Goodbye 2013... Hello 2014

Tonight's the night. When the world says goodbye to another year, and welcomes in a new one.

This year I've learned so much. I think the biggest thing I learned was to challenge myself, get out of my comfort zone. Because, with God at my side, I can do anything, because anything is possible with God. I've learned how it feels when I conquer my fears... and lemme tell you - its an amazing feeling of accomplishment!! :)

I've made a few resolutions this year, some set goals that I'm determined with God's help to accomplish.

1. Start driving!! 

2. Lose [at least] 10 lbs before graduation on May 31st. I've got exactly 4 months to do it!

3. Read the whole New Testament.

4. And finally, and the most important, grow stronger and deeper in my love for Jesus and His Word. :)

What are you New Year's resolutions?

Love,

Manda 

Setting Standards {In Relationships}

//via//

Years ago, I made the decision to save myself for my future husband. I set my standards high for that far off day when, Lord-willing, I would start to date. One of the decisions I made was to wait until I was out of high school to date. My sisters are in high school now, and we've had many chances to talk about standards and dating, etc. So I thought I'd make a post of it, and get everyone else's opinion on dating, and what standards you've made to keep yourself and your [future] relationships pure and glorifying to God. I will be posting later sometime on what my standards are, and why I feel they are right. :)

When do you think it is right to date?

What are the standards you've made to keep your relationships pure and glorifying to God? 

I can not wait to read all your responses!!!!

Love,
Manda

 

Family Christmas

Hello hello! So my family had our family Christmas together Friday night and then Saturday with Kara. I am so thankful to the Lord for all that He has blessed me and my family with. He is so good! I am so blessed to have the best big sis in the world, who is also my best friend forever. :)

The whole fam! 

 Finally we finished the Disney Princess puzzle! Most of the creds go to Kara & Meg - they're good at puzzles, lemme tell you! ;)

 Opening my gift from Kara to find this adorable minion hat - and would you believe it? Kara has the exact same one! haha

Her reaction to the personalized-with-pictures-of-us mug I made for her!! 

music junkies

 Sisters

For those of you might not know, I am the biggest minion lover in the world!! So for Christmas I got the shirt I'm wearing, plus a little stuffed minion named Dave. And of course my adorable hat!! :)

WHAAAATTTT??!?!?!! 

 we got sass!

 twinkies

 ohhh, love her.... <3 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love,
Manda

//Holiday Blessings//

// Basketball season has started, and I love watching my younger sisters do their stuff on the court! Kara and I are definitely proud big sisters!! ;) Plus it means I get to see Kara more often, which is always a huge plus! //

// I have one more week before Christmas break!!! //

// Teacher-aiding my senior year has most definitely been the highlight so far, and I'm sure it will continue to be. I looove my kindergartners with all my heart! I love receiving their hugs, and one boy, one of my favorites, who every morning says, "Merry Christmas, Miss Amanda". //

// Christmas music. Its just the best. Replaying "Why I Love Christmas" by Missy Robertson & Josh Turner over and over and over and over. //

// Knowing God has everything in control, and that He's always watching over us every minute of every day. Thank You Jesus! //

// Drinking cold lattes //

// White, pure, cold, beautiful snow!! Its melting, but a storm is supposed to come tomorrow and I can't wait! //

// Kara Marie, the best older sister any girl could ever ask for! And one of the biggest gifts and blessings I've ever received. #ButGod //

// Jesus, who is the true reason for the Christmas season. Thank You for your love, Lord. //

What are you thankful for this holiday season?

Merry Christmas!!!!

Love,
Manda

AVON Clearskin Professional Acne Treatment System {Review}

Hey guys,

so I thought I would share with all y'all a facial cleansing system/set that I just recently got. My mom just recently got back into selling AVON, and me and my sisters have been having fun flipping through all the catalogs! :) Well anyways, I saw this 3-part acne treatment in the AVON catalog, and said to Mom, "Hey, I think I'm interested in getting this." So Mom surprised me with it on Monday and that night I used it for the first time.

I can honestly say that five days of using this product faithfully every night has begun to clear my face of the acne I have! Its gotten me super excited! haha I've always struggled with having a face that wasn't flawless like my other siblings. Mom says I got all the skin probs from her. ;) Well, I'm just pumped to be able to help my face to look and feel better! :)

So now onto each product...

1. Deep Pore Cleansing Scrub Exfoliant. This stuff is just like a toothpaste-type substance sort of. Its white with little blue-green beads in it that I'm guessing is the exfoliating stuff. :) I rub that onto my face gently all over, being careful to stay away from my eyes and mouth, then after I've let it sit for about a minute, I carefully rinse it off with room temp. water. Then I gently pat my face dry with a towel so I'm not dripping water everywhere, then I just fan myself with my hands to air-dry my face the rest of the way. After my face is pretty dry, I then move on to the next product...
 

2. Clarifying Toner Pads.  These are thin little "pads" soaked in a liquid that I'm assuming contains some rubbing alcohol. After my face is air-dried completely, I take one of the thin pads and just rub it over my face to get any extra dirt and junk that might not have been completely removed with the exfoliating scrub. After that's done (and I only use one pad each night, just because they're super expensive and really that's all that's needed, for me at least), I then air-dry my face again without using a hand towel first, and then I move onto the third and final product...


3. Daily Correcting Lotion. This is just lotion that is only supposed to be used for the acne areas on your face. Right now those problem areas are on the sides of my face, at my jawline, so I just dab a small amount onto those areas like you would with regular lotion, then voila! you are done! :)

*~*~*

In the winter months, I always struggle with dry, flaky skin, especially at my hairline. But ever since using this set of products, my skin has been so soft and moisturized. :) I love it!! It feels soft and dewy.

What do you use for your face? Was this review helpful?

Love,
Manda

Bundled Up

Hello friends!!! Wow is it coooold outside today! I so badly wish it would snow! Its almost Thanksgiving!! :) So because it was cold, I decided to try a trend I'm usually really hesitant about - shorts with tights and/or leggings. Of course I'm wearing my trusty dusty black leggings that I wear ALL.THE.TIME. underneath my favorite denim shorts. :) I actually just bought this adorable green and black scarf today from Charlotte Russe and I am in love about how big it is - its big enough for me to wrap it around myself three times!! Finally I have a scarf big enough to do that! haha Soo on to the pictures! :)

warning: i had lotsa fun editing these, so i hope you enjoy!

I have actually not worn these ^ ^ boots hardly at all, since I don't have jeans tight enuff to wear with them that will tuck into them, but today they went well with the rest of the ensemble! :)

 

K, y'all, so that's it! :) Which picture was your favorite? Please leave comments telling me what you think of my outfit, since I'm kinda chicken to wear it to youth group - but I think I will. ;)

Until next time, dearies!

Love,
Manda

Hello hello hello

Hey guys!! Wow I've been gone for quite some time! And I haven't been up to really anything since last time I posted, either! I would LOoOOOoVE any ideas you could share with me about what you'd like me to blog about! My fave fall trends, or what I'm doing for thanksgiving break, etc. I feel like my blog is so boring so getting suggestions and support from my readers would be extremelyyy !!!! Happy Saturday!

Love
Manda

PIGSKIN '13

So I'm finally posting about last Friday's high school football game called PIGSKIN. It was suchhhh a fun night!!! Even though it was freezing, only my hands were cold! :) It prolly helped that all us girls played in Powder-Puff, then spent the rest of the time dancing and cheering on the guys. haha So here are just some pictures from the night! :)

 

 "I believe... I believe that... I believe that we... I believe that we will.... I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN, I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!"

 The Jr/Sr girls who played in Powder Puff!

Love,
Manda

In a Nutshell

Pigskin was amazingg last night and I'll post more pictures later!! But basically the Class of 2014 rocked our awesome possum jerseyes and us girls our tutus! And the seniors and juniors won in Powder-Puff 7-0! :)

More better quality pictures to come later!!!

Love,
Manda

Three Day Weekend!!

This weekend was AWESOME! Basically every weekend that involves my older sister Kara is always awesome!!! ;) On Friday we drove to Hobby Lobby and spent two hours picking out our t-shirts, wooden letters, paint, and paintbrushes. Then we went home, ate Subway for supper (it was soo good! Kara introduced me to a new kind of sandwich. Thanks sis!) then after supper we proceeded to tie-die our shirts. Totally trial and error here, people! We'd never done it before!! haha After *successfully* tie-dyeing our shirts, we headed to Wal-Mart for a milkshake run! While there, right after we'd gotten the ice-cream, Kara was like, "Hey, lets just go check out their graphic tees." So we did! About five seconds after we'd gotten there, Kara began to FRREAK OUT. She had discovered #ONCE shirts of all things, in the Wal-Mart graphic tee area!!!! Instantly all four of us began flipping out, laughing so hard there were tears in our eyes! People were starting at us, but we didn't care. So we then bought the shirts (Me & Kara got the same and Meg & Lis got the same shirt). And the whole way back we jammed to Hunter Hayes 'I Want Crazy'! When we got back, we crammed into our spare TV room to watch S3 of #Once!! Kara brought her projector so it was like a real theatre, just with Lis's milkshakes instead of popcorn! haha After watching the first episode of S3, we then proceeded to watch past Shawn & Derek DWTS videos which were great! Then we headed to bed. Kara and I talked till 3:00 in the morning and it was sooo worth it! :)

FRIDAY

 about to tie-die our shirts!

 Acrylic paint is not good for you, but when it looks like milk, ketchup, chocolate milk and mustard, it sure is tempting not to eat! ;)

 Done!

Excited about our tees!
 

our mini movie-theatre!

She's my best friend and my big sis! Love her to death!
 

SATURDAY

Saturday we woke up and after eating Mom's yummy coffee-cake, we started painting the letters onto our shirts!

 focused

 

the back, almost done.

 

the front, all done!

 sisters!!! <3

 the finished product!! the front...

 ... and the back!

So that was my weekend!!!! About 13 hours in all was spent making these t-shirts! And they turned out AMAZING if I do say so myself!!!

Are any of you Oncers too??? Speak up and tell me if you are!!! :)

Love,
Manda