This week I have been reminded of some incredible blessings, that my trials and tribulations don't hold a candle to. I sometimes have to be reminded of what I have to be thankful for and this week I had many eye openers that made me thankful for my life and the 18 years I had with MaDee Boxler.

This morning I received a Facebook message that made my day. MaDee's birthday is approaching and she has a way of sending her strength down on us and spreading hope and even joy. I'm not going to go in much detail about all of it. But I have met some incredible incredible people through MaDee and it's just great to continue to keep in touch.

The next was a Facebook post on MaDee's cousin Brittany's wall. It was from CBS Evening News and it was of an interview with a little girl named Hayley. I met Hayley twice through MaDee's treatments and another at MaDee's funeral. Hayley is a brave girl with a spunky personality. Her drive, charisma and positive attitude reminds me of MaDee's. This little girl is a blessing- a light of hope.

http://www.cbs.com/cbs_evening_news/video/?pid=IvSUXi1kdakQLSz3RFQHu2dHkQbJ26FW&vs=homepage&play=true

Yesterday I also went shopping for MaDee's sister. MaDee's sister is pregnant if you did not know. That is a true blessing and a gift from God. We all think MaDee nudged God when she got to heaven about Abby being pregnant with a boy! It's just amazing how God works. Shopping for a baby shower gift for Abby wasn't easy for two reasons: I was out of my element and I was missing MaDee. MaDee and I had the pleasure of doing a shower for our friend Chalee. When I was getting ready for my sisters bridal shower in May I went to our "event" box and found food lists and a copy of the check for Chalee's baby shower. MaDee has a way of being at everything! It brought me back to shopping for the shower and buying things for her baby. MaDee should be here. Why is she not here?! I paced around the aisles and navigated the registry. I came to the bib aisle and there was a "MY AUNT IS HOT AND SINGLE" bib. I smiled and laughed and moved on. I came out with two things and a Babies 'R Us bonus card. Why did I get a bonus card? I don't know. I couldn't say no to this sweet old lady at the registry. I cried a little on the way home as I admired the bag next to me but what am I so sad about? This is a happy time! I am happy! I imagine being a crazy "aunt" that comes in for his birthdays and overnights Christmas gifts. I can only hope. A couple hours later I wrapped the gift and felt satisfied.

The last big thankful notice came early this week from a text from Brittany. I am currently making two frames for an auction and golf tourney October 14th for a senior in high school who lost her parents this year to suicide and murder. I was shocked and my heart dropped. I couldn't even begin to imagine life without my parents not now not ever and especially not my senior year of high school. I would add a link but I don't know much information. The only way I thought I could help was making two frames for the silent auction and forwarding a list of auctions ideas from Music for MaDee. So I did both. If I get more information I'll be sure to add links.

All of these are a constant reminder of life's blessings. Sometimes it's good to just jot down some thoughts of gratitude. I have so many things to be thankful for and even though it's been a rough year a lot of good still came out of 2010. Through everything that happens in life there will always be moments that make it seem alright. This week I felt that. This week I needed that. So thank you God for all my blessings and for surrounding me with people and strength for the moments that aren't so great.

Thanks for reading!

I can't wait to start my http://www.readwriteheal.com/2010/09/am-i-ill-with-want.html blog! If you're into writing or journaling you should check this link out! You can go public with your writing or just do it on leisure time alone.

Peacock Bridal Shower

It’s the next day and I feel inspired to share! Another successful bridal shower has been planned and executed and now the day after I reflect on another great job. Yes I am giving myself a pat on the back but I also want to thank my mom and dad for their patience and financial support to make these parties possible.

The bridal shower was of course for my soon-to-be sister-in-law Anna Brooks. If you aren’t up-to-date with our household- yes we’re having another wedding less than a year apart. Anna Brooks is in school for Physical Therapy at MUSC and the PT school is about to go on another rotation in October so mom and I decided it would be great to be able to throw a shower for the bride and her MUSC friends before they separated ways.

Anna Brooks and Scott’s wedding is black and white. AB wanted a pop of color and loved the idea of peacocks but decided against it due to the elegance and simplicity of a black and white January wedding. That said I knew that the shower would be peacocks. AB was ecstatic with the idea so the planning began. The planning of the shower was less than two months. Plans were drawn, things were purchased and the ideas went from paper to reality in a matter of weeks…

The first decision of planning a bridal shower should be the venue. We knew that we wanted to have the shower at our neighborhood civic building because it's spacious. This picture is after we moved the furniture and hid most of the dated 70's furniture and stuffed an ugly faded couch in the men's bathroom.

The next part of planning a bridal shower is the invitation. Since we were crunched for time I didn't know if I could hand make peacock invitations. I decided to order online at vistaprint.com. This is what we ended with. They were fairly priced, shipped fast and served their purpose.

Now it's the behind the scenes. The setting up and then finally the actual event.

Anna Brooks' Peacock Bridal Shower...

The Entrance- Welcome! 

Balloons at the entrance to let guests know they have arrived! We sent dad on an adventure with directions of bringing back purple, green and blue balloons. He expected us to be mad that they were stars. I actually adored them. They served their purpose but the hard rain beat them down by the end of the night. The "Shepard's hook" was brought from the house to hold the balloons- it's from Ashley's aisle decor at her wedding.

Fern and stand on the front porch. The door on right side didn't open so to help out with any confusion we put a fern stand there. Fern was from our house again- no cost and the stand from Ashley's wedding! The peacock feathers came in a pack of 50 they are spread out everywhere for decor. Peacock feathers can be pricey at craft stores and Pier1. These weren't as great of quality but were $9.99 for 50 on ebay- free shipping and shipped from Hong Kong. They took almost a month to arrive so we were pushing it!

Food - The main course! 

Just a few shots of the food table set up. I actually didn't get any of the food. However the food was delicious and was meant to be a light dinner because the shower was at 4:30. The food was half catered by Publix (The Martin's of SC) and half bought and created by my mom purchased from Publix. We used only crystal ware that we had at our house. The food consisted of 2 choices of wraps, chicken fingers with dipping sauces, crackers and cheese, cookies and 2 bite brownies and an assortment of fruit. The two square purple vases were filled with feathers purchased from Tuesday Morning for $2 each! The green vase was purchased from my FAVORITE store in Salem, Virginia- "Buy the Season" An antique/consignment decor warehouse. I scored it for $4! http://www.buytheseason.com/. The flowers are mums and iris's from Publix flower shop. My mom is so good at creating bouquets it's not worth going to a florist and it's cheaper.

The Drinks!

The drinks were great! We had sparkling water, pink lemonade, four kinds of wine and a signature cocktail! The wines were a Cabernet sauvignon, pinot grigio, white Zinfandel and chardonnay.We wanted a variety but the clear favorite was the pinot grigio. The chardonnay was bought for Anna Brooks because it's the fabulously cute "Middle Sister" wine. She is the middle sister and these wines are adorable. Check them out... http://www.middlesisterwines.com/tHe_WiNes/. The signature cocktail was a find in a Woman's Day magazine we had a trial run of them and the blue ingredient was gross. So we decided to switch it up. The Pea-cocktail was a white vodka cranberry with blue food coloring. The rim was created by dipping in light corn syrup, then blue decorating sugar and an orange peel. The sign is of course my signature crafting.

Decor and Stuff!

Bride chair! Bride sticker and purple bow from Michael's.

End table decor. Votives from Michael's and frame from Target.

End table decor 2. Peacock frame from Pier1.

Action Table- Guestbook, door prize, prizes and games.

Prizes!

$1 prizes best places to buy: dollar stores, Michael's/AC Moore, Wal-Mart, Pier1, Target

A door prize is always a great thing to have at a party. I like to do the drawing right before the bride opens presents so that the bride is the last to open a gift. The slips are flashcards that you can buy in packs from teacher supply stores. The iron box is an awesome box that was at our house that was given to my mom by her mom. The peacock my mom found at a consignment shop!

At my sisters shower she had a guestbook that was part of a scrapbook it was a gift from her husbands aunt- I think from Hallmark. I created the idea in a scrapbook as well. I scored this bird scrapbook at AC Moore. The guests filled their thoughts, wishes or advice for successful marriage in the book. I think it's a lovely way of savoring the moment for the bride-to-be to have forever.

The Games!

We played two games at the shower: Hot Potato and Bridal Bingo.

Hot Potato was a new find on ehow.com

The game consisted of a prize wrapped lots and lots of times and when the music stopped the person holding it unwrapped a layer. The game continues until the present is unwrapped! You'll want to make sure that the present is easy to wrap over and over again.

The winner! The prize: A Peacock Tampon Case- so cute from Palmetto Moon.

Opening Gifts & Bridal Bingo

The gift table. The gift table was filled with gifts as guests arrived. The frame is from AC Moore and this fabulous peacock is from "Buy the Season" I adore this thing! It's wrought iron and quite beautiful because he's built to last he was $35.00 but worth it!

The next game is Bridal Bingo. You can google it and find different ones- I took the internet's ideas and made my own. What I like to do is stalk the registry up until the event and the night before go to print-bingo.com and create my own. You can create up to 25 for free if you do 4 per page printing. I add things that may or may not be at the shower but I think 100% won so when buying prizes buy 5 over the amount that rsvp'd. Bridal Bingo is meant to be fun and get everyone involved when the bride opens presents because it can be a lengthy part of the shower. You can do this at baby showers too! Another one I like is bringing blank cards and letting your guest fill what they think is in each one.

One thing I do know is bridal bingo is fun!

Presents, Presents, Presents!

 AB and her mom admiring her Kate Spade toasting flutes!

Everyday Cow Creamer- So cute!

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=16332437

What's it going to be?! - AB received lots of fabulous gifts!

Parting is such sweet sorrow!

Favors & Departing S'mores!

AB loves S'mores- who doesn't? We indulged and brought out our inner girl scout as we roasted marshmallows! Jars look familiar? Ashley's wedding candy buffet!

The favor- A handmade peacock feather hair clip. I made them and everyone loved them- so glad! They're super trendy now and sell similar ones at Dillard's :)

 AB couldn't wait- she wore it the entire time!

That's a wrap! The shower was awesome. I hope you loved the peacock theme and remember you can contact me for hire!!
aholcomb5@gmail.com

This is on the kitchen table- it's what's left of yesterday! So pretty!



Thank You AB!

The perfect hostess gift- so me!

Thanks for reading this lllooooooooooonnngg blog!

Amanda - for hire!!



Lady Gaga

I've been to a few concerts but none like Lady Gaga's. It was a last minute decision but my sister and I had purchased Gaga tickets and were set to go to the concert. I wasn't sure what one wears to a Gaga concert so I went with a dressy safe outfit with a bold earring. Or what I thought was bold. I picked a new silk black and white shirt with pearl graphics all over and a pair of chandlier earrings dangled with pearls, bows and lucite hearts. I thought I would look Gaga worthy. I was wrong. The most memorable thing about the concert was of course Gaga and her outrageous opening act but a close third the outfits that her fans were wearing. I'm talking diet coke cans in the hair, no pants, glitter, painted face, big sunglasses, bra tops, men dressed as her, caution tape, tea pot and kettle etc. It was fantastic. I loved watching normal UVA students stare as the Gaga goers lined up. By now I'm sure UVA students are use to concert goers at their arena but none like this. You stood out more if you didn't dress up.

http://afterbirthcasserole.com/milestone/site/index.php?viewband=225

The opening act was vulgar and I can understand where parents would be offended but I was with my sister and no children. I actually hated Semi Precious Weapons at first but loved them after the first song. They are fantastic! I downloaded a few songs off of Itunes! My favorites:
- Semi Precious Weapons
- Statues of Ourselves
- Magnetic Baby
- Sticky with Champagne

After this hot mess was of course LADY GAGA!! Her show was amazing. If you love Gaga you should go to one of her shows and dress up like it's Halloween. In fact Halloween stores are actually selling Gaga outfits! (see below)

What I loved most about her concert was that she sang, she danced, she talked, she played instruments. Love her or hate her she is talented. At one point she rolled on the floor and said, "what did you expect me to do come here and f***** lip sync for two hours?!" She was outrageous but didn't disappoint, she's actually just how you would imagine her to be in concert. Awesome. Another part I loved was where she accepted gifts from the audience one was a cut off UVA shirt that was bedazzled and the back said "Mother Monster Loves the Wahoos" she wore it for two entire songs before another outfit change. I love Lady Gaga and I would see her again in a heartbeat. Maybe not on her Monster Ball Tour because it would be the same but her next tour for sure. Check out my facebook page I downloaded a few pictures that turned out okay considering our nose bleed seats.

To end this blog I am going to share my favorite Lady Gaga songs thus far!

Amanda's Top Lady Gaga Songs:

1. Just Dance
2. You and I (new song)
3. Speechless
4. So Happy I Could Die
5. The Fame
6. Paper Gangsta
7. Telephone
8. Dance in the Dark


Goo Goo for Gaga!

The Opposite of Love

I don't read that much but I do love a good book. Who doesn't? My favorite part is skimming through the walls of books in the library and letting the book find me almost. I read books that are recommended or well-known authors but the best books are the ones I stumble upon. I stumbled upon this one. The word LOVE in bright red and in pale yellow above it The Opposite. I read the back of the book and cradled it under my arm.

What was even more appealing it was the author, Julie Buxbaum's first novel and there's something about a non-established author that I love. Maybe because every "writer" has a dream of being published one day, right?

The book did not fail me. You know the feeling of picking up a book and thinking it was written for you or about you? I felt it. It's like watching a movie that pin points the exact position you are in life. It makes the movie that much better.

The woman in this book isn't me exactly but her story I can bend and shape her experience into one like mine. The book is about loving, losing and loving again. It's about finding yourself and not pleasing others. It's about fighting for what you love.

I think we can all relate to Emily. She breaks off a perfect relationship because she is afraid of losing it, she doesn't go after things because she is afraid of failure, she can't give herself to anyone because she wouldn't know who that is she'd be giving. It reminds me of self sabotaging that we smart, pretty, 20 something girls do more often then we may realize. It reminds me of the it's not you it's me except you aren't lying. I think of things in life that I didn't pursue because I was afraid to fail, what others may think of me, and being afraid of the unknown.

The Opposite of Love. The opposite of love isn't hate it's indifference I read. Emily contemplated wouldn't you rather someone hate you then you not matter to them at all? I think of love lost and I think that one is hate, one is indifference and the others weren't real. And I...I believe I am indifferent too. I think it's a good place to be in life and like Emily I have broken so many things down that I feel I am actually getting closer to who I am.

The last 20 pages of the book were spent crying I couldn't even read it downstairs while Steven was watching football I had to save them for last night. As Emily sits at her mothers grave for the first time since her passing. She has avoided doing it because seeing the name engraved on stone might make it real, might make her really gone.

Two more days and it's almost been half a year. I'm still not ready to say good bye- are we ever really ready to say goodbye? I know others feel the same way...a pain when they wake up, a hole in their heart, a heavy feeling. MaDee's death may be holding me back but this book made me realize it. Am I using it as an excuse to not move on? To feel stuck? It's a defense mechanism. I have a billion of them who doesn't? Emily has a happy ending (spoil alert!) and I know that I will too. I'm 23 years old; I have a lot of living and growing up to do.

Let's make a promise to break down walls for our next relationship, to trust ourselves, to pursue our dreams, to fail and get back up, and to stop settling.

Read this book <3 The Opposite of Love
http://www.juliebuxbaum.com/buxbaum-book-love.htm


My life is easy and I am blessed. I have my health I realize. Mid-blog (let's pretend that's a word) I received a text. A text that says we need to pray for Fort Defiance High Schools beloved Coach Stuhlmiller, he had a heart attack yesterday at school. Pray for Coach Stu!