What I am doing now..

Well, I guess Im going to write a little about what I am doing with my life right now.

I know a lot of you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites and that a lot of you know or heard of me because of Leah. And that you probably know the majority of the things Im about to write about, but some of it you dont. So0o here goes.

I am about to turn 24 on March 18th. Im pretty excited about that. But sometimes I look back and Im honestly just shocked at how fast everything is happening in life for me.

I look back at when I was 18 and I couldnt wait to be 21.. Or even when I was 16 and couldnt wait to just be 18.. Where did all that time go.. Its been 6-8 years now.

Back then mom was still alive too, I miss her everyday and I wonder what she would be doing if she was still here. And if she would be proud of me. Which Im sure she would... maybe not about everything but for the most part.

Anyways though, Im about to be 24. And at this time in my life. Im finally concentrating on me, myself, and I. Im not trying to be in a relationship for once. As many of you know, Ive already been Married and Divorced and in another serious, but failed relationship after that with Cory Dodds. And now that Im finally Single for once, I think Im just going to enjoy it. Why not right?

I already got my Associates Degree & Im about to be working on my Bacholers Degree, so really in all honestly, I dont have time for anything like that, I mean unless of course its going to be worth it. AND good luck on proving that to me guys, I think Im pretty gaurded right now lmfao.

As for my other plans right now, I hope to start fixing my relationships with my family and friends. I know to them "Im never around anymore" but its not that I dont want to be. Ive just been depressed for a while and Im just now bouncing back. And before that, well, if you really know me, you know why I wasnt around. And despite the reasons, Im sorry. I do love you all and I plan on starting to work on things and being more sociable.

Im also looking for a part-time job. Actually thinking about selling Scentsy.. Alot of people around here and online seem to like it so maybe that will be something I can do and be successful at for right now. At least while Im back in school. As long as I can make enough to support myself right now I'll be fine, I dont need a great paying job right now or a job with lots of hours. I just need to be okay and I think I will be. I used to sell Avon and that worked pretty well for a little while if I stuck too it, but I had to have a greedy nieghbor rip me off and not pay me for over $200 worth of merchandise while I didnt have the money myself to cover it and I had to stop selling. *ADVICE - Never EVER trust someone enough to give them thier order before being paid for it, EVEN if they have paid you on time in the past. Because there is ALWAYS a chance they WONT the one time you try to be nice.* But nevertheless, if I cant do scentsy, I have a few outside of my home jobs lined up, but I think it will be for 20 hours or less a week as College (Even though its at home on my Computer) will take up a lot of my time, thoughts, and concentration.

Other than that I dont really know what else to tell you all right now, if you want to know anything specific or to talk to me about something, leave a comment and I will try to reply when I see it. Thanks & I hope all of you are doing well :) Have a great week!

Love, Amy LaDawn <3

Teen Mom 2 - What people say about it.

TeenMom2 - My thoughts on what people say about it.

Of course most of you all know, I'm personally friends with Leah Calvert, formerly Leah Messer & have been for about 3 or so years. But Im not basing what Im about to write on our friendship or my personal involvement with the show. Yes, Ive been on it and yes I know a lot about its production, but Im basing this on my thoughts even before I was involved or knew Leah. Cause personally, I watched Teen Mom & 16 and Pregnant with the original girls before I even knew Leah.

Over the course of the show I have heard MANY things both Positive and Negative. Some things I can relate too, some things just make me want to slap people. I mean come on now, YOU obviously WATCH it, if it was SO BAD you wouldn't right? Yeah, so to all the critics, shut up already. Its a TV show. AND Yes it features TEEN MOM's. Get over it.

My main argument is about the fact that many people say "Oh it just encourages TEEN PREGNANCY".. NO it doesn't, And if there's a TEEN getting pregnant to be on the SHOW, that's not from encouragement, that's from STUPIDITY. Point blank.

The purpose of the show is to show the struggles of the Teen Moms featured, and it does just that.

I'm sure over the last few years we've all seen plenty of fights between the families and friends on the show, relationship struggles between the parents and the teens who had the child(ren), and plenty of divorce/breakups. I don't think ANY of the relationships or stories have portrayed a "Fairy Tale Teen Pregnancy" ending.. So tell me, what part of that screams "Hey GET pregnant" like some of you say it does.. ? Oh wait..None of it.

We've also seen plenty of struggles with the teen moms completing and/or furthering thier education.. Most of them DID not graduate, they got a GED and some of them didnt even get that? Does that scream GET PREGNANT? No..

The ONLY thing that could possibly EVEN make these teens who are watching the show want to be pregnant IS the CHILDREN born to the Teen Moms, but YOUR child should be raised to know that a BABY doesn't mean happiness & maybe YOU as the parent should figure out what VOID your child is trying to fill with a CHILD if they are even thinking about a BABY as a TEEN.

Not to be mean, but the children on Teen Mom or Teen Mom 2, were in fact accidents or surprises.. They WEREN'T planned.. So if your TEEN is planning one, the problem probably lies within YOU as the parent, NOT the TV show.

My second argument is that some of you say that it is because these girls are PAID while on MTV, that the financial aspect of it is what causes the teens to get pregnant to be on the show... No, its NOT.. & NEWS FLASH, the wages they get are NOT even close to enough to pay for a child for the rest of thier life.

Yes, they are paid to be on the show, BUT the girls of TEEN MOM & TEEN MOM 2 started out getting $5000 & thats it for the whole 16 & Pregnant episode they did and they were FINE with that and happy... And they did NOT know the amount of money or even popularity they would get in the future... Therefore, my point is they DIDNT do it for money.. (Some of the newer girls might have but not Maci, Farrah, Catelynn, Leah, Jenelle, Chelsea, or Kail.)

And also Id like to say that the amount of money for the show SHOULD not make teens WANT to get pregnant regardless.

The girls are only paid because of what they GO through during and after being on TV. As a viewer/outsider, you have NO idea what REALLY happens to these girls, you aren't there..&& I'm sure most of you who say the negative things think its all gum drops and butterflies, WELL its NOT.

They actually deal with a lot of criticism and negativity from people like you and it actually affects them mentally, even though you probably wouldn't think so.. The people like me who actually know them understand that though and have to tell them its okay and to ignore it, but inside they cant. Nor would you be able to if you had the whole US and other country's judging you when you were only trying to help stop the same situation you were placed in by accident or lack of better judgement. Its not that these girls said "Oh Ill get pregnant and get a TV show" when it started, They were scared to death like any other Teen would or SHOULD be. They are just your average girls. They aren't the presidents daughter or some rock stars daughter.. They are born to PARENTS just like you or your parents. And they will admit, this life they live now..Its not FUN.

But because they opened their doors to cameras to try and HELP lower the teen pregnancy rate, NOW they have to deal with so much more then you could imagine.. Yeah some opportunity they have gotten may be nice, but its NOT what it seems. And personally I think they deserve the money.

Anyhow though, enough about that. Back to the whole encouraging Teen Pregnancy issue I talked about before. I think everyone needs to realize that Teen Pregnancy has always been a problem with or without the MTV show. And I think its horrible that JUST BECAUSE theres a show about it now, that that TV show gets the blame for it from now on.. Look at all the other Teen Pregnancy's before these girls were ever known, NO TV show caused those pregnancy's, so WHY do we blame MTV now and/or ridicule the girls featured on the show for it. Its ridiculous.
I think PARENTS need to be talking to their kids more instead of placing blame on the show, and they also need to start being more proactive and providing the needed things to prevent it..

Honestly, I think the show is a GATEWAY to get to your Teens.. If they are watching it.. You could simply walk in the room, sit down, and ask for their opinion on it.. BAM the conversation is STARTED, at which point you could then talk about your feelings and the ways you and your teen plan to make sure it doesn't happen to them. Right? Yeah, I think so.

So for all the people out there who look at this in a bad light, please be open to it, think about all the aspects, NOT just the fact its a show with Teen Moms.. Think about WHY its a show, its objective, the lives of the girls on it, what they wanted to help make known and prevent.. Not just be negative.

I'm done ranting but those are my thoughts. Thanks for reading.. I will write more later on about Teen Mom, maybe even a little something about Leah & her children. I may even do updates about the other girls or some of the positive things.

For now though, follow me and keep looking for more articles by me.

Love, Amy LaDawn :)