My poor neglected bloggy

It saddens me that I have barely blogged this semester!!  It has been a busy semester, and with my professional blog for my MBA class, I didn't have too much time to dedicate to my personal bloggy.

So now I have one more week until my summer school classes start - hopefully I'll be able to get in a blog post or two!  I have pictures to post and stories to tell :-)

To start with:

• I have 1 more year left before I have earned my MBA
• Aaron may be moving to Oregon July 1st
• I have only gotten 1 B my entire MBA career (darn it) - THE REST ARE A'S! 
• I have cooked some yummy food - I'll post the recipes
• I've implemented a budget - kind of
• My house still isn't complete
• I'm addicted to cool ranch doritos
• I went to Yosemite with Kimmy, Dan, and Aaron - SO FUN!

I'll post new stuff soon!

Climbing in a dress

Aaron and I went to a beautiful wedding in YOSEMITE!  After the wedding, Aaron and I couldn't stay for the reception.  Reception at 6pm in Yosemite makes for a long drive home and work the next morning.  So after the wedding we drove home.

Or so I thought.

Leave it to Aaron to pull over on the side of the road and start putting on gear.

Me:  Aaron I'm in a DRESS!
Aaron:  So?  Put on your harness!
Me:  I CAN'T!  My lady-parts will show.
Aaron:  So?

So we went climbing

I threw on hiking shoes

And pants

And looked like a gem I'm sure

Baking - Cake Balls and Christmas Cookies

So for a while Aaron and I have been making cake balls because I'm addicted to all things sweet/cake/cookies etc.

I'm very anal about my cake balls.  I like them to be perfect.  And round.  And proportionate.

Aaron on the other hand likes to make squares, and gigantic balls (no dirty jokes please!) and "The Matterhorn."

Needless to say - I dominate the baking and cake balls.  I may or may not have ACCIDENTALLY used all of the chocolate.  And Aaron may or may not have been stuck with a bowl full of chocolate remains to finish his cake balls.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Sorry lubber.

Then Aaron and I (during Christmas - sorry these are old) decided we also needed to make Christmas cookies.  Actually - I wanted to make Christmas cookies and Aaron joined along. 

They look like a kindergarten school project.  But mine are perfect.  Aaron's are.... special.

My Butt is Big

My dad calls me A-Lo and Pumpkin Butt.

Birthday Weekend in Bend, OR!

So Aaron and I decided to go skiing in Oregon for my birthday weekend.  I really wanted to do something, and I haven't really gone anywhere since I started my new job back in September, so I was EXTREMELY excited to get out of town for the weekend!! 

We chose to go to Mt. Bachelor because we got a great deal on the tickets (2 for 1).  The day before we leave my dad decides to tell me,

"You should have told me sooner!  I can get free tickets to Mt. Bachelor.  Always check with Daddy first." 

BUMMER!!

Anyhow, I LOVELOVELOVED it!!  I've never been skiing outside of the Reno/Tahoe area, so it was really neat to go skiing in Oregon.  But it was COLD!  We took the summit lift a couple of times, and it was so cold I thought my skin was going to fall off.
Unfortunately, I sucked at taking pictures because it was so cold I could bring myself to take my gloves off. 
This are the pictures I was able to snap though!  Enjoy :-)

1st day was a bluebird day.  Beautiful!  Everyone was raving about how you could see the sky, etc. etc.  I thought, "Big deal."  But then the next day I realized why it was such a big deal.

Aaron taking a picture of the Sisters

 

The second day was soooo GLOOMY!  You could barely see your hand in front of your face.  I fell from making a turn on the BUNNY HILL because I couldn't really tell which way was up.  It was the craziest feeling ever - I have ever experienced that kind of weather before.  It was INSANE!!  

THAT'S HOW COLD IT WAS!!!!  The lift was growing ice!

Driving.  Was.  HELL.

Sooo cold.

... I just realized I didn't take any pictures of the two of us...

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes

The other morning, Aaron and I decided to make breakfast!  I love big breakfasts occasionally - I immediately thought pancakes would be yummy.

Aaron and I started brainstorming.  Here was our conversation:

Me:  What should we cook!!?
Aaron:  I think I want eggs.
Me:  Like... just eggs.
Aaron:  Yeah!  Sounds good.  (keep in mind, Aaron only eats egg whites - I think egg whites smell like fart)
Me:  Fine - I'm making pancakes

So much for making breakfast together!  Since I was making pancakes, I decided they would have to be EPIC pancakes.  Pancakes that would make Aaron's egg whites look piddly.

I love using AllRecipes.com, so I researched and found a recipe for Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes.  Below is the recipe for my EPIC pancakes:

Ingredients

• 10 tablespoons quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (**Note:  I didn't use the salt)
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar (**Note:  I use the splenda brown sugar... mmm)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (**Note:  Next time, I'm going to substitute the oil with applesauce)
• 1 cup buttermilk (**Note:  Used fat free milk)
• Decided to add a pinch of cinnamon
• Decided to add a teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the oats, flours, baking soda, salt and sugar. In another small bowl, beat the egg, oil and buttermilk. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
2. Pour batter by 1/3 cupful onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until the second side is golden brown. 

They were SOOOO YUMMY!  Aaron ended up eating half, and the leftovers that were in the fridge mysteriously disappeared.  Just sayin...

The Quarter-Life Crisis

My co-worker posted this, and I fell in love with it!!!  

By:  Author Unknown

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may or may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now. 

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you. 

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared. 

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren't so great after all. 

You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and do not want. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of what is acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward. 

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough to get to know better. You love someone but maybe love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person. 

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. 

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself and while wining the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender! 

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

New Bloggy!

So like I mentioned earlier, I have to create a new blog for my Personal Branding class.

Here's my new bloggy!  I don't like my "theme" and background, so I'll be changing those as soon as I have the time to dedicate toward it.

AshleyCray.wordpress.com

Or

Click Here

Enjoyyyyyyy!

Miss Monroe

I believe that everything happens for a reason. 

People change so that you can learn to let go

things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right

you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself

and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together

-Marilyn Monroe

Favorite Song!!

This is my new favorite song!!!  

I bounce all over the place every time it comes on

I'm sure I look ridiculous in my car bopping around.

I still do it though :-)

Is it too much to ask?

I think traveling is wonderful.  I wish we all could travel more often.  A lack of resources ($$) puts a constraint on the amount of traveling I'd love to do!  Does anyone want to go to these places with me?  I need a travel partner :-)  It'll all happen someday, I'm sure of it!!  

 For now, I'm going to try to save up so that I can go to Bolivia with my favorite Bolivian!!!  She is going to try to go at the end of the year, and if she does I will try to go with her :-)  Buahahahaha

I want to go here

And here

My Grammy got to go here, can't I too?

It's magical here but no one wants to go with me... let's go.

FEBRUARY!

I love love love February because:

IT CONTAINS MY BIRTHDAY! 

Weeeeee!!  (not like I look forward to it much)

February means it's almost March which is practically May which means IT'S ALMOST SUMMER!!

I have also decided that on the dreaded February 14th, I'll be going to the Library.  I confirmed my plans with myself today.

.... gosh I really am strange.

Best Friends

I was realizing the other day that I have had a lot of "best friends" that have all come and go.  I remember my parents would always tell me, "Both of your lives will change and you may not be best friends forever."

Psh.  Yeah right.

But they were actually right (for a change!).

**Disclaimer - I consider myself having several best friends, and even more really-great-and-super-awesome-don't-know-what-I'd-do-without-them friends as well.  I love you all :-)

My first Best Friend:  Michelle 

Michelle is on the left, I'm on the right.

I met Michelle in my kindergarten (I believe?) at Sparks Child Development Center.

The love connection?  

We both had red hair.  

People thought we were twins everywhere we went and we ATE IT UP.  She moved to Vegas around 2nd grade (don't quote me) and we remained best friends through 6th grade, but we both really headed in two different directions and realized we weren't the same people we were back in kindergarten (shocker).

My longest Best Friend:  Santanna

Santanna is my ultimate best friend since 2nd grade.  I remember we were enemies in 1st grade, but somehow we formed an alliance in 2nd grade and we were unstoppable.  I have sooooooo many memories with Santanna and her family.  SHE is the reason I'd want to go back to 2nd-4th grade in a heart beat.
We got fake nose piercings and pranked my mom
We went on epic camping trips with her family
We pranked her family
.... and got pranked by her family
We played in mud for hours, only to realize it was clay that would never come off in the freezing cold creek.
We builts forts in the back of her dads car
We played in the cars at Reno Mazda
WE DID IT ALL!!!
She is my dearest friend and although she lives in DC and I am still in Reno - I still consider her my longest best friend :-)

My middle school Best Friend - Lisa

Lisa was the smartest girl I knew.  She probably still is.  This girl knew facts and information out of no where.
Me:  "Where did you learn that?  Who taught you that?"
Lisa:  "I'm not sure, I just know it."
We were both extremely goofy and immature.  We didn't care about boys or makeup or anything the other girls our age were obsessing about.  We sort of lived in our own world.  I remember telling my parents she would be my best friend forever, and they replied with, "Your friends right now will probably not be the same friends you'll have at the end of high school."
Yup.
True Story.
Since Lisa was so smart, she transferred to a school that could challenge her more academically (either freshman or sophomore year of high school).  I'm not sure why or how, but we slowly started to talk less and less.  I think I got jealous because she was making all new friends and I felt left out, and she started partying which was something that I was morally against at the time (I'm a total weirdo).

My High School Best Friend - Jessica

Jess and I are the two on the left.

I first met Jess when we went to Europe together in middle school.  She was a nice girl.  A friendly girl.  A social girl.  In high school I wanted to audition for the dance team, so Jessica helped me with learning the routine.  I made it on the team and we spent all of our time together after that.
Until I got a boyfriend.
I'm not really sure what our falling out was, or why it even happened.  I know it had to do with me making my boyfriend at the time my #1 priority.
Face it - we have all had our first love and we have all made the mistake of ditching friend time to have boyfriend time.  I do regret it, but in my defense I also recognized what I was doing and attempted to correct it.
I think by then it was too late?
I'm not too sure.
All I know is I stopped getting invited to hang out with our little group (there were 4 of us).  I remember she said something to me once that made me cry for probably 3 days straight.  I am glad I don't remember what it was that she said, but I remember that I have still never been so hurt in my entire life than I was when she made whatever comment it was.
It was the first time I experienced I-just-cried-so-much-that-my-eyes-are-puffy type of crying.  I think I may have not gone to school the next day as well.  I just remember crying and wondering how someone could say something so hurtful.  
We all went our separate ways to college, and I was kept out of the keep-in-touch loop.  Calls weren't returned and communication was cut off.
Funny thing is the 3 of them are all still best friends.
I'm okay with losing friends.  I'm just not okay with not knowing why.

My College best friend:  Carolina

2010

2008

2008

2007

This is who I refer to when I talk about "Lou."  She is my Lou.  Lou is short for Lucifer.  Don't ask why :-)  It just fits.
Lina and I started realllllly hanging out in 2007 I believe.  We are the same person.  We wear the same clothes.  We have the same shoe size.  Pant size.  Everything-size (except boobs).  I had a boyfriend at the time, but I finally found a friend that was okay with my long-term relationship.  Regardless of the relationship status, I remember we spent that entire summer of 2007 together doing everything!  One night we thought it would be funny to prank the frat houses.
At 9pm.
Really?!  It was a horrible idea.  We were "pranking" as everyone was still awake.  We almost got jumped on several occasions because the boys all thought we were other frat boys (we were disguised in all black).
We sang (at the top of our lungs), "I'm all out of love, I'm so lost without you...!!!!" ALL FRICKIN' SUMMER.
We lived together in Theta.
We worked together at IGT.
We just click.

Little Lie

New Bloggy

One of the classes I am taking at UNR requires me to create a blog

A professional blog

Sadly, I believe my personal blog may be receiving more neglect than usual due to the requirement of blogging in my class.

The professor has a very novel concept with the creation of this blog. He wants us to market ourselves to the best of our ability, and he wants us to use a blog to do this. By blogging important matters and creating a professional brand for ourselves, it'll help us in the job market (hopefully).

His goal for us is to:

• Blog 3 times a week
• Tweet 3 times a day
• Show up on the front page of Google with the top spots (after googling our name)
• Create a professional brand

Is Little-redhead-who-is-stubborn-but-seemingly-happy-and-says-inappropriate-things a professional brand? That's the direction I'm moving :-)

I haven't created the bloggy yet, but when I do it'll be posted on this bloggy.  I'm playing favoritism with my personal bloggy over my "Professional Blog."

Ahh-CHOO!

 

Yup - you guessed it.  

I'm sick

I barely survived work today, thanks to the products above.  

I hand-sanitizered like a madwoman.

Popped a Claritin D (thanks to the suggestion from my Aunt Peggy)

Bought new Puffs tissues to be gentle on my little Asian nose.

Aquaphor to slab on my nose to prevent my nose from getting chapped and raw :-(  My co-worker laughed at me, but it's better than having a raw nose! 

And my trusty hand lotion for every time I washed my hands.

Biore Pore Strips

Product Plug!

So next to my favorite Mr. Clean Magic Erasers I LOVE Biore Pore Strips!  

I had heard good reviews of these things, so I decided to try them out.  

They're wonderful!  You have to leave them on long enough, but when you pull the strip off you won't believe the nasties that reside on the strip.

Nasty nasty nasty.

Which is why I swear by them.  And my nose always feels super soft afterward!  The only time I wouldn't use these is when I get old and wrinkly and my skin loses its youthful elasticity.  When you pull the strip off it really tugs at your skin (I'd imagine it is what it feels like to put duct tape on your nose).


So Caution Old People:  These may not be for you :-)

I guess

While talking about how car noises on the radio drive me nuts, I thought I'd elaborate on more topics that make me crazy.

"I guess."

I was at port of subs for lunch (like every other day) and the girl goes, "well, I guess I'll have a wrap." well what the flip do you want on your wrap?
"I guess Swiss and turkey."

You guess?? It drives me nuts when people start/end everything with "I guess." be proud of that turkey and Swiss!!

Just thought I would vent :-) I guess it's what I like to do sometimes.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Tuesday Thought Day

I strongly dislike commercials on the radio that have car noises.
Car Honks
Car Beeps
Check-Engine-Light-Sounding-Beeps
And so on...

IT FREAKS ME OUT.  My poor Jetta beeped all of the time, so anytime I hear I beep, I prepare for engine failure.  Or leaking coolant.  Or the epic "STOP" light.
And is it really necessary to put a life-like honking noise on the radio?  I panic thinking I'm having a near-death-car-crash experience that will hit me any second.

Oh don't you worry your little face off

It's just the damned radio commercial

I also have decided that I gravitate toward bloggys that have pictures.  If I don't know the person, I want to creep the person as much as I possibly can.  Pictures enable this creep-behavior.

With that being said.... if you decide to creep me you'll find a strange little redhead who has an affinity for crossing her eyes, doesn't have any tolerance for pain (or alcohol), and has only ever taken 1 kissy-face photo in her entire life (which clearly needs to be posted).

MacBook <3

Video

I came across this video and thought it would be fun to post it!  If I were as cool as Aaron, I'd make a 2010 slideshow.  I'll get on that.