Starving

I'm just gonna come right out and say it.
I want a baby.  I am baby hungry starving.
Every time I see a picture of a newborn (or basically any child under the age of 3) I start feeling sorry for myself because, more than likely, it will be about 3 years before I will be able to have one for myself.  And to top it all off, it seems like pretty much every female I've ever met is pregnant or just had a baby.  Okay, that's an exaggeration, but only a small one.  Two of my facebook friends announced they were expecting on the same day last week.  Way to rub it in, guys.  Not to mention how pretty much every woman in church is sporting either a baby bump or a baby.  I am not going to tell you about all the times I've gotten choked up when I see a couple on a TV show or even a music video have a baby.  Or announce a pregnancy.  We'd be here all day.  I know I'll be a mom someday, and I'm trying to be patient, but let's face it... I've never been the most patient person.
Tonight, as I was blog stalking, I read a girl's post that she published on Mother's Day.  In one part of it, she said,

"Don't feel left out this day, but be proud of the hard work and dedication you are giving your unborns."

I'm pretty sure she was talking to those who are having a hard time getting pregnant, but it really stood out to me.  I am working hard for my kids!  I'm going to school (well, I used to be and I'm going back once I'm allowed) so I can have a good job.  I'm doing what I need to so they will have the things they need.
Will you be a pal and remind me of this every once in a while? I'd really appreciate it.  Until then, I'm just going to work hard and be dedicated to those little guys up in Heaven waiting for the right time to come to our family.
Thank you, random blogging girl.  You made me feel a little better.

Wonderful

I found these little gems and I love them.

I posted this one on Sam's facebook.  Because, well, he is my favorite.

And who doesn't love pretty much everything about the lovely Ms. Hepburn?

Talk Nerdy to Me

The results are in!  Final grade for Biology 202, Anatomy & Physiology II:
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I got a B!  Which is perfectly dandy with me because that is all I needed to be eligible for the dental hygiene program.  I still don't know what I got on the last test, but evidently it wasn't too bad because I didn't fail the class.  I'm pretty proud of myself though, because let me tell you, that class was pretty rough.
So here is the plan for the next couple of months (aka years):

1. Celebrate the fact that I don't have any more pre reqs.  
2. Apply to the dental hygiene program.
3. Wait to see if I get accepted.
4. Find a job.  Preferably in a dental office so I can get my feet into the business.
5. Start the program in the fall of 2012 and get'r done!
6. Graduate in 2014, get a job and start rakin' in the big bucks.

And for proof that I did actually go to school and wasn't just saying so, here is the stack of papers from this semester.

And just so you can appreciate the thickness of this stack, here is a little comparison for y'all.  One semester of lectures, labs, notes, tests and lab practicals versus Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Save some trees, take online classes.

day nineteen

Day 19:  A talent of yours

Finding spelling errors.  True story.  I could be that squiggly red line underneath your misspelled words.  I was never in a spelling bee, but I can spot an incorrectly spelled word from a mile away.  Here are some words that people need to learn to spell:  

• Definitely:  Not definately or defiantly.  There is no a in this word!
• Tomorrow:  Not tomarrow.  Again.  No a!)
• Course: As in "of course."  Coarse means rough.  Why do people always add unnecessary a's?
• Your/you're:  Your is possessive, as in your book.  You're means you are.

Dear people of the world (particularly my facebook friends):  please start using an internet browser that has spell check.  I recommend Google Chrome.  Many thanks.

8teen / A&A

It's time for Awkward and Awesome Thursdays (the Tuesday edition).
Awkward:

• An old boyfriend sent me a text message the other day telling me he had a dream about me.  He said we made out in it.  
• Today when I got to school, a guy in my class said he saw me running yesterday.  That's just embarrassing.  I look like a moron when I run.
• I'm pretty sure the people that lives next to us are set on getting some type of cancer.  She goes and lays by the pool almost every day (if I wouldn't have known what she looks like in the winter, I would think she was black), and he smokes.  Death wish, anyone?

Awesome:

• My first item of awesome-ness also counts for a day in my 30 day challenge. Behold:

Day 18:  A time when you felt passionate and alive

TODAY!

NOW!
THIS VERY SECOND!
 I just got done with my very last prerequisite course for dental hygiene!!! Happy day!  Now I will be able to apply for the program (if I get at least a B... which I'm thinking I will... hopefully) and be that much closer to being done done done with school! Forever!

Ahem... regaining composure and moving on...

• We were finally approved for a loan and have started house hunting in Sahuarita!
• Watching Wings on Netflix.  What a great show!
• Apples with peanut butter. Mmmm....
• The fact that Glee made that annoying "Friday" song bearable.  I didn't think it was possible, but they somehow did it.

We so excited....

Seventeen

Day 17: An art piece

Confession:  I'm really not an artsy person.  I mean, I can appreciate some of it, and of course I'd love to go to the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa or to the Sistine Chapel to look at that crazy ceiling, but I've never really had a favorite artist or painting or drawing or sculpture.  And honestly, I see some stuff and I think to myself, "Seriously? That's worth millions of dollars?  My two year old niece could have done that!"  Obviously I'd make a horrible art critic.  And another thing... What's with all the naked ladies?  Why is there so much of that?  I just don't get it.
Now that I've got that off my chest, I have to admit that I have always really liked Norman Rockwell's paintings. There's just something so charming and American about them.  I found this one and I decided it's my favorite.

See? Charming.

Day 16

Day 16:  A song that makes you cry

I really do like these songs, but they make me cry every time I hear them.  Dang country music!

Mommy Dearest

Have I ever mentioned that I pretty much have the greatest mom ever?  Well I do.  I know you're all going to disagree and say you have the greatest mom, but you're not going to change my mind.  I was going to make her a beautiful card  and send it to her (ok, it probably wouldn't be all that beautiful. It's not my fault though. By the time I was born, all the crafty genes had been passed on to my sisters), but I don't have any envelopes for home-made cards.  I know, that's a terrible excuse.  Hopefully I'll get to see her real soon and try to make up for it.  Until then, I'll just dedicate an entire post to my lovely mother.

There are some things about me that are a lot like my mom.  We have the same chocolate brown eyes and we both hate it when cupboards are left open.  We both love reading and playing silly little computer games.  We're both criers - stupid little things like songs and movies make us cry ( Lately I've been trying to blame this one on the hormones from my birth control, but who am I kidding?).

I hope I can become more like my mom.  

• She is a great teacher.  She just got done teaching pretty much every couple in the ward the Family Relationships class.  Everyone who took it loved it, and some people even asked if they could take it again.
• She's super clean.  Out of all of my friends growing up, my house was always the cleanest.  That was definitely because of Mom (Not because of me... I was a pretty messy kid.)
• She's really honest.  I don't think I've ever heard her lie.
• She always speaks her mind.
• She's generous.
• She's forgiving.
• She's helpful.
• She loves her family.
• She's funny.
• She's beautiful.
• She's tough.  She's had like a kajillion surgeries.  I'm pretty sure I would not be able to handle even one.
• She has a lot of faith and is really spiritual.
• She's fun to be around.
• She's patient.
• She always does the right thing.
• She's a good listener.
• She's a great mother, grandmother, wife, friend... Ok, she's just a great person in general!

I know I'm forgetting a few things, but if I listed all of her great qualities we'd be here all day.

Here are some Mom and Ash memories for everyone to enjoy.

Hawaii Airport. Summer '08.  Do you like our tans?  They're spray ons.  We're anti - skin cancer in our family.  Which is probably why we're always super white.

This is from when I got my bridal pictures taken the week I got married.  I remember Mom saying that she didn't want to be in a picture because she "looked horrible."  False, Mom.  You are beautiful! 

And now for some funny pictures:

Pali Point in Hawaii.  It was reeeally windy up there.  In case you couldn't tell.

 I mostly just like this one because my mom has my flip flops stuck in the back of her pants.  She's crafty like that.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you and I miss you and I hope to grow up to be like you.

Love, 

Little Ash

15

Day 15:  Someone you admire

My parents

My Grandma

President Monson

Giveaway!

I know what you're thinking... What does Ashley have to give away?
The answer:  Nothing.  I'm not doing a giveaway.  I'm lame.  But the wonderful ladies over at The Beauty Mark are doing a fabulous giveaway!  Because they are not lame.  They are giving away this book plus a $50 Sephora gift card.  They are quite generous.  And since I am always on the lookout for a new book, I have decided I really want to win this one!  And I get an extra entry for blogging about it!  Woot!
Anyway, if you want some new reading material and goodies from Sephora, just check out the giveaway at their blog.  Maybe you'll win. Or maybe I'll win! That would be exciting!  Don't get me wrong, I'd be excited for you if you won.  Maybe a little jealous, but still excited.
=]

Awkward & Awesome Thursday

I'm starting something a little new.  Pretty much, I'm just gonna tell y'all about some stuff that has happened lately that has been either awkward or awesome.  To find some more people who are also awkward and awesome, just take a little clickity-click adventure over here.  Or just click on the new button on my sidebar under Site Seeing.  Either way will get you there.  Anywho, here goes nothin.

Awkward

• This morning when I left for class, I was greeted by the neighbor dog, Sookie.  I was so distracted by her tiny Yorkie cuteness that I walked right past my car parked in front of the building and walked around to our assigned parking space on the side.  This wouldn't have been so bad, except for Sookie's owner witnessed the whole thing.
• I always have that feeling that a bogey is hanging out of my nose during class.  There never is a bogey (thank goodness) but it's still unnerving.
• I'm starting to kind of enjoy educational TV.  What?
• My dreams last night.  One involved having a miscarriage and being told that at least I could know if the baby was a boy or a girl now.
• In another dream, I was driving and got run off the road by a trucker.  I called the "How am I driving?" number and was told to explain the driver and got hung up on when I couldn't.  This gets its own bullet because I almost got run off the road by a pickup truck on my way to class today.  I think my dreams are psychic.
• Husband is better at making truffles than I am.
• We started the reproductive system today in class.  This wasn't as awkward as it would have been if I was still at EAC, but it was still a little awkward.  
• Yesterday Sam and I were playing Mario on the Wii.  We were doing the coin battle, and I got really mad that he kept eating my Luigi with his Yoshi, so I hit him with the Wii-mote.  Twice.  Overreaction?  Possibly.
• The numbers four and fourteen have the letter u in them.  Forty does not.  I find that weird.
• The way I look when I take Zoey outside for potty time first thing in the morning.  I basically just roll out of bed and go.  Beautiful.

Awesome

• When I parked my car in the college parking lot today, my odometer said 222.2
• Taco Bell for lunch.
• I am getting a little tanner.  I have a tan line on my feet from my flip flops (even if it is very faint and maybe I'm the only one who can really see it...)
• Zoey is still afraid of the vacuum and sometimes (aka every time I vacuum) it's fun to follow her around with it.
• I broke the garbage disposal the other day.  Husband fixed it.  He is handy.
• These Resse's.  Whoever invented them is genius.  They are perfect (the candy, that is. I doubt the person who invented them is actually perfect, even if he or she is a genius.  No offense.).
• Zoey tried to eat a cotton ball last night.  It was quite hilarious.
• My excessive use of phrases in parentheses in this post.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides comes out in two weeks!  Yay!  Please watch the trailer.  Please.  You'll be glad you did.

• One more final and one more lab practical, and I am done with my pre-reqs!

Fourteen

Day 14: A vacation you would like to take.

It's a long list.

Hawaii with the husband

For our honeymoon we haven't taken yet.  (You can feel sorry for me if you want.  I'll allow it.)

Vegas

Just for funzies.

England

More funzies.

Florida

Disney world & the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The Bahamas

For the beaches and stuff. (Doesn't that just look heavenly?)

New York

(Broadway. Duh.)

Pretty much all of Europe.

You know, for the culture and stuff.

Australia

Maybe for a walk about, but mostly just for funzies.

Throw in just about anywhere else you can think of and I'm in.  I'm just waiting for the million dollars to roll in so all this can become a reality.