4 things in 4 years

Marriage has taught me a lot.
Whether I've liked it or not, marriage has changed me.
I mean, duh!
That's usually what's expected when two people makes vows for forever.
And in the case of my marriage, two more opposite people couldn't have been paired together.
Eric and I have been married for almost 4 years. (It'll be 4 years next month!!!)
Life with him as my partner has been frustrating. annoying, humbling and nothing short of absolutely, positively amazing!
So in an early honor of almost 4 years with the love of my life, here are the 4 major things (in no specific order and trust me there's more than 4) that marriage has taught me.

1) Jesus really DOES need to be in the center
SERIOUSLY! Ok so some kind of order..but this is the most important! Eric and I have seen what marriage is like without Him as the center (and w/out Him in general) more than we have seen our marriage with Him as the center and let me tell you..Jesus being at the center of our marriage makes it better than I could have imagined. The Lord uses Eric as a vessel to reach me every.single.day. I love watching us grow closer in this way!

2) Intimacy is key
Kids, cover your ears and look away. Haha, not but really this is SO true. And I have no shame in talking about something so natural! This is another part of our marriage where we've seen opposite sides of the spectrum. Meaning: there have been dry spells and there have been not. God created sex for man and wife to really enjoy and spend a intimate, special time with one another. Lack of this can and has affected us. This aspect of our relationship has been pushed way up to the top of the priority list.

3) Communication is more than important
It's what can make or break a marriage! Without communication, what is there? Eric and I learned even before we married of how much talking to one another is SO important! It was a few weeks before we were married; Eric and I were in a huge argument and it just happened to be while my parents were visiting. They caught on fast and literally made us sit down, face each other, and talk. We haven't been able to hush up since then, haha!

4) Surrounding yourself with positive people (and couples) DOES matter
Eric and I don't come from great friendships when we first got together and when we were first married. It wasn't until we became parents-to-be that we really started to let go of the negative energy that seemed latched onto us and our marriage. Being around marriages and relationships that encourage us (and that we see encourage each other) is super important and something we had to learn the hard way. For me personally, it's hard to be around other women that talk nothing but negatively about their husbands. It had a big affect on me for a while!



I can think of SO many things that marriage has taught me in almost 4 years. I've learned how Eric needs to be loved and vice versa. When I say Eric is my best friend, I mean Eric is my BEST friend. He's the one person I can tell every single thing there is about me or something that's going on. My love for him grows every day and I can't wait to see what the next 4, or 40 years brings us!
Marriage is amazing and I am so thankful for how it's developing me as a person.



Anything to add? Let's chat: gfmamaj@gmail.com :)
Much looooove!

                                         

I am learning...

I've grown up a lot in the past few years. I've grown up even more since becoming a mother. I still have so much growing up to do and maybe I'll never fully get there but I know one thing for sure, I'm getting the hang of life little by little. Here are some things that I have and still am learning about life:

1) Not everyone is going to like me.
And I don't have to like everyone. We are all different; different personalities, interests, spiritual beliefs, sense of humor, etc. And that's quite alright! I am learning to not be so offended when I just don't mesh with another human being. All I know is that that I still need to show the same amount of love for all those around me, regardless if we are the best of friends or not.

2) I do not have to change who I am. FOR ANYBODY.
I do not have to be somebody I'm not TO get people to like me. I've done this for a lot of my life and I am done. It's exhausting. I'm loud, crazy, fun, overly sensitive and just plain silly. God made me the way I am for a reason and to even question that as much as I have in the past makes me, well, kind of sad! Life is too short to walk around caring about every single opinion there is about me. I'm learning that I need to be bold and confident in the person God made me to be.  This is not easy but most certainly achievable!

3) Women don't have to hate each other.
It's true ladies, we don't. Women can be fierce creatures. We can be mean, spiteful, conniving, jealous; the list goes on. BUT GUESS WHAT! We don't have to be any of those. We are human; I know this. We get upset, let jealousy get the best of who we are but we can change that. I can change that. I used to be extremely judgmental. And mean. And spiteful. But mostly jealous and all of other women who had what I wanted. I dismissed my own blessings and focused on theirs. I disliked other women without even getting to know them first. I didn't like that and I didn't want to be like that. I didn't want others to look at my actions and get that vibe from me. My husband, who's actually heard most of the rude comments under my breath, is who really brought it to my attention (I LOVE his accountability! No sarcasm) and said I needed to work that out with myself. That side of me has improved in huge amounts but I'm just one person. Which leads me to my next point...

4) Mothers need to STOP with the harsh judgments...
against each other.
Like most of the mamas I come into contact with, we all want what's best for our sweet little babes. Some of us formula feed, or breastfeed or pump! Some of us co-sleep and some of us think that's nuts. Some of us believe in the cry-it-out method and some of us don't. It's OK that we all have different styles of parenting. What's NOT ok is judging others for doing or not doing something we may or may not do ourselves. We are all in this together. I believe it's in our best interest to come together as a huge community of mamas, support each other and help one another out. We are all doing ok and doing what's best for our own little families. There should be no reason to constantly have to defend our reasons for doing anything when it comes to our own children. Seriously.

5) Release the negativity.
There are just some people in my life that have not and do not belong there. This doesn't mean they are not in my heart and in fact it's these people I tend to pray more for. It can be a past friend, somebody you just met, a co-worker or even family. I am learning that it's ok to let the negative go. I cannot be the best wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and most importantly, a servant to Jesus if I keep letting all this negativity get the best of me. This includes what's put on social media by my "friends" list. I cannot stand my addiction to Facebook and have been praying for the ability to either cut back or cut it out of my life. I am really learning to get rid of the negative sources and start breathing in the positive I'm trying to surround myself with.

6) It's ok to give myself a pat on the back.
I once wrote a post The 10 Things I Like About Me. It was about complimenting myself on things I liked about, well, me! I sometimes look back on that post when I'm having a bad "me" day; when I'm really down on something I may have done wrong and I need a pick me up. Sometimes I feel like I'm not allowed to tell myself I am doing a good job. That's not ok. I've learned that I need to love myself before I can really love anyone else. So I've started making changes to better my body, my mind and my soul. I've started a workout program called t25 and believe or not I feel great and can almost see results starting to form. I've changed my diet into an almost all organic and natural (Gluten Free, of course!) diet. I've started making myself say one positive thing, a day, in the mirror when I get dressed in the morning. I've gotten back into the musical side of me by joining the worship team at my church and singing a lot more in general. I tell myself I am a good mom and wife. I'm doing my best to be a faithful follower of Christ. I am allowed to say "Good job Amanda!" and recently that's just what I have been doing.

7) God really IS on my side and my past does not matter.
I am more then hard on myself. I beat myself up. (Not literally..) I am my own worst critic. It's taking me a long while to move past some things that have happened in my life, the mistakes I made and the people I've hurt. I have been drilling into my head: HEY, I'm doing FINE! I am growing closer to Jesus and He is my BEST support system. He has come through and has pulled me through so many trials. My past is making me who I am today and has opened my eyes to what a relationship with Jesus is really like. What Pastor Perry preached today about Gods grace, really struck a nerve. I AM MADE NEW! HE IS FOR ME! HE BREAKS MY CHAINS! He rights my wrongs. He is NEVER disappointed in me. My past DOES NOT make who I am as a person but instead tells a testimony of where I am going in life with Jesus already ahead of me. I am so thankful to have a relationship with Him. To find constant freedom, forgiveness and never ending love in Him. I am so blessed to have Him first in my life, for it is because of Him that everything falls into place.

Life is hard, messy, beautiful ,exhausting, wild and fun. But mostly beautiful. 

I will never have all the answers but the more I go through all these different experiences, good and bad, the more I grow. And that's what life is all about right? If YOU have anything you'd like to add to this list or even have a list of your own, you know where to find me, 24/7: gfmamaj@gmail.com

God Bless!

MUCH LOVE!

No Mr. Romance. Or is he?

Eric has never been an overly mushy guy. He's a mans man and has never been overly romantic. I think he bought me flowers once and that was two months after we met! To be honest it used to upset me. I used to wonder why he wouldn't shower me with chocolate, flowers or nice gifts. Or why he never wrote me love letters or looked into my eyes underneath the stars and captivate me with his words. I wanted the typical, mushy kind of love that you see in the movies. (Which is a problem with a lot of people!) And it took me well into a year and a half into our marriage to realize that's not what matters. That life is not a movie, it's real.

Yes, flowers are nice and chocolates are yummy but do they really matter in the grand scheme of things?

Not really; not to me. Not anymore at least.

Eric works HARD. Always has as long as I've known him. He was an outstanding Marine and went above and beyond in all he did. He's quickly been advancing and moving up in the job he is in now and he does it all for one main reason.

Our family. 

I have a husband who puts in well over 60 (more like 70) hours a week just to make sure his wife and daughter are living a good life.

I have a husband who comes home after working those long days and will still  help with Makenna or housework and then makes sure he has plenty of time to spend with me.

I have a husband who leads me in the most beautiful way a husband can; with a Christ-like heart. The ways Eric has changed and helped progress my relationship with Jesus is one thing (besides making me a mommy) I am most thankful for. 

While I'm ready to completely freak out over any crisis that may happen, he's already there getting it all worked out. He's truly my backbone and after 3 years and two months of marriage, I can honestly say I fall in love with him again, over and over! Watching him be a daddy to our baby girl makes my little heart want to explode.

I have a husband who has made me feel SO incredibly beautiful everyday, especially since I have been feeling a little down about how I look after giving birth. He still makes me feel fantastic! It will never matter what anyone else may think because I know he's on my team.

Last week, Eric comes into the house after being outside for quite a while. He looked at me and asked "Has anyone ever carved your name into a tree before?" I laughed and said "If you mean a boyfriend then absolutely not, why?"

This is why:

So you see, I don't need the flowers, the nice gifts, the star gazing or chocolate (well...I'll take some chocolate, ha!) to feel romanced by my husband. I just need him to be, him! He is romantic in the ways he knows how even if it may not fit what I used to expect. He is my best friend and someone I love to be around as much as I can. And if the best really is yet to come then I can't even comprehend how great the rest of my life will be with him by my side!

Love you babe :)

I hope you all are having a fantastic Thursday! Only one more day till the weekend, so hang in there.

I just wanted to say the responses of love, encouragement, testimonies and praise over my last post was overwhelming! I can't thank you enough for the positivity you all showed me.

I'm here for whatever you need to send my way: aljanson819@gmail.com

Much love!

Hello my name is Amanda and I'm addicted to fall!

Why do so many people just love fall so much?
I could think of TONS of reasons:
-Pumpkin everything
-Thanksgiving
-Comfy sweaters and sweatshirts that make you want to snuggle with the first thing you see
-That crisp and chilly feel in the air
-The feeling that the crisp air gives you; the kind of feeling that just makes you think and feel good inside
-The constant burning of apple pie, whipped pumpkin pie and apple cinnamon candles in the house. Though I let those scents burn all year round.
-Knowing that soon after fall is Christmas!! (Anyone start their shopping yet?? This mama has!)
My favorite is the fun of going to a Famers Market on a nice day or the pumpkin patch. And these past two days, I have done just that :)

Yesterday evening we went pumpkin picking and hay-riding with one of our favorite little familes! They brought their daughter Olivia who was a little bit more into it then our sleeping baby. It was a nice night and we always have fun with them. Heres some pictures to share:

It was such a beautiful sunset last night! Made for the most perfect pumpkin picking environment

Eric was finally able to babywear Makenna, our little pumpkin head, and loved every second of it. Judging by the way she was passed out the whole time, I think she did too. She loves her daddy!

So many pumpkins to choose from!

Sunflowers are my favorite and have been since I was a little girl!

We made it home a little after 8 with some yummy Chick-Fil-A to eat and Makenna was wide awake. We've never taken her off her schedule before and probably won't again for a while since she was up till 10 pm laughing at the warning label in her bassinet, haha!

Today, Eric and my dad were able to go to the Gamecocks football game, (thanks to his awesome boss!) so my mom and I decided to check out the Soda City Market in downtown Columbia. It was AWESOME! So many cute vendors and fellow babywearers! Here are some pictures from today's adventure:

There was a breast cancer marathon going on as well, so we saw lots of pink! 

We were able to fill a box with as much farm, fresh vegis and fruits that we could fit. We took great advantage of that and I'm so excited to fill my fridge with it with so much healthy yumminess!

Makenna loved being outside in the fresh air for the second day in a row!

Now let me tell about this amazing restaurant we stopped at for lunch. The ENTIRE menu is gluten free! (Happy day for this Celiac!) It's also vegan and dairy-free friendly. They name of the place is Good Life Cafe and everything is raw. Their food isn't cooked, it's dehydrated (I hope I got that right) and never goes above 115 degrees. I had the eggplant/bacon sandwich on onion bread with a fresh fruit cup and kale salad. YUM! I recommend it to anyone of my SC friends!

Days like today give me an extra boost of a reminder of how good I have it. How life is just so wonderful and the blessings that surround me, even in a simple sandwich, amaze me! God works ALL the time. He never stops showing me how wonderful my life can be if I just follow His lead. 

I hope all of you are enjoying your fall so far! As always, my email is always open (aljanson819@gmail.com) with anything you feel the need to send. I love reading your emails and the audience I'm getting from across the world is amazing and totally keeps me motivated to keep writing! God is good, God is great.

Much love!

  

It all started with a toaster

"I have found the one whom my soul loves."
-Song of Solomon 3:4
Yes, this ones about you babe!
Growing up and becoming an adult is scary but when you have your best friend by your side, it's not  necessarily easier but sweeter.
I prayed for Eric to come into my life long before I met him. My heart was bruised from the only other serious relationship I had before him and I was anxious to move past that and meet the man I could call my husband.
As we all know (and I'm clearly a firm believer), everything happens in Gods time and not our own. How everything happened between Eric and I was and still is fate. Gods gentle hands have been all over our relationship from the beginning!
Rewind to  February 20, 2011. Another Valentines Day had past and I was more bitter about love then the year before. I had spent some time with friends that weekend at Cherry Point Air Station with no intentions of wanting to meet anyone, especially a Marine.
I was actually getting ready to leave and go back home when I saw a white Ford Ranger roll up to the barracks and a very tall man in uniform get out and slam his truck door. My friend turns to me and tells me that was the guy she wanted to introduce to me. I told her forget it, he seems goofy. Next thing you know, Eric is throwing a toaster over the balcony of his barracks all because his roommate made him fail room inspection. Not only did he spark my interest then for some reason but I also wanted the toaster, ha!
A few moments later, we met! One sushi date and a week later, he finally asked for my number. I guess you can say we started dating immediately. The next weekend he took me down to SC where I met his family and the rest is history! We spent every single moment we had together. We would sit in the walmart parking lot for hours just talking. We would take turns driving that hour and a half drive to see each other every day until I finally moved closer to be with him.
On my 21st birthday (3 months later) we were riding in that same truck when he asked (more  like declared) me to marry him. After asking my parents permission, we set the date for August 12th but the Marine Corps decided 24 hour duty was more important so we set it for August 19, 2011.
Three years and two months later and I still get butterflies when I know my husband is on the way home from work. Anytime I look at him, it's like I see him for the first time. I still remember what it was like the first time he kissed me, told me he loved me, or sang to me in his truck.
Our relationship has been the biggest growing experience in my life. God used Eric to save me and mend the bruises that surrounded my heart. He showed me what love really was when I needed it the most. He is my biggest blessing and without him, I wouldn't be a mother to the most beautiful baby girl.
He's my best friend, my soulmate, my teammate, my tickle fighter, my hard worker, my honest critic, my spiritual mentor and the best daddy I could've ever asked him to be. After all we've been through, I know that we were meant to do life together. I couldn't be more proud of the man and father he's been becoming.
If you're looking for love, stop. God will bring a partner to you at the exact right time. It'll be worth the wait and, like me, you'll look back one day at the times you were at your loneliest and just be
even more thankful for the person by your side. Love is out there, just keep praying!
As always, I'm here to pray with or for you about anything! aljanson819@gmail.com.
Much love!