these are my confessions.

1. i am sitting in the airport right now, waiting for my flight to board.. and i could not be happier. okay i guess i could be if i were in the vegas airport haha. but you catch my drift.

2. airports are confusing, HUGE, and difficult.

3. i pretty much lied to everyone about my final exam grades with the exception of two people. its embarrassing! and why do they need to know? its none of their business. adding 5 or 10 points to my score is not a sin.

4. i now fully understand the phrase "purple mountains majesty." yesterday, i was walking home and the sun was setting and the snow was on the mountains and somehow they just turned this beautiful shade of purple. i tried to run inside and grab my camera.. but it didnt really work haha. i reminded myself of my mom. it was weird. utah is beautiful.

5. im not going to go as far as to say that i like the snow.. but i'll admit it is kind of growing on me. its so pretty! i stared at the mountains for like five minutes straight yesterday and then realized how stupid i looked and stopped. but who knew the snow was so exciting?! look at this snowman...

crazy! my mind was blown. at least 3 other snowmen this size were created this week.

6. i'm 4 seats away from this boy in my ward.. i cant remember his name. woops. i feel like a failure. my calling (ward greeter) is supposed to make me get to know everyone in the ward. uhg.

7. i'm turning 19 next week.. and i'm kind of freaking out. where did this year go!? i've been graduated for more than 6 months. what the crap is going on haha.. i dont want to grow up!

8. i sold a text book back this week and got $87 back. it kind of made my week.

9. i will miss the cannon center, and the girls from my floor. aside from that, i could leave provo forever and be perfectly content.

10. i didnt charge my computer yesterday, and i really want to watch mean girls on the plane. so im getting off.

PEACE & LOVE.

-ashley

CHRIST to the MAS

okay. so i am totally in the christmas-zone right now. i've been listening to christmas music aalllllll day long. and i know im totally gonna regret saying this... but i may or may not kind of almost semi-like the snow. i suppose we have a love-hate relationship. i fell on my butt twice yesterday. it was great.

anyway, in honor of christmas i wanted to share my two favorite christmas songs of all time.

1. Josh Groban "Believe"

this song is AMAZING. i love love love him! it's from polar express... and i called my mom yesterday and told her to send me christmas songs just so i could have this one song. i could listen to it over and over for the rest of the month. and as a matter of fact, i will.

2. Aly & AJ "Greatest Time of Year"

I LOVE THIS SONG. my play count is already 14 and i just started listening to christmas music like yesterday. it gets me so pumped up. i remember listening to this song on my ipod on christmas eve because i couldnt sleep. hahaha. jeeze. its like one of my favorite songs ever... not just in the christmas category.

anyway. those are my two faves. i hear t swift has a christmas album out... and so does david archuleta. i'll have to check those out asap!!

this is most definitely the best time of year. i love everything about christmas. the spirit, the food (in relief society this week, i talked about my mom's egg nog cheesecake and people gasped), the presents, the tree, the mistletoe, the hot chocolate, the sledding, and just the fact that everyone is so happy and giving at this time of year.

i turn 19 this christmas... daaaaang. thats old. i cant believe my bff alex westmoreland will be 20 on christmas eve. holler! well. thats all i have to say at the moment... i lost 9 pounds since thanksgiving break! WOO. i definitely am starting to make some new years resolutions haha.. i wanna be prepared. wouldnt it be cool to say i ran 365 miles in one year? i think that might be one of them.

11 days till i go home :)

17 days till christmas/birthday celebration!

-ashley

happy happy happy.

its thursday morning, 1:40 a.m., and all is well.

not sure what it is about this week... i was fully prepared to come back emo and depressed after spending a week in glorious las vegas. (i mean, come on. who wants to go from VEGAS to PROVO? talk about down-grade) but guess what? i'm not emo or depressed.

why?

-maybe its because i just finished my last paper like five minutes ago, meaning i wont have to write another one until next semester!

-maybe its because i got my vegas fix in for a few weeks

-maybe its the warm feeling i get inside when i think about going to american heritage lecture TWO more times!! thats it!!

-maybe its because i was actually social for once tonight. i went and played rockband with a bunch of people from my ward. it felt good because 1) i loooove rockband and 2) i looooove talking to people. (i knew all of those hours playing in high school would not go wasted. i impressed a lot of people tonight with my expertise)

-maybe its the fact that NEXT THURSDAY (exactly one week from this very moment) will be my last day of classes for this semester

-maybe its because i got to spend five nights in a comfortable bed last week

-maybe its because the christmas decorations alllll over campus. including my very own taylor hall :) tonight floor council strung christmas lights all along the floor ceiling. pretty.

-maybe its the fact that i can wear all of my nordstrom coats now because its cold as shi- outside

-maybe its because a friend problem got resolved last week when i was home :) i feel like a weight has been taken off my chest!

-maybe its because i got to see afton WAY more than expected last week. I. LOVE. HER. like honestly.... can i have a baby?! ahahaha. she loves me. she cried when i tried to hand her off to someone else.

i woke up to her in my bed on thanksgiving morning hahahha. weird family. so naturally, i had to take pictures. she is so stinking cute.

-maybe its because subway has a new menu item.. chicken cordon bleu melt! holy crap. heaven.

-maybe its because i feel better about next semester. i think i have my classes the way i want them, and every time i think about getting into the elementary ed program i want to freaking jump! i am so excited to be a teacher. a couple weeks ago, i was SO down and discouraged because i'm failing like everything and i was so overwhelmed with life and school and then i went to this el ed seminar... and it got me all pumped up again. i just need to focus.

-maybe its because i came back to provo with a package and a letter awaiting for me! i love love love getting mail. it easily makes any day better. (hint hint) (haha just kidding) (okay but really)

-MAYBE its because my parents got a new mac and i am so excited for them, and i am even more excited about the fact that we can SKYPE now!! i came home sunday night, and i've already had two skype sessions with the fam. maybe if i knew i would love skyping with them this much, i would have donated some serious money to their mac fund.

i love this picture.. we look like sisters huh? i love her.

basically. i'm happy. dont know why... because its FREEZING and i should be stressed out of my mind with finals... but... i dont know. haha. its all good. i get to go home in 16 days! cross your fingers for me and my final exams :) at least i know i'll get an A in my biology lab... stupid bacteria

-ashley

one day more.

okay. this is so nerdy. buuut. i've had this song stuck in my head ALL. MORNING.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuffHRacZMQ

check it out.

this song gives me chills every time. last summer my mom and i went and saw this play in tuacahn. freaking amazing. our family has listened to the soundtrack for years, though. i remember when mitchell was going through his opera stage and we would see if we could hold out the last note till the very end. hahaha. he usually got it. too bad he wont sing anymore.

anyway. the reason i've had this broadway tune stuck is my head is because i only have ONE DAY MORE till i can see my family! a couple things i'm looking forward to...

1. eating my mom's thanksgiving dinner! just the mere thought of janet rolls makes my mouth water. i'll post a picture after thursday. i've decided that thanksgiving/black friday is my favorite holiday. YES, i would rather stuff my face and shop than receive presents. thats ashley barnes for ya.

2. laughing at tanner's jokes in person. i miss that kid.

3. holding baby afton. even if she screams and cries the whole time.

4. sleeping in my bed. i should have put a memory foam pad on my christmas list.

5. seeing the ladies from my old job at Lakes Cleaners. i havent seen them since august! i miss my adorable manager carol. she's for sure one of the top 5 sweetest people i've ever met. my blunt boss ramie and my co-workers jen and jamie. they are hilarious! i wish i had a picture of all of us. if things work out the way i plan, i can rightfully claim my coach purse this week. (this coach purse has been on the dry cleaning line since october 2008... and our rule is after a year we either keep it or give it to goodwill. jen, jamie, and i have had our eyes on this purse since day 1! they took it off the line last month and we decided that to be fair we would send it back and forth like sisterhood of the traveling pants... but they havent sent it to me. hahaha. i'll change that.)

6. hanging out with my family

7. seeing vegas people! i miss hannah and her sister and her mom and amanda and james and sister schlauder and i could list billions of other people but im trying to keep this somewhat short.

8. being in WARM WEATHER. the forecast for monday and tuesday in provo is 41 degrees, and las vegas is 67 degrees. uuuhhhhhggg. thats almost 30 degree difference!!!

9. waking up at the buttcrack of dawn on friday to shop with john. we've only been on the crazy black friday shopping bandwagon for a year, but i expect this tradition to carry on for quite some time.

10. going to visit miss kristin hawkins. i have volunteered in her kindergarden class for over two years. we've been through a lot together. parent drama, stupid administration problems, hahaha. she would vent to me and i told her all about my pathetic senior year. i single handedly saved the christmas program last winter. hahaha. good times. i love this woman. i hope to see her on wednesday and pay derfelt elementary a surprise visit :)

anyway. i think its obvious that i miss las vegas more than i can explain. and i also think that this monday will last 70 hours instead of the usual 24. don't get me wrong.. i love byu (most of the time), but nothing compares to home sweet home.

cant wait.

new roommates.

yes, i am fully aware of the visitors policy here in Helaman Halls.. but i dont think my three visitors would pass the tests. in my bio 101 class, we have been learning about bacteria. gross. we did some experiments and such, which were bearable but not something i'd want to do every day. then to my astonishment, brother stowers announced that we would be conducting our own "at-home" experiments, and be in charge of three different petri dishes for a week.

EW. EW. EW. EW.

so right now i am babysitting little trays of e coli (yes, e coli...), and lactobacillus (you dont even wanna know where this is found. yuck.). oh and lets not forget the third dish that i got to fill with whatever i wanted... i should have put candy or something in it hahaha. but believe it or not, my grades matter to me. so i took a cotton swab and got some bacterial specimen from the lovely dorm shower. look at this nastiness

i wish the picture was clearer but it was hard not to get a glare.

this is the dish from the shower. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING.

you can not look at this fungus growing in my dish and say you want to go hop in the shower butt naked. i dont know what im gonna do. there's gotta be a hose somewhere outside i can use instead of this infested place. hahahah.

katherine keeps making fun of me and saying that im like one of those psycho creeper roommates who grows stuff in her room and does weird experiments. but i told her if she doesnt shut up i will open the dishes and dump them on her face while she's asleep.

good times.

23 more school days left :) wooo!

-ashley

oh by the way... we had our first legit snow this morning. stuck to the ground. i think its almost melted by now... but lets just say i havent stepped out of my hall ONCE today. uhg. can i go home?

yum.

if i were oprah (which has been a continuous dream throughout my life), one of the coolest things would be making my favorite things show. for those of you who misconceive this woman's greatness and choose to pass on watching her show, it is the one episode a year where oprah dedicates a whole 45 minutes (roughly) to share her most favorite possessions. that obviously everyone should like considering they are the things she likes. its usually amazing. the "things" can be literally anything; movies, books, ipods, items of clothing, shoes, last year she had this sweet thing called a kindle which i will probably never have the luxury of owning in my life, and et cetera.

anyway, that took up a lot more space than planned, here's my new all-time favorite lunch. i decided this week to venture off from subway and get soup and bread. this bread (first spotted when my family was in town... my mom made the woman at the sweet and spicy store take a loaf out of the oven to show me. my mom is obsessed with miniature things. i remember one time we saw a little cheese grater at the grocery store and she adored it... but lets be real, it would never be used. stupid. what a waste.) is AMAZING. just like anything else byu-creamery made. its like your own personal loaf of home-made bread... but you can eat it in one sitting.

and its delicious. i took a picture, but i have to say that it looks a million times better in person. its the perfect amount of slightly crunchy on the top, yummy softness in the middle... mmmmmmm. AND, i ask myself if they did this on purpose, it is thee perfect amount to accommodate the soup. if one were to dip the bread into the soup, you would run out of both at exactly the same time. it feels like some sort of miracle. anyway, here's the picture that doesnt do the bread any justice at all...

now i feel unfair because i shared so much hoopla about the bread, but the soup is really good too! wild rice and chicken.. mmm. nothing compared to the one my mom makes, but this will have to suffice for the next three weeks. THREE WEEKS! exactly three weeks from yesterday. piece of cake.

ashley

joy.

I dont know about you, but to me this is one pretty good-looking family.

i was honored with the pleasure of seeing their faces this weekend :)

thank goodness for nevada day

haha, i love this little guy.

he makes me laugh so hard.

the fam is still here in provo (kills me that they are miles away but i have school in the morning and am unable to spend the whole night with them), i'll treat them to lunch on campus tomorrow and then send them off to vegas.

if you know me well at all, you know i'm the biggest weenie ever. BUT, something tells me tomorrow i wont cry. i mean, come on. thanksgiving is only a short three and a half weeks away. i can do this. right? right.