If you know me but at all....

Lets just get to the point- I'm awkward, and I hate it, but I can't change it.

Setting the scene.... Christmas Eve night, at Derek's grandma, hanging out with all (and I mean all) of his family.  The other day Derek and I were discussing our Christmas plans and he was telling me all about going to his grandma's for Christmas Eve dinner.  Then he brought up something that instantly made me worry.  "Santa comes every year, and EVERYONE has to sit on his lap, its tradition."  "Uh, wait what? No way, not happening.  That is way too much attention on me at one time, uh-uh I'm not doing that."  "You have to ask him what you want for Christmas, so what do you want?"  Now me being the brat that everyone knows I am said... "What do I want? What do I want?  Hmm, ooh wait, I've wanted an engagement ring forever now, so I'll ask for that :) :)"  Derek looked at me and laughed as if he knew there was no way in heck I would ever say that especially in front of his family.  Alright, so cutting to the chase...

Christmas Eve.  My name got called to go sit on Santa's lap but luckily I had planned it so that I would be in the bathroom and hopefully get out of it all together.  Unfortunately I didn't get out of it, I had to sit on his lap.  As I'm walking up to his lap I was really nervous, I mean really nervous, yuck, I wanted to puke.  I sat down, looked at Derek and as I was being asked, "What would you like for Christmas young lady?" I said, "I would like... (then my voice got VERY shaky.  So shaky that no one could really tell what I said) an... eng-age-em-ment ring..." (just try to picture that coming out of my mouth, I felt like I was in 7th grade giving my impromptu speech all over again, oh the pain.)  I have no dang clue what Santa said after that all I know is I took my gift and ran back to Derek.  Everyone was laughing and I kept saying, "Wow that was way too much unwanted attention on me, Derek... Derek... I think I'm going to cry, I'm so embarrassed."  HAHA, oh heck.  His family kept saying, "Ash why are you shaking so bad?"  I was all, "Did you see what I just did?!?"  I can not handle being embarrassed, it feels like I got the wind knocked out of me.

We got to my moms later that night and I told her the whole story.  She looked at me and said, "What the?  My daughter said that?  There is no way... I can't believe that.  I bet you were so red and sweaty ahahahaha."  She thought it was so funny... as I hope all of you did too.  For the peeps that know me very well I'm sure you can picture this exactly how it was.  So, if anyone has any tips on how to not be awkward and embarrassed, I'm ALL ears.  I'll post pictures later and what else happened on Christmas, but for now I'm going to go back to my 'Box of Shame'.

Stewart.

So... about my puppy: I love her to pieces.  Its funny, since I started dating Derek, who always told me he hates small dogs, I never would have pictured he would like Chloe as much as he does.  And by like I mean love and by love I mean an uncontrollable need to hold her at all times.  Yes as much as it sucks to admit, I've totally and completely been bumped to Chloe's second favorite parent.  I remind her every day though that I am the one that purchased her, nursed her to health and the only one who will release her anal glands (might be too much information but hey I have to brag).

Of course, the reason she loves Derek so much is because he is a spitting image of my step father.  Derek is always prepared with treats in his coat/pants pocket, he is always down to cuddle with her, and she know she can always go to him for a good belly rub.  Anyway, Chloe is pretty well trained ever since Debo came along so I recorded a couple of their tricks.  Just keep in mind, she is super hyper in these two clips so she doesn't hold still very long!  And also, there is a trick where Derek holds a treat in one hand and then puts both hands in a fist out in front of her.  The outcome of this trick is: Chloe smells both hands, picks the one hand that has the treat in it, then gets the treat.  But its not that easy because she is so hyper she just guesses both hands hahaha.

Sno-what.

So its decided, I'm not good at making my blog witty, entertaining, funny, make you laugh out loud, etc.  I need better writing skills.  Maybe I'll go to college for that.  When they ask me, "Why exactly did you decide to come to college?" I'll reply by saying, "Well, duhh, to learn to blog better. Hellllloo!"  Anyway, the past couple of days I've been exhausted, every night Derek and I try to fit in at least one or two episodes of Friends, (my all time favorite show ever).  We are currently on the 9th season.  Its almost over and every time I watch the whole series I still dread the last season, it's just so sad to see it end all over again.

And then after or before Friends my roommates, Bre and Lexi and I sit down with our boyfriends and play the Wii.  Talk about addicting.  But I'll give a quick shout out to Evan Prisk for letting us use his Wii every night, and to Andy Harris for putting aside his homework and studying to get us new levels to play. Its a great way to bond with the roomies and get us all close when it is cold outside, its the best. 

Also we have been playing the Newlywed Game, Andy borrowed it from his brother and its been really entertaining for us.  We've played it for the past couple of nights and we've stayed up way too late so Lexi and I made a pact that we were not going to play it for a couple nights.

A couple of nights ago Derek and I stopped by 7-11 to pick up some drinks and a movie.  Quick tangent, we rented Smokin' Aces II, and when we were done watching our friend Evan told me that the girl in it was Taylor from the OC.  I was all, "Dude your smokin' crack, I would have recognized her for sure."  Later that night I woke up at 2 or so in the morning and was all, 'oh my gosh she is in that movie!'  It didn't click to me because she was so cute in the OC...

And so not cute in Smokin' Aces... YUCK

Anywho, I got out of the car and started kicking off the snow that had built up around my front and back tires.  (I don't know how to better explain that, but everyone in Utah knows what I mean because everyone has to do it.)  Anyway, I felt like my car was having a hard time turning good because you could hear all the snow/ice grinding on my wheels.  I got to the back passanger side tired and saw a huge chunk of ice and snow build up.  And here is Derek and I's conversation...

Me: "Debo, come here! There is a huge chunk of ice around this tire and I can't get it off."
Derek: Kicking the ice off, "Its not that big of a deal Ash your car will really be fine."
Me: After seeing Derek kick off the big chunk of ice, "Ooh wow see, no wonder my car wouldn't turn!"
Derek: Staring at me with a blank look on his face, "Ughhh babe, you car does not turn with the back tires. Wow sometimes you scare me with the things you say."
Me: "Dang it, shoulda thought that one through."

We called my mom after this little conversation and she apologized for Derek having to put up with me.  HA sometimes I wonder why the heck he'd wanna marry me!

Possessed.

My roommate Bre took this video one day, these dogs are honestly nuts together. I would like someone to tell me what the crap Chloe is digging for...

We Are Who We Are

The holiday's are starting and this year things are going to be a lot different.  Craziest part about it is that Derek and I aren't married yet, or even engaged but we are splitting up the holidays to spend time with each others family.  It is going to be so different not going up to my Grandma Kay's house this year or spending Thanksgiving with my family but I am super excited to spend it with Derek's.  I guess when Christmas comes we'll figure out a good enough plan for spending time with both our families.  Its also hard having our parents divorced but seems to be perfect that our Dads live 5 minutes from each other down in Lehi.  I'm not sure how this Christmas will go, I usually have a lot of money to spend on people (and myself haha) for gifts but this year I find myself completely broke since I bought a car.  I really liked the car before I had to make my first payment on it... dang it.  I'm hoping that this Christmas my mom and I would be able to take our little girls trip down to Salt Lake for Christmas shopping and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert.  We'll see if we can even get tickets to go this year though.

So, on Monday night I noticed Chloe's eyelids were really puffy and she was looking/acting really weird.  I didn't think too much about it- because like me- she gets sick a lot from random things but always seems to heal herself.  Tuesday night Derek noticed that Chloe's belly was kind of red and splotchy, he mentioned it but neither of us thought anything more about it.  Then Thursday, I think, we ran home from lunch together and both Derek and I noticed that Chloe's eyes were really puffy, her belly was really red and her skin was burning up.  I called the Vet and made an appointment for later that day.  The vet took blood tests, telling me that she probably just doesn't have enough platelets in her blood which means she wont clot if she starts bleeding.  Well great that is just what I want to hear- but it just so happens that the test came back negative (thank goodness) and the only other thing the vet thought it might be was a spider bite.  Well Saturday Chloe's 'blood rash' and everything else was gone.  Woop woop! $125 later she is fine.  Although you can tell she still isn't feeling very well at all, which still freaks me out.  If I could find the suspected spider that bit her, I would make him suffer a painful death.  Or at least find a way to make him pay me back my $125 I had to spend.

And DANG IT. I'm mad at myself for not bringing my camera to work to upload these pictures!! My good friend Brittany and her boyfriend Aaron found a little Shih Tzu dog out in some field.  We think she was dropped off by her family because she is pregnant.  Friday Aaron brought her over to hang out with Chloe, and my friend Lindsee brought over her dog, Sophie, so it turned out to be a freakin' dog party!  I took a great picture of Lindsee, The Dog Whisperer, with all three dogs.  We should have thrown Coco in the mix too but she didn't want to come out of Bre's room.  Its a classic picture, I'll have to post it later this week sometime :)

*Cutest baby Lady Bug*

*Her mom made the costume from scratch*

*Logan, Jordyn, Me and Little Ry*

Update.

Although I've told the FedEx man that I dropped out of school, he still asks, "How is school going?" everytime he comes into the office.  Heck.  I though I'd made it clear that school is a topic we don't need to discuss anymore since I DON'T EVEN GO... ANYMORE! Being friendly is nice, discussing a topic that I've tried avoiding 100 times, not nice. That is all.

Ship me away

Alright so for all of you that know how awkward I am, this story will hopefully make you laugh... Everyday at work FedEx or UPS delivery guys come drop off packages to us and usually we exchange in friendly conversation. 

So one fine day this new delivery boy came in and asked me if I was going to school.  (And just so everyone knows, I hate that question.)  Because no I am not going to school right now, no I don't know when I will go, no I don't think I'm a failure if I am not in school and it shouldn't make a difference anyway.  I guess that in a college town though that is all people can think to make up conversation.  Oh well.  Anyway, Here is our conversation...

FedEx Employee: "So are you going to school right now?"
Me: "Uhh, yea sure, I am" (Because its easier to say yes then no.. not in this case though)
FedEx Employee: "Oh awesome, what are you going into??"
Me: "Uhhhh... Uhhh... Child Development" (first thing that came into mind)
FedEx Employee: "That is so cool, what classes are you taking?"
Me: "Well... Hm... you know what's weird? I can't even remember my schedule right now... oh well.  I'm just taking the, uhh, usual 'family' based classes"
FedEx Man: "How long will that take you to finish, what kind of job are you looking to get... etc etc. (asking every possible question he could think of)"
Me: "Ooh well, ya know what? I'm actually really really busy right now... we'll talk next time, SEE YA!" (Ran to the back room) My face was bright red- case and point, NEVER LIE.

Well ever since then when he pulls his big FedEx his truck up to our building I run in the back room and have Shannon talk to him.  A couple of days ago I couldn't get out of talking to him, so when he came up I thought I was totally prepared.

FedEx Employee: "So how is school treating you?"
Me: (Refusing to make eye contact) "Oh I think I'm going to drop out"
FedEx Employee: "What? Drop out?  But you've already been in classes, why would you just drop out?"
Me: "I guess school isn't for me.... happens a lot I hear"
FedEx Employee: "Alright, well when do you think you'll start back up?"
Me: (Getting fed up with all the questions, how much does this guy insist on knowing??) "Oh- who knows, I've got a lot of other stuff going on right now, my dog, car, boyfriend... job... ya know? The usual.  SEE YA"

I just hate when I get myself in awkward conversations. And no one in the office is at my desk to get me out of them.  Oh well, just so everyone knows, I'm not attending school right now, and if I say I am, it's only because I can't control it. :)

Moppit Diaries (a continuation of the Moppit Diaries post about 2 years ago...)

Summer is almost over, and I'm not too happy about it.  The only couple of things I can look forward to are... Halloween.

Look at Stew all dressed up as a Fairy

She hated me this day

Chloe to become a full on Moppit Head

Look at the hair on that dog!

Decorating our little apartment for Christmas

Mom and Dave bought her flashing antlers

The Holidays are the only good thing about the cold that is coming for us.  Derek and I were even discussing our plans for Thanksgiving last night and the fact that I get to see my best friend, Taylor.  Its been way too long Hole, Mop misses her Aunt!  Anywho, last weekend I stayed up at my parents while they were in Chicago on a little family vacation (that I tried inviting myself to and got told, "Nope you have to stay home and babysit the dog" dangit). 

Aunt Camille and Cousin Pierce waiting at the airport

Derek, being the great guy he is, was up at my parents most of the time helping me with the dogs so I didn't lose my mind.  Most of the time we just took the dogs on a walk, relaxed while the dogs played (constantly) and then waited for them to fall asleep.  They were pretty easy to watch, and Chloe had a blast.

Playing on the deck.

Although most of the time Chloe is a really good dog, when she gets around Sadie she seems to forget everything we've taught her.  The only thing to get Chloe's attention is a 'TREAT' (said in a very high pitched, almost deafening tone).  If you don't have a treat in your hand when you ask Chloe to sit, calm down, stop yipping, stop eating the grasshopper or any other command you can think of, you mean NOTHING to her, and I mean nothing.  She never listens to me anyway but if Derek doesn't have a treat in his hand then he is dead to her. 

Treats even distracted them from their walk

Anyway, Chloe would not stop yipping at the door to get inside if she knew that we were home.  Sadie never really barks to get in the house but as soon as Chloe started, she started, then they both fed off each others anxiety of being outside and it was craziness.  I literally almost lost my mind the morning I was packing all of my stuff, which makes me regret I didn't get my phone out and film all the madness.

Sadie was in the middle of whining when I snapped this.

All in all they were really good to watch, most of the time just read Catching Fire (2nd book in the Hunger games) which I recommend to EVERYONE.  Seriously, if you haven't read it, you should because it is amazing.  I've now started into the 3rd book, Mockingjay, but I'm debating whether to read it fast so I know what happens to Katniss or read it slow to enjoy the last book.  I'm sure when I'm done reading it I'll feel like I lost a friend, but Derek will be happy because then maybe we'll actually do something together haha.  Speaking of The Hunger Games, I got my mom and Jennifer (my 2nd mother at work) hooked to the book.  So last night my mom stopped right when Rue gets speared (for all of you that have read it) and so this morning she took my Kindle and started reading the next chapter.  About 5 minutes after she started reading I went in her office and she was bawling.  It was cute and I'm pretty sure I cried at that part too.  Gotta love Annette!  Here are some pictures of my weekend... Enjoy!

Chloe is actually on the grass, this is a milestone in her life

Covered it Sadie Slobber

1st: Sadie was given a chewy

2nd: Chloe stole that chewy

3rd: Sadie wishes she had the chewy

4th: They both lost interest in the chewy

Sadie getting ready to pounce

Saying "HI" through the window in the truck

Speaking of animals... Check out the newest 'Animal Tracks' here.

New.

This time last year my parents were just getting rid of their car and purchased a 2009 Nissan Rogue.  They always told me that when they were going to sell it in a couple of years that they wanted me to buy and I figured it could be a good investment (even though cars aren't really investments).  Anyway it just so happens that last Saturday they were at Wilson Motor looking for a new car for our office.  They came across a Nissan Murano (a bigger/nicer version of a Rogue) and decided they wanted that car. (Very impulsive I know... I know...).  Well Monday my mom confronted me about purchasing their Rogue, if I wanted to, but no pressure.  After talking to Derek about it and figuring out if I could afford it, I decided to do it.  I'm so excited.  I have to say though- even though its a huge upgrade from my Accord, I'm pretty sad to part from that car.  That car has some good memories in it!  But here are just a few pictures of Rogue's, none of these are the exact one I'm buying, but you get this gist!

Here is the car, and the color of the one I'm getting (Iridium Graphite)

Picture of the back

And the 'trunk' but my interior is Black, and that is not my dog.

Ok this is obviously the back seat, but there is a lot more leg room than the

Accord had to offer.  And cup holders in the back, that's an upgrade!

Haha I couldn't find a picture of the actual front seats so here is just one,

its black leather with little red dots on it.

Front seat, I love that I actually have automatic windows, lock and cruise control.

So the car will be officially mine tomorrow morning.  I wanted to rush on the car so that I could use it to drive up to Bear Lake this weekend.  But funny story, My Step Dad took the car last night to Tremonton for the Tremonton Fair. (Not by choice, he had to sit at a booth for his office for 5 hours).  Anyway, he told me and my mom that he hoped he didn't hit a deer on the way back home.  I know he just says stuff like this to get me all worked up, but I figured it would probably happen just because I have great luck like that.  Well instead of a deer he hit a skunk. And instead of deer blood on the hood of the car, I get Skunk Spray.  I guess it smelled so bad that they couldn't park their car in the garage last night, gross.

Derek and I are pretty excited for this car.  Although its just me buying it, I'll look at it as ours.  Its an SUV so that IF I ever have children I can keep this car for a while because they'll fit in it really easy.  I'm super stoked for this car and although the responsibility is terrifying, I'm so excited to be doing this on my own.  It will really teach me how to manage my money for the past 2 1/2 years of living on my own I've just spent my money on whatever I've wanted to.  Now if anyone knows of someone looking for a decent Honda Accord, LET ME KNOW!

Miracles Happen.

Okay so I haven't blogged in almost a month, but I just haven't known what to write about! Sometimes I feel like my random blabbing about what I've been up to will lose the interest in my few readers (Lindsee & Derek) haha.  Well summer is almost over and I'm pretty upset about it, time has just been flying by.  I want to tell time to slow down, I'm still trying to enjoy the little moments!  Anyway, Derek and I haven't been up to too much, just hanging out- trying to do the usual summer things.  We recently went to Hogle Zoo and the Live Aquarium in Sandy.  We had so much fun to go to.  But, I am actually writing this post in a different light.  I heard a story today and I hoped to share it with some people because I thought it was amazing.  So here goes...

Place: Bear Lake
People: 7 adults (late 20's to early 20's)
Relation: One of my co-workers kids

A family that consisted of a Son, Daughter, their Spouses, a Cousin, his girlfriend and her daughter had rented a boat from a shop in Bear Lake late afternoon on Saturday August 7th.  They went out on the lake at 3:00 and were supposed to have the boat returned back to the shop by 5:00.  As they were driving around on the lake the boat stalled and they couldn't get it to start again.  They waited patiently while they tried to flag other boats down to come help them.  At 5:00 they had not had any luck with flagging anyone down and no luck with the boat starting again.  No one had their cell phones so Jess (the son) and the Son in Law decided they'd put life jackets on and try to swim to shore to get some help.  After being in the water for a while the wind started to pick up and the water was getting unbearably cold.  Jess decided he was going to try to go back to the boat, the son in law decided he'd still try to make it to the shore for help.  As they parted ways Jess could not find the boat, they were too far away from it at this time and he could not see it anymore.

A man was sitting on the balcony of his cabin looking out on the lake.  He noticed one boat sitting in the same spot.  Realizing that they had been there for a while he called 911 and told search and rescue that there was a boat in the middle of the lake that they needed to go help.  After watching Search and Rescue search for a while he called 911 again, "Hey you guys aren't even close to this boat."  911 transferred him to Idaho Search and Rescue and the man gave directions to help them find this boat faster.  Upon finding the boat they found Jess in the water blowing his emergency whistle on his life jacket.  Jess was okay but later taken to Logan Regional Hospital for check ups and released that same night.

The Son in Law was later found closer to shore but still in the water.  He was 15 minutes away from passing away due to hypothermia.  He was life flighted to McKay Dee Hospital and released late last night.  Well I think this is a pretty amazing story, but also has a crazy little twist to it.  The person that spotted the boat out on the lake and call 911 happens to be our boss.  Curt had no idea whose lives he had just saved.  My Co-Worker called him last night and thanked him for saving her kids, if it hadn't been for him one of her son's may have died.  Crazy stuff.  Stories like this remind me that there is a higher power and someone looking out for all of us.  What an amazing story if you ask me.

I actually found the story on Channel 2 News, its pretty crazy what they went through, watch the story click here.

 

Here are some pictures of Chloe (of course) Enjoy!

Birthday Blues

So today, on my way to work, I decided that I'm going to try to make it a tradition to write a post the day before my birthday... every year.  So I guess here it goes-

Its my birthday tomorrow!! And although the parties are dying down and a birthday seems like any other day- I'm so excited.  I'm excited to look back over the last year of my life and see how far I've come and if its OK with everyone that I say this: I think I've come pretty damn far.  Sorry but that's the only way to say it.  I have changed my life and I am happy for Derek to show me how to do that.  If I was still where I was last year I would be hanging out with the wrong crowd, doing stupid things and getting myself in trouble.  Because even if you aren't doing the stupid things your friends are: You will still get caught.  And you will still get in trouble.  Guilty or not.  Trust me I learned my lesson on that one.

I've just had the best year ever and I feel like it can only go up from here.  Derek and all of his 'problems' are being sorted out finally and Monday everything will go back to normal.  And even though I chose not to talk about it because I feel like Derek's personal life is between us and our friends/family, I am so happy things are working out.  He is amazing and we both learned a very valuable lesson from everything he has gone through.  Lets just say that one step forward in the right direction is happening now!

A lot of things have changed in the past month even.  Derek has been working nights, and it sucks.  Bre is just as random and lovable as ever.  Currently we've been looking for a new apartment (2 or 3 bedroom so if anyone knows of some let me know!!) We are also trying to scope out a 3rd, responsible and nice roommate.  No one can replace our Lindsee Jill but she is moving to Colorado next month to be closer to her boyfriend.  I'm going to miss the crap out of her but I'm so excited for her to go there and start their life together! Congrats Linds!  We've been hanging out lots more with Sabre and her little girl Zailee and I can't believe little Zai is almost a year old, crazy stuff!  My little puppy is almost 2.  She will be 2 years old on July 24th and I can't believe I've had her for that long.  I also am trying to convince her to turn human so I can find a nice apartment easier.  No one wants pets in the apartment (which I understand why) but she is NOT a dog, she has more personality then most people I know.  But I don't think a landlord will look at it like that.  Shucks.

I'm sad that lots of things are going to change after this summer is over, but I'm so excited to start new adventures with Derek.  I'm also excited that my birthday is tomorrow. Finally my parents can stop making fun of me because I'm still a teenager.  And also, finally when I tell people I'm 20 it wont be a lie!  I feel like when I tell people my age they are thinking, "Wow you and Derek are talking about getting married and you are that young?" So usually I round up.  Being a year older is only cool for about 2 months, then all my friends start having their birthdays again and I'm back to being the youngest.  Its rough. I'll write again about the birthday adventures.  I'm super stoked for girls dinner tonight and then Callaways tomorrow!  Love you all!

America Day

Craziest thing, I have been 'blogging' for almost ONE YEAR. Wow I can't believe that, seriously, I remember like it was just yesterday that I was writing about how lame my birthday was going to be. And look at me now- my whole life has changed! As everyone knows, it is almost the 4th. And the only great thing about this holiday is that I get a day off from work. A full day. It feels great. I can't believe I'm already complaining about work- and I only have about... hmm.... how many years left of working? Oh yea, just my whole life. Dang.


This year things are going to be different. I probably wont be causing much family drama because I plan to keep to myself this year and not get in any kind of trouble :) My parents are actually gone to Las Vegas to celebrate their 5th year anniversary. I can't believe they have been married 5 years already. Dave would probably say that because he had to deal with me and my troubled years of rebelling that its seemed like a lot longer. But I know if he looked deep inside himself (and I mean deep) he would probably find that he secretly loved all those years. But anyway, my family is going to be gone this 4th so I'm sure most of the weekend we will be with Derek's amazing family. Of course the big difference between Derek and I, is that I am a planner. I plan everything. If you think you are a serious planner, you haven't met me yet. I can't just sit around and wait for something to happen, there has to be a definite plan.


But I have yet to teach Derek to be a planner, so really I don't even know what we are doing this weekend. I know that Saturday Aaron and Brittany wanted to ride in the Cruise-In with us in some car of Aaron's brothers. We'll see if it really happens though. And of course we are going to watch the Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin fight (I hope Lesnar gets knocked out) at some friend's house. Other then that I just plan on relaxing and soaking up this wondrous 3 day weekend. Woop! Oh and Derek's mom invited me to go see Twilight: Eclipse with her and Derek's sister and I am stoked for that. :) Derek refuses to come, he would not be a manly-man if he went to Twilight, heaven forbid. So he can stay home and babysit Chloe. Lucky lucky him.

I'm uploading some picture I found on my computer today!
I hope everyone has a great 3 day weekend and an ah-mazing 4th of July weekend!

This is the cutest little girl ever *Rylee*

(I work with her mom and me and Ry love each other)

*Ry and Chloe when I first got her*

*Ry and Chloe*

*One of my best friends just had a little baby boy*

Kaisen Frankie Alveres

*7 Pounds 2 Ounces 19" long*

*June 27, 2010* <3

Videos. Videos. VIDEOS.

So for a long time I have been trying to figure out how the heck you post a video on here and FINALLY today I figured it out. So much for working way hard right? Well here are some videos that I've wanted to post for a while. Most of them are of Chloe because she is a pretty entertaining dog. So enjoy... let me know what ya think! <3


This is a video of Chloe with some boots on. Bre wanted to buy her dog some boots (don't ask my why haha jk bee!) but they didn't fit on Coco's feet. So we decided to see what Chloe thought of them. The video isn't the best quality on here but if you can't tell she is definitely not liking them too much.



Every day when Derek comes over he 1st: takes off his shoes (hello main rule in my home) 2nd: Sits on the couch and 3rd: gives Chloe a very long and much needed belly scratch. He will do this on average for about 5 minutes. When he is done and Chloe is NOT she will bark, scratch, kick, wine, yelp, lick you or bite your hand. Talk about spoiled. Derek now teases her to make her do all this. Its pretty funny to watch.



Bre likes helium. Enough said.



This is the best video I could get of Chloe being crazy. Next I need to get her bulleting and digging on my bed. Oh and when she tries to hide her chewies, that's pretty funny to. (Note: In this video I LOVE when she barks and scares herself... classic!)

Daily Affirmation

Monday- Friday Schedule

• 7:00: Alarm goes off, snooze is hit as fast as possible.
• 7:05-7:20: Alarm goes off every 5 minutes, snooze is hit repeatedly.
• 7:25: Finally drag my butt out of bed and get into the bathroom.
• 7:30: The daily complaining about work starts, and doesn't end ever.
• 7:45: Take Chloe out to potty, still so tired I have no idea if she went or not.
• 8:00: Get to work, hurry and get some caffine so I can try to make it through the first half of the day.
• 9:30: Finally stop dozing off at my desk, get more caffine.
• 11:30: Decently awake but waiting to go take a nap for lunch.
• 12:00: Rush home, take a 40 minute nap.
• 1:30: Back to work and my tiredness has come back.
• The rest of the day: Daydreaming about sleep and when I can get into bed for the day.
• 10:30: Inappropriate spirt of energy hits and I'm bouncing off the walls.
• 12:30: Laying in bed watching Friends trying to figure out why I'm still awake.
• Then start the day all over again.

This all brings me to this little YouTube video a lady at my work showed us.

I feel like I would have a much better day/work week if I did this every morning.

Its great. Enjoy!

Daily Affirmation

Since when did a dog take over our lives?...

Chloe aka Moppit Head.  She is just shy of being 2 years old and I think she has seriously grown out of her puppy stage.  Well not completely but pretty close.  She is adorable, Derek and I are soaking up all her love and loving every bit of it.  She has really been a small blessing (if you can call a dog that) to our little family.  When Derek and I first started dating I was really worried that he wouldn't like Chloe.  I mean how bad would that suck? But I guess in return for Chloe I got his XBox. Yay for me.  But now I have no need to worry, because sometimes I think Derek likes her more than me.  And I'm not kidding.

The other day my best friend brought home a little shih tzu/yorkie (Shorkie) mix which is what Chloe is.  At first Sophie did not act the the least bit pleased by Chloe, but after an hour of getting used to her new home, she wouldn't leave Chloe alone.  For once I think that Chloe was the one that didnt' want to play and Sophie was all up in her grill.  They are funny to watch.  The other day I woke up, opened the door to my room and Sophie came trotting in.  She picked up Chloe's chewy that was lying on the floor, walked as slow as she could into Lindsee's room (which is down the hall) and put the chewy right in the doorway.  She looked back at Chloe to see if she had gotten her attention.  Dogs are funny in the fact that they know how to taunt and tease another dog.  Chloe did not like that.  Sophie can probably kick Chloe's butt in a 1 on 1 match, she plays dirty!  (Like the other night she bit Chloe on the tail right next to her bum, cheap shot!)  The only 2 things Sophie hasn't learned yet is depth perception and maximum running speed.

Chloe is Queen at bulleting (also known as running up and down the hallway at high speeds for hours on end).  Sophie is a lot smaller than Chloe, she has much shorter legs (or maybe they just look shorter because she is so fluffy) and she has a tubby little belly that weighs her down a little.  It looks kind of like this-- Chloe bites Sophie on the ears to get her attention and then bullets down the long hallway into my room, around my bed and back up the hall.  After a while Sophie has caught on to follow Chloe and run as fast as she can.  She can usually do this and keep up to her but when she falls behind she usually starts nipping at the back of Chloe's legs.  Usually they run up and down the hall a couple of times, Chloe 5 steps in front of Sophie, taking sharp turns and spinning out.  Then there is Sophie, behind, slowly getting tired and running into things like the entertainment center or sliding onto the tile and having all 4 of her paws give out on her.  Its got to be the cutest thing every to watch Sophie. I love how puppies still haven't learned their power, or how to control their floppy paws.  One of these times when I can remember I will take a video of them doing this and post it on here.

Well that's about all I have to post right now.  So here are some pictures of lately :) enjoy!

-Chloe was tired and passed out in Dereks arms-

- Chloe stunk so Derek had to give her a bath-

-She would not hold still-

-Passed out after playing with Sophie all day-

"This Is The LIFE!"

I don't even know where to begin.  About Mexico of course.  It was a freakin' blast.  Now as many of you probably know, I went with my mother, step father, and my two amazing roomies, Lindsee and Bre.  We all got along great and we had an amazing experience together! But the main reason I am writing this post is to tell a couple of stories, that I find quiet hilarious. And I'm sure the people that know me pretty well will find them a little entertaining as well.

First off, I liked to think of myself as the 'WAVE QUEEN'.  The best part about going on a tropical vacation is the waves, ocean and of course the sun.  But for me, the deal breaker is the waves.  I always want to know what the beach looks like- is the water clear?  Are there jellyfish everywhere?  How big are the waves?  How strong is the undertow? Those are the definite deal breakers for me.  So first day in Cancun..

We arrived at the hotel, threw on our swim suites and ran down to the beach.  PERFECT weather, amazing waves and the water was crystal clear!  Us 3 girls were ready to jump in, but there was one thing that had to be thought about.  Timing is everything, you run out in the waves at the wrong time and the undertow will suck you under and spit you out.  I, of course, looking at myself as an experienced waver, told the girls to be careful.  I was all, 'wait until I tell you to go, then RUN as fast as you can.  Its really hard work I don't know if you guys can figure it out, blah blah blah...' bragging and trying to make myself sound like a bad a**.  It never works out for me when I try to brag, I end up looking like a complete idiot.  So I wait and wait... and WAIT for the right time to run out.  "GO GO GO!!" As far as I knew, the girls were right behind me.  I start running out with my inner tube around my waist, ALONE, and the next thing I knew I had a mouth and nose full of water and my feet are in the air.  The undertow had got the best of me.  I got washed up on the shore with a bottom full of sand (looking like I pooped my pants).  Everyone was laughing at me and as most of you know, I HATE unwanted attention.  The girls looked at me like I was an idiot.  The next time we went out in the waves, I let them coach me on when to go.

Mom- Me- Linds- Bee

No wonder everyone thought we were still in high school...

So onto my next story.  Scuba diving.

Wednesday morning we all woke up early to catch the bus and head over to 'Scuba Cancun'.  Now let me clarify this for everyone, none of us (except my step dad) are certified to scuba dive.  Pretty much what they do is teach you a crash lesson on everything you need to know and then throw you in the water for a 30 foot dive.  In the lesson all they teach you about is the bad things that can happen.  I understand they need to do that in case there is an emergency but it's still really scary to think about.  I mean, you don't have any training and the first thing you are going to do under water is panic.

They first gave us the lesson, then threw us in a pool to practice the things they talked about.  We all got in the water and the girls seemed to be doing fine, but I was a little freaked out about breathing under water.  Its just not natural! My mom got in the water last, stuck her head in, took two breathes, and said, "I'm not doing this. No way."  haha it was funny.  So they told her while we were scuba diving she could snorkel above us.  We all made it through the pool exercises pretty well and then we got on the boat.

The weather that day was cloudy, rainy and pretty windy.  On the ride out to the sight the waves were really bad.  I started to get iffy on if I really wanted to do this.  They got us in all our gear: the weights on our hips and our tanks strapped onto our backs.  They filled our vests up with air and told us to jump off the side of the boat.  We had to swim towards the back of the boat and grab onto a rope they had thrown in the water.  First Bre jumped in, she did fine, and then it was my turn.  I was really nervous at this point and seriously did NOT want to go.  But I didn't want to look like a baby in front of everyone, so I jumped off.  I panicked a little but decided to just swim up to bre and calm myself down.  Our instructor was waiting at the back of the boat to get us ready to go down.  Here is where it all went down hill.

The waves were smacking us in the face and I was really starting to panic when I made it to the back of the boat.  I took my regulator out of my mouth to ask the instructor what was going to happen.  I was mostly looking for comfort and for him to calm me down.  He shoved my regulator into my mouth and pushed my head under the water.  I just kept hearing him say, "Callllm downn Arshlee, just look at the rrrreef we are going to be loooooking at."  In my head I'm like, "DUDE! Stop! look at me, I'm freakin' out right now, STOP pushing my head into the water.. AHH ALL I WANT IS DAVVVVE."  Then this Hispanic guy came up behind me in total panic.  He started kicking me in the face with his flippers and pushing my head under water.  I honestly felt like I was in the Titanic.  The part when someone grabs onto Rose and pushes her under water to try to keep them self afloat.  Too bad I didn't have Derek there to punch the guy like Jack did.  I kept yelling at him to stop and get away from me.  Then I see Enrique's (that was our instructor) little hand come up out of the water and start letting the air out of my vest.  I was going to sink,that was all I could think about.  I didn't even have my regulator in my mouth.

Next thing I know I'm splashing, kicking, thrashing, punching and screaming.  Every time I saw that little hand come out of the water and let the air out of my vest I'd smack it away and scream "STOP TOUCHING ME, GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME.... I SAID, STOP TOUCHING ME!!!!!" I would fill the vest back up with air.  I was close to drowning numerous times, trust me. I mean, this experience was completely horrifying and humiliating.  Then out the corner of my eye I saw Linds swimming over to us.  When she got closer all I could see were her eyes buggin' out in her goggles.  She was all, "Ash I can't do this lets get the f outta this water."  I was totally down with this new plan.  I screamed to everyone that I was going over to Dave.  Linds got out of the water and onto the boat but I decided to have Dave calm me down, then maybe try to go down to the ocean floor.  Next thing I know the instructor ripped off my flippers, threw them on the boat and said, "Get out!" I may or may not have made him mad with the screaming and hitting.  Oh well, minus one hundred bucks and up one good story.

My mom, who was on the boat the whole time, had secretively told the instructors that I was probably going to panic and baby out.  It was true.  She said she knew it was all over when she heard screaming and splashing from the boat.  Oh well! I tried it and maybe someday I'll try it again.

  

The girls in front of Scuba Cancun

Bre and I in our awesome wet suits.

This is the kind of love I get from my parents

Me holding a star fish

Me holding a Sea Urchin

The girls and I at the tip of Isla Mujeres

On the beautiful beach- Be jealous. Seriously.

So this trip was pretty much AMAZING.  I've taken a lot of vacations but this one took 1st place by a long shot.  I'll for sure go back to Cancun again sometime, it's gorgeous there.  <3