6 Year Anniversary!

Wow! I can't believe that on August 5th... we celebrated SIX years of marriage! We have been through many great ups, and many not so great downs in that short amount of time, but we always end up okay! I can't express how lucky I feel to have found THE one at the age of 16! It's so crazy to think that our first date was to a rated R movie and I almost wasn't let in! (Thank goodness the usher went to my HS! lol.) We've lived in 3 different states, made it through a year long deployment, and have achieved many personal goals with the support of one another! Thanks, Z, for being my number one fan! I LOVE YOU!!

 Our special day started out at Jake's first birthday party! It was so cute! My friend Ash did a great job planning the whole thing! After the party we were in the neighborhood so we stopped by my parents and got a giftcard to go out to dinner from them (thanks!)! After awhile we headed to the hockey rink for Zach's game. They WON! We came home for showers and headed out to dinner at the Melting Pot! It was SO yummy!! We were too full by the time dessert came around, so Z promised me he'd take me back this weekend for it! Yay!!

1. Blanket given to us by Ashley (the same girl we spent our morning with!)

2. We went to FanFest for the Buc's the night before and saw the fireworks just a few hours before our official day!

3. Z munching on an apple dipped in cheese!

4. Me cheesing with some bread dipped in cheese! lol.

At FanFest we also saw a rainbow... which eventually turned into a double rainbow and went all the way across the field! I'm pretty sure that means we're going to have an AMAZING year ahead!! Eeek! I can't wait! :)

-Ashley

Longboat Key 2012!

Another year at the beach has come and gone and I really don't think it could have been any more perfect! :) Z and I drove down Tuesday after he finished up his summer semester, and it was also the day after his 28th birthday so we were able to celebrate that night with a home cooked steak/lobster dinner! Thanks, Dad! That night we took a nice walk on the beach and tried to watch the sunset, but each night there seemed to be a cloud or 10 in the way, but still relaxing! We played in the water, layed out in the sun, ate yummy fresh fruit, went for ice cream, took Z to Oma's (the fam's favorite pizza spot!) for the first time, tried to dig to China, took a few naps, read under the umbrella, and made tons of memories! Zach and the boys even took a chartered boat out to go fishing and caught a ton of fish!!

He never did get to China though...

See the clouds? Boo!  

 Mom and Dad at Oma's! Not sure why I can't line up the pics.. hating this new blogspot!

My favorite meal... chicken parm sandwich!

 Our spot for the week!

Justin and Melissa came in on Friday night. They brought a few fun games to try!

Thanks for having us mom and dad!! Can't wait to do it again next year!

-Ashley

Girls Only!

At least once a week this summer I headed over to a friends house to have girls night! We had Dance parties! Dessert parties! Taco Tuesday Night! Appetizer Night! Out for Italian Night! Wine Night! It has been a blast having one week day night a week where I'm able to spend time with friends (mainly from work since we are "unemployed" 2 months out of the year! lol.) I'm almost always home by 11, my curfew thanks to my hubby! Unfortunately our last get together during the summer was this week, but I hope we're able to do it every once in awhile during the school year! Ashley and Annmarie will not be at the same school as Cristina and I this year, but I know we will keep in touch! Thanks for a great summer ladies!

Cristina and Annmarie dancing!

Taco Tuesday!!

Fun appetizers!

Mmm...this fruit pizza was AMAZING!

Ash and Ash hanging out! <3 p="p">

-Ashley

B's Bridesmaid Dinner!

Earlier in the summer Britt called her bridesmaids up and asked them to meet her for dinner. I think we all had a little idea of what was up, but we were excited anyway! :) After a fun meal of eating and chatting, Britt pulled out a big bag and gave us each a box with our name attached and a mini-bottle of champagne! We all said YES! And can't wait until her big day next year!

6/10 of the bridesmaids made it for din!

So cute, right?!

-Ashley

4th of July!

Zach had a week off of football practice so we decided to get out of the house and fly to ATL to visit his family! We stayed for almost a week and had a great time with his mom, brothers, grandma, Allie, and his Uncle/fam. We started the first few days at his mom's house where we were able to go to a Brave's game, see a movie, relax, and spend QT with the fam!

Our next part of the vacation was spent at his grandma's lake house. We went to dinner, shot off fireworks, and had fun sunset cruises around the lake. :) I was super happy John/Allie decided to join us for a few days of fun in the SUPER HOTTTT sun! The weather was insane that week, but we dealt!

Braves game!

Getting into his mom's car at one point we saw this...

Fireworks at the game!

Had to cool off some how!

My babe and I shooting off fireworks!

He did a little fishin'! Happy camper :)

Thanks fam for having us for the week! We had a blasty blast!

-Ashley

Scalloping!

I promised myself that over the summer I would totally keep up with blogging because I wouldn't be so consumed with work, but I totally failed that task! I can't believe in just 4 days I will be back at work! I have gone in a few days this week to get started on my classroom... it's so crazy!

Anyway, I thought I'd go through my phone and document the fun times that I had during my summer vaca in June, July, and August! I thought I'd begin with our trip to Homosassa Springs when we went scalloping!

My bff Brittany and her fiance Kyle called us early in the summer asking us if we were interested in renting a boat and going out scalloping with them and Chad (Kyle's brother). I don't eat shellfish, but it sounded fun and we both agreed we wanted to participate. Well, the time finally came and we left Friday afternon to go to Kyle's grandparent's condo. We did some super shopping at Wal-Mart that night and while the boys grilled by the pool, Britt and I cooked sides in the condo. We met them for dinner by the pool and had delicious burgers and drinks while the boys "played" in the water.

The next morning we had to get up and get ready early to drive to the marina to rent the boat, we had it from 8-5! The day was perfect - not a cloud in the sky... and I was an instand pro at finding those bad boys in the water. All of us together ended up getting about 100 to feast on that evening. We were exhausted and salty when we got home, but after showers B and I headed back to Wal-Mart to get ingredients for our chicken dinner and a banana cream pie poke cake dessert that I wanted to make. Our feast was fit for a king (and queen!). Fun experience with our favorite engaged couple! :)

B and I ready to go!

Excited about another find!

Our Saturday night meal!

The boys of the trip!

Can't wait to do it again next summer!

-Ashley

Memorial Weekend!

Over the three day Memorial weekend Z and I traveled up to GA to spend some time with his family at his grandma's lake house! His mom, sister and her family, his brother and his fiancee, and his youngest brother and his girlfriend came down as well! We spent a lot of time on the deck laying out and on the boat driving around/tubing! Zach's uncle and his family were also there and they just bought a new boat that Z was able to learn to "surf" behind. was pretty good at it! We played cards, had some drinks, and a lot of laughs/memories! :)

Zach surfing... look at that concentration!

I was able to meet my niece Ansley this trip!

We all decorated our own koozie! I definitely shoiuld have used some ribbon, but my creative juices weren't flowing that night!

What a view!

My nephew Caleb eating some lunch...

Pedis!

Can't wait until next summer when we do it all again! :)

-Ashley

My 26th Birthday!

I always enjoy celebrating my birthday for at least a week! I mean it only comes around once a year, so why not live it up?! Last year my birthday was on Easter/during Spring Break so I wasn't able to celebrate at work, but this year it was on a Tuesday - right in the middle of testing! My morning was amazing! I was given yummy brownies, cupcakes, and homemade banana cream pie - my favorite! When I came back from my break - my kids had left me notes ALL over my three boards! Then, at lunch, Zach stopped by with a special delivery: lunch and roses/gerbera daisies - my favs! Throughout the day 5th graders from other classes were dropping off cards to me! After work Z and I met up with bff Brittany and her FIANCEE (they got engaged the day before my bday) and Rebeca at a nice Mexican restaurant for dinner, then we went out for ice cream! It was a great day!

The weekend before me and my 16 closest friends met up at a bowling alley/club to go bowling. We ended up having to wait around for hours for a lane, but that was okay - we ate, drank, and just hung out. We ended the night at Howl at the Moon - a dueling piano bar. Blasty blast!! My friends are amazing!

Thanks to my students!

One of my favorite cards!

Some of my goodies... I shared!

My flowers!

Splitsville!

Bday dinner!

Falling while bowling with my sis-in-law! :)

Zach came out to celebrate with me!! What a guy  :)

-Ashley

Testing, Testing... 1, 2, 3!

Well, it has been 3 months since my last post and I've been getting a lot of complaining for my dear husband and BFF. SO! I decided I'd go through all my phone pics and try to catch up on some of the important events that have gone on! I start to fall behind, get overwhelmed, and then don't know how to start catching back up unless I have a lot of time to do so.. which today is perfect because Zach is at reserves and I have ZERO plans!

Anyway, the point of this post was to show off 3 of the goodies I gave my kids during FCAT testing in April. Unfortunately, I didn't capture all 8 of them in a picture, but you get the point. Every morning they'd walk in and have a fun treat on their desk. Poor kids had a week and a half of testing, so at least they had something to look forward to! I enjoyed them walking in and running to their seat to see what I had left them! :) I found the ones I have pictures of on Pinterest - love that site!

Lucky Charms!

They did pretty good with their scores!

-Ashley

The Real McCoy!

Yesterday during a Shared Reading lesson we read an article about Elijah McCoy... Who just so happens to be the "Real McCoy". Anyway, my students learned that he invented a device that oiled locomotives automatically, so that they wouldn't have to stop and do it by hand... Which sometimes lead to stalling. What is stalling you ask? That's when something stops, usually unintentionally, which some manual cars still do today. Well, apparently one of my students has an uncle whose car has that same problem! It starts to beep after so long on the road and he has to pull over, type in a number, and breathe into a device.. Probably like the device made by Mr. McCoy!! I then had another student chime in that his car must be pretty cool to have such a neat security system. Yep! I totally agree... But I don't think I want one of those devices!! Hehe :)

Happy Easter!

Yesterday we ate lunch with my family at my parents house! Lunch was super yummy and included ham, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, potato salad, and Z even made squash casserole that was quite the hit! :) For dessert my grandma made some super cute cupcakes and banana pudding.. and I brought the sunflower cake! I love time with the fam!!

Hope everyone had a blessed holiday!

My kids know I love chocolate... I had eaten one throughout the week.. oops!

Zach and Lu hanging out after lunch!

Dying eggs with my mom! :)

-Ashley