Light Years Away

I think it is pretty obvious how much I enjoy music. I work with music every single day- I am blessed enough work with the music labels. Here is a great singer/songwriter that I really enjoy. Just listen to the song, her voice, it's beautiful- MoZella is the singer the song is "Light Years Away".
The lyrics are so spot on- I love it.

It's almost like you had it planned
It's like you smiled and shook my hand and said
"Hey, I'm about to screw you over, big time"
And what was I supposed to do?
I was stuck in between you and a hard place
We won't talk about the hard place

But I don't blame you anymore
That's too much pain to store
It left me half dead
Inside my head
And boy, looking back I see
I'm not the girl I used to be
When I lost my mind
It saved my life

It's how you wanted it to be
It's like you played a joke on me
And I lost a friend
In the end
And I think that I cried for days
But now that seems light years away
And I'm never going back
To who I was

Cause I don't blame you anymore
That's too much pain to store
It left me half dead
Inside my head
And boy, looking back I see
I'm not the girl I used to be
When I lost my mind
It saved my life

I think that I cried for days
But now that seems light years away
And I'm never going back
To who I was

Cause I don't blame you anymore
That's too much pain to store
It left me half dead
Inside my head
And boy, looking back I see
I'm not the girl I used to be
When I lost my mind
It saved my life

That life seems like light years away
Light years away
And that life seems like light years away
Light years away

People who can write these kind of lyrics deserve to make money and play the music they love so much. So enjoy the song!

Furry Scurry!!

What is the Furry Scurry might you ask, well it is a 5k run in Wash Park for the Dumb Friends League. The best part? Griffin gets to run with us! :)

I have been running/training for the past couple weeks getting ready, it's be a little difficult [I have been focusing on running faster because I will be running with my gazelle boyfriend]. The Dumb Friends League is a animal shelter here in Denver and it helps homeless dogs find homes. How could I say no to such a wonderful cause?

We are running with our friends, Liz & Tim, and their chocolate lab Nestle who is also 2. Then we'll do brunch, get some good schwag for our pups and enjoy a beautiful Saturday. I am so excited!!

Taking time to listen

Sometimes I wonder why certain people are in my life. Do you ever think about that?

I think about it in terms of- did God put them in my life for a brief moment to just impact me for this period or did God put this person in my life to show me what I should strive to be or strive not to be. Because overall, I truly believe everyone in your life should teach you something- good or bad.

Just after hanging out with my closest friends this past week made me really long for true friendship closer to me. I have amazing friends in many many states including Colorado; however, I wonder if some are worth the time. If I continue to call and I never get a call back- is it really worth it? Shouldn't I just focus my time on the people who put the effort in that I do? And when friendships fall apart whose fault is it really?

In high school I had a best friend, we were practically sisters we were so close. We played basketball year round together, in the summer when we weren't at sports camps we would spend the night at each others houses. Then one day something awful happened. This person completely betrayed my trust. I was blindsided and lost all of my friends. It was an awful time in my life, but I don't think I would be as strong as I am now if it wouldn't have happened. Last year, I saw a friendship add for this girl on facebook. At first I wasn't sure what to do, because I vowed never to befriend her again, even after pleads, notes, etc from her over the years. I decided to accept the request and over the past year we have began to talk again. We went to dinner 6 months ago and quickly I was reminded why we were so close before. She is now married, owns her own company, etc- funny how things change so much. Then she did something she never did before- she face to face with me apologized. I had never gotten that from her in the past because I never gave her a chance. All she could get me to listen to before were notes and phone messages. It was really powerful after all the years of my anger of not wanting to listen to her apologies and excuses I could have listened..... Earlier this month we went to Taylor Swift [and amazing concert might I add!!] She reminded me that I took her to her first concert as a birthday present when we were 13! It was a great time.

This story really hits me because I wonder if certain friendships that are ripped apart or falling apart right now will come back together. Will either side realize they were wrong and apologize? And when the time comes, will the people really listen to each other? I suppose only time will tell....

5 years....

Do you ever think back in time and think about how different your life is or how different it could have been?

I think about this because this week is Josh and I's 5 year anniversary. I often wonder, what if...

What if I hadn't joined SK, would we still have met and started dating?
We met at a dinner exchange because our 2 houses were paired together. We became friends, but I use that term loosely. You know when there are those times when you talk to a guy and all you can think is "oh no he can see right through me, he knows I like him"-- that is how I felt around Josh. So I didn't talk to him too much in fear he would know I liked him. Silly, I know, but I was 18 what do you expect!?
I often tell myself that yes, we still would have met maybe not freshman year, but I feel like we still would have met. And I know I still would have had the same butterflies in my stomach when I first met him even if it was a year or 2 later.

What if I hadn't put myself out there and instead stayed back and kept my feelings inside?
After getting over my fear 'aka insecurity' I started talking to him more. We began hanging out and- sure enough -I didn't know but he liked me too. After a few months of friendship we began dating. I think God gave me the strength to truly show him my personality. When you first meet someone I feel you don't necessarily show your true self, but I mustered courage and confidence to be myself. I am grateful that I was able to do that, even though, I am sure Josh knew what kind of person I was even if I was shy at first.

Overall, I truly think God puts us in situations to make the most of things. He put someone so amazing in front of me and allowed me to do the rest. It is the same in the rest of life- God puts situations, experiences and says here make choices and do what you will. Today on Easter- I am so very thankful for my life-my boyfriend, my dog, my family, my friends, my job, etc.

Happy 5 years-- I couldn't imagine my life any other way!

Hair Do or Hair Don't?

I think I am going to do it....I think I am going to chop my hair. It is a really really difficult decision because no more then 2 months ago I was telling my boyfriend and my stylist that I want to grow my hair out as long as it can go. Now, of course, I want to chop it. I am thinking above my shoulders- which if you know me is SHORT.

The last time I had short[ish] hair was when I cut it myself when I was 5. I used those plastic scissors, put it right up to my left pony tail and snip. It was right before Christmas pictures that year, needless to say my mother was mortified. So I had a boy haircut for awhile which did not look good.

I recently have seen pictures of Sophia Bush's haircut and Lauren Conrad's hair...and I love it. It looks so cut and sophisticated. Here are some pictures:

What do you think? My friends here want me to do it, my boyfriend has no option [typical boy]. We will see....

Dear Spring, I miss you! Love, Amanda

Where is spring? We had a wonderful weekend for St. Patrick's Day- I got to wear a dress, sit outside a bar downtown and watch the parade. It really was a tease. We have gotten more snow the past 2 weeks then all winter! Ok, that may be a slight exaggeration, but really it feels like that! I cannot wait for flowers, grass, picnics, hiking, camping, rafting, etc....

These pictures make me smile thinking about the good things in the next few months!

Honey, what's for dinner?

Anyone who knows me [and my boyfriend for that matter] knows that we are not amazing cooks- in fact our idea of cooking is pasta roni, turkey burgers on the grill or my 'famous' homemade pizza aka jiffy pizza crust, sauce, turkey pepperoni and cheese! However, I have become somewhat inspired to cook. Many of my coworkers come to lunch everyday with these amazing ideas and discuss steaming cabbage to use as a tortilla-I of course ask "how do you steam cabbage?" "With a steamer duh?!" :) Additionally, my wonderful friend Monica gave me an amazing idea to plan for meals.

So we are going to TRY-keyword try- to do this. To try to avoid the every night cycle of "what do you want for dinner?", "Oh i donno".

So tonight we TRIED SOMETHING DIFFERENT! We feel like we are living life on the edge...so here is the recipe for Chicken Fajita Tostadas. Very easy, good, and filling- after 1 and a half tostadas I was stuffed. Try it out and let me know what you think. We made our own variation by adding rotel to the chicken, taco seasoning mix and it was terrific!

Enjoy :)

Google Takes the Cake!!

I thought I would post to piggy back on the last Brand Post I wrote about. A new study came out that listed Google as the most valuable and recognizable brand in the world. This is so interesting to me when you think about 10 years ago that Google was just an idea and a name for a very large number. Additionally, it simply shows how important the internet is in everyone's life. Even some people who may not have internet or computers for that matter, this was a worldwide survey.

If you scan through the list most of the brands on this list have been around for 20 plus years or more. One surprising brand on that list to me is Marlbolo, with all of the education on how harmful smoking is on your health, it surprises me that it is still in the top 10.

Brands, Brands, Brands

Once during an interview I was asked what my favorite brand is. Believe me I was definitely taken aback. I went with Nike, explaining that it has taken sports starts and a simple smashed check mark and made it into one of the top selling brands of all times. Over the past few years since the interview I think this will still be my choice, although Apple would have to be high on my list now as well. During my generation I feel as though these two brands have completely set the way for how brands have become. They are status symbols, a part of our everyday life, and even made a fruit into a high end technology system.

What brands shaped your life/generation? Fast Company outlined how some of the top brands came to be. Check them out, I think it is interesting how something like a brand can mold why or how we buy products.

Best Advice for Business

Back in 1991 David Ogilvy wrote down his best business advice for a reporter. I love learning what brillant businessmen find important. So, here is David Ogilvy’s best business advice:

1. Remember that Abraham Lincoln spoke of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He left out the pursuit of profit.

2. Remember the old Scottish motto: “Be happy while you’re living, for you are a long time dead.”

3. If you have to reduce your company’s payroll, don’t fire your people until you have cut your compensation and the compensation of your big-shots.

4. Define your corporate culture and your principles of management in writing. Don’t delegate this to a committee. Search all the parks in all your cities. You’ll find no statues of committees.

5. Stop cutting the quality of your products in search of bigger margins. The consumer always notices — and punishes you.

6. Never spend money on advertising which does not sell.

7. Bear in mind that the consumer is not a moron. She is your wife. Do not insult her intelligence.

David Ogilvy

Charleston

November 15, 1991

The ME Generation!

What is a Millenial? It is me- we have made Google a verb, we're bloggers, facebookers, use Twitter, and know all about the latest technologies. We were the first generation to truly use AIM [wow remember those days!?]. Now that we are all entering the work force, there are multitudes of books and articles written about certain characteristics we exhibit. According to a newarticle "A Millennial's Guide to Millennial Guides" by Dan Macsai he outlines some of the biggest points to categorize a Millennial. As much as some of these points are valid, I believe there are a few additional reasons Macsai does not discuss.

1. "If you don't tell us you love us, we might break up with you."
Macsai states that since we grew up in a time of Mr. Rogers telling us I love you that we feel like in the work place we must feel love and approval. I do agree with this; however, I don't think this is unique to just Millenials. I don't believe it's going out on a limb by saying that everyone appreciates a few words of encouragement every once in awhile. In addition to encouragement and approval, we also appreciate [at least I do] constructive criticism.

2. "Because, let's be honest, we're pretty fabulous."
The article states that 'Generation Me' is focused on themselves over others and are fully self absorbed. Thus, in the work place when these Millenials get criticized they become 'whiney and uncooperative'. I think about half of this scenario is actually correct. Yes, we are an egotistical generation. We have grown up with AIM profiles about ourselves, Facebook profile all discussing ourselves and to see how many 'friends' we can have, we have Twitter accounts, Myspace, the list goes on and on. I believe the world in general has become more self involved by creating these pages about ourselves for everyone to see. So, of course we are fabulous and if you would like to you can become my friend.

3. "Sorry, can you repeat that? We were updating our Facebook status."
This section is the most right on out of the whole article. Of course we are Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and all the other social networks in between obsessed. We are somewhat self absorbed so when someone writes on our wall we have to know immediately what is going on. Thus the advent of iPhones and Blackberries which simply feeds into our obsession of social networks. Next topic...

4. "Oh, you did NOT just call us 'obnoxious.' MOMMMM!!!"
Recently there was a book that stated that us Millennials are not reasonably mature for the real world. There is a 'story', I use that loosely, about an employee who brought their father in for their performance review. Really? I know I may be a bit naive, but I could not think of one person I know who would do that. So what if we were a little sheltered or coddled in our childhood days, but this does not mean we will bring our parents in to talk to our bosses. Millennials reading this please do not ruin this for the rest of us.

5. "Well, glad that's settled. Wanna grab a drink?"

Companies need to keep Millennials interested by bringing work and play together. My current job has alcohol every Friday- from beer to margaritas, it definitely keeps us youngin's interested. It is an extra perk to have fun coworkers who will go to happy hour or better yet if you bring the alcohol to the office!

Your social reputation

Saying that you can control your reputation is almost like an oxymoron. However, now that social media like Facebook, Twitter and even Blogger are at every one's fingertips people can post whatever they want about companies. What it comes down to is how a company controls their reputation and any criticism online.

Recently, Southwest Airlines had an fiasco with having a foot wide hole in their plane, but it was able to land safely. After the plane landed, passengers began sending in Tweets, Twitpics, and even YouTube. Essentially, starting to ruin their reputation as a reliable airline carrier. However, Christi Day their marketing manager began to twitter about the incident. She linked to the company's official statement, said that everyone on board would be refunded, and essentially defused what could have been feeding frenzy.

Social Media outlets have allowed companies and even celebrities take on the media and other criticizers. These medium can take the guessing came out of who said what and how things work. Southwest shows how intelligent they are as a company for stepping up to the plate and taking on the criticize. I seem them as a much reputable company now for taking a bad situation and turning it to good.

VOLLEYBALL!

It is official! Everything is set for coaching volleyball again this season and I CANNOT WAIT! Last year, was such a great experience. I always said if I had to be a teacher I would teach 8th grade...well why not coach 8th grade?! I am so lucky as well to have my friend Kim help me coach.

Ah, I cannot wait for tryouts, practice [mostly because I love to play too], and the games!!

Here goes nothing...

Perfect summer song

Jack Ingram 'Barefoot and Crazy'

The clouds are partin
The summer suns startin to burn down on that river
My baby's waitin
I got the chevy shaking
IMO blazing a trail to get her
There she is
Shes got her shades on
& man shes lookin strong
Mine all mine for the weekend
The coolers loaded down
We’re headed outta town
Jumpin off the deep end
Goin barefoot and crazy
Me and my baby
Backflip off the flint rock bridge
Double dog dare me and I will
Meet me at the bottom with a cool wet kiss
Shes rockin that bikini top
My hearts skippin like a rock across that water
Don’t ever wanna stop
Goin barefoot and crazy
The sun is droppin
We got the fire poppin &
Its lightin up her blue eyes
With a little bit of luck
It’ll heat things up &
We’ll be lovin in the moonlight
Break out my old guitar
Sing fishin in the dark
Baby get ready
We’ll take a little sip
We’ll take a little dip &
Sleep in the bed of my Chevy
Goin barefoot and crazy
Me and my baby
Just me & her & the man in the moon
Drinkin on a cold bud brew
Mornins gonna come way too soon
We’ll wake up &
Do it all again
Wishin it would never end
Anybody asks where we've been
Tell em
Barefoot and crazy
Barefoot and crazy
Me and my baby
I did a back flip off the flint rock bridge
Double dog dared me and I did
Met me at the bottom with a cool wet kiss
Shes rockin that bikini top
My hearts skippin like a rock
across that water
Don’t ever wanna stop
Goin barefoot and crazy

New Photos!

I finally got a new upload USB port for my camera. I thought I would post some beautiful photos I got. This really doesn't even do the beauty justice [thus why I want a professional camera]. So enjoy! :)

Fantastic

You those times when you have just a stressful, downer kind of day and you really need something to pull you up? Well that is why I have friends. This made my day brighten all thanks to Chelsea. So if you are out there having a poopie day as I like to call it watch this and hopefully it will make you smile.

Singled Out

Seriously, this is fantastic. I remember when I was little I was like ' I want to be on that show someday, there are the hottest guys on there, blah blah' Looking at it now, I am like what WAS I thinking.

It's always good to have a little Singled Out action.....so enjoy! :)

POST ITS!

So I am kind of a Post It nerd so this video is so cool to me. I am honestly in awe of how someone can do this with Post Its! I feel like I need to come up with something cool and creative like this; however, I definitely don't have patience :)

Here is a short video on how the student from SCAD did it...it's pretty amazing. I cannot believe the creativity that people have.

He better get an amazing job from this video- over 2 million views!

Music Today

So... I am going through the Itunes music store like I do periodically. Basically I like to stay abreast on new music coming out. As I look through the list...I am so disgusted and disappointed.
Here is a list of songs I found, feel free to laugh from these ridiculous titles like I did. And don't bother to listen to the song- believe me they're crap.

• Ice Cream Paint Job by Dorrough [what a ridiculous name for a song]
• Birthday Sex by Jeremih [worse then the song above]
• I'm In Miami Bitch by LMFAO [white boys talking about getting crunch, enough said]
• She Wolf by Shakira [ what happened to her, her Spanish music is good this is techno crap

Overall, these songs make me very upset. How can this crap be in the top 100 downloaded songs when REAL artists like Eric Hutchinson, James Morrison, Katie Herzig, Griffin House, etc are not up there.

Yet one other thing in life that baffles me...alright I am finished

Alzheimer's Association

I remember when I was going through recruitment my freshman year of college. The philanthropies that every house was associated with was very important to me. I remember I really liked Alpha Delta Pi because they were associated with Ronald McDonald house, which I had previously worked with. When I went to Sigma Kappa, I really didn't feel a strong or deep connection with Alzheimer's Association. No one in my family has been struck with the disease nor anyone I know. Over the years and since working for The Alzheimer's Association I have gotten a greater understanding for the awful disease, which I don't think enough people know about. Sad as it is to say, I think people started to understand what the disease was once they saw The Notebook. To me, this award winning video does a perfect job explaining the hardships of dealing with the disease. It's very well done and it is subtle enough so at first you don't understand what is going on, and eventually it just consumes the video- which is exactly how the disease is.

Thanks to organizations like Sigma Kappa all across the country for donating their time, talent, and treasure to all a worthy cause.