No AC = creative ingenuity

Our AC went out on Monday and our apartment has been 85 degrees since...even with the windows open.  Can you say GAG?  After two nights of little to no sleep (due to that fact that it felt we were sleeping in Hell), it was time to get serious.  So, last night, it's midnight and we're both sweaty and sick of this no AC stuff.  (How did the pioneers cope!?  I was definitely born in the right time).  I'm laying in bed, wishing I was on a beach with a pina colada, and I hear Dave messing around in the kitchen.  And then, I see him walk in our room with this...... 

Fan:  check

Dish drying basket:  check

Otter pops:  check

Bungee cords:  check

Towel:  check

Get all of these things and you've got yourself a white trash creative air conditioner.  And believe it or not, it actually worked pretty well...for about 30 minutes.  And then the Otter Pops melted. 

THAT my friends, is why I love my husband.  :) 

Catch Up

Summer is in full swing and can I just say, IT IS AWESOME!!!  For the past little while I've been boasting to Dave that so far, this has been my best summer EVER.  (It may have something to do with the fact that I went to summer school last summer, causing the worst summer ever).  Dave and I have been very blessed to be able to choose our work hours this summer so we've been able to sleep in and spend a lot more time together.  I've decided that life is just better when you're not in school.  For this reason, I'm doing my best to not think about the upcoming semester this Fall.  Ugh....not thinking about it...moving on.  We've been pretty lazy, but pretty busy as well and here's the pictures to prove it.  

 I made this wedding cake in June and was really pleased with it.  I'd never used fresh lilies on a cake before, but I think it turned out pretty good. 

 I started my garden a few months ago and the strawberries were a success!  The jalapenos are another story...I'm still trying to figure out why they aren't producing.  I've still got all summer right?  :) 

 Made this cake for a family bbq.

 Lemon cream cake with raspberry and lemon cream filling...with fresh whipped cream frosting and raspberries.  This cake is to die for.  And, I made it all from scratch.  Go me!  :) 

 Dave and I spent the July 4th weekend camping with my family at the Weber Memorial Campgrounds.  Here's Luke, Dave and Carlie playing Scrabble on the Ipad. 

 And, you can't celebrate the 4th without sparklers. 

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer as much as we are!

Oh....and one more thing.

A squirrel has decided to take up residence in the attic above our room. 

He likes to run around at night and every morning. 

Just another nuisance of apartment living.  :) 

Time to vent.

I know that oftentimes my post's turn into mini vent sessions, and that must become tiresome to read.  But, this is a long time coming. 

There are two things as of late (ok the last 10 months..I told you this is a long time coming), that have been getting on my nerves just a little bit. 

Exhibit A:    

Screaming children.  But not just any children.  The toddler that lives below me.  If you have talked to me at all the past few months then you know exactly what I am talking about.  I've vented about this certain individual previously here.  I'm not exaggerting (ask Dave) when I tell you that this child screams every night.  And I'm not saying that all sarcastic like.  I mean it.  EVERY night.  He's like an alarm clock.  11:30 pm.....ding!  Time to start screaming!!!!  He cries, he screams, he wails...for 20-45 mins, and I've had enough...it's as simple as that. 

Dear toddler/spawn of satan:  I know you want attention.  I understand that.  We all do.  But do you know what I want?  SLEEP!!!!  We can't all sleep in until 11:00 am everyday.  We don't all get to have naps and sippy cups of milk all day.  Trust me, you have it good.  I've got plenty of things to cry about...and your incessant screaming everynight is driving me insane.  Trust me, you don't want to see me lose it.

Dear parents of screaming child:  I don't have kids, so I can't imagine what it's like trying to soothe your child while he's screaming.  I had sympathy for you....until you came up to my door and told me to ignore your childs screaming because you're trying to train him to self-soothe.  NEWS FLASH for you:  You live in an apartment complex!!  You share your walls with other people.  You live in a community.  You NEED to be courteous of other people.  It's NOT ok to start training your nearly two-year-old TODDLER to self soothe while living in an apartment.  That self-soothe business should have been started a LONG time ago.  So, instead of just sitting there and talking to eachother like nothing is going on (yeah, I can hear you), go PICK UP your screaming child and soothe him!  Cuz right now, a war's a brewin' and trust me...if you want a noise war.  I WILL WIN.

Just to clarify, I am well aware that by living in an apartment complex, I am giving up some of my privacy/sanity if you will.  :) I know it's unrealistic to think that I'll never hear my neighbors.  But I truly feel that Dave and I are very good neighbors and do our best to be courteous.  And I think that letting your child scream, fully aware that your neighbors can hear him is flat out rude.  

Moving on.....

Exhibit B:           

Barking dogs.  Clarification:  Barking dogs that bark at EVERYTHING!  Our parking area of our complex shares a fenced "wall" with our neighbors yard.  These neighbors have two BIG dogs.  I know one's a lab...not sure of the other.  That's beside the point though.  They bark.  At everything.  All the time.  It's as if every person, animal, or blasted blade of grass that moves is a mass murderer or something.  I've never seen the owners outside and they never do anything to stop their dogs.  Last night, they barked from 11:00-11:30 non-stop.  And then this morning...for another 30 minutes straight.  When they woke me up, I layed in bed dreaming about suffocating the stupid things.  

(I think it's pretty clear that I've lost it).  I haven't had a good, sound, uninterrupted sleep since last August.  And, it's starting to show. :)  Thanks for the vent...I feel better now.  Not looking for sympathy.  Just needed to get that out.        

I'm a vampire...

Last week was our anniversary, so we decided to eat out to celebrate.  Dave is awesome and took me to Texas Road House, my favorite restaurant.  He even waited for a seat for about 45 minutes!  (If that's not love, I don't know what is). 

So, we order our usuals, me, meduim rare steak, Dave, medium well steak.

The food comes and I'm not kidding when I tell you that this was the best steak I have ever had.  EVER.  As we're eating, Dave is just looking over at my plate like he is going to vommit.  

You see, Dave can't stand rare meat.  Everytime I order it he just stares at it like it's going to attack him or something.  ;)  

So, as I'm going on and on about how good my meal was Dave, with a disturbed look on his face says:

"You would be just fine walking up to a cow and biting right into it."

Me: "Is there a problem with that?"

Dave:  "No, not if you're a vampire."  (with a look of pure seriousness mind you). 

We just looked at eachother and busted up laughing.

So, I guess I'm a vampire.  Who's with me?!    

Random thought of the day

These are Garden Tomato & Basil potato chips. 

They are amazing.  I'll never go back to regular, never.

The next time you are grocery shopping, you need to hunt these puppies down, and buy them.  

They won't disappoint.  That is all.    

3 years

3 years ago today I married my best friend.  Here's some of my favorite memories from the day. 

The last three years have probably been the hardest but best three years of my life.  It's been a struggle as we're both trying to finish school while continuing to work and be a family.  We don't get to spend a lot of time together, and even then, it's "Ash, I need to practice for my speech tomorrow, will you listen and critique me?" or "Dave, if you were in 4th grade, what lesson activities would you like?" :)  Our life is busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  How wonderful will it be to look back at these hard years and say "Hey, we did that together, and we SURVIVED!"  Here's to us and our life together.  Love you babe.  Yogurtstop tonight?  Yes?  Yes.    

Project 22 Complete!

My Project 22 is complete!

I started this project a year ago (see here), and I'm happy to say that I took a picture every day for a year.  It's been a really fun project, and it's really cool to go back and look through all of the pictures.  Granted, many of them are boring, and don't mean much to anyone but me, but I can honestly look at any picture, and revisit the entire day that it was taken.  It's been great for my memory! :)  

If you haven't been following, here are my favorite pictures from the year:

March 2010: Golfing fun in Mesquite!

 

 April 2010: 4-wheeling at Bear Lake.

 May 2010: Jayce, in her true essence.

 June 2010: The perfect example of our stupidity.

 July 2010: Tubing at South Fork.

 August 2010: The affirmation that I am not an idiot!

 September 2010: Fun times with Car and Brew Brew.

 October 2010: Dave's way of showing affection. 

 November 2010: The "Blizzard of 2010"...we survived.  It was a dud. 

 December 2010: Temple Square with Krystal.

 January 2011: Warm sunset on a chilly night. 

 February 2011: Midnight Wendy's run!

       March 2011: My 23rd Birthday!

I've been thinking about doing a Project 23 for awhile, and I have decided to do something different.  I am already doing another photo blog for 2011, here, (which has taken me awhile to get up and running, but it's current now, if you're wondering)!  I'd really like to spend this year on journaling.  As in actually writing in a journal.  Project 22 is great and will be something to cherish, but I really want to start writing down more personal things about my life. 

I've decided that I want to scrapbook my Project 22 photos, so I imagine that is going to take up a lot of my time as well.  I can't wait for school to be done so I can get some real time to work on it.  I'm really excited for the finished product.  (More on that to come, I'm sure). 

23

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday.  Dave was so sweet and surprised me by taking me to this really nice restaurant in Salt Lake.  It's called Lugano, and it's REALLY good. 

Here are some picture's from our dinner. 

Everything was plated so pretty and it was so delicious.  This dinner was definitely the most expensive dinner we've ever had.  My husband put it best when he said "We're allowed to pretend we're rich once a year."  :)  If the amazing dinner wasn't enough, he also got me this:

  It's the Roku.  It's a box that we connect to our TV, and it also connects to our computer.  Its compatible with Netflix, Pandora, etc.  Bascially, now I can watch pretty much whatever I want!  We haven't had any TV since we've moved and it's been quite the adjustment (for me) :)  I think I've watched all our movies and DVD seasons more than a few times.  :)

Thanks so much for the wonderful birthday babe.  Also, thanks to my family for the wonderful week.  I've eaten out three times this week, thanks to my family, and it's been great! 

Disney On Ice

When I was young, my parents would often take me to Disney on Ice becuase it was always showing the week of my birthday.  I stopped going quite a few years ago, for obvious reasons.  :)  This year, my Dad bought all us girls tickets to Disney on Ice.  We were able to go back for nostalgic purposes and it was so fun.  Thanks for the great memories growing up and from tonight Mom and Dad!  Here's just a few photos from the night:

 We went to the Gateway before the show to grab dinner and shop.  We went into Anthropologie (and saw that it was WAY out of our league).  Sorry if you shop there, but those prices are outrageous.  And the people shopping there made me want to gag.  You have to be a special breed of person to pay that much for what you're getting.  I will say this though, they had a pretty neat window display, pictured above.  ^ 

ANYWAYS.... enough about Anthropologie.

 Me, Megan, Carlie, and my Mom

Here's my super awesome light-up snow cone for the night.  

It was so much fun.  Make fun of me all you want.  It was awesome. 

To quote Carlie: "Was I one of the oldest people there?  Yes.  Did I sing the loudest?  Of course."