ABOUT

Hey friends! I’m Amanda.

or Mandy… 
or just Spoo.

I almost always have a cup of coffee in my hand and usually laugh a little too loud—especially when I’m not supposed to.

I’m a creative, a storyteller, and an agriculturist.

Whether you’ve known me for years or you’re new here, you’ve found me at a bit of a crossroads. The short version is that toward the end of 2023, I found myself feeling very unhappy and aspects of my career and life were not headed in a direction I liked. I realized that some things that used to be important to me weren’t so important anymore. So, I did something very out of character and quit my job to push the reset button.

Then, someone joked that I should lean into the lost millennial persona and travel Europe.

So I am, for TWO MONTHS, with only somewhat of a plan.

My next step post-travel is to finally pursue communications freelancing. I’ve thought about this casually over the years, but the timing feels right now. I’ll be sharing more here and on my social media soon.

Years ago, this blog was my way of journaling through my 20s and sharing my life with family and friends from where I lived far away. It sat idle for a while, but I’ve revived it to share my travels and slowly turn it into a home for my business.

If you’d like to connect professionally, please find me over on LinkedIn. Otherwise, I’m sharing my travels and beyond here and on Instagram.

A bit more about me if you are new here… I’m currently living in my auntie era, and if you give me the floor, I’ll never shut up about my K-State Wildcats. I spend way too much time creating new playlists on Spotify and back before streaming services took over, I owned every season of Criminal Minds and Gilmore Girls on DVD. I am happiest at the family cabin in the Blue Mountains and prefer to take my stress out on a boxing bag. Oh, and I wish I still lived close to a Trader Joe’s.

I’m Eastern Oregon born and raised, left my roots for Kansas, and eventually landed in my dream city of Washington D.C. for many years before finally finding my way back home to Eastern Oregon to be closer to my family.