I Love Birthdays. Especially this one!

Twenty four years ago a very amazing special person was born! It is Eric's birthday! He is officially old.

Eric is the nicest person you'll ever meet. Everyone agrees. A coworker of mine just told her husband that Eric is "everything you'd ever want your daughter to marry." It's true. He is loving, kind, and ALL MINE. He is my very best friend and has been since before we even started dating. I cannot tell you how important that was. We were patient for eachother when it came to finally dating (6 months from the first kiss to actually dating... THAT'S A LONG TIME). I am forever thankful to the Fitzgerald's for making such a wonderful man and I am forever thankful for Eric and everything he does.

I love Mister!

I'm like a proud mama!

So my ten year old niece is competitive cheerleader and she is beyond amazing. I used to go to all her competitions and practices. The first time I saw her perform I got goosebumps. Yeah. I know they aren't my kids but I sure do love them!


Yes, she is the amazing little girl all the way in the air on the far right.

Now it's time for another lovely lady to start her sport... Soccer. Yes, my genius niece who does round house kick back Somersault will be starting soccer. Eric gave her an unofficial lesson and I just want to inform all of you that she is the BEST soccer player/goalie ever. She has a patented move called the snake and it may not be effective the way she wants it to be but the opposing team will stop to laugh at it and she can steal the ball. So starting next weekend I will be a cheer aunt AND a soccer aunt. I should probably get a minivan.



Oodles of love,
Amanda Noel

Love for strangers.

Have you ever read someone's blog and cried for them? For the first time in what seems like forever I had some free time. I was looking at all my DIY blogs and came across this blog... http://www.sunshinepromises.blogspot.com/. Grab a tissue friends, it'll make you cry.

I am not a mother, even though I wish I was. (Wouldn't my kids be the cutest things ever?!). I can't imagine the love between a mother and child from the mother's view. I can tell you that if my mother would pass away I probably wouldn't leave my bed for weeks. You'd never see me any where except home and church. Why? Because one is where my mother is all around me and the other is where I am safe and assured that families are forever. The closest thing to mother-esque love I have is for my four beautiful nieces and I cannot even fathom losing them or the pain I'd feel if I did.

Moving on... the writer of this blog lost her youngest son. She put him to bed as she would ever night, sang him a song, tucked him in, and waived good night. The next morning she awoke to realize he had passed in his sleep. Is that not the most awful thing you've heard? I feel like that is every mother's fear from the moment they realize they're pregnant. Despite not even having kids yet, that is my biggest fear right now. I cannot imagine the excruciating pain that entire family is going through. The little boy had three older siblings. How does a mother explain to a child that their baby brother is not going to come home?

I spent my night reading about this woman's strength. I cried my eyes out for her. I'll be praying for that family as well. This mother has shown me what true faith is. She knows that her son is with our Heavenly Father and it is just so amazing.

So, friends, read it. Send your condolences. Remember to love with your whole heart each and every moment because you don't know when you'll lose the opportunity.

My Daddy is my hero.

If we are friends you've probably met my Dad. If you're lucky you may have heard his story. The oldest son of 9 kids in Mexico and the son of an alcoholic he helped raised his siblings and Care for his parents. He's taken belts to his back to save his mom from his angry dad. At 19 years old he came to America with two gallons of water and the clothes in his back and not knowing the language. He did it illegally too. Go ahead and judge him but he is a proud American citizen who pays his taxes and probably any government Help you get too. He met my mother when she was fresh out of a divorce with two young children. He took them in as his own and it's never been anything else except their father. He's created a successful business. He's had three children of his own. Four grandchildren who know him only as grandpa despite him not being their biological granddad. He drops everything when one Of needs something.

My reason for writing this is because I witnessed his kind heart today and it just made me so grateful to call him my father. It isn't anything big. It just proves how loving and gentle he is. Eric and I were driving behind him and he didn't know. We were in the left turning lane for the freeway and my dad made an odd left turn. We just kept turning but Eric was watching him and he pulled all the way over and stopped. I called to ask why and he said he saw a homeless man and his heart broke for him and he needed to help him. How many people can say they'd go that far out of their way for a stranger in need? Man. I'm such a proud daughter.

What's going on?

Well, it's already 2011. I haven't updated you on my life yet! I'll just pick up where I left off. I got to celebrate my 23rd birthday with the people I love the most! My ENTIRE family, my boo, Eric, my closest girlfriend, Holly, and the Fitzgeralds. It was pretty overwhelming, but Eric's family met the crazy Rios family and it went a lot better than I anticipated. I also met Eric's sister Candice and her husband Zach for the first time. That was exciting. Too bad they came on a crazy weekend. We didn't get to spend much time with them. It was a faboulous birthday though. I got a Spongebob shirt. I'm obsessed with it. Go ahead... judge me. It's super cute. What boyfriend wouldn't want to come home to this?

Then a week after my birthday we celebrated my Daddy's 45th birthday! Once again we had the whole family over and my Dad got WASTED. The men sat and took shots like pros. It was pretty hilarious to watch. He was super hungover the next day. My Dad never really had those wild party days because at 21 he was married and had already started raising my two sisters who aren't even his biologically. He's an awesome Dad. They can't even say he's a step dad. That is their dad. The week after that was Holly's birthday! It was super fun and she looked amazing in her fox hat with paws. It was a HUGE hit. People loved it. I'm glad she loved her birthday gift. Who doesn't want Tiffany's playing cards?

Christmas came so quickly. It was a pretty magnificent one. If you look close you can see Amy's baby bump. We found out last week that she is having another girl. Geez. The girls dominate in the family. Eric got me a Cricut for Christmas and I am pretty much obsessed. I've become so domestic lately... I scrapbook, make crafts, organize... last night I even made a new dinner recipe for the whole family (minus Erick who RUDELY cancelled on dinner after I started cooking. Worst. Brother. Ever.)
I spent New Years in Vegas with my parents and Eric. Thanks for the trip parents! You're too kind. We spent our time eating. eating more. and even more. We played craps and the stupid little slots, but came home even. We kissed at midnight on the strip with fireworks every where. It was perfect.

And finally.... high five me. I'm down 43 pounds and I just a few pounds shy of my goal. Party time!

I am blessed.

Sometimes it is nice to just sit down and look at everything you've been blessed with...

I am blessed with the most amazing parents. They are so loving, so accepting, and so forgiving. I've been a brat most of my life. It wasn't until I was 17 years old that I realized how lucky I am to get to call these two my
parents. Unlike many people I know, they don't have parents to run to and I don't have grandparents. They were horrible, abusive people, on both sides, and cut my parents out of their lives. Despite their examples, they have proved to be awesome parents. I am so thankful for all that they have sacrificed and the love they show us every day.

I have also been blessed with these fabulous siblings. Okay, so honestly, we don't get along 99.99% of the time, but isn't that life? Aren't we supposed to fight and pick on each other? At the end of the day we'd still do anything for one another. We'd pick each 0ther up at 3 am or fight the other's battles. That's what siblings do. We fight each other and we fight for one another. That's love.

One of my biggest blessings is one I had never expected. I never spoke with my aunts; they never took me on dates or anything. There was absolutely no relationship, so when Kaylee was born I didn't expect much of anything. But ten years later, she is my best friend and the other three are just as close to me. They are my babies. I am so very proud of everything they do. I can't imagine not having them in my life. Kaylee, Tatum, Riley, and Diddy are the greatest people I've ever met. Watching them grow into this spectacular people is one of the best experiences. I can't imagine a bond this strong until I have my own children.

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." -Marilyn Monroe

Eric came into my life when I was broken. I was just betrayed. I never thought I'd trust again. I was wrong. He fixed me and I am forever thankful for that. He showed me that not everyone is perfect, but not everyone is bad either. He loves me for who I am. He loves the kind, gentle Amanda just as much as he loves the angry, screaming Amanda. We have plans. We have a future. We are faithful. We are loving. We have common values and great respect for each other. He was a surprise blessing that I love so much. It took us seven months of hanging out to finally realize we are supposed to be together, but those seven months were some of the greatest of my life. He's my best friend, my love, (hopefully) my eternity.

It isn't often that you meet good friends in high school or that you remain friends afterward. Holly and I are very different when it comes to life... she was a sorority girl who had a social calendar people would envy and I am the biggest nerd in the world who would rather sit at home reading about the different forms of government and watch FOX news. But we met one day in math and have been friends ever since! Broken hearts, European vacations, betrayals by friends... we've seen it all. I know that if I need her, she'll be there for me. She is the only person I can talk to about so many things and not feel weird, like facebook stalking, death, and feelings that you'd think no one would understand. I am so blessed to have a friend like her.

Work. Run. School. Repeat.

I've had this blog for well over a year and I still have yet to update it. The reason? Because my life is pretty much a song on repeat. I wake up every day, go to work, go for a nice run, then do homework. Every day... Sundays are my days off and I love it.

Work is going okay. It consumes me, but I always have time for school. That's definitely one major benefit of this job. My run is basically the best time of my day. I'm down twenty-five pounds in two months. It's really exciting.

I've been hanging out with my nieces as often as possible. Those little girls are amazing. Diddy gets bigger every day! She is such a happy, smiley baby. I love it.

I don't get to see Taters and Kay as much as I'd like, but I'm determined to change that. I get to see Ri at least once a week. She is absolutely in love with Eric. She even calls him her uncle. When he is around no one else exists. I can't help but fall more in love every time I see how much Eric adores Ri and how he is so patient and kind with her. He taught her how to arm wrestle the other night. It was mega cute.

My relationship with Eric is going well. It's nice to be in love with your best friend. We were best friends first. That was important to me. I'm so glad we took that route instead of jumping into a relationship. Of course I wish there were the first dates and the whole process, but in the long run, this is better for us.

Well, I am going to try to update this more often... we shall see I suppose, but until thenI hope you have a fabulous day!

-Amanda Noel