by Amy | Aug 30, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Fitness
I think very few of you have really been reading since “the start.” And if you have, then you know I began writing as a way to broadcast my Trim and Tone fitness classes.
Well, here in Minot I’ve been teaching again. But mostly just senior fitness and some muscle pump. In September, however…I will resume a once per week trim and tone class. So to get you pumped I thought I’d leave you with this workout from long ago. You’ll see more of these in the coming weeks.
I’m headed out of town. And per usual, I haven’t written my posts out in advance. So I’ll see you Monday night. Have a great weekend!
Focus on your form, not how many reps you complete of each exercise. Remember to keep your abs nice an tight as you do these moves. Go through each circuit three times with no rest between moves. Limit yourself to no more than 1 minute of recovery before repeating the circuit. Take a longer recovery between circuits.
Circuit #1
Shuffle Squat–30 sec
X Jumps–30 sec
Mountain Climber–30 sec
Plank Cross Knees–30 sec
Circuit #2
Reverse Lunge Twist (right)–30 sec
Reverse Lunge Twist (left)–30 sec
Peak Lifts–60 sec
High Knees–30 sec
by Amy | Aug 29, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure, The Art of Faith
This is a small blog. I don’t get too many comments and I have no need for a FAQ page. It’s a hobby really. I’ve always like to write and journal. As I’ve been pulled away from my home town and my family…I find writing here very therapeutic.
I’ve been writing here consistently for over a year. Originally it was a place that I could slap up workouts for my fitness class participants. If they missed a class they could still get a great workout. Then I added some recipes. And updates. And photos. And a little TMI…
Then a month ago I merged my small photo/video business with my blog so all my online presence was merged. That was a good move.
And finally it all left me wondering what I’m really doing. How can I put into words what it is that I spend time writing about? Why should you read? Why should you tell your friends this is a pretty cool place to hang out?
I honestly felt like it was time to put my finger on what I’m doing…and add a little focus to these musings.
After lots of praying God opened my eyes to what every single thing I post is about. It’s something most of us have in common: We are all living a life unexpected. So there you have it. The theme of my writing, my projects, my business, my crafting. It is all about being unexpected, using unexpected materials, finding inspiration in unexpected places, and discovering unexpected solutions.
When I boiled it all down, my whole life has been an unexpected adventure. Especially my adult life. I’m not living where I expected, or working the job I thought, or even keeping the company I assumed. Life has been one unexpected journey. And that’s a good thing.
The greatest people in the world lived unexpected lives. The Bible is fully of people whose lives went in directions they never dreamed. I’m sure Mary expected to grow up an impoverished girl in a ghetto neighborhood. Jonah didn’t expect to chill in a whale for a few days. Noah {a man of the desert} never expected to be the captain of the history’s most famous ship. And the orphan Esther never thought she’d be a queen.
If we hope for the life we expected, we are turning our backs on the boundless possibilities God sees for us. Because only He knows our true, deep-down potential.
As far as the content goes…you’ll see the same stuff. It’s just that now I’ve got a reason behind it. I’ve got a little more focus. You’ll see me working on crafts made out of unexpected things {like the time I made a hair clip from an old t-shirt, or that wreath out of paper bags.} I’ll try to surprise myself with my handiwork around the house. I’ll continue to do as much as I can for as many as I can for as long as I can…through unexpected acts of kindness.
Let’s all start embracing our life unexpected.
Amy
PS–You should go read the new “About” page. It puts this unexpected theme in a nutshell.
by Amy | Aug 28, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Living
I know we all have dads. Really there is nothing special or profound about having one. But what is profound is that some men go above and beyond to answer the call of fatherhood. I am lucky enough to have a dad like that.
And today is his 60th birthday.
Most of you probably don’t want to hear me drone on about my awesome father. So I’ll try to keep it reasonably short…and hopefully it will spur you on to call up your own dad. {Whether it’s his birthday or not.}
My daddy’s name is Warren Allender. To start with…that’s an awesome name. He’s rough and tumble, he has a built in sense of adventure, he is nearly fearless, hilarious, and has an unsatisfiable sweet tooth. If there is one man on this earth that I admire {and I recommend you do too}, it’s Warren.
Dad has lived his life doing what is right, even in the face of nay-sayers. Even in the hardest of situations. Even when everyone around him was getting ahead by keeping low morals, making shady decisions and being a bit corrupt. The decision to pursue a path on higher ground may not have always been easy, but it’s a path he always chose.
There was a long period of time when he was publicly slandered for holding his ground. For making tough choices. For defending what he believed in. I know those days were not easy, but those days shaped our family. How he handled the toughest of days shaped who we became. Those moments taught me that life would present terrible days, as well as good days. I learned that sacrificing what you believe in is never worth it. I learned that standing up for your values takes courage.
I learned that my daddy is the bravest man I’ve ever known.
Dad worked as a police officer for most of his working life. I adore his stories about his time serving at the Sheriff’s Department. Sometimes the stories are funny. Mostly because of the way he tells them…”Then this yay-hoo turned around and he was holding a machete…”
Sometimes the stories are tragic.
But his tales always convey his great love of people. And his belief that “people are people.” Each of us trying to find our way. No one person is better than another. We’ve just made a series of decisions that have brought us to where we are.
Warrie {as we lovingly call him} has the biggest heart of any one I know. He can’t watch television programs that show “…people being bad to each other…” {So that rules out most TV these days. But he does get a kick out of The Office and anything on the Discovery Channel.}
He’s the hardest working man I know. And he just might be the world’s best brainstormer. You simply cannot cause him to run out of “plan B’s.” He is talented with his hands. A craftsman and literally a master gardener.
I see Christ in his attitude, his humility, and his vast love of children. Like Jesus, children are never a bother to him. He simply draws them near and gives them the love, attention and guidance they need. I’ve watched him be a father to many others besides Sis and me.
My daddy is a fabulous man. And I can’t believe he is 60. If I’m left wondering where the time went, I’m sure he is too. I’m bummed that I’ve only known him for 25 years. {Only about 22 that I can recall.} I look forward to continually celebrating the life of this amazing man for many, many more years to come.
If you didn’t catch on…my dad rocks. I hope yours does too. Why don’t you take a sec and think about all the great ways your pop has shaped your life. Then open your contact list and give him a call. Dad’s don’t hear how great they are nearly as often as they should.
Amy
by Amy | Aug 28, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Design, The Art of Projects
So. The garage sale was a huge success. Since I have no other garage sales to compare it to…I guess that doesn’t mean too much. But we got a lot of traffic, we sold a lot of stuff, and we made some money.
I owe the success mostly to the great articles I read and the great guest post from Kuzak’s closet.
1. And you wanna know what the biggest, best piece of advice I received was? Make your sale stand out. As people came up to our garage a lot had seen the craigslist ad. They said they came to check us out because they just had to see who the loon was behind those ads. Look here to see the graphics that I ran. Here is what my ads said:
Ad #1
I’m not officially a hoarder…but if things continue at this rate I will be. I’m 25 and I’ve got enough stuff to fill an estate sale. I inherited lots of awesome stuff from grandparents…and I love vintage finds. But alas, my house is not large enough to accommodate all my treasures. So I’m selling them.
Come by Saturday August 25 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. or Sunday the 26th 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Please don’t be an early bird. I can assure you, you won’t be getting the worm that is my awesome stuff. It’ll just be awkward for both of us. I’ll be getting my stuff out into the drive way {feeling like I need to make small talk with you} and you’ll just be watching me. Creepily. So please. Remove this awkward moment for both of us and just don’t show up before 8 a.m. If you are early…wait in your car.
I’ll have home made muffins and lemonade…to keep you energized through your shopping adventures. Oh and I should mention that prices are NOT FIRM. Yes, you read that right. I love a good bargain as much as you do. I’ll price to sell, but I love a good haggle.
Some of the highlight items are: Vintage linens, a retro office chair, a big media cabinet, vintage poker table, glass ware, 2 digital cameras, curtains…oh my…just listing it all makes me feel like an old woman who is planning a sale before she moves to a retirement home.
Come by. It won’t be lame.
Ad #2
Tomorrow is the day. My sign on Burdick and 3rd got nabbed tonight…but the show must go on. In case you missed my first post, here’s the skinny.
I’m too young to have so much stuff. My trove of treasures is over flowing, so in order to maintain my sanity, I must get rid of some things. That’s where you come in. Come tomorrow {Saturday 8/25} or Sunday {8/26} and buy some awesome stuff from me. I promise, my sale is full of wondrous treasures. Not lame things.
We open Saturday 8/25 at 8 a.m. and run until 3 p.m. Please don’t come early. It’ll just be awkward for you and me. But mostly me. And I don’t do well with awkward moments. So please, if you are here early, just wait in your car.
Sunday 8/26 we’ll be open from 1-5 p.m. I have to go to church. And you should too. Don’t waste the Sabbath morning on shopping second hand goods. My trinkets will be readily available after praising our Maker.
I was going to have muffins for you to munch while you shop, but I messed up the recipe. So you’ll just have to settle for a glass of lemonade instead.
See you there. Remember, it won’t be lame.
Oh yeah, and I want these things gone. So no prices are firm. Yes that is right. Prices are like Jello.
2. Now, those that didn’t see the ads had seen my street signs. I used a GIANT paint marker to create signs on old boxes. Then I staked them into high traffic corners. And I made sure that the address was the biggest and most prominent.
3. Once we got people to stroll up to our sale, I enticed them to buy with even more quirky signs. As the day went on, I continued to make more signs throughout the day to highlight items that we really wanted gone.
a. “This is a head scarf from Iraq. Seriously? Sweet!” Yeah…that was a gift from an ex-boyfriend/soldier. Sweet…but never used.
b. Nearly every vase and votive sold.
c. I gave all my shoppers a coupon for my photography services. Hey, it’s shameless self promotion.
d. The sale.
4. We constantly shifted prices. If several people walked away from an item after considering it I dropped the price a bit.
5. As things sold we rearranged and scooted things closer to the curb. No one likes a picked over sale…so I tried really hard to make it look full, even as our “inventory” thinned out. Even when the sale was over, I thought it looked full…but really, we just had one box to haul to the donation box.
a. “Sweet Frames. $1 $0.50″
b. Some work benches left in the garage. They all sold.
c. Those garden statues I was telling you about…
I’ve got just one more thing to add. We marked some things free…mostly because we wanted them gone. One was a set of 3 Care Bears place mats circa 1991 {they were left in the house when we moved in.} Those got taken after some coaxing. But we had a set of 2 Christmas teddy bear place mats that were seriously ugly. No amount of coaxing, no free sticker could make those puppies move.
On the flipside, we did sell some wildly hideous garden statues {also left behind} and a handicap parking sign {also left behind.}
Just proof that what they say about “One man’s trash…” still holds true.
Amy
by Amy | Aug 24, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Projects
Thanks again to Amanda of Kuzak’s Closet for the awesome guest post yesterday. Today I’m sharing my very own Top 10 list.
As an experienced garage sale-er I’ve learned a thing or two about getting a deal. To be honest, I’m much more experienced at shopping the sales than hosting them. So here’s my advice:
1. Go with a plan. If you go into yard-sale mayhem without objectives you’ll either come home with something you don’t want/need or spend the day loitering around, trying to decide if you want anything you see. Save yourself the stress and make some objectives before you go out. Which leads me to the next point…once you decide what you want it’s all about…
2. LOCATION. Yep. That’s all capital letters. I yelled that one at you. Location is key. Now, I’m not one to preach that you should only garage sale in the fancy subdivisions. But think about what you’re after, then match the location to it. If you shop the fancy subdivisions…you’re gonna find fancy subdivision cast offs. Lots of baby things, stuff that is on the expensive side, and usually toys.
If you are in the market for something quirkier, shop the older neighborhoods. These city blocks usually house a variety of folks, so your likely to score more than a onsie here.
3. Read the ads. Look at Craigslist and your local paper to find sales going on. These are good words to look for: Moving, Neighborhood, Multi-Family, and Estate. These are usually the best kinds of sales….offering the most goodies.
4. The Rule of Gerry’s. Gerry’s, as in geriatrics. As in old people. My rule is…the older the host the better the finds. Gerry hosts are looking to downsize a life time of hoarded treasures. They have the quirkiest, most random things. And they usually just want it gone. I love pieces with history and this is where I find them.
5. A Word on Estates. As you read in rule 4…the older the host the better the finds. Well…estate sales {or auctions} are the king poppa of old hosts. Their hosts are so old they have actually passed on. Estate sales are the bomb-digity for nabbing furniture and vintage pieces. Just remember to be polite, the family hosting has recently lost a loved one!
6. Do a Drive-By. Make a list of sales you want to hit. Map them out in logical order by location…then start the drive by process. It’s easy really. Drive past the house really slow, and a little awkward. Crane your neck to assess the goods. Then park on the other side of the driveway. Drive-bys will save you loads of time. If it looks lame, it probably is. Just keep going.
7. See Potential. It’s a garage sale, not Macy’s. The items may not be perfect. Especially when it comes to furniture. Be willing to see potential in items that you love.
8. Singles Please. This is sneaky, I know…but here’s how I haggle sometimes. It’s omission of truth, which seems dishonest…but gloves come off at garage sales. Let’s say there is an item you love. It’s $20. You feel like it is a bit over priced, so you make an offer. {$10} The host counters says the price is firm. You give a sigh, say you “Really want it.” Then grab your wallet out. Look through, pull out a $10 and a few ones. Make it a random number, like $14 or $16 total. Then ask if they’ll take that.
This gives the impression that you are literally giving your last dollar for the item. Give them sad eyes, and they will most likely take your offer. See? Omission.
9. Come Late. If you are doing some leisurely garage shopping, it may be worth your time to come late on the last day. By now, the objective of the sale has changed from profiting to getting rid of things. Your offers will probably be accepted, even if you low-ball.
Once I went to a sale just as it was closing. The woman running the sale came out and told me that “Everything’s a quarter.” I bought a chair, three vintage food containers {now canisters in my kitchen} and a frightfully ugly couch that I put in my sister’s room as a prank–all for $1.25. Amazing.
10. Take a friend. It’s always more fun to oogle through strangers possessions in pairs.
Wish me luck on my sale tomorrow!
Amy
by Amy | Aug 23, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Living, The Art of Projects
Hey! Today is a great day…Amanda is here from Kuzak’s Closet with a crazy informative and entertaining post. It’s so awesome…Read on!
Hey Everyone! My name is Amanda Kuzak from Kuzak’s Closet and I am so excited that Amy asked me to guest blog today! I own a Professional Organizing and Estate Sale business in Northern California. Today I want to share my top 10 tips for holding a successful garage sale and give you a fun description of the types of customers you might see at your sale.
Top 10 Tips for a Successful Sale
1.) Clean Up: Clear out a space in your garage for you to hold the sale. By starting here you will be able to prep for your sale little by little.
2.) Set Up Tables: Most people do this last but and then become overwhelmed with the mess that has been acquiring in the garage and end up canceling their sale. By setting up your tables first you will have a good infrastructure to start setting up your sale.
3.) Clear Your Clutter: Go room by room with a laundry basket or box and fill it with items that you no longer need or want to keep.
4.) Organize Your Items: Group items by like and type. If you are having your sale in your garage remember to move large items like furniture out into the driveway or lawn so buyers can get a good look at them.
5.) Price Your Items: It is important to have a price tag on every item in your sale so buyers know what you are selling and what your expectations are. Try pricing your items a touch higher than you think they should sell for. This will leave some room to negotiate, something shoppers love to do!
6.) Pre-Sell: I always list the big ticket items from my sales on Craigslist individually a few days before the sale. Craigslist buyers are typically willing to spend a little more than the average garage sale shopper.
7.) Advertise: List your sale in the local paper and/or on Craigslist: Die-hard garage sale shoppers will plan out their shopping day ahead of time. Also remember to place a few signs on major streets guiding shoppers to your house. Keep the signs simple: date, time, and address.
8.) Open On Time: Early birds are willing to pay more for items so be sure to open your doors on time. The majority of the profits from my large estate sales come within the first 3 hours of the sale (typically from 8:30am-11:30am).
9: SELL: Remember you have two goals for your sale. First you want to make some cash and second you want your unwanted stuff to go to good homes and get out of yours. Be friendly to your customers and keep rearranging the merchandise as the day goes on.
10.) Follow Through: If you have items left over from your sale follow through with your original intention and get rid of them! Donate them to your local church, charity organization, or neighbor but DON’T let them sit around and clutter up your garage until your next sale comes around!
Types of Customers
I love the variety of people that I meet at my estate sales. There are all types; the dealers, the nosy neighbors, the collectors, the lingerers, and the jerks. If you have never had a sale I will leave you with a description and visual aid for each type, enjoy!
The Dealer: These types of buyers show up hours early to a sale. They always pretend that they are not dealers but they can’t hide from me! Usually one quick look at their car when they load up their purchases reveals it because it is typically still filled up from a previous sale. Some dealers are nice and some are not. The typically work in teams, and take turns standing by their pile of goodies while the other one shops. The are experts at packing their cars and from time to time they can assist in creating a sale by oohing and aaahing over items.
At a recent sale I had a couple that arrived bright and early, they were eager to help us set up the sale and were oohing and ahhing at all of the treasures being pulled out of the garage. This couple was really nice and pleasant to deal with so I opened it up early. They power shopped for 45 minutes and ended up spending over $700 on 2 car loads of little items.
The Lingerer: This type of buyer could stay all day if you let them. They usually show up later in the afternoon and shop for several items. They like to negotiate the prices as they shop and pay as they go. I don’t understand this method because it is hard for them to keep track of how much they have spent.
At a recent sale a woman who arrived on the second day around noon and she left at 4pm. If the price tag said $40 she would offer $5 which I wouldn’t take. I did end up selling her several items over the course of her visit and she probably ended up spending $80-$100 over time.
The Nosy Neighbor: This type of buyer comes to snoop at what is available, sometimes they call their friends and other neighbors from the sale on their cell phones to gossip about what is being sold. They usually don’t appreciate antiques and are loud and obnoxious.
At a recent sale there was a neighbor who drove all of us nuts, even my client. She picked up everything and asked “what is this? how does this work?” for about 2 hours. She ended up buying an antique cherry picker and when she cashed out she asked me what is was and how much is was. I had it priced at $15 so I told her it was a cherry picker and that it was $15. She looked at me and said, “this is $15, it looks like a piece of junk!” I responded by tell her that it wasn’t junk, that is was a neat collectible and that someone who came to my sale who remembered picking cherries with her Grandma with a similar item would be thrilled to find it. She looked at me with the strangest look and ended up trying to get it for $10, I said I was firm on the price and then she handed me a crisp $100 bill and asked for change. So annoying!
The Jerk: This type of buyer thinks that they can win me over with their less than friendly personality. They put together a pile and they want to know the price, I always add up the price tags and then give them their total and they start to yell at me saying that I am ripping them off. Sometimes I kick them out of the sale and other time, depending on what they buy I will cut them a deal just so that I can get rid of them.
At a recent sale I had a big jerk shopped both days, he yelled at me about all of the prices and I couldn’t stand him. He didn’t speak English very well so it was hard to negotiate. He ended up buying several items that were missing parts and were not in working condition. This type of buyer drives me nuts.
The Collector: This type of buyer is usually eclectic and probably drives a vintage car. They also arrive to the sale early and the suspense over what is inside the sale kills them. They love the hunt and often only purchase one or two things.
At a recent sale there was a man in his mid 50s, he was the first to arrive and drove up in a vintage mustang. He was wearing bell bottoms and had his hair slicked back. He shopped for over an hour and ended up purchasing one item, an old Buick light bulb. On his way down the drive way back to his car he dropped the light bulb but luckily it didn’t break. I always look forward to meeting this type of buyer
The Young Collector: This type of buyer will either contact you before the sale starts looking for particular items or they casually show up on the second day. They are always nice and fun to work with. In most cases that I have experienced they are male and they enjoy shopping for old tools, guns, and books.
At a recent sale I had both types, an early bird collector and a casual young collector. The early bird was looking for tools and I let him come for a preview, he looked around the sale for 2 hours and ended up purchasing a few tools, an old medical lamp, and some maps. The casual collector arrived on day two with his friend, he shopped for a while and chatted with me and my crew. He ended up purchasing an antique gun case and 2 steamer trunks (I cut him a deal, buy one get one free).
by Amy | Aug 22, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Design, The Art of Projects, the house
So you may have heard me mention my first ever garage sale this weekend. Up until now, I’ve had no reason to sell anything. Our house has always had room for our things, it always seemed like we were on the verge of another move. So I always used the excuse, “Well…maybe we’ll have room for this in the next place.”
But alas…here I am settling in to life in Minot for four years. In a house that refuses to accommodate all my goods. So, I’m having an intervention of sorts, before my hoarding collecting gets out of hand.
I’ve read some really great posts from fellow bloggers and done quite a bit of research on the art of the yard sale. And here on the blog I’ll be having a mini series about the topic. So be sure to come back tomorrow for a great guest post from estate sale guru: Amanda Kuzak from Kuzak’s Closet!
But for today I’ll share what I’ve learned. And I’ll share my yard sale signage and a tip for Craigslisit-ng your sale!
I read two articles that I adored. One came from Vintage Revivals. {Which is an amazing blog if you’ve never visited before.} Author, Mandi stresses the importance of standing out from the crowd. When there is a yard sale sign on every corner how will you make your signs stand out? She gives some insight on how she did it.
Here’s what I’m doing. Minot has two online yard sale Facebook Pages. So I created some graphics and posted them to those walls. Then I made a Craigslist ad and included one graphic there. I’ll update the listing Friday and Saturday leading up to the sale.
Here are my signs.
You can get a blank copy of my signs here: This is the Gadgets & Gizmos flyer…and this is the Awesome Stuff flyer.
Just download the file, insert it into a Word document and use a text box to fill in your information. I get my fonts from DaFont.com. The font that the word “awesome” is typed in was downloaded from there. It’s called “Budmo.
Now that you’ve got a cool flyer, advertise your sale. Post your flyers on community boards and the all important craigslist! To make your flyer stand out on Craigslist, post your version of the flyer to a free photo hosting site…like Flikr or Photobucket. Then use this tiny snippet of code in your ad: <img src=”put your picture URL link here”>
Simply copy and paste the URL of your image {in this case your flyer} between the quotation marks. Do this in the screen that you type your text. Don’t add it as an “image.” It’s just that easy.
The other article I loved came from Better Homes & Gardens. If you are planning a sale you should definitely give this one a read too.
I hope these tips were a little bit helpful to you. Be sure to come back tomorrow and read Amanda’s awesome post!
Amy
by Amy | Aug 21, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Projects, the house
When I first saw our house I thought “Whoa…there’s a deck.” Immediately I knew that I wanted to pretty up the front porch and make the back deck look more like it is part of the house. Instead of something just slapped on the back. I wanted things to flow.
To me my front porch looked kind of hap hazard. When I visualize the words “front porch” I see something cute and inviting. When I looked at my own porch I saw something that fit neither description. With a small budget and we added a whole lot of curb appeal to our home. And we didn’t even have to uproot any posts, pour new cement, or rebuild.
In the front we removed the square spindles and replaced them with more shapely ones. We painted the new spindles {before attaching them} and the rails with a white deck stain. Then we coated the floor and steps with a cedar colored stain.
Now…it’s not quite done. I still want to add some post caps to the rails. Maybe like these. They are only about $3 from the local Menard’s. Pretty sweet deal. I’ll add them to the back deck too. Speaking of which…take a look at that!
Back here we didn’t bother removing the original spindles. Instead we just added new brackets to straighten up the existing railing and painted it all white. We used the same stain on the floor here as the front porch.
It’s definitely not perfect. There are a few white drips on the floor. I moved our giant grill off the deck solo…which left a huge gouge in the steps. I may have even spilled some stain on the cement surrounding the deck. But I really love the way it turned out. And I think it’s quite lovely.
Now I’m looking to further improve the curb appeal by adding a cuter storm door, maybe painting our house door…and adding pots of mums and pumpkins just in time for fall. Oh, and I’ll be whipping up some back deck seating {hopefully in time to enjoy the rest of the nice warm weather.}
To help me pull it together I’ve started a couple pin boards! One for the front entry…one for transforming my back deck into a lovely outdoor room. So go over and check those out. And if you like, you can follow me over there.
Let’s look one more time.
Oh yeah, and here’s a cost break down. We used Weatherscreen deck stain in white and natural cedar. Our decks took 2 gallons of each. {2 Coats of white, 1 coat of cedar stain.} They were on sale for $20 per gallon. The new spindles for the front were $1.19 each, we used 15. Leaving the whole project under $100 to complete. Awesome!
Amy
