Couch Potato... to 5k!

Well, I FINISHED all 3.1 miles without dying so I would say that it was a success! It ended up being SUPER hot when the clouds went away... 84 or so! :) My goal was 45mins.. I finished in 43. I never said I was a running super star, but I did increase my time of almost 3 miles in 47 minutes when I first started... and that's all I really wanted to do! My 5X (or more!?) marathon running bff idol Heather was there for support and met me at the finish line all smiles! Zach chose to sleep in and not go to the "community jog", but I guess he is forgiven! ;) hehe. I actually had a lot of fun and would do one again in the future! I ended up running a lot more than walking which was another one of my goals... I hadn't "trained" in over a week due to our trip to Louisiana and such, but I'm happy with the way the morning went! Anyway.. here are so race day pics!

Heather and I before...

I was too fast to catch... haha!

Thirsty much!?

My first medal!

Shoutyyyyy: Congrats to Heather for finishing the half marathon in the Top 25 Females... and to my other bff Brittany for finishing her first 1/2 Marathon ever - and not stopping! WOW! Love you guys!

-Ashley

The Big Easy: Our Night OUT!

Last Thursday my brother Justin, his fiance Melissa, and myself made the long drive from Tampa to New Orleans to hit the town before my grandmother's funeral on Saturday. We missed Mardi Gras by one day, but I'm totally okay with that now! It was crazy enough on a non -holiday occasion! lol. Anyway, we stayed the night in a pretty fancy hotel and hit the bars by 6pm! It was quite the night filled with a lot of laughs and drinks! I love my brother and my soon to be sister (April 29!).

Our hotel one block from BOURBON street!

My favorite older brother and I with the famous Tropical Isle hand granades! :)A hurricane from Pat O'briens! A grenade from Tropical Isle! Wooo! lol.
After a couple of hand granades! ;)
Two hurricanes, Missy?! hehe.
We ended up being back at the hotel just after midnight and slept until about 10. We had hit the road at 6am on Thursday and after 9 hours in the car.. we were exhausted! Next blog will show pics from our day out in The Big Easy!

-Ashley

Wiggin' Out!

In early February two good friends of mine had a joint 25th birthday party! If you know my friends you know "themed" means FUN"ner"! We went out for dinner at a nice restaurant dressed up in.. WIGS! Yes, we got stares, but it was worth it! I decided to go blue while the bday girls went pink and green! It was so colorful and different and everyone loved it when we went out for drinks and told them why we were walking around with crazy hair! Zach chose to work through the event so he was unable to join us, but I had a blast out and about in Tampa!

The birthday girls and I!

Should I go blonde!? Hehe..

I went brunette too!

Days of Love!

Zach and I have celebrated VDay this year over a couple of days! It started Friday night at a lovely dinner at The Melting Pot! He surprised me with reservations after I got home from work and it did NOT disappoint! Mmm! :)

Take One!

Take 2!

Last night he came home with a bouquet of tulips! They are pink and so pretty! I decided to give him part of his gift as well so he got his card and his Skittles *since I forgot to get those for his stocking he can now forget that I did that....*

Thennnn today around 1pm my door opened and in walked an ESE teacher with another bouquet for me... but this time they were gorgeous roses!! 12 red, 6 white! I felt so special and all of my kids did the famous "ooooooh aaaaaah" and asked if they were from Mr. S. I told them I hope so, and they were right! :)

I got home from work and gave Z his other gift. We had been talking about blu-rays and I finally bit the bullet and bought him a player, 2 movies, buuuut no cord! Siiigh! Way to read the "sold separately" Ash! lol.. He seemed to enjoy it and was surprised anyway!Thursday of this week I leave early in the morning with my brother and his fiancee to go to my grandma's funeral in Louisiana. We are going to drive to New Orleans first and stop there for dinner/a day of shopping and touring until we pick up Z from the airport around 4... Then we are going to go to Baton Rouge for dinner with the family Fri night and the service on Saturday. I'm looking forward to family time, but not so much the reason for the time!

Hope everyone has a happy, love filled day!!

-Ashley