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