Spring Break: Part 1

I am FINALLY on Spring Break! After everyone else in the world has seemed to experience it already - we're just about half way through. On Friday after school my mom and I left and drove down to Naples, FL to spend the weekend at Zach's grandma's beach house! I had been down many times before, but it was my mom's first time. We had so much fun and can't thank Meem enough for letting us stay! Friday night Deb (my mother-in-law) and Susan (her best friend) were still there enjoying their Spring Break so we all went out for a girl's night at The Cheesecake Factory and then stayed up until 1am!!! sharing stories and many laughs. It was such a nice night. They unfortunately had to get up and leave us on Saturday morning to go back home, but the weather was amazing so mom and I spent the day at the beach, cooked dinner at home, then took a nice walk on the beach at sunset.

The next day, however, was so yucky! Super cloudy all morning and thunderstorms all afternoon. We ended up spending the day reading and watching TV, but it was very relaxing! We went to dinner that night and woke up the next day and left. It was a short trip, but mom had to be home to do some household chores before she left the next day for her next trip with my dad!

On our walk...
Too cloudy for a sunset, but still pretty!

Beautiful day!

Hope Part 2 of SB2K10 is just as fun! Have plans for a Friday pool/cook out day! Yay! :)

-Ashley

The Biggest Loser

Zachary and I have just recently started a competition between the two of us... and it's quite a SHOCKER! Who can lose more weight?! I am always up for a challenge, and I hate losing, so I'm hoping this will help me get my butt in shape! (LITERALLY!) lol. I did the dreaded seasonal bathing suit shopping last Saturday and lets just say it wasn't pretty! I hadn't bought a new one since July '06 - seriously. None of the ones I had fit/looked the least bit appropriate so needless to say it's time to shed a pound or 25 (one of his family members is going to give us a monetary prize if we succeed lose 25)!

On a more positive note - I started training for a 5k last March, but severely sprained my ankle and lost all motivation to keep running/dieting after that - but while I was training I was keeping track of my food in a food journal online. I signed in yesterday to start doing it again and much to my surprise, after entering my weight, they congratulated me for being down 2.7lbs from my last weigh in! What?! Woooo hoo for not gaining anything in the past year (I'm down 12lbs from when I started last year)! I guess that's better than being the other way around!

Z promised to do this with me after he pigged out on his cruise so here we are - ready to get started! We are both supporting one another and we are hoping to change our eating habits around as much as possible. I'm not saying I'm cutting all junk out ALL the time, but definitely cutting back and making healthier/wiser decisions. We have joined a co-ed softball team together and we will be playing every Tuesday night! I'm so excited and hope he keeps me on track, while I do the same for him! Wish us both luck - we'll need it!!

-Ashley

Zachary's Cruisin'!

Just wanted to wish Z happy sails on his cruise this week! He leaves tomorrow morning and will be back Friday... He will be stopping in Nassau, Coco Cay, and Key West! I'm pretty jealous, but know he will have a great time with his brother (and 13 other 21 year old frat boys - eeeek!) lol!



Stay safe, be good, and see you soon! I love you hubby!

-Ashley

Kahlua: The Hunter

After 5 minutes she had managed to destroy the poor duck... cotton everywhere and its "voicebox" was dismantled. She was so proud!

-Ashley

Proud Mom

Ever since we got Lacey 4 years ago she has slept IN the bed with us... and then 2 years ago we got Kahlua and she joined our happy little family IN the bed as well. We would put them in the crate, but the spoiled little brats they are would whine and be out of there only after a few hours because we'd cave in and let them out. So while we lived in OK they took up more room then we did and it made sleeping just plain awful... Well, recently we got fed up with 4 living objects in the QUEEN size bed and decided to give the crates another go around. The first night they were in there until about 3am, but the past 3 nights they've slept until the time we let them out... 9:30 this morning! I am so proud they are finally sleeping through the night - I feel like my babies are finally growing up!

The other day I found them like this...

Even though the other crate is connected - they were SO close to eachother! :)

Thanks Lacey and Lulu for letting mom and dad finally get some good sleep! We love you!

-Ashley

One of THOSE days!

Earlier in the day a girl came up to me and told me her neighbor (a boy every teacher cringes at when she hears his name - sad, but true) .... had wrote "fuock you" on her paper. Pardon my french, I was just quoting him! lol. This is 1 of 4 notes I received at the end of the day with "tattles" on them. Ohhhh goodness. Life in third grade!

-Ashley

Britt's Birthday Celebration!

Happy Birthday Bestie!

Last night I got to go out and celebrate one of my BFFs birthdays! Britt - my MOH - turns 24 on St. Patty's Day, but decided to go out last night with EVERYONE! because her actual day is on a Wednesday and us working folks couldn't be out until 4 (thanks to that dang time change we lost an hour of partying and got home pretty late!) so she is going to party twice (lucky lady!). She seemed to have a great time and there was an amazing turn out! Love ya B!

It was a fun, but super quick weekend and it's back to the grind tomorrow! My Spring Break isn't for another FOUR weeks and it can't some soon enough!

-Ashley

Mrs. S. - The "Sub"

Lately at work I have been the go to girl when it comes to needing a substitute. So many teachers have called in due to a nasty stomach virus going around (my poor mom missed THREE days and she's never sick!) so some days it's hard to have enough subs to cover (there are a ton of classes at the school I work at - I pull from 7 first grade classes and 7 2nd grade classes!) Last week I spent time in 5th grade and 2 2nd grades, and then this past week I was in a 3rd grade, a 2nd grade, and then with the special needs students in a program our school has that includes 3, 4, and 5 year olds. That was probably the hardest, even though there was an aide in there. Most were in diapers/pull-ups and it was just sad to see for example, a 3 year old with the mentality of an 18month old in the classroom...

I haven't had much time with my own students and the teachers that I pull from are getting a wee bit frustrated, but I'm doing what I'm told and I'm getting a lot of good experiences! I'm being flexible and kind of enjoying going to work and not having any idea what I'm going to be thrown into for the day. This experience is also giving me a chance to meet a LOT of the students and I'm known to most of them as just another substitute... One of the teachers joked that I was probably the highest paid sub ever! :) lol.

Where I'll end up next week - nobody knows! I guess we'll find out when we get to Monday!

-Ashley

Taylor Swift Concert!

Heather and I had such a BLAST at the Taylor Swift concert! We were surrounded by 5-15 year olds and their moms, other twenty-somethings having a fun girls night, and just girls, girls, girls (ok, there were the occasional guys walking around with their wives/girlfriends, but they were def. the minority that night)! I can't even begin to explain how loud an area full of GIRLS screaming can be, but it was super fun!

Heather and I left for the concert prettty early to get to my brother and his fiancee's apartment downtown to have a couple glasses of wine before the show and to hangout with them. That meant free parking, a FREE sandwich, AND not having to walk far at all to our cars before/after the show - so thanks J and M! :) We sang, we danced, we laughed, we cried (ok, that was a lie!), and really just enjoyed a night out! At one point we looked at each other and both said "wow, she sounds amazing!" and she totally did...

The concert was at the same place Z works so during the Pickler to Swift intermission we went and found him and said hi... He came home with a T-Swift shirt for me - thanks babe! :) Anyway, still havent found that dang camera cord so it looks like I have to go spend 3$ on ebay and wait for one in the mail so all I have are the two pics I took from my phone... LAME!

I promise that's a girl... and it's Taylor! lol.

Waiting for TAYLOR!

-Ashley

My New Baby!

For the first time ever I have a CAR in my name! Like it's REALLY mine! I'm a first time buyer, a recent college grad, and it was a Certified/Pre-Owned... which meant I got an AMAZING rate. No, really, an unheard of rate! lol. I couldn't believe it!! I have loved the new Altima model since I first saw it on the road back in 2007 and I couldn't be more proud of myself for having the credit, the job, and the ability to afford a CAR!

I called my dad before making any decisions (and of course Zach was there to voice his opinions/concerns/negotiations) and we FINALLY got it after sitting for 5 hours doing paper work and the waiting game! We left Nissan and went and showed my parents. My dad took it for a test drive and liked it and then right before we left he gave me a Chili's giftcard to celebrate and 20$ for a tank of gas! Hehe. I love my parents!

Crappy Phone Picture...but here she is!!

Parked at the apartment...

rainy and through the patio screen shot!

Thanks Zach for doing all the talking for me - love you tons and your ability to "talk to people"! lol.

-Ashley

Chicken Bones + Dogs = DISASTER.

Zach came home after class yesterday to a house full of trash... It happened all the time in Oklahoma, but since we've moved into the apartment it has only happened once since our trash is now locked away in the laundry room. Well, Zach's grandma threw something away yesterday afternoon and accidently left the door open. When we got home, besides the mess, everything seemed fine. I took the dogs out at 5:30, they did their business, and then I left for Monday night TV with the girls while Z had training for his NEW! job....

Anyway, I returned home at about 9:30 and Z had just got home too. Kahlua wasn't there to greet me (strange), but I did find a huuuuge puddle of pee on the bed. It was gross and really weird and just a big mess! Lua was under the bed acting really unlike herself. Zach pulled her out and noticed her belly was a little wet like had laid in the spot of pee. I took her and Lace out again and Lua had really soft stool. After I brought them back into the house we could tell she was sick or stressed out about something (we took her to the vet earlier in the day so we thought maybe that made her upset). After thinking about it for awhile though I rememebered we had Boston Market for lunch on Saturday and the bones that were once in the garbage were no where to be found... except for 10 minutes later when she vomitted them up! Yikes. She had muscle tremors and couldn't sit still, but wouldn't get up either. We called our vet and then Zach made a B line to the 24 Hour Animal Hospital with her...

My poor baby ended up getting shots for nausea, fluids, and a strong sedative. We weren't trying to dish out $1,000 for just an x-ray and an overnight stay... so we did what we could and even though she didn't move her whole night in the crate *scary!* I'm happy to say she seems to be doing better. I came home from work early today to take care of her while Z was in class and she happily greeted me and we went on a short walk. We were instructed by our normal vet to give her 1tbsp. of rice every 2-3 hours. She quickly ate that when I gave it to her, but has slept most of the day. I'm hoping she will only get better as the night goes on! She really gave us quite the scare.

Chicken Bones are the DEVIL!

Sleeping the day away..

Love you Lua! Feel better SOON!

-Ashley

Shopping

After church Z and I went to the mall to buy Z some black work pants and a white dress shirt or two. We ended up eating lunch there and then he took me to a store where I got to pick out a new VB school bag and matching wallet (I let Z voice his opinion and he nixed my first choice-lol)! I was verrry excited because I had my last school bag since I started at USF back in 2007!!! If I find something I like I will use it forever as long as it isn't ripped/unusable because change isn't always my friend.

Well, after like 5 blogs today I think I'm done for the week! lol. Until next time... adios!

-Ashley

FLDoE Certificate

After a lot of paper work, time, and effort I received my temporary teaching certificate in the mail... I can officially teach in Florida! :) In order to get a permanent one I must take two long, boring tests, but I don't have to have that done until 2012. I think I'll sign up for the Subject Area Exam soon so I don't forget the information I just learned... and then the next round of tests I'll take the Professional Education Test! Bye, bye 350$, but then I'll be done with testing school stuff for a long, long, long time!

WoooHoooo!

-Ashley

Dog Park

The other day at the dog park Lacey met her twin... I can't even begin to pronounce his name because it's French for bad boy, but they were pretty cute together! The owner had a hardcore French accent and the dog only responded to French comments so who knows what she was saying to him - lol! Z had a crush on the lady and her accent, which I found to be pretty funny... She also had a fiesty chihuahua. The dogs love going to the DP here at the apartment complex and come home pretty dirty... The weather has been AMAZING here lately and it's so fun to go most days after work! :)

Is that a mirror?!

(Lacey is the thinner/taller one)

-Ashley

Why Men Should NOT bake!

I told Zach this afternoon that he should make us a snack and so he popped in some PACKAGED Snickerdoodles... the ones where they are already in squares and you just have to plop them on the tray. Ya, they tasted awful and turned out black. I guess it's true that a woman's place is in the kitchen! lol. Good try hun, there's always next time! :)

Snickerdoodles?!

-Ashley