Bryan & Ashley

So....we went to Europe....3 months ago

2011-12-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

The first week of September Bryan and I had the opportunity to go to Europe for 10 days. We spent the majority of the time in northern Italy visiting Cinque Terre, Milan, Lake Como, Bellagio, and Stresa. We flew in and out of Zurich Switzerland, so we had the opportunity to drive through the Swiss Alps on our way to Italy and our way back. It was by far the most beautiful place I have ever seen. We also went to Bregenz, Austria and Freidrichshafen, Germany where Bryan had to work for a few days at a huge bike trade show called Eurobike. While in Austria we got to stay in an old castle (paid for by his work!). The whole trip was amazing and I didn't want to forget to properly document it! I could give you all of the details of the trip, but that would most likely be incredibly boring...so here are some pictures!

Castle in Bregenz, Austria

Cinque Terra, Italy

Cinque Terre, Italy

Duomo in Milan, Italy

Bellagio on Lake Como, Italy

Lake Como, Italy

Our first meal in Italy - DELICIOUS!

Stresa on Lake Maggiore, Italy

Stresa

Somewhere in the Swiss Alps - This lake was Teal!

Swiss Alps

Swiss Alps - Every single inch of ground was green - it was amazing!

View from the castle in Austria

A little bit of bragging.....

2011-09-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

Isn't my husband pretty cool? I think so. He definitely has some awesome bike skills!

5 Years Today

2011-08-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is 5 years already...I guess time flies when you're having fun!

Lauren's Birthday

2011-07-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

For Lauren's 21st birthday on Friday Lauren, Kari and I drove to San Clemente and met Todd and Jeanette for dinner. It was quite an eventful night just finding a restaurant, I will spare you the details. We had a great time together!

SD County Fair

2011-06-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night Bryan, Kari and I went to the SD County Fair. This was Kari's first time ever going to a fair so we had to show her a good time! We ate some really disgusting fried food (fried Kool-Aid and fried Oreos) which only Bryan enjoyed, we watched the hynotist show, walked around to all the different booths full of junk that people are selling, and watched a little bit of the free Elliot Yamin concert. It was a fun time! But, the most exciting part of the whole night was playing the fair games. We don't usually play the games because they are a rediculous waste of money, but all of the games were a dollar each. We went to a booth that had bottles lined up on shelves and for a dollar you could throw two baseballs to try to break the bottles. Bryan threw both balls and broke two bottles and they gave him one more ball and he broke another bottle and won a giant bulldog stuffed animal. Just what we needed! I have no idea what we are going to do with a giant stuffed animal, but it was pretty exciting! Our tickets allow for unlimited entry into the fair, so I am sure we will be back. Next time maybe Lauren can come with us since she had the flu when we went.

Fun at CVS

2011-04-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

Bryan and I went to CVS with Russ and Marie on Friday night and Bryan found a electric weelchair just sitting in the corner of the store. Of course he couldn't resist riding it around the store. He insisted that I take pictures and a video of him. I am pretty sure we would have been kicked out of the store if they would have seen how he was riding that thing. He took one corner so hard he tipped over. I think he wishes he was 75.

Carribean Vacation 2011

2011-03-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Bryan and I went on a cruise in the Western Carribean with our friends Brian and Heidi. We had four stops on the cruise: The Grand Caymans, Roatan Honduras, Cozumel Mexico, and the Princess Keys in the Bahamas. We had SO MUCH FUN. Here are a few pictures!

P.S. You will have to turn your head for some of these because I can't for the life of me get my pictures to rotate!

New Rug!

2011-02-18T11:15:00.000-08:00

Check out our new rug! I LOVE it! We got it from a store call Flor. It is actually carpet tiles that you stick together. Thanks to Bryan for taking the time to help me put it together and fit it to our room....he had to cut a few squares and in the process ended up hitting his head really hard on our heavy glass table...he hit it so hard he almost passed out. Poor guy. But, we are having so much fun adding things to our house!

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-14T13:38:00.000-08:00

Bryan and I on our Valentines date at George's in La Jolla (the same restaurant he took me to before he proposed).

How to get Kate to sit on your lap during church:

2011-02-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

Show her that she can take pictures of herself on your iphone and she is all yours! This also comes with an added bonus, you get lots of pictures of her on your phone!

Isn't she cute?

This is how I started off my morning.....

2011-02-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

Those poles in parking garages really jump right out at you! :)

Henry

2011-01-25T13:06:00.000-08:00

This is quite possibly the cutest face I have ever seen. I think Henry was supposed to be mine but he couldn't wait for me to decide to have kids so he went to Emily's family instead. I am in LOVE with Henry. The only thing keeping me from stealing him is that I think Emily and Chris love him just a teeny bit more than I do...if that is even possible.

Shannon and Tyler 1-8-2011

2011-01-24T15:25:00.000-08:00

Bryan's sister Shannon got married a few weeks ago, but I was forgetful (like usual) and forgot my camera. Here are a few pictures I stole off of facebook...doesn't Shannon make a beautiful bride? Also, isn't her dress amazing?!? Bryan and I are so happy to finally welcome Tyler into the family.

New Light Fixture

2011-01-24T15:15:00.000-08:00

This weekend Bryan and I bought a new light fixture for over our dining room table (which is also new - well new to us, we bought it on craigslist). I didn't know I could get so excited over a light fixture but I am!! But I feel like we are living in the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"! Every new thing that we buy sparks something else that we need. First we bought chairs, then we needed a table to go with the chairs, then we needed a light fixture to go over the chairs. Now we need a rug to go under the table, and then we will need something to go on the table....and don't even get me started on the rest of the house!

We are so thankful for our little house. We loving having a place that we can call our own and decorate any way that we want.

Birthday's

2011-01-19T14:56:00.000-08:00

Bryan and his brother Scott share a birthday (not twins, just same day a few years apart), so we usually all get together at Bryan's mom's house for his birthday. Since it is both of their birthdays they join in when singing Happy Birthday. I thought this picture was funny...apparently there are hand motions to the Happy Birthday song???

P.S. Their birthdays were way back in October...I am just a little bit overdue in posting this! :)

Beautiful Bride

2011-01-19T14:48:00.000-08:00

I have the priviledge of living with my sisters Lauren and Kari and let me tell you, it is a blast! I can't tell you the number of times we have laughed until we cried, worn each other's clothes, and driven Bryan crazy because we couldn't stop talking on the couch while he was trying to watch TV. I was going through the pictures on my phone and I came across this little gem...it is a picture of Lauren at our friend Linnae's bridal shower. We were given tulle, ribbon and some stick on rhinestones to create the best looking veil. We went for an 80's theme...I can't believe we didn't win! I know that eventually Lauren and Kari will move out, but I hope it isn't any time soon!

Maxwell

2011-01-19T14:45:00.000-08:00

Since I posed about Amara I figure I should post a picture of her twin Maxwell. Such cute babies!

I'm Alive!!

2011-01-19T14:33:00.000-08:00

So...I promised Lacie over Christmas that I would post more regularly on my blog and so far I have failed miserably at that. I came up with a new idea today. Usually blogging intimidates me because I feel like I get so far behind and if I post a blog I have to catch up on everything since the last time I blogged. So, from now on I will post about whatever I want no matter how long or short the post is. Here we go!.....

This is a picture of Bryan and our niece Amara. To say Bryan is in LOVE with Amara is an understatement. Up until Amara was born Bryan showed little to no interest in babies. He liked kids a lot more when they were about 2 and started talking and really interacting with him...then along comes Amara and Bryan is smitten! Bryan is a total home body, it is hard to get him off the couch to do anything, but he will go anywhere that Amara is. I don't blame him though...look how cute she is!

Porter

2010-08-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

I am a bad aunt and didn't do a welcome to the world photo of Porter my newest nephew. I got to meet him this last weekend and I absolutely adore him. This is the only non-blurry picture I have of him and you can't even see him, but trust me, he is adorable.

Siblings

2010-08-25T13:20:00.001-07:00

These are some of my favorite pictures from Eric's wedding.

Sisters

2010-08-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

I have been trying for about a year now to get a picture of me with all of my sisters, but I always end up missing one or two. At Eric's wedding I was finally able to get the picture I wanted, and I even got my nieces in it as well. I love this picture! Don't I have pretty sisters?

The Happy Couple

2010-08-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Everytime I go somewhere with my family without Bryan, people think that my brother Todd and I are married. So, because Bryan wasn't able to come to my brother Eric's wedding on Saturday, again people thought that Todd and I were married. We were even asked by my Dad's cousin if we had any children. So, we decided to take a "happle couple" picture to be funny....I think it turned out pretty cute! Whoever ends up being Todd's wife is one lucky girl.

Eric's Wedding

2010-08-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

My little brother Eric got married in the Idaho Falls Temple on Saturday to an awesome girl named Lacie. He was so handsome and I loved the way he looked at her all day, you can just tell that he absolutely adores her, and I can't blame him.

My Favorite People

2010-08-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

Aside from my husband these are my favorite people.....

Our New House

2010-08-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

This is a long overdue post....Bryan and I bought a house! We actually bought it back in May, but just moved it a few weeks ago because it was being renovated. Here are some before and after pictures (I can't figure out this picture thing so they are actually after, then before):

After - Guest Bathroom

After - Breakfast Nook
After - Living Room (Try to look past our bachelor pad furniture - or just lack of furniture in general)
After - Master Bedroom
After - Living Room
Front of House

After - Master
Master Bath - During Renovation
Before - Kitchen
Before - Backyard
Before - Living Room
Before - Master Bedroom

Exciting Monday

2010-06-09T10:12:00.001-07:00

On Monday Bryan and I had quite the exciting day....we got two new nephews and one new niece! Welcome to the world Henry Christopher Wignall, Amara and Maxwell Papa!

I got to meet little Henry (pictured above) and I was immediately in LOVE! I can't wait to meet Maxwell and Amara.

Congratulations Emily and Chris, and Rhett and Marshelle!

Fun Weekend

2010-05-24T09:14:00.000-07:00

I had the best day with my family on Saturday! I can't believe I didn't take any pictures except for some blurry iphone pictures, but seriously, how cute are my nieces!?! Sometimes I think that maybe instead of having kids of my own, I will just steal my nieces and nephews. It was so fun to all be together, but we definitely missed Kari and Eric. Hopefully some day we can all live in Southern California!

Dreams

2010-01-29T08:59:00.000-08:00

I had a dream last night that Zeus died. I was sobbing uncontrollably in my dream (which is not far from what reality would be :)). I let him out of his crate this morning and and squeezed him just for a second to remind myself that this dream wasn't real.

I have blogged about my dreams before...mostly because I remember my dreams almost every night, so I have a lot to say about them. So, this morning Bryan and I were talking about my dreams and he told me that I don't dream, I nightmare...which is mostly true. I have WAY more bad dreams than good ones! What is wrong with me?

The point of all of this is to tell a funny story. About two weeks ago in the middle of the night Bryan asked me why I punched him in a really annoyed voice. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. The next morning Bryan said how tired he was because he was awake for about an hour in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back to sleep. Bryan doesn't usually have this problem, so I asked him why he was awake and he gave me a funny look and said "You don't remember punching me?" I obviously had no recollection of this. So he proceeded to tell me that in the middle of the night, out of nowhere, I yelled his name and punched him really hard in the arm. (Which is when he asked me why I punched him). He couldn't fall back asleep after that because he was mad at me for punching him. I felt horrible of course, but really, it is pretty funny. I just want to know what he was doing in my dream that deserved a punch!

2009

2009-12-31T09:47:00.000-08:00

I stopped to think this morning about everything that has happened so far this year and I realized that 2009 was a really big year for us! Here are some things that happened this year:

*Bryan graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from BYU

*We went on a cruise

*Bryan's brother got married to my best childhood friend Marissa

*We got another Mini Cooper - this time a new one :)

*We moved to San Diego

*We both got new jobs

*Bryan got two promotions in his first 4 months at his new job

*We found out next year we will go from 4 nieces and nephews to 8!

GOODBYE 2009...BRING ON 2010!!!

It's been too long!

2009-11-22T14:22:00.001-08:00

It has been so long since I have blogged. To catch everyone up, Bryan and I have been busy working working working. In fact we were working so hard we thought we deserved a cruise to Mexico! So...here are some pictures from our trip. We had a blast!

Can't Decide!

2009-10-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

So, it has been almost a year since I have died my hair, well, like 10 months, but it seems like longer! If you know me, you know that I have died my hair every color you can think of, so going this long without dying my hair is pretty amazing. But, of course, I am bored and am dying to dye my hair! What color should I do???

3 years today....

2009-08-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

the best three years so far....Happy Anniversary Bryan!

I blame it all on you Sweet Factory!

2009-07-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Sweet Factory,

Why do you have to have all of my favorite treats under one roof, especially your sour grapefruit slices? Also why do you have to be strategically placed right across the street from my work? If you went away maybe my love handles would also.

Dear Will Power,

Where are you?

Dear 24 Hr. Fitness,

Thank you for also being strategically placed right across the street from my work.

Love,

Ashley

2009-06-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

We are finally back in San Diego! It is about time! It is so good to feel the moisture in the air....I love this city!

Zeus is having the time of his life playing every day with my mother-in-law's dog Apollo...seriously, he has completely forgotten about me and Bryan all he cares about is Apollo! I will post pictures soon, they are adorable.

Bryan has been finishing up school and training for work, so we have been apart for a couple weeks, but we are finally together again. It has felt like the longest 3 weeks of my life!

The best part of San Diego so far is that every weekend I feel like I am on a vacation!

Almost Done

2009-05-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

So, as our time winds down here in Utah I have started thinking of all of the things that I will miss about Utah, here is what I have come up with so far:

1. My house
2. Mountain biking/the beautiful mountains
3. The dollar theater
4. My job

And, that is about as far as I have gotten. My list of things I won't miss about Utah is much longer:

1. The snow
2. Cold weather
3. The snow
4. Utah drivers
5. The ugly Utah license plates
6. The snow
7. Poofy Utah hair
8. The lack of entertainment and good restaurants
9. The snow
10. Being the only person not pregnant in my ward
11. All of the constant road construction that never goes away
12. Being far far away from my family
13. The extremely hot summers
14. Dry skin
15. No beach
16. The snow

If you can't tell I really really despise snow.

I can't wait to get back to California...only 26 days and counting!

Ten Things..

2009-05-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

I love the blog Rockstar Diaries and she has been posting people's lists of 10 things that make them happy...here is mine:

1. Spending time with my husband

2. Candy

3. Kissing my puppy

4. Long runs

5. Red nail polish

6. The smell of the ocean

7. My nieces and nephews

8. Christmas morning

9. Sleeping ten hours a night

10. Summer rain storms

Happy Birthday Zeus!

2009-04-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

Today is Zeus's 2nd Birthday! Bryan thought I was pretty nerdy for buying him a new rawhide for his birthday, but Zeus loved it! I can't believe we have had him for 2 years!

Here we go again...

2009-04-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

So, I have decided to do another marathon! This time I will be running the Utah Valley Marathon on June 13th. I am excited because the marathon takes place on the Provo River Trail where I usually train for marathons, so I will be very familiar with the course. My training starts tomorrow....wish me luck!!!

My Inner Fat Kid

2009-03-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

Most of the time a am a pretty healthy eater. I usually eat oatmeal for breakfast, fruit for snacks, and either a turkey sandwich or eggs and toast for lunch. But there is about 1 week every month where my inner FAT KID comes out and takes over my brain. During that week my self control goes out the window, and I find myself unable to think about anything except junk food.

Well, this week has been one of those weeks. Today for breakfast I had Diet Coke and Starbursts. For lunch instead of eating my usual eggs and toast I opted to eat Cheetos and Ice Cream.

Sometimes I decide to not give in to my cravings, and instead I just voice every craving to Bryan (I am sure that he loves this) which probably makes him think he is married to a crazy person. In the matter of about an hour I will let him know that I am craving ice cream, burritos, candy, french fries, pickles, cake, hot wings, hamburgers, potato salad, frosting, and mashed potatoes.

I wish there was a way that I could get this fat kid out of my head!

So I might just be a stalker....

2009-03-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

So I read the Nie Nie and CJane blogs religiously, along with quite a few other blogs. Well, recently I ran into CJane's husband at Albertsons, but I was too afraid to say hi, because I thought I would look like a stalker. So instead, I just stood there and stared at him which was probably more creepy than me saying hi. Well today I ran into Nie Nie's husband at Lowe's, and this time I didn't even hesitate to start up a conversation. He was SO nice, and it was so fun to meet him and one of their kids. If you don't read their blogs you should, they have a great story, and their blogs are really uplifting!

It was time for a change....

2009-02-28T20:08:00.000-08:00

This morning my hair looked about like what it does in this picture:

My hair now looks like this:
If you can't tell (this picture isn't very good, I took it myself) my hair is about 10 inches shorter! I needed a change really bad, and cutting 10 inches off did the job!

23 or 73?

2009-02-13T12:52:00.001-08:00

Bryan and I usually go to bed before 10. If we go out to dinner we make sure that we go at like 5:30 so that the restaurant won't be too crowded, and we usually find ourselves surrounded by people at least twice our age. We actually considered buying a Buick. Most weekends for us are spent cleaning the house, watching TV, going to bed early, and going to church. My little brother and his friend call us Mom and Dad. We often think of what we are going to do when we retire, and we discuss it like it is going to happen next year.

Now, all of these things didn't seem odd to me until some people at my work started asking questions, and saying things to me like:

Do you ever do anything fun on the weekend?
Do you and your husband have any friends?
I dare you to stay out until 11.
So what happens if you get less than like 10 hours of sleep...maybe you should try it!
You don't have kids, and you just stay at home and watch TV...live it up while you have the chance!

Now I am a little self conscious that maybe I am more boring than I thought!

This confirms I am not ready to have kids.....

2009-02-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

Last night I had a dream that I had a baby boy. He was really tiny and had red hair. I didn't actually give birth to the baby, I actually turned Zeus (my dog) over and he had a zipper on his belly that I unzipped, and there was a baby inside. So, I decided to take my new baby to the mall, and while I was there I needed to try some clothes on at Banana Republic, so I asked a perfect stranger to hold my baby while I tried on clothes. I proceeded to try on clothes for about an hour, and luckily that lady that was holding my baby was nice enough to stay for the entire hour. When I got home I thought about how irresponsible it was to let a stranger take care of my baby, so I decided I wasn't ready to have kids, so I unzipped Zeus again and put the baby right back in.

I have been thinking about how funny this dream was all morning, so I thought I would share it with all of you!

Christmas and New Years 2008

2009-01-08T16:55:00.000-08:00

For Christmas and New Years Bryan and I went to California to see our families. We spent a week at my parents and a week at Bryan's. Despite having horrible headaches the entire time we had a blast! Here are some pics....

Zeus's awesome new look!

Grant in uncle Brandon's hat

Mom and Dad

Me, my sisters, sister in law, and cousin

Amelia as an angel...she'll grow into it :)

Dad and Evan

My gorgeous sister Kari, and my adorable neice Kate

Christmas Eve

Todd and Miles

Amelia's first snowman

Bryan driving Evan's Go-Kart

Evan and Zeus (my only sibling that actually likes him!)

This is what you do when your husband is out of town...

2008-12-14T15:07:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of November Bryan went to San Diego because his brother was coming home from his mission, so since he was out of town I had a girls night with Marissa and Camilla. It started out with us going to dinner atGoodwood BBQ, and while we were there we were talking about when we all used to work at a bridal store together called Allyses Bridal. When we would all close together at Allyses we would try on prom and wedding dresses for fun, so we decided to go to Allyses and try on dresses again! So, I thought I would post these pictures for all of your enjoyment..they are kind of embarrassing, but we had a blast choosing the ugliest dresses in the store to try on.

I thought that the pictures would be safe on my camera. But, the next day I had to take some pictures of a building for work on my camera. When I got back my bosses asked to see the pictures so I handed them my camera forgetting that these pictures were on it. They uploaded the pictures to their computer and were laughing so hard, and refused to delete the pictures saying that they needed to keep them in case they needed to black mail me. But, I guess that won't be necessary since I am posting them here for the world (or the 3 people that actually ready my blog) to see!

Happy Birthday Dad!

2008-10-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

This is the only picture I could quickly find of my dad (I stole it from my sister's blog). Today is my Dad's birthday, he is 51. As he put it this morning when I called to wish him Happy Birthday he is now closer to 100 than to 0. I thought I would just take a quick second and say how wonderful my dad is. I am sure that I often take for granted what a wonderful family that I come from. My dad is not a man of many words, but when he speaks he means it, and you should listen. He has always been such a great listener, and a peacemaker. I remember when I was a teenager, he would sit down with me after I would get in arguments with my mom (which were always my fault...I wasn't the nicest teenager) and somehow talk some sense into me. He always had a way of listening to what I was feeling, and helping me through it without criticizing my thoughts or feelings. He also taught me what hard work is. He would wake us up early on weekends singing a song that he made up called Lazy Dogs Get No Breakfast, and he would take us out into the yard to do yard work. I hated it at the time, but I am so thankful now for the time that he spent teaching us how to work because it has come in handy! I am so thankful for his example every single day. I love you Dad, and Happy Birthday!

Happy 25 Bryan!

2008-10-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

Today is Bryan's 25th birthday, so I thought I would list 25 reasons why I love him:

1. He is really attractive
2. He has awesome hair
3. He makes me laugh every day
4. He is confident enough to wear the shorts in the picture above
5. He lets me drive the nice car
6. He watches chick flicks with me and actually enjoys them
7. He takes me on drives in his mini cooper
8. He always lets me control the radio in the car
9. He let me get a dog
10. He is really good at taking tests
11. He is adventurous
12. He wants to live in California just like me
13. He hates the cold/snow as much as I do
14. He wants to move to another country some day
15. He doesn't have to work out or watch what he eats to stay thin
16. He puts up with my lame cooking skills
17. He cleans our house a lot
18. He can fix almost anything
19. He doesn't mind going shopping with me
20. He is a good communicator
21. He hates reading as much as I do
22. He has a really good singing voice
23. He has an awesome family
24. He can BBQ anything and it will taste amazing
25. He loves me back!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!

Marathon Weekend

2008-10-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been so much fun!

Saturday morning I ran the St. George Marathon for the second time and it was SO fun! It rained the entire 26.2 miles which was interesting, and cold, but still fun. I beat my time from last year by 40 minutes. My official time was 4 hours and 5 minutes. I was so proud of myself because I only trained for a month. At the half way point I was on pace to run it in 3 hours and 50 minutes, but the cold got to me at about mile 16. I have had problems with my IT band since high school. (It connects from your hip to the outside of your knee). At mile 16 you have just ran downhill for over a mile straight so your joints are already hurting, and then it was really cold on top of that, so my IT band started to freeze up and I could barely bend my knee. So I had to stretch my hip and knee about every 10 minutes for the rest of the marathon just to be able to run normal! But, despite the problems I still am very happy about how I did, and I can't wait to run another marathon someday! But, right now I will just try to get over how sore my hips and knees are! Here are some pics--keep in mind I was completely soaked from head to toe!

After the marathon we (Eric and I) drove straight home. We stopped at In-n-out in St. George for me to change into some warm dry clothes and then just drove. Bryan wasn't able to come watch me because his mom and sister were here and they were working for like 3 days straight on his mom's apartment in Salt Lake to get it ready for someone to move into.

All day today we have been hanging out with Brenda (Bryan's mom) his sister Marshelle and her husband Rhett and their adorable baby Grant, and also our sister in law Marie. It has been so much fun! Here are some pictures...

This one looks like I cut my hair, but I didn't it is just tucked behind my shoulders.

I had to add this picture also...I put a shirt on Zeus tonight and he sat by the door and was so mad at me! It was hilarious!

Run for Malaria

2008-10-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

My friend Heidi found advertised in the Mapleton Utah newspaper a couple of weeks ago a 5k run for Malaria. She immediately called me when she saw it because my brother Eric got Malaria on his mission. So, we decided to run it together and with our friend Biz. We also decided that we would make shirts for Eric (you can see them in the pictures below). It was really fun to run a 5k because I haven't run 3 mile races since High School when I ran cross country. Apparently our shirts were a big hit because we had the newspaper and the local TV station interview us. It was so fun!

Recent Pics

2008-09-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

In this post I am trying to make up for my lack of pictures in basically most of my posts...I am usually too lazy to upload photos. So, here are some photos from the last couple of months...enjoy!

Here is Bryan getting really intense during a game of Bocci ball (which is not an intense game)

This is at my cousin Bryce's wedding. The other girl in the picture is my cousin Amy....apparently she thinks I am hilarious!
Me and my cousin Aubrey

Bryan and our niece Amelia
Bryan and our nephew Grant
Me and my niece Amelia
This was in the parking lot of a mountain biking trail up Provo Canyon

Ribs...yum :)
I promise I am not a smoker, 23 candles just puts off more smoke than I thought!
This is what my face looks like while listening to the Mason version of "Happy Birthday"
Me and Zeus, look how big he is!

Meet Kate

2008-09-21T15:52:00.001-07:00

This is my new niece Kate Marie Andersen. She was born September 18th at 11:40. She was 5 lbs 11 oz, and 18 inches long. She is so adorable, and I can't wait to meet her! Congratulations Brian and Courtney! Bryan and I now have 2 nieces and 2 nephews!

Blog about not blogging

2008-09-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were all wondering why Ashley is the only one to post anything on OUR blog, let me explain. I (Bryan) am against blogging, and for that matter against I Pods and the majority of technology that makes us all less social.

I am also against facebook in case you didn't know (yes I know I have a facebook account) facebook is just an excuse to not ACTUALLY communicate. We use it to keep in touch with people that in reality haven't been important enough to really keep in touch with. We look into their lives to check in but if we really cared about these people wouldn't we in fact have never fallen out of touch? There are the occasional exceptions, but my guess is the majority of them are the ones not really worth keeping in touch with. I have hundreds of friends on facebook, but i only have about 30 numbers in my telephone.

Now for I Pods, this will make most sense to those of us who have recently graduated college or are in college. You see I walk from class to class and people constantly run right into me as if I were not there. They are paying so much attention to whatever racket they are listening to that everyone else becomes invisible. I wonder how many people have missed out on their next date because of this horrible little machine. I hate the I pod and it has begun to erode our communicative skills in the very least on BYU's campus.

How could I possibly hate blogs? And, yes I am aware of the irony here, in blogging about hating blogs, which in reality is the only reason I decided to begin to write on this blog, that seems to suck my wife away for a couple hours a month. It is nice to see pictures of family and friends and "hear" about what is new in their lives but I am convinced that we should pick up the dang phone or write a dang email. For crying out loud how busy are we that we created this bulletin board so that we no longer have to actually communicate? Thus the reason I hate blogs and I pods and facebook. The hate list could certainly be longer but I don't have time for that today.

I thought since I was writing I should do something productive so I am taking votes on what I should be for Halloween I have narrowed it down to Tobias Funke in never-nude attire or Buddy the Elf let me know.

My First...and Last BYU Football Game

2008-09-14T19:02:00.001-07:00

I have lived in Provo for a total of 3 years now, and until yesterday had never been to a BYU football game. Everybody who found out that I had never been told me how I was missing out on something great. So, Bryan and I broke down and bought some tickets and went to the BYU vs. UCLA game yesterday. I can now say that I have been to a game, and will never go again. Seriously I must have been missing something because it was not all that people have talked it up to be. I guess I have to preface my story with the the fact that I did run 17 miles before going to the game, so I was needless to say, a little tired.

Bryan and I absolutely hate any kind of traffic, so we decided to ride bikes to the game with my little brother Eric, who lives with us. I think that was the highlight of the game for me. :) When we got to the stadium it was so hot, and so crowded. Then we found our seats, but didn't get to sit down because everybody stands the ENTIRE game. Seriously, what is the point in standing?!!! So we stood in the crowded stadium with sun beating down on us for like 3 hours, and we even left early! (BYU was up like a ridiculous amount to zero...I can't even remember the score, that is how much fun I was having) When we got home I had a farmers tan and felt so dehydrated! That is when I told Bryan I had no desire to ever go to another football game. Poor Bryan loves football, and married me, who can't sit through an entire football game to save my life!

But, my adventurous day didn't stop after the game! My brother and sister in law Russ and Marie were coming down from Salt Lake to go mountain biking with us, and I didn't want to be a bum and stay home, so I decided to go despite being really tired. I had a feeling it would be a bad idea, but I wasn't sure it was a bad idea until we were riding, and I was so wobbly on my bike because I was so tired. So, there was a big root in the trail that I hit the wrong way and did a front flip over my handlebars....it was at that moment that I was positive that mountain biking was a bad idea after running 17 miles, and then standing in the sun for 3 hours! :) Oh well, I survived with minor scrapes and bruises, and I learned my lesson!

Bryan's Dream Car

2008-09-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I never posted about Bryan's new car. Since I have known Bryan he has always talked about some day getting an Austin Mini from the 1960's. He went to Europe when he was about 15 and fell in love with them there, and has wanted one ever since. He has never been the type to be very impressed by things like Ferrari's or even your typical BMW. He would take an old car over those cars in a heart beat.

So, about two months ago Bryan's brother Russ called him and told him about a 1963 Austin Mini that he saw for sale in Sandy, UT. Bryan was so excited about it, but I was a little apprehensive. We drove to Sandy to take a look, and once I saw the look on Bryan's face when he saw the car I knew that I had to let him buy it. So, of course he did, and now Bryan has his dream car at the age of 24! (Good thing his dream car cost less than $8,000) We have so much fun driving around town in it, and I am so glad that he was able to get it!

St. George Marathon #2!!

2008-09-14T18:25:00.001-07:00

Last year I ran the St. George Marathon, and I LOVED it. So, this year I signed up to run it again. Unfortunately they have a lot of people that sign up every year, so they have a computer that randomly picks something like 4,000 names out of the people who signed up and I didn't get in. But at the beginning of the month I was doing my visiting teaching, and one of the girls that I visit teach with is running the marathon. I told her how sad I was that I didn't get to run it this year.... and then she gave me the best news! Her dad works for the city down there, and he was able to get me in!!! So, I am training for a marathon in only month! The marathon is October 4th. Luckily I have been working out steadily since the last marathon, so I never got out of shape. I ran 13 miles last weekend, and it felt great. This weekend I ran 17 miles, and it still felt great! I am still really nervous for the marathon, because I am sure that after like mile 18 or so I am going to have a really hard time! But, I am so excited to be able to run another marathon. Bryan thinks I am crazy because he just can't wrap his head around running for fun. When I asked him if he thought I should run it this year since I only have a month to train he said "Do whatever you want to do, but I will never understand why you want to run 26 miles. " I don't really know why I want to run 26 miles either except that it is there, and it is a challenge, and I love a challenge! So, wish me luck!

Scales, sweets, and fast food

2008-08-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

Every morning I have a horrible ritual. It involves Bryan's alarm clock going off, and him getting up and turning the lights on, and pulling the covers off of me....this was my request. I absolutely hate getting up in the morning, but I feel the need to work out before work, so I made it Bryan's job to see that this gets done, so he gladly forces me out of bed to work out each morning. I then wander into the bathroom, and step on the scale......this is the horrible part of the morning. I look down at that stupid number on the scale and let it determine my attitude for the next couple of hours. If it is a good number I am really happy, and I gladly put on my work out clothes and head to the gym. If it is a bad number, I am immediately in a bad mood and reluctantly go to the gym wondering why I even bother. So, I think I need to go on a scale fast, but I have been determining all morning how to go about it since I have pretty much NO will power in this area, believe me, I try to not step on the scale, but there is some kind of magnetic force between my feet and the scale. I have will power in other areas.....for example I am really good at sugar fasts. I have gone since July 20th until now (with the exception of my birthday and anniversary which are great excuses in my book) without eating any sugar. Bryan and I also decided not to eat out at all until out trip to California which is next week, and we have done amazing at that. But, for some reason I cannot keep myself from that stupid scale, so here are the options that I have come up with:

1. Hide the scale from myself (I immediately ruled this one out because all it will do is make my morning ritual take longer. I know myself well enough to know that I will just go to my hiding spot every day and dig out the scale and weigh myself anyway.)
2. Have Bryan hide the scale from me. (He would gladly do this because he thinks it is silly that I weigh myself everyday)
3. Test my will power and see if I really can just not step on the scale.

So, after thinking about this, I think I will go with option 2....if that doesn't work maybe I will just throw that stupid scale in the trash....no more bad mood mornings! Wish me luck!

Meet Grant

2008-08-01T17:34:00.002-07:00

Bryan's sister Marshelle had the first baby on the Mason side early this morning. His name is Grant Papa....we haven't heard what the middle name is yet. He was almost nine pounds...which apparently is small for a Mason baby....yikes! Congratulations to Marsh and Rhett!

We have a trip planned to go to California at the end of August and we will get to meet our two new nephews Miles and Grant and I can't wait! Also thanks to Marshelle and Rhett for giving Grandma Mason a grandchild...it takes all the pressure off of the rest of us!

2008-08-01T17:34:00.001-07:00

Meet Miles

2008-06-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

I stole this incredibly adorable picture from my sister's blog. It is a picture of my niece Amelia, and my new nephew Miles. He was born on May 17th. I can't wait to meet him!

Zeus

2008-06-04T16:42:00.000-07:00

So, I was recently looking through a lot of our pictures since we have been married, and I came across pictures of Zeus from when we first got him. I am wondering how this sweet little puppy:

Turned into this slobbery huge dog that people are afraid of......

Conference

2008-04-16T18:48:00.001-07:00

My parents, and all of my younger siblings came to Utah for conference. It was so much fun to see them! I got to help my little sister pick out her prom dress, which was especially fun. I also got to go shopping with my mom, my aunt, and my three younger sisters during the preisthood session. I forgot how fast my mom shops, she wore me out! I didn't remember to take pictures until the last day, and I only got a couple but here they are:

This picture is of me, my two of my cousins, and two of my sisters.

This is of me and my two younger sisters, Kari, and Lauren.

Beautiful!

2008-04-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

I have no idea where this picture is of, but I think I would like to live wherever it is! It looks so beautiful! I think that this picture is how I imagine Italy...hopefully someday I will get to see what Italy actually looks like!

Sick House

2008-03-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

This whole weekend I was sick...it was no fun at all. But, Bryan has been sick for over a week now, so I really don't feel all that bad for myself. So, beware if you come over to our house, you might get some of our sick germs!

So, my friend Heidi convinced me to try going to the gym with her in the mornings before work. I thought she was completly crazy, but I gave it a try, and I love it! I get so much more done every day, and I never miss a work out! So, if you live in Provo, and you need a gym buddy at 5:30 am, I will be there! Also, the spin classes at 24 hour fitness on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:45 am are excellent! I totally recommend them!

Things I Need

2008-01-24T14:19:00.001-08:00

Here is a list of things I need right now:

*A haircut
*A candybar
*A maid
*A chef
*New shoes
*Warm weather
*An end to the writers strike
*A vacation
*A warm coat
*More New Shoes
*A Pedicure
*No More Taxes
*My husband to be done with school so I can get out of Utah(because there is a high of about 20 degrees today)
*A diet where you can eat 5000 calories a day and still lose weight
*A new windshield
*No more snow--ever
*A pair of snow boots
*Fish tacos from Rubios
*A whole week where I have nothing to do
*A trip to California to see my family and eat fish tacos at Rubios
*A private jet
*A condo in New York, and somewhere exotic

Thats pretty much it....

Mountain Bike

2008-01-11T12:09:00.001-08:00

This right here is a picture of my sweet new mountain bike. Bryan has convinced me that throwing myself down the side of mountains is actually fun, so for Christmas I got this pretty blue bike! I have been so anxious to use it, but of course there is snow everywhere, especially in the mountains(and I am not happy about it)! So, we have a trainer thing that you can hook your bike up to, and it makes your bike like a stationary bike. So, I have been riding my new bike in my very own living room. It is not as fun as in the mountains, but it will have to do for now!

Also, I have started a "diet" I guess you could call it, I like to call it a lifestyle change....it just sounds better that way. I am just sick of eating lots of junk all the time, so I had my sister in law who is like the Weight Watchers genius, and who has incredible amounts of will power when it come to food, teach my a little about weight watchers.....and I have lost 4 pounds in 1 week. I couldn't believe it when I stepped on the scale! Thanks Courtney!

Christmas Season

2007-12-21T09:29:00.000-08:00

This Christmas, mend a quarrel.
Seek out a forgotten friend.
Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.
Write a letter.
Give a soft answer.
Encourage youth.
Manifest your loyalty in word and deed.
Keep a promise.
Forgo a grudge.
Forgive an enemy.
Apologize.
Try to understand.
Examine your demands on others.
Think first of someone else.
Be kind.
Be gentle.
Laugh a little more.
Express your gratitude.
Welcome a stranger.
Gladden the heart of a child.
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.
Speak your love and then speak it again.
Christmas is a celebration,
and there is no celebration that compares
with the realization of its true meaning
--with the sudden stirring of the heart
that has extended itself unselfishly in the things that matter most.

-Howard W. Hunter

I received this quote in an email forwarded from one of the attorneys at my work, and I really like this quote. It sums up what the Christmas season should actually be about. Maybe I am just being a Scrooge, but this Christmas season hasn't felt like all of the rest. I am sick of all of the expensive gifts, and traffic, and pushy people. I think that the world needs a Christmas makeover, and that next year there should be absolutely no gift giving, and that instead everybody should just perform an act of service for those that they would have bought a gift for. But, I guess I can keep dreaming cause that is never going to happen. Oh well, Merry Christmas Everyone!

I've been Tagged!

2007-11-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

So, Megan, my friend at work tagged me, and now I am supposed to tell six things about me, so here goes....

1. I love pickles, I could eat them pretty much every day. I love them so much that I have actually drank the juice.

2. I have over 25 pairs of black dress shoes, but I only wear about five of them more than twice a year. I also have almost as many black shirts as all of the rest of the colors of shirts I own combined.

3. I have gotten two tickets in my life, but only been pulled over once...figure that one out. I have also been in 4 car accidents and gotten at least five parking tickets. 18 and 19 were rough years for me...

4. I am not very competitive, except for at the gym....I always have to one up the person on the machine next to me, for example if they are running 6 miles an hour for 30 minutes, I have to run 6.5 miles and hour for 35 minutes. So, because I know this about myself, I always try to get a treadmill next to a girl that looks kinda wimpy so that I don't kill myself trying to work out to hard.

5. My husband likes my hair long so I am growing it long for him, if it were my choice my hair would only be about chin length like it was for like 7 years before I met him. I am such a good wife :)

6. I have a thing for 80's music. It started when I was in high school. There was a radio station called Star 98.7 that played totally 80's at noon. When I was on summer break I would go in my room at noon and turn on the radio and listen to the 80's music (and sometimes dance...embarrassing I know) But, I was born in 1985 so I don't know 99% of the singers names, but I always know the words to the songs. My favorite song of all time is Just Like Heaven by the Cure....it always puts me in a good mood.

Now I tag my sister Emily...

I HATE the cold

2007-11-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

This morning as I was getting ready for work my heater in my house was blasting, so I was nice and toasty. I was running a little bit late so I hurried out the door, and what did I find....ICE on my car! I absolutely hate scraping ice off of my windshield, and it made me late for work. So, my day didn't start out to good today, and I blame it on the cold. So, for the next minute you all are going to hear why I hate winter:

1. I am allergic to the cold. You may think I am kidding...but I am definitely not. It is doctor diagnosed and it is called Cold Urticaria. Go ahead....google it, it is real.
2. The few times that it snowed growing up in California it would only snow about maybe an inch or so, and it would all melt by about 10:00am...but they cancelled everything for the slightest amount of snow. So, I actually looked forward to snow then because it meant no school. But Utah is a much different story...they don't cancell anything for snow, even if the roads are plowed..and that leads to my number 3
3. I can't drive in the snow. I am completely paranoid, and I drive like 15 mph...so it takes FOREVER for me to get anywhere.
4. I like wearing sandals and I have lots of cute sandals that don't get any use for about at least half of each year. I also have very few winter clothes and I refuse to buy a lot of them because I only plan on living Utah until Bryan graduates...which should only be one more winter besides this one...and then we will move back to sunny Southern California, and forget all about snow.
5. I don't snowboard or ski
6. In Utah they actually have a white Christmas....I don't dream of a white Christmas, I dream of a warm Christmas like the ones I used to know. Lucky for me I will be in San Diego for Christmas.

So there you have it....I hate snow, Ice, and cold, and anything that has to do with it. Have a wonderful day!

26.2 Miles

2007-10-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

I did it, and I didn't die! This last weekend I ran the St. George marathon, and it was awesome! I had been training for about 5 months with my friend Heidi, and I didn't think the day would ever come, but now it has come and past. So, here is what it was like.....

We woke up at about 4:30 in the morning and quickly got ready. We were staying and Heidi's sister's house who has ran the marathon about 3 times. So, she drove us to some park in St. George where there were about 90 school buses. We hopped on one of the school buses and drove out into literally the middle of nowhere, or exactly 26.2 miles away from the finish line. :) When we got there it was one of the craziest things I have ever seen! There were about 15-20 huge bonfires, a couple of tables full of gatorade and water, and a line of port-o-potties longer than I have ever seen. There were about 6,000 runners all hudled around the fires, or in line for one of the million port-o-potties. There was also a DJ playing some really loud music that was supposed to pump us up I guess. But, the only bad thing was that it was FREEZING out side! So, we waited around for the start of the race for about an hour.

We started about a little less than 10 minutes after they shot off the gun. They have a chip that you put on your shoe that starts your time when you cross the starting line, and stops it when you cross the finish line. The race went really smooth, Heidi and I stayed together the whole time, and kept each other company. There were water stations every two miles, and so it made it easy to break the run up into two mile increments! We saw some really interesting things along the way, for example a guy who ran the whole marathon barefoot! There were also some extremists, like people who were running the marathon for their 14th time, and people who had just run a marathon a week before!

The marathon seemed to go by pretty quickly, but I have never been so happy to see a sign that says FINISH LINE in my entire life (and I have run a lot of races!) Bryan and Brian (me and Heidi's husbands) were at the finish line cheering us on, along with Heidi's parents and sister, and some of my coworkers. Our finish time ended up being 4:44:20 (our goal was 4:45, so we beat our goal) the picture above says a different time but that was because we started awhile after they shot off the gun. At the finish line there was a huge park with tables with water and popsicles and ice cream and other yummy treats. The popsicle I got was probably the best popsicle I have ever had in my life, not because it was some kind of extraordinary popsicle, but because I had just run 26.2 miles, and it was a delicious treat!

For the rest of the day Heidi and I sat on her sisters couch and watched TV and slept. It felt so good to just lay down! Later that night, my coworker Staci invited us to her parents house to go in their hot tub, and man did it feel good! I only ended up being sore for one day, but I am still paying for the marathon with a pretty sore toe! I got a blood blister under my big toenail and man does it hurt! But, overall it was an awesome experience that I am so glad that I did! Maybe I will do another one someday....we will see!

2 more days!

2007-10-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

Two more days until the marathon! Some of my friends at work decorated my cubicle with balloons and banners that say Good Luck! It was really sweet. They are all going to watch me finish the marathon! But, now I am getting SUPER nervous and excited! The weather report said that it could rain in St. George on Saturday...so I guess pray for NO rain!

Sam's Club and Costco

2007-09-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

In heaven I really hope that they still have Sam's Club and Costco....and I hope that we can buy anything we want from there and not have to worry about spending too much. Bryan and I went shopping at Sam's Club on Saturday afternoon, and I am always completely fascinated by that store, and I have to exercise the restraints to not buy everything in the store. But, we usually end up going home with a couple things that we really didn't need. This time it was frozen cut up Mangos and man are they good! I am eating them right now.

Also, less than 2 weeks until the marathon. I am kind of freaking out! Every time I think about it I get a really nervous feeling in my stomach.... It is the same feeling that I got right before every single track and cross country race I ran in Jr. High and High School. You would think that I would be used to this feeling by now, but, no way...I still hate it!

Also I promise that I will post some new pictures soon! My blogs are so boring without pictures!

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

2007-09-07T09:09:00.001-07:00

Somebody who has better dreams than me must have come up with that rediculous disney song...beacuse my dreams are definitely not a wish that my heart makes. I can remember ever since I was a little kid having weird dreams and lots of nightmares. Well, I have never grown out of it, my nightmares just changed from being things like the boogie man to somewhat more realistic things going wrong in my life. For example I dreamed the other night that Bryan and I each had to go on a mission...but seperatly, so we woudn't see eachother for 2 years. When I have weird dreams like this I am always the only one panicking in my dream, and everybody else thinks that it is perfectly normal. So needless to say, in my dream I was absolutely freaking out that I wouldn't see Bryan for two years, but nobody understood why I was freaking out, which just makes the dream that much more frustrating. I think that I would be better off without having any dreams.

Just some random things

2007-08-15T13:22:00.000-07:00

1. Today I discovered much to my delight that one of the radio stations I listen to does only 80's music Wednesdays! It totally made my day. I don't know why I didn't realize this sooner!
2. On Saturday I got in a car accident. (It actually wasn't my fault for once!) And, I hate talking to insurance companies! I will post pictures once I get a chance. It is pretty ugly. My whole passenger side rear door is smashed in. But, I felt really bad for the guy at fault because he was an old sweet man, and he seemed very sorry.
3. Lots of people in Utah wear tie-dyed shirts, and I really hate them. If there is one item of clothing that this world could do without, that would be it. It is probably the number one tackiest thing a person could choose to wear. Please everybody, if you have a tie-died shirt BURN IT!
4. Last thursday we went mountain biking again, and I fell....twice. I have some pretty narly scratches and bruises. I forgot how bad scrapes hurt, I haven't had once since high school when I fell in the hurdles, and they are quite painful, especially while showering. But, I will not give up on mountain biking...I am determined to not let this get me down.
5. On Saturday I ran nineteen miles. Yes, you did read that right. It was just as hard as it sounds! I realized that 26.2 will be even harder, but I will deal with that when I get to it. This Saturday it is 20 miles. Wish me luck!
6. My house is falling apart. First it was our garage door opener. Then, it was our 6 month old microwave. Now it is our 6 month old dishwasher, and our air conditioner. So, to anybody who is buying a new home, home warranty plans are awesome. Ours has saved us hundreds of dollars. It is awesome!
7. I am trying to not eat any sweets until my marathon. It is only day 2, and I am already going crazy! But, everybody says it only gets easier. Pretzels are just not nearly as tasty as Starbursts are!
8. Tie-bo videos are really hard. I did one on Monday, and I haven't done one in quite a while, and I am SO sore! I can run 19 miles and not be sore at all from that, but one tie-bo video kicks my butt. :)
That is all for today! Have a wonderful day everybody!

Anniversary Number 1

2007-08-09T15:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I forgot to blog about this sooner! Well, Sunday was Bryan and my first anniversary. I totally thought that we weren't going to do anything special for our anniversay until about 1:00 on Saturday. Bryan was leaving to do something and before he left he said while I am gone you should pack an overnight bag, and pack one for me to. I was really confused so he spilled the whole story.
He had secretly booked a really cute hotel in Midway, Utah, which by the way is an adorable city in the mountains. I highly recommend going there if you haven't. So, when he got home on Saturday we went and checked into our hotel and went exploring Midway and Heber. By the way our dream house is in Midway (we would just like to relocate the house to San Diego) it is an amazing mansion looking house.
While driving through Heber we found a little city fair, so we stopped since I had never been on a faris wheel before. So, we rode the faris wheel and Bryan got a snow cone, and we left. We then went to old town Heber where we went into a really cool artists shop(where we couldn't afford anything, although we would have loved to buy lots of his stuff) and then we went to a place for dinner which has amazing halibut!
The next day we got to go swimming in the Midway crater (which is like a giant natural jacuzzi). It was so fun! And then we went to my favorite place in Utah, the park city outlets. I could spend a lot of money there! But, I only bought a pair of shorts at the Banana Republic outlet, which I think is my new favorite store. Then we drove around trying to find a place to have lunch and we came across a place where you could drive smart cars. They are a really small European car (if you have never seen them, you should google them they are really cool). After driving the smart cars we went to lunch at a little cafe. It was a really fun weekend, and it was so sweet of Bryan to plan it! It is so nice to have little vacations like that!

Mom

2007-08-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

This week my mom is staying with me to go to an Organ workshop at BYU to learn how to play the organ. It has been really fun to spend a little bit of time with my mother. In doing so I realized something that I dont think that I recognized while growing up. My mother caries the spirit so strong with her all the time. In thinking about how to raise my children, I have pondered many times the way my parents raised me and my siblings, and how they raised so many righteous children. I always tried to pinpoint the things that they did right, so that I could copy them. Today I realized what it is that my mother did right. She lived her life in a way that the spirit could be with her at all times. If there is a trait in my mother that I would like to emulate, that would be it. I really hope that my children will be able to feel the spirit through me someday, even if it takes them until they are 22 to realize it.

Sugar High

2007-08-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago Bryan and I were stuffing a pinata for my birthday (no we are not five, we just like pinatas), and we got the crazy idea to feed our dog gumdrops. We did not take into consideration that he has never had sugar before. He absolutely LOVED the gumdrops, and was a happy little camper, and all was normal until about 15 minutes later..... We took him upstairs and we were getting ready for bed, and Zeus started sprinting back and forth and back and forth and back and forth across the room. I didn't know that our chubby unathletic dog could run that fast! He then sprinted into the bathroom and dove into the tub! For a second I thought that I had a lab dog or something much more athletic. Then, he dove out of the tub and did some more sprinting, and attacked a couple of toys. Then he sat there for about 10 seconds and then layed down. Apparently he went from high to low VERY fast. The whole time Bryan and I just watched in amazement. So, the moral of the story is...don't feed your dog gumdrops, and we are definitely not ready for children!

Lions! and Tigers! and Bears! Oh my!

2007-07-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, so I am really not very good at writing on this thing! I thought that I would be better at this than a journal, but I am not off to a very good start. I guess I just don't think that my life is so interesting that people would want to read about it. But, this weekend, Bryan and I got a little more adventurous than our usual weekend. We went Camping, and it was quite the experience. We went with our good friends Brian and Heide. Bryan and Brian decided that they don't like campgrounds, so we drove up Payson canyon, all the way to the top, so we were at about 8200 feet. Then we drove off the road, and through some bushes to a clearing in the middle of the forest, and that is where they declared that we would be camping. Of course there were no toilets or anything like that....much to my dismay, but I handled it. Then, in the middle of the night Bryan wakes us all up saying that about 15 minutes previous, he had heard something in our "campground" that sounded very much like a bear. He said that he heard it breathing very loudly and sniffing around outside of our tent, then he heard it walk through the rest of our campsite. So, of course I was completely freaked out for the next 30 minutes, until Brian and Bryan decided to be brave and walk around outside and look at the tracks around our tent. Then, we moved our tent closer to Brian and Heide's tent, and I was finally able to fall back asleep. Then, in the morning we all went mountain biking. First Bryan and Brian dropped Heide and I off on a trail and told us to go right at the fork, and of course we went right at the wrong fork, and went about two miles off into who knows where until we finally came to the conclusion that we should turn around because we were surely going the wrong way. So, we turned around and went back uphill, in the hot sun at 8000 feet elevation. Needless to say...we got our workout that day. (And this was all after running 17 miles the day before) We then proceeded to ride our bikes down the road to the right trail, where I got to learn how to mountain bike for real, which turned out to be pretty fun! I only fell once! So, now I have been camping for REAL, none of the campground stuff with running water and toilets-that would be just way to civilized for us! But I did learn a few things:
1. Camping with bears brings you closer to God, I don't think I have every prayed that hard :)
2. Going to the bathroom in the wilderness is not as bad as it sounds
3. My husband (who is from San Diego) is actually a mountain man
4. Mountain biking is fun! (Even when you fall) And a very good workout!
So there you have it. If you are ever in need of a camping adventure you know who to call!

Farewell Eric!!

2007-07-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we took my little brother Eric to the MTC. He is going to Honduras! I was so impressed at how calm he was and about how sure of what he was doing he was. He seemed to just know that serving a mission was what he needed to be doing. Either that or he was just excited to get out of the house! I don't even think he was nervous! It was cute to see Evan cry because his big brother was leaving. I am so glad that my siblings and I are so close! It was also fun to have my Mom and Dad and Evan and Tori stay at my house!

My Sweet Neice

2007-06-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

So my neice finally knows who I am! Emily and Chris and Amelia came and visited last night, and it took awhile for Amelia to warm up to me, and even longer to warm up to my dog. But by the end of the night you could ask her where Ashley was and she would point to me! That is all I wanted! I just want my neice to know who her aunt Ashley is. She has probably already forgotten me by now, but she did know me for at least an hour! Maybe someday I will get to live by her...one could only hope.

This Past Year

2007-06-18T09:39:00.001-07:00

So, Emily had a good idea. She said that I should start out my blog by posting some pictures. So, here are some pictures of this past year. I included some from Christmas, and also some from our new house since most of the family hasn't seen it yet! I also included some from Marissa's going away party before her mission. There are some from Eric's basketball games, and to the left is a picture of the newest addition to our family! Our new dog Zeus! Enjoy!

Trying New Things

2007-06-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

So, I thought that I would try something new and join this whole blogging thing. I don't really have anything exciting to write about so we will see how exciting this is. Stay tuned for more to come!