Books, Books, and More Books

Today, I am thankful for books. They provide us with knowledge, fantasy, and so much more.  The Bible, biographies, non-fiction, fiction, history, politics, the classics. Well, truth be told my least favorite to read is probably fiction, but there are a few that I like (mostly what are considered classics). Books are a great way to have some "me time" and escape. I especially love reading about old Hollywood actors and actresses. I just finished reading Cary Grant: A Touch Of Elegance written by Warren G. Harris. It was interesting, to say the least.

I have my Mom to thank for my love of reading. One of my favorite memories is of my Mom reading to me. When I was little we would read The Busy World of Richard Scarry, Little Critter, Little Golden Books, Disney Books, etc. I didn't always enjoy reading for "fun" while I was in college. I think it was because of the amount of required reading assigned for class, but now I find myself wanting to read often.

Here are some of my favorites:

The Bible

Wuthering Heights

To Kill A Mockingbird

The Hobbit

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

A Very Hungry Caterpillar

Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes

Dr. Seuss

What are some of your favorite books?

Until next time,

XOXO Amanda

Happy Veterans Day--Land of the Free Because of the Brave

Today is Veterans Day and today I am thankful for all of the veterans (past, present and future) who have served this great country we live in. The freedoms we have are because of their selfless efforts. Our debt to them can never truly be repaid, but we can show our gratitude to them each and every day. Thank a veteran today (and every day) to show them thanks for all they have done for this country and all they have done for you. God Bless America and our troops who defend her!

Land of the Free Because of the Brave

Until next time,

XOXO Amanda

Thankfulness For My Grandad

Today, I am thankful for the beauty in life and nature all around us. I often find myself appreciating the simple things in life--the magnificence of a sunset (or sunrise), the birds chirping outside my window in the morning, the changing colors of the fall leaves, etc. We live in such a fast-paced society and I try to keep myself from falling into the habit of taking these things for granted. Thanks to my Grandad (great grandfather) and my Mom, I don't think I will ever forget to appreciate life and the things around us.

My Grandad was always stopping to look at humming birds or a tree or to explore some museum or abandoned farm. This trait definitely rubbed off on my Mom and me, and the rest of our family too! He loved to examine things, to appreciate things, and to figure out how things worked (I'll blog more about this later).

One of my favorite memories is of a family trip to Ruidoso for my Grandad's birthday. One of the mornings there, my Grandad, Mom and I got up to watch the sunrise. Well, you couldn't really see the sunrise because of the mountain, but it was still beautiful. As the sun started to rise, the light filled the valley and we saw a humming bird and some deer. It was just the three of us and it was a wonderful morning that I will cherish forever.

Here is a reminder to stop and appreciate the simple and beautiful things in life!

There isn't anything more beautiful than a Southeast NM/West TX sunset!

Until next time,

XOXO Amanda

24 Things I'm Thankful For

It's the month of November, and what does that mean?! Thanksgiving is near! Anyone who is on facebook should be familiar with the annual "I am thankful for..." status updates. It seems like everybody does them around this time of year. So, I thought to myself last night, "I should do a blog post each day of the month until Thanksgiving of something I am thankful for." Now, I know it's the 9th day of the month already. Eek! (Where does the time go?) But, it's better late than never, right?!

Catching up on things I am thankful for: 1-9

1. I am thankful for My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of the price He paid, we have redemption. --"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace..." Ephesians 1:7 --We've been given a pardon; the free gift of His forgiveness. "For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins." Matthew 26:28 --Amen!

2. I am thankful for my Mom. She has always been my #1 fan. I can't recall all the times I have needed her and could call anytime (and still do). We have so much fun when we are together and talk at least once a day. She has and continues to do so much for me--through supporting me, to sending me a card or a just because treat, to helping me become the woman I am today. She is my best friend and I love her bunches. :)

3. I am thankful for my husband, Adam. He is a wonderful, loving man of God. I appreciate all he does for us. He works hard, but he never complains. One thing I really love about my husband is his personality. He has helped me to relax and just go with the flow.

4. I am thankful for my Nana (grandmother). My Nana always thinks of me and remembers things that I like or hobbies that I'm interested in. She's constantly fueling my creativity. For this, and more, I love her.

5. I am thankful for my Gran (great grandmother). I am grateful to still have (especially at my age) a living, great-grandparent. She has been a prominent part of my life and I love her.

6. I am thankful for my cousins: Justin, Christopher, and Brayden. These three boys, all brothers, are more like my brothers than cousins. We grew up together and are always together for holidays and important events. I love each of them very much and cannot imagine my life without them.

7. I am thankful for my friends. They are always there for the random phone conversations, the spontaneous outings, and so on. Life would not be as fun without them.

8. I am thankful for my Boston Terrier, Rueger. We rescued him in May of this year. I've wanted a Boston Terrier since I was in high school. We took one in when I was in HS, and I fell in love with this adorable breed. Rueger has been a blessing in our lives and a great little companion for both me and Adam. He is a part of our family and we love him.

9. I am thankful for this blog, that I started at the suggestion of a friend. It began as a way to document our engagement and the wedding planning process. It has developed into a place for me to share what is going on with family and friends, both near and far.

All done for now! These thankful posts will require a post a day, which also means I will be stepping up my blogging. I look forward to sharing the rest of my "thankfuls" with you!

Until next time,

XOXO Amanda

NASCAR

Have you ever wanted to go to a NASCAR race?! Well, I've always wanted to go. At least once. Thanks to my hubby and his awesome job, we got the chance this past weekend. I'm thankful for the opportunities we get to partake in because of the company he works for. (It seems like I've mentioned this a time or two before!) The company rented a condo in the Lone Star Tower. Now, that's the way to watch NASCAR!

When I was in high school, my family and I would go to the dirt track races in a town near by where we lived. It was one of my favorite things to do on the weekends. It was exciting to be out there watching the racers and sensing the competition! This experience always made me think I would like NASCAR if I could go watch it in person. I just can't get into sports on TV...not even watching my alma mater in college football (which my hubby can't understand). I would much rather be there, experiencing it person. Even then, I think I do more people watching than game watching. But still, I enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of a live sporting event, especially college football!

Back to NASCAR. It's pretty much an all day weekend event. It's at Texas Motor Speedway, which is the 2nd largest sports facility in the nation. Who knew?! I have heard about NASCAR fans (one of my besties is one), but didn't realize how serious they are. There were RVs everywhere, both inside and outside of the speedway. It seemed that many of them don't leave the speedway the entire weekend. There were some elaborate set ups with campers, bbq pits, porta-pottys, etc. One thing the hubby and I noticed were the amount of converted school buses on the inside of the speedway. People created decks on the tops of the busses and RVs to sit and watch the races from lawn chairs.

The condo we were in was really nice. What made it even better was all the free food and drinks! But seriously, it was great getting to watch the race from THE PENTHOUSE with minimal noise, no wind, and a view of everything around the speedway. We also had access to a roof top terrace. We went up there about 10 minutes before the races started and stayed about 15 or so minutes in. I was NOT prepared for how loud it was going to be. I mean, every person there warned us but, I really didn't think it would be so loud up on the roof. I was wrong. Also, you could feel the rumble as the cars came around the turn closest to the condo. It was awesome!

Another perk was our access to pit passes and golf carts to go down there. We weren't able to go into the actual pit because the races had started, but we could go into the area near the pit where all of the RVs and busses were. We were told it was like New Orleans/Mardi Gras in there. A few hundred laps into the race (they went for 300 and some odd laps), the hubby and I decided to go down there. Someone had already taken the golf cart, so we walked. It was just as loud inside the speedway, but it was neat getting to see the cars zooming by up close.

Here are some of the pictures I took during the day.

And they're off! 

Coming around the curve.

A view of inside the speedway from the roof.

It looked so close sometimes, but there weren't any wrecks.

The position tower showed how many laps were remaining, how many they had gone, and the position of each driver.

A view of Lone Star Tower from inside the speedway.

The track.

A penthouse view!

The hubby and me.

The winner doing some victory spins!

Texas Tech Race Car! Wreck 'Em Tech!

Get Your Guns Up!

We found some fellow Texas Techsans to take our picture by the car!

Before we went to the speedway, the hubby told me he didn't want to stay for the whole thing. He didn't really think he enjoyed NASCAR because he's never enjoyed watching it on TV. It was a lot more interesting and fun (in person) than he thought it was going to be. We ended up staying until the race was over! :)

Click here if you want to know a little more about Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR, or who won the race.

Until next time,

XOXO Amanda

Huey Lewis and The News

I love music; all music of all genres (minus techno and [hard-core] rap)! My musical taste is eclectic and ranges from Big Band (the 20's) to present day. I like a little of this and a little of that! What goes along great with music?! Concerts!

My love of both can be attributed to my Mom. She took me to my first concert when I was about 15. It was either Clay Walker, Toby Keith, or Tracy Lawrence. We saw all three of them around the same time, and I can't remember in what order. It's been too long! :) Over the years, we've attended many more together: Neil Diamond, Aerosmith, The All-American Rejects, Alan Jackson, Josh Turner, Eddie Money, and the list goes on...

One of my favorite decades for music is the 80's! I seriously believe some of the best music ever made comes from this decade (no sarcasm intended). There are so many artists/bands I could go on about from the 80's, but I'll save that for a later post. Right now I'm going to tell you about the concert my hubby and I attended at the end of October, Halloween weekend to be exact.

We went to Billy Bob's Texas:The World's Largest Honky Tonk! It's a fun place to attend a concert and the tickets are reasonably priced when compared to a larger venue. If you've never been and you like good music and dancing, you should check it out.  It wasn't our first time there. We saw Dierks Bentley in concert earlier this summer.

Anyway, I'm digressing. On Halloween weekend we saw Huey Lewis and The News! I was so excited and they put on a great show! They didn't play as many of their hits as I would have liked, but the ones they did play were good. They have a new soul CD coming out and played a lot of material from it. (Note to self: check to see if artist/band has a new CD coming out before deciding to go to a concert.) I'm just kidding on that note to self...kind of. But seriously, the concert was great and their hearts of rock n' roll are still beating! ;)

Family Visits and Baseball

I'm still catching up on the blog. Surprise, surprise. One day I'll blog in real-time.

At the end of August, my Mom, cousin, and his girlfriend came to visit. My cousin is a huge Boston Red Sox fan and when he found out they were playing the Texas Rangers, we had to get tickets.

They came on a Thursday and we went to the game that evening. My hubby couldn't get off work so, we had to go without him. It was both my Mom and cousin's first professional sporting event. I'm glad I got to experience it with them! We all had a great time together.

We sat next to an interesting group of people from Boston. They were an entertaining bunch! One guy kept dozing off during the game. My cousin would yelp and startle the poor guy.

We were walking back to the car after the game, when a bike cab came by offering us a ride. Our car wasn't very far away, but he insisted. So, after a few minutes of "are you sure," "yeah, we're sure," and "oh, come on,"... we finally gave in and piled in the bike cab. Let me tell you, that guy earned his money/tip with us! :) It was fun and I think we are glad we hopped in after all. Our driver was a hoot and we chatted the whole way to the car.

When he dropped us off, I told him I blogged and asked if we could take a picture with him. Of course, he said yes. So, we took a picture. I just wish my Mom could have been in it.

We had a fun night and weekend. I love it when family comes to visit. It's a wonderful treat!

Me, Mom, K, and J

K, the cab biker, J, and me

Until next time,

XOXO Amanda