Hello everyone! I am excited to get back to the world of blogging. I've had A LOT going on and needed to focus my attention to some life-changing things. Lots of changes have occurred in the last 6 months and lots more are in store for the future. LOTS.

#1) I went on the most incredible and life-changing trip to Yosemite. A huge thanks goes to my Mom-in-law, Connie for giving us the opportunity to experience such beauty. Takeaways? Cherish this world. Get back to nature and take time away from the cities. A huge thanks goes to the late John Muir for that bit of obvious wisdom. :)

#2) I was laid off in June. It was a large group layoff that was actually a blessing in disguise. This brought huge changes and lots of questions BUT I know everything will work out for the best. Plus, this gave me a huge chance to start something I have wanted to do for a very long time. And this brings me to number 3...

#3) I started my businesses on September 8, 2011. A.M.Y. Awesomeness and A.M.Y. Images are officially open for business! Check 'em out at my Facebook page. Amy Yeilding | Photographer & Artist

I am excited to get back to blogging and sharing my life with you. :) More to come soon! Thanks for visiting.

*** SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION ***

Hello all- You may have noticed that I have not posted in some while. Well, that's all about to change. I am working on a total rehaul of my blog and while this will take a bit of time, I am about to graduate with my master's and will have a whole lot more time on my hands. I will be selling my Mosaic works soon and will then follow with my photographs. I want to share my adventures in the arts and a new business. And in the meantime, I still want to catalog my gardening adventures and spurts of Amy'tude. Stay tuned for a new look, feel, and bit of 'tude. Coming at cha soon!

My New Obsession

How I Met Your Mother. It is so funny and relatable. I am obsessed. I cannot get enough. I don't think there has been a sitcom this funny, whimsical, and absolutely clever since Seinfeld. Jonathan and I have been watching it from the first season, which I recommend. Check the show out HERE. This is the way life should be. For real.

A Feel Good...

'Nuff said. A feel good and a f*ck you, all in one! :) Hey... it's catchy!!! I don't mean anyone any offense!!! It makes me feel good, even though it's a little, um, yeah... HA!

Deadmau5 Kiddo Costume!!!!

I have loved Deadmau5 since this past ACL. He is absolutely incredible. Jonathan's frikin' awesome coworker, Rosalba shared this video with us today. This badass dad made his kid a Deadmau5 costume for Halloween because his kiddo wanted it! The video is awesomeness. Period. Check it out. Share this. Live and love life!

Mini-Deadmau5 from Michael Cobra on Vimeo.

Snow in Texas!?! Well, I'll be!

This is the 2nd year in a row that we've had snow in Texas and in February! YAY! I actually didn't have to go to work and had my very first SNOW DAY! We got to build a snow man last year and got to build an itty bitty man this year as well. I am so thankful for this beautiful day!!! HOORAY!

Cold beer? LOL!

Itty Bitty Snowman. :)

© 2011 Amy Yeilding

The Mean Kitty Song - Thanks, BC!

Check this out. I love this. You will too. Thanks for the video SPM Films and thanks for sharing, BC!

Happy New Year

We had a great 2010... so many wonderful memories with some sad ones inbetween. We have grown and have truly enjoyed life. We have seen and experienced life lessons that we would never have been the same without. 2010 rocked out!

Welcome 2011! It's been a great start. Good times with good friends. That's what it's all about, right?

Right after countdown! Welcome to 2011!!!

Drinks at the Driskill. Gotta love 2011!

Little Bro and I say, make it a great 2011!

My ALL TIME Favorite People

If you haven't already seen or heard about the "Rapist in Lincoln Park", you need to! This was a real attack where the victim's brother rushed in and saved her. I love the guy, Antoine Dodson for all he did and for the video afterwards. He saved his sister's life and then threatened the attacker on the news video; while a very serious topic, the footage of his interview is awesomely hilarious. Rock on, Antoine, rock on!

He is AWESOME and I LOVE him. I also can't get enough of the dudes that made the follow up remix version as a song; Auto-Tune the News made the song and video and it is AMAZING. The profits go to both Antoine Dodson and Auto-Tune the News, so check them out! They are an absolutely amazing compilation. The videos are shown below. I HIGHLY recommend watching the first one first; it is the original news footage from the attack. Watch it first so you can see the awesomeness that is the actual footage and will then truly understand the awesomeness that is the remix version.

Original News Footage


The Auto-Tune the News version

More Selfish with Age?

As a child and growing adult, you believe things will change as you get older; you think you will be more wise and grateful for life. You think you will make better decisions and react with more dignity. You believe that you will be a better person; more kind and caring and less abrupt and selfish.

I wished this for my own life and hoped that as I aged I would grow to become the best person I can be. I think we are who we are but we continually learn how to interact with friends, family and society in general; we learn how to live in our world. We grow and learn every day of our life...

I hoped I would grow and lose some of the selfish qualities I had acquired over the years. However, I feel like I am still in a place that I wished I would be far from now. I am not sure how I feel about this and as I come to a new stage in my life, I worry how I will react to the inevitable changes and curves that life will throw my way.

Of course I still have a lot to learn and will never be finished growing as an individual but I know I have evolved and truly like who I am as an individual and as a wife. While I feel like I have finally arrived to a new level of life and should be able to continue on, there is still something holding me back. I feel like I am holding on to some selfish aspects but unfortunately cannot let them go... and I don't know if this is going to stunt my growth or if it will help me grow and learn.

I know I have come to another fork in my road; where one way will take me to the best place for this period of my life, and where the other way will take me to a place that may be harder but where I will learn a lot more about myself. Either way, I know that I have to stand up for what I believe in and even though it may be selfish, I think it is what I need to do at this point in my life.

I think...

Our First Stray

We spent a wonderful week with the sweetest little stray kitty. We've never taken in a stray, mainly because they never let you get anywhere near them. I have always tried to help but have never been able to.

Last week, I saw this little sweetie when I was decorating for Christmas; I called her and she came right up to me and started meowing. She was so precious that I had to call the boys out to look at her. She just didn't seem like a stray; she was so friendly and seemed pretty clean. We were pretty sure she was someones and had just gotten lost. It was going to freeze the next night and we just couldn't bare the thought of her staying out there in the cold. So, we took her in and made posters to find her owner.

One week later, we had a good home lined up for her but not with her owners... we think they just abandoned her because they would have seen the signs if they had been looking... how anyone could abandon this little sweetheart is beyond me! She uses the litter box better than any of our cats and will sit in your lap and purr for hours!

Anyway... a very nice woman called the very frst day and said she would be interested in adopting the kitty if we didn't find her owners. I thought it was meant to be because she was a very kind woman with a older cat that needed a friend. She had actually seen the kitty and had wanted to adopt her then. I met her and she was very sweet and seemed like she would provide an amazing home. So, we gave her the kitty and she had a vet visit scheduled for the next day. I am going to check in with her sometime soon to see how the kitties are adjusting. =)

YAY! A happy ending right before Christmas!

Miracle for Christmas... Light Saver!

It's almost Christmas time and you know what that means! It's time for Christmas lights! HOORAY! I really got into this tradition last Christmas and went all out for the first time as an adult. I always string up a couple of sets and we did put some up outside in 2008, but nothing like I did last year. Jon was proud. ;)

Anyway... this year, I got everything done even quicker and even more efficiently; I was quite proud as well. When I was finished, I loved the decorations but for some reason, one side of the snowflake lights had gone out. We hung additional snowflakes on the ceiling and they glitter in the lights; without that half of snowflake lights, one side of the porch was less sparkly. And because there are around 10 little bulbs on each of these snowflakes, I was a bit bummed at the thought of having to check every single one of them.

Well, I never knew if there was something that could check light stands but I was determined to find out. I told Jon that if there wasn't something, we were going to invent it! Well, there was and it is the most amazing creation and the frikin' best $20 I have ever spent!!!

I got the Light Keeper Pro. It can be found here or at Walgreens. I TOTALLY recommend it! Not only will it restart a burnt out set (if the problem is found in the bulbs) but it will also check the entire light strand and individual bulbs!

The first option is the best and coolest thing ever! You pull out the first light that is out in the strand, then put the light-less bulb socket into the Light Keeper Pro, and click the button until the lights come on! You put the original bulb back in and the lights come on again and the burnt bulb can be identified.

Mine came on the first time. It does say to move onto the other options if the lights do not come back on after 20 clicks. I am telling you... AMAZING!

I will never have to stress over those pesky burnt out lights again! Merry Christmas everyone!

Peaches,the Munchkin

We are pretty sure that our little Peaches is some sort of interesting cat breed because she is still soooooooo tiny! Winslow is only a little over 7 months old and is already bigger than Peaches who turned 2 years old about 4 months ago! We looked up some breeds and think she may actually be a Munchkin! It is an actual type of cat and she looks pretty close... we're going to continue to research but in the meantime, Munchkin seems to be a fitting nickname. =)

Isn't she beautiful!?!

Round 2! I'm Gonna Get Cha!

Hyperthyroidism won the 1st Round unfortunately, but I am coming back to kick its ass in Round 2!!! I spent a year getting my thyroid levels up to par and was finally able to get off medication. I was off them for about 4 months but had to begin the process again because the Hyperthyroidism symptoms creeped up again. Grrr.

Currently, it is going well and my symptoms are definitely less than this time last year. So, hooray! We'll see how it goes; I am staying strong and positive. =)

New information on this crazy disease, coming soon!

Thankful for it all!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I have had the best year of my life; it just keeps getting better and better. While there have been some hard times, there is always good waiting after the bad and I am so thankful for each and every day I have on this earth. We are so lucky to have time with friends and family and it is so easy to forget. But don't forget! Always remember why we are here; we are NOT here to work, we are NOT here to worry about money, and we are NOT here to be angry and sad...

Enjoy your life, each and every day. Remember that we are blessed. And remember to have some fun! Happy Thanksgiving! Make sure to take time each and every day to thank those you love... every day should be Thanksgiving. =)

There's the Frikin' Light!

Ohhhhhh, yes! We can actually see the light at the end of our very loooong Master's tunnel!

We have 3 classes left! That's it and we are free and on our way! ;)

Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jonathan, the Rock Star

I just wanted to take a moment to thank my incredible husband. Jonathan is an absolutely amazing and hardworking man; he never gives up and does whatever he needs to do, no matter what.

He has taken on 2 jobs, just started back to school, and is doing wonderful! He temps during the day and works as a restaurant server and manager in the evenings. The temp agency loves him and he has had some great opportunities; he has already gained so much experience and even more confidence that he can do this. He will have a full time job, doing what he wants, very soon!

I am so proud of him and am very thankful that I am his wife. Way to go, Jonathan! Good luck and I love you!

A Guy's REAL Love...

Yep... no matter how we'd like to think we are his first love... we are not.

© 2010 Amy Yeilding

My First Must Be Repeated!!

My first Gin and Tonic!

It is one of Jon's favorites (besides good ole beer) but I never had once until this past New Year's. =) And I haven't had one since... so, here's to me having another one reeeeeeal soon!

It was delish!

Zona, the Frikin' Trooper!

My fish is bad ass. I got Zona to celebrate being hired permanently. That was 2 1/2 years ago. He is a blue Beta and has always been really cool. It's like we have similar personalities because he is a bit spastic too. =)

I am not sure how long fish live but I love this little guy and will be sad to see the day...

Happy 2 1/2 years, Zona! Love you!