a little bit of this, a little bit of ash

3

2012-02-11T22:59:00.000-08:00

well friends, it's official. scotty jacob marx and i have been married for THREE WHOLE MONTHS! and might i say, they have been the best three months of my life. i am the luckiest! scotty and i are so happy. every morning i wake up and am so grateful for this cute husband of mine and all he does for me.

to celebrate this milestone in our fresh married life, we had a wonderful day spending quality time together. our friends jen and tony came over for a lunch and H&M date, which did not disappoint. we had fun helping them pick out their engagement picture outfits (can't wait to see how they turn out!) and even splurged on an italian soda at nordstrom.

tony and jen went home, and since scotty didn't have to work tonight we had the whole night to ourselves! a blank canvas to fill! now, you should know that i'm not a big movie-goer. in fact, i would even go as far as to say that i don't really like going to movies. i willingly see a movie maybe just a few times a year- only if it's something i'm really into. i don't just go see one "for fun" haha. BUT, i have been looking forward to seeing the vow ever since i saw the trailer for it! it looked SO cute and SO good. i have been antsy waiting for it to come to theaters!

scotty and i had originally planned to see it next week for v-day, but tonight i decided i just couldn't take the suspense any longer. i wanted the heart-throbbing, butterfly-giving, tear-jerking movie that i have been looking forward to for oh so long! i went into the movie already deciding that i loved it. and with rachel mcadams & channing tatum involved, i knew nothing could go wrong.

i was WRONG! everything was SO WRONG! wrong wrong wrong!!! i feel like i have been lied to! the trailer depicts an adorable love story with passion, dedication, and hope of a loving husband. the movie was a bunch of fights and awkward story lines and disappointment mixed together with my favorite actress.

i am so sad. i had such high hopes for this movie! and honestly... at one point i sat there and thought to myself "i am so bored right now. how much longer is this thing?" ... seriously. a months worth of anticipation all for her husband to make ONE ATTEMPT of getting her back and taking her on a date, and then practically give up. so stupid! i'm glad that we got prepaid movie tickets for christmas because i would have been pissed to pay for our own tickets haha. scotty and i could film 2 random hours of our day and it would be a better love story.

i wanted something to make me laugh, cry, warm my heart, and all of those other ridiculous emotional feelings a girl going to a chick flick wants to feel. i sat there with a blank face, chuckled 2 times, and didn't shed one single tear.

if you want more specific details, read my friend's blog here. she pretty much spoke my mind word for word. however, this date was not a complete waste of my life! it made me appreciate scotty for being willing to see a girly movie with me, and being a good sport the whole entire time. also, on the way home we discussed what we would do if the other person got in a car crash and lost his/her memory. we both would fight every day and not give up like SOME people in SOME retarded movies.

wait until it comes out on redbox... or just don't see it at all. seriously.

you won't be missing out on anything.

happy black history month

2012-02-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

do you ever wonder what you would look like in a different color?

i do.

i don't know about you, but i think i could totally pull it off.

thank you picnik.com for providing me with hours and hours of entertainment while my sweet husband is at work!

out of the mouth of babes

2012-02-08T14:40:00.000-08:00

scotty and i teach the valiant a class in primary.

it is pretty much the highlight of my week!

they are so fun. sometimes i sit there with tears streaming down my face because i am laughing so hard. and since i am such a generous person, i thought i would share some of their hilariousness with you.

lesson 4: the tree of life

so lehi had this dream. In his dream, this is what he saw:

does anyone know what it is? 3 kids at once: IT'S A WATER SLIDE!!! no... it's the iron rod. the iron rod led up to the tree of life. the tree had the most delicious fruit anyone could ever imagine! what's the best thing you've ever eaten? shell noodles with a creamy, white, cheesy mac and cheese sauce. oh man. well, this fruit was ten times better than that! uh that's seriously not possible.

so lehi is at the tree -scotty draws lehi by the tree- he's probably wearing some robes and a turban. you know what a turban is? oh like what the sultan wears on aladdin! don't forget the diamond and the little feather coming out of the top!!!

next to the tree there's a building. the scriptures say the people in the building were wearing "exceedingly fine clothing" ... what do you think that means? what do you picture them wearing? oh probably just some skinny jeans and a nice tee...

the iron rod represents the word of god. god?? isn't that dog spelled backwards?!?!? uh yeah... but it's also god spelled forward.

in the meantime, i'm sitting next to a kid who is borrowing my old scriptures. sister marx, why is there so much pink in here? it's my favorite color! i used it to highlight every time the scriptures mentioned jesus. oh. i would have highlighted in black.

the fruit represents eternal life. eternal life means that we get to live with heavenly father and jesus for all eternity. so basically we're gonna turn into zombies?

out of nowhere in the middle of the lesson hey sister marx, how did you get that hole in your chin???

then, after traveling in the wilderness for such a long time they finally reached a beautiful place. they called it bountiful because it was so pretty and it had all kinds of fruits and plants. oh yeah, i've been to bountiful.
then heavenly father told nephi that he had to build a boat. can you imagine building a boat? none of you have ever built a boat before, right? well i made a pinewood derby one time. haha yeah, not quite the same thing. but it won first place!

let's draw pictures of what kind of tools you think nephi would make to build this boat. wow katelyn, your picture is so good! you are such a great drawer! well sometimes, but there are some things that i can't draw. like an elephant sitting down is really hard.
(prayer at the end of class) we're thankful for coming to class today, i say these things in the name of jesus christ amen. WHAT?! i'm not thankful for coming to class today!!!!

even though they're not always excited about coming to class, we are. we love them!

S.W.F.

2012-02-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

an acronym i just made up for our new favorite game.

SCRAMBLE with FRIENDS.

so much better than its cousin (the strategy-demanding, brain-hurting, boring, 35-day-long game) "words with friends"

if you dont have it- download it.

if you dont have a smart phone to download it onto- buy one.

if you don't have money to buy a smartphone- figure it out.

if you can't figure it out- rob a freaking bank or something.

okay it's not that great. but it is really fun.

we've had it for a whopping 2 days and we're hooked. i close my eyes and see a scramble board.

and i'm not trying to say that scotty and i are addicted... but we may or may not have spent the last hour and a half playing each other on our 6 different games we have going at the same time.

quality marital bonding, right there.

p.s.... speaking of marital... YAAAY!!!

calling all wives!!!

2012-02-04T14:34:00.001-08:00

i have a question.

actually, a few questions.

so... i have this box in my room.

it's really big.

and it's holding this:

my beautiful beautiful beautiful wedding dress!

i mean, look how lovely it is

this is the look i was going for haha...

nailed it.

anyway, getting to the point.

part of me is like oh my gosh- i could sell it and buy groceries for the next 6 months! it's just taking up space that we don't have. it's not like i'll wear it again. hopefully my daughter won't be as fat as i was, so it's not like i could save it for her. it will probably be super outdated by then anyway.
and then the other part is like but it's my WEDDING DRESS!!!!! it's so special! i love at and it is exactly what i wanted. maybe my daughter will want to look at it. i could make something out of it. it's pretty.

see the problem?

what are your thoughts?

did you save your wedding dress?

if you did, are you glad you did? have you touched it in the last however many years?

if you didn't, do you regret selling it? does it even phase you that it's gone?

HELP!

2011 recap

2012-01-26T23:38:00.000-08:00

listen, i know january is practically over by now. but i just wouldn't feel right if i didn't give 2011 the send-off it deserves. 2011 was a really, really, really, fantastic year for me. probably the best one in my entire life. so many major changes! and so many firsts, which i have conveniently marked for you in the bold font. i loved 2011, i really did. it hurts me to part with that special year, but i don't really have a choice. so let us take a few minutes to reminisce on what made my 2011 great, so i can be emotionally prepared to let go.

well, the very first week of JANUARY i started the year off with my first detox, the master cleanse. it was quite the experience. felt great, changed my life, never doing it again.

i also attended my first rebel basketball game. no more description necessary.
and i got my wisdom teeth out!

in FEBRUARY, i saw the justin bieber movie for the first time. this time was in theaters with my best friend. about 200+ times followed throughout the year.
scotty and i had our first valentines day together, and he spoiled me.
FEBRUARY was topped off with a ski trip at brian head with the fam, where i tried snowboarding for the first time.
in MARCH i made my first "mature person quilt"
and went on my first motorcycle ride
a thrilling month, really.

according to my blog, camera, facebook, and calendar, the only noteworthy thing that happened in APRIL was the nordstrom half-yearly sale. which is definitely not a first for me.

i love my friends.

MAY was a month of mourning, as i suffered a very painful loss.

in JUNE, i bought my first pair of enzo's.
*swoon*

scotty and i took the most amazing underwater picture of all time,

and i purchased my first iphone. white. 3g. 16gb. perfect in every way. she's my bestest best friend. since day 1.
JULY was the month that ended it all. well... the harry potter series, at least. i was really sad. but nonetheless, tanner and i were at the midnight showing ready for the tears and action.
i witnessed (and partially forced) scotty's first swim in the ocean.
and he was there for me when i held my first sparkler.
i also had the pleasure of meeting the mayor for the first time!
we wear our saturday-best to go eat samples at costco.

speaking of costco, in AUGUST i got my first costco card. the day i first felt like a real woman was the day i walked into costco on my very own. (without donna sneaking me in through the exit...)
look at the pure joy on my face.

i moved into my first "real apartment" with these beautiful, beautiful ladies.
and had my first day of a new semester.

SEPTEMBER was a bittersweet month for me.

one moment im having the time of my life, chipper and showered with presents, and the next week i'm sick as a dog.

1/3th of the month was spent in the library, another 1/3th was spent sick (with my first case of pneumonia), and the last 1/3th spent sick in the library.

OCTOBER brought promising changes. i went through the temple for the first time. that was a beautiful day in my life.

i had my first bachelorette party!
that was a blast! fun weekend with all of my favorite girls.

i purchased my first blazer, featured in the above photo.

i also got my first form of birth control! hooray for being a woman.

and while this month may seem all wonderful and dandy... let us not forget this tragic night.

ahh, NOVEMBER. now we're getting to the good stuff.

i started the month off by seeing Thomas S. Monson in real life on the first!

wonderful picture quality, i know.

and then, 10 days later, i got married! for the first and last time haha.

ooo he is the cutest.

my ring doubled in size,

we went on our first honeymoon, which happened to be my first cruise and my first time leaving the country!

funnest-trip-of-my-life award.

scotty and i moved into our first apartment!

and in more depressing news, nordstrom announced its closing of the orem store. stupid.

DECEMBER is always a pleasure!

we had our first christmas as a married couple.

got a wii!

our first christmas tree.
and i even turned 21.

what a growing year for me! I am a completely different person from who i was in 2010. i am so grateful for all of the challenges, stresses, wedding planning, and decision making that brought scotty & me to where we are today. i am so happy. 2011 was the happiest and best year of my life. i don't know what 2012 can offer to compete with all of the wonderful things that happened to me in 2011... so bring it on!

she's done it again!

2012-01-22T23:23:00.000-08:00

ever since i can remember, i've had this special way with teachers.

almost like a teacher whisperer, if you will.

i just flash that smile and answer a few questions on the first day of school, and it's all over. the whole rest of the school year, i have them wrapped around my little fingers. i used to walk down the halls of bonanza high school waving to the principal and high-fiving the deans in the middle of class periods without a hall pass.

these skills have come to me as a precious gift, and i will not ignore their presence. i assure you that i am taking full advantage of these gifts and am putting them to good use.

i specifically remember one beautiful spring morning when i was confidently walking to my car during our closed-campus lunch hour, and watched as Dean Taylor stopped a group of kids in front of me. he got angry with them for ditching and trying to leave for lunch, and started to escort them all back into the school with threats of detention. i was a bit nervous as i kept walking to my car, headed right toward the group of students and dean taylor. but when our paths crossed, he greeted me with a "good morning, ashley!", to which i smiled and continued on my journey to sonic. mission accomplished.

and who could forget junior year english with regina? we had to memorize a section of some shakespeare play... i can't remember which one, my mind is blanking out. just like it did when i stood in front of the class and said "honestly, ms. johnson, i'll just take the F. i can't remember this poem for my life." some people laughed, and i'm sure others shook their heads. but regina looked at me with these big, brown, hopeful eyes and pleaded, "it's okay! take your time. i'm sure it will come back to you, ashley. sit down if you need to, you can try again in a few minutes." HA! okay. i go sit down and look at my notes while a few other people go. i take another turn, read 2.5 lines out of the required 15, and managed to pull out a B for that assignment. let's just say i lost some friends after that.

i could sit here for hours and bore you with many other stories of my butt-kissing successes, but tonight let me just share my most recent feat as a teacher whisperer.

picture this: it's wednesday night. i have classes from 8:00 am to 9:30 pm and want to shoot myself in the face. all morning i heard rumors of a big snow storm expected for that night... great. a 40 minute commute turns into an hour and a half in the snow... and at 9:30 pm?! not my idea of fun. suddenly i remember my teacher for the late class (6:50-9:30) commutes from salt lake, too! and she said that if there were ever bad weather conditions, she would most likely cancel class. she instructed us to keep an eye on our inboxes during the snowy days, and promised she would let us know by late afternoon. around 4:30, i still had no sign of her in my inbox. i was starting to lose hope.

i decided to take matters into my own hands with an informative email.

maybe a little cheesy, but i'm sure it hit the spot on a busy wednesday for her stressed out, principal self.

literally less than 10 minutes later, every one in the class received this email:

"evidently i am not the only one from our class who commutes from the salt lake valley."

... as if to say "i was planning on bucking up and coming to class, but now that i know i'm not the only one making the drive, we can just forget about it!"

a strength in numbers kind of deal.

it's the little heart-warming experiences like these, my friends, that assure me i can graduate from college.

my birthday boy

2012-01-20T22:40:00.000-08:00

i feel like january has so many birthdays!

every week in jan. i have at least two of my favorite people celebrating their birthdays.

it's birthday-madness month haha.

most importantly is my dear husband's birthday on the 17th!

yes, it is on the 17th. but this year it kind of turned into a week-long birthday extravaganza.

only the best for my lover!

recap:

presents. i got him a new sweater and a man bag he has been drooling over :)

(or in his words... a "satchel")

and don't even think about judging my choice of wrapping paper!

we hung out at his favorite store, brookstone...
tried out some of their products.

ate dinner at olive garden...
they sang to him.

played wii games...
close game, close game.

i love scotty. im so glad we had this whole week to dedicate to him and his awesomeness.

and in honor of him turning 23, i would like to share the top 23 things that i love about scotty or reasons why i love him!

1. those blue eyes!
2. he loves me

3. his laugh

4. he has a strong testimony of the church

5. he listens to all of my stories

6. he pretends like i am an amazing chef

7. mr. fix it! he does all kinds of wonders around the house

8. he is tall

9. he paints the fingernails on my right hand

10. his passion for school

11. he lets me snuggle on the couch with him
12. he wants the best of the best for me

13. he's protective

14. he is a hard worker

15. he lets me drive sometimes because i'm scared to be a passenger

16. his big dreams for our future

17. he treats me to brazilian style beans/rice when i'm not in the cooking mood

18. his massages are better than a professional's

19. he invites me to his grey's anatomy marathons

20. he is always honest and loyal

21. he sings

22. he holds my hand

23. and last but not least... his sense of humor!

scotty is so funny... all the time.

i mean, look at what our sweet photographer had to put up with-

he cracks me up.

i love this guy, and i am so lucky to spend the rest of his birthdays with him for forever!

happy birthday scotty!

pretty big deal.

2012-01-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

i know now that november has come and gone, you're probably rejoicing in the fact that my wedding is over so i will blog about something else.

right?

WRONG!

bahaha. i know it was over two months ago, but i still can't get over how completely perfect it was. best day of my life, hands down! you know? so naturally, i want to keep talking about it and thinking about it and blogging about it so that i will never forget how magical it was.

speaking of magical...

our wedding was such a big deal, that even the most magical people i know sent us a wedding gift. too cute to not share.

accompanied with a "just married" pin.

this second couple isn't as magical... and i guess i wasn't as excited about them.

scotty was.

but im glad michelle & barack made a special effort to congratulate us.

straight from the white house.

i framed the disney one and it's in our living room... not sure where the president's is.

HA!

how old am i?

pinterest: real life edition

2012-01-08T19:25:00.000-08:00

i dont know about you, but i just can't get over pinterest. im addicted. and what is so addicting about documenting hundreds of recipes and crafts that most of us girls won't even get around to recreating in real life?!

well my friends... i am trying to break that notorious stereotype and prove that i will put pinterest to good use besides passing time at red lights or in sunday school!

let me woo you with pictures of my two favorite crafts i have created over the past month or so.

#1. christmas card-holding wreath.

SO CUTE, right? (that one is not mine)

so i ordered some clothespins
spray painted them green (i learned this method of spray painting clothespins on pinterest, too! who knows what i would have done if i hadn't seen this...)
did my best to bend a wire hanger, strung them on with beads, and tied a ribbon on top.

not AS cute as the one on pinterest but hey, i think if i tried again i could perfect it.
i think my beads were a little too big haha. oh well. it served its purpose!

#2. wedding card BOOK.

i am in love with this. if you're getting married, BOOKMARK THIS right now!

http://somethingturquoise.com/2011/11/11/diy-card-mini-album/

it is like my favorite thing ever.

using these materials:
i converted all of these wedding cards:
into an adorable book. because let's be real, i am kind of a sap. and after i read through the wedding cards for the fourth time, scotty asked me what i planned on doing with them for the rest of our lives. keep them in a bag above my dresser? throw them away? suddenly this became a real problem in my life. i really, truly, do care about these cards. i know there are like 200 of them but every single one is so special and sentimental to me.

so when i saw this idea on pinterest i practically squealed with joy.

i tied a ribbon so i can just undo it and flip through the book, still able to read every card.
(can you blame me for trying to showcase my adorable william-sonoma jars in the background?)
now it is conveniently on a shelf in my living room, easily accessible for whenever my heart desires.
so viola! i hope i have inspired you to take your pinterest findings into real life.

good luck!

christmas fun

2011-12-31T11:39:00.000-08:00

at the barnes household we have quite a few christmas traditions. the big train open house, christmas eve pajamas, lisa's bundt cake, my favorite birthday dessert, santa pictures, and so on.

i realized this year that we have another tradition... one that isn't as obvious or necessarily festive. in my family, we love giving presents. we love searching for just the right thing, keeping it a total secret from the person, and trying to mislead him or her with obscure hints. i'm sure this is common in other households, but i think our favorite part of the whole present-giving thing is what we do best: wrapping.

not just wrapping. if any of you know me well, i am the worst wrapper of all time. what we love are the tricks, the scavenger hunts, the silly notes, and the prank gifts. i remember one year mitchell wrapped up a rock for tanner... then gave tanner his real present after he opened the rock. or how about this christmas when my dad wrapped a HUUUUUGE box with a little tiny note in the bottom telling tanner to go to the garage to find his longboard.

it's about the name-labeling.
(we call tanner RENNAT because it's his name backwards)
classy.

this next one is my personal favorite.

mitchell and tanner had a medium-sized box for me and scotty. i opened it to find another box. and inside that box was another box. and another box. and another and another and another. you get the point. then finally i came to a box the size of my fist to find this:
a bike bell? with a note that says "what could that go to? go to the garage to look at your NEW ride!!!!"

scotty and i didn't know what to think. a bike? a scooter? a motorized scooter?!

we run to the garage.

on the van's windshield, we find this:

JUST KIDDING! a gift card to olive garden.

it's things like these that make me love my crazy family more than i already to.

time to start planning the pranks for next year!

a christmas treat

2011-12-18T23:37:00.000-08:00

to compliment my last post, let me show you (and teach you how to make) one of my favorite and easiest culinary masterpieces.

to start: two packs of oreos.

(more like 1.5 if you and your husband have horrible self control)

mash em.
stir in 2 packs of cream cheese.
roll into little balls.
freeze.

dip in melted chocolate.

sprinkle christmas sprinkles on top.
VIOLA!
they are highly addicting, pleasing to the eye, and insanely delicious.

what more could you ask for?

shopping spree

2011-12-18T23:24:00.001-08:00

dear blog,

last month i had one of the best nights of my life.

it was like one of those too-good-to-be-real scenes from a movie.

scotty and i gathered up all of our williams-sonoma gift cards and went on a shopping spree.

i literally walked around the store and pointed at things i wanted, and scotty took them to the register. at one point i looked around and thought "okay... i still have gift card money... but there is nothing else i want/need." hahaha. it was great. we were so blessed to receive so many cards from family and friends. our kitchen was seriously lacking.

over $500 worth of merchandise later, i walked out of the store with the biggest grin on my face. i then died a little inside because i just had the best shopping experience ever, and i realized that i probably won't have that luxury again for a very, very, very long time.

welcome to poor newly wed life.

expect great things to come from my kitchen.

i am now equipped with every tool needed to create culinary masterpieces.

thank you for your donations!

marxy mexico

2011-12-18T22:44:00.001-08:00

for our honeymoon we went on a 7 day cruise around eastern mexico/western bahamas...

it was a BLAST!

we had so much fun! it was hands down, the best week ever.

and coming from the most hectic, exciting, and the craziest week of my life... the honeymoon was exactly what i needed haha. pure relaxation. i quit the wedding diet and ate as much as i wanted to. i laid out. i slept. and most of all i spent quality time with my new husband!!

we had so much fun spending carefree alone time together. we liked to go on the top deck and watch movies at night. on the second night we were just sitting there... watching forest gump... and this couple sat down by us. i knew they were lds, so i pulled a creeper move and started talking to them haha.

it turns out, they got married on the same day as us! we were all honeymooners. we became good friends with them and we hung out every day together! we love nick and emily!

especially because this meant we had someone to trade taking pictures with :)

and nick happened to serve his mission in southern texas (?) so he spoke fluent spanish.

perfect.

i was impressed with how well scotty could communicate with the mexicans with his portuguese knowledge! he understood almost everything they said. he haggled these hats down from $25 to $5 haha.
check out this quality picture the hat dealer took:
the beach was beautiful.

the third day, we went on a little excursion to CHICHEN ITZA!
so cool.
we loved looking at all of the ruins and trying to make nephite/lamanite connections haha!

we love our friends!

our boat. the next day we went to cozumel.

we shopped around a little & we finally got to swim in the ocean!
i got a massage on the beach and a much-needed tan.

and then at night we would cuddle up on the top deck with our ice cream cones and platefuls of pizza and watch movies. the four of us took turns getting up to get more food haha.

it was so relaxing and so much fun!

we loved cruising but by the end we were ready to head over to utah to start our new married life together. real life, not fake cruise life.

i had so much fun with my cute husband... he is the best!

hopefully there will be a round 2 sometime in the near future :)

moving on.

2011-12-18T21:50:00.000-08:00

i have to tell you something...

i can't blog about my wedding.

i'm sorry.

i just can't!!!

and i have so many other things i want to blog about but i haven't been able to because of my ocd-like need for chronology. first things first.

i have drafts and drafts of wedding blogs saved and deleted... but nothing is good enough.

words can't describe how perfectly happy that day was or how sacred and special it was.

i feel stupid because every time someone asks me about it. i say "it was perfect." or "everything went perfectly." or "the whole day was just perfect!" i've spent the past few weeks searching my vocabulary for any word other than "perfect" that i can use in a blog post to talk about my wedding... but i can't.

i haven't even finished writing in my journal about it because it's so difficult to describe. (and for those of you who know me, i am an avid journal writer.)

so here we go:

my hair was perfect | scotty's outfit was perfect | the weather was perfect

the cake was perfect | the cookies were perfect

the whole reception was perfect

the drop ceiling was perfect | the tablecloths were perfect

my dress was perfect | the flowers were perfect | my shoes were perfect

see the problem?

the whole day was just too good for words.

so now you have two options:

1. excuse my sad excuse for a wedding post and move on

2. go here for more http://barnesfamlv.blogspot.com/2011/11/111111.html

perfect.

shout out.

2011-12-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

oh gosh.

i know you're all just dying of suspense regarding my wedding post...

i promise it's coming.

in the meantime... i wanted to make sure that you know just how much i love my family.

ALL of my family.

and how amazing it was for all of them to be with me and scotty on our special day- regardless of flat tires, tight budgets, work schedules, sick children, evil teachers, school & exams, long boring drives, and sport games.

I was lucky enough to have all grandparents in attendance!

I sure love them.

grandma and grandpa westra make me laugh all the time, and gram b is the sweetest thing.

i adore my grandparents. i hope i can be as cute and funny as they are when i'm their ages.

THEN, get ready for this: every single one of my parent's siblings were able to come from all of their various locations. wyoming, chicago, utah, washington, california, texas, and all over!

it was the first time my dad and his five sisters have been together since like 1997 or something! they are all so fun. i adore each one of them! annette and barbara are so sweet and fun to be around, i see them the least because they are the farthest away! I miss them! cathi is the best person to play games (and make inappropriate jokes) with, debbie is freaking hilarious and always makes me crack up laughing every time i see her, and edie is my own personal support team and counselor. i love all five of them!

all 6 of my mom's siblings were there too! and don't worry, i love them just as much as the barnes sisters :) i love everything westra. i love all of my aunts and uncles. they all have the same laugh, the same nose issues, the same stupid jokes and hilarious stories, and i miss them when i am away from them!

all of the aunts were especially helpful. tying ribbons on picture frames, cutting and serving the cake, monitoring the cookies at the reception, and all kinds of jobs!

and most of the time, with aunts and uncles come COUSINS and COUSINS!

i love these little people more than anything

and i'm glad that my two dearest cousins came:

angela had some teacher drama that week and was docked 5% of her overall grade in a class for missing on my wedding day! STUPID! i'm so glad that she still came, it wouldn't have been the same without my "big sis!"

and kelsie crandall!! we're not exactly cousins... maybe second cousins. but i call her my cousin regardless. it's always a special treat when i get to spend time with kelsie, ever since my family moved to vegas we don't see her as often! i miss the days when we both lived in washington! she is so funny. we like to act stupid together, even though she looks like a rock star in this picture

christopher and mauri came too!! it was great seeing them. missed craig and the boys, but hopefully we will see them soon!

funny story: by some freak accident, my uncle dave and his wife rebekah ended up staying in the same hotel as us that weekend haha!! so we had continental breakfast with them. i know you're not supposed to communicate with the outside world for the whole week after you get married... but i secretly loved seeing them.

we really enjoy their company!

and last but SO not least,

my family family.

aka, the five of us.

dad mom ashley mitchell tanner.

let me just tell you that when i see this picture (whether it be on facebook, my phone, mom's blog, etc.) i just have to scan over it really fast or else i tear up a little. i can't believe i'm saying this but.... i love my brothers. i really do. i always have! but i do even more so now that i'm married. i just love seeing them and knowing about their lives and hearing them talk about middle school or high school. i can't wait to see what great things they accomplish as they get older!

and my parents.

oh no, this blog post is about to get 10 pages longer.

haha just kidding- because words cannot express the gratitude, admiration, and complete adoration i have for my parents.

they are the sole reason that my wedding day turned out as beautifully and perfectly as it did. they made everything happen! they helped me in every single decision, stood by me through my bridezilla phases, and agreed to almost all of my ridiculous requests. i can't tell you how many "wedding meetings" we had, how many late nights we spent debating things, or how many facetimes took place to pull all of this together. but what i can tell you is that my parents are absolutely amazing, and i will forever be thankful for the help and support that they gave me. it was so fun to plan a wedding with them- my dad was more enthusiastic than my mom and i combined! :) it was just the three of us, always searching for new ideas and brainstorming and surfing pinterest for hours. i appreciate my mom and dad so much... i really can't imagine life without them. so let's just hope my mom doesn't get sick of me calling her every night for recipes or kitchen advice :)

s0 to my beautiful parents, my handsome brothers, my adorable cousins, and all of my wonderful extended family (aunts, uncles, grandparents) who were able to come to the wedding:

THANK YOU

I LOVE YOU

i am the luckiest girl alive.

anxious ashley's corner

2011-11-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

remember when i first started my blog and i called it "ashley's corner" hahaha?

i'm still ashley

this is still my corner

and i'm sure you can tell by now- i'm REAL anxious

anxious as in: impatient, eager, longing, yearning, and excited

(clarification felt necessary because people keep asking me if i'm nervous. uh... definitely not!)

i've waited 366 days for this!

i've been counting down waaay too long haha.

what, you don't believe me?

check it

Online gif maker

and now, for the first time ever, i can say

i'm getting married this week!

happy anniversary!

2011-11-05T20:07:00.000-07:00

guess WHAT!

remember the beautiful, perfect, sparkly thing i have on my left hand?

the three stone?

white gold?

perfect in every way?

well, today is mine & my sweet RING's anniversary!

that's right- we've been together a whole year as of today.

remember this magical day? i saw her in a little black box and fell in love.

and she's just as sparkly as the day we met.

(special thanks to casey at fred meyer jewelers in university mall)

scotty and i celebrated that special day in each other's arms, smiling and giddy for hours and hours and hours and hours and HOURS. (and in my case, MONTHS) (like 12 MONTHS)

so for the first anniversary of me and my ring, scotty and i celebrated the best we could.

and when i say "the best we could"... this is what i mean:

i know.

facetime just isn't cutting it these days.

i mean, it was a fabulous celebration. don't get me wrong.

but uhh... i miss him.

i love my fiancee. can you believe i've had a fiancee for a whole year?

i'll just let you know that a fiancee is my most favorite thing i've ever had

the sad thing is, i'm losing him.

in just 6 short days, i will no longer have a fiancee.

i know.

it hurt my heart a little too

until i remembered that in 6 short days this handsome, stunning, hilarious, sweet, generous, spiritual, tender, perfect-in-every-way man will be my

HUSBAND!!!

the font can't go big enough to express my excitement.

i love to see the temple

2011-11-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

i went inside on saturday

it was one of the most beautiful days of my life.

i love the LDS church and every single thing that we do and stand for.

sometimes i just want to climb on top of a mountain and scream

HEY EVERYONE COME TO CHURCH WITH ME ON SUNDAY!!!!

so that they can all feel this way too.

i'm thankful for my mom and dad, and ron and kim, and what great examples they are to me and scotty. i'm so glad the six of us got to share this special day together.
we seriously have the best families. i love them. i love how scotty is a part of the barnes family and how i am a part of the marx family. we have twice the fun! seriously, this weekend was perfect. i love the temple and i can't wait to go back. i love the church. i don't talk about my feelings for the church enough. but it is the greatest thing of my life. the church is the reason why i am such a happy fool all the time. i'm grateful that it gives me the opportunity to live with my cute family for all eternity, and i'm grateful for the doctrines and principles that i use to shape my life. i'd be a crazy mess without them. i love that it answers my deepest questions, like where i came from and why i am here. i love the word of wisdom, i love my new temple garments, and i love the importance of the family. and i can't help but mention how much i adore President Thomas S. Monson. He truly is a man of God. I had the privilege of being in the same room as him today, and i felt as if my heart was on fire.

i have so much to be thankful for.

i am glad i belong to a church that allows me to be sealed to this cute thing for time and all eternity

10 days, people. 10 days.

ode to mom

2011-10-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

i know you know how much i love my birth mother.

but what i know you don't know is my love for my mom.

meet mom:

best $9 i ever spent.

she came into my life september of my senior year.

i've spent the past years watching her, talking to her, laughing at her, and walking into the kitchen making jokes like "WOW, mom is getting huge!!" or "we have the cutest mom ever!" ... you get it.

i fed her. i bathed her. i even scrubbed her shell with a nice turtle lotion.

i introduced her to goldfish... and was there for her when she swallowed her first one whole.

i've watched her grow from a tiny little creep the size of a quarter, to a full grown woman turtle. she was the best pet i ever had.

scotty and i had planned on keeping her for the rest of our lives. he complained a little, but i know he loved her. look at the tenderness he shows her!

how could anyone not love her?

right?

wrong.

apparently some people don't love her.

last night my parents (i mostly blame the birth mother) disposed of her in a nearby pond.

i'm glad mitchell was there to conduct the farewell with love. anyone else in the family would have just plopped her in there and left. he gave her the send off she deserved.

it breaks my heart that i wasn't there.

i didn't even get to say goodbye.

my mom convinced me that "she looked so happy" and it was a better place for her.

however, i'm convinced the empty windowsill in the kitchen will forever make me miss her.

goodbye mom,

i love you.

my life: deaf girl edition

2011-10-16T00:21:00.000-07:00

i think having two ear infections gets a bad rep.

i mean, SURE, i guess it would be nice to have my full hearing abilities again. i would love to know exactly when the toilet is done flushing, or hear the signal that lets me know i can cross the street. i wish i didn't have to feel bad for the people who i unknowingly ignored after they knocked on my door or rang my doorbell. and i can't believe i'm saying this... but i almost miss the crickets at night and the birds chirping in the morning. i remember the good old days when i could hear my phone ringing from the other room; yesterday i watched with a confused face as i saw someone was calling me, yet heard no ringtone at all. and you know those grooves on the other side of the lane on the freeway? they don't phase me. it's a total mind-trip to drive on them and feel the car vibrating but not hear anything at all. i would recommend it! the experience was quite thrilling. and let us not leave out one of my most traumatizing ear-infection moments: i went to class on wednesday, and watched in awe as sister woodger's mouth moved, yet i heard absolutely nothing. as far as i'm concerned, the whole room was dead silent. never in my life has school felt so useless. i think i have asked "what?" and "what did you say?" more times this week than i have spoken everything else combined. and then multiplied by 4. i feel like a mental case! it really is bizarre to go from perfect hearing to almost nothing. i wasn't expecting these problems for another 40 years! "what?" "wait- one more time." "sorry, can you say that again?" "HUH?!" the sad thing is, that even if they repeat themselves louder, 80% of the time i still can't hear. i don't know what kinds of things i have committed myself to this past week because all i've been doing is smiling and nodding. sometimes i throw in a laugh to keep myself looking lively.

all of these aside, ear infections are fun! i really have enjoyed the break from eavesdropping on crazy byu students who talk about the most ridiculous subjects. it's been nice to be in my own little world of silence. usually in my math class i have these 3 kids who sit behind me and talk the whole class period and it's so frustrating... this week was just wonderful! i could focus the entire time! all i could hear was the teacher because she had a mic. i'd have to say that my favorite is having absolutely NO sense of volume or tone, whatsoever. i honestly can't tell if i'm yelling, or using "inside voice," or whispering. they all sound about the same to me. usually i'm yelling because i cant hear my own self, so how could others hear me?? i tried to sing in my religion class- HA! it was a joke! first of all, my voice is already altered and man-like due to my coughing for the past 3 weeks... i'm sure my vocal cords are temporarily damaged. and then, there's the whole "i-cant-hear-me-sing-but-you-can-hear-me-sing" thing i have going on. so i start to sing and then i dont hear myself singing so i sing louder. talk about entertaining. and everything just sounds different! i dont know what to do with myself. i'm also nervous that my hand or mouth might get stuck in this position-

so i guess all i'm trying to say here is... pray for me.

love sick

2011-10-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

today marks exactly two weeks that i've been sick.

it seriously sucks.

i am already overwhelmed with a full schedule of school and homework and work and wedding planning... i dont have time to be sick.

i cough every 5 seconds and im sure i drive everyone in class crazy.

i have had a fever, sore throat, runny nose, disgusting cough, all mixed with some head aches, body aches, ear pains, days of fatigue, and all sorts of fun things.

i've been miserable.

i went to the doctor after 9 days of torture, expecting him to say i was dying or i had bronchitis or something serious.

no.

he's like "it's just a typical cough... you should get over it soon" and sent me out the door with generic cough syrup i could have bought at 7-11.

i was mad.

i felt like he wasn't taking me seriously because everyone at byu is sick right now, but i can tell my situation is different.

it's worse because i'm love sick

i need this boy in my life! every day i wake up and look at the countdown app on my phone, hoping that the universe somehow skipped 20 or 25 days. but no... we're still at 32. whenever we facetime or talk on the phone, i feel good. i feel happy. but the second we hang up i'm sick and disgusting and sad again. he is so cute and so sweet! he sent me a sick package with soup and nyquil. it was the highlight of my week haha. my roommates are darling and have been taking good care of me... they bought me medicine and saltines and are always asking me how i am. i love them. but there's some kind of love and warmth in scotty's hugs that no one else can offer!

then he came to visit me and i couldn't stop smiling all weekend. i'm in love! above are our post-tucanos faces... not sure if stuffing my face was the best idea considering my conditions.

and then yesterday he left me for vegas again.

i woke up this morning feeling even worse.

(which was weird, because i didn't think it was humanly possible to feel any worse)

after an embarrassing presentation of everything i ate this morning appearing on my office's floor, my manager made me go to the health center again. i've been four times in the month of october. impressive, considering it's the 10th.

anyway, i met with an angel named mary anne.

she knew exactly what she was doing.

she diagnosed me with pneumonia and two ear infections, gave me real prescription drugs, and sent me on my way. see?

that's pneumonia.

and these are my new best friends:

cheers.

the best shower of my life

2011-09-29T15:31:00.000-07:00

last saturday was my bridal shower and oh my heck, was it fun!

see these two ladies right here?

they made the magic happen.

brenda & lynette. they both played pretty big parts in my high school life... brenda was my young womens president and best friends mother! so i was over at her house a lot. my favorite times i had with brenda were my senior year... she was so good about forcing me to come to mutual and to make my senior quilt haha :) i love her. lynette was my favorite seminary teacher. she is amazing, and i have always looked up to her. she is the sweetest thing. i have always hoped that i can be as cute of a mom as she is!

they decorated so cute all in pink, of course!

the present pile blew my mind haha. people are just so nice :) i felt like the luckiest girl in the world! or a princess... or the luckiest princess in the world?

above is "the baby-maker" blanket haha. i only say this because i will probably mention it in future posts... it is the only thing i brought back up to school with me! (my friends have filled our apartment with every kitchen thing imaginable... i'm saving my gifts for our newly wed apartment) anyway, it's the softest thing i've ever touched haha. im obsessed.

my mom got me a sewing machine! i was seriously so surprised!! i am still so excited about it. also featured in this picture is the red kitchenaid kim got me! it is soo cute. i'll put that thing to a lot of use! the two mothers hooked me up :)

the classic bow hat. who made up this tradition...? stupid, if you ask me.

all loaded up! good thing we brought the van haha

i loved seeing all of my favorite people and celebrating with them!

it's almost november, you know :)

question.

2011-09-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

its things like these that make me remember why i love utah:

the caramel apples
the stupid jokes only lds people would understand that are all over campus
and of course... the rain.
i was in the gym, facebook stalking while on the bike, and i read someones status about rain in provo- i jumped up and ran outside in about 3 seconds. then i continued my workout in this lovely weather, running all around my neighborhood.

the main thing i don't love about utah:
missing this boy every day.

so my question to you is:

is it november yet?

new record

2011-09-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

hours spent on campus from 9/13 to 9/14: 28

my feelings on that:

good night.

weekly report: #1

2011-09-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

well, i've been in school for exactly a week. i thought for my posterity and mother's sakes, i would document the significant things that have happened to me in the past 7 days.

WHILE BEING AT SCHOOL,

I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY:

1. attended every class, and arrived a punctual 5+ minutes early (big deal)

2. made a special effort to be friendly to people i sit next to in class (bigger deal)

3. applied for, interviewed for, and got a job! YAY ME! (biggest deal)

4. visited the annual heber festival known as "swiss days" and had so much fun with family, shopping & looking at the fun crafts and merchandise swiss days had to offer.

5. purchased a painting at swiss days of mine & scotty's wedding place (only 67 more days)

6. purchased an adorable headband at swiss days. will post picture later.

7. went to the grocery store and bought ONLY vegetables for the first time in my life

8. made my own guacamole ... NOT from a package, but from the vegetables mentioned in #7. the roommate k-dew definitely approved, and that's all that i am striving for in this life. so... mission complete.

(action shot below)

9. scored a free pass to seven peaks for a night (THANK YOU ALISSE'S MOM)

10. went to my cousin's baby's blessing. he is absolutely ADORABLE! and he was really happy for the most part :) that is.. until someone stole him away from me.

11. caught up with bff kami lords! we had a successful nordstrom/cafe rio trip like the good old days. i am so lucky to have the prettiest and nicest and funnest friends!

12. realized how easy it is to go into costco thinking "okay, i'll just buy the necessities..." and then buy enough food to feed a small family for months.

13. watched the justin beiber movie twice- five times if you count my dreams.

14. received an amazing 100% on all three math assignments i've had so far (almost didn't write this because i dont want to jinx myself)

15. lived a whole week without buying the normal food essentials such as milk, bread, and eggs... i'm more of a muffin, turkey, and frozen pizza kind of person.

i dont know what it is, but i just have a good feeling about this semester!

hope everyone else is having as much fun as me :)

its been real. it's been fun. it's been real fun.

first day of school finds

2011-08-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

today was the first day of school.

it was good! i really enjoyed myself.

one of my favorite things about college is the ability to create my own schedule. taking advantage of this freedom, my first class started at 1:00 pm.

i woke up, lounged around, ate a costco muffin, and took care of some paperwork in the apartment's office.

for some reason i was really excited for school this morning! all i could think of in my head was nemo saying "first day of school! first day of school! first day of school!!!"

above is the first day of school outfit i carefully selected a few weeks ago. pinstriped shorts to keep cool, the sweater to give pop of color, and the leftovers from yesterdays curl to say "yeah my outfit is cute, but im not doing my hair for all y'all. im engaged." as far as i'm concerned, they're lucky i wasn't in basketball shorts and a youth conference t-shirt. give it a few more weeks.

and let's be real- the first thing i did on campus was buy chocolate milk from the creamery. you know it's in the list of "top 5 reasons i came back to byu" haha.

i feel like when i come to school i transform into some nerdy/artsy fool. my first class was in the MOA (museum of art) and i arrived a punctual 1.5 hours early. long story.

anyway, i didn't mind. i was secretly kind of excited to walk around the museum.

i love looking at all of the different exhibits, but i try to limit myself to 1 or 2 a visit so that i always have a reason to come back. last year on occasion when i had nothing to do between classes, i found myself in the moa staring at this painting:
all the time. i think it's my favorite favorite. i wrote a paper about this piece and Carl Bloch freshman year... ever since then i've been obsessed. there is so much to it, you can't just glance at it. so much detail in the background and on the faces.

when i was little, john would sit down with me and we'd look at art books. he's the one who introduced me to art, and we share a love for paintings. i knew who vincent van gogh was before i knew what a playstation was.

while walking around the museum, i came across something that i can't stop thinking about!

it's like a giant cube made of books... just solid books. i had to force myself to walk away from it haha.

its kind of mesmerizing.

and it was huge!!! i've never seen anything like it in my life. what made me really happy was that all of the edges were almost perfectly smooth. there were a few sticking out, but the top and the corners looked completely even.

and i saved the best for last. i really hope this video works...

my favorite find of the first day of school:

random freaks dancing in the quad.

enjoy!

SURPRISE!!!

2011-08-26T21:35:00.001-07:00

well today has just been straight up CRAZY.

full of surprises.

ready?

you know how i am with lists.

1. wake up- SURPRISE!! moving day! this is real! really happening right now!

2. volvo- SURPRISE!!! tank full of gas!! (thanks dad)

3. say bye to family - SURPRISE!!! i bawled my eyes out. wait... that wasnt a surprise.

4. say bye to scotty- SURPRISE! only took like 10 minutes. i thought i'd be there all day but we couldn't take it any more.

5. waiting 2.5 hours to get to cedar city for cafe rio- SURPRISE!!! miss the exit. crap.

6. had to pee since st george and was waiting until cedar- SURPRISE! missing the exit was a double wammy. i wasn't about to turn around.

7. make it to beaver - SURPRISE!- and made it to a toilet in time! (major surprise)

8. downloaded 2 new cd's for the trip- SURPRISE! they were awesome. more info on that later.

9. get off the university ave exit- SURPRISE! i forgot all the streets/directions to everything! including my new apartment. that was fun.

10. look at thermostat in car- SURPRISE! it's only 95 degrees here! did i bring a sweater?

11. park car & stand up- SURPRISE! i couldn't move because i had to pee so bad! let your imagination finish the story.

12. haul crap to apartment- SURPRISE! no one is there and i dont know the key code. (moment of anxiety)

13. standing on the doorstep not knowing what to do- SURPRISE! alyssa walks up the stairs. perfect timing!

14. unpacking- SURPRISE!!!!!!!! ALL OF MY CLOTHES FIT IN THE CLOSET!

i even provided proof for your unbelieving eyes.

(i wouldnt believe it either)

i know. i know.

i almost got teary eyed. this is one of the most beautiful things that has ever happened to me. i have that line for hangers, a space above it, a dresser below it, and my four rubbermaid container things under my bed.

15. my four rubbermaid container things under my bed- SURPRISE! all four fit. amazing. miraculous. all i'm gathering from today's events is that i am meant to be here.

16. carrying boxes from car to the apartment- SURPRISE!! out of no where a fleet of 3 boys offered their services to carry the boxes for us. i forgot people are nice here!! (dont worry scotty, you know i was waving that left hand all around in their faces)

17. getting ready to make my bed- SURPRISE! forgot sheets. hmm.

18. i thought i would be tight with space with 5 other roommates... especially in the bathroom -SURPRISE! perfect set up. i have my own towel rack, my own shelf above the toilet, my own drawer under the sink, AND a little mini shelf between the mirrors. holler.

19. take a break from unpacking to check twitter- SURPRISE!!! jimmer is engaged. can't wait for this to be the talk of the whole school next week... not.

20. two weeks ago i planned on crying all the way to provo, getting to the apartment and sobbing on my bed until november - SURPRISE! i am weirdly excited to be here. im fine. im happy. yes, this might change in a few days. but as of right now... this is fun!

i'll keep you posted

100 day journal

2011-08-11T23:44:00.000-07:00

alright, listen.

i'm not trying to toot my own horn here or anything...

but basically, i came up with the best idea ever.

and i think all of you single/engaged ladies would be wise to follow in my footsteps

this here is my "100 day wedding countdown" journal.

if you're not so hot with taking obvious hints, the journal is to document the 100 days before my wedding day. it has been my favorite thing lately! i only write wedding-related things in it (what else would i write about, anyway?!) and i think it will be so fun in 10+ years to look back and remember all of the little details and remember what an exciting time this was. i dont want to forget anything!

the dedication page (yes, my journal has a dedication page) reads as follows:

this journal is an attempt to document every last bit of excitement, planning, stress, ideas, drama, color changing, booking, annoying moments, and all other emotions that accompany the difficult task of putting together a wedding, in hopes that one day my dear children will find it entertaining or of use, or perhaps my sweet scotty and i will read it for laughs. or maybe i will come to realize that this book is of more use to ME than others- giving me a space to rant, rave, vent, or spill all of my "I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!" giddiness so the public's ears can have a rest. regardless of where this will go and who it will help, i'm doing it! so join me for the next 100 days until i become a lawfully wedded wife.

awesome.

i have no problem filling the pages because i have a million things on my mind!

and every day, something new comes up that i can write about.

it's a nice stress reliever, and as stated before, it will be enjoyable to read later.

AND since i am channeling all of my wedding excitement into this book, you should feel relieved to know that there will be a significant downswing on the wedding blog posts.

it's a win-win-win all around!

coming of age

2011-08-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

i've realized over the past few months that i am getting really old.

older than dirt, i feel like.

i might as well start looking into glasses and walkers.

i mean, im going to be a wife in a mere 96 days.

i still feel like a little 16 year old bopping around vegas and eating fro yo every day!

doing the stupidest crap and taking a million pictures of myself!

see what i mean?

don't get me wrong- i'm totally excited to grow up and be a wife. it's just weird. DIFFERENT. so unreal. i used to look at girls who were getting married and think that that phase in life was so far away for me, and now here it is! 96 days away!

i am SO excited.

yet at the same time, i feel SO unprepared!

will i make a decent wife?

why haven't i stepped foot in the kitchen the past 10 years?

why haven't i made a dish for my family that wasn't spaghetti or chocolate chip cookies?

why didn't anyone tell me how horrifying the gyno's office is!?!?

what in the world am i supposed to cook for my sweet husband every night (starting in 96 days)?

all of these are questions i've asked myself recently.

so i've taken the next three months and dedicated them as "ashley's wife preparation"

it's gone pretty well so far. i wore an apron for the first time, and i made a four star dinner. the whole family liked it, which is saying something considering tanner is part of my family.

(click anywhere inside these parentheses for a video supporting my last statement)

my bread (that i made ALL ON MY OWN) isn't exactly the prettiest shape... but it was delicious.

and it beautifully complimented the entirely-home-made chicken fettucini i whipped up. (ALL ON MY OWN)
it was a pretty big deal.

i also acquired my FIRST DISHES this past week (thank you kim!) and am starting our collection of kitcheny things. so far it consists of a can opener, lasagna dish, pie dish, and two other dishes.

also, i've even been doing some homey crafts and purchased my very own hot glue gun.

i guess you could say things are getting pretty serious!

p.s. did i mention 96 days?

one down!

2011-07-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

oh guys...

i know my endless rants about how madly in love with scotty i am are probably getting so old and so annoying.

but i am SO madly in love and i dont care if you think it's getting old or annoying!
heres the coolest thing about today:

exactly a year ago, scotty and i decided that we were "official" and that we didnt want to date anyone else.

so for a whole year straight, THIS GUY has been the only one on my mind!
oh gosh look at him. he's so cute, huh?
i can't believe today is our one year anniversary. and not because "time flies by so fast!" or "it seems like it was just yesterday!" ... but because in all honesty, it feels like it should be our 10th year anniversary or something haha.
i know it's cliche, but i feel like i've known scotty my entire life! our love and friendship is the strongest i've ever felt, how have we only been dating a year?! haha.

we have had so many laughs and good times over the past twelve months. i used to think my insane level of giddiness would wear off after a while... but it just keeps getting worse! i hate spending any time away from him! (my mother will back me up here)

i really dont know how i got so lucky. i dont know what good deeds i did previously in my life to deserve such a handsome man as my fiancee.
i dont know why scotty thinks that he is lucky when i am CLEARLY the one getting the better end of the deal here!
i dont know if i will be able to survive the 2 months and 15 days away from him before our wedding while i'm at school. i dont know if we'll ever come to an agreement on a basketball game (note byu/unlv rivalry picture below) and i dont know if i will ever get sick of staring at his adorable face.

but what i do know, is that in exactly 106 days i will be marrying my sweetheart for time and all eternity in the las vegas temple (typing that makes me giddy, too). and i could not be more excited.

happy anniversary scotty boy. i love you!

HP7P2

2011-07-15T02:50:00.000-07:00

i literally just got back from harry potter 7 part 2.

i am still giddy.

you may or may not remember that i happen to be a loyal harry potter fan.

it seems like just yesterday i was all hyped up about part 1... and now it's all over.

it's all over.

EW! those words are like fingernails on a chalkboard.

in attempt to overcome the sadness i feel when thinking about the harry potter series being over, let us go through my thoughts about the final movie.

1. i forgot how much i LOVE professor mcgonagall. she was outstanding!

2. hermione and ron's kiss after destroying the cup was definitely a favorite moment (and right before that, when ron opens the door "harry talks in his sleep" ...haha)

3. almost started to like malfoy... until he crossed the line when voldemort said "come join me" .... punk. wish he died instead of fred.

4. remember when harry, ron, and hermione were in the room of requirement and malfoy's stupid little friends set the room on fire? was anyone else thinking of aladdin escaping from the cave of wonders!? oh my gosh it was all i could think about haha. essentially it was the same exact scene except harry was on a broom and aladdin was on a carpet.

5. snape made me cry. snape's love for lilly made me cry, too.

6. i miss the old dumbledore.

7. i thought the last little bit (19 years later) was precious. to be honest, i completely forgot about that whole chapter being in the book until after the movie was over haha. then it all came back to me. harry's son was adorable.

8. i hope 10+ years from now nobody tries to make some stupid sequel about the kids. i'll die. you can't add on to these 8 movies. (does number 7 count as two movies?) you just can't.

9. neville longbottom = champ

10. all in all, i'd just wrap it up with the word "amazing"... my jaw dropped, my eyes watered, my heart pounded, and my eyes were glued. very well done.

i dont know what to do with myself now. no more midnight parties to buy a new harry potter book, no more racing with friends to read the book in a matter of days, no more fighting with mitchell to take turns reading, and no more midnight premiers drawing a lightning bolt on my forehead. it's been a bittersweet night for the potter fans.

i can explain.

2011-06-28T00:44:00.000-07:00

listen...

i'm sorry.

I KNOW!

i'm sorry!!!

i haven't blogged in forever.

i've had like one post in the past month and a half.

forgive me?

-if your answer was "yes," feel free to stop reading here.

-if your answer was "no"... proceed.

but i have excuses!

here's what i've been doing lately instead of blogging:

1. working 40 hrs a week

2. looking at wedding blogs

3. creeping on wedding pictures on facebook

4. exploring the wedding section of pinterest

5. traveling to utah to have engagement pictures taken

6. reading bridal magazines (i have about 12 in my room)

7. daydreaming about scotty

8. feeling different materials for chair sashes

9. discovering that there are A TON of different shades of pink (pink, baby pink, coral pink, dark pink, shrimp pink, bubble gum pink, fuchsia pink, hot pink, cherry blossom pink, flamingo pink, i cant stop seeing pink)

10. attempting to become domestic by cooking and cleaning

11. going crazy by keeping a day-by-day countdown til the wedding. (136!!!!!!!!!!!!)

12. annoying everyone i come in contact with by talking wedding talk. (it just comes up.. like word vomit)

13. wasting the past 10 minutes to fail at finding a youtube clip of the scene in mean girls where cady talks about word vomit

14. sleeping

15. changing my mind every few days about what the wedding announcements will look like

16. practicing for the day when we will register at target (so we have a plan of attack)

17. playing fun games on my new iphone

18. eating

19. reading articles on how to design a wedding favor that is practical, and at the same time meaningful and cute.

20. trying on my wedding dress every few days to make sure i'm not getting any fatter

21. debating cake or no cake (i want to have a cake cutting but i dont really like cake)

22. writing in my journal lots and lots so i dont forget this special exciting year of my life (nothing will ever be quite like this!)

23. shopping at michaels with mother to buy supplies for a cute DIY centerpiece idea

24. meeting with different reception decorators every other night (sometimes for two 1/2 hours at a time)

25. stopping to stare at the temple when i'm on the top floor of the regional justice center and feeling all giddy inside

that's all i got.

was that enough for you?

yes? good. thank you for your understanding.

no?! bite me.

isn't it about... time?

2011-06-11T22:26:00.000-07:00

hey! hey! hey!!!

remember this?

yeah. i do too.

and exactly four months after the iphone was available to verizon and practically taunting me with every other commercial, i made the best purchase of my life.

i'm kind of really really really excited about it.

trying to fall asleep last night was hard.

anyone have apps they recommend?

wanna play words with friends?

facetime?

i'm so cool now :)

haha just kidding...

but really.

farewell, my friend.

2011-05-24T23:02:00.000-07:00

a wise woman once said, "devote today to something so daring even you can't believe you're doing it." now, i don't know about "daring," but i'll be doing something later on today that i can't believe i'm doing- watching this woman's farewell show.

oh oprah, how do i begin to convey my feelings for you to my blog readers?

i'm not exactly sure when or where this obsession started... but the farthest i can trace it back to is early middle school. i remember coming home from school almost every day and watching the oprah winfrey show with my mom- it became our bonding hour. and in 8th grade english class, we had to write a professional letter to a company. i wrote one to harpo asking for tickets to the show for my teacher and myself. (although we never heard a response, i got an A). then freshman year, leah and i were absolutely thrilled to meet Stedman Graham when he came to speak at bonanza. i will never regret ditching class for him. i still smile when i think about the fact that i've hugged someone Oprah has hugged.

it was very exciting. even more exciting than the night leah called me and told me that her mom was staying at the same hotel as oprah in hawaii. oh what i would have given to fly there and stalk her down. then sophomore year came around, and i was assigned an 8 page biography on anyone i wanted. you guessed it: oprah winfrey. as if i didn't admire her enough before, writing the biography changed everything. i learned specific details about her humble beginnings and childhood that i had never heard. i learned about charities and scholarships and service projects that she put on without even announcing on the show. she gives so much more than we know. she truly is inspirational. i wrote all of this in my paper, and then emailed it to oprah. even after my multiple letters/emails to her, i never made it on the show. so this is the closest i've gotten to her:

a wax figure. i guess it will have to do. junior year reminds me of watching oprah with friends. one of my favorite episodes is oprah & gayle's road trip. the fab five and i had a party to watch the road trip episodes together! oprah and gayle are so funny, we were all laughing the whole time. and when we found out oprah and gayle had matching pink crystal pinky rings, leah and i bought ourselves some matching pink crystal pinky rings. leah is my gayle. year after year, we watched her favorite things episode and envied every person in the audience. senior year, oprah was a vital part of my daily routine. with most of my friends gone for college, who better to turn to than opie? (that's her childhood nickname, incase you were wondering). then i moved to college, and realized that my life was lacking without oprah due to my tv-less dorm room. i ripped out a picture from her magazine and thumb tacked it to the wall on my desk. the picture was of her at the very beginning of her career. i kept it there all year to remind me that i can do anything i set my mind to. it made me work harder. i know this is dumb and cliche and weird, but in a way i feel like i grew up with her. yes i know she is 37 years older than i am. but i remember her 50th birthday celebration, and she inspired my ideas for girls camp as youth camp director. i wrote poems about her in high school, and she introduced me to dr. oz. we laughed together, we cried together. she shared her "ah-ha moments" and i read the O magazine monthly. i was there when she found out she had a half-sister! she may not know it, but i say we have a pretty solid bond. some of our favorite things are josh groban, the color green, ipads, chicago pizza, chips, playing scrabble, and ugg boots.

i can't believe today marks the day of her last show. no doubt this will be a day i remember for the rest of my life. everyone remembers significant days like this. "where were you when the berlin wall fell?" "where were you when you heard the news about 9-11?" "...when princess diana died?" today can just be added to the list. sometimes i hope that an "OWN network 2" will come out and just be reruns and reruns of oprah shows. did you know she has recorded over 5,000 episodes? they should be compiling them into a multi-disc collection like they did for the 20th anniversary. and when they do, i'll be first in line to get it. but until then, i say farewell to oprah. it's been a great 20 years. don't laugh at me when i bawl my eyes out watching the final episode later on today.

love you long time.

more lovin:

http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/05/what-she-has-meant-to-me.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/business/media/23oprah.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto

third time's a charm.

2011-05-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

the past 6 months and 2 weeks that i've been engaged have been quite busy to say the least.

every couple weeks or so my main priority changes.

for a while it was a dress.

photographer. (shout out to STEPHANIE PATTERSON!)

hoop skirt.

food.

colors.

food.

dj or no dj?

you get the point.

there are about a billion things left to plan and i keep jumping back and forth from cakes to colors not having any idea what to do.

last month's plan of attack was to find the perfect shoe.

once upon a time in march, i fell in love with this beauty.
gorgeous right? i have been obsessing over these glittery pumps since the second i laid eyes on them. however, slight problem. i had to use every ounce of self-control inside of me to refrain from buying these shoes. i try so hard to save my money... but somehow it all disappears. this summer i've made a goal to only buy things that i need so i can make better use of the money later for things like food, or rent. i figured these $100 could be spent somewhere else, and i would sacrifice for a more frugal shoe.

not to fear! my personal-shoe-expert/best-friend leah found these online for a steal! what do you know? the same thing for half the price. genius. the only thing missing was the enzo angiolini stamp of awesomeness, but i can live with out that. perfect, right?

wrong. apparently i have a horrible sense of guestimation in size/scale... if you get what i'm saying. show me a picture of a building and ask me how tall or wide it is and i have no freaking idea. ask me how many people are in a room- i dont know. i have issues with estimating things. so if you looked at this picture and thought "that heel is really high" you are one step ahead of me. the heel was insanely high. high enough to make me taller than scotty, which is not okay in my book.

so in my pseudo goldilocks and the three bears scenario, i move on to the third choice.

from target.

a whopping $27.

perfect height.

and juuuuuust right.

i have a feeling my glitter pumps and i will live happily ever after.

mommy

2011-05-08T00:32:00.001-07:00

happy mothers day, all.

if you haven't met my beautiful mother.... your life is probably significantly suckier than mine.

remember this? and number two in this list? oh and how could we forget this one?

my mom is the best. if that's not enough evidence for you, fear not. i could keep going for days.

first of all, look at how cute she is

she's so pretty. i know, i know. it's hard to believe that she's my mother when she doesn't look a day over 25.

i love the weird crap we do together. we used to love going to the gym together. we love talking about going running together. we love ice cream/fro yo. we love costco trips. we love laying out together. we love watching oprah and ellen together. we do stupid things like the master cleanse and are each others support systems. she is my biggest supporter. she is always so good about pushing me to do school work, real work, and to not drop out of college.

she is the best advice giver. i tell her my problems and she can always fix them. i love that about her.

she is so cute. she is always talking to hummingbirds outside or our turtles. she has names for all of them and we like to make fun of her (but only because we love her)
we love how she gets a weird british accent when she's mad.
she's always been such a great example to me. she has such an amazing testimony and is so faithful. she has taught me how to serve others. my mom is the most selfless person i know. i have so many memories of her taking food to people, or dropping her plans for the day to go help someone in need.

so to my own personal and all-time favorite chauffeur, cook, alarm clock, nurturer, teacher, doctor, cheerleader, financial adviser, photographer, friend, and secret keeper: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

my light at the end of the tunnel

2011-05-04T22:57:00.000-07:00

i've decided over the past few months that the law and legal work is not my favorite.

don't get me wrong, i am really enjoying my new job. it's busy, i feel important, and i love the people i work with.

however, it can get really frustrating and overwhelming. every court in every county has a specific way of assembling papers- and they're all different. some things need to get filed electronically, some things get hand stamped. some packets need to be mailed certified, some need to be delivered in person. and all of these rules can change at any given time.

there's a lot to keep up with.

and since our firm deals mostly with debt collection, we do a lot of dirty work. we garnish a lot of people's bank accounts. mind you, they are the ones who put themselves in debt in the first place, but it still makes me uneasy. it breaks my heart when i'm receptioning and i get a call from a crying father asking how he is supposed to pay his rent, or from a mother telling me she won't be able to purchase food for her family this week because we've taken money out of her account. calls like these really get to me. its hard to keep my composure and sound professional when i'm answering "mam/sir, i can't do anything for you- let me transfer you to someone in our collection department."

so this morning i was running around like a chicken with its head cut off- going to court, delivering something, then back to the office, picking something else up and delivering it back to court. i was really stressed. i had lots of different packets to deliver all over the court house- one in particular needed to go in a box on the 16th floor. in the mornings the elevators are crazy busy. traveling from the 1st to the 16th floor without at least 5 or 6 stops is out of the question. so i speed walked to the elevators while dreading the thought of wasting my precious time taking an elevator up 15 floors and back down again just to put a stupid packet in a stupid box. the whole situation put me in a bad mood. i got inside the elevator, and in annoyance wondered how many times i would be stopping before i reached my destination. and then, at that very moment, something great happened.

on the 3rd floor the elevator made its first stop to pick people up, and when i saw who would be accompanying me my entire face lit up. it was a whole group of elementary school students on a field trip! i know this is ridiculous, but i was giddy. we immediately began conversing and they were so interested in every little detail. "why isn't there a 13th floor?" "what papers are in your bag?" "have you ever met a judge?" in return, i was equally curious about them. "you guys are on a field trip!?" "what grade are you in?" "what have you learned today?" sadly, they parted with me on the 11th floor. but somehow the 8-floor-long ride that i had with them completely turned my day around.

seeing those 15 (give or take) kids in that elevator totally motivated me. i was all pumped up and ready to deliver my stupid packet, because that's what i needed to do! i need my job so i can have money for tuition, and if i have money for tuition, that means i will most likely graduate. and that my friends, is exactly what i thought of when i saw those little field trippers.

i want to be a teacher so bad.

for as long as i can remember, i've wanted to teach in elementary school. i love teaching. i love being in front of a group and sharing with them. i love writing on whiteboards. i love the tiny desks. i love pencils and paper. i love helping people understand things. i know i'll regret saying this later, but i am secretly really excited to spend hours upon hours grading papers. i love grading papers. it honestly is a hobby. i used to beg friends to let me proofread their papers. i love lesson planning.

so even though i suck at law and i would make a horrible lawyer, this is what my job is for the time being. and in approximately 2.5 years, i'll be sitting in a room full of 8 year olds and loving every second of it.

i can't wait.

and that's how ash sees it.

2011-04-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

i love holidays.

i love the decor, the meals, the activities, the traditions, the presents, the whole shebang.

but if there's one thing i love it is the CANDY.

i take after my mother in the fact that i have a sickening obsession with candy.

i love ALL kinds of candy.

just the mere word makes my mouth water.

mmmm... candy.

anyway, i feel like holidays are the prime time to purchase candy. but hands down, without a doubt, easily and indisputably, my favorite holiday candy selection falls at easter time.

my heart jumped for joy the first time i saw easter stuff in vons! i've waited 11 months for april to fall again for this very reason. easter candy is superior to all others.

so without further adieu, here is my guide to easter treats as an expert candy connoisseur- the good, the bad, and the dangerously addictive.

1. the classic chocolate bunny.

look at it.

how can you not enjoy taking a bite out of something so cute and creative? i've gotten my own personal one of these beauties every year since i could chew. whether it's hollow, not hollow, or eaten with a spoonful of peanut butter, I LOVE.

2. oh gosh. as if the reeses trees at christmas and the pumpkins at halloween weren't good enough- AN EGG! i am obsessed with these. the big ones, the small ones, doesn't matter. all i know is that reeses were brilliant to begin with, and now this giant egg-shaped form only enhances the eating experience.

this treat is an all-time favorite. i've been consuming one a day throughout all of april thanks to a secret stash in my office. sometimes two a day. or three.

3. peeps. whose sick ass came up with the idea to create this "treat"? and i'm not talking "sick" as in cool or awesome. i'm talking "sick" as in i'd rather puke. i hate peeps. i can tolerate eating one, but after that i feel sick to my stomach.
gag. the goo, the little grimy coating on top... yucky.

4. sweetart and starbust jelly beans.

LOVE. i usually get them mixed together in a plastic egg, so i figure i can combine my reviews. i love the starburst because the red, green, and pink beans are amazing. they are all strongly flavored and almost juicy. the sweetart ones are a more pastel color, and the outer layer brings a slight crunch that the starburst can't offer. both are delish.

5. the gummy bunny.

i wouldn't particularly call these my favorite candy, although they are tasty. however, once i put one in my mouth i cannot stop. they are so addictive! my sweet fiancee bought me a bag of these and they were gone by the end of the night. the purple and orange ones are a little on the iffy side, but the pinks are to die for.

they fulfill my craving for sweet and sour.

6. cadburry mini eggs.

all i can say is mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

i love the crunch of the outer shell, and the smooth milk chocolate on the inside. i love the small bite-sized shape, perfect for popping a few in the mouth at a time.
shout-out to my homegirl brenda jacobson who made some chocolate cookies with crushed mini eggs in it. definitely a fave.

7. but when the mini eggs just wont do it for you, the geniuses in the hershey company fashioned an egg that meets all needs. the milk chocolate shell has grooves in it and the creme filling is thick and rich.
however, don't eat too many of these ones. i know from experience that 1 or 2 is good for a while.

8. i saved the best for last.

sweetart chicks and bunnies.

absolutely perfect for any glovebox, nightstand, or purse.

i LOOOVE these. i'd have to say that these are my favorite favorite. i eat them for a month straight and then they're gone for a whole year. it's heartbreaking, really.

but don't worry, i purchased my third bag today.

here's the thing. i love sweetarts as it is. but take three of the top four best flavors, and mold them into chicks and bunnies... and you have a work of candy art. i love looking at a little pink chick and then popping it in my mouth. i like them to crunch, and i like them to suck on. and i like when i leave them in my car and the blazing hot sun makes them soft.

well world, there you have it.

i like my chocolate and i like my sweetarts.

easter candy is the greatest so take advantage of the next week while you can!

... and that's how ashley sees it.

dear haters.

2011-04-07T18:12:00.000-07:00

Dear haters, judgers, and doubters,

Hello! I know we talk every day, but I just wanted to write you this quick letter to tell all of you (and believe me, there are plenty!) how I feel. I’d like to start off with a big thanks! I think it’s great that you care so much about me and my love life. I appreciate your concerns and advice. As most of you know, I am engaged. I could tell from the disgusted look you gave me when you saw my ring that you disapproved. It wasn’t hard to tell exactly what was going through your mind when you asked, “wait… how old are you?” or “aren’t you a little young?” Oh! I’m sorry… did I miss some sort of rule? Because as far as I’m concerned, the state of Nevada said I was eligible for marriage at age 16! Seeing as how I turned 20 last year, we can cross that problem off the list. But wait- you know someone who got married young and it turned out horrible? Yeah, I know couples like that too. However, I also know of couples that got married in their later years and ended up in a mess. And on the flip side, I know couples that were married right out of high school and are still going strong! So perhaps the outcome depends on variables other than age.

Listen, I know divorce rates are high. But does that mean that nobody in the country should get married because other marriages aren’t working out? Have a little faith. What ever happened to finding your true love and growing old together? Sitting on the porch swing watching your grandchildren? I’ve waited 19 years to feel this way about a guy, and I’ve finally got it! There is nobody in the world that I’d rather spend every day of my life with. He’s all I think about and it breaks my heart saying goodbye to him every night. I’m in love! Scotty is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, so it just doesn’t register in my brain why you would want me to postpone marrying him. Waiting until November already seems like torture! Will it make a difference if I marry him in 6 months or in 2 years? If anything, we’d be ahead of the game if we got married sooner.

Wait… you just reminded me that I haven’t lived my life to the fullest. While a lot of my single girl friends may be out studying abroad, going on cruises, or other fun single activities, I’d trade all of those for Scotty. You’re saying I should go to a foreign country and have random adventures, and then it’s okay for me to get married? I say you should go to that foreign country and stay there.

Oh yeah, you tell me this one a lot too: marriage is hard. Well, duh. I can’t imagine being cut off from your parents, living with a member of the opposite sex for the first time, sharing a bathroom, joining a bank account, and being dirt poor is a picnic. I'm not taking this decision lightly, and I don't know why you think I would. I've thought long and hard about what getting married means. I want you to know that I'm not just a silly little girl getting married because I'm caught up in the excitement. I know there will be hard times when we can barely pay our apartment rent, when we want to punch each other in the face, when we have a filthy house and no food, and when I want to run back to my mom crying. Here’s the thing: if I could change one thing about Scotty… I wouldn’t. Back when I was 14, I started a list that has been added to for the past 6 years of what I want in a husband. Boyfriend after boyfriend, nobody matched up to the list until last year when I met my handsome husband-to-be. So if I’m going to be suffering through hard times, there is no one (NO ONE) I’d rather be with than my sweet fiancée who makes me laugh and brings me happiness. I would rather have a husband to help me through all these grown up problems than be on my own.

So whether you think I’m too young, too immature, too naïve, or too financially unstable, it doesn’t matter. We’re getting married. You can put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Yours truly,

The future Ashley Marx

afton girl

2011-04-03T12:30:00.001-07:00

it seems like just yesterday i got the text message saying that my new cousin afton was born. i drove straight from the hospital after school to see her!

she has been adorable from day 1.

even when she was going through her mean stage and hated my guts... i still loved her. and now she is 2!! i can't believe how big she is.

jenn threw a cute party with the theme "afton's not blue about turning 2!"

so EVERYTHING was blue

so fun.
scotty was so cute with the little boys... they all liked playing with him (nice shot of james shoving something between scotty's legs hahaha)

fortunately, afton got over her hating phase with me and we are besties.

she is so smart. i need to start writing down jenn's mothering techniques so my kids can be like her. and i cannot get over how cute JACK is!!!! basically i need to stay away from the westra's house. because it's just making me baby crazy.
happy birthday afton girl... i love you!

random thoughts

2011-03-29T20:21:00.001-07:00

1. this is what i had for dinner.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

for some reason, cafe rio never gets old to me. i'll go eat it tomorrow if you want me to prove my point. and the next day. and the next day. and the next day.

2. this is where i am right now. watching scotty do some homework.

this is scotty doing his homework. isn't he so cute? best part is- he doesnt even know i took that beauty.

this is me smiling because i just remembered that i haven't had homework for the past 3 1/2 months! HA! and i wont for another 5. suckers.

3. this is my FAVORITE favorite favorite song right now.

i told scotty that sometimes i can't even sing it right because i'm smiling so big. that's me for ya.

4. did i mention i got a new job? it's amazing. i've been there about 3 weeks... and i'm in love. i am a runner at a law firm. i deliver papers to court, file/copy/scan documents, get mail, run random errands, and all sorts of things. i really like it because a) it pays awesome, b) i don't sweat my face off like i did in the sticky dry cleaners, c) i get to dress cute every day, and d) i feel really important haha.

5. that's all.

everybody dies but not everybody lives

2011-03-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

oh gosh.

this week scotty got his motorcycle license.

and up until thursday night i have been anti anti anti motorcycle, or as i like to call them "death traps." i had never been on one, but heard enough tragic and gory stories to make my mind up about them.

and thursday everything changed.

he practically begged me to ride with him and i gave in.

and at first it was terrifying. we barely made it out of the neighborhood and i wanted to jump off and walk home.
but then... i got used to it and i couldnt stop smiling! i love the speed and the wind and the chill. we were on our way home and i even asked him to keep riding longer!

i decided it's absolutely thrilling

quick trip

2011-03-26T13:11:00.001-07:00

last weekend my mom, tanner, and i went up to utah! it was way fun. not only because i got to drive the lexus, but because i got to see a lot of friends and family!

i spent most of saturday in provo visiting my cute girls from my floor... i missed them so much! it was great seeing all of them. i can't believe they're almost done with freshman year!

then i ventured over to the real apartments and hung out with my friends abby, alisse, alyssa, audrey, heather, and katherine. i love these girls!

while audrey is studying abroad in scotland this fall, i will be taking her place at the apartment until i get married!
the rest of the weekend involved this guy!

my cousin curtis came home from his mission last week! it was exciting and entertaining to see him again. he is so funny. a couple highlights of the week were curtis reading us a book he bought in korea (it was called "who pooped on my head?") and watching him watch all of the commercials he'd missed. and who could forget him reading statuses on facebook and asking "who's lady g-a-g-a??"

i got to see two of my favorite cousins! ang and charity. charity is getting so big.... i can barely hold her anymore.
and for some reason ang and i can never take a normal picture together haha!

i realized that last weekend was the first time i've ever been excited to drive to utah! usually when i make that drive, it's me going back to school after visiting vegas... not a happy time. it was a fun weekend, but i'm glad to be back. and i may or may not have been having scotty withdrawals... don't judge.

sew fun

2011-03-13T00:07:00.000-08:00

you know what i hate?

when you meet someone new or fill out a survey or start a new class or make small talk with random people and they all ask the same exact question.

"what do you do for fun?"

eh... what? fun? i forgot what that was the second i read my college acceptance letter. haha. i hate it when people ask me that. every time i'm faced with the question, i awkwardly give the same answer: "haha. i hate this question..."

listen. i dont have any hobbies. i work, i go to church, i sleep, sometimes i go to the gym, and i eat. i dont play any instruments. i don't play any sports. i'm not an amazing chef. i dont particularly like to read books. i can't draw, paint, or anything like unto it.

UNTIL TODAY!

ladies and gentlemen, i would like to consider myself a sewer. not the smelly, underground kind- just the kind that works with needles and thread. check out my latest masterpieces:

remember back in the day when i made a quilt? a few weeks ago i came to the conclusion that i need a mature quilt. mine are always pink and remind me of 12 year old girls. and they dont cover my toes anymore, which drives me absolutely crazy. although i hate to admit it, i'm getting old. pretty soon i will be a wife! so i appropriately chose a granny material and a few selections that complemented it.

the whole process took about three days. and now, i have a beautiful and warm quilt! i love it. it's the perfect size!

the sweet success of my quilt has inspired me to sew more things. i'm even in the market to buy a sewing machine of my own, instead of using my moms that was made in the 70's. i was on the lookout for a new project, and it landed on my doorstep with my name written all over it. literally.

i ordered this dress online (not the best idea considering you have to guess lengths/sizes), and when it arrived i was really bummed. it was too short for my liking, but super cute!

so i got some inspiration from this picture.

made another trip to joann's.

started sewing.

and viola! we have a new and improved dress.

quite frankly, i think it's cuter than it was before.

i'm looking forward to the next time i can answer that stupid question.

thanks george & abe

2011-02-22T20:43:00.000-08:00

i love presidents day weekend.

it always comes at the best time!

it's like a halfway check point from winter break to spring break

(not that those apply to me right now haha)

anyway, our weekend was super fun!

scotty and i went with my family to brianhead, utah. our good friend dix has a cabin there that he lets us use from time to time. it's beautiful! we drove up friday night and spent all weekend in the mountains.

we spent all of saturday on the slopes. scotty taught me how to snowboard! i have been skiing, but i'd never even touched a snowboard until that day haha. i was horrible! luckily scotty is a good teacher and he was so patient with me. i think it took us an hour to make it down the bunny hill for the first time haha... not even exaggerating. but i made lots of improvement! the last run i only fell like twice.
this picture shows how i spent most of my day haha. on the ground.

i think i counted 14 bruises the next day.

friday night, sunday, and monday were dedicated to GAMES. we became completely addicted to scrabble. every single one of us (except me because my electronic devices suck) downloaded "words with friends" at the end of the weekend. some other favorites were phase 10, skipbo, ping pong, and of course mario party.

sunday we thought of spiritual things as we made sled routes. we (scotty and john) dug a path on the side of the house and had so much fun sledding down and making jumps!

but the real fun came after 4:30, when the ski lift stopped.

this meant we had total private access to the slopes!

since the cabin is literally on the side of the run, we walked out the backdoor and hopped on a sled down the ski slope. it was amazing!

we were flying down the hill so fast! it was so steep and soooooo FUN.

and now we're back to reality...

work and life and laundry.

i miss cabin life already!

valentines day: part II

2011-02-22T18:16:00.001-08:00

so our valentines day was nice. we spent lots of time together and had fun. a nice dinner at chilis with mitchell, michelle, tanner, and bonquiqui (tanner's imaginary girlfriend. he felt leftout.)

BUT, the day after valentines day was perfect.

scotty surprised me with tickets to phantom of the opera. i was sooooooooo excited! i've always had a love for phantom of the opera. a lot of my childhood memories include me, mitch, and john rocking out to the cd. it's the perfect roadtrip soundtrack. i adore the play. and i even wrote a paper last semester arguing that the phantom of the opera movie is one of the most pleasurable aesthetic experiences ever had.

so we ventured off to the venetian and took our seats center stage. it was incredible!

afterward, he surprised me again and took me to maggianos. mmmmmm

it was freaking delicious!

we got parmesan chicken and chicken alfredo and split them.

so yummy.

we made friends with the waiter so at the end he brought us free dessert!

scotty being good looking and fun paid off :) bahaha.

it was such a fun night!

i sure love that boy :)

lovey dovey

2011-02-14T23:31:00.000-08:00

oh, valentines day.

what a joke.

am i right or am i right?

hahaha. who needs a date on the calendar to remember how special a sweetheart is?

however, the usual bitterness i have toward this special "holiday" magically disappeared today as i woke up and remembered i'm engaged to the most handsome man i know. i love this guy!

whether it's a cute text message, romantic singing/dancing in the kitchen, or a sparkle in those beautiful blue eyes, i am reminded on a daily basis how lucky i am to have him.

in honor of this day, i would like to share with the entire blogging community a few of my favorite things about my valentine.

1. his humor. scotty is so funny... he can make me laugh even when i am in the worst mood!

2. the guy can sing. he wont admit it all the time, but he has a voice that melts my heart. sometimes i dont sing the hymns in church just so i can listen to him instead.

3. his smile. it kills me! i can't look at him without smiling. i think he is just the cutest dang thing i've ever seen hahaha.

4. his mad skills. scotty beats me at just about everything and every game haha. i love that we can play anything together and have so much fun! we love wii games, board games, card games, stupid middle school games, droid games. some of our favorites right now are wii resort basketball and archery, guesstimation, and the dot game in church.

5. he is so good to me. he treats me like a princess and does the sweetest things. he'll massage my feet or scratch my back without me even asking. and he'll buy me tickets to phantom of the opera for valentines day!!! :) i am sooooooooo excited!

the list could go on and on, but i resume my position at the cleaners in 7 hours.

i need sleep.

basically all i request that you take away from this post is that i, ashley barnes, am so in love with my valentine.

here's to many more valentines days to come :)

inductive reasoning

2011-02-02T23:42:00.000-08:00

after reading this rather entertaining article,

a small light flickered in my brain.

i realized that a lot of admirable blogging women have nicknames for their husbands.

exhibit a:

stephanie nielson (a.k.a. nienie). can be stalked here.

she only refers to her husband as "mr. nielson"

exhibit b:

natalie (a.k.a. the fat rat). see her blog here.

her lover is "the holbs"

exhibit c:

if i recall correctly, jan hodson calls derrick "D"

other ladies are using "the husband," "my man," or other generic terms.

and there are more, i'm just having a brain fart.

therefore, if i would like to work my way up in the blogging world i need to follow these ladies moves. since i am soon to be married and will indeed have a husband, i've decided i need something to call him besides scotty in order to fulfill my dreams of becoming a famous mormon-mommy-blogger. haha im mostly kidding. but in all seriousness, i really am trying to think of something fun to call him.

any suggestions?

at the same time, i am thinking of what i will rename my blog after the big day. it can't be "a little bit of this, a little bit of ash... plus scotty" stupid. i don't know what to do.

this is my train of thoughts as i fall asleep at night.

buenos noches & sweet dreams

the "proper bowling stance"

2011-01-25T20:12:00.001-08:00

last week while my parents were gone, my grandparents came to babysit and make sure nothing crazy happened. it was fun having them here, they always keep us laughing. grandma sings random things all the time and is always happy, and grandpa is a master at every wii game. he is addicted to the wii- every time he comes over he is glued! i think his two favorites are bowling and golfing. grandma on the other hand has no technological skills whatsoever (sorry grandma). they are so funny and i enjoyed their company over the past week.

there is one story in particular that i would like to document...

its morning and i'm just walking around the house, making food and getting ready to go to work. i hear grandma talking in the other room so i listen in

"jerry, listen. i'm sorry."

"i'm sorry!! don't take it personally, okay?"

"i love you! you can't let these things get to you like this."

grandpa hadn't said a word.

and i'm like what the... this sounds really serious. what's going on? should i not go in there? are they fighting or something?

nope.

no fight.

just an embarrassing wii bowling final score on the tv screen-

grandpa: 140 something

grandma:280 something

i can't believe she beat him haha! it was probably the second or third time she had ever touched the wii in her life!
she kept saying over and over again "jerry, its all about the proper bowling stance. if you stood up, i promise it would make a difference!" they played again and she won again. he changed his wii character and she said "oh like that's gonna do anything for you!!!" hahahaha.

after that, i believe the wii got turned off for a while.

it was really funny. i love my grandparents! they are so cute :)

pictures from my phone

2011-01-25T19:28:00.000-08:00

my phone is jacked up. i hate it. i've hated it since the day i got it, but i thought i would get used to it... nope. haha now its breaking so i have a legitimate excuse to buy a new one. (not the iphone because i have to wait until AUGUST for my stupid upgrade) (which isn't that bad... waiting is always fun. it will be worth it.)

anyway. i didn't want to lose all of my fun pictures after i take a hammer to this thing, so i sent them all to my email.

and what better place to store them than my blog?

so without further ado, here are completely random pictures from my phone that my heart couldn't bear to delete. with my commentary of course :)

ah, my handsome fiancee. look at him. i am kind of obsessed with this picture... there's just something about a man in a shirt and tie.
the fab five at applebees. i love these girls more than life. look how little we were!! haha, there is a more recent picture coming up. this picture makes me miss high school and the five of us being inseparable
me and my best friend/hoe for life being stupid. this was on our california trip. oh what? you didn't hear about that? click this. we gave each other multiple tattoos haha.
haha stupid. one day a couple of months ago, a few girls on my floor begged me to try this wedding dress on for kicks. they sent a picture to scotty haha. they got it at D.I. for like $20.
two things i love about this picture. 1) look at how dark my freaking chest is. i look hispanic. i want that again. 2) look at how cute afton's face is. i love her
oh snap. that blonde right there is the one and only taylor swift. i still can't believe i was that close to her! she is probably in my top 5 favorite celebs. so inspiring and so cute.
WHAT?! is the end of the world coming?! that's right, your eyes are not fooling you- that is indeed scotty marx in a byu shirt! i was going to use this for blackmail one day, but i guess this works :) i love you babe
the fab five. after a perfect night of pazookie and mean girls. have i mentioned i miss them?
this picture always makes me laugh. jen ballard and i found this junior year. a little chicken man at farm basket!
this was on my present from santa this year- also quite comical. if you can't read this is says

to: ashley

from: santa freaking clause!

oooo the conference center: christmas edition. this was when i went to the mo tab/david archuleta/some other guy concert in december. it was mind blowing. i can't believe i forgot to blog about that concert. david archuleta has by far the most flawless voice i have ever heard in my life.
uhh this is titus. haha my dear katherine dew was playing on a site where you put in a picture of a boy and a girl and it shows you their future child... this is what mine and scotty's child would look like hahahaha. cute, right?
speaking of me and scotty, here we are at his cousin's wedding :) so fun. he is pretty cute

oh gosh. last summer, some crazy guy named hussan brought these pants in and said that we had ripped them (note the somewhat clean tear across one of the legs) he demanded a refund, and we refused because it was obviously not our doing. we're pretty sure he just took a pair of scissors to one of the legs and blamed us to get free cash. i mean, it was a pretty clean cut and all of our equipment is padded... idiot. the man came in like 3 times harassing me and my coworker (shout-out to my homegirl dani) and on the third time we called the cops on him because he was cussing us out and threatening us. "I WILL BOMB THIS WHOLE STORE!" "I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!" jeeze dude. they're just pants. needless to say, it was the most action the cleaners has seen in a long time.

here i am accomplishing one of my life goals- to drive a convertible. special thanks to kevin hansen for making my dreams come true haha. i drove it my sophomore year in the homecoming parade with royalty in the back. so fun.
oh look, satan making a special appearance on temple square. this guy gave me the creeps! he was holding a book of mormon in his hand saying "WANNA READ MY NEW BOOK?!" what a freak. i hate those people. nobody listens to them anyway.
after i got engaged, this is what i came home to haha. i love my girls. that thing in the middle is like a stuffed animal dove that one of my girls sewed! crazy stuff haha.

well hopefully you found that interesting...

if not, i'll appreciate it in 10+ years

happy tuesday!

i can't believe i'm saying this...

2011-01-20T23:53:00.000-08:00

but...

i think i maybe, kind of, somewhat, just a teeeeeennny tiny little bit, almost, slightly, may perhaps be missing my parents.

for those of you who don't know, they're on a cruise. now, now, i know exactly what you're thinking: how could they not take along their favorite daughter? i've asked myself that same question every day this week. they haven't had any kind of communication at all... no cell service, internet, anything!

so while they're away doing this kind of stuff...

i'm here doing this kind of stuff...

(if you can't tell, this is a picture of me doing absolutely nothing)

i guess all i'm trying to say here is i miss my mom.

and sometimes, i even miss john too :)

i love the cute little couple.

they are pretty awesome, and i feel the need to list some reasons why i like them so much...

1. they both cook fabulous meals

2. they both are righteous and amazing examples

3. they are both so funny (just in different ways)

4. john is great at proof-reading papers and answering hard questions

5. mom is good at giving me hugs and making me feel better

6. they let me move home and destroy the downstairs bathroom

7. they are fun to play games with

8. mom sings to birds and talks in british accents

9. john inspires me to be more creative and outgoing

10. they are pretty attractive for their old ages

and the worst part is, i don't even know when they're coming home. haha!! i was so excited for them to leave i couldn't concentrate when they were giving me instructions and running through procedures. i think it's either saturday or sunday... and who knows what time. i guess i just have to stay glued to my phone so i can hear them call for a ride from the airport

finally.

2011-01-11T09:40:00.001-08:00

ladies and gentlemen, the day we've all been waiting for has FINALLY ARRIVED!

what do you get when you mix the smartphone of smartphones and america's most reliable network? one very happy ashley.

february 10th, people!!!

oh happy day.

2011-01-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

well. i don't know about you, but over the past five days i have acquired a whole new meaning to the word "starving."

friends, meet THE MASTER CLEANSE.

(i stole this picture from suzanne roberston's facebook haha)

it looks harmless.

but in reality, it is the worst form of torture i have ever experienced.

haha just kidding. it's not that hard. basically, all my body has been consuming for the past five days is a mixture of syrup, lemon juice, water, and (on occasion) cayenne pepper.

i've lost 8 lbs and i feel awesome!

now now, before you jump to conclusions and say stupid things like "you're gonna gain it back when you start eating" or "that's not good for you at all!" or "you're gonna die!" just stop. first off, i'm not stupid. obviously i'm going to gain some of the weight back when i start eating. but the thing is, this isn't all about losing weight- its a detox. i dont think that dr. oz would go on national television and proclaim to millions of people that this was a great thing to do if he didn't mean it. if you read this website, you will come to find that this 10 day cleanse is actually really good for you. it flushes all of the crap out of your colon that has been sitting there for who knows how long! i see it as a transition to a healthier lifestyle. it's about practicing self control. and my mom needed a support partner :) i really do feel more energized. i went to a body pump class today at the gym and i felt like the most vigorous person in the room haha!

my favorite line of the site is this:

Your body will purge itself of toxins that are lodged in joints, soft tissue, cartilage, and mucous membranes.

gross! doesn't that just make you want to do this?

so we're halfway done... five more days!

wish me luck.

my last night in 2010

2011-01-02T11:18:00.000-08:00

what better way to spend the last night of 2010 than with my favorite person ever?

we started the night off with some panda express... i got my wisdom teeth out this week and chow mein was the only thing that sounded practical.

we then went to the bus station and took the free shuttle down to the strip.

my cute fiancee figuring out our routes

2-0-1-1!

we got downtown and had a blast walking around. all of las vegas blvd was blocked off, so everyone was walking in the middle of the streets! we laughed at all the crazy drunks, hookers, and obnoxious tourists.

naturally, we had to go to the bellagio and watch the fountains. it's our thing :) so fun. i feel like my grandma joy when i say that i could watch the fountains for hours and not get bored.
so pretty!
after the bellagio, we ventured in the freezing cold to find the bus stop. it was a complete failure. we saw plenty of busses going the opposite way, but none going the way we wanted! we walked from the bellagio to the convention center! i'm thinking it was around 3 miles. two days later and my feet still hurt. luckily we got some hot chocolate along the way :)
finally we made it to gary's condo. gary is scotty's boss, and he has a sweet place just north of the strip. we had an awesome view! all of the fireworks were eye level for us.

happy new year! 2010 was great, but i have a real good feeling about 2011...

bring it on.

my resolutions

2011-01-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

i like making goals. i really do.

the only problem is i have a hard time following through after the first few weeks of success.

exhibit a:

the sticky note on my computer of 2010 resolutions.

1. run 365 miles this year. clever... funny... but now that i think about it, i didn't even keep track. and i probably ran four times all of fall semester. FAIL.

2. read the whole book of mormon. now this one has some justification... i was reading it, but then i started my D&C class in september, so i dedicated my reading to that and kind of pushed the book of mormon aside. that sounds bad. but, nonetheless, FAIL.

3. read the scriptures every day. i think the first day i missed was in march. then after that it all went downhill. i'm not horrible at it, but i definitely could be better. FAIL.

4. not get engaged. HA! i laughed so hard when i saw this a couple weeks ago. too bad i am madly in love and words can't describe the excitement i have for my engagement. FAIL.

5. stop swearing. well world, it's time to make a confession. i think swearing is fun. but this year that habit significantly decreased. i only fell in times where my life was threatened or events of same severity. or where it was of upmost hilarity. just when you thought i was a complete failure- WIN.

6. lose enough weight to have a healthy BMI. this one was really important to me. 2010 gave me a greater appreciation of working out and running. i almost cried tears of joy the day i stood on wii fit in my living room and it told me that i had reached a healthy bmi, and was no longer in the embarrassing "at risk of being overweight" column. WIN.

so i accomplished 2 out of 6 goals. awesome. that's like a 33%... definitely an F.

this year i've put together a few goals that are perhaps easier to achieve haha. and i am posting them on the internet so that everyone in the world (or at least my mom and leah) will be witnesses. so without further ado, here are ashley's goals for 2011:

1. read scriptures every day

2. hit 145 lbs at some point during the year

3. be smarter with money/only buy clothes that i need :)

4. go to the temple

5. work out at least twice a week

6. incorporate small acts of service in my weekly life

7. cut down on fast food

8. spend quality time with my family

and that's that. wish me luck.

'twas the night before christmas...

2010-12-24T23:26:00.000-08:00

twas the night before christmas and all through the house,

everyone was sleeping... except for me.

all i can think about is the fact that in half an hour, give or take, i will bid farewell to my teenage years. i can't believe i'm going to hit the big 2-0! it's hard to come to grips with the fact that i'm growing up. i hate it. i wish i could have stunted my growth at 18 and lived a carefree life forever. but alas, we didn't come on this earth for that. we came to grow, progress, and experience! so here i am, getting older and wiser with each passing year.

being 19 was great. i look back on this year and realize how grateful i am for my life and the people in it. i have the most amazing family and fiancee a girl could ask for.

here are some highlights of my life as a 19 year old:

-finish my first year of college. i could write a million blog posts about college, but to be quick let's just say that it was the most growing and learning i've ever done in that amount of time. with it came a lot of amazing friends, quality time with cosmo, and weird college activities.

-fail a final exam for the first time in my life

-experience my first real car accident, and get stitches for the first time. (still reaping the benefits of that. i make scotty massage my finger from time to time)

-i went on the funnest girls trip with my three best friends this summer... california! a whole weekend of pure bliss. i love my friends and i am so blessed to know them!

-i still haven't gotten too old for daily phone calls with my mom while i'm at school
i love her

-i had LOTS of family time this year! from a fun wedding this summer, to sunday dinners at home, it's always a blast. i love being in utah and having some barnes cousins at the same school as me, and westra family all over. i love going to family functions with them at birthdays or conference, or more recently the DAVID ARCHULETA concert with mo tab in salt lake.
i loved seeing afton and her new baby brother JACK.

i love coming home from school and seeing my beautiful family. we had some fun times this year! thanksgiving in arizona, shopping excursions, the classic santa picture, and we even fed some homeless people today.

-this summer kami wanted to do something "dangerous" so we went to the stratosphere. that was quite the experience! every single ride. and i didn't think i would live to tell!

-i love being at school and getting to see all of my cute byu friends. they make me dinner sometimes, and in return i take them to the cannon center. we've done lots of fun things this year: nordstrom rack, relief society broadcast in slc, secret santa exchange

-i learned the thriller dance and had a blast performing it and dressing up. i think you can watch the video of our dance here.
-i GOT ENGAGED! i still get butterflies when i think about it. i still stare at my ring and zone out because of its beautiful sparkleyness. i met the love of my life, and i can't wait to be married to him... he is everything i've ever wanted in a husband- and more!

scotty is the cutest thing ever and i can't wait to spend eternity with him.

-i got the job as a resident assistant. to compensate the past 19 years without a sister, i now have 39. these girls are beautiful. i can't describe my love for them. while they may run up and down the halls screaming at obscure hours in the night, and string floss all throughout our bathroom, and steal christmas trees from the lobby, and write "butts" or other stupid things on my whiteboard, I LOVE THEM.

they are amazing. we've been through a lot together this year. i hope to keep in contact with my cute girls for a very long time.

-i got to spend a lot of time with my grandparents this year

-i had a semester of college where i DIDN'T fail a single test- HOORAY!

-i now have a whole new family of in-laws, i love them!

-i was brunette, blonde, and black (we'll say black even though it's technically a dark brown)

-i lost a lot of weight, and have already gained most of it back from this holiday season

-i decided that i love my life and everything in it.

so with that, i'll leave you all to a merry christmas.

eat as much as you can and open presents way too fast. i know i'll be doing the same.

remember that 20 years ago, a beautiful young woman was hauling a to the hospital to give birth to me. but more importantly, remember that about 2010 years ago, another beautiful young woman was doing the same thing in a stable.

listen to this song. i love it.

merry christmas... christ lives.

how to throw the perfect christmas party

2010-12-09T18:12:00.000-08:00

STEP 1: hang ornaments from the ceiling, cover tables with red/green butcher paper, have a christmas playlist on, hot chocolate, and lots of candy. Have a girl's amazing mother cut out and sew 50 white fleece stockings. separate ribbons, glitter, buttons, scissors, etc in buckets on the counter.

STEP 2: girls come. each one gets a blank white stocking. let the creativity begin!

STEP 3: lots and lots and lots of buttons.

STEP 4: hot glue guns are a must.

STEP 5: start cutting, gluing, tying , sprinkling, and singing.

STEP 6: finalize the stocking. walk around and admire all of the diverse creations.

STEP 7: show it off! all of the stockings turned out super cute, but here are some personal favorites

sarah

olivia

lexi

and of course i couldn't help but make my cute fiancee one.

he's never had his own stocking before... poor baby.

our stockings compliment each other.

i can't wait to hang them over our own fireplace one day :)

a few things

2010-11-30T22:27:00.001-08:00

here are the five most exciting/significant/notable things or thought processes going on in my life at this very moment.

1. i am in total HARRY POTTER mood these days...

i went and saw the midnight showing of the movie and it was freaking amazing! i laughed, i cried, i almost peed my pants i was so scared... all of my emotional cravings were fulfilled.
i can't wait for the second half next summer! i feel like i've kind of grown up with harry potter. it was my generation's "thing." i've read and reread the books, i went to buy them at midnight, i've had a crush on daniel radcliffe for as long as i can remember... it's a part of my adolescence.

speaking of my adolescence, it's disappearing. i'm getting old. friends are getting married and people i went to high school with are prego... it's freaking me out-

2. i can't believe one of my best friends in the whole world KAMI WILCOX is freaking married!
her reception was beautiful. she looked so happy! adam is awesome and i know he will be so good to her. i wish leah and alex could have been there!
it's so weird to think that she is a married woman now! and then i remember that that will be me in a few months :) WOOO! which brings me to...

3. i am in love with SCOTTY MARX! he is the man of my dreams.

he flew to mesa and surprised me at thanksgiving! he is so great.

and its safe to say that i am obsessed with this picture. or maybe just his face in this picture. i find myself staring at it allllllllllll the time haha

i absolutely adore him.

4. another thing i adore (although they do not go hand-in-hand) is BYU.

lately i have just been feeling so blessed that i am able to attend this beautiful university. i love the sports, i love the campus, i love (almost) all of my teachers, i love my friends here! i love the people and the food and the music and the rain...

pretty much everything with the exception of snow. and the fact that my mother and fiancee are not here. stupid.
i can't believe i only have 7 more school days left of the semester. whaaaaaaaaaat!?

then i will be back to my sweet home in vegas... which reminds me

5. i am SO grateful for my FAMILY! i love love love them!

i loved hanging out with them during thanksgiving break. tanner is still the funniest person i know, and mitchell is a hairy stud. my parents are two of the greatest people i know! my mom is so cute and john is smart and charismatic. i am so blessed. 17 days 'til i can be with them again!

ash

all i ever do

2010-11-16T23:07:00.001-08:00

well for about the past 11 days my mind and eyes have been on ONE thing.

instead of sleeping, i stare.

and i show off.
instead of taking tests, i take pictures.

(just kidding, mom)
i stare some more.
and on the way to class i stare even more.

(the stare is always accompanied by a smile)
i wake up and make sure all is still intact.
i've come to the conclusion that focusing on homework is near impossible with something this exciting on your hand.

i love my ring... and i LOOOVE my fiancee!

i can't wait to see him in THREE DAYS!

life is great.

ashley

couldn't be happier!

2010-11-08T21:55:00.000-08:00

well, i have quite the story to tell.

picture this: it's friday night. im home in vegas loving every second spent with my family. scotty and i had a date planned for 9:30. i thought he would come over sooner... but he didn't.

at exactly 9:30 i get a text message saying "your driver awaits you outside." i laugh and think nothing of it, and walk outside. however, where i expected to see my handsome boyfriend and his truck, i saw his best friend dressed up in a tux- complete with bow tie. he informed me that he would be my chauffeur for the night, and let me into the back seat.

once in the car, i was handed an envelope with my name on it. i learned that i had just begun a scavenger hunt, and i was to instruct my driver on where to go. my first clue led me to scotty's house. then we traveled to subway, yogurtland, the cleaners, and finally the bellagio fountains. all of the clues were really cute and rhymed and were printed on fun glossy paper.

(mind you... this whole time i'm asking a million questions in the car "where are we going?!" "what are we doing?" "is scotty paying you to do this?" "he's not proposing, is he...?" "are we going to a show?" "how are you, devon?" and all i get back is "i'm sorry, but the man who hired me asked me not to disclose any information." hahaha. devon played the part perfectly. every once in a while he'd say something like "we are now approaching the intersection of twain and jones, the time is precisely 10:05 and the temperature is around 65 degrees according to apple iphone.")

(ALSO, you should know that sometimes i'm completely mindless. this whole time my thought process was going like this: aww my boyfriend is so cute --> what are we doing? --> oh maybe we're going to a show downtown! --> oh my gosh, could he be proposing? --> HA! no. he hasn't even asked john for permission --> good, because i didn't get my nails done yet. --> hmm... phantom of the opera? --> is that even still playing on the strip? --> what are we doing?!)

anyway, i was literally dropped off on the curb of las vegas blvd in front of the bellagio fountains and my chauffeur drove away. luckily i found scotty :) the bellagio fountains hold a special place in our hearts... we went there on our first date! very sentimental. scotty was dressed up in his church attire, and that's when i first thought something was up (took long enough). i was thinking "if we're going somewhere where he has to dress like that, he would have told me to dress up too... so why is he dressed like that?" hahaha. but i was still in denial. john told me he would tell me when scotty asked him for permission... and i dont think scotty has enough money to buy a ring right now... hmmm...

BUT. then the fountains starting going. and an unknown romantic song started playing. and he started telling me how perfect i am, and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. i then started shaking with anticipation. i remember my jaw dropping as he got down on one knee... and like a fairy-tale, he pulled a little black box out of his pocket and the ring of my dreams just happened to be inside.

it was perfect. no- BEYOND PERFECT. people started clapping and i was bawling and my heart felt like it was going to explode! i said yes without hesitation, and he put the ring on my finger and swung me around! we called a crap load of people, and then had a romantic celebration and engagement dinner at the one and only: taco bell.

i am so in love.

my ring is BEAUTIFUL! i can't stop looking at it. every morning i wake up and get so excited that it's still real and i am still engaged! ITS NOT JUST A DREAM!

scotty makes me so happy. i can't wait to wake up to his cute face every day for the rest of my life. we have so much fun together and i feel like i am the luckiest girl in the whole world! he is alllllll mine :) we're thinking may or june... I CANT WAIT!

my mouth is in pain from smiling for 73 hours straight.

i am losing my voice from talking so much.

my body hurts from being hugged and ambushed and squeezed all the time.

and yet, i could not be happier.

boyfriend #2

2010-11-03T09:33:00.001-07:00

i suppose i should announce some important news...

i now have two boyfriends.

one just wasn't enough.

so, without further ado, meet drew

hahaha he is so cute. this is scotty's nephew. he spent the whole weekend trying to put his arm around me, flirting with me, or holding my hand. at one point he came up to me and said "ashley, i'm a better kisser than scotty!" hahahaha. his mom helped him a little with that line. he also told the family that he was going to "wait until scotty's not looking and slip right in next to her!" or something like that.
he is so funny.

although i liked hanging out with my boyfriend drew...

i looooooved hanging out with my real boyfriend all weekend :)

scotty's mom is awesome. she flew scotty to salt lake, where i met up with him, and then we flew together to texas for a cousin's wedding. the whole weekend was super fun!
we went to a rehearsal dinner, the wedding, the wedding reception, had late night talks in the motor home, i introduced some of the family to chili's chips/salsa/ranch, i met the grandparents, i met the great-grandpa and he called me "baby," we watched movies and even got our own personal tour of downtown fort worth!

we flew back to salt lake together, had a date in the airport during his 3 hour layover, and then we had to leave each other. that's always the worst part... stupid.

the time has come

2010-10-26T12:56:00.001-07:00

well... i guess i need to get a new ID card.

i got an email today saying "you have a package! take your id card to the cannon center to retrieve it"

so i take my id and walk my happy self over there.

i hand the lady my id and she's like

"uhhh is this your id?"

"yes....?"

"what's your name?"

"ashley barnes...."

she keeps looking back and forth from the card to me

"i cant give you the package... this isn't you."

"what?! its me, i swear!"

"whats your birthday?"

i tell her.

"student number?"

i tell her.

"address?"

i tell her.

"okay, but this looks nothing like you..."

"i know. i lost 35 lbs and dyed my hair"

"hmm...."

she gets some manager or something to come over and look at me and they finally decide to give me my package hahahha. it was the funniest thing ever. this is the picture on my ID card... and this is how i looked when i picked up my package.

quite the difference, huh?

i feel so good! and i'm SO glad i dont look that nasty anymore hahaha.

and im happy i convinced them to give me my stupid package.

fact:

2010-10-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

i love rain.

i always have, and i always will.

i feel like a lot of people claim to love rain... but its not as deep of a love as mine.

sure, everyone wants to make out in a rainstorm, and some people might love lightning.

but there's so much more!

rain makes me so happy.

the mere word makes me smile.

i love the dark grey clouds... i love the smell... i love the drops hitting my face... i love the pattering on my window... i love the way the streets and sidewalks shine like silver afterward (see photo)... i love the cool breeze... i love wearing a hoodie and walking the rain- but at the same time i love my hair getting damp... i love sitting outside to observe thunder and lightning... i love the wet dots rain makes on my clothes... i love the relaxing feeling i get watching rain fall... i love dancing in it... i love walking in it... i love running in it... i love watching rain collect in the gutter like a stream...

rain is the best.

indecisive

2010-10-18T14:05:00.001-07:00

i hate making choices.

i don't have a strong opinion on very many things.

i am easy going. i can adapt. i am indecisive!

so i got my hair done last week and i don't know how i feel. haha sometimes i love it, but sometimes i miss my blonde.

scotty loves it. my mom hates it. grandpa says blondes have more fun. a resident told me i should be a witch for halloween. what do YOU think?

we. are. fa. mi. ly.

2010-10-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

i LOVE family.

although i may not have always shown it in high school, i love being with family. i love big families, small families, funny families, dramatic families. just all kinds of families.

but mostly MY families.

i feel like living in provo allows me to see my extended family members way more than being in vegas does. lately i've just been on a weird family high.

i got to see my grandma barnes a couple weeks ago... i love her. she is awesome. see? she recently moved from idaho to arizona, so i got to see her in passing. even though our visit didn't last more than 15 minutes, i loved it.

next up was dinner with my cousins merideth, kathryn, and sam (and her husband jake). merideth and kathryn's mom annette was in town for the weekend so we all got together and ate at brick oven! mmmm :) i never see annette because she lives in chicago

it was nice to catch up with everyone.

so that was the family fun on my dad's side... but i also get to play with my mom's side too!

this past sunday, i went to my aunt cindy's house for dinner. we celebrated angela's 24th birthday! ang and i have always been way close... for as long as i can remember! we both have brothers so we always considered ourselves sisters. cindy made delicious salmon and and even more delicious ice cream cake :)

it was fun to see cindy, steve, ang, shawn, spencer, kevin, bryce, grandma and grandpa. oh and maggie. we ate and played hearts. (naturally, i won. as usual.)

don't get me wrong, i love hanging out with my extended family... but at the same time it makes me so sad. i miss my real family! you know... john, mom, mitchell, tanner.

look how attractive they all are. i miss john. i miss seeing my mom's face every day. i miss tanner's stupid jokes and random stories! and sometimes... i even miss mitchell.

could thanksgiving come any slower?

conference weekend

2010-10-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

this weekend was fantastic!

i loved every single part of it.

FRIDAY: when i got out of school, my cousin angela came down to provo and we hung out all afternoon. we went to chilis to get chips and salsa (and ranch... its tradition) then we went to the mall. i was so good and didn't buy a single thing :) very proud of myself. we were in nordstrom for about 10 minutes and then decided to leave so we wouldn't spend any money. it was kind of a big deal- talk about self control! so that was fun. naturally, we had to get ice cream after the mall, and then she went home. i spent the next few hours either looking at my clock, talking on the phone, or googling random distances from provo until finally... my boyfriend pulled into the parking lot! it was so great having him here. i love this guy!

this picture is from our all-nighter hahaha... yes. friday night we slept a total of roughly 45 minutes. maybe an hour. we were just so excited to be with each other again... had so much to talk about and catch up on. we went to walmart at like 4 a.m., then had breakfast at the cannon center right when it opened, watched ironman 2, went sight seeing at squaw peak, and just talked forever. then conference started! usually my college all-nighters are a little hellish. but this one was so nice. we definitely paid for it later though haha

SATURDAY: i was kind of like a zombie. but we went to scotty's friend's house for morning session of general conference, then drove to salt lake city to see the real deal for the afternoon session! it was a way cool experience. there is something special about being in the same room as the prophet. i love it. i love being able to look across a room and see him! not through a tv or computer. so fun. we had dinner at some mexican trailer on the side of the road haha then went our separate ways for priesthood session and girls night out. angela, cindy and i went to a movie! then scotty and shawn met up with me and ang at their house. we hung out, ate pie, and watched "what happens in vegas." fun night. i wish ang and shawn lived in provo so i could see them more often! and scotty too :) hahaha.

SUNDAY: scotty and i went to my uncle todd's house all day. it was SO fun. i love heber and i love todd and sharolyn and their kids! although they were extremely distracting during conference. it's hard to listen to serious speeches when there are five adorable, hyper, psycho children next to you! as you can see... scotty REALLY enjoyed watching conference. i was trying so hard not to laugh while taking this picture haha

justin is so big now. he walks and almost talks... its crazy! and all the rest are as cute as ever :) i colored pictures with the girls, threw a football around with the boys, and took full advantage of sharolyn's blackberry, raspberry, and strawberry bushes! oh gosh, they were heavenly.

after dinner, scotty and i drove back to provo to hang out during visiting hours (a.k.a. the 4 hours a week that men are allowed in my room)

and then it was time for him to go :( i feel bad he had to drive all night but i really hate it when he leaves so i try to push it off for as long as possible haha. my bad.

it was a fun weekend. but now my little dream world is over and i have FOUR midterms this week... i have work and homework and study groups and all sorts of stuff i should be doing.

so why am i blogging right now? good question.