the intern

Finals week is among us once more, a week where gummy bears are for some God awful reason satisfactory enough for dinner and the appropriate attire is Nike shorts or Victoria’s Secret yoga pants.

But this finals weeks is a bit more complex than normal {if that was even possible, really}. This week, I end my very first internship with Horsepower. I was so incredibly blessed with this opportunity ten weeks ago, and am so thankful to the Horsepower family for everything they have taught me! But alas, all good things must come to an end, and a new group of exceptional ladies will become the newest Horsepower interns for the summer! But before I leave, I wanted to leave some useful advice for the new and future interns of Horsepower as they begin this new journey!

1. Don’t be afraid to ask questions! In fact, don’t be afraid to ask multiple question! That one question, is probably something no one else thought of!

2. LANDON FRIEND WILL BE LATE, it’s just inevitable, but that doesn’t mean you should be {don’t kill me for this Landon, you said to be honest}.I spent a lot of time waiting for Landon, but hey I can’t think of a better time to write a blog post or update Horsepower’s Facebook and Twitter, can you?! ;)

3. Come prepared and bring everything with you: notebook, pen, laptop, planner, etc. I can’t tell you how many meetings I had where all I did was write/type To Do lists of what I needed to get accomplished!

4. Make relationships. I’m sure you hear this ALL the time, but you will be in contact with SO many farmers, professors, restaurant owners, etc. I’ve realized that these are some of the MOST interesting people I have ever met; keep in contact with them, write a blog post about their business, or share/ comment on their posts in social media avenues. Whatever you do, make sure it is always kind and genuine.

5. ….and finally, HAVE FUN! Horsepower has one of the best environments I have worked in! Everyone is laid back, incredibly welcoming, but most importantly passionately hardworking. Horsepower has a vision, and everyone is working hard to achieve that vision and more!

I wish you all the very best, and may your journey with this internship be all that you have hoped for. Thank you again to Horsepower, I can never express in words my gratitude for everything that I have learned and the experiences I have had! 

{P.S…girls never be afraid to take the Nerf gun and go full-fledged Katniss on the boys, sometimes it’s necessary} 

On this day, sixteen years ago, my family lost a piece of the puzzle. We would have never imagined he would be taken away from us at such a young age, but at 18 years old only shy of about a week till his high school graduation, my godfather passed away of an enlarged heart. At only four years old, you simply just don’t get it. I honestly didn’t get it, until I was 18 years old.

It hit me that I now had lived a longer life then he did, and every experience I would have from now on, he didn’t get the chance to have. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of him, and I pray that he is watching over me and is proud to call me his goddaughter!

Padrinho (Tio Bell), I love you so incredibly much. I wish so badly that you were still here with us. I would have loved to see what you were going to do after graduation, who you were going to marry, what your children would look like. But that wasn’t God’s plan. I couldn’t agree more when they say that God chooses the most beautiful roses from the garden to be his angels. One day we will see each other once more, but till that day, I just wanted to say I LOVE YOU and even 16 years later, I am a better person because of you!

Amanda

I’m beginning my last week as a teenager. Soon, I’ll be in my twenties. I’m actually quite excited for this next decade. I imagine many scenes from “Sex and the City” when I think of my twenties. Sitting around a coffee shop or sipping a Cosmo at a bar with my favorite girls {it all sounds so glamorous} But before I make this hard to get used too transition, I always like to make a set of goals for myself before the next birthday! So here it is, the twenty things I would like to do before I turn 21…

1. Take more photos

2. Update blog regularly :)

3. Read at least one book a month {any suggestions to get me started?}

4. Exercise regularly

5. Complete half marathon {September 2nd Disneyland Half Marathon with Alex, YAYY}

6. Learn how to love your body {sucking pretty bad at this one lately}

7. Get an internship for the summer

8. Be asked to go out on a date {REFUSE to be 21 and Dateless}

9. Read more books regarding my faith

10. Publish an AMAZING Ag Circle Magazine

11. Strengthen my relationships

12. Never panic, just pray

13. Take a road trip with friends

14. Finish my minor

15. Work hard throughout the ENTIRE quarter, DON’T GIVE UP!

16. Have more of a positive outlook on life

17. Make more phone calls to catch up with friends

18. Make coffee dates with friends a priority in life

19. Learn more about photography

20. ENJOY LIFE!

I can’t wait to have these posted up in my room somewhere so I can refer back to them often and share with all of you how everything is going in my 20th year {ahhhhhhhhhh}

Until next time LOVES, Amanda :)

One month from today I’ll be boarding a 9 hour flight to Terceira, Azores, Portugal, the archipelago off the coast of Portugal…. 

Where I will be living for five weeks in this house…which belongs to my grandparents {isn’t it precious?!}

This trip will make the fifth time my family and I have gone to the old country {as I like to call it}. Until, two years ago, my dad had both of his parents alive and living there. Today we only have with us my Avo {grandma in Portuguese} so we try to go as often as we can to get to see her! Isn’t she the most precious thing you have ever seen!? But seriously, best grandma award to this one, she played a HUGE role in the first five years of my life, and wish we didn’t have to live so far away. I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if she had stayed in America. I know my life would have been filled with even more love, cause this woman is an absolute saint and loved her grandkids so passionately. 

I feel like I have been to the Azores so often now, that being there no longer seems like a time to sight see {I mean the island is only so big}. Being there now is just a chance to reconnect with my family, get them up to date on what has happened since the last time I saw them, and enjoy EVERY SINGLE MOMENT we have with them. Although five weeks may seem like a long time in theory, it goes incredibly fast. And before you know, we’re balling our eyes out in the car to the airport, and making a scene at the terminal gates. The anxiety of knowing goodbyes are soon to come is the WORST feeling possible, imagine having to tell the ones you love “Goodbye and until next time” without even knowing when the next time will be and if there even will be a next time.

Even with some reservations, I am incredibly excited to head back to the old country. To make memories with my family, be reminded how blessed I am, and finally to be humbled by the AMAZING family that I have once more.

{I wasn’t kidding when I said old country….cows still walk on the road to get to a new pasture, and they have their own exits on the freeway…no joke}

1. The longer I live in SLO, the more I fall in love with it! I never want to leave, or want to find a town A LOT like it! Coffee, lunch, a beautiful day, and studying outside with my lovely roommates makes life absolutely WONDERFUL!

2. On these warm sunny days, all I want is iced coffee!

3. WOW Training week #7 was themed dress like your major!

4. Found this is in the Marshall’s dressing room, and it completely made my day! If you want to find out how you can make someone’s day with a simple note, click HERE!

5. So I’ve had the same best friends since pretty much as long as I can remember. We grew up together doing all the activities our Portuguese community has to offer! Now that we are all grown and off our separate ways for college, I cherish the time we do get to spend with each other! I miss hanging out with them so much sometimes!

6. My younger sister Ashley and I. People always think she is the oldest, no actually I’m older, by 5 years  {I’m ashamed to even say that, whyyyy did I have to be so short!?}

I absolutely LOVE birthdays.

Not just my own birthday, but everyone’s birthday.

I will go completely out of my way to make someone’s day special.

I believe that every birthday should be celebrated and acknowledged passionately.

No matter if you are turning 9 or 99.

Growing up, I HATED the day of my birthday. The day May 28^th brought sadness throughout my entire family rather than celebration. On May 28, 1996 {my 4^th birthday} my godfather died at the young age of only 18. From then on, that day would be soiled with the memory of his passing and the realization that he wasn’t with us for another year.

My selfish self thought that it was such a burden to have the death of my godfather on MY birthday. Out of all the 364 other days in the year, God had to choose that one! Until I was close to reaching my own 18^th birthday. That’s when everything changed and a VERY humbling realization occurred.

In a short two months after my 18^th birthday, I would have outlived my godfather. I would be given the chance to experience more of life. I would get to graduate with my senior class, attend college in the fall, and someday marry and have a family of my own. Things that my godfather never got the opportunity to do. I firmly believe that God chose May 28^th for a reason. The day May 28^th has become a day where I have the chance to realize the many blessings in my life.

So yes, I do love making a BIG deal about birthdays. But you must understand that even amongst the celebration I am constantly thinking about how I had the blessing of experiencing another year and ultimately praying that my godfather is there with me as I go on the journey of the next year to come!

                       {For your enjoyment….my 1st Birthday, wasn’t I precious?!}

15 From My Current Bucket List:

1. Spend Carnaval in Terceira

2. Run a half marathon {running the Disneyland Half Marathon in September with my roommate Alex, sooo excited}

3. Visit well known cities in Europe {you know, the usual: Rome, Paris, Barcelona, etc}

4. Visit the “Full House” title sequence house {CHECK}

5. Take a picture with a street sign that says Meneses

6. Wear a BEAUTIFUL wedding dress

7. Own a DSLR camera 

8. Experience Christmas and New Years in New York

9. Make a wish at the Trevi Fountain

10. Meet my other half

11. Grow old with someone

12. Be called MOMMY :)

13. Have my dad walk me down the aisle {I’m a hopeless romantic if you couldn’t tell}

14. Spend an entire day cuddling ;)

15. Be on Dancing With The Stars {Derek Hough as my partner please}

1. My addiction to Starbucks continues, there honestly is nothing better than a warm day in SLO and a cup of iced coffee!

2. Spring Training for WOW continues….this week’s dress up theme was Cartoon Characters

3. Went to court for the first time today to appeal a traffic ticket I received for following the car in front of me too closely! Let’s just say that it didn’t go as well I had hoped! Guess the judge didn’t appreciate the fact that I looked BOMB!

4. Not only has the internship at Horsepower been incredible, I am blessed with getting to work at such a beautiful location. This is what I get to see every day I go into the office :) {not too shabby, right!?} 

5. Hunting for a house to rent for next school year in SLO, might be one of the most stressful things I have ever done. It’s giving me a headache just typing this out {no I’m serious}

6.  I’ve stopped taking the Grand exit to get back onto campus, just so that I can take California. I LOVE the road lined with palm trees and I finally had a chance to snap a photo of it!