This past weekend, I spent time out at our statewide retreat, and was able to spend a lot of time with God. It is always therapeutic to have a good talking with God and is something I don’t do often enough. But with all of the things I talked with Him about, one of the things was relationships.

It is always hard to be patient with dating Especially in a world where all of my friends are in relationships and I seem to be the only single one out there. I so desperately want to be in a fulfilling and satisfying relationship,and it is hard to remain positive when it seems as if any possibilities of dating turns into a horrible mess and I end up either hurt or disappointed or both.

So as I was hashing things out with God, of course, the single status came out. I I asked God about why I was still single; why I haven’t met the right person for me; and when it would be my time to be happy. I cried to Him, expensing that it just isn’t fair and that I deserve to be happy too. I turned to my Bible during my time with God, and just begged for some answer from Him. When I opened up to this verse:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

-Philippians 4:6-7 (New International Version)

Isn’t it funny how God shows His desire to us? By talking with God, I know that His plan will be done and I need to work on making myself into the best person I can be. I’m going to continue to grow closer to Him everyday and know that everything will work out as He wanted.

One of my favorite quotes is “Trusting in God means trusting in His timing”. This applies to so much and I have to remember to talk to God and trust in Him, especially in times like this.

Today I am linking up with Pour Your Heart Out, something that I have missed doing lately!

Every year around February, I start to really notice my hands and feet drying out. I have dry skin as it is, so by the time winter comes around, I need something that is going to make my hands and feet feel smooth like a baby’s bottom. I was hoping that the transition to the South (hello, humidity) would make things better, however I’m still waking up to dry, red skin, and I knew something had to change.

In case you haven’t heard, I have extremely sensitive skin (have I told you about my hives lately?) and I am always weary to try new products. However as a loyal Dial™ user (have you guys tried the Dial™ Yogurt soap? Amazing!) I knew the Dial™ NutriSkin™ lotion would be a winner in my book!

After finding out there would be an in-store demo at Walmart on Sunday, I planned my trip around that! I had a few other things on my list (mainly beauty related) and was excited to see the Dial™ demo!

I spent some time walking around Walmart looking for some good deals on beauty products and to take care of my weekly shopping. I spent some time checking out a lot of the displays in the beauty section and started scoping out some deals on different lotions.

The lotion section always has so many options to choose from. Because my skin is so sensitive, I typically stick to a basic kind of lotion, or one made for sensitive skin. I ended up purchasing Dial™ NutriSkin™ for Sensitive Skin, and I am so happy with my purchase!

With my coupon from the demo, I think I only ended up spending $3 on this lotion … so it was definitely affordable!

The demo station wasn’t overly impressive, however I was able to sample the lotions and love the non greasy formula!

All in all, I had a great shopping experience at Walmart! You can see all of the pictures from my trip here. Also, if you’d like to learn more about #DialNutriSkin, make sure you check out the Dial™ NutriSkin™ website. You can also follow them on Twitter, @DialNutriSkin or like them on Facebook.

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are my own.

This weekend I am going to do something that is needed and has been a long time in coming. I am putting aside my studies the entire weekends, and I am spending the weekend with God.

The college aged group I have been attending at church is going on a Winter Retreat, and I am going with. I will be experiencing four different sessions and will be growing spiritually. It will be so nice to just take a break from technology and from the worldly distractions and to spend my time growing in my relationship with God and with members of my church.

In preparation for this, I am buying a journal to keep with my Bible and with me. I’m planning on spending a lot of my free time this weekend talking with God and plan to write as much down as I can. I’ve missed having somewhere that I can keep my thoughts together and think this weekend will be a great way to start it off.

So this weekend there will be a technology break. Sure, I will have my phone with me, however I’m only planning on looking at it on breaks, and typically keeping it in my bed, so don’t expect much through email/Twitter/Facebook until Sunday after I get back.

If you wouldn’t mind praying for our group and for a fulfilling weekend, that would be greatly appreciated as well! I’ll be back on Monday with a recap of my weekend!

Today, I’m playing along with Neely at A Complete Waste of Makeup. She is hosting a Get Your Blog Out There linkup, and I figured, why not? I love making new friends.

So anyways, here is a little bit about me and my little piece of the blogosphere.

My name is Amanda and you can find me blogging here, at Life According to Amanda.

I am a 20 something blogger, coffee addict,Christian, food lover, crafter, mom to two kitty fur babies, and grad student.

Being a grad student further encourages my coffee addiction.

You can find me blogging about recipes, grad school, health and beauty. I’m also a lover of all things swap related.

Last August I packed up my life and moved 800 miles to Starkville, Mississippi. I’m still learning how to be a proper “Southerner”.

I love twitter, pinterest, and facebook. And you can typically find random thoughts and tidbits for all three 24/7.

I love kids. One day I’m going to be a great mom. But I have no desire to have kids right this minute. The kids I work with are more than enough for me.

I have an addiction with Apple products. I have a MacBook Pro and an iPhone….and I believe I will be getting an iPad within the next month.

I’m working on growing in my faith. I have joined a fabulous church and have become active in the college aged student group. I’m also working on reading the Bible this year.

I ramble. A lot. In fact, this whole post is me rambling.

I love painting my finger nails. It is part of my self improvement to stop biting them. So far it is working, however I end up painting them every day to prevent chipping.

I promise I’m becoming a better blogger

I know I haven’t been around much–to say this semester is crazy is an understatement! I’m still dealing with hives from some allergy, two of my roommate’s friends passed away, and we are in the midst of school psychology interviews! It is hard to believe that a year ago today I was on my way down to Starkville for the first time and interviewing myself!

Because of all of the hectic-ness my roommate and I have been super stressed. Last night when she went out to dinner, I decided to surprise her with a treat, and created a recipe for Nutella Caramel Corn!

So here is the recipe:

2/3 cups unpopped popcorn (this will make 4 quarts of popcorn)

6 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup Nutella

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 250* and pop your popcorn (either in an air popper or over the stove) Line two 9×11 cake pans with aluminum foil. Place your popcorn evenly in the cake pans.

In a medium saucepan, combine butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, Nutella, and salt. Stir to blend over medium heat. Boil for five minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove saucepan from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour the mixture evenly over popcorn, and mix.

Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. After an hour, line your counters with waxed paper and pour the popcorn onto the paper to cool

Break up the popcorn into bite sized pieces and enjoy when cooled!

Store in an airtight container (but believe me, there wasn’t much left after the two of us got to it!).

I know I promised a fabulous recipe for today’s post, but I had a little bit of technical difficulties, (thank you allergies) and won’t be able to make my super awesome treat until today. Until then, I thought I would share some of my favorite (and mostly healthy) snacks I have been enjoying during my 14 hour days (yes, I have multiple 14 hour days each week).

1.  String cheese. Guys, I seriously love string cheese. It is probably one of my favorite foods in the world. I could eat it all day everyday. And the individually wrapped servings make this a great “on the go” food!
2. Apple and Peanut butter wraps. I found this original idea on Pinterest and knew I had to try it out! Using a low fat tortilla, I spread some peanut butter on the wrap and add sliced apples, granola and a little bit of cinnamon! Such a tasty treat!
3. Frozen Snack Packs. I know you all know what Snack Packs are…the individual servings of pudding you can find in your baking aisle of the grocery store. Well, rather than storing them in the fridge, I keep mine in the freezer! Perfect for an imitation for ice cream, in individual serving sizes and only 80 calories! I definitely feel like I’m eating ice cream when I dig out to Snack Packs!
4. Fresh veggies and “Ranch dip”. Who doesn’t love veggies and ranch? Well, to save some fat, I’ve been making my own ranch dressing! I add a pack of Hidden Valley Ranch mix with Greek Yogurt and have a fat free version, without sacrificing the taste!
5. Texas Caviar. I posted my recipe for Texas Caviar here and have found that if I make a batch at the beginning of each month, I will have enough to snack on it throughout the month. It really is a fabulous salsa, and if you haven’t tried it yet, definitely go check it out!

There you have it! My top five snacks on busy days! It definitely helps when my stomach starts growling and I know I don’t have time to eat a full meal.

What are your favorite mid-day snacks?

In all my free time (I know, I know) I’ve decided to participate in a fabulous swap! Yes, I’ll be participating in one of the world famous Mamarazzi Swaps!

Today’s post is just rambling. Religious rambling. Sometimes I just need to get things off my chest, no matter how cohesive or concise they are.

There has been a lot of stress in my life lately. School and work are pushing down on me, and there are many days that the only time I have for myself are when I am in my car to and from school (only about a five minute drive). I’ve been overwhelmed, overtired and underprepared for what seems like my life, when really I’m only in week four of the semester.

But I’ve also decided that my faith and God will get me through this. Even when I have no desire to read another word, I spent twenty minutes at night reading my Bible. My goal is to make it through the Bible in a year….I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it, but I’m praying that I will.

This past Sunday I was at church and in our Bible class, we have been watching a series about what it truly means to be a disciple. We watched about how in ancient times, people would go to the Oracle to wait and hear a message from their God. People would wait for months at a time at just the chance to hear what God had to say….and we take God’s word for granted.

I have seen more Bibles in my lifetime than I can count. God’s Word is absolutely everywhere. We don’t have to give up months of our life just to hear an answer, we can open our Bibles and read God’s word. We can feel God’s word.

Hearing this lesson truly helped me to understand how lucky I am. It also moved me to realize that I need to spend time getting to know God better. I need to make time to read my Bible. And I need to spend time in prayer. Every single day. I am lucky enough to have the chance, I don’t want it to pass me by.

I know, I know. These past three weeks have been beyond crazy. Between classes starting, moving, working on my clinic case, and putting together a social skills support group for a “local” (read, an hour away) school, I’ve pulled entirely too many 14 hour days. Which means that blogging has taken a backseat to everything else, but not for long!

And to get back into the swing of things, I’ve decided to play along with a post I was tagged in. I’ve had a couple of people tag me (thanks ladies!) and I’m going to respond to Kayleigh’s post.

Today I’m linking up with It’s OK Thursdays