I Think I'm Getting Older

Today is my birthday! A little video blog love for ya! :D

Birthday Video Blog: I THINK I'M GETTING OLDER from amanda martinez on Vimeo.

It's my birthday! Help me celebrate the twenty eight!

PS: today we're going to pretend that I'm turning 27 okay?? :D yay! hehehehehe!
PSS: I failed math.

Also as a bonus today, I asked people to share a short/sweet memory that they have of times with me! Randomly throughout the day, I will post them here for all to see and enjoy! Thanks for 27 great years of memories and I look forward to more!

S.G. > Happy Birthday!! First thing I thought of was your Turkey Dance! Hahaha
M.W. > HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! And camp Rise and your suitecase and the stairs, so good. I have more :)
B.P. > :D bday!! Fav memory was def the 'we've got cookies!' night! Also, the family dinners, sat morning brkfast. ...too many to choose..
D.A. > Happy Birthday! and, via your request, cue the indian
K.M. > meeting in Seattle,while Mark & I were @ a conf. Protein Planet, shopping,that hippie stringed instrument store & the ?able marquee. Going 2 lunch with you for the 1sttime in Austin & getting 2 know you a little. I knew right away-I'd found an "adopted daughter
K.D. > Happy Birthday! One of my favorite memories of you - and this is a loooooooooong time ago, is all of your witty wise cracks from the color guard locker room, they were a riot! ...
One of my favorite( and obscure)quotes is "how can we miss you, if you don't leave?" ;) Have a great Birthday! :)
E.Z. > Happy Birthday!!!! Favorite memory??? How bout my entire first year! Snores-ville bunk-mate...LOVE YOU! Have a wonderful day!
A.M. > Happy birthday!!!!! My favorite memory has to be all of us acting a fool up in the prop room!
B.A. > Happy Birthday!!! :) I think to describe my favorite memory with you I just need one word.... BEENO! bahahaha I love you! ♥
E.A. > happy birthday! my favorite memory is the Portico Christmas party
J.C. > HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! remember when we worked at hallmark and you snuck out to get free burts bees stuff then our manager came down stairs.. I was scared, but we didn't get caught! :)
P.L. >Happy Birthday Amanda! Hope you have a fabulous day and maybe even get some Chick Fil A! =) My favorite memory I think has definitely got to be our summer trip this year....more specifically the "5", HAHA! Unforgettable! =)
L.C. > Happy Birthday!! TOO MANY memories! chicken bank, life lessons involving water & media track
C.C. > happy Bday! "My chicken bank won't put out!"
D.M. > happy b-day, left you a vm (I'm kind of a creeper in it). Best memory, wow, too many. Shober receipts, HOF flyers, slapping Jordan, your music video, Let's Get It Started, dragons & HSM tattoos, your sweet MCA jeapardy games, & French fries @ McDonalds

VIDEO BLOG: I Will Remember You

Song: I Will Remember You by Sarah McLachlan

Someone You Should Know

A special Video Blog from me and 2 of my housemates: Andrea & Geizel :D

song: Someone You Should Know by Lisa Loeb

VIDEO BLOG: 14 Times

Long Journey

Day 3 Report from the "4th on the 5 Adventures"

i apologize that i haven't learned how to open my eyes yet. ;)

After we got back from Karaoke (around 2:30 a.m.) me and Joy had a long and productive conversation about our respective attitudes and differences and miscommunications. Though there is debate about it, I do believe that time has changed us, and that who we thought we each were is not the same. This isn't a bad thing though, just an interesting thing that brings new challenges and opens new insights. I don't remember what time we got to bed but I'm assuming it was close to 5 or 6 am. I could be wrong though.

In any event, we woke up around noon and began our long drive to Forks, Washington—The Twilight Zone. :D

When we were first planning the trip, Joy's big thing that she wanted us to be sure to do was to go to Forks to check out the roots of the movie "Twilight." Joy and I are BIG fans of Twilight, so I was pretty excited to go as well. Patsy enjoyed the movie but wasn't nearly as besotted as we were. We got lost a few times, but we made our way. :D

Joy and Patsy really wanted to stay the night, so we found a hotel (by some major miracle) and got to catch the fireworks show in Forks! It was amazing!

Here are some photos and videos of our time there:

taken from the ferry :D

patsy loved the ferry

car shot of the scenery around Olympic National Park

taking in the beautiful scenery

jacob black's house on the Quileute Rez!

we ate here twice—yummy food!

I went out on a limb (quite literally) to get this shot and it was SO worth it!

our hotel in Forks

Fireworks on the Fourth in Forks

Joy in front of our motel door

Living For The Night

Day 2 Report from the "4th on the 5 Adventures"

Friday morning I went out to get something from the rental car because we needed to confirm something with Enterprise. So I walk out to the car and I find that our rental car has been broken into.

Yeah I know. It sucks. :(

We had to take the car back down to SeaTac to trade it out. The funny thing is that while we were there, the guy that was helping us out, Sam, invited Joy out to the clubs. :D He said he lived 4 blocks away from me by a giant guitar. Riiiiii....ghhh....t. It made for a good laugh.

This was our main day of touring the city. We went down to Pike Place Market and then ate lunch at Ivar's on the Waterfront. We also went to the Space Needle and did some other sightseeing. They also got to see where I work and we sat down for some coffee at Caffe Ladro. :D

That night we decided to go to Kona Kitchen for some Karaoke :D We had so much fun! Joy totally got drunk off of some of the local beer, which only made her rendition of Come On Eileen that much funnier!

Here's a video update from the day:


And here's all of our Karaoke goodness:

okay and just for the record: the "genius" guy in charge of the karaoke stuff forgot to turn on the 2nd microphone, so you can't really hear the first part. It was silly anyway :D

so one of the guys at the bar was pretty trashed by the time I got up to sing this one. You can see him showing off his "guns" hahahahhahaha!







AND some photos from our day :D

Joy and Patsy playing darts in my office :D

photo op with a stuffed bear down by the waterfront

Joy and Patsy at Pike Place Market

In front of the Market sign

A street performer near Beecher's Handmade Cheese

Patsy at Ivar's on the Waterfront

Joy and that stuffed bear sharing a moment

that one guy again

Patsy at Kona Kitchen. . . she was our karaoke videographer :D

VIDEO BLOG: Daughters (Giveaway!)

Happy Father's Day to all the daddy's out there! :D

or as I like to say, HAPPY FALKER SATHERHOOD!

In honor of this special day, here is a video blog for you to enjoy:

* so um. i just realized that i forgot to cut the music after i say "bye." So, when I say bye, it's the end...and you can just listen to John Mayer or stop the video. sorry. :D

Also, as a bonus, I have a giveaway for today! Believe it or not, I was actually named AFTER someone! I realize that Amanda is a very common name, but my parents actually DID name me after someone famous and whoever answers the following question correctly first, will win a $10 STARBUCKS gift card!

WHO WAS I NAMED AFTER?

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UPDATE:

Congratulations to Mandie from Just We Moms for guessing correctly on the Giveaway question!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, I was named after AMANDA BLAKE, from Gunsmoke :D

Fade Into You [VIDEO BLOG]

PS: 2 more days to vote! Refer to THIS POST and then vote using the poll on the right hand side of the blog!

PSS: In case the video wasn't clear enough, I will answer ANY questions you have, just post them here in the comments section of this post—even if you have a Blogger ID and choose to be anonymous, you can! :D No matter what the question is, I'll answer it! :D

99 Times

I feel like I could watch this sketch 99 times...and still laugh the same amount EVERY TIME!

Mother Mother

Yes yes it's here!  MOTHER'S DAY!

So, I posted an ad on Craigslist to see if any ladies would let me borrow their kids for a couple hours during lunchtime so I could take advantage of those MOTHER'S DAY SPECIALS at restaurants...but...no one wanted to share. :(  I guess they might have thought i was creepy for making such a request. Then I almost bought a baby doll...to try to pass off as my kid...and then realized that I would then need a carseat or something so they wouldn't get suspicious. So instead I just made some lunch at home. :D

While I was on my way home today I decided to stop off at a local park and record a Video Blog just for Mother's Day.  However, I guess I skipped over the part in the manual where it says: PS: VIDEOS WILL NOT UPLOAD PROPERLY IF YOU TRY TO PREVIEW IT ON THE CAMERA BEFORE YOU IMPORT ONTO YOUR COMPUTER. fail. just. fail. :(  And no, I'm not going to re-record it.  So.. I'll have to settle for this>

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE MOMS OUT THERE!  I'd personally like to thank my own mother for deciding to keep me and not kill me.  Also, for not leaving me by the side of the road when I was 10 and jumped out of the car while we were stuck in traffic.  I don't know how, but I'm glad that deep down inside you knew that no matter how big of a fit I was throwing, I wasn't going to get very far trying to find another set of parents who didn't suck. Thanks mom.  OH, and also... thank you mom for not making me rake leaves until my hands bled to earn enough money to pay for all my trips to the hospital for all my clumsy accidents.  Instead you drove me home and listened to me complain about how much pain i was in.  I know now that you were also in pain...from knowing you'd have to cover the thousands of dollars in surgical and medicinal fees. I'm also grateful that you didn't make me feel incredibly stupid when you caught me wiping my butt with leaves in the back yard because I forgot my house keys that morning.  Although, you coulda put up a sign in the yard saying you had come home early from work that day. Just sayin'.  :D

And to my stepmom- thank you for not being an evil stepmom. Thank you also for not smacking me in the face when I gave you the silent treatment during Christmas. I know, I know. I know I can be really immature and ridiculous sometimes. Okay. A lot of times.  Oh, and thank you for not calling me names when I called you at 2 a.m. that one time. Sometimes I forget that other people aren't on the same crazy schedule I am. And THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU so much for teaching me how to make Hershey Bar Chocolate Pie! I feel like I should make you a cape... but I can't sew. And there's no way it would compete with your awesome Raggedy Anne Costume. Let's just be real. ;)

I am TOTALLY thankful and grateful for my mom, and also for my stepmom(s) who have had to put up with my complete brattiness.  Hopefully I'll outgrow it by the time I'm 30. But in the meantime, I'd like to give some advice from a daughter to a mother. Just on a totally broad level:

BELIEVE IN US. Believe that we are important.  Believe that no matter how crazy our dreams may be, we can reach them. Believe that you matter, even when we call you names or throw fits. Believe that we need you... EVERY DAY... even if we don't say it.  Believe that we can be amazing women also. Believe that we can be independent to a certain extent. Believe that no matter what other women come along in our lives to teach and mentor us will never replace you. Believe that we are always watching you, learning from you, listening to you... ALWAYS.  And don't ever let anyone tell you that you are failing at being a mother... because you gave us one of the biggest prizes ever—the opportunity to be here, to be alive, to have lives of our own, to give life. You rock!

Also, I saw this earlier this morning and it cracked me up. It's so funny and so true!  It's all the things a mom would say in 24 hours, condensed into one song. :D

We Danced Anyway

So today during a quick break, I decided to break loose and do a little jig.  This is why I don't go to clubs.  This is also why I'm glad that the streets near my work are busy... no one's paying attention to the weird kid dancing in her office.  

Now, for those who don't know me or have never worked with me for prolonged periods of time... believe me when I say that this is NOT out of the ordinary for me.  I love dancing in the office... most of time it's playing air guitar to some Thrice or Snow Patrol, but I don't play favorites.  

I even used to do this thing with my media team where I would say, "Hey, let's take a break from this work and go to Maui!"  I would then proceed to set the Apple screen saver to all the beach photos and put on some island steel drum music and make EVERYONE in my office- assistants and visitors, do a hula dance.  We kept it lively.  :D

Your Sort Of Human Being [VIDEO BLOG]

Here's a video blog for you to enjoy!

Song: EVERY DAY IS A WINDING ROAD by Sheryl Crowe

I chose to go with a different song than "Your Sort of Human Being"

for the post because it just didn't fit the footage... great song though

and some random photo shots for you to enjoy!

Walking on Sunshine [VIDEO BLOG]

outdoor rock wall at the park

a mosaic mermaid tale in the children's community garden

puppies getting water at the off-leash dog park

enjoying the walk

listening to the waves crash and working on screenplay outlines :D

mountains and water :D

random shot of water marker thingees... ;)

there's even public art at the park!

looking out across the water from Kite Hill

caught a bit of the Ultimate Frisbee tournament going on

this little kid was running around and then yelled at his mom: "I'M GONNA GO PISS OFF A DUCK MOM." and she was like, "OKAY. HAVE FUN." 

The "beach" at Magnuson Park

For some reason, this chair, which was randomly in the middle of the off-leash dog park just caught my attention and I had to snap a shot 

The community garden: people in the community have little plots where they come and grow things in this massive community garden.  I LOVE IT!

people tending their garden