What a Blast!!

When I was in Junior High, I went on a school sponsored ski trip. I went twice in one week for two different years (I think 7th grade and 8th, but I'm not sure). For you math majors (If that last sentence was clear enough) that means that I had been skiing 4 times in my entire life. Now, if you continue to do the math, it means that I hadn't been in...about 10 years. The first time I went skiing, I had to have the little bungee cord that they attatch to the tips of the (little) kids' skis to help them stop. I was that bad. I was cured quickly of that, due the the extreme embarrassment that I felt. Anyway, I hadn't been in 10 years or so, but I'd always wanted to go back. Unfortunately for me, I have family members that are utterly unwilling to try winter sports. Anyway, Heidi and I were going to go to a church activity this past week (night skiing), but we decided to go today instead (we were worried about the roads). It was such a blast!! I want to go again!!

Psych You Out

My friend Heidi and I had a Psych season finale party this past Friday. I bought some fresh pineapple for the occasion! :) The episode was great, as usual, but I was horribly disappointed by the ending. Shawn and Juliet drive me crazy sometimes with their round-about flirting and sorta-kinda, but not really relationship. Anyway, I love it. 

Yeah, she would totally kill me if she knew that this picture was on my blog, but she'll never find out, will she? MWA HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Benjy has been in the house ever since she was attacked TWICE by something (I assume it was a dog). Because she has been an outdoor cat for her entire life (11 years), I was a little hesitant to bring her inside. I did take her to the vet and got her an antibiotic shot to ward off infection, so she has healed nicely. She is also doing very well in the house--no accidents, and her mewing has been cut dramatically. She now accepts the fact that if she meows at my door during the night, she will go out in the garage. It took her one night to figure that out...smart cat. Anyway, she can be a pain, but I'm glad she's out of the cold and away from the dogs.

Mom and I have started talking about a trip to West Yellowstone this summer. We had such a good time last year during my graduation trip, that I think we should make it an annual trip. I'm kind of excited to go back (I love trips, and planning makes me happy). This year the Playmill is showing "Guys and Dolls", "The Secret Garden" and "Footloose". I think that we have decided on "Footloose". It's exciting!

Catching up

Okay, so I realize that it's been about a month and a half since I've had an actual post on here. My only excuse for this fact is that I'm lazy. 

We had a pretty great New Year's this year. Because everyone was away for Christmas, we had the whole family together for New Year's. We played games, watched Psych, played Laser Tag and just hung out. We also celebrated Emily's 7th birthday. I can't believe that she's 7 already! That's insane!! 

We haven't really gotten to see Sullivan as often as we would like. The last time I saw him Jen was stopping by after being in Shelley (sp?) just after New Years. This picture was taken quite awhile ago, but I thought it was adorable, so I wanted to post it anyway.

On January 28th, Sarah Elizabeth was born. She is such a cute little girl...she looks a lot like Jamison did when he was a baby. I'd put pictures of her on here, but I know Jamie doesn't like it. I know most of you have seen her already, or go on Jamie's blog, so I'm not going to do it. 

I was disappointed that the School District levy didn't pass last week. It seems a shame that people refuse to pay an extra $1-2 a month so the school district can try to stay alive. On top of that, I have no idea whether or not I will have a job next year. I wonder what I'm going to do?? Anyone have any ideas? I'm open to suggestions.  

Anyway, so Kimby told me that she would be my Valentine yesterday. I feel very lucky to have such a cute Valentine. :) I hope everyone had a great Valentine's day and that they spent it with people they love. 

 

3 things tag--another list

Okay, here we go again. One more list of things!

3 names I go by: (seriously, three? I have way more than three!)
-Ashley
-Deutsch
-Ashee

3 jobs I have had in my life:
-KMart sales associate
-ISU Mail Center associate
-Instructional Paraprofessional (don't ask me what it means, though) :)

3 places I have lived:
-Washington

-North Carolina
-England

3 tv shows that I watch:
-Psych
-The Office
-The Biggest Loser

3 places I have been:
-London (my favorite!!)
-Cambridge (tied as my favorite)
-Glacier National Park (hey, I've been to a lot of places!)

3 of my favorite foods:
-A lot of Italian (authentic and non-authentic)
-Shepherd's Pie
-Sugar

3 things I'm looking forward to:
-Going to bed tonight

Getting my blood work over with

-Spring


I now tag anyone else who wants to do it.

A Year in Review

So, I promised a New Year's post--here it is. You know, I've decided that this is more of a family blog than my own. I have more pictures of the kids on here than of myself. Oh, well. They're a pretty big part of my life. I also think that pictures are better than words. Therefore, my reiview will be in pictures. Here are just a few things that happened this year:

Of course, the biggest thing that happened to ME this year, was my graduation. It took me 5 years and I'll be paying it off forever, but I would do it over again if I had to.

Playing with Kammi and London on one of my trips to Jerome to see Kammi play soccer.



Enjoying the scenery of Glacier National Park in Montana. Mom and I went to Glacier as my graduation present. It snowed on our way up there, and it was freezing. The day that we were supposed to go on our bus tour started out cloudy and ended up being beautiful. The snow just made everything more gorgeous.

Mom and I at our hotel at Glacier. We played some games, drank hot chocolate by the huge fire, and got massages.

Of course, our family gatherings (in this case, family reunion) would not be complete without ice cream.Enjoying the sights of Mesa Falls. We also went to a "museum" where Kammi dressed up like a fox (or something like that).Of course I couldn't leave out the fish farm. It was fun to see the kids react to the fish, but it was gross. I really hate fish.

We rented out a swimming pool for an hour and a half or so. It was fun to just hang out in the water, do some cannon balls and just be crazy. Geocaching. I have no idea if that's how you spell it. Oh, well. It's fun, try it.

I said goodbye to my friends at the mail center this year. It was a little sad, but I'd been there for four years, and it was time to go.

I'm sad that I don't get to see Amanda as often as I used to, but I still see her once or twice a month.
I bought a new car! It was time to get rid of my high school car and upgrade to an "adult car".

Sullivan was born!



Kammi and London had their Tavaci Christmas performance. That was really fun to go see. Playing in the snow!

I don't have a picture for this, but another big thing that happened to me this year (just barely) is that I got a new job. I had been subbing since mid October, but it was too sporatic. I interview for and got a job with the school district working with a little girl. I help around the class too and help anyone who needs special attention. It's not the most glamorous job in the world, but it's pretty fun.

Anyway, I am grateful that things have turned out well for me this year. I wondered at times if it would. We are truly blessed in our family to have all that we do and to have been able to do what we have done.

That was a confusing sentence.

Anyway, thanks to all of you that have made my year a good one. I hope that 2009 brings everyone peace, happiness and joy.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas...I did. Because I work for the school district, I get two weeks off for Christmas break. Awesome. We had a pretty big snowstorm at the beginning of the week, and Melanie and I took the opportunity to take Kimby and Katherine outside to play in the snow. The girls had a lot of fun, but we didn't stay outside for too long. It was just too stinkin' cold!

You can see in this picture that the snow is almost up to my knees. This was after the first snowstorm that we had-- we got more snow on Christmas Day.

It was pretty laid back this year, as all of my siblings were spending time with their in-laws this year. We did have Melanie and Spencer (and the girls) for Christmas Eve though. I love Christmas Eve! For me, it's almost more awesome than Christmas DAY. We have a party every year, do Christmas crackers, presents, etc. This year (and last year too) we watched a Trans-Siberian Orchestra DVD called "The Ghosts of Christmas" (or something like that). Katherine loves music and dances to it whenever she hears it. I tried to upload a video of it on here, but it won't let me. I might try to add it later on Mom's computer to see if it will work then.

I also made a train this year for Christmas Eve. We had so much food, though, that we didn't eat it. It is now sitting in the freezer waiting for everyone to be here for New Years Eve. It took me forever, and nearly sent me off the edge, but in the end was worth it.

We had a little fun with our Christmas crackers...This has nothing to do with Christmas, but it was so cute, I couldn't resist.

This was Christmas morning. I got mom a Snuggie-type thing. I don't even know what it is, really. All I know is that you wrap up in it and it keeps you warm (oh, and it looks funny). Mom saw the commercial for a cheap version of this on tv and kept saying that she wanted one. I ended up seeing an ad for it at ShopKo and was able to get her a nice one for Christmas.This is what Ashley got for Christmas! I've been practicing a lot, and will probably end up taking lessons (even though I cringe at the idea). I broke the E-string (the smallest one) on Christmas day, but was able to get it restrung on Boxing Day. I don't know how good I'll be, but it's fun to play, regardless. I also got a gift certificate to get keyless entry installed in my car, gift certificates to Mama Inez and Sizzler, stuff for my guitar (strap, books, picks, tuner), a book in a series I'm reading, a hat and scarf (shown in the picture below), a gift certificate to Fandango, and Mamma Mia. I hope I didn't leave anything out. Anyway, it was a great Christmas. I hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas. Stay tuned for my New Years post--A Year in Review.

Thanksgiving and Tavaci

I haven't really written very much in the past couple of months. To be honest, I don't really have much to write, and when I do, I'm too lazy to. So, going back a couple of weeks--Thanksgiving was pretty awesome at our house. My whole family was there (all 21 of us). Jeff and Jen didn't know if they were going to be able to make it, but in the end, they showed up on Wednesday. It was a great Thanksgiving weekend (although it consisted of Wednesday-Saturday/Sunday). We played a lot of games, Rock Band, Laser Tag (which was awesome!), watched Fred Claus, woke up insanely early to go shopping on Black Friday...did I leave anything out? On Saturday afternoon before Jeff and Jen left we had a 30th birthday "party" for Jeff. It was pretty fun to decorate the house. We also had Walmart make a picture cake with a picture of him when he was a little boy. It was cute.

Anyway, the holidays are definitely upon us. Mom, Dad, Melanie, Kimby, Katherine and I had the opportunity to go see Kammi and London in their Christmas Tavaci performance. I think I had a little too much fun with the camera on the way over, though!

(I didn't even tell Katherine I was taking the picture. I was sitting behind her and reached the camera up blindly to take the picture. I had no idea if she had seen the camera or what the picture looked like until I looked at it. I almost died laughing. That's Katherine for you!)



(Okay, I agree...I'm weird)

The performance was really cute, and the girls did a great job. Tavaci is singing and dancing together. I told Melanie it was like a kids Trouveres. Sullivan has gotten bigger, even in the two weeks or so since I've seen him! It's crazy! He's going to be a lot different the next time I see him. After the performance, we went back to Jeff and Jen's for an hour or so. Kimby had so much fun playing with the girls! Case and point...

(most of these were "props" that Kammi and London used during their performance)

Anyway, we are in desperate need for new pictures of the kids for our wall so I decided to take some while I was there. Kammi's and London's turned out really well. As for Kimby (the least photogenic child I have ever known), well...this is how her "photo shoot" went--

Anyway, if I don't get around to posting again in the next couple of weeks, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!