The past 5 days I have been playing mom to 5 children. I've done this before, on multiple occasions even! Same kids, same me, but suddenly harder. I don't know why it's harder. I've determined it really doesn't have anything to do with the kids, just with me. Patience is thinner, perhaps? Perhaps. Needless to say, Friday can't come soon enough. I'm not equipped to handle 5 kids for much longer!! :)
Dallin is in Ellensburg. I will be joining him Saturday, where we will FINALLY be able to settle. Somewhat. I feel like a vagabond right now. No real place to call my own. At least in Ellensburg we'll have a place that will feel like it's ours. Until Jeff and Valerie give us the boot. :) We've been doing this whole long distance relationship for a few weeks now. Needless to say, I am ready to be done. I like my husband, as mentioned in posts previous. So I'd rather be near than far. You feel me, right?
The sun is shining!! HALLELUJAH. I have been in need of some serious vitamin D lately. Yesterday and today have been a savior to my soul. I needed some yellow and blue in my life. Too much gray here lately.
I've started working out again and can I tell you how amazing I feel? Working out just makes life so much better. And I feel much more pretty, which is also good. :)
My car. Oh curse my car. It has been such a loyal little thing until recently. Christmas Eve, my window got smashed in due to my stupidity in leaving a jewelry box on the front seat. And my deductible on my insurance is such that it would have cost more to pay the deductible than to pay for the window myself. Darn you Progressive. Then, on a trip home from Ellensburg about a week ago, my car started acting really weird. RPM's all over the place, no response to my gas pedal. . . yeah, I was freakin out a little. Ok. A lot. A few tears were shed, then I took it in to the mechanic. Mass Airflow Sensors went ka-put. Darn you mass airflow sensors! Then my car started acting weird again. The next day. This time I had some cute little 4-letter words floating around my brain. (Scratch that, not so cute) The mechanics thought maybe it was my mass airflow sensors again. I had my doubts. Turns out I was right. It was a coil connecting to my spark plugs. So, the coil was bad and the spark plugs were bad. Tack on another cute little bill. Twice in one week! Darn you electrical coil and spark plugs! Since I have been nannying for the past 5 days, I haven't been driving Jorge, but she better be running well when I do start driving her again. (yes, it's a SHE and HER name is Jorge. Don't ask. I dunno why.) Anywho! She's been a little kick in the pants that Jorge. So, after taking her to the mechanic a 2nd time, we did what any rational couple would do. We went to Ford and test drove the new Ford Edge. And then drooled over the new 2010 Ford Taurus. What's that, you say? You haven't seen the new 2010 Ford Taurus? Do yourself a little favor and go here right now. And then drool with me. Cause it's pretty. Eye candy folks, eye candy.
So here I am, two kids eating toast, in my sweats, finally breathing again. Cause three are in school. Thank. Goodness. Now, if you will please excuse me, I have laundry, dishes, and kids to take care of. Oh and a shower will be worked in there somewhere. Hopefully.
January 19, 2010
December 29, 2009
Santa Baby. . .
Apparently I was a lot better than I thought I was this year, 'cause Santa decided to deliver the mother load to our fortunate stockings. Photoshop Elements 8 and a Canon Rebel T1i with telephoto lens and 4 GB SD card. (Ok, the camera is technically mine AND Dallin's, but I have been having fun with it :)) I seriously got choked up when I opened my camera. I am so. stinkin. excited. You have no idea. I have been toying with photoshop and have been having soo much fun. And the pictures that my new camera takes are amazing! I will share a few on here with you, just cause I love em so much. :) Oh yes, and Dallin got a 1 TB external hard drive for our laptops (hallelujah!) which is MUCH needed now that I have lots of new pictures and ps elements to hog all my hard drive space. :) I just want to thank my Mom and Dad and Jeff and Valerie for their AMAZING generosity to us. We truly feel so blessed. We are the luckiest kids on this planet. For sure.
Jeff took this right after we opened our new camera. See those smiles? We were just a little excited. :)
I took this with our telephoto lens and every time I look at it, my stomach does flip flops. I've got the best looking husband. Ever.
Jeff took this right after we opened our new camera. See those smiles? We were just a little excited. :)
I took this with our telephoto lens and every time I look at it, my stomach does flip flops. I've got the best looking husband. Ever.
December 15, 2009
What was that? A complaint?
Yup. A complaint. I'm not the happiest camper right now. Any guesses as to why? Oh, could it have to do with the fact that I am packing up and moving for the 5th time in 12 months? Perhaps.
Now, class, why would that make Ashley mad?
*raises hand*
"Yes, Ashley?"
"Is it because Ashley's questioning her sanity right now?"
"That is a great answer! Yes! Anyone else?"
*another raised hand* Oooh, ooh, pick me!
"Yes, Ashley?"
"Is it because it's a really big inconvenience??"
"Another great answer! Yes! Any last guesses as to why Ashley hates moving?"
*raises hand, jumps out of chair* PICK MEEEEE!!!
"Yes, Ashley?"
"I KNOW!! It's because she's a huge klutz and ends up tripping and bruising herself and cutting herself and breaking all her nails!"
"Very good! And why would this be a bad thing?"
"Because then she looks like an abuse vicitim?"
"Exactly!"
Yes. Losing my mind. Right now. And throwing myself an enormous pity party while I am at it. But you know what stinks? Every time I think "boo-hoo, poor me", then this thought simultaneously enters my head.
"At least you're not your amazing sister-in-law Staci who had to do this every summer when she and Nate were first married and they had at least one kid almost every time she did it. And they moved cross country. Every time. With kids. In a car. WITH KIDS."
And then another thought will pop into my head. "At least you're not your other amazing sister-in-law Hillary who moved cross country with a kid. Yes. Again, a KID."
And yet another thought pops into my head. "At least you're not your amazing sister, Tara, who had to move cross country with kids. In a van. With kids. And minimal stopping. With KIDS. Yes, there it is again, WITH KIDS!"
And then this last thought pops into my head. "You've got an amazingly wonderful fabulous husband who is stressing big time over final exams and final projects. The last thing he needs is his silly wife complaining about something else and making him stress out over yet ANOTHER thing."
Seriously? Perspective and maturity totally kill a pity party. Can't I just wallow in my self pity for like 5 minutes? Oh wait. I've already done that. And packed up 1/4 of the house because I was fueling myself with the anger. I guess that was productive in a sense. Oh well, I suppose I'll grow up and be a mature adult about this whole moving thing. It's an adventure, right? One that I will look back on with fondness and humor and think, "those were the good ol' days!" Yeah. . . not likely.
P.S. Writing all this significantly improved my mood. Thank you for letting me rant. *Sighs* Much better.
Now, class, why would that make Ashley mad?
*raises hand*
"Yes, Ashley?"
"Is it because Ashley's questioning her sanity right now?"
"That is a great answer! Yes! Anyone else?"
*another raised hand* Oooh, ooh, pick me!
"Yes, Ashley?"
"Is it because it's a really big inconvenience??"
"Another great answer! Yes! Any last guesses as to why Ashley hates moving?"
*raises hand, jumps out of chair* PICK MEEEEE!!!
"Yes, Ashley?"
"I KNOW!! It's because she's a huge klutz and ends up tripping and bruising herself and cutting herself and breaking all her nails!"
"Very good! And why would this be a bad thing?"
"Because then she looks like an abuse vicitim?"
"Exactly!"
Yes. Losing my mind. Right now. And throwing myself an enormous pity party while I am at it. But you know what stinks? Every time I think "boo-hoo, poor me", then this thought simultaneously enters my head.
"At least you're not your amazing sister-in-law Staci who had to do this every summer when she and Nate were first married and they had at least one kid almost every time she did it. And they moved cross country. Every time. With kids. In a car. WITH KIDS."
And then another thought will pop into my head. "At least you're not your other amazing sister-in-law Hillary who moved cross country with a kid. Yes. Again, a KID."
And yet another thought pops into my head. "At least you're not your amazing sister, Tara, who had to move cross country with kids. In a van. With kids. And minimal stopping. With KIDS. Yes, there it is again, WITH KIDS!"
And then this last thought pops into my head. "You've got an amazingly wonderful fabulous husband who is stressing big time over final exams and final projects. The last thing he needs is his silly wife complaining about something else and making him stress out over yet ANOTHER thing."
Seriously? Perspective and maturity totally kill a pity party. Can't I just wallow in my self pity for like 5 minutes? Oh wait. I've already done that. And packed up 1/4 of the house because I was fueling myself with the anger. I guess that was productive in a sense. Oh well, I suppose I'll grow up and be a mature adult about this whole moving thing. It's an adventure, right? One that I will look back on with fondness and humor and think, "those were the good ol' days!" Yeah. . . not likely.
P.S. Writing all this significantly improved my mood. Thank you for letting me rant. *Sighs* Much better.
December 9, 2009
Reflecting
I tend to take stock of my life around this time of year. Everything about the Christmas season just seems to make me more reflective, and somewhat sober. (In a non-alcoholic kind of way :)) And lately, it seems I have had some seriously sobering things thrown into my path.
As I was getting ready for work yesterday, I had the news on and it showed the procession of those police officers in the Seattle area who were shot and killed about a week ago. My heart ached for those families. What a difficult thing to face, especially at this time of year.
Then, later that day, while at work, a family came in to find suits and dresses for everyone because their son had recently passed away. It wasn't until a little girl came in later and told me he had killed himself that I realized it was a suicide. Once again, my heart ached for that family. They came in again today to get their respective suits, ties, dresses, etc. The daughter, who couldn't have been more than 15, and is just younger than the son who passed away, was trying on a dress for the funeral. As she looked at her mom, her eyes welled up with tears and she asked, "mom, do you think he'd like it?" In reference to her deceased brother. I stumbled across this scene by accident, just wanting to make sure everything was working out alright for them. I quietly slipped away and tears sprang to my eyes. The pain and sadness in that young girls eyes just tore me apart. Then, as the mother went to pay for all of their purchases, her eyes turned red, filled with tears and she said, "thank you for all you did for us." I almost lost it. I wanted to just hug that woman and tell her it was going to be ok. I wanted to do something, anything, to take the hurt out of her eyes. But, I just stood there, nodded and said, "you're welcome".
As I reflected on the recent events that have afflicted our nation, and on a smaller scale, affected a community and family, I thought about the first two commandments we are given. The first is to love God and have none else before Him. The second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. As those two commandments went through my head, I thought, "If everyone followed those two commandments, every problem that afflicts this world, would be solved." If we all were less selfish and more loving, if we cared more for others and thought less of ourselves, if we put our Heavenly Father's will before ours, wouldn't all the other problems just disappear? As I thought about this, I realized I have errors in my own life that need to be corrected, things that need to be changed. I want to be so much better than I am. And I want all the hurt and the pain to be vanished from this world. I know that won't happen, but I know that if I can be more selfless, and if I teach my future children to be selfless, won't that make a little difference? At least in a few lives?
As this beautiful season fast approaches, I pray that we can all feel our Saviors love for us and that we can strive to emulate His life. What greater gift could we give to our dear Savior than to love our brothers and sisters? May we all strive to be a little bit better in this coming year.
As I was getting ready for work yesterday, I had the news on and it showed the procession of those police officers in the Seattle area who were shot and killed about a week ago. My heart ached for those families. What a difficult thing to face, especially at this time of year.
Then, later that day, while at work, a family came in to find suits and dresses for everyone because their son had recently passed away. It wasn't until a little girl came in later and told me he had killed himself that I realized it was a suicide. Once again, my heart ached for that family. They came in again today to get their respective suits, ties, dresses, etc. The daughter, who couldn't have been more than 15, and is just younger than the son who passed away, was trying on a dress for the funeral. As she looked at her mom, her eyes welled up with tears and she asked, "mom, do you think he'd like it?" In reference to her deceased brother. I stumbled across this scene by accident, just wanting to make sure everything was working out alright for them. I quietly slipped away and tears sprang to my eyes. The pain and sadness in that young girls eyes just tore me apart. Then, as the mother went to pay for all of their purchases, her eyes turned red, filled with tears and she said, "thank you for all you did for us." I almost lost it. I wanted to just hug that woman and tell her it was going to be ok. I wanted to do something, anything, to take the hurt out of her eyes. But, I just stood there, nodded and said, "you're welcome".
As I reflected on the recent events that have afflicted our nation, and on a smaller scale, affected a community and family, I thought about the first two commandments we are given. The first is to love God and have none else before Him. The second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. As those two commandments went through my head, I thought, "If everyone followed those two commandments, every problem that afflicts this world, would be solved." If we all were less selfish and more loving, if we cared more for others and thought less of ourselves, if we put our Heavenly Father's will before ours, wouldn't all the other problems just disappear? As I thought about this, I realized I have errors in my own life that need to be corrected, things that need to be changed. I want to be so much better than I am. And I want all the hurt and the pain to be vanished from this world. I know that won't happen, but I know that if I can be more selfless, and if I teach my future children to be selfless, won't that make a little difference? At least in a few lives?
As this beautiful season fast approaches, I pray that we can all feel our Saviors love for us and that we can strive to emulate His life. What greater gift could we give to our dear Savior than to love our brothers and sisters? May we all strive to be a little bit better in this coming year.
November 23, 2009
God Bless America
I don't know these people, but I feel like this is a fantastic idea and feel like we should all unite and do this. It takes so little effort.
"DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER FOR AMERICA
My wife and I are firmly convinced that our elected politicians are incapable of representing the will of the American people and incapable of adhering to the Constitution of the United States of America which they took a solemn oath to uphold and defend.
We are among the millions of U.S. Citizens who are at our wits end sending e-mails, faxes, telephoning, meeting with elected officials, demonstrating, rallying and hoping that those representatives will do the will of the people. They have failed. Have we, as well?
The United States of America is a choice land, a nation that was founded by our forefathers who were divinely inspired by God the Father Almighty.
This choice nation has been the defender of freedom throughout its relatively short history. We have led in the fight for freedom against many tyrants and dictators who have plundered and pilfered their citizens and have subjected them to great sufferings through blood and horror.
The people of those nations who suffered such great injustice knew that they could always depend upon the goodness, power and righteousness of the United States of America to extract them from their plights, and it was done many times over. It was not done without expense -- the expense of the blood and sacrifice of the members of our armed forces and the suffering of their families.
As the year 2009 soon comes to a close, we the citizens of the United States of America find ourselves facing many of the challenges those nations suffered at the hands of their political leaders. We are being attacked from within!
Who do we turn to? To which great nation can we turn to help us keep and maintain our freedom? We do not have the same hope of those nations to whom we were benefactors.
We MUST turn to our Savior. If we are a righteous people, we will be deserving of, and receive of His blessings as He has promised. He suffered and died for us; He atoned for our sins --each of us, individually.
We know that, as a nation, we can once again be the choicest of lands. However, we cannot achieve that blessing without our willingness to please our Lord and Savior.
We are asking that all who read this message, who have faith in Christ, designate Sunday, December 6, 2009 as a day of fasting and prayer for America.
You do not have to march on the nation's Capitol or attend a tea-bag rally. From the comfort of your home, you can get on bended knee, and with broken heart and contrite spirit, petition the Lord to bless this nation generously according to His will. Then keep the fast for that day. Make that Christlike commitment to our Heavenly Father. He will listen, He will answer. That has been promised.
"And whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you." (3 Nephi 18-20) "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." (Matthew 21:22)
Joe and Janice Hagen, St. George, UT."
"DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER FOR AMERICA
My wife and I are firmly convinced that our elected politicians are incapable of representing the will of the American people and incapable of adhering to the Constitution of the United States of America which they took a solemn oath to uphold and defend.
We are among the millions of U.S. Citizens who are at our wits end sending e-mails, faxes, telephoning, meeting with elected officials, demonstrating, rallying and hoping that those representatives will do the will of the people. They have failed. Have we, as well?
The United States of America is a choice land, a nation that was founded by our forefathers who were divinely inspired by God the Father Almighty.
This choice nation has been the defender of freedom throughout its relatively short history. We have led in the fight for freedom against many tyrants and dictators who have plundered and pilfered their citizens and have subjected them to great sufferings through blood and horror.
The people of those nations who suffered such great injustice knew that they could always depend upon the goodness, power and righteousness of the United States of America to extract them from their plights, and it was done many times over. It was not done without expense -- the expense of the blood and sacrifice of the members of our armed forces and the suffering of their families.
As the year 2009 soon comes to a close, we the citizens of the United States of America find ourselves facing many of the challenges those nations suffered at the hands of their political leaders. We are being attacked from within!
Who do we turn to? To which great nation can we turn to help us keep and maintain our freedom? We do not have the same hope of those nations to whom we were benefactors.
We MUST turn to our Savior. If we are a righteous people, we will be deserving of, and receive of His blessings as He has promised. He suffered and died for us; He atoned for our sins --each of us, individually.
We know that, as a nation, we can once again be the choicest of lands. However, we cannot achieve that blessing without our willingness to please our Lord and Savior.
We are asking that all who read this message, who have faith in Christ, designate Sunday, December 6, 2009 as a day of fasting and prayer for America.
You do not have to march on the nation's Capitol or attend a tea-bag rally. From the comfort of your home, you can get on bended knee, and with broken heart and contrite spirit, petition the Lord to bless this nation generously according to His will. Then keep the fast for that day. Make that Christlike commitment to our Heavenly Father. He will listen, He will answer. That has been promised.
"And whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you." (3 Nephi 18-20) "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." (Matthew 21:22)
Joe and Janice Hagen, St. George, UT."
November 20, 2009
10 Reasons Why Today is a Good Day
1. We're OUTTA HERE!
2. Family
3. Turkey. . . oh Turkey.
4. No work for a WEEK. HALLELUJAH!
5. Family
6. Turkey
7. Pumpkin Pie
8. Skiing
9. Stuffing
10. FAMILY!
We're so excited for our week off to play and laugh and eat and eat and see lots and lots of family! Goodbye Rexburg, Hello Ellensburg and Pasco!!
2. Family
3. Turkey. . . oh Turkey.
4. No work for a WEEK. HALLELUJAH!
5. Family
6. Turkey
7. Pumpkin Pie
8. Skiing
9. Stuffing
10. FAMILY!
We're so excited for our week off to play and laugh and eat and eat and see lots and lots of family! Goodbye Rexburg, Hello Ellensburg and Pasco!!
November 10, 2009
"Love, it seems like only yesterday, you were just a child at play. . ."
Anyone who can name that song and what movie it is on will get 10 points. :) I'll give ya a hint. It's a Disney animated movie. I almost made that too easy. Oh well! Good luck!
So, Dallin and I decided on Sunday that we wanted to take a drive up to Mesa Falls. It's about 45 minutes from here and is where he proposed to me last fall. September 20, to be exact. It was really neat to go back up there, just me and him, and think about that day. It was such an exciting day. A day that will forever be burned into my memory. I remember thinking that I was the luckiest girl in the world that day. I still think I am the luckiest girl in the world today. And I am pretty sure I will always feel that way.
Here is my favorite picture of us on the day we got engaged.
Do we look different now? I kind of feel like we do. Not REALLY different, just. . . a little different, I guess. :) (Wow Ash, way to stun em with your eloquence!) Needless to say, I feel a lot different, on the inside, from that day. I have learned a lot. I have faced a lot. And I have grown a lot. We're coming up on our first year of marriage, and I have to admit, it's been a pretty dang good ride. We've had our moments that were hard, most definitely, but it has been such an awesome experience that I would not trade for anything.
Now, here are our pictures from this trip. We didn't have anyone there to take pictures of us this time, except each other, so we just worked with it. :)
This next picture was from last year at the lower falls, and when we were there Sunday, there were guys who were kayaking off of that! It was insane! We watched two guys go down the falls and, thankfully, resurface a couple seconds later. It was totally insane. I have made little markers to show you how/where they went down the falls. Just click on the image and it will enlarge, then you can see everything better.
Pretty crazy, eh? We thought so!
So, Dallin and I decided on Sunday that we wanted to take a drive up to Mesa Falls. It's about 45 minutes from here and is where he proposed to me last fall. September 20, to be exact. It was really neat to go back up there, just me and him, and think about that day. It was such an exciting day. A day that will forever be burned into my memory. I remember thinking that I was the luckiest girl in the world that day. I still think I am the luckiest girl in the world today. And I am pretty sure I will always feel that way.
Here is my favorite picture of us on the day we got engaged.
Do we look different now? I kind of feel like we do. Not REALLY different, just. . . a little different, I guess. :) (Wow Ash, way to stun em with your eloquence!) Needless to say, I feel a lot different, on the inside, from that day. I have learned a lot. I have faced a lot. And I have grown a lot. We're coming up on our first year of marriage, and I have to admit, it's been a pretty dang good ride. We've had our moments that were hard, most definitely, but it has been such an awesome experience that I would not trade for anything.
Now, here are our pictures from this trip. We didn't have anyone there to take pictures of us this time, except each other, so we just worked with it. :)
This next picture was from last year at the lower falls, and when we were there Sunday, there were guys who were kayaking off of that! It was insane! We watched two guys go down the falls and, thankfully, resurface a couple seconds later. It was totally insane. I have made little markers to show you how/where they went down the falls. Just click on the image and it will enlarge, then you can see everything better.
Pretty crazy, eh? We thought so!
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