"Thanksgiving" Dinner #1

On Friday night Z and I met up with my parents and 2 brothers along with their significant others for dinner. Since my grandmother who lives in LA had a heart attack on Wednesday and is having surgery tomorrow my parents left Saturday morning to be there for her and Z and I are going to visit family I have in the Tallahassee area Wed-Sat so we all won't be around for Thanksgiving. Instead of not getting together at all my parents decided they'd take us all out for a super yummy dinner before they left! It is always so much fun getting everyone together... even though we live so close it doesn't happen as much as it should because our schedules are all pretty different, but we try!

My parents!

My older brother, Justin, and his fiance Melissa.

They are getting married in St. Lucia on April 29.

I have my fingers crossed we get to go....!!
Zach and I

My younger brother, Doug, and his gf Brittany
The whole family... definitely Christmas card worthy!

Love you guys!!!

-Ashley

The Great American Teach-In

Last Thursday was The Great American Teach-In at school. My class was lucky enough to have a Specialist from the Army come and visit us first thing in the morning ... and yes, it was yours truly - ZACHARY! :) They absolutely loved him! He brought in a lot of his equipment, told some stories, and even showed them some moves ... on them and on ME! We counted my students doing push-ups/pull-ups.. and he even did 2 for them. lol. He let them try on his helmet, his pistol belt (without the pistol - of course) and 2 different types of vests. They asked a lot of good questions and stayed interested throughout the presentation! Thanks Mr. S for coming to visit our class - you rock! :) I had them all write him thank you notes at the end of day and he enjoyed reading them all that night!

Letting one of my students try on a vest...

This is a different teacher's student trying on the bullet-proof vest!

We were also lucky enough to see a martial arts trainer, an ex-cop, a financial adviser, AND we skyped in a movie trailer music composer from LA! He did the music for Megamind and the kids went nuts! It was such a fun day, but busy, day! ... and I'm now on a NINE day vacay! WOOT WOOT!!!!! :)

-Ashley

My Best Friend's Wedding!!

November 14, 2010! My best friend Heather got MARRIED to the love of her life Todd! :) The wedding was beautiful!! Her sister was her Maid of Honor and Todd's childhood friend was the Best Man. We got there about an hour early to keep her company and take a few pics pre-wedding! She looked absolutely GORGEOUS and I couldn't be happier for her and her husband! :) They are spending the next 3 days at the beach then coming home for a couple weeks until they leave for their honeymoon in California! They will be running a marathon and touring Napa Valley area! So fun!! Anyway, congrats again to the beautiful bride and the wonderful groom! Love you both!

Since it was on a Sunday night I took my first (paid) personal day ever! It feels kinda nice to just be relaxing right now andddd getting paid for it! WootWoot! Now on for the pics and we all know they are going to be random because that's how I always roll! hehe.

Britt, the Bride, and the MOH!

I gave Z his own little personal photo shoot! :)

I tied my favor ribbon around my drink.. I'm festive!
The hubby and I!! Loveeee you!

Her table numbers had their dog Riley doing in poses/action shots!

Too funny.

Lobe and Lobe!

Telling him he better be nice with the garter!

Of course he dove in head first! :)

The gals!

HUSBAND AND WIFE!

Saying their vows!

I hope you both live a happy and blessed forever together!! LOVE YOU!

-Ashley & Zach!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Just wanted to say thanks to all the soldiers who have served, or who are still serving, and let them know that they are appreciated!!! Thanks for your service and for protecting our great nation!!

... but of course my own personal vet deserves some special recognition too! :) My love, my hubby, my ZACHARY! lol. So proud of you and what you have done - you're amazing babe!!

Reenlisting last year...

I love my soldier!

"If you don't stand behind our troops... then feel free to stand in front of them!" - love me that quote! :)

Zach and I spent our day off together... started with a little wake-up back/hand massage for the soldier and then we went to lunch and saw Due Date! :) It will be weird going back to work for just a day, but I'm definitely not complaining!

-Ashley

Game Plan: Party Like a Freshman!

Last Friday my bff Britt and I left right after work to head to Tallahassee: home of the Florida State University! It took us almost 4 hours to get there, but it ended up being one heck of a time... On the way up there we decided we were going to try to party like freshmen and we defintely succeeded! Hehe. :) I hadn't been there since 2007 and she hadn't been back since she graduated in 2008!

Friday night we checked into the hotel 9:30ish, and we were quite exhausted from a long week at work and a long drive, but we got ourselves ready and headed out at 11 in the freezing cold (literally in the low 40s!) to a bar called Bullwinkle's. We had a few drinks then went to Wal-Mart to make sure we had everything we needed for the game... including a blanket that would come in handy like you wouldn't even believe!

We woke up at 8:30, grabbed some breakfast, showered, and got ready to hit the town. We ended up calling a taxi that drove us to the liquor store then our tailgate area at 11! Our friend has a friend that has an area set up next to the baseball field (he works for the team) with access to their cable and their bathrooms (so nice!). We had tons to drink, great food, couches, flatscreens, lawn golf, and corn hole! What more could you want?! Slowly, but surely, people started arriving and it was starting to look like a garnet and gold game day! :)

Around 3:30 we headed into the stadium to watch the game for a bit, but then we decided we were hungry and left on a long journey to a restaurant/bar called Momo's. Their slogan is "slices as big as your head"... no lie!! We ate our pizza and salad while watching the game and then started our trek back to the tailgate area. We ended up sitting on the grass watching the game on one of the TVs and the wide right loss occurred. No bueno! Soon after everyone that didn't go home to change met back at the tailgate and then we weaved in and out of traffic on foot to head to a bar called Potbellies. We stuck around there drinking and dancing and singing Disney songs until 10 and left to go to a bar called Yianni's. It was 80's for the ladies so we had a fantastic time singing/screaming every lyric to every song! :) Thanks to daylight savings we gained an extra hour to party and made it to last call...

The group walked out and headed to the area where there were taxis and ordered one to take us to Steak n Shake by our hotel... we ate and thennnnn finally made it back into our room where the clock was still reading "4:30"! It was such a long, super fun day with many laughs and smiles!!

Can't wait to do it again soon! GO NOLES!!

Some of our game day goodies! :)

Britt and I!
Playing cornhole! (and losing!)

Travis... our hook-up!

In front of our beautiful stadium!

Ash, Lauren, Britt! HS reunion! :)

At the game... 3 rows up!

Walking to Momo's!

Tomahawk Chop!?

My old dorm I lived in Freshman year!

Momo's.... mmmm!

At Potbellies!

Yes, this is me.. freezing outside with my super soft blanket!

Chicken Caesar Pita and Greek Fries

from a place called Pitaria! :) Mmmm.

-Ashley

The Conclusion: HBP The Morning After!

Well... before we get to the morning after lets go back to the end of the night... Ash had drove and was driving herself home and once we got to the PUBLIX parking lot she parked at... we realized her car had been TOWED! On the phone I told her to park in publiC parking.. she misheard me and parked in the publiX parking next to the restaurant that was surrounded with "Tow Away Zone" signs. Siiiigh. Britt, Ash, and I went on a 20$ cab ride and once we got there she had to pay 120$ to get her car out and then we were back in business. What an expensive night! We picked up the gals and headed back to the hotel and somehow ended up ordering 2 large pizzas from Domino's! Woooops! lol.


We woke up and Z had managed to get us EIGHT free breakfast buffets. By 10am there were 4 of us left so we ended up using that deal (Retail value of 16$ a piece... Thanks Z!!) He also got us a nice military discount on the hotel (thanks Z!). He's sure good for something ;) I realized on the way home I had lost my debit card and had to order a new one.. but the night was so worth it! The wedding is just 13 days away now... CAN'T wait!!

My plate of random goodness!

Britt wasn't thrilled I was taking this photo! lol
-Ashley

Part 5: Out on the town!

In no particular order here are some pictures that describe our night out of: dancing, drinks, and more dancing! We had so much fun and this "club" was actually right upstairs from the restaurant we ate at so we didn't have to do much traveling to get there! There were two floors and the top was open and had a great view of the city! Even though we were just 45mins away from home it was nice to get out and explore our neighborly city of St. Pete!! I love Florida! :)

Kalei, Alyysa, Ashley!

Our fav. bartender Josh... He was so funny!
VIP!? Yes, please!

Kanye West!? ... Nope!

Josh took this shot...

She was having way too much fun!

Yes.. the bride brought a huge bag of candy corn!

(and she shared with most of the people at the bar!) lol

Dance, dance!

Ring power!!

Anyone watch Modern Family!?

We called the guy on the right Phil allll night long! hahah

-Ashley

Part 4: H'sBP - Dinner

After H unwrapped gifts and and we popped the champagne we went downstairs to take the hotel van to a little upscale Mexican restaurant. It wasn't too far away and when we got there the other Ashley joined in on the festivities! We started with some yummy chips and salsa... and 3 other delish dips, a drink or 3, and then ate some yummy food. I got some chicken/cheese quesadillas! Very good, but pretty small portions... and usually I'd have an issue with that, but it was not to not feel overly full at the end!

Anyway, dinner went well and it was nice to go out somewhere pretty unique and different for once!

Posing with some weird statue in the background!

The restaurant in downtown St.Pete..

My side of the table!

The bride's side...minus Britt!

Isn't she lovely?! :)

-Ashley