My Not So Scarlet Letter: D

We are reading The Scarlet Letter in my Advanced American Literary Class and this is our last project for the book I guess you could say. We had to create a letter and have to wear it around school for two days and get teacher signatures. If anyone asks, we have to answer. This project is well known around school for this class from seniors who bore their letters last year to underclassmen who learn about it quickly.

So what does D stand for you ask? D stands for Doubt. The embroidery is thicker at the top of the D, and becomes weaker until there is nothing left. I chose doubt as my fault because it's my biggest obstacle in life. Doubt is what keeps me unhappy even when I try my hardest. It makes me second guess everything that I do, and question whether it was right or not. Doubt makes me think about everything bad that could have happened to others because of my decisions and I need to stop.

Once I get over this doubt, I will accept all my decisions and learn from and let go of my mistakes. I am a strong, kind-hearted, caring person; I just need to accept it. 

I will wear my Letter around school on Thursday and Friday, no big deal, but never has an assignment reflected what I need to do in life more than this one.

Birthday, License and Sun, all in one week?!

Yes it's true, I turned 17 on Thursday! I got my license on Friday, only a year late. Ha. Yay! I am very excited and had a fantastic birthday week. It's magnificently sunny here lately.

So excuse my absence, but I think its justified, don't you? I'll be blogging more in the near future.

My birthday loot! I have fantastic family and friends that know me well. 

My mother got me cheetah/leopard flips flops and a new purse. My old purse was falling apart, so I'm excited.

My best friend got me the Wicked mug (We're going to go see it on the 30th), the panda and made me the quilled sheep!

This is Luna. I love her. Read about her in Shelter Spotlight: Luna.

Shelter Spotlight: Luna

WARNING BEFORE YOU READ: I MAY BE A LITTLE BIASED TOWARD THIS DOG.

Everyone, Luna. Luna, Everyone. Gorgeous dog am I right? She is a Malamute Cross and I'm thinking the mix is Wolf. She is one year old and already this big. I've fallen in love with a dog.

She is very shy, but warmed up to me rather quickly. She laid down right next to me and fell asleep as I pet her. Amazingly sweet.

Everyone's reaction at the shelter was the same: "Wow". Wow is right, Luna may be my favorite (apart from my beautiful best friend Misty). Shhhh...don't tell the other dogs.

I have a feeling Luna won't be at the shelter long.

Amanda Sings?! Almost Lover- A Fine Frenzy Cover

Well guys, I finally got up the guts to post a video of me singing and so far reviews have shocked me. I wasn't expecting much, people just to nicely overlook it as a way to avoid hurting my feelings. Not the case though, my friends, family and a few strangers have been surprisingly nice.

So here it is, watch to your hearts desire

My YouTube Channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/theAmandaaMarie

Who knows, maybe I'll post more?

Shoes and Singing: Outfit

Those would be the uber-cute shoes I got to wear to my award ceremony. Easily my favorite pair of shoes I've owned ever, not kidding.

Sorry for the absence lately, it was a crazy week. I'm ready for a low-key weekend.

In other news, here's my dilemma. People always ask me to sing for them, and for anyone who has been in my situation, it's just awkward. What am I supposed to do, just randomly start singing? No, not gonna happen. I always feel kind of bad though. The solution I came up with was to record myself singing something and then post it so friends and family can see. Now, unfortunately the whole world can see once I post it and while I know my friends and family will be nice, I also know I don't have the best singing voice...

Oh what to do, what to do. 

Have a fantastic, relaxing (or eventful) weekend everyone!

Prom and Blog Update!

Junior/Senior Prom was this last Saturday! I went with my friends, those people in the picture, and we had so much fun. One of the best quotes ever was from a man who walked up to our table at Red Robin. He said, to Philip:

"I thought I was popular in high school, but this is just ridiculous!"

There was also a lady that was taking pictures of us and I turned around and looked right at her. Luckily one of my friends knew her.

Krysta, in the purple dress, was awesome enough to give me my dress. Really. Do I have awesome friends or what? Least stressful dress shopping experience ever.

AAANNND Do you notice anything different? I was inspired on Sunday and decided to change some things up. New banner, new colors, new new new.

My mom looked at me funny when I was lying on the ground taking pictures of stuffed animals, but didn't give it much thought. I am Amanda after all.

Well I've got an essay to write and an awards ceremony tonight. Sigh. At least I get to wear cute shoes, haha. 

Hope everyone had a bearable Monday!

Shelter Spotlight: Donovan

I am attempting to be more organized with this whole thing, so there will now be  categories of posts...sometimes. "Outfits" are currently up there in the pages bar, and Shelter Spotlight will be up there soon.


Shelter Spotlight is very much what it seems, I will share one or two pups with you from the shelter, some stories from the day, whatever else related. It should be fun.


Look out for a new blog design in the not too distant future as well (when I can get to it), nothing too drastic but a bit of change is good.


So, without further ado let me introduce you to Donovan.

Dear little Donovan sat like that the entire time, whilst attacking his sheriff-horse toy. He's a scruffy little terrier mix and a little sweetheart.

The Girl Scouts were at the shelter Friday to do their whole donate-visit-the animals thing for their badge. They are so cute, reminds me of my Girl Scout Days. Anywho, the Community Outreach Coordinator told the group "...and this is one of our volunteers, giving the animals lots of love." I had two chihuahua mixes, Honey and Charlie (nicknamed Chalupa) on my lap.

One of the Troop Leaders sighed and said "That looks so relaxing, just sitting there and mellowing out after a long day" as she looked after her entire group of girls.

I smiled and said "It's so nice" and realized it is just as good for me as it is for the dogs. No matter how bad my day is, when I go there I instantly relax and feel better. It's the wonderful power animals have, to soothe and calm and give a great feeling of friendship to people. It's why it is so important to treat them correctly and always think before making the commitment to a best friend, so they never have to be separated from you and brought to a shelter.

Sun, Stripes & Shopping: Outfit

Albeit the warmth is lagging behind. I was only hypothermic at the beginning of the day, so not too bad right? Believe it or not, the stripes in the following blazer are navy not black.

I went thrift-store shopping today; It was a complete success. There's always the risk of finding nothing, but that was not the case today. After getting a cheese pizza from Little Caesars after school (I only ate three slices, okay) my mother and I went to St.Vincents to do some shopping. She had gone earlier without me, the nerve! 

I scored: 6 dresses, a tank/blouse top, a skirt and a super cute pair of wedges for about $55. That averages out to six bucks an item people. Awesome day.

...Oh I also got a freakishly accurate 1978 children's book about pandas. TMI for little kids in my opinion if you catch my drift. I have a plan for the cute watercolor pictures in the book, we'll see when I get to that.

It's Wednesday, Wednesday, I gotta catch up on Wednesday!

Oh what a curse it is to actually care about school. Being the 4.0 student I am;  missing school stresses me out to the maximum levels of stress. I wish I could be one of those kids that skips school all the time and doesn't have the slightest care, I really would, but I just can't. It goes against every fiber of my extremely eager-to-please and loyal being. Goodness, I sound like a Labrador retriever.

I missed school yesterday to go to a choir festival. Which Rebel Singers did extremely well at by the way. The festival was great fun but returning to a day of school today, not so much.

The things I missed:

- A lab in AP Bio. Instant death.

- A movie in Economics. Not bad but I have to somehow know the answers for a worksheet..?

- A movie and who knows what else in my Advanced Literary Studies Class. Yay    confusion!

Not to mention all the work I got assigned today and its Junior/Senior Prom this weekend. 

...It's like I'm being punished. 

My hair. Goodness gracious. It was straight this morning but everyone knows it hails and snows in Spring time. Oh you didn't? Neither did I. Until today. I managed to keep a somewhat positive attitude though. Hoorah!

H&M is love. Plain and simple. I got this cardigan there and I adore it...actually I just adore everything there. Why are the stores so far away?

Well, it's almost Thursday which means its almost Friday, which means it's almost Saturday. HEY! I sound like Rebecca Black! Where's my fame and fortune?! Haha :)

Speaking of which, a mid-week present for you: My favorite parody of Friday. If you haven't seen the real thing yet...well look it up because I'm don't want it on here. 

Bella, Camellias and Sexiness

It was definitely one of those weeks, hence my absence. I got a lot accomplished though, which is a good thing I suppose. On Thursday, I went to my league festival with Rebel Singers (my high school choir, we got 5th at State last year!) and we did awesome! We qualified for State a second time and we were told we were "Total G's" and looked "Hella dank". Mission accomplished. 

I applied for yet another job and also made my appointment for my driver's test. I'm so nervous! I guess I should really start driving again... 

Last but not least I chose my song for auditions for Oklahoma on Monday (can you tell I procrastinate?) I will be singing In My Own Little Corner from Cinderella. I'm pretty nervous about that too actually. I just need to relax, but that will probably never happen. Oh well, who needs relaxation, sleep, fun, etc. anyway?

Let me introduce you to my new friend Bella. Bella is a little energetic Corgi mix and she is just adorable. 

Those are Camellia flowers on my front lawn and I get to see them everyday. Pretty pretty pretty.

Last but not least, I give you my Smartwater bottle. Yes, it does say: "green is toadally sexy" 

Have a great rest of your weekend and a good week! :)