Frolicking in Washington

As I've mentioned so many times before, boyfriend and I don't have the same days off so we don't get to go on as many weekend adventures like we used to.

That's okay.

So we both planned to take a few days to go explore Washington.
You see, boyfriend has a love affair with mountains, and up in Washington live the Cascades. 
Google them. 
They're badass. 

So we decided to go on a couple little hikes, explore Bellingham (a coastal college town), and Leavenworth (a Bavarian themed town).

Our hikes were dependent on the weather - and due to tons of rain, we stuck with short hikes. 

No backpacking adventures for us!  I may get dirty with the boyfriend, but I refuse to camp/backpack in the rain.  Sounds like a muddy nightmare to me!

You'll see the colors were
AH-MAZING
TO DIE FOR
BEAUTIFUL

I adore Fall more than any season, so I was in HOG-HEAVEN the entire time.

We car camped the first night. Car Sweet Car

Boyfriend's Instagram creation.  Cold & Foggy Summit

Another one of boyfriend's Instagram creations

It was a lovely little trip, and while the rain put a damper (no pun intended) on some of the things we wanted to do, we didn't let it hold us back!

Watch out boyfriend, I've got a taser

When boyfriend first joined law enforcement, he was required to be pepper sprayed and tased.  Neither of which he ever, ever, wanted to do again.

Sure enough, his work needed a victim volunteer to help with a community educational program to inform the public about the different tasks and challenges law enforcement faces.  The volunteer they needed was for a tasing demonstration.  That super-smart boyfriend of mine was enticed by overtime hours and signed up.

So I joined him.

... to watch him get tased of course.

His Sargeant jokingly asked if I'd want to tase him instead.

You bet your law-enforcement-ass I do!

Up until he handed me the taser, I was expecting him to say,

"HAH Just kidding you naive little girl.  We would never let you taser your boyfriend."

But that never went down.

Instead, he handed me the taser, showed me the laser and instructed me to blast my boyfriend with two-prongs of electrical goodness.

So I nailed him right in the spine. 

With an audience. 

And a Sargeant as my instructor.

I mean, I could do this Deputy Sheriff thing. 

I'm a natural.

P.S.  Does anyone else think taser should be spelled with a "Z" instead of an "S" ??  Google told me it was "S", so I believed it.

Friday Letters #3

I've been a slacker blogger lately.  I have so many posts I've written, but I'm a lazy lady and can't find the cord to my camera for the pictures.

So the posts go unposted.

Stupid camera cord.  When will they start making cameras that can wirelessly sync with our computers?!

Dear Sushi From Last Night - Please stop making my stomach hurt.  And PLEASE no food poisoning!

Dear Boyfriend - I can't wait for our little trippy this weekend + Monday + Tuesday.  It's not often we get to have an entire day together, so I'm excited to have the entire WEEKEND!

Dear 5am-2pm Shift - Today, we're done.

Dear Foggy Mornings - I love you.  The foggy mornings make me love living in the Pacific Northwest

Dear Polly - I'm so proud you learned to use your doggy door in less than 24 hours!  I pup is smarter than your pup.

Hopefully today goes by quickly so I can run home and PACK!  Boyfriend and I are road trippin' through Washington to go to Leavenworth and Bellingham and go HIKING!  We haven't had many days off together since I work M-F and he works Th-M, so we are STOKED.

Shenanigans of a Deputy Sheriff's GF

All I have to say is that I have a couple of posts coming up that I am SO EXCITED ABOUT.

One is about my recent ride-along I did with the boyfriend.

The other is.... priceless. 

I got to use a weapon, and that's all I'm saying. 

As soon as I get the video from the boyfriend's iPad

it's going viral

HAPPY MONDAY!

Friday Letters #2

It's Friday and I couldn't be happier!  This girl is ready to throw on some comfy clothes, a good TV show, and eat everything I can get my hands on.  Last night I was so tired that I pretty much skipped eating dinner because it was too much work. 

My Priorities clearly need adjusting.

Dear Stomach - please stop growling/gurgling/whining.  My co-workers can hear you and it's really embarrassing.

Dear 3:00am Alarm Clock - only one more week!  Then we're done.

Dear New Ice Maker - I love you.

Dear Grimm - I'm happy there was finally another episode!!  Now if someone could just tell me where in this city to find Grimm, I'll be happy.  I know he's here.  Filming.  And I'm dying to see him.

Dear Real World, Cast Of Portland - I also kind of want to see you too.  #KeepPortlandWeird

Dear Boxes - Please unpack yourself.  I don't have the motivation this week to put everything away.  KTHANKS.

House and 3am Alarm Clock

I've been a little MIA.  But I have a good reason!

Boyfriend and I finally moved into our new home!  We received our keys and within 24 hours, we were completely moved into the house.

...now unpacking is a different story.

In addition to our new move, I've been working the morning shift at work.  Working 5am-2pm makes for a mega-super-tired-Ashley.

But can we talk about how much Polly loves her new yard??! 

Polly goes to crossfit

Boyfriend took Polly to Crossfit and snapped this photo.

Don't tell me she's not the cutest little thing you've ever seen!!  Always photo ready :-)

Squeaky Clean Oven!

I have a confession.

I cleaned my oven.

.... and it made me giddy.

I remember back when I had my apartment with Courtney, I was in charge of cleaning the oven when we moved out.

And boy was that a mess.

Have you ever tried using that chemical oven cleaner?  I coughed for about a week straight, swore I developed asthma, and couldn't walk into the kitchen without my chest feeling heavy.

Screw nuclear weapons, oven cleaner will do the trick!

Well as you may know from this post, boyfriend and I will soon be moving in our new home!  I'm trying to prepare by cleaning and packing the little things.

Today I started with the oven.

I didn't want to develop asthma for a second time in my life, and I value my lungs, so I sought the advice of Pinterest. 

Baking soda. 

A girls best friend.

I read a few places to mix baking soda and water and let the oven stains soak for a little bit.

I like vinegar better than water. 
So here's what I did:

• Scraped the easy stuff to remove crumbs/chunks (yum)
• Combined Baking Soda and water to form a liquidy paste
• Poured the paste on the perma-stains
• Went to watch Dredd at the theater (very crucial step in the process)
• Came home, scraped off my baking soda solution and VOILAAAAAAA!

STAINS BEGONE! 

It was a miracle. 

Everything scraped up so easily. 

I'm amazed. 

And in love.

Friday Letters

I'm so happy it's finally Friday! It seemed like it was Friday on Wednesday, which is never fun.
Today I'm linking up with this Gal for Friday Letters!

Dear Polly - I was a little more than irritated to wake up this morning to a messy bathroom full of accidents. Again. Is your food not agreeing with you? Do I need to wake up in the middle of the night to take you out? If you could let me know, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Dear Rain - I'm liking it right now, but in 2 months I'm not so sure I'll like it still. Although I can't wait to start wearing my boots again so I'm still a little giddy for the rain. As long as we get a mini-break for when it's time to move, that's all that matters to me!

Dear Boyfriend - Thanks for putting up with me this morning and my moodyness for having to clean up the entire bathroom since Polly exploded. Also, thank you for taking the pups out so that I could get the bathroom in order.

Dear Maggie's owner - Please stop yelling "Maggie COME! Come, Maggie! Maggie! Maggie! Maggie, COME! COME! COME! MAGGIE!" at 12:30am. Put the damn dog on a leash since she always seems to never come the million times you yell "COME!" Kapeesh?

Dear Waffle Friday at Work - so good. That's all I have to say. Best. Breakfast. Ever.   Hope everyone has a lovely Friday and it goes by quickly!

Toothpaste, Gum, Savings OH MY

I recently paid $3 for $17 worth of items and got back $7.  Can anyone say $4 profit??

My obsession with coupons is no secret around my house.  My boyfriend puts up with coupons throughout the house.

Every now and then he'll find a coupon on the ground and say, "Can I throw this away?"

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

... I mean, "Darling boyfriend, of course not."

I'm not extreme by any means, but goodness I love that Extreme Couponing show.

Here is my latest purchase from Walgreens (and keep in mind, I had recently used all of my colgate and Glade coupons, so I wasn't able to use those but my savings would have been even GREATER):

2 Colgate Toothpaste for $6 (regular price = $3.89 each)
Received $3 Register Rewards (RR)
Total: $6
Received Back:  $3

2 ID Gum by Stride for $2 (regular price = $1.49 each)
Received 1,000 Reward Points (=$1)
Used $1 of 2 coupons
Total: $1
Received Back: $1

3 Glade Air Freshener Holders for $4 (regular price = $2.29 each)
Received $2 Register Rewards
Received $1 Reward Points (=$1)
Total:  $4
Received Back:  $3

I used $8 worth of Register Rewards from previous purchases (shaving razors!).  Keep in mind I only used 1 coupon since I had already used my others for previous purchases, however I could have used two $.75 off for colgate ($1.50) and two $1 off for Glade ($2) meaning I wouldn't have paid ANYTHING.

But here's what I did anyway

Total After Coupons and Sale Prices:  $11

Register Rewards Used:  $8

Total Paid:  $3

Total Received Back:  $7

Woohoo!!

Announcement!

I can't contain it any longer.  I didn't want to talk about this much for fear of jinxing things but...

Boyfriend and I are buying this house, and close in 2 short weeks!!

We are buying it completely independent of help from family, so we are so excited and proud to be owning this home! 

Boyfriend has a majority of the pictures on his iPad, but I managed to snag a picture of the kitchen.

 

Can't wait!!

We are accepting visitors of all shapes and sizes :-)

I opened a bill, then cried

The title of this post says it all.

But what it doesn't tell you is that this happened twice within 2 minutes.

Here's the scoop:

After day 4 of hospital visit - looks
who's walking upright!

January

Before I moved to Portland, I was in the hospital twice in two weeks.  Stress kicked in and my body felt it was necessary to pass a kidney stone.  Twice.

February

Moved to Portland and 1 week later, my body decided to part ways with my appendix in a non-routine appendectomy.  I spent 1 week in the hospital.

April

Appendectomy problems, back in the hospital for 2 days.

August

Doing great!!  Until another Kidney Stone made its appearance into this world.  Hello hospital.

Last month I was SO HAPPY to finally pay off all of my hospital bills.  Even with insurance, I was up to my chin in hospital bills.  Over $3,000 now.

So this past weekend boyfriend and I went to the Post Office to pick up mail.

I began ripping through my mail expecting it to be all spam when I saw at the top of a statement:

THIS IS A BILL

What??? 

Granted, it was only $50. 

But what??? 

I paid off all of my bills!!

Did you know you have to pay for the doctor who sees you IN ADDITION TO the emergency room visits?  True flipping story.  So slap my booty and pull my hair, my emotions kicked in. 

I know it's only $50 and compared to the rest of my bills was relatively tiny, but I was so relieved to have all of my bills paid off that this just sucked. 

So I cried. 

And boyfriend calmed me by saying:

"At least it's not that much."

He was right.  Buck up and grow a pair, Ashley.  It's not the end of the world and other people have it 10x worse.

So I open the next letter and see:

THIS IS A BILL

WHAT-THE-HOLY-HECK-WHERE-ARE-THESE-BILLS-COMING-FROM-SHUT-UP-AND-STOP-IT-NOWWW!!

What's the damage? 

$297

Release the gates, it's flood season. 

I bawled. 

You know the kind where you blubber and gasp for air.

That kind of bawling.

The kicker?  This bill was from service I received 7 months ago!!

To some people who have constant hospital bills this might not seem like much and I might seem like a total whiner.  But to the average healthy Joe Schmoe who gets a flu once a year and maybe allergies, this is ridiculous.  And it totally sucks for the girl who is in the process of buying a home and wondering:

"Where the heck does all of my money go?"

Well let me tell you. 

It's going toward healthcare where expenses are increasing drastically from people who can't pay their bills or afford insurance.

With $3,000 (and growing) I could afford:

• A bigger house down payment
• Lots of clothes for Fall.  Boots anyone?  Tons of boots.
• A princess castle for Polly
• An epic new computer
• Investment opportunities
• Braces/Prettier Teeth (don't even get me started)
• Flying back home 12 times
• Ski tickets to Whistler, and then some
• 300 Puppies

...I'll stop now

My baking bff

I have a ton of little recipes I have been wanting to post.  I always take pictures when I'm cooking my favorite meals, but never actually get around to writing the blog post.

Talk about lazy, right?

Cake by Santanna

Well tonight I took all of my pictures and sat down at my computer and WHAT DID I DO???

.... I went on Facebook.

But you see, there's a happy ending for all of us.

Whenever I am cooking my little recipes or making my boyfriend dinner, I think:

"Damn, I'm a GOOD COOK!  But still probably not as good as Santanna."

Santanna has been my best friend since the second grade.  And Santanna is a master chef.  ... actually, she's a pastry chef.  But I'm sure she can be a master pastry chef, right?  At the young age of 25, Santanna has been a chef for years and has proven her talent in the industry.

**Click here to read a bloggy post about her**


Anywho, so I log onto facebook and see that Santanna was co-hosting a video for some Madeleine cookies. 

Watch this video and tell me:
1. Doesn't this make you want to make these cookies?!?
2. Is your kitchen ever this clean when baking?  I know my kitchen is disaster-zone-central after baking anything
3. Isn't my best friend a gem?  Whatta catch :-)

My "About Me"

I have added a page to my bloggy (Link Here) with my About Me! 

I realized I needed to update it a bit since I no longer live in Reno and things have changed since I last wrote it.

Enjoy!


 

 

 

Source

Source

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He's a keeper

I'm not sure how I got so lucky, but I sure have a keeper.

 

Boyfriend came home last Sunday with roses and a Sunday newspaper.

 

It was a "just because" occasion.

 

He sure knows how to touch my heart :-)

Berry Huntin!

One thing I've been wanting to do since I've moved to Portland is go berry picking!!

You see, blackberry bushes grow wild here.  Apparently they're also a "weed" in the sense that they grow uncontrollably and are a pain to remove.  So last summer when I visited Aaron, we saw blakcberry bushes on the side of the road and I decided I wanted NOTHING MORE than to pick berries!

Aaron and I went to Thousand Acres Dog Park with the pups to take them for a little walk and let them play in the river.  During our walk, we found berries!

... and ate them.  I don't care if they're dirty.  I want blackberries, darnit.

On our way home, Aaron noticed a sign that said "U-Pick - OPEN"

STOP THE CAR!!!!!!!!!

...we're berry huntin' :-)

So we picked berries!  We filled an entire coffee can with the best tasting blueberries EVER!

I feel satisfied :-)

Trader Joey

In Reno, I shopped at Walmart.  And Winco.  But mostly Walmart.

After moving to Portland, I had a hard time adjusting to the lack of Walmarts-on-every-corner.

Instead, there's a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's on every corner (at least where we live).  We tried Fred Meyer, but lordy that place is pricey... and under construction.



Source

So boyfriend and I typically shop at Trader Joe's for some things, and Winco for the rest.  I never shopped at Trader Joe's before because it was too pricey, but boyfriend and I have been discovering some little gems that are decently priced and super yummy!

1.  Pomegranate and Blueberry Cereal - this stuff is AMAZING.  If you don't know, I can't eat mushy foods.  Call me picky, I'll take it.  But I don't do mushy.  Mashed Potatoes, Yogurt, Pudding, gag me.  Can't do it.  So one thing I HATE is when your cereal gets soggy.

This cereal never gets soggy/mushy.  The blueberries are real.  The clusters add a touch of sweet.  I can't get enough of this cereal! 

2.  Hummus Salad Dressing - I found this little gem when I was at my mom's house in July.  Which also means it's  GLUTEN FREE.  So unique - I've never seen anything like this anywhere else! 

3.  Trader Joe's Black Beans - Boyfriend and I eat black beans with everything.  The Trader Joe's brand black beans are supepr firm (NOT MUSHY).  The best part is they don't come in that thick-gunky-black-bean-residue stuff, which means you don't have to rinse them first!  Lovelove!

4.  Carne Asada - THIS IS SO YUM YUM!  It took 25-ish minutes to cook.  Threw it on some corn tortillas with chopped onion and cilantro.  Added some lime and INSTANT YUM YUM!  This is a keeper and well worth the $7-$8. 



I could go on and on about the little gems we get from TJs (don't even get me STARTED on the Rosemary cheese!) - but these are some of the hidden hotties that I'm unable to find at other stores.  Lovelovelove!

Anyone have any other Trader Joe's hot items?!

Sunday Social: The Internet!

1. What is the first website you log on to each day?

 

Gmail #1, then Gmail #2 :-)

2.  Give us some funny websites that you visit that we need to know about.

Hands down, Jenna Marbles.  Makes me laugh every time.

 

3.  Pinterest or Facebook?  Why?

I'm too indecisive.  During the week, Facebook.  On the weekends, Pinterest.  But I love them both equally! 

4.  Twitter or Instagram?  Why?

Definitely Instagram - not too many of my friends are on Twitter!

 

5.  Favorite youtube video:

I think this is my all time favorite video: 

 

Sweet Home Reno

In July, boyfriend and I made a journey back home to RENO! 

My friend Robin (Theta Big Sister) was getting hitched, so it was a great excuse to go home and see the family.

Boyfriend and I drove two cars down so he could return his Corolla to his mom (he recently bought a new car).  We brought the pups though so I had my Polly with me and we rocked out to country music the entire drive down!  I'm certain Polly loves country music as much as me :-)

... and boyfriend had Ibo with him.

It was nice seeing family and friends.  Boyfriend visited his family on Saturday while I spent the day with my Grandma, Aunt Julie, and Mom.

We got to see my dad up at Donner!

We attended an AMAZING wedding!

Funny story:  Boyfriend was among some of the single men to catch the garter.  I'm not sure why, but Melissa randomly started chanting "Aaron, Aaron, Aaron.." and got a few more people to chant.  My friends are only looking out for me :-)  So Aaron is in the front row and I was standing off to the side with my glass of champagne.  Bryan (the groom) flings the garter which soars through the air and bee-lines is straight toward ME.  I reach up and grab the garter.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, I caught the garter.  Since Alex caught the bouquet, we decided that she and I would make a lovely couple.  Sorry boyfriend - you're off the hook for now.

 

I saw Lina briefly (she cried, we cried, it was a good reunion).

We ate Port of Subs.  Doughboy Donuts.  And Sushi Pier.
I have yet to find donuts in Portland that are as good as Doughboy!  So good! 
And Sushi Pier 2.  Where do I begin?  Portland only has the conveyer belt type of sushi, or $15/roll type of sushi.  I die.

... it was heavenly.

It was a nice visit back home!  But far too short.  The drive home was nice since we got to drive together.  We used to always road trip during the summers, so it was like old times.  It felt good to finally have a weekend together.  Boyfriend's days off are Tuesday and Wednesday, and I have Saturday/Sunday off, so it's rare we get to spend a "weekend" together. 

If you can't tell, we can't get enough of little Polly

 Boyfriend caught me sleeping

 

 And since I'm a light sleeper, the camera click woke me up.  Busted!

 

 Then I caught him sleeping with Polly perched on his shoulders.  What the...?!

 

The Weeeeeeebo

 

It Happened Again

The last time I passed a kidney stone was in January.  It was only 2 (or 1?!) weeks before I moved to Portland, and my body was clearly feeling the stress/anxiety.

I was in and out of the hospital a couple of times, however my body quickly healed and a short two weeks later I was in the hospital AGAIN to have my darned appendix removed.

....I'm no stranger to ER.

So yesterday, boyfriend and I were on our way to meet with a Realtor to go house shopping.  We were stuck in horrible traffic when I twisted and felt an instant cramp in my side/back.

Oh crap.

Right then the realtor called me to ask if we may be late from the traffic. 

"Yes?  But I may also be passing a kidney stone?  I call you back in 10."

Luckily the realtor is super nice, because I called her back again in 10 to tell her we wouldn't be able to make it.

.... and off to the hospital we went.

I'm stuck in the house today since I'm not quite 100%, so I'm hoping I'll start feeling better soon and I can stop taking pain killers.

LOVELY!  Hope everyone is having a much better Saturday than me :-) 

21 Followers!

Since 2010 I've had 6 followers (two of which were my mom).

I know this is still small compared to most bloggers, but in the past week I've gotten 15 new followers!!!!!  This excites me like you would not believe! 



My happy face!!

So thank you to my followers!  I've attached links to their bloggies below:
25 in my 25th
The Birds The Bees & The Barras
Two Smuppies
Anything But a Boring Life
The Heights Life
Eat, Play, LOVE That Top!
Snowy Mountains & Starry Skies
The Daily Tay
This Is The Sweeet Life
My Cliffnotes
Simply Sarah Style
THIS HIVE
Through My Looking Glass
Bud Reeder
The Law School Noob
Anne Recommends


If I forgot someone, please let me know and I'll add you :-)  I've also been updating my blogroll so if you'd like to be added please let me know!

Have I acclimated?

If you've never been to Reno, it's hot. But because it's a desert, it's a "dry heat" with cool nights.

When I came to Portland, I was a baby.

"It's so cold here!"

"Where's the sun?"

"In Reno we have sun."

"When does it get hot? Never?"

Well friends. It's August, and it's fucking  hot as tits.

And now I'm begging for the cloud cover.

Have I acclimated?  It's breaking 100 degrees (BIG DEAL IN PORTLAND) and apartments here don't come with AC (BECAUSE YOU NEVER NEED IT!).

I found myself hoping that there would be cloud cover after work today.  Who was I kidding?  Clealy, I was kidding myself.

Excuse me while I go draw myself a cold bath and turn my fan on full blast.

1:30am Rendezvous

Do you ever wake up randomly throughout the night?

Troubles getting back to sleep?

That was me last night.  I woke up at 1:30am and my body apparently decided it was time to get up.  Then my mind starts to wander

"What if I'm getting sick?" 

"What if I have to call in?" 

"Did I leave everything at work in good shape to be handed off?" 

"I FORGOT TO IMPLEMENT CHANGES!"

Thanks to my wandering mind, I remembered I had not finished something that needed to be completed by 4:30am today.  So I ran to my work laptop, threw it open, and immediately started working.
..... at 1:30am in the morning.
Who does that??!

All I know was I am thankful for my wandering mind, even though the boyfriend probably could care less for my "mind like a steel trap."  Although I'm sure the client was happy today for my 1:30am work ethic.   ...goodness gracious. 

And on a lighter note, look at the picture boyfriend sent me while I was at work of my precious Polly!  In the words of my mom, she's a computer geek like me!

P.S.  Does anyone else feel like tomorrow should be Friday?  I keep thinking it was Thursday today.

Best Friend Day! (I think)

Via

Melissa at 53Blonde (my Twitter Twin!) mentioned that today is National Best Friend Day. 

I didn't get this memo until just now.

She asked the question: What constitutes a best friend?

I tried my hardest to use my big kid words and come up with a definition, and all I could say was "it's just a feeling."

It's just a feeling?  Really?!

But it is.  So here is what I love about my best friends (and yes - I have more than one and they know who they are!):

1.  Nicknames (note: these are not in any particular order) - I'm starting off with something a little-less-than-heavy-mushy-icky here.  I LOVE NICKNAMES. 
A lot of my friends call me ACray because who wants to respond to "Ashley" ?? 

I'll tell you who

Fifteen other girls in the room. 

That's who. 

Likewise, I tend to have nicknames for my lovely little friendlies.  Whether it's Lou (short for lucifer, of course) or Kimothy, I love nicknames.

2.  No Small Talk - So, how's the weather?  How's life?  Those are all great questions, but there's something about being around your best friend where those aren't the things you talk about.  It's usually:
"Remember that one time I told you about .... well you're not going to BELIEVE what just happened!!!"
"I don't care that it's 6am - I'll come pick you up.  Who's the guy?"
Or just a simple, "I miss you." 

3.  Secrets Be Gone - Simple as that.  You know they'll never judge you.  You know she has told you all of her secrets as well, and you don't judge back.  If someone says something that rubs you the wrong way, she knows instantly that it:

• Hurt your feelings
• Knows why
• Difuses the situation

4.  I've Got Your Back - I get my feelings hurt easily.  Call me sensitive/emotional, whatever.  But my feelings are fragile and I'll be the first to admit it.  My best friends are the people who stick up for me when I need it.  I don't always stick up for myself, so it helps to have a 2nd backbone to help me with it. 

Via

You can bet your little booty that your best friend doesn't care if she's in the COBA Computer Labs - she is going to defend you till the end when questionable rumors arise regarding ex boyfriends.  So whether it's defending me, or crying in my sorority room together with the door shut because we feel too pathetic that both of our little hearts just got broken (that was a long one), my best friends are there through everything.
Oh!  And this goes both ways too...

5.  Memories - I have so many with these ladies.  From the time we got fake nose piercings when we were 8 to the time we spent the entire summer of 2007 glued to each others hip, my best friends and I have had some amazing experiences that ties together our bond.  Here are some examples:

• Camping and "pranking" the adults with our dinky water guns.  We were outstaged, to say the least.
• Night in the Country - need I say more?
• "I'M IN BALLS!!"  - I still laugh about the naked little Bolivian running around the room trying to translate "I'm Naked" to English
• COBA Labs for-what-seemed-like-eternity
• TV Room talks
• Pina Coladas
• "Pranking" the frat houses at 9am (I'm officially giving up becoming a professional pranker)
• Going to the Breakaway in sweats/PJs to celebrate something? - I have the pictures to prove this, but now I can't remember why we went?  Jog my memory, lady.

... and so many more I could go on for days.


So I'll repeat Melissa's question - What constitutes a best friend to you?

Theta Grand Convention 2012

I have been meaning to write this post for a while now (since the end of June, at least) however I've had some difficulty putting everything into words.
So here is my attempt at Theta-Grand-Convention-Story-Vomit.

Factoid about Ashley:  I was a sorority girl!

Yup:

Craft making

Picture Posing

Costume wearing

Sorority girl

Hard to believe, right? ;-) 

If you've ever read my blog, it's no surprise.  I was a Kappa Alpha Theta at the Beta Mu chapter in Reno. 

I lived in the house. 
I attended the socials. 
The dances. 
I made friends. 
I lived Kappa Alpha Theta for 3 years of my life (the first year I wasn't very active, so I only count 3 years of full-active-ness).

At the end of June, I got to re-live my Kappa Alpha Theta love at Nationals Grand Convention in Tucson, AZ.

Kappa Alpha Theta's National Philanthropy is CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates.  Not only is this organization close to my heart because of Theta, however it's an integral part of my life because when I was a child I had a CASA Advocate.

Sign for the Workshop I got to help Kimi Martin with

Because of this, Kappa Alpha Theta asked me to be a key note speaker at Grand Convention.  Without realizing what I had signed up for, I eagerly said "YES I'D LOVE TO!"  It wasn't until before I walked on stage and asked Elise, "How many people are in this room?" that I realized exactly what I signed up for.

"Do you really want to know?"  Was Elise's response.  Too many.  That's all you need to know.

**Grand Convention Blogger, Casey Martinez, posts about CASA and my speech!!

What is a CASA?  GREAT QUESTION

A CASA is an amazing person who volunteers their time for abused and neglected children.  They're similar to social workers except CASAs only have 1 case at a time (Social workers have several), and they're volunteers.  Ultimately, they provide an extra set of eyes for abused and neglected children in order to give children a voice in the courtroom.  A CASA is often times the only consistency a child has in his/her life.

How is this coming together?  I'D LOVE TO TELL YOU!

When I was an itty bitty little munchkin, I went through the foster care system.  My CASA helped me along my journey to finding a permanent home.  When I was 3 years old I entered my final foster home.  Three long years and a name change later, I was officially adopted into a new home.  I was 6 years old.  Without my CASA, I'm not sure where I would be today.  I could possibly have graduated out of the foster care system.  I could possibly be back home with my biological family.  I could be with an entirely new family.  However, I feel blessed to be with the family that chose me and I know that without my CASA I may not have been quite as lucky.

You may remember a post I made quite some time ago about the difference between a Biological Mama and an Adoptive Mama (read the post here).  It is important to me for people to know I have no "real" mom.  In fact, I have 2 moms.  I have one who gave birth to me, and one who raised me.

So to sum this up and stop blabbering, I spoke about my experience at Grand Convention to  over 650 Theta Sisters. 

I got to meet Michael Piraino, CEO of Court Appointed Special Advocates. 
I got to sit next to Amy Kate, Fraternity President. 
And I got to tell my story to hundreds of people. 

The entire thing was a blur, really.  I remember wondering if I could sneak out of the room and have no one notice, then I remember having my name called indicating it was my turn to talk, then I remember hundreds of people standing and clapping and crying. 

Right before my speech, I remember being thankful it was breakfast because people would probably be more occupied with breakfast than listening to me talk.  At one point during the speech, I looked out and saw every. single. eyeball. staring at me.  I'm positive if a pin dropped, I'd hear it. 

It wasn't until after the speech that I realize the gravity of what I had just shared with everyone.  There was a line of crying sisters to give me a hug because I too, of course, was crying at this point. 

Afterward, I was coordinating schedules for the day with Kimi Martin, and one of the wait staff walked up to me to give me a hug.  He had listened to my story and made an effort to reach out to me to thank me for sharing my story.  He hugged me, thanked me, and left.  It was wonderful to know I had not only impacted the Thetas, but also a complete stranger who had no affiliation to neither Theta nor CASA.

If you'd like to know more about CASA - please ask me!  I love talking about it and spreading awareness of this amazing organization.

Michael Piraino!!

Bailey!!

Kimi Martin - my amazing workshop partner.  She was my mama-bear for the weekend!

Always Sometimes Never

I'm not sure why I'm on such a blog-posting-spree lately.  But I saw this link up and loved it! 

I always show up to work at least 45 minutes early
I sometimes sit in my car and Pinterest for at least 15 minutes
I never ever ever show up less than 30 minutes early.  Paranoid I am I am.

I always crave sweets - cupcakes, chocolate, cake.  I crave it all.
I sometimes bring cupcakes/oreo balls to work.
I never pass up sweets when they're offered.

I always hit my snooze alarm clock in the morning at least 3 times.
I sometimes skip the morning shower so I can continue sleeping.
I never prioritize shower over sleep.  I hate showering.  I love sleep.

I always talk to myself - especially when I'm alone.
I sometimes catch myself doing this in public.
I never judge others who do this as well!!

Blog hop!

Finally Friday! Five Things...

Happy Friday!

Here are five things I'm loving right now:

1.  My Polly Puppy - I can't get enough of her.  She's cuddling on my stomach right now as I type (which makes it slightly difficult).


2.  Fiji Essie Nailpolish - Love love love love!  That's all I need to say.

3.  The Jake Owen Pandora Radio Station - For those of you who know me, you know I love me some Jake Owen.  He'll be in Oregon for the Oregon State Fair on September 3rd so I've been trying desperately to win tickets on the radio with no luck :-(  Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

4.  The Pacific Northwest Summer - Just wow.  It's beautiful up here.  The weather is perfect and the nights are wonderful.  I understand why people rave about the summers in the Pacific Northwest!  I just jumped on that bandwagon...

5.  My New "Budget" - I take out $100 cash each week for food/entertainment.  It has been going great so far!