When you get four pregnant ladies together

You get a line-up:

 Sky (16 weeks), Phanango (22 weeks), Sandy (24 weeks) and me (30 weeks)

Phanango and Sandy were both visiting with their husbands.  It was so nice to just take a walk with everyone and then chat with the girls. 

Hehe and our friends Sally and Justin came over with their little one (who's not so little any more!!! He's a big 2 year old).  After we got done taking all of these photos.  The little man decided to use our friend's phone to take photos of me, but I had to be standing against the wall.  I played a long for a little while but then was just too tired of standing. 

What a fun weekend! :) 

Love, 
Amanda

P.S. Did you check out these new clutches? Elegant Pine and Classy Pine

They are one of a kind (and aren't made yet so can be changed slightly if needed).  I mailed some out for a charity raffle and really liked them so decided I'd be able to make one of each for the shop if anyone is interested. 

P.P.S. I still need to right a Duggar post.  I've been so encouraged by them lately!

P.P.P.S.  We start up youth group tomorrow.  If you could be praying God would have His way there we'd GREATLY appreciate it! 

Tickle me Coconut

Sometime in the last month, my husband and I were watching an Iron Chef America.  It happened to be Battle Coconut.  

Oh no, so many problems with this. 

1. I already have an intense love of coconut.

2. I'm pregnant and tend to be easily convinced I need certain foods.  Not really cravings, but more of an I see it and now want it kind of deal. 

3. My mouth watered the entire show.

4. I think I said I want it about every 30 seconds. 

That brings me to the last few weeks.  My husband decided that we NEEDED to have some coconut in our lives.  Seriously, he stocked up!

Oh praise God for my hubby!

So I got on Pinterest and found some wonderful recipes.

Here are the ones that tickled our fancy the last few weeks.

Most amazing coconut macaroons ever. And so simple!

And then we had Coconut Chicken (next time I'm leaving out the condensed milk, too sweet (which is normally impossible for me)). 

And lastly, I made these tasty little buggers

Oatmeal Coconut Chewies

I messed up (SHHHH) and only used 1/2 c. butter, but they still turned out well. =D 

And I didn't feel as guilty when I'd eat like 6 (ok, I only felt half as guilty). 

Can I use the excuse I'm eating for two?

So that's what's been tickling our fancy lately.  

How about you?

Linking up with Sarah!

My first Award

Remember how I talked about Sarah of Yes, Teacher Crafts???

She's adorable and super sweet.  And she gave me an award! 

Rules of the award: To share seven things about yourself and award seven more bloggers this award. Be sure to let them know you awarded them so they can pass it on!


Here we go, seven random things:


1. I danced for 10 years of my life. My senior year of high school I danced 24 hours a week.  I also had to take tests for our ballet method we practiced. I'd get excellent in style, musicality, and theory; however, I'd barely pass the actual dancing part =P!

It don't mean thing if it ain't got that swing! Do wa do wa do wa do wah! etc!

2. I love coconut.  We had these for dinner last night, although, I didn't have bread crumbs so I used ritz crackers, and next time I would not use condensed milk.  They were slightly too sweet. 

3. I very much admire the Duggars.  You know, soon to be 20 Kids and Counting.  They have an amazing faith and are a great example of what a Christian family can look like. LOVE. (More on that later though)

4. I was not a Christian until February of my freshman year of college (Thanks to my friends Sally and Robin!) so almost 7 years.  I remember packing  my little Bible from VBS thinking, "I may need that." HA God is awesome! 

Photo: Kat Ritenour Photography

Robin is in the bottom left, and Sally is the only one in Plum :)

5. Growing up the only "vegetables" I ate were corn and potatoes.  Yes, I know now those don't count as vegetables.  I eat a lot more now, however, only if they are cooked. Veggies raw just are GROSS. Oh and so is lettuce.

6. I could survive on pierogies (and probably chicken fingers). 

7.  I worked in retail once for 3 months.  Least favorite job ever!  I wouldn't do that again (at least at the same store). 

And now, to pass it on to seven other lovely bloggers:

Karen at Celebrate Life

Caroline at Good Times Never Seem Sew Good

Erika at Rouge and Whimsy

Laura at Along for the Ride

Kelly at The Pretty Bee

Melanie at With Love from Lanie

Jana from Giggles, Glitz & Glam

Feel free to leave me some random comments about yourself too! I'm off to make some pierogies.

 No, I'm not kidding.

But I am also going to make a fruit smoothie to make it "healthier" =D. 

Yes, Teacher

I'm over here today.  Hosting a giveaway on Sarah's blog.  

I've just recently started following Sarah's blog and I just love it. 

She has two weekly posts that I just love:

Missionary Kid Mondays

Tickle Me Tuesdays. 

If you haven't  checked out her blog yet, you should do so it's adorable. 

You can find out how Bob Barker turned her parents into missionaries!

Oh and did I mention she has an adorable shop as well?  All beautiful things handstamped.

Like these Adorable Charlie Brown Christmas tree cards.

or this turkey:

Oh and you get a chance to win $20 shop credit to Toaster's Transformations.  So you should go head over there ;). 

Sweetest Birthday EVER!!!

Saturday after our baby shower, Aaron and I took the baby shower gifts home, unloaded them and then he told me to get changed into clothes appropriate for hiking.  So I changed into some jeans and a hoodie.

Then we went to Presque Isle, "the Peninisula" for a beautiful walk at sunset.  We've been trying to get more exercise, I love seeing the sunset, and it was a beautiful November evening. 

 Yup we live here.  So gorgeous!!!

Well this photo turned out not so great, but we have to leave the park by dusk so we didn't have a ton of time to take one.  But it was so nice taking a walk and talking about our marriage and things that are going well/what we can improve upon.  It's so great to take those times to reflect. 

Then we came home, and since we had an hour or so to kill, Aaron and I spent some time in prayer, which was awesome.  

Next, Aaron informed me it was time to get dressed up, we're going to a fancy dinner. 

So I got back into my dress from the baby shower, and ironed his outfit for him. 

We got in the car, and I had to have my eyes closed the entire time, well, this frustrates him because even though my eyes are closed, my sense of direction is still on so I usually know where I am anyway :). 

However, he did do some tricky maneuvers that had me a bit confused. 

He parked, got something out of the trunk, went inside, and then came back out to get me. 

WAITING IS TORTURE, not my favorite, but usually it's worth it. 

So when he let me out of the car I knew where we were:

Chick-Fil-A

I was THRILLED!!! I love Chick-Fil-A. They're a Christian company with great food, and even more amazing sweet tea! What's not to love???

Anyway we walked in the doors and Aaron told me to go to the right, we had a booth all set up for us. 

If you look closely, there's a sign that says, "RESERVED: Wood."  Aaron took in the candles, but Chick-Fil-A provided the rest.  

So incredibly sweet. 

And then, the manager came over to take our order.  He asked if we'd like to start off with salad.  If you know me, you know I don't DO salad.  Lettuce is super gross. I've tried eating it, I just hate it.  

Aaron MADE me order a salad with ranch dressing.  Gag me with a spoon please! I hate ranch dressing. 

Then the manager appeared with our salads:

My sweet, sweet husband, got his salad (on the left), and purchased my salad (on the right).  I LOVE calla lilies!  They are my FAVORITE flower.  He said he got me one because we didn't have live callas for our wedding.  What a thoughtful man I've married.  SOOOOOOO BLESSED!

Then, our server, Frank, came back and offered an appetizer to me and got our drinks.  I, of course, got sweet tea, and Aaron got lemonade.  I also got a super tasty fruit and yogurt cup! YUM YUM!

The flowers on the left, from Chick-Fil-A, the flowers on the right from Aaron and our drinks.  I think it just puts the night into perspective.  It was sooo incredibly funny, but really special and sweet at the same time.  Perfect for our marriage.  

Next came our entrees, 

Aaron enjoyed a spicy chicken sandwich and some waffle fries, while I enjoyed some yummy chicken nuggets and waffle fries.  Yes, you see that correctly, Chick-Fil-A served us on real plates, bowls and with real silverware!  They are AWESOME!

The problem with having others use your camera is that sometimes, you don't get great photos HOWEVER, I still love this photo because it was such a special night!

Our "server" came back to take our dessert order.  I was stuffed and couldn't even eat the rest of my chicken so I asked if we could get dessert to go.  Aaron ordered us a brownie to go. 

BUT THEN

Our server came out with THIS!!!

 Why yes, that is an absolutely delicious DQ Ice Cream cake!!!

I had to have a slice, they gave me ICE CREAM CAKE!!! Yummy ice cream, creamy whipped topping, and crunchy, fudgy, cookie center.  

And this is when I had to hold back tears.

Are you ready for this?

When Aaron called to set this up earlier in the week, the manager thought it was a great idea. 

And then said, that the entire night was on the house.

Chick-Fil-A provided a FANTASTIC night for us, free of charge.

For those of you who don't know, we have been struggling lately financially as Aaron continues to work two part time jobs.  He hadn't planned on them offering to pay for the entire thing.  However, they just did.  

Coincidence??? 

I think not!

I think that we serve an AWESOME GOD Who provides for us EVERYDAY in amazing ways. 

I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend my birthday.  And God provided it for us.  The people at Chick-Fil-A didn't know our financial situation, they were just being servants of Christ.  

That's why I love Chick-Fil-A!  They show the love of Christ so well!

As we ate our slices of ice cream cake, I told Aaron I wanted to bless them, for blessing us.  So we got several paper plates from the staff, and cut the cake to serve the staff and try to feed as many of the guests as we could.  Sure, we could have taken the cake home with us, but we'd rather serve others!  It's the least we could do after God had blessed us so much.  The staff had been so incredibly kind the entire night, and I could tell THEY were excited for us as well.  It was just so incredible!

Then after that we decided we needed to be just a little silly:

Because well, it's us, and it's what we do! =D

This was by far, the best birthday I've ever had.  

God is so incredibly GOOD!

Providing not only for our needs, but also for some of our wants.  

My husband planned a great night, but GOD made it come into fruition. 

To God be the Glory!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

What was your best birthday? Do you have a most memorable birthday?

*Even though this doesn't fit normal Tickle Me Tuesday posts, I'm linking up with Sarah,

Because this date certainly tickled me!*

Baby Shower #1

This past weekend was filled with lots of fun and excitement and busy!  But, that's life.  I'm not entirely convinced that life ever slows down.

***Warning: I'm terrible at taking photos so all of the photos sprinkled throughout are actually from the baby shower.  You have been warned.  You may proceed.***

Friday night, we went to my mom-in-love's for dinner and some board games for my birthday.  It was wonderful, she made 3 different soups and a casserole that I really love and got us some ice cream cake! YUM YUM!  Then when Courtney got home, we played some Boggle and Settlers of Catan.  I love both of those games, so they did a great job picking out what to play that night!  Courtney's only complaint about the game is that we were done playing (at 1:15 am or so).  (I had to be up by 8 so I knew it was time to get ready for bed, or else I MAY have played another).  Aaron got the bed ready for us and then we snuggled with a little precious Conner puppy, who is really not that little anymore as he's going to be 6 soon.  

Me and Mom Wood

Courtney and Me

la sigh, I remember when I first met Conner he bit my ear as a wee lil corgi puppy.  

Then on Saturday, after we found Aaron's wallet, it was off to breakfast with my former roommates.  We went to Perkins and had a very nice breakfast.  My card from Meg was hilarious (she knows I love chocolate), I also received Persuasion, a Jane Austen based film, and Bonhoeffer (which I can't wait to read).  It was so nice to just get to see all of them again.  :) 

Sally, Me, Meg, Liz

Then we went home, got ready and had lunch with my parents and sister, Kristin.  We went to a local Italian restaurant and it was soooooooo tasty!

Kristin and I

Mom and Me (I tickled her to get a pseudo real smile HEHEHEHE)

Daddy and Me

Then it was finally time for the baby shower.  (Are you tired yet?)

We played some games: Name that nursery rhyme, guess the circumference of Amanda's tummy and Baby Bingo.

Then we, well, I, opened gifts.  Apparently I was too fast as my sister got very few "OK" pictures.

This little bear is super cute. He plays peek-a-boo with baby and raises his arms/blanket to cover his face! ADORABLE!

And this little rocking chair has been in our family for 4 generations.  It was my grandma's, then mom's, then mine, and now baby's!

Hopefully in the spring though we can give it a fresh coat of paint and a new cushion! :) 

Daddy, Me and Baby makes three!

And then daddy showed up to help us load up gifts. 

It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon! 

Surrounded by people that love us and care about us and our wee one on the way! 

How did you spend your Saturday???

I've got more to come as Aaron planned a special date for me Saturday night ;). 

P.S. 

Don't forget you can still get FREE SHIPPING until November 10th, with the code: BIRTHDAYSHIPPING.

26

Today is my Birthday!!! Woohoo! Happy 26th Birthday to me.  

Am I really 26 though??? I still look like 18 or so I'm told all the time. 

Well let's just show you me throughout the years? Would that be ok if we took a look back on memory lane?

Aw, it's a baby Toaster. It looks like I'm snapping (hehe, I do that a lot).

My sister "reading" to me.  It's important to start them early reading!  Our baby will go to the library with me at an early age! :)

Ok, ignore the angry face, I honestly do love snow and always have. My parents have one of my dad pulling me on the sled around this age too!

And I've also always loved the water.  Oh and that's my wonderful grandpa! I miss him terribly!

My cousin Michelle's wedding back in 1996 (I think).  I got to be the "ring bearer" 

My first dance recital ever, yup, I was 8.  I had glasses since I was 3.  They're so terrible hahah!

Sea World with my neighbor Christine, back when I was in middle school, now we're both expecting little ones! How time flies!

My freshman year of high school, going to a dance banquet. Yes, I had long hair, dad decided I wasn't allowed to cut it. 

Lunch with Santa for German club with my extended family.

My younger sister and I at our semi-formal my junior year (17)

Me with my grandpa before my junior prom just a few months before he passed on.  Boy do I miss him.

A dance competition my junior year as well! 

Prom Senior year My mom, Me, My friend Steph, and her mom

My junior year of college (I think) can't really remember with my roommates at a friend's wedding

Junior year of college with my roommates!

Senior year of college

More senior year fun 

I can't remember if this was senior year, or the year after I graduated.  

Easter with my sisters on either side of me, my great-grandma, and my grandma

(Photo courtesy my mom-in-love)

Aaron and I for our 2 year dating anniversary (June 09)

Hey I found one picture from the day we got engaged! Woohoo!

And us now! I'd have to say we've grown up a little bit right???

Well I hope you've enjoyed this trip into the life of Toaster!

Before you go, 

Wait, don't leave yet,

I have something special for you,

Click on here to go to the shop :)

Hope you have a fantastic Sunday!