everybody dies but not everybody lives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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