couldn't be happier!

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 :) ... 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

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

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:

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

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.

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

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.