am not so sure.  There are new relationships, new break-up's, new people,  and it's harder for me to get used to than I thought it would be.