Changes

Starting in November I will be disolving this blog and starting a new blog for the Nathan Dobbins family. I will post the new address when I have one. Have a great rest of the month and the next time you hear from me I will be Mrs. Amanda I. Dobbins. Yippee!

October Quote

"Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" - Jesus Christ, our Savior and Examplar-

Counting down the days

I'm not exactly sure I know what to write today. My life has been in a whirlwind motion since my engagement. I have gotten a lot of things done, but there is still a lot left to do. I can't believe I'm getting married this month, yet I want the date to come sooner. No man has ever treated me with so much love and respect than Nathan. No man has impressed me more with his knowledge and desire to do what is right than Nathan. He is ambitious and works hard for the things that he needs and wants. I have never met anyone that I wanted to be with more than Nathan. It's fun being with him, for example, we start singing random songs or we make up our own. He even plays my stupid road trip games. I love him so much. But the most exciting part about Nathan is that we are making goals, not only do we say "Hey we should do this someday." We write it down and set plans and deadlines and then we think of other things that we can do, not just to improve our lives but the lives of others. At lunch today we looked online and found several websites about service opportunities we can do in different countries. We found 2 that we liked and now we are going to pray about which one we should choose and then prepare ourselves in 2 years to go to one of these countries and do service. My life is good.

October Photo

In my parents front yard, there is a plant that attracts butterflies. Despite the fact that they are killing the plant, I have enjoyed watching all the butterflies flying around. This is the image I caught of a butterfly that landed on a stump that the plant surrounded. I love the elongated shadow of the butterfly and the vibrancy of color against the brown and green.

Picture Day!

Well, I promised some of you that I would post more pictures, here is one of the pictures we are going to use for the invitations. I found out a few things about Nathan while taking these pics. 1. When a count down is made to take the picture Nathan loses the smile by the time the photographer gets to three...so the photographer stopped counting and we ended up with great pictures. 2. Nathan hates getting his picture taken. Poor guy really had a wake up call when I was so excited about pictures and he just went along for the ride. He is going to have to get used to me always having a camera. and 3. He doesn't like motorcycles!!!! On our first date I talked about how much I loved them and he didn't say anything about not liking them. He said that he didn't like them during this photo. I guess I will have to look over that flaw.

My brother Paul took the pictures and I'm so thankful for his willingness to do them.

The Story

I met Nathan at a YSA campout. The evening we got back from the campout we were at Brittany Merrills house playing games. When I left the party and walked across the street to my home, I heard someone call out me name and when I turned around Nathan was running after me. He asked me for my phone number and called me the next day. We went on our first date Tuesday, August 26th. For the next month we spent nearly every day together and talked over the phone on the days we didn't see each other.

He proposed on September 18th (The same day my brother Ben had his first child Braxton Benjamin Quist). He proposed in Winslow, AZ where he grew up. We were watching the sunset, on the tail gate of his totally awesome truck, when he jumped up and said "I have something for you!" I had no idea what was going on. He came around the side of his truck with a little box. He opened it up and there was a ring inside! Then he ask "Amanda, will you marry me?" I was so stunned that all I could do was say, "Are you serious?!" and laugh. I was laughing so much. Then I remembered something my dad told me about a 1 1/2 years ago and that is, when I meet the man I'm suppose to be with there won't be any confusion. I thought about that while I was still laughing at him and there wasn't any confusion. There has never been a doubt in my mind about him.

So I said yes, jumped off the tail gate, kissed him (our first kiss), and we are getting married on October 29th, 2008 and the reception will be November 15th. People ask me if I'm nervous...I'm not nervous, I just get very excited about the marriage and sometimes forget to breath. And sometimes I get so happy that I just start laughing. Life is good.

Great News

I am Engaged!!!!
I am marrying Nathan Dobbins!

Kneeling

Here I am my Lord
Here I am my God
I am kneeling,
Praying here

You are the only one
who can undo
whats done

I am kneeling
Pleading here.

Can I forget myself
Do what you've
planned for me,
Can I ever trust myself,

Touch my soul Oh, God
Guide me home.
I am kneeling
praying here.

Fill me with thy love
Bring me Home

I am kneeling,
I am pleading,
I am kneeling,
Praying here.

September Quote

"The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army." -

General George Washington, July 2, 1776

A new beginning

This is Nathan Dobbins. I met him at the YSA activity. He is tremedously fun and full of life. We started dating shortly after the activity and are having a great time together. Hopefully, it will continue to go well. This isn't the best picture of him but it is one of my favorites. I'm sure you'll see more of him.

September Photo

This is from a ysa trip. The game is called "Buck Buck". The bottom row links together, then the next row jumps up onto the their backs then the next row jumps on their backs. Pretty soon you have a mass of people on top of each other. It's was super funny to watch.

Photo of The Month

I was in Bagdad, AZ when I took this picture. There are succulent plants everywhere. I like this picture, because the texture of the plant is visible and the background is rock. This plant was growing in a place surrounded by rock! And even though there are dead parts of the plant... the first thing to be noticed is the new, bright growth.

Song Lyrics

You fell on me like rain,
So Softly that I wouldn't feel the pain,
From you, you left my heart in two,

So softly you came down,
To hide the hurt that you'd bring around,
To me, Baby, I see, I can see.

Why did I think you could play the part,
Of mending my already wounded heart,
I let you in to heal the past,
but couldn't see that it would not last,

I see you standing there,
And all I think is how lifes not fair with you.
You left my heart in two.

Cause you fell on me like rain,
You fell on me like rain,
Now all I feel is pain,
You fell on me...Like rain.

Quote of the Month

"Life is filled with moments of joy, but life is also hard. It is an unmistakable privilege to be here in mortality, but the burden we carry is weighty, relentless, and laden with importance. So I pose two questions: What have we come here to do? and How will we do it?" - Sheri Dew

Favorite Memory of Me

1. Write your favorite memory of me. It can be anything.

The First Day

I have a friend Travis, who passed away last June, he has inspired me to connect more with the world around me and to make the most out of my life. He was all about helping others see the potential they held within. So I begin by creating this and hopefully I will become a better friend, sister, daughter, and human through this blog. Thank you for the inspiration Travis.