Hot, Hot, Hot!

Well, it is really hot outside. Apparently it is 111 degrees outside. Pretty bad. When it is so hot like this, nobody wants to do anything, especially the dog. Our dog is an Akita mix. His name is Kobe, and he's 120 pounds. I feel bad for him, because the ground is so hot for him to be walking on. Sometimes we joke that he needs shoes. Hopefully we will survive the summer, and it will begin to get cool again before we know it.

"Me Time"

Those are my toes after the pedicure. Those are tan lines from my comfy crocs.

This is a picture from my Arizona vacation. Directly across the street, was a little Western Town. We walked over there and took some pictures.

I have been out of work for about 3 weeks now. This was a personal choice for me, I didn't get fired or anything. I was going through a rough time, and needed to get away from it all.

I have been enjoying my time which I am calling, "me time". I have been absorbing myself in positive thinking and positive visualizations, and trying to do relaxing things.

My first week off, I went to Arizona for a week's vacation with my family. That is always a great thing for me to do. My family are some of my best friends. We get along great, and we understand and support each other. There is nothing we wouldn't do for each other.

When I got back, we did some summer cleaning. We cleared out our storage room, and gave a lot of stuff to goodwill, we tossed out a lot of trash, and also found some things we didn't know we had. So we cleaned 'em up and brought 'em back in the house.

The third week, I went to get a pedicure. I had a gift card for it, so I decided to go relax at nail salon. It was great! When I went, there we're 4or 5 older men in there getting pedicures. I applaude them. I guess I just don't think that men would go into a nail salon, but why not. They have toes and feet just like women do.

By the way, why is it when your single, the first thing people ask you is, "Do you have a boyfriend?" or "Are you married?".

That was the first thing the lady asked me who was doing my nails. Isn't there anything better to talk about in the world? Anyway, once we got passed that, the pedicure treatment was very relaxing.

I also had a parafin wax treatment on my hands. It felt really weird when they first put it on, but it felt great when they took it off. My hands felt so, so soft.

A few days later I went to get a facial. Again, this was something I won in a raffle. It was pretty cool. Lots of good smelling things on my face. She did a great job with the facial, and the whole thing was very relaxing. I was very appreciative. Oh yah, she asked, "Are you married?". I said no, and that's where it ended. Again, why do people have to ask? It always seems to be the first question.

My trip to Portland, Oregon

This is where they filmed the prom scene at the end of the movie.

They had beautiful pink trees all over.

This is the water fountain from the prom scene in the movie.

These are just a few of the pictures I took when I went to visit my friend in Oregon. Everyone told me how beautiful and green it is, but words do not do it justice. It was absolutely breath-taking.

We went to the place where they filmed "Twilight". I am also kind of a movie person. I like movies and I get a little bit starstruck.

Anyway, if some of you have never been there before, I recommend it. There is a lot to do and see there, and again, it is so beautiful.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

All about Dreams

Hello all,

My name is Amanda. I graduated from Cal State University Long Beach in 2004, with a B.A. in Child Development and Family Studies with an emphasis in Family Life Education. I worked for a year in the child care room on campus, and I also worked for 4 years at a family child care where we had children ranging from ages 0-5. I love children and I love working with them. I seem to have a connection with them and I believe I am meant to work with young children. My dream is to build a child care center for Infants and Toddlers. I want to offer families a safe and caring environment for their children. An environment where children can learn and grow and develop at their own pace. Until I can figure out how to make my dream come true, I have decided to try my hand at blogging.



Aside from child care, I have always been interested in the supernatural, and spiritual kinds of things as well as dream interpretation. Many of my co-workers have told me about their dreams and asked me what I think their dreams mean. I do not claim to be a professional when it comes to dream interpretation, however, I have been told I have a certain amount of skill when it comes to figuring out the meanings of dreams.



Dreams can be so many different things. They can be really silly, stupid, crazy, scary, weird, or just plain wonderful. They can also be prophetic, or you may even dream of deceased loved ones. I do believe that people who have passed on can visit us in our dreams. I also believe that sometimes we may have dreams that come true the next day. I feel that some things are unexplainable, and that we should chalk it up to divine intervention of some sort. I like to believe that there is a reason for everything, and if we pay attention and learn to listen to our instincts, we will be aware of big and little miracles in our lives.



Sometimes our dreams seem to make absolutely no sense at all, until we say them out loud. I have noticed that when my friends and co-workers have told me their dreams, it makes perfect sense. They don't realize it but whatever is going on in their lives at the time is totally clear when they speak the words and tell me what they felt in the dream. They don't even know what they are saying until I break it down for them.

Examples:

Prophetic dream:

Sometime at the beginning of this year, my sister tragically lost one of her beloved turtles in a horrible accident. She was very upset about this, and it took her a while to start feeling better. One night she had a dream. In her dream she woke up in the morning and went downstairs to the kitchen just like she normally would do. When she went to the sink, she looked out the window and saw lots of little baby turtles walking around on the grass in her back yard. She called her kids down stairs to come and see. When she woke up, she felt like that was such a great dream, and it made her feel so happy. She went downstairs to the kitchen and started to get things ready to make breakfast. She was washing something in the sink when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She looked a little closer and low and behold it was a baby turtle. She was so excited, and could hardley keep herself together. She called the kids downstairs to make sure she wasn't seeing things. She was not seeing things. My sister called me to tell me about it, and the rest is history.
They still have the turtle who's name is "baby". I'll try to find a picture of her so you can see what she looks like.

Another dream:

This dream came from my mom. About a month ago, my mom told me she had a dream where she was walking with me and some other people. Suddenly, we were told to get on top of a car. There was a big muscle man up on top of the car as well. He told her to hold on to him, because when the car started to move we would probably fall off. She was trying to hold on as tight as she could and when she looked back she saw her children hanging on to her, but she said she was slipping. She said that she just remembers the feeling of having to hold on, because if she didn't everyone around her would fall off too.

When she told me that, it was obvious to me that she felt in real life, that she had to hold herself together (stay strong) for the family because she was afraid that the family would "fall" apart if she didn't.

A little background: At the time, I was going through a hard time. I guess I could call it a nervous breakdown, and my dad was also having a hard time with things in his life. Everyone in the family is having trouble with finances, but then again, who in the world isn't? Anyway, my point is, when she spoke the words, and told me her dream it was obvious what the dream meant, and why she was dreaming it.

I would love to hear anyone's dreams out there, if you would like to share them. You don't have to tell me your name or anything. Just describe your dream and the feelings you felt in them, and I'll see if I can tell you what I think they mean. I'm not gauranteeing anything, but it will be fun to see what happens.

**It is really important for you to tell me how you felt in the dream. Try to answer these questions when you're writing out your dream, and go with what really sticks out in your mind:

1. How are you feeling in all the different parts of your dream?
2. What kinds of things are you thinking about throughout your dream?
3. What are some things you said to yourself or others in your dream?

**These are really some key points that will help find the meaning behind your dream.

If I can't come up with anything, I'll pull out one of my dream books, and give you something from there, or maybe I'll do some research and try to find the meaning from somewhere else. Or if all else fails, I'll be totally honest and tell you that I have no idea.