the artist within

after numerous accounts throughout the last 2 years of me dropping obvious hints to scotty about going to Color Me Mine, the sweet guy caught on. 

we went two saturdays ago... and i might go as far as to say that it was one of the top 3 most fun dates we have ever been on. i soaked up every creative and productive second of it! it reminded me of living in washington and taking watercolor classes at a house up in the mountain. so artistic, i know. 

i missed painting. the vast array of colors, the different types of brushes. it's all mesmerizing to me. i feel like my creativity has deteriorated over the years. another thing that inspired the date is the fact that lately, i've acquired a random obsession with mugs. plus i am always hungry for more scotty-ashley-bonding time. so this activity fed all three of my desires. greatest husband ever? it was perfect. 

documentation of the night: 

scotty got an oversized bowl and i got an oversized mug. 

i guess we like oversized.

hard at work!

 waiting for our masterpieces to be glazed was a nightmare. i hate suspense. i hate waiting. i hate all of it.  i could only imagine the Color Me Mine employees pulling my mug out of the oven and accidentally dropping it on a tile floor, breaking it into pieces. thursday night practically felt like christmas eve. 

our works turned out beautiful! i love them! it's funny how we used the same amount of resources and time, yet our creations are completely different. scotty is the abstract, contemporary artist, while i will forever be a pink-lover. the frills, ruffles, polka dots, and banners are what warm my heart. 

scotty's:

mine:

 it's like... bigger than my face.

so excited. 

detox?

i did the master cleanse last week with some of my choice coworkers.

well... i tried. i really did. 

the master cleanse is a detox in which people only consume a mixture of lemon juice, water, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. 

i think you're supposed to do it for 10 days. 

we aimed for 5. 

i quit* after 3. 

.

.

.

.

*was obligated to resign because my mom came into town and wanted to take me out to dinner, lunch, ice cream, and other mother/daughter bonding experiences. can you blame me? look at the options.

 vs.

maybe the detox is overrated. 

O.S.S.

my dear friends, 

i come before you today with a problem. almost a disease, if you will. something i need to work on and overcome. it won't be easy, and the transition to a new and better lifestyle won't come quickly. i have slowly dragged myself deeper and deeper into this unhealthy habit. so much so, that it just seems normal to me. 

until saturday night. 

i ventured off to target on a mission to buy three simple things: 

1% milk

egg roll wrappers

the hunger games books 1 & 2

easy, right? 

in and out. 

wrong. 

as i was driving home, i was self-diagnosed with what i call O.S.S.

obsessive shopping syndrome. 

seriously. the second any amount of money comes into our bank account, i am giddy with adventure and suspense of what my newest future purchases will be. 

this problem is extremely dangerous because it can be triggered at any time, on any day, and ANYWHERE. walking to my car from work? pull up the nordstrom app. sitting in bed? surf online at www.asos.com. run to smiths for some eggs? come back with nail polish, candy, and children's books. go to target for milk, egg roll wrappers, and the hunger games books? 

come back with this: 

what part of "milk, egg roll wrappers, and the hunger games books" inspired me to compulsively buy 9 bags of merchandise and one box of capri suns?

my purchases couldn't even fit on one countertop. 

see blurred picture because of laughter below: 

i love shopping. i really do. it doesn't matter the store, the day, the time, the amount of money on me, or what i need. i just love shopping. 

someone help me. 

cheesing it up.

i've had a strange past few days. 

school ended, which was awesome. 

and i had all of this excitement and build up toward summer like i do every year. 

i even found myself singing this great summer song: (click here) 

and then all of my friends had facebook statuses like "home at last!" or "finally in my own room!" or "i love las vegas!" and all that type of stuff. 

and it hit me... im not going home this summer! i'm married now... so pootah is my home.

what. the. heck. 

i obviously knew i wasn't going home. but i didn't really understand that i wasn't going home until just recently. 

and it's a pretty heartbreaking concept to accept when you think of memories like these: 

 hanging with my girls. 

stratosphere rides.

 beach trips. 

 laying out with mom. 

 kissing my babies. 

 laughing at tanner. 

 swimming in my backyard. 

suddenly i didn't know what to be excited about. 

what is summer if you're just working full time and you don't even get to see your parents or friends or brothers or laugh at the fresh crop of weirdos in the singles ward or spend an entire saturday laying out by the pool with a cafe rio salad or have nightly BBQs from john and the grill? 

it's kind of depressing. 

but, as i was watching glee last week, i heard a quote that totally applied to the situation.

rachel was like "my home isn't some place, it's someone" 

and i was like "omg my home isn't vegas, it's SCOTTY!" 

so boom. i will be home for summer. 

cue "i'll be home for christmas" tune with modified lyrics. 

i'll be home for summer,

you can count on me. 

i'll be home for summer,

if only with my scottyyyyy

and now i'm excited.
our first married summer!
i love him. 

scruff appreciation day

my brain has been conditioned to make me quite apprehensive when i see scruff.

i'm serious.

i can blame the anxiety i get on two different situations that i encounter on a weekly basis: 

1. i work in an office on byu's campus, and i can't help a male customer unless he is clean-shaven. part of the honor code. i have to muster up my courage and say, "everything we need from your supervisor is here, but before we start any paper work we need you to be clean shaven to be in compliance with the honor code" and then brace myself for the evil glares and annoyed comments. 

2. when scotty has scruff i don't let him kiss me, as it can get quite painful. i hate it. it's like someone shoving needles into my chin. i feel like my face is going to start bleeding. 

scruff = bad

on sunday, scotty had a lot of scruff.

probably like three days worth.

and then i stole a baby. 

i'm sitting there in sacrament meeting, minding my own business, when the cutest little head i've ever seen pops up from behind the bench in front of me. i stood firm in my anti-baby mindset, smiled at her and then looked away. no. no babies for me. but then she kept smiling at me and flashing those huge precious eyes and every maternal bone in my body was tingling. 

i snatched her. i just picked her up and stole her. we played with books, i bounced her on my lap, and she even snuggled with me. funny how a small act of larceny turned out to be the highlight of my day.

and um... have you seen anything cuter than these tights? 

the answer is no. 

but if you were wondering if this unknown baby and scruff have anything in common, the answer is yes. 

she started getting fussy so, naturally, i passed her to scotty. 

and to my surprise, he started rubbing his scruff all over her. 

he rubbed his scruff on her cheeks, her forehead, her chin.

the baby and i were both dying.

she loved it. 

she could not stop giggling and smiling. 

and oh my gosh, my heart was melting.

then all the laughing and squealing made her sleepy, so she curled up with my sweet husband and they cuddled while i sat next to them in total envy.

i'm glad we finally found someone to appreciate scotty's scruff.

we plan on sitting behind her every week for the rest of our time in the ward.

#20

my all-time favorite days of any given year are as follows: 

1. december 25th

2. black friday

3. thanksgiving

4-18. the days included in the nordstrom anniversary sale

19. the first day of fall semester

20. textbook sell back day

textbook sell back day produces some of the happiest moments i've ever experienced. 

not familiar with the cycle? follow me. 

at the beginning of the school year, one spends approximately $300-400 on books.  those numbers are coming from my own personal experiences. however, once the official last day of school has passed, one can take those same books from the semester and the bookstore will buy them back. yes, you read correctly. BUY THEM BACK! 

and before you know it, this...

 turns into this...

 photo courtesy of lauren harris

which turns into this...

pink skinnys and a new dress in exchange for my old p.e. book?

i'll take it!

i love textbook sell back day.

butt-crack of dawn

Thomas Jefferson said, "Teaching is a moral endeavor."

if you think about it... it really, really is.
because both parties are not equal.
the teacher has significant authority over the students.

we are taught to be so careful in what we say, dress, and teach.  there are so many rules and guidelines to follow.  not only are we representing the principal, we are representing the school, school district, and even the name of public school in general. we have [almost] total control of what goes on inside of our classrooms.

so why wasn't my teacher thinking of this when he planned our final exam at

7:00 AM 

on a freaking SATURDAY???

i drove 40 minutes to take a 15-minute final exam.

i got back around 8... 

too late to go back to sleep but too early to take a nap.

i don't know what to do with myself after this moral injustice. 

happy saturday.