Amanda was born on September 23, 1976 in Kansas City, Missouri and lived with her parents in the small town of Lake Quivira, Kansas (35 miles west of Kansas City) until 1987. It was then at age 11 when her sadistic parents made her move to Phoenix, Arizona and 120 degree summers where she lived until her graduation from Phoenix's Arcadia High School in May 1995.

Sick of the desert, she migrated back to the Midwest where she attended Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) in Kirksville, Missouri. After three semesters, though, she took up life in the mountains of northern Arizona, where she attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff until her graduation in May 2000. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies, concentrating on the social sciences and communication.

Following her graduation, she spent some time in the Navy until 2003 when she moved to Longmont, Colorado 40 miles north of Denver, where she still lives and works today. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming, tennis, traveling, and photography.

Trivia:

*Her original birth name was Gabriel Amanda Krause. She had it legally changed through the courts in 1996 because she was "sick of having 'a guy's name'".
*She has a scar on the inside of her right elbow from surgery in 1984. She broke her elbow in a freak accident in gym class at the age of 7 when she tripped over a piece of gym equipment.
*In 2003, she climbed Mount Humphreys, which is considered one of the most difficult hikes in the state. The hike begins at 9500 feet above sea level and the three mile hike up the trail includes an incline of over 3100 feet to reach Humphrey's Peak, the highest point in Arizona, at 12,633 feet.
*She volunteers her time at the Longmont Humane Society.
*She competes for the Longmont Masters swim team in Longmont.