My name's Manda. My full name is Amanda-with-an-A but no one ever calls me that except when I'm in trouble. I love black nail polish, Nutella, Costco, spicy tuna rolls, stretchy pants, and cooking.
I'm married to John (also known as "Johnny") a college instructor by day and church planter by night. He currently works with marathon runners to raise funds to provide people in Africa and Haiti with clean water through Team World Vision. He loves playing guitar, basketball, random 1970's music, spicy food that makes you cry, coffee, and people. My goodness does this man love people.
He. Is. The. Best.
We met in 2001 in Illinois and not long after that I decided it was over for him (read more about our story here). We married in 2004 and immediately moved to Texas.
We now live in Los Angeles with our three-year-old daughter, Sydney (also known on this website as "Little Buddy" and/or "The Blonde Tornado"). She is in preschool and loves all things Disneyland, her baby brother, the see-saw at school, and music:
And our one-year-old son, Elijah, who was born in October 2010 (also known on this website as "Rocky"). He loves to eat anything that's not nailed down, being a total mama's boy, swinging, and anything and everything his big sister does:
We have two dogs: a 12-year-old Aussie mutt named Henry (also known as "Bubba") and a 7-year-old Basset Hound named Juicy (also known as "NO! DON'T DO THAT!").
Most days these dogs only narrowly avoid being posted on Craigslist. Out of all the dogs I've ever met in my life these two win the award for being most ignorant to the fact that THEY ARE DOGS. They only go outside to do their business, my friends, and even then they almost totally refuse to GO ON THE GRASS. Their days are spent on the couches, under the high chair, and they are so badly behaved that the only way to get them groomed is if we pay extra for the groomer to COME TO OUR HOUSE. It's a rough life for the canine members of our family, let me tell you.
Which brings me to the part where I explain the name of this website. It is a two-faceted term of usage in our household, the phrase "inside dog." My husband is an outdoorsy sort of person who would prefer to sleep outside for days on end, poop in a hole he dug in the ground, and is happier all around whilst lugging a backpack roughly equivalent to his weight up a mountain. This is part of his charm; who doesn't love a city boy who can build a proper camp fire!?
I DO! And here we are getting engaged - where else?! - at the top of a nine mile up-a-mountain trail (my first and last backpacking trip):
This backpacking trip ended well for one reason:
That's right. The only way our relationship was coming down that mountain intact was a diamond ring. And just in case you missed it:
(I liked getting engaged.)
Being dragged up a mountain while carrying my own food and bleeding profusely from the feet is not my idea of a good time. My idea of a good time is watching a 30 Rock marathon in bed in my pajamas with my iPhone in one hand and a slice of Costco pizza in the other. INSIDE.
I made a beautiful bride, by the way:
I fancy myself a writer. I got an MFA in short fiction from the University of Illinois and have completed a - yet unpublished - book of short stories. Aside from this blog I contribute at Style Lush and write about my love for food at Feed Your Inner Fat Kid. I tweet like a maniac. I have worn the hat of teacher and coach, worked at Young Life, and volunteered with the locally-based youth ministry Youth First. I also run to raise money for clean water in Africa through Team World Vision and I currently stay at home with our children.
I love feedback in the way of comments and email. Feel free to contact me at insidedog[at]gmail[dot]com.
Want to know more? Here are my answers to some of my readers' most Frequently Asked Questions.
And some other links that might be of interest:
What is the most annoying thing about your husband?
What is your extended family like?
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